The thought that I would make money off of this is just hilarious. I will claim ownership of Kyle, but beyond that, there's nothing here that is mine.
When Tuesday finally arrived, I blew through my classes in an effort to speed them up. Instead, I had thirty minutes of nothing to do except sketch out portraits of cars on my pink tablet. When the classes finally ended, I ran to my locker to ditch my bag and grab my purse and camera. I walked briskly out to my car and sped out of the parking lot.
My phone rang. Unknown Number.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Are you coming or not?" Kyle's voice rang through the car.
"How do you have my number?" I asked, looking at the screen.
"Lorenzo left his phone on" I could hear him smiling. I rolled my eyes and pulled off of the interstate.
"Where are you?" I heard as I turned towards the race track.
"Just got off the interstate, be there in a minute." I announced.
"Meet you in the parking lot. Instead of going to the visitor's lot, pull around back to the driver's spaces. They're closer, and that's where the Mustang is." He told me.
"Okay. See you in a second" I said, hanging up. I pulled into the track, following his directions and parking next to him. There was only one problem: Lorenzo's truck was parked in his space.
"Hey" I smiled, getting out of the car and grabbing my trackers and cell, tucking them in my pocket.
"Hey, come meet the crew" He invited. "First door on your left"
"I thought you said Lorenzo wouldn't be here? I saw his truck parked." I asked as I walked through the door he held open for me.
"Change of plans. He's here for a bit, he changed his schedule up so that he could be here while you were on the track." Kyle explained to me.
"Camille! I heard you were going to be here! Thought I'd watch you learn to drive for real" Lorenzo grinned at me, walking from his office tucked in the corner.
"Yay, I'm ecstatic. Can't you tell?" I mumbled (causing Kyle to smile and smirk at me) before replying "Thought you had meetings?"
"Moved them" he said, before (thankfully) he got a call from inside his office.
"Cam, this is my head mechanic, Mark" Kyle introduced me to a normal-sized man with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes.
"Hello" I greeted sweetly.
"You're the one that is great with computers?" Mark asked me.
"Yeah, that's me." I smiled.
"Lorenzo showed me one of your videos once, you're a very good editor, Camille" He said as Lorenzo called him to his office.
"That is Alex over by the jack, and Nick is in under the car." He said "And there's three more, but their on vacation"
"Camille, that was Rangeman" Lorenzo said, coming up to me again.
"Who?" I asked.
"Lester" He told me.
"What did Uncle Lester want?" I questioned.
"You left your trackers in the car."
"No I didn't" I said, pulling out the quarter-sized electronics "I have them."
"Whatever. Kyle, Carney is on the outer track, you're stuck with the middle for now." He said.
"Got it" Kyle looked at me "You need to get dressed in a fire suit- I think Lorenzo has an extra"
"Why?" I asked as Kyle turned my shoulders in the direction of the office.
"Safety. Also get a helmet and some gloves." He commanded as I opened the door.
"Kyle says I need a fire suit, a helmet, and some gloves and that you had some for me" I asked.
"Oh, yeah, here you can put them on in here while I talk to Kyle" He said, handing me a box and scurrying from the room. I shrugged and pulled on the gear then walked out to the garage again, where the car had been moved outside and Kyle was leaning against the hood, grinning at me.
"Where'd everyone go?" I asked. He pointed to a stand, and several points along the course.
"Radio and Spotters." He said. "I'll take you through the course first and show you the ropes, and then you'll have a go, okay?"
"Sounds good" I agreed, walking around to my door.
"Helmet and neck support on" He said before I got in. I did as he told and hopped in, following his lead. "Press this button to turn the mic on and off." He showed me a button on the inside of my helmet. I nodded.
Kyle started the car, and the growl of the engine washed through the empty pit area. He drove to the end of pit lane, picking up speed.
"When I come through the first corner, I'll drift it. It's going to feel like a spin, but it will go sideways." He looked at me for my consent as we approached the first corner. I nodded and the car's rear started to slide from behind us. He quickly spun the wheel in the direction of travel to control it. We finished the turn and got on a straight away.
"Good?" He asked me, looking briefly. I could see through his visor, he was smiling.
"Yeah!" I said, laughing.
"This next turn is a flick, we'll start one drift then immediately go to the other like this" He motioned with his right hand. The car sped through expertly.
"Kyle, how does the car feel?" Mark asked over the radio.
"The new tires are felt great, a little bit more slide than the old ones" He said. We got to the next turn and he turned wide, coming within inches of the wall.
"That was close!" I giggled.
"That's the point" Kyle smiled. "You ready for a shot?"
"Now? In this car?" I asked, looking at him.
"Yes, now." He shook his head.
"Sure. But don't blame me if I spin out!" I said as he pulled into the pits. We got out and he met me at the hood. He took his helmet off to talk to me. He explained how to control the wheel, what pedals to push, and how to save it from a spin.
"Got it?" He asked me.
"Yeah, I think I do." I said. I got in and buckled the four point belt around my torso. Kyle told me to drive around the track once so that he could explain which turns to try drifting on.
"Tear it up!" Lorenzo joked over the radio.
"I didn't know you could be sarcastic, Lorenzo!" I shot back. We came to the first turn and Kyle told me when to turn the wheel and press in the gas when we were drifting.
"Great Job, Cam!" Kyle told me when it was finished.
"I took a video for your father, Camille" Lorenzo announced.
"Yay, I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to know that his daughter can drive a car sideways" I said bluntly. I started to get the hang of it after a couple spin outs. Lorenzo announced that the track was closing and we needed to get off of it. I pulled it into the garage and jumped out, taking off my helmet and letting my hair fall to my shoulders again.
"You did fantastic, Cam!" Kyle whispered to me, pulling me close.
"Thanks, it was a lot of fun" I replied, placing the keys gently in his hand. He leaned in and kissed me briefly. I felt a slow smile creep onto his face. I rested my head on his shoulders and a minute later, the team pulled up in a golf cart.
"Great job for a first-timer" Alex congratulated.
"Thanks!" My cell rang. "Yes, Harmony?"
"You did awesome!" She exclaimed over the earpiece.
"How do you know that?" I asked cautiously.
"I watched you." She said victoriously.
"You did what?" I asked in disbelief.
"I also got some great pictures!" She defended.
"Whatever. You need a ride?" I shrugged at Kyle's confused look. I mouthed 'Harmony' to him.
"Yeah, my brother dropped me off and his phone is dead" She said.
"Come on back to the garages, I'll take you back on my way home." I told her, hanging up.
"Harmony needs a ride?" He asked me.
"Yes" I asked, Harmony appearing beside me.
"I'm hungry" Harmony stated.
"You always are" I said
"Can I take your car to get something strange called FOOD?" she asked me, holding out her hand.
"Don't crash it; Lester would kill me if I had to use a SUV again." I said retrieving the keys from my pocket.
"You're no fun!" She glared at me "Be back"
"I'm serious. Remember the last time you took my car to get food? You crashed it into a telephone pole! If you crash that, you're dead. And not because I'll kill you." I warned.
"It wasn't that bad!" She said.
"You took the hood completely off! It took three weeks for them to get all the parts pieced back together! You're lucky you aren't dead!" I exclaimed.
"What was it?" Kyle asked.
"My dad's old Porsche 911 Turbo." I glared at Harmony.
"You make it sound like I can't drive" She accused
"Because you can't"
"Just give me the keys!" She demanded.
"If you crash it, I'll kill you." I promised giving her my keys. She darted out the door and I listened for a crash. When it never came, I asked Kyle "Do you think she ever got it started?" Right as I said that the engine roared to life.
"Yep" I heard tires squealing and winced at the thought of what she could do to it.
"Well, she didn't crash it immediately" I shrugged. "We have about an hour most likely."
"If your car has trackers on it, won't they be calling you anytime now?" He connected the dots.
"In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. This is too routine" I smiled as I put my phone on speaker.
"This is going to be good" Lorenzo laughed. I made a 'quiet' signal and everyone stopped.
"Your cars been stolen." Cal informed me.
"Harmony has it" I heard a sharp intake of breath. I took it off speaker and put it to my ear
"Steph says you have two hours to get home or she's going to make you run with your father."
"Can't I just run with her?" I groaned.
"Nope"
"Fine" and the line died. I heard a click and turned around to find harmony snapping away with my camera. "Give that to me"
"I'm going home, Lorenzo. See you tomorrow, guys" Kyle said, smiling at me then walking to the door.
"You taking me home or not?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm comin" I went to leave and was opening the door when Mark called to me
"You're welcome back anytime, Camille"
"I'll be taking you up on that" I grinned. Kyle and Harmony were talking to each other when I came out and Harmony quickly snapped a photo of me. I raised an eyebrow. She shrugged in response.
"You two are creepy" Kyle said looking between the two of us.
"Why?" We asked in sync.
"That" He responded.
"When can I come bother you again?" I inquired as he leaned against the hood of his car.
"Whenever, the team loves you" He stated.
"Expect her every afternoon" Harmony announced, snapping another photo of us when we turned towards her. "Crazy, smile"
I laughed at her antics and smiled over my shoulder at her.
"Cool! I'll send you that one" She stated as she studied the screen and walked blindly to her door.
"What's your e-mail? I'll send you whatever she got of your round and otherwise." I asked him.
"The team's is on the website and mine is" He told me the address and I scratched it down on the back of my hand. "Harmony is obsessed, isn't she?"
"It's like having my own personal spy" I smiled as I opened my door. I waved goodbye and drove off.
Thanks for Reading! Reviews make my day, but no bombing, please!
JLRS