Right Kind of Guy

Chapter 4: Let's Race!

The sun has set, and the moon had taken over the sky. An alley between two disserted buildings was filled with the revving of engines, the chatter of both girl and boy drivers, and the rap coming out from different kinds of boom boxes. There was approximately three hundred racing cars parked all throughout the alley. Drivers were either attending to their cars or the women that overpopulated the area. There was a chill in the air as though something different were to happen that night.

Five Civic 2000's in full race mode drove roughly towards the alley and the place hushed. The leading light blue car stopped and the four others followed. Matt came out of the blue car and was greeted by cheers around the place. "Yo, Matt." One guy greeted him with a handshake. Michael, Bryan, Paul, and Jason came out of their own cars and were greeted by handshakes and caresses too.

"Hey, Michael," called a girl in a backless tee and tight snakeskin pants. "Why don't we get together later?" she asked as she took Michaels hand and brought it to her chest. Michael allowed the girl to do so and caressed the mammary gland. "Why not." He answered in a husk voice. "Michael, get your ass right here!" Matt called. "Gotta go, sweetie. See ya." He told the girl and kissed her hand.

"Okay, so we do the same thing around here. Winner gets all the cash." Matt announced to the large crowd who had gathered around him. "Who's on?" he called out to everyone. Two guys gave their bets to Matt calmly. "Looks like we need one more!" He announced.

"Count me on." Said a girl's voice. Everyone turned their attention to the voice. The girl wore a leather mini skirt and a dangling silver tee. She had a helmet on so no one saw her face. Matt snickered. "You? Look, girls here watch. They don't go play with the bad boys." He told her. The girl went in front of Matt, but she still didn't take her helmet off. "I'm betting my car." She said. She handed Matt a pink slip. Matt stared at the slip. "You've gotta be kidding, lady." He said.

"Well, guess what," she started. "I'm not. Look, if I lose you take my car. But if I win, I get all the money and a date from you." She announced. Everyone laughed including Matt. "A date?" he asked. The girl nodded. "Yah, to some girls, a date with you is much better than the money." She said casually. "Youch!" Michael said, sounding like a hissing cat. Everyone around laughed too. Matt stared at the helmet. "Where's your car?" he asked.

The girl turned around and went to her car. It was of a color yellow. Jason opened the hood. "Whoa…" Everyone said. "I see a cool air intake, a NOS fogger system and a T-four turbo, Matt." Jason said as he looked around the engine. "It has an A.I.C. controller, a direct port nitrous injection," He continued as he scavenged the entire engine. "Yeah, and a stand-alone fuel management system." Matt finished for him. Jason laughed. "You see that shit, everybody?" he called out to the crowd. "She's got enough NOS in there to blow her into ashes!" Everyone nodded.

Matt stared at the girl who had her hand to her waist. "Not bad to spend ten thousand dollars." he commented. Everyone gasped. "Yeah, baby!" an onlooker said. The girl sneered. "So, am I worthy?" She asked. Matt grinned. "Not yet, but we'll see. You're on." And with that everyone cheered. All of the people around the alley went to their own cars and drove. They all seemed to be telepathic 'coz they didn't need to agree on where they should meet.

At some point, all three hundred cars came together in a place called Alamitos Avenue. Every spectator blocked the street with his or her car. A mail truck came from one lane and stopped as some streetcars blocked him. The driver came out. "What's happenin' here?" he called out. "Streets closed, messenger boy. Go find your way home." a street racer told him. "Damn street racers." The driver complained as he went back to his truck.

Four cars assembled at the starting point that Michael had drawn on the street. Matt turned on his huge stereo that was placed behind his car and turned the volume really loud. A girl wearing tight shorts and a tight sleeveless shirt went in front of the four cars and took out a gun. She held it up in the air and pulled the trigger. The four cars revved and started the race. Matt's car was first to move and went first all the way. The unknown girl was at the last spot. She was going at a 100 per hour. People were cheering for Matt and booing for the girl.

The girl cursed and stepped on the gas. She shifted her gear and pressed a button on her steering wheel that was labeled NOS one. She pushed the button and with a hissing sound, her car went past the two other cars and finally Matt's. She smiled. "I'm winning." She told herself. Matt stared at the car and shook his head. He looked at the four little bottles of NOS assembled inside the front seat. He had assembled it earlier and thought that it was time to give his baby an adrenaline rush.

He clicked a switch near it and his car went zooming past the girl's car. He was going at 150, 160, then finally at 175 and he was on the roll. He was about ten meters away from the girl's car. He cheered for himself and went all the way. Upon seeing that Matt was ahead of her, she cursed and pressed another button that was labeled NOS 2. Too late for her though, 'coz Matt had already passed the finish line.

Matt went out of his car and everyone cheered. "The King has proven himself yet again!" Michael announced as he gave Matt a handshake and the money including the pink slip. The girl drove her car right beside Matt's and as she stopped, her engine hissed and smoke came out from under the hood. "Aww…." The crowd said as they saw what happened to the car. The girl stepped out of it.

"Well, now that I won, I guess it's time you took off that helmet. I won't be beating you anymore." Matt told the girl. The whole crowd laughed. The girl took off her helmet and let her auburn hair cascade to her neck. "Whoa…" everyone cheered. "Pretty little ass!" called on spectator. Every guy around made howling sounds that made the girls beside him upset. "Why don't you take me to a date?" another spectator called out.

Matt held up his hands to silence the crowd. The girl was grinning. She took out her hand. "Sora Takenouchi, nice to race with you." She said. Matt stared at the hand held out to him, and shook it with his own. "Do I know you?" he asked Sora. "Shouldn't you? We're in the same class. Physics." Sora said casually. "Physics, eh?" Matt snickered. "What brings you here?" He asked her. "Well, I've seen you race and the way girls drool all over you. I love cars. So I thought I'd try mine." She explained. "Well, I guess you lost." Matt chuckled.

Sora snickered. "Yeah, but I almost got you there." She said. Matt looked at her strangely. He sneered. "You almost got me?" He echoed. "Hell, yeah." Sora said. Matt snickered even the more. "You never had me. You never had your car." He told her as he went around the yellow car. Everyone cheered for Matt. "Granny shifting, not double-clutchin' like you should," he started which made the crowd go 'ooh…' "You're lucky that hundred-shot NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake." He finished. "Ow…" Michael said.

"Now me and Michael here have to tear it apart and replace the parts that you've burned." He said in a teasing way. Matt sighed and looked at one guy. "Almost had me, huh?" he asked him. The guy laughed. "You go tell her Matt."

Matt was about to make another comment when Paul announced to everyone. "We got cops!" he shouted through the speakerphones. All of the street racers and spectators skidaddled their way to their cars and went off as dozens of police cars with sirens blaring through the air came from every direction of the street. "Halt!" One policeman called. Although he was too late, for most of the three hundred cars were out of sight.

Matt walked through the corridors of Long Beach International High on Monday morning with a different aura lingering through him. His step was calm and was steady, his head high and his gaze cool and unreadable. He was in a good mood. He walked to his locker and opened it, scavenging for his Physics homework that he finished Thursday afternoon. He closed his locker and continued his stride through the corridor until he caught a glimpse of some auburn hair.

He sneered. It was time Sora paid her debts. He straightened himself along with his backpack and approached Sora's back. He tapped her shoulder. She turned around and smiled once she got contact with Matt's eyes. "Asking me for a date?" She asked in a flirtatious way. Matt snickered. "What made you think I'd actually ask you for a date?" he asked coldly. Sora pouted. "What do you want then?" she asked, obviously irritated. She started to walk away from her locker.

"I just wanted to remind you about my car." Matt said casually going along with her stride. Sora giggled. "What if I won't give it to you?" She asked. Matt stopped walking and so did Sora. He faced her cheerful face and cut through her eyes with his clear blue eyes that were full of malice. "You wouldn't wanna know." With that he left and went to First period Literature, leaving an intrigued Sora behind.

It was three-thirty in the afternoon and already Matt was bored. He sighed as he tapped his pencil on his desk. He was in his Home Economics class. A major bore. He sighed and looked around the room. His classmates were throwing paper cranes and other stuff at each other, making so much noise and a large clutter on the floor. He sighed. Typical senior class.

As the teacher came through the door, the whole class fell silent. Students were back on their seats acting innocent of the mess around the room. The teacher however, didn't even notice the clutter. In fact, she was all smiles. Must have had a beautiful day. Matt thought bitterly. Well good for her. The teacher, Ms. Campbell, clapped her hands and smiled all the more. "I have a good surprise for all of you." She announced. The whole class groaned. The last surprise she gave them was the twenty-page essay on pollution. Shouldn't they be complaining?

Ms. Campbell raised her hands. "Okay, okay. Just let me explain first. You see the next lesson we are going to handle is Family Matters." She announced, smiling. "Just to make this lesson more interesting and more enjoyable, I decided I'd pair you into two and you'd act as mother and father, deal with both financial and emotional matters. You'll each be given separate charts for you to write down all that you have achieved and failed. Now, you should spend time with your partners more or less twelve hours a day," the whole class groaned and mumbled. "Look, if none of you will do this, then I'll give all of you an F for this school year." Campbell said sternly.

The whole class silenced. "Okay, so I want all of you boys to come up here and pick the name of the girl you are going to be with." She continued. Each guy around the classroom stood up hastily and walked to the teacher's desk. Matt was third in line, hoping that he'd have a decent partner. When it was his turn to pick, his hands were trembling, and his heart pounding loudly. He crossed his fingers and picked a rolled-up paper. He opened it, and to his shock, read the name aloud. "Mimi Tachikawa," he said to the teacher and to the whole class.

All of the girls turned to Mimi and scowled at her. It was clear that they were hoping to be his partner. Mimi in the other hand was as cold as ice, as stiff as a board and as enraged as a tigress would be when her cubs are stolen. She stopped breathing and thinking all together. She didn't hear anything else than pounding of her heart.

"Okay Matt, go sit beside Mimi and plan for your project. Here are your problems to be solved." Ms. Campbell said casually as she handed Matt with a thick brown envelope. Matt walked slowly and hastily towards the seat beside Mimi. He noticed that she was staring into space like as if she's seen a ghost. Great. How was he supposed to deal with Ms. Know-It-All?

Mimi knew that Matt was walking towards her. The closer he got the more she held her breath. The last thing she wanted to be was Matt's wife. She wanted, needed a decent grade for her to pass the scholarship, but with Matt around, how was that possible. Great. How was she supposed to deal with Mr. I-Don't-Give-A-Damn-About-Anything?