Introducing my baby girl, Alex. She's epic, guys, epic!
Chapter VI
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
She smirked, adjusting her review mirror before faking an innocent, sincere smile, looking at the young man standing out of the window. He batted his shaggy, onyx hair from his dark eyes, which were filled with worry, and she stiffled a laugh, "Come on, Jaime. It's just a harmless race."
"It's a drag race," Jaime corrected with a heavy sigh. "Drag races are dangerous."
"So is driving," She shot back. "And walking across the road, and pulling something heavy from a high shelf, and shaving-"
"Okay," He huffed in irritation born out of concern. "Okay, Alex, I get it. But still-"
"No 'but still'," Alex Oliver shut him down. "I'll buckle up, and you seem to constantly forget that my dad's uncle owns stock cars, and Dad actually raced for a while. And I'm experienced in this."
Jaime didn't want to have to revert to this tactic, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He pulled his famous puppy dog face, inherited from his father, and hoped and prayed that, for once, a higher being would be merciful, and he would be successful.
But, alas, Alex only quirked a brow with a toothy smirk, "Really, Jaime? That didn't work when we were four, and it's not gonna work when we're 40."
"I had to try," He sighed, rubbing his neck with a worried grin. Alex squeezed his hand where it rested on the door of her forest green Mustang, giving him a sincere smile, "Really, Jaime. Relax. I've done this a dozen times. It'll be fine. And I'll even dedicate my win to you!"
Jaime gave a small laugh, nodding with dejected resignation. But before he moved, he grabbed her hand, waiting till her smoke gray eyes met him own, and said seriously, "Be careful."
"Always," She smiled back.
Jaime jogged to the side of the track, his black button-up flapping in the breeze, where he took his spot beside Logan, whose big arms strained against the sleeves of his red t-shirt. He smiled down at his friend, putting a reassuring hand in his shoulder, "It's okay, Jaime. She's a goddess at this."
"I know," Her best friend whined, motioning helplessly to the car, which was at the left, "but still!"
"Just watch and see," Logan smirked confidently. "She's gonna blow 'im outta the water."
In her car, Alex tossed her long, chocolate hair over her shoulder, making sure the top half was still restrained snuggly, and pulled up to the start line. With both windows rolled down, a pleasant breeze blew in, and the car across the way, a young man with side-swept, gold hair and big blue eyes smirked, "Oh, come on Alex! Give it up! This isn't a girl's game!"
Alex gave him a vicious smirk, all the while inside her temper flared.
This was why she did it. She had no real love for racing or cars, but it was the search for the finish line. It was trying to tie her life together, trying to find her way, the perpetual search for something. She couldn't name or describe the something, but she wanted it, needed it, and if she found it being reckless behind the wheel of her car, so be it. And if pissing off some sexist jock was part of the trail, that was just an added bonus.
She revved her engine, watching as Ellie in her pink dress held the flags, while Andy smirked, shaking his head, and followed suit.
She watched Ellie intently, her heartbeat increasing as the world faded around her, nothing by the road ahead.
The flags dropped, and she took off in a cloud of dust. Quickly whipping through the gears, she didn't stop until she got into fifth, and then glanced in her rearview mirror, where Andy was a good deal behind and had no hope of catching up. She laughed out loud at his face, plain in her mirror, and she flew across the designated finish line, turning her wheel hard, going into a long donut.
She was climbing from her window when Logan grabbed her under arms and pulled her the rest of the way from the car, placing her effortlessly on his shoulders. She could only laugh, leaning to look down at a highly relieved Jaime, grabbing his hand and holding it high. After all, when she won, her friends were part of the reason.
Alex cast a dark smirk at Andy as he leaned against his car, a dark look in his eyes, and then focused on the crowd around her, cheering happily. Logan gently placed her on the hood of her car, where she stood, holding up a cup of pop, which all the others mirror with laughter.
Maybe this wasn't the something she was searching for, but it was close, just out of her grasp, ghosting through her fingers, just beyond now. She was finding it.
She perked up, remembering something with a mischievous grin, "And, I would like to dedicate my win to one very special person in my life..."
"Shut up, Alex!" Jaime shouted, his face pink.
