Hi guys! Did ya miss me? Maybe not.
Anyways, I'm back again after such a long time (I'm really sorry for the ridiculous hiatus. It's totally unprofessional and I'm sorry.) and I have some good news: I'm officially a college graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Communication!
Now that means that I need to find a job while trying to balance writing this fanfic. If any of you guys are employed and still actively writing, tips how to balance work and writing would be greatly appreciated.
Anyways, let get back to the story.
DISCLAIMER: HuniePop isn't mine nor are any of the copyright brands mentioned in this fanfiction.
Find A Way
Chapter 24 - GodZila
Date: March 6, 2016 5:30PM
Location: Luvendass Garage, Glenberry International Industrial Park, Glenberry, California
David's POV
By the following weekend, the engine was just about complete. The only thing that was missing was the turbocharger. I was still deciding if we should purchase a turbo that can dish out power to overwhelm Enrique, or one that would put me on equal footing with him. I still couldn't decide so while the building of the engine was on hold, the family focused on the body which was way behind schedule as it was only being worked on by two people.
"So what's missing?" I asked asked Mr. Luvendass.
"We've already finished welding the body. All we need to do now is put everything back together," he said.
By "everything", that meant the upholstery, electronics such as the A/C, lights, audio system, the steering wheel, pedals, seats and the roll cage.
"Okay Mr. Luvendass," the two of us shook hands.
Then Kyu's S2000 arrived the driver side door opened and surprisingly, the passenger side as well. And it wasn't Momo, as she was already here.
"What's shakin' bacon?" Tiffany said before flashing me that cheeky smile of hers. We hugged. I don't know why but we've been hugging and holding hands more often.
We let go and her hand lowered to meet mine. "Hey, why don't we stay out here? I've got KFC," she showed a paper bag.
"You know me too well, Tiff," I couldn't help but smile.
"Sixteen years nine months from now."
I pretended that my head was aching, "Uhhh... Tiff... You know I hate math." The both of us laughed.
After our little "picnic", Tiffany and I just sat down on the ground and looked at the stars, just like when we were kids.
"You know, I don't get you," she said all of a sudden.
"Huh?"
She removed her twin ponytails and let her golden blonde hair loose. "You're the nicest person I've ever met, but none of the other girls seem to notice you."
I sat up with my legs crossed. "Well... Celeste seems really focused on building cars; Juli is head over heels in love with George."
"No doubt about that one!" she laughed.
"True! So damn true!" I laughed too.
When the laughter subsided, the topic earlier came back up. "But yeah, it just seems so weird that such a nice guy like you is still single. At least in my opinion."
I took it easy. "Ah, don't worry Tiff. I've been busy with the car and all so I really don't have time to go out on a date with anybody at the moment. And besides, most of the girls I've met before I got here were a bunch of skanks. Totally shallow and they often bitch to each other about how many guys in the football team they fucked."
"Eww! Skank is an understatement!" Tiffany said, revolted.
"There wasn't a single girl out there that thought, 'Hmm... This guy is really quiet. I wonder what his story is.' Not a single one," I mused, looking up once again at the stars.
Then my phone rang all of a sudden. "Ah crud, it's them. Hang on, I'll go see what they want."
I got up and bolted for the garage. I really hate to leave Tiffany, but it seemed urgent.
Tiffany's POV
Well... David had to get up and head back into the garage. I lied down on the picnic blanket while I played with my hair for a bit.
My phone rang all of a sudden in my pocket and my body tensed up at its sudden vibration.
Looking at the screen, I realized that it was Enrique. I definitely don't want to ignore this call because who knows what he'll do.
"Hello?" I said sweetly.
"Hello Tiffany. How's that KFC ?" He said trying to sound calm but he was definitely pissed off.
I got up and folded my legs. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play games with me! You think I don't know that you're with that douchebag David and his little band of rebels?" he yelled.
"Kyu and the others aren't rebels, and if anyone is a douchebag, it's you Enrique," my words we're stinging but they were under the guise of a kind and gentle voice. I appeared calm, but I could feel my heart beating against my rib cage so hard, I felt like it could push me back.
My eyes caught a hint of silver out of the corner of my eye. I squinted my eyes and what I saw almost made my heart stop. I saw a car, and judging by the tail lights it was a Mustang, parked across the street.
My gasp of horror was met by Enrique's snicker of arrogance. "Heh, see you around. Have fun with those misfits while it lasts," and then he raced off into the night.
As the scream of the V8 became faint, the call ended and I got a text message from him. "Be of use to me for once and show them this," it said, followed by three pictures of a car.
I took a good look at it. From the plate number, I could tell it was Enrique's. But surprisingly, it wasn't silver anymore. It was black and on the side was the number '1000' in white, and the words 'SHELBY' in small red letters inside the numbers. I didn't know what it meant, but I felt like I had to tell the others.
"So much for a picnic,"I sighed.
"Guys! Guys!" I panted when I returned to the garage.
Everyone was probably wondering, "she looks like she saw a ghost."
"Hey," David said with a caring tone and holding my hands ever so gently. "What's wrong?"
"He... He knows... He knows I'm here...," I murmured.
His eyes widened with fear. Everyone wondered what we were talking about.
"Hey guys, is everything okay?" George asked.
I shook my head. "Enrique found us. And look!" I showed them the picture of the car.
Out of all the people, Kyu and the Luvendass family had the keenest eyes when it came to identifying cars.
A few moments passed, Celeste sighed and quietly growled "Shit..."
"Why? What's wrong?" I wondered.
Celeste looked at everybody before she began her explanation, "Enrique upgraded his car," she said, "Before his car could do 600 horsepower... Now... Now it can do 1000."
I could feel everyone getting tense from this revelation. What were we going to do?
"Kyu," David called, "We haven't placed an order on a turbo yet, right?"
The pinkette shook her head.
"Good. Because I'm sure now," he smirked.
Mr. Luvendass stepped into the conversation. "What turbo do you have in mind?"
"How about the Precision 6870 Gen2," he said.
Celeste and Armin began to smirk too, as if David's was like a contagious disease. "You built the engine to take more than 30psi of boost pressure, riiiight?" David teased.
"Mmmhmmmm...," Celeste said innocently, looking up at the ceiling.
Honestly, what in the world are they talking about?
"Okay everyone, let's call it a day for now. Dave and I are gonna make a call to order that turbocharger. We get that, we can put everything together," she said before she added, "Thanks again for the help!"
Whatever that turbo does, it's the last piece of this huge (and very expensive) jigsaw puzzle that we are trying to put together.
David's POV
Date: March 7, 2016 9:15AM
Location: Community Lounge, University of Glenberry, Glenberry, California
All of us, minus Tiffany and Armin, were watching a bunch of recordings of us assembling the car. Tiffany and Kat took turns with the camera which explained the slightly shaky videos.
All of a sudden, my laptop was lifted up and dropped by a certain jock, "HEY! WHAT THE FUCK MAN!?"
My MSI Titan GT80 fell back onto the table with a thud. The delicate hardware inside is most likely toast from the impact.
"I heard you're upgrading that beater you call a car," he said smugly.
I said nothing and just closed the screen. There is no use in dealing with this big, dumb animal.
But he decided to take one step further. "Hey Walters, since you're half Asian, how'd you be friends with a White supremacist like Gunnerson over here."
Just as he said that, I finished drinking out of a paper cup. When he went and insulted my friend, I pounded the table with my hand holding the now crushed paper cup.
"Now you listen here, fuck boy!" I stood up and got on his face.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Kyu got up as well, sensing that thing were about to get tense.
I looked him straight in the eyes, not backing down even though he was taller than me. Jabbing his chest with a finger, I said, "mess with me? Fine. But don't you EVER talk shit about my family and friends. 'Cause I will make you pay!".
"Heh. How about you try and beat me with that clunker when it rolls out of Luvendass' garage," Enrique crossed his arms.
I didn't move. "Anytime. Anyplace. Just be ready to get smoked!"
"Deal," I said almost immediately. He extended a hand, offering it to shake it.
I hesitated for a bit before I shook it. But he pulled me in and whispered. "Why don't we put our cars on the line? Winner gets the keys the loser's car," in my ear.
"What are you gonna do? Scrap it? Fat chance, chump," I fired back at him.
He scoffed as he let go of my hand. Then he looked at my friends and left without saying anything else.
"Are you crazy!?" Celeste almost yelled.
"Cel, calm down. I have an idea." I held her by the shoulder. "Do you have any friends in your course?".
"Yeah. Wait, I think I know where your getting at," she said.
I did the same. "Good. When do you think they can come to the garage?"
My mechanic thought of it and then she replied, "they can come later this afternoon."
I breathed a sigh of relief, maybe we'll make it after all, "George and I will see if there's anybody who might want to help us in our course."
Juli was watching everything unfold, spoke up. "I'll do the same."
"Thanks," I replied.
Date: March 7, 2016 5:34PM
Location: Luvendass Garage, Glenberry International Industrial Park, Glenberry, California
George and I went ahead before the girls. Celeste, Armin, and a number of her friends were already at the garage.
"Hey guys," we said in unison by accident.
"'Sup guys," Celeste replied while pushing a toolbox mounted on a wheeler. "Did you manage to get any help?"
I went to help Celeste with whatever it was she's doing. "Yeah, we did. But there's so many of them that we couldn't carpool. So I gave them the address to this place and they'll take their own transport here."
"Ah, okay. Here hold this," she said going to work.
Then out of sheer randomness, I started humming 'Red Like Roses' from RWBY. George recognized the song and asked me.
"You watch RWBY too?" I nodded while softly singing the chorus. I stopped singing and said, "though I am pissed at how Volume 3 ended."
"Me, too. Fuck Cinder Fall," he said bitterly.
I looked away from the engine bay and looked at him. "You too?" I asked and he nodded.
"I honestly hope Jaune goes Kratos on her ass," I commented and he replied in agreement to that.
Celeste moved her head out of the engine bay. "By the way, did you bring everything you need to spend the night here?"
"It's all in the back," George pointed to his Tahoe.
Later in the day, Juli and Kat arrived. The former managed to get some Computer Engineering students to join her at Armin's request to help him with the AEM Infinity Engine Management System.
And since we were still students, we took time off from assembling the car to do our homework. This was a lot easier when you have other people. Because of that, we got it done in record time which gave us more time to work on the car.
Except for Juli, George, Kat, Celeste, Armin and myself, everyone else went home at around 10 but they promised to come to the garage to help.
Date: March 12, 2016 7:04AM
Location: Luvendass Garage, Glenberry International Industrial Park, Glenberry, California
With each passing day, the Fairlady Z was starting to look like a functioning car again. Although now it was painted in a shiny new coat of Orange instead of White. Some of the body panels were already in place, but not all of them. The interior was about 75% done. The electronics were complete, the dashboard had the new tachometer, and the speedometer was in place
While Celeste and I were installing the turbo along with the intake and exhaust manifolds, I heard a familiar horn from outside the garage. Celeste held the turbo in place while she said, "go ahead!".
Outside I saw a familiar car, a red Honda Civic. And inside? Two very familiar people.
"Hey champ!" My dad opened his arms. I went up to him and we hugged.
When we let go, my mom looked at me as if she had seen me with stains on my shirt, "Wow, I never saw you this grimy before."
"Aww, c'mon mom!" I whined jokingly. "Let's go!"
Everyone worked around-the-clock to finally finish the car. According to Mr. Luvendass, if me, my friends, family and everyone we got to help us work hard through the day, we could be done by tonight. So we decided to start early and work our asses off.
I was working on the inside of the car with Tiffany for most of that morning.
"Hey Tiff, how were you able to leave your apartment?" I asked.
"I asked Miss Sullivan to tell him I'm out of town because of an emergency," she replied.
While I installed the auxiliary gauges, which consisted of a new Fuel Level, Oil Pressure and Water Temperature gauge which will be placed in the spot where the original gauges used to be.
"Can you get the shift knob?" I asked her.
The blonde cheerleader got up from her original spot outside the car and looked into the interior. She walked towards a table I set up where all the parts I was going to install were.
I picked up the can of Monster I placed on the dashboard and pulled the tab with fizz. Note to self: Find a place to put cup holders in the Z to spare myself the trouble of cleaning up any potential mess from spilled drinks.
What was taking her so long? I stepped out of the car and I walked up to the table.
She was examining the MOMO NERO R-VERSION shift knob which was supposed to go on the Z1 Short Throw Shifter which was already installed on the Borg-Warner transmission.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked.
She tilted her head as continued to scrutinize the piece of metal and leather. "This is really cool."
"C'mon Tiff, I need to install that," I said, my hand extended for her to give it back.
But she kept it to herself, forcing me to try and take it from her. Why the hell was she acting like a kid? Then she tried to hold it above her head. I tried to jump but I couldn't reach it.
"Come and get it then," she said before she stuck out her tongue and ran off.
As she turned to the left and behind my car, I climbed out of the seat and gave chase.
"Tiffany Maye!" I yelled as I followed her. She giggled when I said her name as I chased her through the garage.
Celeste stopped what she was doing and yelled, "hey, cut it out you two!"
Then she went outside. I continued my hot pursuit of her and the shift knob. But suddenly, she lost her grip on it.
"OUCH!" she yelped as she twisted her ankle. My eyes widened in shock.
"Tiff!" I yelled as I ran towards her.
Upon closer inspection I saw that her ankle didn't really show any traces of being sprang, but it was clear that she was in pain. When I carried her bridal-style back into the garage, everyone started looking at us.
"Woah, she okay?" Kyu asked.
I looked at Tiffany's ankle for a moment before I answered, "yeah, she just twisted her ankle."
The pinkette crossed her arms and said, "maybe we should let Tiff rest."
"I agree."
We let Tiffany lie down on the couch to rest. Juliette, being the caring woman that she is, decided to check on her ankle. All while reprimanding her like a mother would her naughty child. The two ended up laughing in the end.
I decided to dip her ankle in ice-cold water to ease the pain.
"Come here Tiff," I told her as she moved to the edge of the couch. The basin of ice water, ready on the floor.
The blonde smiled awkwardly, "I'm fine Dave, really."
"We can't afford Enrique to know about that. Who knows what he'll do to either of us," I said.
She whined but finally said "Fine" in defeat.
She tried to put her foot into the water, but as soon as it brushed the surface she immediately lifted it up.
"Oh my God, that's cold," she shrieked. But eventually, she dipped it in all the way and numbing sensation began to settle into her ankle.
When I went back to work on the interior, George was on the passenger seat as if he was waiting for me.
"Hey man, that was really sweet. What you did for Tiffany," he said as he nudged my shoulder.
I look at him with a small smile. "She said it didn't hurt, but I didn't want her to risk being found out by Enrique. And besides... she my friend. She's always been since I was 6."
Then he asked a question that feared he would eventually ask, "if by some miracle Tiffany breaks up with Enrique, would you go out with her?"
I stopped what I was doing and looked at him straight in the eyes. "What are you playing at, Gunnerson?" I said suspiciously.
He merely laughed, "what? I was just presenting a 'what if' question."
"Well, 'what if' is different from 'what is'," I retorted, "That's how I live my life. Face reality as it is and don't surround yourself with 'what ifs' and 'I wish'."
Then George placed a hand on my back. "What if I told you your 'what ifs' and 'I wish' can become reality? All you gotta do is believe and work to make it happen."
I sighed. "Whatever man. Let's just finish this thing."
Date: March 12, 2016 4:21PM
Location: Luvendass Garage, Glenberry International Industrial Park, Glenberry, California
Finally, after months of working, the car was done. The engine, transmission, suspension, interior and body were all finished. All that was missing now were the wheels.
I stood in front of the car, eyes wide and mouth agape. It looked totally different from what it used to look like nearly three months ago. The Z looked wider and more aggressive to accommodate the monstrous engine that resided within the currently open engine bay.
Leaning forward, I examined the said engine bay closely. The wires were tucked so only the actual engine, turbo and other parts that enthusiasts ought to see were displayed prominently.
On the front of the Cylinder Head, there was a plaque that had the following text printed onto it:
Luvendass Garage
Glenberry, California, U.S.A.
Built by Celeste Luvendass
Celeste's signature was engraved over her name.
"I see you've spotted my little 'Seal of Quality' there," she said.
"Oh yes. Yes I did," I smirked.
Then Celeste went around to the driver side and said, "here's another thing you might not have seen yet."
So I followed her as she pointed to the driver side of the roof. There was writing that appeared to be stenciled with white paint.
"Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind der Jäger."
"Is that German?" George joined the conversation and asked.
Celeste looked at him, "Yup. I bet you know what it means."
"No I don't," I chuckled.
She facepalmed. "Oh c'mon. You watch 'Attack on Titan', right? It's the first line of the opening song."
"Yeah, but what does it mean?" I reiterated the question.
"It's German for 'Are we the prey? No, we are the hunters.'" she answered.
"I like that," George said before taking a swig of his water.
Then Mr. Luvendass arrived. "Coming through," he said rolling a wheel. Juli, my Dad and Armin were right behind him and they too were rolling a wheel along the ground.
"Time to give this sexy lady a pair of stilettos!" Juli said as she passed her wheel to me.
I readied a lug wrench as she mounted the wheel. She made sure that the holes on the rims lined up with the holes on brake rotor.
Mounting the wheel manually was exhausting, as the rims had four lug nuts. But I eventually got it in place.
While I was waiting for the others to finish and for the signal to lower the hydraulic jack, I took a second to examine the rims and tires.
We were using custom-made, 18-inch rims based on the VOLK RACING TE37 SL and TE37V MARK-II. It's lightweight like the SL, but deep-dished like the MARK-II. The spokes were colored "Pressed Graphite" while the outer rim was colored grey. A red spoke sticker that said "VOLK RACING|RAYS ENGINEERING" was applied to one spoke, while another one that said "TE37V SL" was applied to a spoke across from where the first sticker was.
And all four of them were mounted on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, widely considered to be one of the best street-legal performance tires. Users have often commented that the grip it provides is similar to that of racing slicks while being comfortable enough for everyday driving.
I heard three voices say "Clear!" at random intervals which means that the other wheels have been mounted and the car was ready to set be lowered back to solid ground.
George got the lever for the jack and plugged it into the pressure release valve. He waited until everyone else was ready.
"Okay guys, nice and easy. We don't want the underchassis to hit the floor," Mr. Luvendass told them.
The car was slowly lowered and when it hit the ground, everyone clapped and cheered. But getting the car on the ground without falling apart was just the beginning.
Right away we got to work doing one last inspection before our first attempt at firing up the engine.
Fuel? Check. Engine break-in fluid? Check. Engine oil? Ready. Transmission fluid? Check. Yup. We were all set.
The engine bay was kept open at all times in the event of a malfunction or fire which I hope neither will happen.
I was in the driver seat when George came up to me. He had my 4K camcorder with him and was going to record the Fairlady's first ignition.
"Hey man, anything you wanna say before you fire up the engine?" he asked.
"I just hope it doesn't blow up," I laughed.
"I heard that!" Celeste yelled from the side.
We did a fistbump before he left and resumed recording. He positioned the camera so that both the engine bay and myself were in the frame.
"You ready Dave?" Tiffany asked, her toe no longer causing her any discomfort.
"Ready!" I gave everyone the thumbs up.
As I gripped the keys in the keyhole, I took a deep breath before I turned it to the "Ignition" position. The engine emitted a sound that indicated that it was able to start. The crankshaft gained momentum and the engine came to life.
Cheers and laughter filled the garage as my father, Celeste and her father shook hands with one another. I got out of the car and hugged Tiffany. George and Juli did the same.
Celeste, in a mix of joy and pride, got on her knees and yelled "IT'S ALIIIIIVE!" in the most dramatic way possible followed by an equally dramatic evil laugh, which made us laugh so hard our sides hurt.
But she quickly got up and retained her composure like nothing happened.
"You're like that guy in the Squidward costume that did a dab in the middle of a parade," I said.
While she was wiping her hands with a cloth, she said, "I heard that guy was actually fired for doing that."
"Really? If I was his boss, I'd give him a raise. To hell with protocol," I chuckled.
"C'mon, we gotta check the electricals," she said approaching the idling car.
All the electronics were in perfect working order. The lights, power windows and door locks, air conditioner. The fun part was testing the sound system. The old head unit was replaced by Pioneer infotainment system which has a 7-inch screen that flips out from the slot and all the old, barely working speakers were replaced with Kicker speakers. I played some music while everyone was eating an early dinner prepare by my mom and Mrs. Luvendass before everyone went back home.
"You wanna take it home?" Celeste asked.
I put down my drink and said, "not yet, I'll take it home after we test it at Laguna Seca tomorrow."
Then I heard Tiffany on her phone behind me. It sounded like she was arguing with someone.
Kat came up to me and said only one thing, but it was all I needed to hear for me to understand what was going on. "Enrique."
I don't know what came over me, but I decided enough is enough. "Tiff, give me your phone."
Impatient, I snatched her phone while she was in the middle of the conversation. Surely enough, Enrique's name was on the screen.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" she yelled.
"Teaching your asshole boyfriend some manners."
I put the handset against my ear. "Hola Ricky," I said while trying to resist the urge to puke.
"I recognize that voice," he said on the other end of the line.
Without him knowing, I enabled the speakerphone so that everyone can hear him.
"Don't you know it's rude to take someone's phone while they're taking a call?" he said smugly.
"Don't you know being a possessive and manipulative boyfriend makes you a douchebag?" I shot back and everyone stifled a laugh that luckily he didn't hear.
Enrique didn't like that one bit. "Watch it, pendejo!".
Luckily I knew a bit of Spanish. "Oho! Me? Pendejo!? That's rich coming from you! Coercing the cheerleaders to sign that stupid petition, and you have the cajones to call me an asshole!"
"You better remember who you're talking to, Walters!"
"Or what? You gonna get your daddy's help? How about we settle this like men?" I said, "I just finished the working on my car. You still down for a race at the Circuit of the Americas next week? I win, you back off from Tiffany and the cheerleaders, plus I get the keys to your Mustang!"
The quarterback replied, "deal. But if I win, you hand over the keys to that junk you call a car. I'll have it scrapped, melted down and all the precious metals I'll get from it will be used for my wedding ring for Tiffany."
The look on my childhood friend's face was one of pure shock and horror. "A wedding ring!?" she must have thought to herself.
"Deal, see you next week. And Enrique?"
"What?"
"Chingate! (Fuck you!)" I said and ended the call.
The whole room was silent from the argument that they just witnessed. Celeste was the first one to respond.
"Dave… What were you thinking," she asked in shock. "You're seriously going to bet your car, the car that all of us worked so hard to build?"
I gave the phone back to Tiffany. "Think about it Cel: Enrique's Mustang might have a bit more horsepower, but the Z is much lighter. We can outmaneuver him in the turns and we can get up to speed quicker than him."
Kyu, who was with the people who volunteered to help, approached us.
"But Dave you gotta remember, Enrique will do everything to make sure you don't pass him," she said worriedly. "And this is Circuit of the Americas we're talking about. It's a much more open track compared to Laguna Seca."
"I know, but you gotta trust me. I know I can beat him," I pleaded.
Everyone looked at each other, but not at me. They murmured a bit but for the most part, the garage was quiet.
Then Celeste looked at me. She sighed before she smiled. "Okay Dave, I agree. Let's kick his butt!".
Everyone cheered in agreement. After dinner that night, most of the volunteers and my parents went home. I left the Fairlady to the Luvendass for the night so that Mr. Luvendass can test it first thing in the morning before I take it out for a spin at Laguna Seca.
Please review if you can. Let me know if I "still got it" after all these months, it'll help get me back into the habit.
Kh0ldstare out.