All day I have been thinking about tonight. Luckily there was not a lot going on in any of my classes, because I was not fully paying attention. During Japanese class I couldn't look Dr. Sean in the eyes. I was relieved when he had us split up into pairs to practice greetings and directions with each other. I could focus on Victor.
I walked out of the locker room to see Nathan and Gabriel leaning up against the wall across the hall. I saw Meanie eyeing up my hair. Per his request, I tried not to get it messed up during the day. By the look on his face I would say I didn't do a very good job. He let out a huff of breath and said "what the fuck am I supposed to do about that?" Nathan slapped the back of Meanie's head. "What the hell Gabe, way to make her feel good. I think she looks great." Meanie rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall. He grabbed for my hand and started walking down the hall. Once we were passed the locker rooms Gabriel let go of my hand and we just walked side by side.
Nathan followed right behind us. "Where are we going Gabe? We are supposed to bring her right out to the parking lot."
Gabriel waved his free hand around in the air. "I know Nate, but I can't let her go out like this. I need to find an empty bathroom to freshen her up." We finally stopped outside of a boy's bathroom and with a shake of his head Nathan went in while Meanie and I waited outside. The door opened enough for Nathan to stick his head out and nod it once. I followed them into the bathroom and heard Nathan lock the door behind us.
Gabriel was already rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out a small spritzer bottle and a comb. He held the handle of the comb in his teeth as he filled the bottle with water from the sink. He eyed me up and jerked his head, indicating for me to come closer. I stood in front of him, facing the mirror and he immediately got to work on my hair.
He spritzed, combed and curled the ends of my hair around a pen to give it a little bounce. Nathan was typing on his phone and I guessed he was letting Dr. Sean know what was happening.
After running his hands through the ends of my hair a few more times he stepped back and put his hands on his hips. "I think it looks pretty fucking good." Nathan looked up and locked eyes with me.
"For the record, Peanut, I thought it looked good the whole time. But Gabe's right, it looks really good. Doc's waiting by his car."
Gabriel put everything back in his bag and hefted it over his shoulder. We walked out into the hallway and the school was deserted. We walked pretty much in silence to the side parking lot, scanning the few cars that were left for Dr. Sean. He was there, leaning against a black car. His head was down, looking at his phone, but as we got closer he lifted his head. As soon as he spotted us he grinned like I always imagined the Cheshire cat looked when I read Alice in Wonderland.
He opened the passenger door so I could quickly get in. We didn't want to be seen hanging out by a teacher's car for too long, even though it seemed like all of the kids were gone already. As soon as I was in, he closed the door behind me and nodded at Nathan and Gabriel. They nodded back and both walked towards the student parking where one of the other guys was waiting.
Dr. Sean practically hopped into his seat. "Hi Pookie!" The grin was back. "Are you ready?"
I couldn't help but smile back. "What are we going to do?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked. We will start the night out with some go karting, followed by some dinner…what's wrong Sang?" His grin was gone and a look of concern covered his face. I was surprised by his question so I didn't answer right away. "Your eyes got really big and you tensed up a little when I mentioned the go-karts. Have you ever done it? We can do something else."
I was shaking my head as soon as I realized why he was concerned. "No, no I'm ok. I just have never done it before and I have never driven anything before." I let my sentence fall, unsure what else to say.
Dr. Sean smiled again, visibly letting out a breath. "No worries Pookster. It has a track so the worst that can happen is you run into the walls." I giggled at his new nickname for me. "There, that's what I was looking for." He grabbed for my hand and pulled out of the parking lot. "We have to go a little out of the way, can't have any Ashley Waters hoodlums hanging out at the same go-kart track as us and seeing a teacher with a student." He grimaced at the end of his sentence but then shook his head slightly. "This job is interfering with all of my fun." He mumbled the last bit and I almost missed it. What else would he want to do if it wasn't for the job at the school?
The rest of the drive went by really fast. Dr. Sean was always talking about something. Talking to him was easy, he went from one topic to the next, asking me questions without making me feel uncomfortable about my answers.
I saw signs for downtown Charleston, so we must be going to the other side of the city. We ended up on a highway in a smaller town. Tucked between two car dealerships was the go-kart track. I saw two separate tracks and a small building in the corner of a parking lot. There were two other cars in the parking lot and I didn't see anyone near the cars. Maybe we would have the track to ourselves. That would be nice, then I wouldn't have to worry about hitting someone else with my car.
We got out of the car and walked into the building. One older guy was sitting behind a counter. He had a short sleeve blue button up shirt that was grease stained. He smiled when we walked in and stood up. "Afternoon. Here to race?" Dr. Sean put an arm around my shoulders and nodded. "Sure are. This is my girlfriend's first time, can we give her the fastest go-kart?" The guy behind the counter looked at me as he chuckled. "I'll have Rob set her up with the best one out there." He winked at me "I can make sure your boyfriend has one that stalls out half way through if you want."
Before I could respond Sean drew me closer to him and said "Hey! Let's not push it here. I don't want to lose the race and my pride."
We were sent out to the first track, where another guy was sitting in one of the go-karts. "Hiya folks. Bud radioed me that you were coming out. Seems I'm supposed to set the lady up with the fastest in my fleet." He hopped out of the car and held his hand out to Sean, who took it in his hand to shake.
Rob went to a small cabinet by the benches and took out two black helmets. He held them out to us, Sean taking his and mine. He put his helmet on his head and then turned to face me. He lifted the helmet above my head and started to lower it down. He paused just as I felt it touching the top of my head. He whispered "Gabe is going to kill me when he finds out I am giving you helmet hair on our date." He winked at me and plopped the helmet all the way down on my head.
