Chapter 1: Rikki's First Challenge

Rikki Chadwick continued to stare out the window of her dad's old pickup truck. The scenery had been fairly dull so far and the rusty, old trailer park wasn't any better. Her dad stopped at what looked like the smallest trailer in the park. Just perfect.

"This is it!" Terry exclaimed as he stepped out of the car and held his arms up as if he was displaying the small, rusted home as a lost treasure. "Home, Sweet Home."

"For now at least," Rikki's mother, Shelia mumbled. "You know the only reason we moved all the way out here was so you could get a job where you make more money and we could get a nicer home."

"Of course, love." Terry said as he took a few steps forward and kissed his wife. "We'll be out of here in no time."

Rikki rolled her eyes. She really didn't like either of her parents. Her dad was good at heart but she reckoned he wasn't cut out to be a parent. She couldn't remember the last time he remembered her birthday or school graduations. She had spent a Father's Day in school alone one year because he had forgotten the important event. He also had a temper she likely inherited that cost him job after job. Her mother was as cold as ice. Rikki thought she must not be the daughter her mother imagined having. She wanted a girl who would play with dolls and put bows in her hair. She wanted a daughter who would wear dresses constantly, not the baggy t-shirt and sweatpants she currently wore. She had also been brought up in a family with lots of money and seemed frustrated they couldn't plant a money tree in their backyard. For someone who cared about money so much, she never worked or tried to get a job of her own. What a winning combination they were.

"What do you think, Rikki?" Terry asked his daughter.

"It's a bit small but..." Rikki started. "I'm sure it will feel like home soon." She tried to stay optimistic, she had to stay positive.

"Don't get too comfy, Rikki." Her mother warned her. "We won't be here for long, I'll make sure of it."

"I think I'm going to go find a race track." Rikki said. "It's not like we have much to unpack."

Shelia looked like she was going to say something before Terry gave his daughter his stamp of approval. Rikki reckoned she was a daddy's girl.

Some of Rikki's earliest memories consisted of helping her dad repair an old Harley motorcycle. He was a mechanic after all. She had so much fun helping him with it, she asked for a bike herself nearly everyday. Her family never had much money but she was thrilled to see her dad exiting their garage with a motocross bike a few days after her seventh birthday (of course he had forgotten her birthday). Her mum had yelled at him for getting her the bike but Rikki couldn't care less. She started competing with the boys later that year, it wasn't like there were any girls leagues nearby. Her learning curve wasn't as quick as theirs but she had won a championship in nearly every town they lived in. She supposed she might be scouted if they had managed to stay in one place for longer than a year.

It was freeing to have the wind blowing in her hair. Her helmet stayed rested on her handlebars and her suit was safely stored in her backpack. She sped past two girls, one with dark, curly hair and tanned skin and the other with golden, blonde, straight hair. She doubted they would know where the racetrack was but they looked at least approachable.

"Hey," Rikki shouted after them as she brought her bike to a stop. The dark haired girl still looked inviting but the blonde girl gave her a glare. "Do you guys happen to know where the racetrack is?"

"Yeah," the dark haired girl responded. "Just follow the shore and take a right at the track sign. You can't miss it."

"Thanks." Rikki replied as she went to speed off to the track.

"You might want to put your helmet on." The blonde girl said. "For safety."

Rikki rolled her eyes and placed her helmet on her head. She gave the girl a shrug and then sped off to the tracks.

The dark haired girl had been right, it was easy to find. Rikki thought she might like this track more than her previous one, it had several different routes of various difficulties, she could really train however she wanted. She found a stall she thought was open, shed her backpack and went to take her helmet off before she was rudely interrupted.

"You think this is your stall, mate?" A boy with light brown hair asked her.

"I don't see anyone else in here." Rikki told him. There were several bikes zooming past them, she hoped he heard her with her helmet on. She knew the mouthpiece muffled her voice and made it deeper.

"Smart guy, huh?" The boy said as he walked into the stall. "Tell you what, I'm not unreasonable. I'll race you for it if you want. Only one guy here has ever beaten me."

"Deal." Rikki said. "But I need to use this stall to change into my gear so shoo."

The boy scoffed at her before leaving. Once he was out of sight, Rikki removed her helmet and changed into her racing suit. She supposed it wasn't as new and flashy as the boy's had been but she preferred her subtlety to his obnoxious, yellow suit. She had gotten the same black suit over and over again.

Rikki exited the stall and rode her bike up to the starting line were the boy was. It looked like he had made this race all but official, writing his name on that track's racing board.

"Add your name and then we'll get started." He told her. Rikki turned around and wrote her name beneath his. His name was Nate, she noted. She guessed it would be nice to know his name so she could avoid him in the future. Rikki had never had a boyfriend but she knew she'd never date a guy in motocross. They were all jerks.

"All right, gents." A man said once she had written her name on the board and mounted her bike. "You'll need to complete one lap on my count. Whoever makes it back to the finish line wins the stall. On three, one...two..."

The number "two" had barely exited the boy's lips before Nate took off. Rikki lifted her feet and took after the boy. She also knew his bike was nicer and newer than hers. He could objectively go faster than she could but she just needed to outsmart him. She hadn't won any race by having the nicest bike, it was always her brains that had helped her. The track was pretty standard with several hills and twists. This guy at the least wasn't a beginner, he would have fallen off his bike less than halfway through the race.

Rikki stayed just behind him a majority of the race. She spotted a sharp turn coming up and she knew she could throw him with it. Sharp turns were always her strength. Rikki took the inside and nearly let her shoulder touch the dirt beneath her, forcing Nate to take the longer outside track. She took the lead on him and sped to the finish line knowing she had won the stall.

Nate sped into the finish line just moments later, hanging his head before he flung his helmet on the ground.

"Good race." Rikki told him as she extended her hand. She was confused when he didn't shake it. Was he that bad of a sport? It was just a stall after all, she probably wouldn't use it for the rest of the day and then he could grab it tomorrow if he got there before she did.

"Do you want to ride some laps again?" She asked.

"Seriously, mate?" Nate asked as he took his bike off the track. "I've got to clean out my stall thanks to you."

How long could that take? Rikki wondered. She shrugged it off as she mounted her bike and rode around the track until sundown. She didn't see Nate or any of his friends for the rest of the day. They really were sore losers.

Rikki took her bike back to the stall. She took her track suit off and wasn't surprised to see her loose shirt and long pants were covered in sweat. It wasn't unusual for that to happen to her, especially after spending all day on the track.

Rikki stuffed her suit in her backpack and placed her helmet on her handlebars as she was ready to take off for the night. She'd surely be back here tomorrow.

"Where are you going?" She heard a voice from behind her. She turned around to see an older man who looked like an employee of the racetrack. He had on an old, plaid shirt with the name Henry stitched above his left pocket. She wondered what he meant. Could she not leave?

"What do you mean?" Rikki asked.

"I mean you won that stall." Henry said. "First girl I've ever seen do it. I'd use it before your luck runs out."

Rikki looked back at the stall she had just exited. It didn't look any different from before aside from the fact that her name was now written above it. It was a permanent stall? No wonder the boy named Nate had been so upset.

"I won it?" Rikki asked. "I don't have any money to pay-"

"We don't charge for those two stalls." Henry told her. "You get them by winning. Those two boys held them for a while, I'm sure he'll be back to challenge you for it again. We have high security here, leave whatever you'd like."

"Thanks." Rikki said as she took her bike and other belongings back to her stall. She thought these things would be safer here than at her new home. Her world would come crumbling down if someone ever stole or harmed her bike. She placed her phone, wallet and keys in her pocket and left everything else in the stall. As she stepped out of the stall, she wondered who had the other winning stall.

"Zane Bennett." She said aloud as she read his name off the center most stall.

"He's the current city champion." Henry told her. "Born and raised here in Gold Coast, his family is one of the richest in town. Between you and me, the kid's a bit of a jerk. I'm sure you can take him, but just be on the look out."

"Thanks." Rikki said to Henry.

"No problem," he said. "Feel free to come back here any time. I'd love to see more girls at my track."

Rikki nodded as she headed home. She could hear her parents bickering nearly a mile away. Rikki wanted to turn around and just live at the track. The man who worked there seemed nice and she could just ride her bike and be free. Plus, she had her own stall now. She felt like a prisoner in her own home.

Rikki decided to avoid the argument and found the back door of the home. She appeared in her kitchen but thankfully she noticed her room was just off of the kitchen. She curled up on the floor and pulled the small blanket and pillow over her head, hoping to drown out her parents' yells and screams.

Yes, life at the track would be much better than this.

AN: I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter! I've been re-watching the show and I was just really frustrated with Rikki's role in the episode "The One That Got Away", particularly how she acted at the track. She's such a bad ass feminist, I love the idea of her being so active in a male dominated sport. I have also never raced in motocross so I've tried to research the terms and what not but I may still be wrong about things so please forgive me if you do have experience in this sport and I'm off on some stuff.

I think for a schedule, I'll be posting a new chapter every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday so be on the look out! I'm super excited for this story and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!