Chapter 2: The Invincible Zane Bennett
Zane Bennett woke up stretched across his king-sized bed. He inhaled the scent of the sheets knowing the maid had cleaned them yesterday. He was annoyed he had to spend all day yesterday helping his dad with a gala but he would be free all day today. He could meet up with his best mate, Nate, and ride their bikes on the motocross tracks.
Zane really didn't like either of his parents. His dad was distant and often treated Zane like a slave rather than a son. Anytime Zane did well on a school project or won a motocross tournament, his dad would barely blink an eye. He seemed to forget Zane existed unless he absolutely needed him. Maybe that was why Harrison had left his son in the South Pacific a few years ago. He had a great relationship with his mother. She was the one who bought him a bike for his seventh birthday so long ago, simply because she knew boys his age liked them. Zane hadn't cared much at first but then found that he liked riding his bike and he liked racing. He was a natural, finding his way to the top of the leaderboard at nearly every race. His mum had come and cheered him on at every competition. That was until his parents told him they were divorcing and that he would be living with his father. He had begged to go along with his mum but she seemed resistant to the idea. He hardly heard from her, aside from the cards and checks she'd send him for birthdays and Christmas. She had a new family of her own to worry about.
Zane shook the negative thoughts of his parents as he got ready for the day. He grabbed his helmet on the way out and rode his bike to the tracks. He'd surely find Nate there, Zane was usually the last one to arrive. He relished in the feeling of the ocean breeze in his hair and on his face. Life on his bike was an escape from the harsh, real world.
Zane took the right turn to enter the track when he saw Nate riding up with all his gear. Since when did Nate take all his gear home? He and Nate had the champion's stalls, that's where all of Zane's stuff was. What in the world was going on?
"Nate," Zane called for his friend. "What's the matter with you? Why do you have all your stuff?"
"I lost a race yesterday." Nate said.
"What?" Zane replied bringing his bike to a stop. He knew the terms, you could race for one of the champion's stalls and the winner would take ownership of the stall. Still, no one had beaten the two friends in a long time.
"Yeah, I don't want to talk about it." Nate said. "Let's just go."
"Who was it?" Zane asked, ignoring his friend.
"Some new bloke." Nate told. "His name is Rikki."
Rikki, Zane noted. There was some new guy in town trying to steal their long standing titles? Was this guy better than Zane? Surely not. Zane needed to find out though. Those stalls belonged to him and Nate.
"Come on, let's go look." Zane said. "If the guy isn't here, we can just use his stall."
"Yeah, all right." Nate said with a smile as he hopped back on his bike and rode into the track with Zane.
As they pulled up to the stalls, they did indeed find someone was in the outermost one. Zane could see him behind his bike, maybe checking the tire pressure.
"Wait here." Zane told Nate. "This won't take long."
Zane pulled his bike into his stall and hopped off. Maybe he could race the guy and get Nate's spot back. He knew that wasn't exactly how the stalls worked but what the old owner didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
"Hey, mate." Zane said as he entered the stall. He was surprised to see a girl stand up from behind the bike. She was wearing a black tank top and black denim shorts. She was very pretty, he noted with her curly, blonde hair, blue eyes and ruby red lips. She moved from behind the bike to stand beside it.
"What is it?" The girl asked him.
"I um... well I guess I'm looking for your boyfriend, Rikki?" Zane told her. The girl laughed back at him as she grabbed a wrench from the tool box beside her.
"I am Rikki." She said. "And you are?"
"You're..." Zane started. "Wait, you're Rikki?"
"Yeah." She said. "Do you need to see my birth certificate or something?"
"I...no." Zane replied. Nate really lost to a girl? This had to be some mistake.
"You still haven't answered my question," Rikki said as she bent down to work on her engine. "Who are you?"
"I'm Zane." He said. "Zane Bennett."
"Oh, so you're my stall mate." Rikki said. Right, that's what he came into here to talk to her about.
"Right, well that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Zane started. "See this is my mate, Nate's stall. He paid for it."
"Really?" Rikki asked, taking her attention away from her bike. "That's not what the owner told me last night."
Zane sighed. "The owner is crazy."
"He also told me to watch out for you." Rikki said. Of course he did, Zane thought.
"Look, the rules are the rules." Rikki continued as she resumed work on her bike. "But I'll gladly race your friend Nate for his stall again."
Zane shook his head. This girl was ridiculous. Why couldn't she just give up what had always been there's? Why did she need this stall anyway? Everyone at the track knew he and Nate ruled the field. They constantly came in first and second in races, who did this girl think she was? Zane could tell Nate was upset from his loss, he doubted he'd want to race again. But Zane could race Rikki, he was itching to as a matter of fact.
"Why don't you race me instead?" Zane said, puffing out his chest.
"Race you?" Rikki asked in response. "What would I get in return? Two stalls?"
"That's not a bad idea." Zane said. "How about double or nothing? You win, you get both stalls. If I win I get both and I'll give this one back to Nate."
Rikki looked like she was thinking about the terms of the deal he had just proposed. Zane wouldn't know why she'd need two stalls but he supposed she wasn't just going to give Nate's stall up. Zane won nearly every race he competed in. He hadn't lost since he was eight years old. He could take this girl on, easy.
"Fine." Rikki finally responded. She stood from her bike and reached her hand out to shake his. "You're on. I'll meet you on the track in a few minutes."
"Fine." Zane replied as he walked back to his own stall, changing into his orange suit and making sure his bike was in prime racing condition. He rode it out to the track and added his name to the board. Rikki followed shortly after in a black suit, adding her name and meeting him at the starting line.
Zane had called an official over start the race. Zane didn't mind playing dirty, he'd go early. The official started the count down and he took off on 'two' like he always did, excepting to get a head start but Rikki also kicked off on 'two', hitting the first sharp turn and slinging dirt in his face. Suddenly, he was behind.
Zane was surprised to see Rikki's back for the entirety of the race. She didn't jump as high as he did, shortening her time even more. She came so close to the ground during sharp turns so many times, Zane thought she might fall off her bike. He had never seen someone ride with such precision before. He couldn't rely on any tricks up his sleeve, clean or dirty. He'd have to outsmart her.
They were coming to the final stretch of the ride and Zane knew he had to make a move. His bike was faster and newer than hers, he knew that. Maybe he could scrape his front tire with her back tire and throw her off her bike. It was the dirtiest move in the book but he couldn't think of anything else. He was desperate, he couldn't loose his stall. He speed up to her and saw Rikki look over her shoulder at him. He hit his front tire with hers but she turned her bike hard, pushing her back tire into his completely backfiring his plan. Zane flew off his bike, thankfully falling into a soft hill of dirt. He looked up just in time to see Rikki cross the finish line.
Rikki removed her helmet and Zane noticed all the boys that were watching the race stared in awe. The invincible Zane Bennett had been beaten by a girl. Rikki smiled at him and he walked his bike to the finish line. She should consider herself lucky she didn't harm his bike, she'd have to pay otherwise.
"Good race." Rikki told him. Zane scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'll wait for you to move your stuff out."
"Don't think this is the end." Zane said.
"I wouldn't hope so." Rikki said. "If I had lost, I'd certainly challenge you back."
Zane rode his bike back to his stall, changed out of his suit and started clearing the place out. He didn't want to ride anymore, this Rikki girl had taken all the fun away from it. He peaked out every now and again, secretly hoping she would come to him and apologize for being selfish and at least let him have his stall back. Nate lost, he could win his stall back from her if he wanted to. Zane was sure either he or Nate were going to be challenging her every day they were at the track. Rikki better get ready, Zane thought. Or maybe it was the two boys that should prepare themselves.
"I can't believe it." One of the boys that frequented Henry's motocross race track said. "Zane really lost? And to a girl?"
Henry's eyes widened from behind the counter. Were the boys telling the truth? Had Zane Bennett finally been de-throned? The boy could use a good serving of humble pie. The boys that had come in for a water, exited and he saw them ride back towards the track on their bikes. As soon as they were out of sight, he heard his wife, Sandy, enter the back door.
"Those boys said Zane Bennett lost." Henry told his wife.
"Yes, I noticed." She said. "I was adding more water bottles to the pails when they had their race. He tried to get her at the end but she outsmarted him, simple as that."
"So it was a girl?" Henry asked.
"Yes." Sandy said. "The same girl from yesterday, Rikki. I think Zane might have been trying to get Nate's stall back."
"Well I'll be damned." Henry said as he leaned against the counter, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of this girl who had become queen of his track in a matter of two days. He was surprised to see Zane exit what was once his stall to look out on the track.
"I think he likes her." Sandy said, knowing what her husband was staring at.
"Are you off your nutter?" Henry asked her. "Why in the world would he like her?"
"To be fair, I don't think he knows it yet." Sandy said.
"Yet you do?" Henry asked.
"Call it woman's intuition." Sandy shrugged.
Henry looked back out of the window and saw the girl coming to a stop at the finish line, taking her helmet off. Zane turned back around and went into his stall to continue cleaning it out.
"Does she like him?" Henry asked Sandy.
"No way." Sandy replied. "The girl has more sense than that."