Chapter 8: Zane's Rival

The city motocross tournament was fast approaching which meant the tracks were getting more and more busy. Gold Coast was a big town, there was more than one track to race at. Some were much fancier than Henry's and required membership fees and what not. Zane reckoned he could always join one of those tracks, money wasn't an obstacle. He enjoyed the atmosphere at Henry's far too much. Plus, he was the reigning city champion but there was someone new in town bringing a serious challenge. He needed to keep as close an eye on her as possible.

The tracks in town would seed their racers and they would then be divided into heats, top racers going with the bottom seeds and so on until they met in the middle. Henry was in charge of making the list since he knew all the racers so well. Other track owners and coaches would have the racers compete right then and there for their seeds but Henry just observed them over the year. Zane always felt Henry's list was the most accurate of anyone in town. He had a suspicion some of the membership tracks were paid off for first seed spots. No way a fifth seed was ten seconds faster than a first seed.

Zane had been a first seed at the track since his first city tournament a few years back. He was always confident he and Nate would be at the top of the leaderboard. However, Rikki presented a new challenge this year. On one hand, she had beat him countless times. Zane had only beat her once and Henry wasn't there to see it. On the other hand, he was victorious countless times. His record was better than Rikki's. He wondered how much that counted in regards to his seed placement.

Henry would be announcing the seeds at the track after school. Zane felt his heart thump in his chest as he tried to think if there was anyway he'd get a first seed bid yet again. He'd want to be a first seed, he had some unfinished business to take care of.

Zane spotted Rikki also heading to the track. He wondered if they were back on talking terms. She had been nice to him on the docks a few weeks back. Still, she didn't seem to want much to do with him at the track. She was so confusing.

"Anxious to see the seeds?" Rikki had asked him once he caught up to her.

"A bit." Zane lied. He was beyond nervous. "I've been first seed since I can remember. Now, I've got some serious competition."

"True." Rikki replied. "I suppose we might be locked in a battle. How does Henry seed us?"

"Hell if I know." Zane told her. "To be honest, I haven't paid that much attention in the past."

"Well, I guess we'll see how the chips fall." Rikki told him as they approached the shop where seemingly all the motocross racers, those who had entered and those who had not, were waiting for Henry to exit the shop and announce the seeds.

Henry stepped out of the shop with a wireless microphone. If Zane knew him better, he'd say Henry looked pissed. He wondered why that would be.

"Here are the seeds for the city tournament." Henry started. He must be pissed, he'd usually give some speech about sticking together and all that campfire crap. The air surrounding everyone changed too.

"Our track's first seed is Zane Bennett." Henry said. The crowd gave a roar and Zane himself was excited and surprised. He was sure the old man was going to give Rikki a first seed. He liked her better and they both knew she was a better racer.

"Second seed will be Nate Campbell." Henry continued. Now Zane was really shocked. Nate had never beat Rikki. Why did Henry give him a higher seed?

"Third seed is Noah Cook." Henry continued. This made no sense. Did Rikki not register for the tournament? Had she changed her mind last minute? Zane listened as Henry listed off name after name wondering if Henry had possibly made a mistake. He glanced over to Rikki to see what her reaction was. He wished he hadn't. She looked devastated. Clearly she wanted to be in the race.

"Finally, our tenth and final seed for this year is Rikki Chadwick." Henry announced. "I'll post the first round of heats on the wall so you can see where you and other racers will start. That's all."

Zane was flabbergasted. How in the world had Rikki dropped to the last seed in the tournament? He would reluctantly admit she was the best racer at the track, she deserved a number one seed.

Rikki herself looked surprised. It wasn't a good surprised, it was as if someone had walked up to her and slapped her in the face. Zane wanted to say something but he didn't know what. He didn't think he could give his first seed to her and he honestly didn't want to be a tenth seed.

"Rikki," Zane started anyway, hoping his brain would work faster than his mouth.

"I'm going to talk to Henry." She said, cutting him off and walking into the shop. Zane sighed wondering what she was going to do. He reckoned she couldn't ask him to switch her seed with someone else.

Zane stepped forward to look at the heats. There were a total of forty racers, ten from each track. There were just four racers in each heat, only the top two finishers advancing to the next round. The following round worked similarly putting two of the winners from the previous heats together and then having the final ten racers compete for the championship. Once Zane had eyes on the heats he realized he and Rikki would be competing in the same heat along with the bastard that nearly cost him the competition last year. That poor other tenth seed didn't stand a chance.

Zane heard the shop door open with a bang and Rikki stormed out, passing him and making her way to the exit.

"Rikki!" Zane called after her as she continued to walk. "Rikki, wait.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he jumped in front of her.

"I don't want to talk about it." Rikki told him as she brushed past him.

Zane wanted to continue to protest, ask her what had happened with Henry and follow her wherever she was going. Rikki was odd. She was very secretive and kept to herself and her two best friends, Zane had noticed. She didn't seem like the type that would open up as soon as she was given the chance.

Zane thought he might have better luck with Henry. The old man was annoying but at least he was upfront with Zane when he had a question or wanted to make a complaint. Zane was also curious as to whether Rikki's seed placement was at all related to Henry's sour mood.

"Hey, Henry," Zane started as he entered the shop.

"What do you want?" Henry asked as if Zane was the last person he wanted to see.

"I guess I was just...confused about Rikki's seed." Zane said.

"Yeah, you and me both." Henry replied.

"Come again?" Zane asked.

"She's not out there, is she?" Henry asked.

"No," Zane replied. "I think she went home."

"Poor girl." Henry shook his head. "She's trying to make a living in a man's world. She's doing a hell of a job but some people need more convincing.

"I didn't give her that seed." Henry continued when he saw the confused look on Zane's face. "I wanted to give her the first seed if I'm being honest with you. I know the guys that own the tracks around here. I wasn't going to mention Rikki was a girl because I knew they'd screw her over but I guess word had made its way around town. They asked who the girl at my track was and I told them. It was all I could do to just keep her in the race."

Zane was upset. How could any of those track owners think less of Rikki just because she was a girl? He supposed he himself would have thought the same if he didn't know Rikki, if he hadn't raced against her.

"Well... she'll show them." Zane said before he left the shop.

Rikki wanted to go home but she was meant to meet the girls at the JuiceNet after the seeds were announced. Maybe she could convince them to join her on a swim. She needed to think about anything other than motocross. She was pissed she only got tenth seed because she was a girl. This wasn't the first time Rikki had been screwed over because she was a girl in motocross and she had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time. It didn't make the pain any easier to take.

It had been ten minutes and neither Cleo or Emma had shown up to the cafe. Rikki was beginning to wonder if they would show at all. She was thirsty so she thought she'd get a juice and then take a swim before heading home. She had just placed a hand on the bar top when the guy next to her had knocked his juice over, spilling the liquid all over her hand. Rikki gasped and ran to the bathroom, hoping it would be empty. She had just closed the door when she transformed into a mermaid. This whole routine of transforming in the bathroom was really old.

Rikki stepped out of the bathroom once she had returned to normal. She was too annoyed now to get herself a juice, she just wanted to go for a swim.

"Hey," the guy from a moment ago shouted to her. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Rikki replied. At least he had the decency to ask if she was okay.

"Good." He said, still staying in his seat. "You want to join us?"

"Oh, no I've got to get going." Rikki said. She didn't want to be rude but she also wasn't in the mood to make any new friends today.

"Damn, too bad," he started. "We could have used a pretty girl in our friend group."

"Well, now that you put it that way, definitely not." Rikki replied giving the pretty, blonde boy a smug look.

Rikki was about to exit the cafe when she ran into Zane who had just entered. She quietly pushed past him and headed out to the pier. She could feel his eyes on her but she hoped he wouldn't follow.

"Zane Bennett," the pretty, blonde boy said to Zane once Rikki had left. "Another good round of friendly competition this year, huh mate?"

"I'm not sure I'd call what you did last year, friendly, Will." Zane told the guy.

"Well since when are you one to play by the rules, Zane?" Will told him as he walked up to Zane. "You know I'm the first seed at my track this year too."

"I noticed." Zane replied. "Good luck getting past the first round."

Will started laughing as if Zane had told him a hilarious joke.

"Oh, please, Bennett," Will started. "You really think one of those tenth seeds have a chance to beat us?"

"One of them has beat me before," Zane told him. "Multiple times, actually."

Will's smile dropped and he gave Zane a look of surprise and confusion. It wasn't a little known fact that Zane had been unbeatable in motocross races until Rikki had arrived. If someone had beaten him multiple times, they were damn good.

"All I'm saying is don't get too cocky," Zane said. "It might be your biggest mistake yet, mate."

Zane pushed past Will to join Nate and his mates at a table. Will had been Zane's biggest competition outside of anyone at Henry's track. To say Will played dirty was an understatement. Like Zane, Will's family was loaded so he joined a fancy track that likely took bribes for seed placement. Zane would admit, Will was at least good. He had been a second seed the past few years and came in third to Zane and Nate often. That didn't mean he did it honestly. Even in years previous, Will had been the ringleader, the instigator of his track, trying to cheat as slyly as possible and create chaos. He had almost thrown Zane off his bike and into a ditch last year. Zane was lucky he had decided to look back and maneuver his bike so it would be impossible for Will to stop him. Will had slammed his helmet into the ground after he crossed the finish line. Zane thought it was hilarious.

This year, Will was a first seed and he was in the first race with Zane and Rikki. Zane knew if Will didn't try any tricks, he and Rikki would win the heat, easy. Still, Zane had no idea what his rival would do.

AN: Hey guys! I hope you have been enjoying this story so far! I've really been enjoying writing it and all the love and support you guys have offered! I wanted to include a bit of a visual of how the seeds will work for the city tournament. It's hard to describe in words so I wanted to have a visual in case it doesn't make sense.

CITY TOURNAMENT BRACKET

1st Round

Race 1:

5th Seed from Track 1, 5th Seed from Track 2, 6th Seed from Track 1, 6th Seed from Track 2 (Top 2 Advance)

Race 2:

5th Seed from Track 3, 5th Seed from Henry's Track, 6th Seed from Track 3, 6th Seed from Henry's Track (Top 2 Advance)

Race 3:

4th Seed from Track 2, 4th Seed from Track 3, 7th Seed from Track 2, 7th Seed from Track 3 (Top 2 Advance)

Race 4:

4th Seed from Henry's Track, 4th Seed from Track 1, 7th Seed from Henry's Track, 7th Seed from Track 1 (Top 2 Advance)

Race 5:

3rd Seed from Track 3, Noah Cook (3rd Seed from Henry's Track), 8th Seed from Track 3, 8th Seed from Henry's Track (Top 2 Advance)

Race 6:

3rd Seed from Track 1, 3rd Seed from Track 2, 8th Seed from Track 1, 8th Seed from Track 2 (Top 2 Advance)

Race 7:

2nd Seed from Track 3, Nate Campbell (2nd Seed from Henry's Track), 9th Seed from Track 3, 9th Seed from Henry's Track (Top 2 Advance)

Race 8:

2nd Seed from Track 2, 2nd Seed from Track 1, 9th Seed from Track 2, 9th Seed from Track 1 (Top 2 Advance)

Race 9:

Luke Williamson (1st Seed from Track 1), Eric Morgan (1st Seed from Track 3), 10th Seed from Track 1, 10th Seed from Track 3 (Top 2 Advance)

Race 10:

Zane Bennett (1st Seed from Henry's Track), Will Benjamin (1st Seed from Track 2), Rikki Chadwick (10th Seed from Henry's Track), 10th Seed from Track 2 (Top 2 Advance)