Chapter 3: It's Over
Speed stood in Trixie's apartment as still as can be as he took notice of the broken glass on the floor. The sound of footsteps coming into the room made him lift his head to see Trixie. He was saddened to see how evident the hurt and pain was in her puffy eyes, especially since he had been the cause.
As if waking up from a dream, Trixie realized that Speed was really there standing in her apartment. Part of her wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but because she really never expected to see him again that day, much less in her apartment, she was speechless.
"Hi," Speed said softly taking some steps towards her.
Not moving, Trixie thought that this just wasn't fair as Speed stopped about three feet in front of her. She hadn't been prepared to see him so soon after he dropped the bomb, and now she didn't know if she could handle it. Why did he want to torture her this way?
Wanting to be a friend, Speed asked in a kind, gentle voice as he tilted his head slightly to the left, "Are you okay?"
Her expression turned angry and she wanted to yell at him that her heart felt like he had taken it and stomped on it. However, her angry expression turned to sadness again as she stayed silent. Talking would have made her cry, and she didn't want her tears to come again, especially in front of him so she only shook her head yes that she was okay.
Speed then turned his head towards the broken glass on the floor. The picture of Trixie and he together was under the bits and pieces of glass. "I guess I deserved that," he said turning back to her with a smile.
Seeing that smile of his, Trixie saw all too easily how well he was handling their break up. Even though it was his idea, he was handling the change in his life much better than she had hoped. With forced coldness in her voice, she asked, "What are you doing here?"
To Speed she didn't sound like the Trixie he knew as he lost his smile. Becoming a bit nervous he shuffled his feet and said, "Uh...I just wanted to check on you. Sparky said that you were really upset."
Trixie thought to herself, Upset? Letting out a small, sarcastic laugh, she turned her head away from him. Hadn't he known that he had held her heart in his hands? Her brain yelled at her to be strong and face him since he had nerve enough to show up. Turning back to him, she said frigidly, "You look quite happy with your decision to...be rid of me."
"I don't want to be...rid of you," Speed said while shaking his head no as if they had had a big misunderstanding. A reassuring smile appeared on his face as he added, "I could never be rid of you. That's one of the reasons I'm here."
Trixie looked into his sincere, blue eyes, telling herself that she should look away but she couldn't.
"It would mean a lot to me if we could remain friends," Speed said hopeful as he tried to hypnotize her with his eyes. "I could help you get through this."
Looking at him as if he was crazy, she thought, I can't cry over you to you. She then turned away from him and her eyes fell on to the sofa. Staring at it, she began to remember the kissing they had done on it a week earlier. The kissing had been very long and passionate, not at all like one between just friends. "Friends?" she asked turning back to him, not looking happy at all.
"Yes. I want us to be friends; the best," Speed said wanting his smile to convince her that he was right. "You can still be my navigator and help out on the team."
Trixie looked down as she felt her eyes watering. Quickly wiping her tears away, she looked up at Speed again and said hardheartedly, "Right or wrong...I don't think so."
Blowing off her answer, the young racer moved right in front of her leaving only inches between them. He began to lift his hand so that he could push her hair behind her ear.
Sensing what he was going to do, Trixie quickly backed away from him.
Stunned by her refusal of his caress, Speed's eyes widened and he slowly brought his hand down. Feeling hurt, he said, "Come on, baby. Don't be like that."
Trixie wanted to slap him for acting like their break up was no big deal, and that she should have no problem being just his friend. Her voice was extremely icy as she said, "Please, don't call me baby...ever again."
Speed began to see that perhaps it had been too soon to see Trixie. "Maybe I should just go," he said sadly as if he had been let down. He turned and began to walk away from her. However, suddenly thinking he could still reason with her before he left, he stopped and turned towards her again. "Look, Trixie," he said in a friendly voice. "You know I care for you. That's why I'm here. I thought I was doing the right thing by breaking up with you so I wouldn't be..."
"Cheating on me?" Trixie asked cutting him off as one of her eyebrows lifted. "I should have known by the way you let other girls hang on you that you'd like to be with someone other than me."
"Damn it, Trixie!" Speed said raising his voice. He didn't like this side of her; forgetting that he was the one who had brought it out of her. "What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that we're back together?"
Trixie squeezed her small hands into fist as she became very mad at him for being upset. She was the one who had been crying her eyes and her heart out all day. Folding her arms, she looked him dead straight in the eyes and said in a tough voice, "I would never take you back."
Speed was flabbergasted. Trixie was the one person who would have done anything for him it seemed...until now.
The words had come out of her mouth before she had the chance to think. Seeing the way Speed was looking at her, it was as if he was seeing her for the first time. Little did he know that she really wanted to throw herself into his arms and say that she was sorry for what she said - that she'd never stop loving him.
"By the tone in your voice, I guess you don't even want to be friends," the young racer said with anger; almost feeling betrayed.
Trixie completely turned away from him as a tear ran down her face. She knew just being friends with him wouldn't be enough for her. Seeing him with other girls would hurt too much.
Speed stared at the back of her and said as if it was all her fault, "Well, I guess that's it for us."
She heard him unhappily tread away and then open the door to leave. "Speed," she said in a sweet voice that he knew very well.
He turned around to see her facing him. "What?" he whispered expecting her to tell him that they could be friends.
"Good-bye," she said softly.
Actually feeling his stomach drop, Speed realized that she meant good-bye possibly forever. He stared at her wishing it didn't have to be this way and then said very low, "Good-bye, Trixie."
After he left and the door closed behind him, Trixie started to slowly let her body fall to the ground as she cried again. She loved him enough to let him go so he could find happiness. She'd have to pray that time would make this easier on her.
Speed drove away from Trixie's apartment feeling like something was totally wrong. It was almost like his heart knew something the rest of him didn't. "She said good-bye first," he said out loud as he tried to make himself feel better. "She's just mad. She didn't mean to say good-bye." The Mach 5 continued down the street as he tried to convince himself that he was right.
Trying to bring up his down mood, he recalled the whistling he had done earlier when he had thought about his newfound freedom. He couldn't let Trixie make him feel horrible for wanting his freedom. He had a right to want it even if he had led her to believe in the past that they would always be together as much more than friends.
.
That very night, Speed went out by himself. Wanting to meet new people of the opposite sex, he found himself in a dance club. He knew he had gone to the right place as his eyes scanned the flashy lighted room, which was filled with attractive, single females. The beautiful, young women made it easy for him to meet them since they introduced themselves. His dark hair and light eyes had always been features that the girls found irresistible, besides the fact that he was a champion racer.
A pushy girl named Heather forced herself on to Speed, making the other girls feel unwelcome. Speed didn't mind spending time at all with Heather that night. She was nothing short of gorgeous with her fire engine red hair and her brick house body, which looked to have been poured into a jean mini-skirt and a very small, white tank top. The young racer had tried to make conversation with her throughout the night but it was pretty much one sided. All she did was talk about herself. Everything she said started to go in one of Speed's ears and right out of the other. However, just looking at her was enough. He couldn't wait to kiss her lips, knowing that there would surely be some major fireworks. So what if all she talked about was her clothes and her ex-boy friends who she had dumped.
It was getting late when Speed and Heather decided to call an end to the night. Since Heather had her own car at the club, Speed walked her to it so they could go their separate ways. As soon as they reached the small car, Heather threw herself against Speed and started kissing him. Speed's eyes were open at the beginning of the kiss, since he had been caught off guard by Heather's fast moves. Willingly, he began to kiss her back wanting to feel the fireworks. To his disappointment, Heather's kiss didn't make him feel the way he wanted, though it did feel good. Breaking the kiss after about half a minute, he realized there just wasn't enough passion in it for him. As she backed away from him, he smiled knowing that there were plenty of other women to find passion with and he couldn't wait.
As he headed back to the Mach 5, he wiped Heather's lipstick off of his mouth with the back of his hand. Looking at the Mach 5, he wondered who was leaning on it. As he got closer, he saw that it was Racer X.
"Hey, Racer X," Speed said walking up and shaking his hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that?" Racer X asked after seeing the kiss between his younger brother and the knock out red head.
"Oh," Speed said running his hand through his hair, "That was, Hailey. No, I mean…Heather."
"Hum…I hate to butt into your personal life, but I thought you had something pretty serious with Trixie," the Masked Racer said, preferring Trixie over any girl who would use Speed.
"We broke up," Speed said nonchalantly as he leaned on the Mach 5 next to Racer X.
Racer X was surprised at Speed not being upset but didn't show it. "Well, it didn't take you long to find someone else," the Masked Racer said recalling the kiss he had seen between Speed and the red head.
"I don't even know if I'll see Heather again. I'm just trying to meet as many girls as I can. That's why I broke up with Trixie."
Racer X turned to Speed who was still looking ahead, to see that he looked very happy about his newfound freedom. However, the Masked racer couldn't help but feel sorry for Trixie. No one ever had to question her loyalty and the love she had for Speed. "Speed. You better watch some of these girls. They'll think nothing of using you for their popularity."
"I'll be careful," Speed said not sounding worried at all.
"Well, you better hope Trixie doesn't find someone else while you're meeting other people."
Speed folded his arms and said optimistically, "I want Trixie to meet other people."
"I hope you don't end up regretting that," Racer X said pushing off the Mach 5.
Rolling his eyes, Speed said, "You worry too much Racer X. I know what I'm doing."
"Whatever you say, Speed," Racer X said not convinced. "It's just that there are not many women like Trixie out there."
"What?" Speed asked with amused shock on his face as he pushed off the Mach 5. "There's a ton of women out there."
"Not many that would put you before themselves," Racer X said wanting Speed to realize just how rare Trixie was.
"I just want to give myself a chance with some of the other pretty ladies," Speed said sounding so young and inexperienced.
"Speed," the Masked Racer said giving his advice whether his younger brother wanted it or not, "I wouldn't trade love for lust."
"I told you. I know what I'm doing," Speed said not taking Racer X's words seriously as he smiled and jumped into the Mach 5. After starting the engine, he said, "Well, I'll talk to you later, Racer X."
Racer X nodded his head okay and then watched his little brother drive off. He thought to himself as he watched the Mach 5 head out of the parking lot, Speed doesn't know just what he had. He'll end up finding out the hard way, unless there is someone else out their for him. Deep down however, Racer X was convinced that Trixie was meant for Speed.
.
Speed needs to be slapped about now!
Please come back to see what happens!