A Knew Way

by Kalendra

Finally determined to take control of her life, has Usagi gone to far, or is this exactly what she needs to do? (COMPLETED Who would have thunk it could happen)

4. Life Beyond

Serena could barely sleep that night from both anxiety and excitement. Somehow Amanda snored through the whole thing not rustling once but Serena got up several times and padded over to the window to look outside. A sliver of a moon was rising over an ocean she couldn't remember having ever seen. She thought the endless waves with the moon reflected off them looked beautiful but had she ever thought that before? It was all to confusing for Serena to think about. A few hours before dawn she finally managed to fall into a restless slumber but was awake before the Nurse came to rouse them.

"Chill Serena." Amanda told her seeing Serena's nervousness. "Mom and dad won't be here for a couple of hours so just relax. Why don't you take the first shower, and don't worry bout using all the hot water." Amanda was laying clothes out her bed meticulously picking out her ensemble making Serena laugh as she stepped into the bathroom.

Under the harsh light over the sink Serena's blue eyes seemed to washed out and her skin a deathly color. But happily most of the cuts and bruises were gone and with some light makeup she could even make her cheeks have a little color. She tried to smile, but decided that although she could fool everyone else, there was no point in trying to fool herself. She shed her clothes and turned up the water the hottest she felt she could stand. That way she couldn't feel the hot tears trickle down her face to join the rest of the water.

How much was she missing in her life, how many people loved and missed her? Was there someone special out there for her? A boyfriend? And what about friends. Surely she had friends. But no one had turned her in missing. She was sure that the Donnelley's wouldn't have gone through with the paper work unless there was no way she belonged some where. Where was she from, what was her name? Did they not want her?

There were so many questions and so few answers. Maybe someday the Donnelley's would help her find the answers, maybe. For now at least they wanted her, Amanda and the rest. Someone wanted her. And as for her past it didn't matter anymore. She could create herself in whatever way she wanted. She had to be her future and take full advantage of it. Serena shut off the water and shook the water from her hair. She had the feeling that she'd never been able to do that before and it was kind of nice. Maybe she'd keep it short. She grinned at herself in the mirror. She could now do whatever she wanted with her life with only her own expectations to live up to.

She looked down at the clothes she had selected and decided that she rather liked blue, but a little pink to go with it would be nice. Pink would be to girlie and she didn't want to be girlie. That was old. Plans forming in her mind she returned to her shared room where Amanda gathered up her clothes and passed her to take a shower. Amanda looked much happier seeing that Serena had calmed down and looked happier.

Time rolled passed. Nurse Joy came to take final stats from her, blood pressure, temp, everything that had been taken when she came in so they could mark her improvement. And she had improved. Everyone could see it. The friendly nurse was very happy for Serena who so lost a couple days ago could now look forward to friends and family instead of a life as ward of the state. Serena herself kept thinking things along the same lines and was also happy and her infectious grin made everyone smile also. Amanda, who had managed to get water in her cast and was slightly dampened by attempts to get it out, also smiled at Serena wondering how such a perfect person could have been left like this. But life sent curious twists and grinning she figured this was one of them. Therefore when five boys and two hassled looking adults came into their room they were ready and smiles were quickly shared.

"Okay Serena, we've got everything set. Papers are finished and we'll get copies for you to keep when this all settles down and you have somewhere to put them." Mr. Donnelley, who insisted she call him dad or pops, told her waving a manila envelope. Toby kept trying to grab it from him so he promptly stuck it in his brief case. Serena nodded at him quite sure that he would do just that.

"Now we've got a room ready for you but we'll move you into another one as soon as we have a new computer desk, bed and all your clothes bought. We'll do that tomorrow. Today I just want you to get familiar with the layout of the house and take the tests that the school faxed us. We'll have a big dinner tonight and let the kids take ya out on the town. They have something planned I think." Mrs. Donnelley, asking to be called just Sarah since she knew Serena wasn't ready to call anyone mom, informed her. The boys gave each other meaningful glances and she could tell Amanda already had a clue

"That sounds great." Was all Serena could manage feeling overwhelmed by the courtesy and charity they were showing her. Her own room full of her very own stuff? She could barely imagine it. Mrs. Donnelley pulled Amanda off to the side as they walked out and they were talking very quickly. Serena heard the words Mall and California many times, but at the nurses station she couldn't listen anymore because she was saying goodbye to the nurses and signing a couple forms.

"Very good Ms. Celeste we'll miss you." A nurse Serena hadn't known told her shaking her hand. She found it odd that someone she hadn't even met would miss her but even so she smiled and said the same. They were almost out the door when Nurse Joy came running up. She had a plastic bag in her hand and she was frantically trying to open it and not trip at the same time.

"Serena, we forgot to give you this. It was something we found on you when you came in. Must have completely slipped my mind. We had to pry it out of your fingers." She said finally getting the zipper of the bag open. Serena's eyes opened wide and she stepped forward with interest. The nurse halted and dumped the contents into Serena's open hands.

A brooch of the most delicate work Serena had ever seen fell into her hands which closed convulsively around it. Like her reflection this also didn't seem quite right but still familiar as she looked over the work. Gold and silver metal formed a rather large heart with a beautiful rose imbedded in it. Somehow the metal of the rose was tinged red but that was the only real color as the heart was gold and the wings on both sides of it silver. Serena ran a finger over the rose tracing the petals and a shiver ran up her spine a soft smile forming on her lips.

"I seem to recognize it." She told the nurse who had been looking for just that answer. "It's mine, I know that much, but I don't know where I got it or anything else." She showed it to Mrs. Donnelley then Amanda who whistled.

"That's real gold Serena, the silver too." She said. Mr. Donnelley nodded after peering at it for a moment.

"She's right. It's very beautiful. Well at least you have something to look for Serena. The jeweler must remember making a piece like that. When we get home I'll scan a picture of it and send it out." He turned away to pick up Michael. Serena stared at it a moment longer. A link to her past, something that she'd had before, maybe a key to finding out who she was. Serena didn't have anywhere to pin it so she put it in a pocket. Maybe she could find a way to put a chain on it and wear it.

"Thank you Nurse Joy, I won't forget this or you." Serena impulsively hugged the woman who seemed a bit startled but returned the hug. Serena waved at the others then turned to follow her new family outside only to find them in an argument. It seemed that everyone wanted to take her home. Serena laughed her beautiful laugh bringing their arguing to a halt.

"Amanda could I possibly ride with you, if your car's here that is? I would like you to tell me about the places we pass as we go home." She said it cautiously, but it did seem the best solution. The older two boys sighed and the younger three grouped with their parents and Amanda, on crutches nodded. "That way I can help you with the crutches too." Serena said appealing to the adults. They also agreed and they trooped off towards the parking lot.

Serena slowed to stay with Amanda who was heading towards one of the loudest colored cars Serena had ever thought she'd seen. It was a eye-smarting fuchsia with pink trim and in the bright sunlight it was almost to hard to look at. The fire engine red and sunburst orange cars next to it were almost as painful.

"How on Earth did someone manage to hit you in that!?" Serena asked as Amanda made her way towards the purple car. The boys snickered and Mr. and Mrs. Donnelley openly laughed.

"We were amazed too. All our children seem to like bright colors." Mr. Donnelley said wrapping his arm around his wife and steering her towards a plain green car parked next to the eye-bright trio. Adam's was the red and Alex's the orange. Amanda opened the door to the purple and handed Serena the crutches while she put down the convertible roof. Serena set the crutches in the back seats, also fuchsia, and got in the front. All of the other cars were convertibles too and soon nine happy faces were smiling at each other as the cars started up.

Serena had the sudden urge to cover her ears, which she was proud to say she didn't do, as each of the cars, including the Donnelley's, was extremely loud. In order they backed up and took off playing follow the leader after the Donnelley's. Amanda quickly started telling Serena about their surroundings as they went through a small town then on into the countryside. The island wasn't large but there was still some room to it as there were plenty of houses and what looked like condos on the ocean-side. A large volcano rose towards the far end of the island towering over everything ominously.

At Serena's query Amanda told her that the Islands had been formed by the same volcano as the tectonic plates slid over the hotspot for thousands of years. Some of the islands still had hot lava flows and if she wanted maybe they could visit one before they went home. It wasn't long before they were pulling up to what Amanda had accurately described as a manor.

There were possibly thirty rooms in the huge building at stood at the top of a long drive. A parking garage stood two stories next to it and they all parked inside. Serena handed Amanda her crutches and the went back out front so she could look at it. The manor wasn't exactly the most fashionable of buildings having been built a long time ago. Each of the wings and extensions were obviously newer since they were in different styles and colored materials. It was big, yes, but not exactly beautiful.

"Isn't much to look like outside but it's great inside. Our manor in California is much better." Amanda said with a voice that said she wasn't bragging just stating a fact. Serena shook her head trying not to go into shock. Better than this? It seemed quite impossible. Yet when she stepped in the front do she found that Amanda had not lied.

Above her a large crystal chandelier was hung with a mass of lights winking between the crystals to illuminate the large foyer. As one would see in the movies there was a large double staircase covered by a deep green and blue carpet that ran along the walls like wings curving out of sight as they ran back into the house. Corridors or hallways ran in five directions out of the foyer itself which was filled with small statues, tables and chairs. It's beautifully patterned wooden floors where polished to a high shine so that Serena could see her reflection when she looked down.

Maids flurried in and around them taking coats and bags from everyone before managing to disappear down those same halls. Serena hung close to Amanda not exactly frightened but extremely unsure of herself where as everyone else seemed to take it as granted that this was how people should act and be treated. Serena tried to keep a happy smile on her face to not look as uncomfortable as she felt but her worries were soon buried behind curiosity as the boys and Amanda took her on a tour of the house.

Her own set of rooms was more than Serena would have ever expected. They were like a large apartment spanning over four rooms. Not including two bathrooms there was a bedroom, computer room, sitting room, and some sort of lounge room where apparently she was expected to house friends if she ever had a sleep-over or such. They hadn't been decorated with anything other than the basic furniture in no discernible color since they would be leaving in two weeks but next summer or perhaps Christmas break Amanda told her that they were going to decorate it. They would start on their shopping trip the next day but they didn't expect her to finish it in only a few scant weeks. Serena could see why.

Her bedroom alone was easily the size of a small house being built on a tier basis as it was. Her bed was set against one wall about head high for her five foot eight and had a short stairway leading up to it while the rest of the room held an enormous television it's own three piece furniture set and a walk in closet almost as large as the bedroom. Serena couldn't imagine owning enough clothes to fill the room but after seeing Amanda's room, she knew it was entirely possible.

In fact the next day Amanda and Mrs. Donnelley set about doing just that. They decided to buy half her wardrobe her and the other half when they knew what the styles back in California were. Serena gladly went along with whatever they said and chose only colors and a few styles that she preferred from the thousands of outfits she was exposed to that day. Instead of spending one day shopping their spree lengthened to fill almost the entire time they had before returning to California.

Amanda giggled at Serena when she looked horrified at the seven trunks of clothes that where hers alone being loaded onto the chartered plane Mr. Donnelley had for them. Amanda had told everyone that because of Serena she would modestly take only ten of her own trunks back with them. Everyone except Serena and of course Amanda laughed at the ridiculous statement. Later when the family boarded the plane Adam privately told Serena that last year Amanda's trunks had been almost twice as numerous. Serena yet again wondered what strange world she had stumbled into.

For the first time she could remember fear gripped her heart. She stood in front of a large room full of students while the teacher tried to command their attention. Serena looked at the foreign faces not knowing anyone since she did not share a grade with any of her adopted siblings. Whistles and catcalls had met her in the hallways, which Amanda had told her to ignore, but enclosed in a classroom with some of those same students she was unable to escape the odd looks and names these people called her. She managed to regain her composure when the students fell silent.

"All right guys," The teacher tried to sound like he was on their side in order to keep their cooperation, "I want to introduce a new student, everyone this is Serena Celeste. I believe you all know the Donnelley's and she is staying with them I would appreciate it if would be kind to her and try to show her the ropes." Mr. Iverson told them pointing to a seat at the front of the class. Serena nodded her thanks and took herself and her book bag to sit at the desk. She noticed that the other students all had a notebook out and their backpacks were slung over their chairs so she imitated them.

"Welcome to Algebra 2 everyone instead of following the usual tradition of taking the first day of school easy we're going to jump right in and take a test." The tall blond man in his early thirties told them. The students around Serena groaned as he walked to the front row of students and counted out tests. They each took one off the top and handed the rest back and Serena sighed uncapping her pen as she looked over hers. She frowned yet again wondering how she was going to pull of this charade.

Back in Hawaii she had been given the placement tests for the private school the others attended but upon first site she realized that she could have easily passed the entire thing. If she did that she wouldn't be able to be in school with her new friends and family and they might make her stay home or something. Instead she snuck a peak at Adams old books and pretended to be about the same skill level. This placed her a two levels above Amanda, one above Alex and one below Adam but she was indeed in school.

What she hadn't realized then was that it wouldn't be easy to fake her lessons. She easily could go through the test before her and ace it. Then they'd place her in a different grade, or class but they'd know she'd faked the test. She grit her teeth and tried to mess up just often enough to not seem out of place. She must have managed for no one said anything to her when at the end of the period they got their tests had been graded but not returned.

To Serena's great relief she discovered that she really did like a couple of her classes mostly English and science. Her history teacher was so boring she fought to keep awake and only the promise of lunch kept her awake. During lunch itself she sat with the Donnelley's and their friends, which almost seemed to Serena to include the entire school as people were always stopping by and saying hello or asking how their summer had gone. No one seemed to dislike them and Serena was content to sit by Amanda and watch them all.

To her great amazement her first assessment of their class schedule wasn't accurate. She did indeed have a class with her newfound siblings for after lunch they shared a music class. Serena hadn't really wanted to sign up for it but Amanda had told her that this year there was some sort of surprise contest involved and she and her older brothers wanted Serena to help them if she could. Arms linked with Alex and Amanda and with Adam trailing behind them they left the cafeteria to roam the halls finally ending up at the choir room. Small tables were set out on the floor each having three or four seats so they all sat down at a table waiting for their teacher arrived.

"Role call." A woman called out as she entered the room. If Serena hadn't known better she would have claimed the teacher was another student as alike as they were in clothing and hair style. She was a petite brunette who seemed to spark interest in everything she did weather it was calling the class role or bringing in a large covered board on wheels. She emanated excitement and the class was soon caught up as well.

"Okay I'm sure we're all wondering what the big deal is." She said as she finally maneuvered the board into place before the class. She had the eyes of all twenty six students when she reached up and pulled the sheet off what wasn't a board, but a advertisement. A tall man was holding up a sign that told about a contest for small bands to compete to have their songs played on a famous radio station. The winners, being chosen by the public, would be the opening act for a famous band next June. The class was silent as they read over the sign and tried to realize what this meant to them.

"It's only for students isn't it?" Serena asked out loud, the first person to recover enough to talk let alone ask questions. The teacher, a Miss Holleywell, flicked her hair over a shoulder and waited for someone else to say something. Amanda was the next to recover.

"We're going to compete... That's the assignment for the year, this competition, I don't even play an instrument." She seemed overly distraught causing her classmates to laugh and break the silence. Quickly there was a large amount of chatter from the other students as the talked it over among themselves. Like any smart women the teacher let them hash it out before continuing.

"Many of you do not have instruments, and don't really know how to sing so what we've done is hired as many tutors and instrumental teachers as we could find to bring each and everyone of you up to par so that you can create the bands specified and later compete. The songs must be completely original along with the music accompaniment but we will have lessons on composing as well so I'm going to give you today to form your groups and we'll start on instruments tomorrow. You will be allowed to change members during the school year if you decide that you don't get along or if you choose to have different skills represented in your band. That and you will need to come up with a name." And with that she waved her hand meaning for them to proceed and left them to it. Amanda quickly took control of their group.

"So what do you say guys?" She asked eyes bright with excitement. Serena ran her fingers through her platinum hair not knowing what to say. She didn't know if she knew any instrument well enough to play it or even if she could sing. She'd never tried, and so let them figure out what was going on. Adam was the first to speak.

"Well I can't vouch for Alex or any of you others, but I have taken lessons in guitar and singing as I know Amanda has and I think we could do it. Amanda has the temperament for drums and I'm fairly sure we could find other instruments that would work well for the rest of you." He placed his hands on the table moving them as he spoke to accent his words to which they all nodded. Alex seemed to think pretty hard while Amanda pretended to play drums on the table.

"I think I could do the base guitar and that's pretty much an essential for a band. I'm not sure what you can do Serena but there's sure to be something. With all those teachers coming in I think they could teach even a monkey to play an instrument, no insult intended, so we should be well balanced." At Alex inference to a musical instrument Serena nodded knowing that she might as well be a monkey as far as she knew. What if she had the voice of a frog?

"Right, sounds good." She put in her two cents and grinned infectiously. This could be fun even if she didn't know anything. It was like learning to walk for the second time maybe she'd be good and not the klutz she seemed to be. Amanda went and got one of the entry forms and started filling out their names she came to a line near the bottom and frowned. "What is it?" Serena asked.
"Band name... what should we name us?" She asked putting her pen in her mouth which Adam pulled out before she could get a black smear on her lip. She nodded her thanks and reapplied her lipstick. Miss. Holleywell had heard this and came over to the table looking at the form.

"You don't have to worry about that now Ms. Donnelley. There's a good chance that you may get another member into your band and they'd have different ideas for a name. I'd actually suggest that you put it off until the end. You'll get more ideas of your playing style and everything else." She took their form and got the other students attention relaying the same advice to them to which she received a few grateful sighs.

Serena and her group spent the rest of the class thinking up names most of which were ridiculous and silly as Alex had taken it upon himself to give them the most creative and funny name possible. Towards the end of class Serena started tapping her pen against the table. Finally Amanda had enough and grabbed it from her with an inquiry as to what was bothering her.

"Drivers Ed." Serena replied sheepishly. The Donnelley's had enrolled her in the schools drivers education class when they discovered that she didn't know how to drive. Amanda, who was only fifteen, had her license and they didn't see any reason for Serena not to have one as well although unlike the other kids she was not getting trained by ex-racing personnel. Amanda smiled compassionately.

"Aww, it's easy and the instructors are students so you don't have to worry about some stuffy old guy riding the second brake the whole time. Maybe you'll get an instructor you like." She was convinced that Serena wouldn't have a problem with it so when the bell rang Serena didn't drag her feet to the parking lot. Even so she wasn't the first or the last one there. Adam was.

"Hey Serena," Adam's familiar voice called out when the teacher was done describing the procedure for the drivers training. The students would be parcelled out in halves then in five groups of two. The first half would start driving while the second did class work and the next day the positions would be switched. The groups of two were assigned a classmate teacher and a car, which they would drive around the parking-lot for practice. Serena was in the second half and was waiting to be told her teacher.

"You're with me." He said walking over to her clipboard and car keys in hand. The sun glinted off his reddish hair and he had a devilish grin on his face that Serena wasn't quite sure she trusted. There was some joke going on here that she wasn't quite getting.

"My other driver isn't here today so it's just me and you and the car so let's get going." She didn't have a choice but to follow him to a blue Mercury Topaz that needed a new paint job, badly. It had seen better days and both fenders were damaged.

"Well at least I can't hurt it to much." She muttered to herself as Adam stood beside the drivers side door dangling the keys over the open window. Serena took them wishing she could figure out what his grin was for but instead she followed the directions her drivers manual had laid out starting with a walk around the car to check for obstacles and or people who might be in the way. Following that she got in the car, adjusted the seat and put her seat belt on and waited for Adam's word on what to do.

"Just start the car and we'll go around the parking-lot a couple times to see what you know and what you don't." He told her strapping himself beside her. Serena did just that carefully and cautiously maneuvering the car expertly. "You sure you've never driven a car before?" Adam asked surprise coloring his voice. Serena had know way of knowing and told him so. With a shrug Adam set her on a set of more difficult obstacles which Serena managed with just as much expertise. When she was done their class time was up so Adam gave her the next days assignments and sent her back to her locker to pick up Amanda.

After dinner that night she was reading through her assignment and looking at a page on her computer confusion written all over her face. Alex, looking for Amanda found her like this.

"It's this Drivers Ed. Assignment." She told him holding the page out for him to see. "It says that there are only five major fluids, but if you read through the design schematics for the car there are at least seven." Alex looked at her with a strange look on his face.

"You're saying that you found the schematics for the car you're using in Drivers Ed. to work on your assignment? And you understand them?" He looked at her computer screen to affirm what was actually there. Serena looked between the computer and Alex a few times before nodding.

"It's quite simple really, it's not a complicated car but the questions the assignment give me aren't accurate." She sighed dejectedly her eyes pleading for help. Alex opened her school book and pointed out where the answers were.

"You're right about the car, but the answers they want are from the book and in order to pass I suggest that you give them the ones they want. As for the truth, Adam and I happen to love the mechanics of cars so you can ask one of us for help." He handed her book back but Serena already had questions to ask and she flipped through the pages on her screen and pointed to another diagram.

She and Alex were quickly absorbed by their conversation which lasted much later into the night and covered much more material than just her school book.

It turned out that Serena's instrument was a keyboard and although she didn't sing quite like a frog, she wasn't Paveratti. She not only had her school tutor but the Donnelley's quickly hired a singing tutor for both her and Amanda when they caught word of the contest. With intensive lessons and training she and Amanda quickly got much better almost to the point of actual stars.

Her driving lessons continued along with her late night discussions with Alex and Adam about the mechanical aspects of cars. They soon had her looking under the hoods of real ones and taught her as much as they themselves knew about automobiles and soon it became apparent why they had such an interest in it. Late October Serena passed her drivers class and got her license.

The Donnelley's rewarded her with a car that Adam Amanda and Alex picked out. It was a baby blue Supra with pink trim, thankfully not a loud color like theirs, and Serena fell in love with it at first sight. One night when their parents were gone Alex Adam Amanda and Serena snuck out of the house to their cars and she followed them deep into the city where she finally realize what Amanda's cryptic remark months ago about where they spent their free time made sense.

Over fifty cars of different makes and models lined the sides of the road hoods open and owners milling around both their cars and their neighbors. Serena had never seen so many different styles of body kits and ground effects for some of the most popular cars on the market. Between fiber optic kits and halogen lights the road was lit up like a carnival sidewalk but Adam and Alex drove past it all so Serena who had Amanda in the passenger seat followed them like she'd been told.

She felt excitement tingle throughout her body making her senses heightened. Each and every sound, color, smell and sight stood out in painful relief and she took it all in like a drunkard given a fresh bottle of wine. Finally at the head of the line Adam pulled over and Amanda motioned for her to pull in besides him and get out. Amanda reached over and popped the hood and Serena got out quickly so she could set it up on it's prop rod. A curious few people started moving over checking over not only her but the Donnelley's as well. She realized this was the reason Amanda had told her to dress as she had.

Serena's short platinum hair was held back by soft blue and pink clips effectively keeping it out of her eyes while matching her skintight blue tank-top and equally tight black velvet pants with their blue and pink flowers on the waist and hem. She wore regular black shoes with thin soles so she could feel the pedals of her car through them. It was so she'd be able to drive better and still look good. The implications of this left Serena a little stunned and when Adam moved to stand next to her she practically jumped having not heard him approach.

"What exactly is this?" She asked him her voice shaking just a bit. Adam rested a comforting arm on her shoulders and gave them a small squeeze before taking a deep breath to reply.

"It's a street race, exactly. Three to five people take their cars and start at the red line," He pointed to where two girls were painting a red line on the asphalt of the road just beyond the cars, "and go to the finish line, a whole quarter mile." He then traced his hand along the road to where another couple of girls were painting a bright yellow line. Two men in chairs were sitting alongside the lines and Serena could tell that they were the judges.

"Tonight it's a five car race. Yours, mine, and three others. I want you to remember back to your classes and when I showed you the tricks to shifting faster. I was teaching you as best I can the finer points to racing and Amanda's going to ride with you to show you how to work the nitrous system that's hidden in the console. Alex told me that you've read up on them and you know the theory of 'em. Amanda well tell you what to do, and I think you've actually got a good chance of winning this." He was talking out of the side of his mouth as though to keep everyone else from knowing what he was saying and Serena could only stand there in the shelter of his arms and look up at him dazed.

This whole thing had been planned without her knowing about it. She'd only had her car for two weeks and she'd never known there was a nitrous system on board and she thought she knew a lot about cars. How had they managed to pull this over on her? They've been racing for years. The thought came unbidden from the depths of her mind. Yes, that made sense. Adam at least was old enough to have been racing for almost four years and she supposed that they had just wanted to include her in their lives.

She didn't have much time to think about it because Amanda was heading her way, but as she looked up at Adam she felt something overcome her. Not just a deep need to measure up to her families expectations of her, but to excel at it. Adam was right, she in only a few months knew more about this than many people who claimed to be mechanics. She could do this, and do it well. With a bright grin and her cerulean eyes gleaming she gave Adam a thumbs up and ducked out from under his arm to face Amanda what was a bit hesitant.

"I'm not mad Manda, " She said much to the girls relief, "But I do need to see that system. I don't want to get caught by my own ignorance." She said slinging her arm around Amanda who grinned and lead her to the car. Before getting in Serena looked back at Adam for a moment to catch his eye. "Hey Adam, what's the prize?" She asked knowing that they weren't just racing for the hell of it.

"Three thousand clams. Enough to get that new keyboard and synth you wanted." He told her with a knowing look. She hadn't needed the extra incentive but it wouldn't hurt. Quickly she launched herself into the drivers seat to find Amanda already folding out the console in the middle of her steering wheel. There was a LCD and three buttons, one green, one yellow, and one red. Serena quickly looked it over and realized it was a completely customized kit that had been programmed just for her. She silently thanked who ever set it up and began making her own changes so that it would alert her when she reached a certain rpm and temperatures. Amanda watched approvingly and handed a roll of money out her window to a person who moved on to Adam's car where he did the same.
"We're spotting you this time, but after this you'll have to pay your own way." Amanda told her when she was done with the console. "Adam and I have a fund in the bank, we'll get you a joint account so you can keep the money you win somewhere safe, and after this we'll probably not be in the same races. There's four a week and we can all take turns so we don't race each other." They had this all set out and Serena instead of being mad was grateful. She nodded before getting out and putting down the hood. Everyone else was doing the same and she quickly took her seat again before turning on her car.

"You sure you want to stay in here with me Amanda?" She asked realizing that the girl probably wasn't to comfortable in cars since her leg had been broken but the girl was happily going through the packet of CD's she'd brought before finally picking one out. Serena didn't see which one she had chosen since someone with a flag was signaling her to take her place at the red line.

Quickly she went around in a circle pulling up two car down from Adam. She didn't want him distracting her and that would be the case should she be able to clearly see him. Amanda put the CD in and sat back making sure her seat belt was secure before giving Serena a thumbs up. Serena took a pair of pink tinted shades from the holder on the visor and placed them on her nose. The others were revving their engines but Serena didn't bother wasting fuel. She knew full well that her car was warmed up and it's different systems were prepared for anything.

A young woman about 17 maybe dressed in florescent green walked out to the space between all cars on the side of the road. There was no missing her or the bright green flare she was holding in her hands. As it was the flare was unlit but she held it up in the air signaling for them to get ready. Serena tapped her foot on the pedal and getting a nice resounding rumble from her car. She tapped her fingernails on the shifter head and counted down under her breath. Amanda held the remote to the CD player in her hands eyes focused on the girl as well.

Her mind taking everything in slow motion Serena blinked slowly and watched the girl raise her second arm then lower the one with the flare striking it against her leg where it exploded in a fountain of sparks. Serena had already shifted into first and letting the clutch out she floored the gas her wheels spinning on the asphalt. Moments later they gripped in and the torque pulled the steering wheel to the side but she was prepared for the jump and pulled it back on track.

Still in slow motion she watched as Amanda hit play and the car blasted with music but that didn't distract her as she was already shifting into third, then fourth. She was at optimum speed before she knew it and the console was timing down to the first nitrous burst. They were both thrown back in the seats moments after she set the first one off but it was worth the strained next as they lost two cars.

The next burst brought her neck and neck with Adam but the line was fast approaching and she knew he was the better driver. With a smile she waited till a moment after he set off the last burst to set off her own catapulting herself over the line barely a fender in front of Adam.

Amanda squealed loudly bringing Serena back to herself and she slowly drove around in a large circle stopping to park next to Adam yet again. He was receiving the roll of money from whoever had been holding it and as Serena stepped out of her car, putting her shades on the top of her head, he ceremoniously handed her the roll. The crowd cheered loudly as Serena took it and a hug from the brother she had just beaten.