A/n: There's a lot of dialogue in this chapter. I'm using that to move things along so that by the tenth chapter that things completely pick up. Expect another update later tonight or tomorrow, so please review for me. I need to know that you guys like the story so far. It may seem sporadic and jumpy, but I don't have time to add a lot of things or things in between. The important chapters will contain that.

.::Chapter 8::.

Andi's POV.

The next morning was almost unbearable to face. It wasn't only coping with the loss of Dean, but now the reality sunk in that I 'had' to find another rider for Carson Racing before the new season of Motocross started up. Running a hand through my hair, I rushed down the stairs, nearly slamming Jason into the wall.

"Watch it!" I heard him yell as I kept my pace and continued to run down the stairs, hoping to catch my father before he left for work. Catching my breath, I sighed in relief once I saw him still at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper.

"Dad," I interrupted.

He slowly looked up from his newspaper, eyeing my strangely.

"Yeah?"

"How long do we need before the new season starts?"

"A month," he shrugged, focusing on the paper.

"Aren't you worried?" I shouted at him. Maybe my outburst had been uncalled for, but I hated to see my father act all calm, cool, and collected when the same thing was happening to us all over again. I was beginning to feel like our family was jinxed or something because a good incident would seen to follow a bad one, but the cycle kept going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny.

"Of course," he stated clearly. "Andrea, I know you didn't mean to get involved with Dean, and I'm not punishing you for that, but I'm telling you that you better find us a rider before the end of this month or else you're down racing," father exclaimed sternly.

Seeing this side of him was extremely weird because I didn't like seeing my old father shine through. After the high point of being the first girl to win a Motocrossed event, my father's expectations seemed to grow and grow until I just couldn't please him anymore. It killed me to see him so into this, but I had to admit- there were a few times when I thought it would have been better to quit and throw in the towel.

"Okay," I answered passively. "I'll find another writer."

"You sound confident."

"I know I can, daddy," I told him honestly. "You may not be very proud of me for losing Dean, but I promise you with all my heart that I'll find you another rider as soon as possible." I nearly gagged as I realized how obedient I had sounded during those two lines. Also, it helped that my father pitied me, and if I gave him the puppy dog look- then I had practically won.

Folding his newspaper up, he brushed past me, patting my head as he walked through the door. "Have a good day at school, honey." I could barely hear him as he slammed the door shut and I saw mom and Jason walk into the room. The both of them looked suspicious, or maybe it was guilt. Studying them for a few moments longer, I realized that they were up to no good. I shook my head and went back upstairs, knowing that I'd have to deal with yet more school.

Picking up the cordless, I called Tory.

"Yellow," she responded.

"Hey, I don't know if I can make it to practice after school," I started hesitantly, chewing on my lower lip. I didn't know how I was going to tell her things.

"Okay..." she trailed off, "but why are you telling me this now?"

"I have to skip part of school."

"WHAT?" Tory shouted.

I held the phone away from my ear, squinting in agony as all I could hear was the shrill scream of Tory's voice.

"I have something really important to fix," I told her. "You can cover for me, right?"

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It had turned out that I had to do a lot of persuading to get Tory to cover for me, but as I was walking up the steps, wondering what I could to fix things- an idea struck me. As soon as I had called Tory, I got the number of the local track where a lot of the new riders started to play. My plan was really quite simple. Every other day, I'd get a ride to the track and watch each rider carefully until I chose the best.

"Miss Carson," a voice boomed.

I snapped up, seeing my English teacher hovering over me.

"All morning you've been spacing in and out. I expect that you get your act together," she growled, trying to terrify me. I just shrugged my shoulders and tried to think of some good excuses, but I couldn't help but wonder how I was going to pull this off. My plan seemed simple, flawless, but everyone knows that most things don't go off without a hitch.

"Miss Carson."

I glanced up again... I suppose I spaced out again. I started to bite my lower lip, feeling the entire classes eyes focusing solely on me.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to give you detention."

Shocked, I looked up, seeing pity in her eyes. My English teacher, Ms Wolf had 'always' been my favorite teacher and I didn't see how she couldn't leave me alone and let me go. I guess it never occurred to her that I was in some pretty deep shit right now and everything was riding on me. Of course Ms Wolf wouldn't know about that kind of pressure, she's too busy flirting with the principal.

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Detention.

I couldn't believe that I had actually got my 'first' detention.

It was the end of the day, a few students lingered in the halls, and I tried to find Tory, but it was too late. She'd be pissed once she found out about my little accident. The truth was: I wasn't a bad student; I was quite the opposite. The only problem was that I had more than the average teenage girl to deal with. Racing, cheerleading, keeping my friends, trying to cope with Dean leaving, and attempting to change my father.

"Miss Carson, please take a seat," a rather young looking male teacher called. "We've been expecting you.

Taking a quick glance of the room, I noticed that there were about six or seven people in the room, but majority were sticking towards the back and a lot looked 'rough around the edges.' I had always been afraid to mingle with people that intimidated me.

"How?" I said aloud, not realizing that the whole room could hear me.

"Its not important, but I'm a huge fan of Motocorss. You are Andrew's twin, correct?" I nodded my head enthusiastically, glad that someone in this forsaken school knew about my Motocross career. Well, none of the other students ever believed me. I didn't care if they did or didn't.

"Great." He jumped down from his desk and hovered a little too closely to me now. "Now, that you've found your way to the room, take a seat, and don't ask me for anything."

Something about him told me that he was one of those guys that thought women were incapable of dominating a male sport. This was going to be one long fucking hour. Slamming my backpack onto the ground, I slid into a seat in the far corner- furthest away from the students and I began reading a bike book I had in my backpack.

"What are you reading?"

I jumped up, my heart pounding a mile a minute. "A Motocross magazine," I told him.

He smiled and turned away.

That was odd. Really odd.

Figuring that detention wouldn't get any better, I closed my eyes and laid my head on the desk. I had so much stress pumping through my veins that I had given myself a pretty bad migraine. Sighing, I tried to clear my mind and fall asleep. Everything else I was worried about could wait until later. For now, I had to find a way home and explain it to mom and dad without them wanting to kill me.

I had a bad feeling in the pit my stomach and I groaned.

"I wanna go home. I wanna go home."

I had never been one to get detention. Seriously, I was a good type of girl, 'who' tried to do the best I possibly could to excel in school and cheerleading. Unfortunately, cheerleading was set on the back burner because I was too busy hiding another secret. No one in my town knew that I raced Motocross. That's probably why I looked down upon because I was a blonde and a cheerleader.

Wanting to leave badly, I forced my eyes opened, and took a careful glance at the clock. 45 minutes. How was I going to handle it?

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Once detention was over, I grabbed my backpack, and hurried out of the room at lightning speed. I 'had' to find a way to the track and still get home for dinner. That left two hours. It took twenty minutes to walk to the track on foot. Then, I'd be able to stick around for five minutes, and I'd have to run all the way home. Things were seriously beginning to look down as I hurried through the parking lot, having no reason to stay on school grounds. I knew no one here who could give me a ride.

"Hey!"

I stopped in my tracks at the sound of a voice calling out to me. Spinning around, I noticed he had been the one who had asked me about what magazine I was reading in detention.

"Yeah?"

"Do you need a ride somewhere?" he asked nicely.

"I could use a ride," I started nervously, "but I need you to take me at the Motocross track on 5th and 8th. I have something I need to do there."

For a moment, he seemed bewildered, but he didn't question my attentions. He held the door open and waited for me to get in. Then he shut it behind him. He was such a gentleman, which was something I wasn't accustomed to. Setting my bag on my lap, I leaned my head against the seat, hoping that Tory wasn't about to kill me. I knew she probably called my house about ten times, wondering where the hell I was.

I felt extremely guilty.

Closing my eyes, I hoped the ride would end really soon.

A/n: Yay, a new chapter is up. I appreciate reviews- that way you can expect another chapter sooner than this update. I can be a procrastinator and I'm sorry for that. I hope a lot of you guys are still sticking around because I'd hate for this story to be abandoned because I'm a horrible updater.

ChocolateKisses13