"The throttle is completely stuck!" Craig yells as his car is sliding dangerously sideways. He turns the wheel towards the wall to correct the car, but it with the throttle stuck, the car heads full blast into the wall. Right where Clark is standing. Clark has to think fast. He could just stand there and let the car crash into him, shielding it from the spectators sitting behind Clark. But too many people would see. He can't just let those people get hurt… What can he do?
He can react faster than the eye can see, that's what. He waits until the car hits the wall and dives out of the way. As he dives, he puts his hand on the crumbling wall that the car hit and pushes as hard as he can.
To the normal eye, it looked like the car just bounced off of the wall. The car and the where the wall was hit are completely destroyed. Clark gets up off the ground and backs away from the wreckage. Sophie runs down to Clark.
"Clark, are you ok?" She asks, scared.
"I'm fine. Just lucky I got out of the way fast enough." He tells her.
"What were you doing? You just stood there and watched the car come right at you." Sophie asks him.
"I don't know, i guess... i just froze." He explains.
"I'm just glad your ok." She tells him and gives him a quick kiss.
"Yeah. We have to get down to the pits." Clark says and leads her through a gate, on to the track. They walk down towards Jake's pit and someone stops them.
"Hey, I'm Craig Thompson." He introduces himself and Clark recognizes his voice.
"Yeah, hi." Clark says and shakes his hand.
"I'm really sorry for almost hitting you like that." He apologizes.
"It wasn't your fault the throttle stuck." Clark tells him.
"Huh? How did you know?" He asks, looking confused. Clark gets his deer caught in the head lights look.
"It was just a guess…" Clark answers.
"Oh ok. Well sorry again. I have to get going to uh… retrieve my car." Craig says with a smile and walks off.
"Hey! Clark!" Jake calls out to him. "I saw your brush with death back there."
"Oh, yeah. I can't believe that car didn't go right through the wall." Clark says.
"And I can't believe you didn't get even a scratch." Sophie comments.
"I can understand if you would like to stay at your hotel tonight." Jake says to them.
"No, I'm fine." Clark assures him.
"Alright. Well, we can go in my trailblazer." Jake tells them and leads them to the truck. Once they get to the truck, an extremely attractive blonde woman is waiting. "This is Brooke, my fiancé. Brook, this is Clark and Sophie. The couple I was telling you about." Jake introduces them.
"Hi." Brooke says, kind of looking Clark up and down. Clark looks uneasy, noticing the 25 year old checking him out. He knows how jealous Sophie can be, and he's right. Sophie isn't at all pleased. The only one that doesn't notice is Jake.
"Ok, let's get out of here." Jake says, getting in to the driver's seat. John comes out of the trailer.
"Hey, Clark. Nice dodge back there." John comments with a frightening smile.
"Uh, yeah." Clark says, kind of freaked out.
"Kind of weird how the car just kind of bounced off the wall, huh?" He asks, keeping the smile.
"What are you suggesting?" Clark asks.
"Oh, nothing. Just kind of surprised me that the wall would do that." John replies.
"Hey John, would you like come with us out for the night?" Jake asks.
"Oh, no. I have some work to do." John says, glancing at Clark.
"Ok. Have fun." Jake says with a laugh and drives off.
"That kind of freaked me out." Sophie whispers in Clark's ear.
"You and me both." Clark whispers back. "Does your brother always act that way after a race?" Clark asks Jake.
"Ah, he's kind of an oddball sometimes. He's really smart. He does some scientific work on the side." Jake answers.
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They arrive at The Finish Line nightclub a few miles from the track. It's a large building with a long line waiting to get in. Loud music can be heard from outside.
"This place is kind of busy. Maybe we should go someplace else." Clark says.
"Nah, we'll get right in. I always come here when I race at Eldora." Jake tells them and they all get out. Jake takes Brooke's arm and walks past the line. Clark and Sophie follow. The bouncer recognizes Jake and nods, letting them enter. When they walk in, Clark notices a bluish glow and lights bouncing all over the place. Kind of reminds him of the club in Metropolis he always went to when he ran away. "Let's get a drink." Jake suggests and they all walk through the dancing people towards the bar. Clark keeps getting flashbacks at all the bad things he did under the red kryptonite and all the girls in nightclubs he met. This isn't the time to think of all that, he begs himself.
"Clark, is something wrong?" Sophie asks, concerned.
"No, I'm fine." Clark assures her and smiles. "You look great." He tells her and gives her a kiss.
"Everyone else sure thinks so." She smiles, looking around shyly at the many guys staring at her.
"Well, look at you." Clark says, looking at her mini skirt and her tight shirt. Just then, he gets another flashback. This time he's making out with a girl that looks exactly like Sophie and wearing the exact same clothes… And he remembers something.
It was her.