Chapter 14 - "Run That Race"
by Dan Auerbach
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Hey! Another double upload for you guys so don't forget to check out Chapter 13 too :)
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Nothing exciting happened in Jasper, but every now and then something would break the empty streak and gossip spread like wildfire. Such was the case one morning as I pushed at my food after sitting down in the cafeteria for lunch.
"Have you heard?"
"Vince got his ass beat in a race!"
"Some kid named Jack-"
"-Jack Darby? No way!"
Snippets of conversation that I overheard all seemed to be centered around my friend and the renowned bad boy Vince but I pushed it away as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I spooned up some mac and cheese and slowly moved it closer to my mouth. Just as I put it in-
"Earth to Carmen!"
I choked and did my best not to let any of the pasta go flying. Someone rubbed their hand on my back and after a few seconds to collect myself, I looked up at my friends from where I was hunched over. Some were trying to hide their grins while others were looking very concerned. Katie, who was sitting across from me, stooped down to catch my gaze.
"You okay there, Carm?"
I took a sip of water and nodded at the darker skinned girl. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good."
"You sure?" Olive spoke up, pushing a strand of her blonde hair back behind her ear. "You've been zoning out all lunch."
"Sorry guys, I'm not trying to ignore you or anything, I'm just... tired."
Jessica's giggling cut off and her bobbed hairstyle fanned out as she swung to face me with a pointed look from behind her glasses. "Then stop working two jobs at once! You're running yourself ragged trying to fit everything in. You just don't have the time for school and homework and two jobs and a life outside of all those."
I groaned and covered my face with my palms. "I know, I know. It's not like I'm working full time or anything though. I only work twice a week for my uncle-"
"And every other day just about is at the diner. You get maybe 1 day off a week now, sometimes 2, and they're not even full days! It's been, what, almost two months? And now look at you. You need to cut back." The other girls hummed in agreement at Taylor's statement.
I let everything the girls had told me roll around in my head and sighed. They looked at me in anticipation, as if I was going to decide then and there. I wanted to give them an answer; I wanted to give them the answer they wanted me to give them so badly, but instead I tried to appease them with an "I'll think about it".
Thankfully they didn't linger on it any more and, with a sly smirk, Olive leaned closer. "So, you ready for your date with Harley tonight?"
I stuttered and felt my cheeks heat up.
"Aw, look at her, getting all bashful. You're too cute, Carmen."
"Thanks, Kate." I mumbled and rubbed the nape of my neck.
"We still good to come over to yours this afternoon?" Jess asked.
At my nod, the four of them started to talk about plans on what I should wear and theorising about what kind of movie he was taking me to on our first date since, according to him, he thought I'd "like a little mystery" in my life. And oh, how right he was. Despite being dead tired, I was still excited for tonight and was itching to know what movie it was. He'd said it was some kind of special late night screening they were showing and wanted to keep it a surprise, so I'd begged my friends not to look it up and spoil it despite their curiosity.
The bell rang for the end of lunch, and the girls and I joined the flow of kids heading back to class. I split off with Katie to head to our visual arts and photography class, only to stop as I saw a familiar black haired teen walking towards us. "Hey, Jack."
"Oh, hey Carmen. You doing alright? You look..."
"Like a walking corpse?" I rolled my eyes at Kate's comment and glared playfully at her but the effect fell flat as I yawned.
"Sorry. But, uh, yeah, I'm good. Nice work by the way; I heard that you beat that jerk Vince in a-" another yawn, "- a race. Isn't racing against the rules though?" He scratched the back of his head with a nervous chuckle.
"Against what rules?"
Jack and I froze. Crap. I hadn't even thought about Katie standing next to me, my brain was all muddled at the moment and I wasn't thinking straight. "My mom's." Jack came to the rescue, saving an almost disastrous situation. "She doesn't want me driving recklessly. Plus, y'know, street racing isn't exactly legal."
Katie nodded with an "ah", and with a quick goodbye, we went our separate ways for class.
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"Try this on."
"I think the v-neck would go better with the skinny jeans."
"But the skirt is so cute! The red with the little white flowers-"
"-What about a different shirt then?"
Clothes were being shoved in my arms left, right and center. They'd already taken care of my make-up but my friends were determined to get me to wear something "not your usual look". A.K.A. not casual or comfortable.
"Do I really have to wear this shirt? It shows off a little more than I'd like."
"See? I told you she wouldn't want the v-neck."
"Shut up, Olive." The blonde stuck her tongue out at the wavy-haired brunette and Taylor stuck hers out right back.
"What about that one? It's kinda cute." I pointed to a white t-shirt on the bed and Jess handed it over. I shred the top I was wearing and put the new one on, letting one of the sleeves droop off my right shoulder like it was designed to do. The girls stood back. Taylor put a finger on her lip then pointed it at me.
"Tuck it into the skirt." I did as she said and turned to look at myself in the mirror. "Well?"
I beamed. "I love it."
Knock-knock-knock!
My eyes went round. He was here! Looking at the clock, I gaped at the numbers staring back at me. 10:30 already? I grabbed my purse as the girls shoved me out of my room, up the hallway, and into the lounge area. Dad was standing by the open front door, shaking hands with my date.
How on Earth did I manage to score a date with the Harley Trenton?
His curly brown locks were styled back in that messy kind of way that still looked good, his blue eyes seeming to twinkle under the lights as he switched his gaze from my Dad to me. They widened and his mouth curved upwards.
"Wow... you look- you look nice."
"Thanks, so do you." I clasped my hands together in front of me before separating them and putting them by my sides. God, I was acting like a little school girl with her first crush!
"Alright, now remember, I want you back by 12:30, got it?"
"Got it, Dad."
"And no later!"
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir." Harley chimed in, reaching forward to grab my hand in his. I said goodbye to my Dad and friends before he pulled me outside to his muscle car.
"Don't do anything I would do!"
"You better take care of her, Trenton!"
"Yeah! We know where you go to school!"
I stuttered out an apology at my friend's words but he just laughed and opened the door for me. He flashed me a toothy smile. "After you."
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After driving further and further away from Jasper, I thought I had a good idea of what this 'mystery movie date' was actually going to be. But as we slowed down and moved off the road into a stormwater drain filled with people and cars all lined up, the romantic night of going stargazing got thrown out the window. "What is this?" I asked cautiously.
"This... is the circuit." He answered proudly. "One of the best tracks around."
I recognised kids from my year and the years on either side milling about: girls fawning over the suped-up vehicles and boys hyping each other up. There were also a handful of adults, probably from out of town, and I felt my stomach clench. "What are we doing here, Harley?" I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and saw him giving me a soft smirk.
"Thought you might like to go for a race. Pretty exciting, right?" I hated to admit it, but I'd always been curious about the street racing scene of Jasper. The thought of being in a car as it went as fast as it could along a stretch of road was enticing but I knew how dangerous these races could get. I also knew that they were illegal and didn't appreciate being dragged into it. Harley opened his door and got out and prompted me to do the same. I stood there, gazing over the crowd, and, crush or not, I wasn't going to be a part of this.
"...Take me home."
He jerked back. "Wait, what?"
I steeled myself and stared him down. "I said take me home, Harley. Please." Chiffon chafed against my fingers as I scrunched them into my skirt and I tried not to back down under his hurt and confused look.
"I thought you'd like this. It's fun, trust me! You have nothing to worry about." He stepped closer, essentially boxing me in against his car.
My hand instinctively came up to keep a space between us, as small a space as it was. "I don't wanna get caught up in all of... this. What if we get caught-?"
"We won't-"
"-What if something happens? Huh?" I shook my head. "Look, I'm not gonna rat you out or whatever, and while I don't think you should be doing this kind of shit - it's not my place to be telling you what to do - but I'd really appreciate it if you just took me home."
He leant down and his face was inches from my own, gazing into mine, and he moved a hand up to brush my hair behind my ear. "Come on, Carmen, live a little. You know you want to." A delighted shiver ran down my spine but I pushed it and him away firmly.
"Stop, I'm serious. I like you, Harley, I really really do, but I'm not going to get in trouble because of you. I'm going home."
The lithe teen ran his fingers through his curls and scrunched up his face in torn frustration. "I can't not do this race, I'll look like a coward! I mean, rocking up only to turn around and leave?" I stared at him in disbelief. He's gotta be joking. Is he seriously trying to tell me- "You'll need to find someone else to take you home. That or come with me for the ride." My mouth dropped open. He wasn't joking.
I let out a noise of disbelief and had to look away for a second to process what he'd just said. When our eyes met again, my jaw clenched. "See you at school, jerk." And I rounded the car and stormed off towards the road. Harley called out to me but didn't follow.
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The cold, desert night air swept across my body, sticking my tears to my cheeks. I rubbed at my arms to try and keep warm. I'd been walking for a good 10 to 15 minutes now and was silently cursing my stupid crush and for not thinking to bring a jacket. Maybe I should have stayed, at least I wouldn't be walking home alone in the middle of the night. Just when I was about to turn around and go back, I heard the faint sound of an engine coming from behind me. And it was getting real loud, real quick. I looked over my shoulder and, at the fast approaching headlights, I stumbled off the road. I shielded my eyes as it got closer and had to blink when it slowed down, drove into the stormwater drain I'd just walked over the top of, and reversed under the bridge. What the...?
Without thinking, I slid down the slope and stopped short at what, or rather who, I was looking at. "Bee?"
He buzzed softly and all of a sudden Jack was sticking his head out the window with one finger pressed to his lips and the other pointing up. I froze and held my breath as another engine purred from up above. It suddenly cut off and everything was quiet. What felt like minutes was in reality only a few seconds before it started up again with a squeal of treads and was off. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and sagged back into his seat. I moved to Bee's passenger side and went to open the door when a set of high beams shined over us. As soon as the door swung open, I swore.
Vince.
"Darby!" he snarled, punching his fist into his palm.
"Vince, you have to get out of here, okay? Congratulations, now go!"
He slammed his hands on the hood. "No, start her back up, loser, we're finishing this race!"
"Easy, Vince, no need to take it out on the car." I held out a hand and moved closer. He shot me a scrutinising look.
"Lowe? What are you doing here?"
"I-I got lost. Jack found me, he's gonna take me home." I placed a hand on his arm and gave him my best 'I'm-sad-and-cold-pity-me' face. "Look, I've already been left to walk once tonight, could you do me a favor and let him off so I don't get ditched twi-aah!"
Pointed, metal fingers wrapped around the two of us before I could run, squishing us together. Air rushed past me and my stomach dropped as we were flung up into the air. We latched on to each other, screaming bloody murder as gravity dragged us back down but instead of smacking into the concrete, we found ourselves inside of a lush-looking sports car. I scrambled off of Vince into the driver's seat and frantically tried the door handle. It was in vain though as seat belts snapped out restricting me to the seat and I yelped at the tightness.
"What's going on? What are you-." The boy was cut off by some strange device sticking out of the dash shocking him into unconsciousness.
"Vince!" I struggled in my bonds as we sped off and wrenched my head back with a screech when a similar device poked out of the steering wheel. "Get that thing away from me, you Decepticreep!"
A smooth, rich voice echoed from the radio with a playful tone to it. "Now now, fleshling, just sit back and relax, enjoy the ride. When you wake up, you and your friend will be in for quite the treat." With a burst of light and a shock coursing through my body, I saw no more.
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Optimus Prime was in deep thought as he drove towards the base he and his team were calling 'home'. Specifically, he was thinking over the recent events that had led up to his current position of driving with an unconscious teenager in his front seats, three ashamed team members and one of their charges behind him, and a fuming medic barraging him with comms every few minutes.
He scanned over the human girl for the umpteenth time and his results came back the same as every other time he had checked: she was fine. The Autobot leader had no idea why his team and two of their human charges had been out so late - he meant it when he told them explanations could wait - but he was more concerned for young Carmen's safety than anything.
As the small convoy rolled into base, they were greeted by the imposing, seething form of Ratchet. Optimus undid the seatbelt keeping his friend's charge in place and carefully transformed around her before handing her over. He observed the two of them as Carmen began to stir and blinked blearily up at her guardian. "Ratch...?" she mumbled, rubbing a tiny fist into her optic.
"Yes, yes, I'm here." He cupped his servo around her fragile body and carried her into his med-bay, disappearing from their line of sight.
Although he didn't let it show, Optimus was glad to see his old friend growing closer to the girl. Ratchet might have denied it when he had mentioned it to him earlier that evening but it was clear to Optimus that he was more attached than anyone realised.
He let those thoughts drift to the back of his processor though as he turned his attention to his team. Waiting was over.