A/N: Ok, now its time for the racing. This chapter won't be the longest by any stretch, but it will be longer than chapter 3. A fair warning, this chapter is rated LD for Luvy Dovey. Translation: Between J.T. and Liberty, there's gonna be enough cheese in the chapter to fill a boat. Also, I need to take care of some legal stuff. Although real NASCAR nextel cup driver names will be used in this story, I am in no way related or connected to any drivers, teams, sponsors, officials, or families of NASCAR or Sprint-Nextel. Just so you know, Max's crew chief and Spotter are characters copyright to me.
Now, on with the story
CHAPTER 4: "Welcome to MIS."
A few hours after successfully negotiating Liberty's "release from punishment for good behavior", the "three musketeers" are on a jet to Detroit Michigan and the Michigan International Speedway with Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Good wrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Kevin sits in a seat facing Max, and Liberty and J.T. sit next to each other in the sofa seat (A/N: if you've seen the inside of most private jets, you know what I mean), arms around each other, with J.T. sleeping, resting his head on Liberty's shoulder.
"So how's school?" Kevin asks his teammate and friend. " It's been great, Liberty got into a fight." Marcus says. "A fight that I didn't start." Liberty is quick to fire back. "So who's your friend Max? I've never seen him around the track." Kevin asks. Marcus looks back. "Who, him?" Kevin nods. "Oh, "sleeping beauty" back there is J.T. He's gonna be writing the times as liberty reports them. He's also my best friend, and my sister's boyfriend." Marcus says.
J.T. is exhausted from running back home to get his bags together to be ready by the time Mr. Van Zandt arrived, and to ease suspicions that he was around the house.
"So, how many cars should we expect?" Liberty asks.
"About 15-20 cars, don't worry though, your brother's is the only one that's fully painted." Kevin says with a smirk. "Is Kasey gonna be there?" "Kasey Kahne of course. She has the biggest crush on him." Marcus says, Liberty simply looks away, attempting to hide the smile on her face. "Besides, I already have a boyfriend." Liberty says, snugging up to J.T. "God they're sickening." Marcus says, slightly disgusted. "I think they're cute." Kevin says in reply. "Well since your married, I bet you have moments like that all the time. For the witnesses of said moment, we call it sickening." Marcus snaps back.
"My brother won't even talk to them anymore" he adds."Why's that?" Kevin asks. Marcus and Liberty look at each other then look back at Kevin, laughing uneasily.
"Oh, he found out like THAT?"
"What? NO!, no, gosh no. It's a slightly longer story." Liberty says.
"I see" Kevin responds.
Soon, the plane lands in Detroit, and from there they go to the hotel where the team is staying. They receive their room assignment and break off. Liberty and J.T. in room 305, and Marcus in room 306. Around 7:00pm, Max is visited by Liberty.
"Max?"
"On the balcony Sis!" Max yells. Liberty walks out and takes a seat next to her brother, who's taking in the scenery.
"What's up sis?" Marcus asks. "J.T. called first shower, so I'm giving him some privacy." Liberty answers. " Ok, TMI, TMI. Anyway, what do you think of J.T.?" Marcus asks. "He's ok." Liberty responds, blushing. "There's more to it then that, I can tell." Liberty decides to open up to her brother. "Ok, I'm in love with him. I love being around him all the time, I love his smile, his touch, his kiss, his..."
Before she can continue, Marcus stops her" Lib, that's WAY too much information for me. Seriously though, I'm happy for you sis, at least you've managed to find love." He says, now leaning on the railing. "Don't sell yourself short, as I've heard, Hazel's got a huge crush on you." Liberty responds, now leaning on the railing next to her brother. "I've known her since the third grade, if she had a crush on me, I'd know." "Maybe you need to read the signs better, she's really falling for you." "I'll keep that in mind." Marcus says, partly smiling.
J.T. steps onto the balcony, of his and Liberty's room,. dressed in a red shirt and pajama bottoms. "Shower's free!" "Yeah, thanks for broadcasting that to the whole world J.T." Liberty says. "Hey J.T.! Come over here please." Marcus says in more of a commanding voice than a question. "On my way." J.T. leaves the balcony. Liberty just laughs and looks at her brother. "Don't look at me, he's your boyfriend." Marcus says, laughing. "I know, I 'll see you tomorrow." Liberty says, hugging her brother. "You haven't grown out of that Lib." "Some habits never die." Liberty says, leaving the balcony.
"Hey Max! You in here?" J.T. asks." "I never left the balcony J.T." Marcus says with sarcasm. "So, what where you and Liberty talking about?" "Dude, I don't know what you did, but my sister is 3 steps away from giving you the "business", and for you that's a good thing." Marcus says. "Well, what can I say, the ladies love me!" J.T. says with confidence. "Yeah, well, do me a favor and turn the "JT York charm"down a little bit. Because If my sister gets knocked up, your gonna get f'ed up, and that is NOT a good thing." Marcus says. "Don't worry, I will not be making that mistake twice." J.T. says, thinking of the infamous "Snake" incident.
"I bet you won't." Marcus says with a chuckle. " She's a nice girl though, this time, I'm gonna try my best to make this work." "Alright, J.T., do not start pouring your feelings out to me like my sister just did. I don't want to know." Marcus says, disgust on his face. "I'm not going too, don't worry. But, hey, Hazel's gunning for ya."
"You know, you're the 2nd person to tell me that in the past 10 minuets, so I'm guessing its true." Marcus says with sarcasm. "Trust me, when you get back, she's gonna be on a full court press for you my friend." "I'll keep that in mind." Marcus says, standing. "Hey J.T., I'm done!" Liberty says, stepping onto the balcony, wearing one of Marcus's old shirts and black pajama bottoms. "Get over there, but don't do anything foolish. Because if you do, your done." Marcus says with an ominous tone. "Yes sir." J.T. says, leaving the room.
After J.T. leaves, Marcus decides to jump into the shower and prepare for bed, and the driving he'd be doing tomorrow. Next door, J.T. and Liberty prepare for bed. "So, what did you and Max talk about?" Liberty asks. "Not much, it wasn't a lengthy conversation." J.T. says, laying on the bed next to Liberty. "I have an idea what you two talked about, don't worry about it too much, He's protective, but not like my father." She says, rolling over to face J.T. "Lib, do you think his attitude change has anything to do with Hazel?" "I don't follow." Liberty says, confused. "I need to write this down, your actually confused."
"Ha ha, well don't get used to it." Liberty says, before give J.T. a kiss.
"Good night J.T."
"Good night Liberty, love you"
"Love you too."
J.T. turns over and cuts out the light, then takes Liberty in his arms. They kiss one more time, then fall asleep in each others arms.
(A/N: What, you REALLY thought I was gonna go there? This story is Staying Teen no matter what, if you want to write your own version of events, I give you an open invitation to do so. Have fun wit that, but as for me, Its not gonna happen)
Over in the next room, Marcus is also preparing for bed. Climbing into bed, he pulls out his cell phone. He has a text message from Hazel. Marcus opens it, and reads the message. " Max, this is not a joke, want to go out when you get back? Hazel" Marcus reads to himself. Marcus sighs "Alright Hazel, I got the point" Marcus texts back "sure", places his phone on the charger, cuts out the lamp and falls asleep.
(A/N: Alright, intermission time because the second part is gonna be long. Like I said earlier, this chapter has been rated LD for Luvey Dovey. It's not my style, but we know J.T. and Liberty where like this, or worse, or better, you be the judge.)
The next day, Marcus is up early at 5 am, already to go to Michigan. He's dressed in jeans, black Basketball shoes, a Black shirt with the word "Torco" stitched on the right side, just below the collar. 30 minuets later, J.T. is awake, Liberty still in his arms, facing him. He carefully detaches himself from his lover and goes to brush his teeth, as Liberty begins to stir. "Good morning" Liberty says, reaching for her glasses. "Good Morning Liberty, sleep well?" J.T. asks as he steps out of the bathroom. "Heavenly" Liberty says, climbing out of bed. "Are you done in the bathroom?" "Yeah, but now I need to change clothes." J.T. says.
"I'll see if Marcus will let me use his bathroom." Liberty says. "K, I'll meet you in the lobby." J.T. says. Liberty grabs her things, blows him a kiss and walks into her brother's room. "Hey, can I use your bathroom, J.T.'s changing." She asks. "Sure, go ahead, you're free to change in there." Marcus says. "Thanks" Liberty enters the bathroom and begins to brush her teeth.
"Can you here me in there?" Marcus asks.
"Mm Hm!" Liberty says, spitting into the sink.
"Hazel put you and J.T. to work fast, didn't she?" Marcus asks. " What do you mean?" She asks, continuing to brush her teeth. "I mean Hazel, she put you two to work getting her a date, She could of just asked me." " Don't tell me your suspicious." Liberty asks after rinsing her mouth of toothpaste. "I'm not, just saying." He responds. "I'm gonna step out for a moment." "Ok!" Liberty responds, still in the bathroom.
Marcus gathers his cell phone and race gear and puts his room key in his pocket, then steps into the hallway, where other RCR team members are assembling. Leaning against the wall, he sees his crew chief, Patrick Smith walking towards him.
"Marcus, good to see ya."
"Pat, how's it goin?" Marcus responds, the two shake hands.
"So, where's your sister?" Patrick asks "Getting dressed, you know how long it takes for girls to get dressed." "I here ya!" Patrick says with a chuckle. J.T. steps out of the room in the classic J.T. outfit, a blue short-sleeved shirt over the red and white striped shirt and Jeans. "Pat, this is J.T. Yorke, he's gonna be helping us out today, J.T., this is Patrick Smith, my crew chief."
"Hi, nice to meet you" J.T. says, shaking Patrick's hand.
"Nice to meet you J.T. Max says your gonna be helping us out." Patrick tells him " Yes sir, whatever you need me to do." J.T. replies as Liberty steps out Marcus's room dressed in Jeans and her Black team shirt. "Morning Pat." Liberty says, stepping out of Marcus's room. "Morning, ready to go down?" Marcus asks.
After heading down to breakfast, the teams head to the Michigan International Speedway, a 2 mile oval with 18 degree turns, a 12 degree banked, 3,600ft. front stretch and a 5 degree banked, 2,242 ft long backstretch. The teams assemble and begin work on the COT's, NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, while Marcus, J.T., and Liberty head inside the #68 Torco racing fuels hauler to discuss the events about to take place.
"Welcome to the trailer JT, now, on to today's game plan. Today is a NASCAR sanctioned COT tire test. This is gonna be a 2-session test, we're gonna have a morning session, then an hour for lunch, then an afternoon session before we pack up for the day. Now, here are your headsets." Marcus says, handing them the red colored microphone headsets with two noise-cancelling earphone speakers. "Alright JT, pay attention. Clip the battery pack to your belt, and make sure its on. To talk, switch the mic to on with this switch and speak, then switch it back off. Don't leave it on or it'll create interference." Liberty says. "Also, keep conversation to a minimum, everyone can here what you say on these things." She adds.
"Alright Mic check, can you here me JT?"
"10-4, I here you loud and clear." JT responds.
"Alright, now that has been taken care of, you two go over to the nextel cup garage and chill with the team, I'm going to the driver's meeting." Marcus says as they walk out of the Hauler. "One question, which way is the garage? Liberty asks. "Umm, It's that way." Marcus points as he talks. "Ok, come on JT." Liberty and JT head for the garage, hand in hand. Marcus shakes his head as he is joined by teammate Clint Bowyer, driver of the 07 Jack Daniels chevy.
"I see your sister has a boyfriend." Clint says. Marcus simply replies "Yep". "How are you taking it?" "In stride my friend, In stride." Marcus responds. "We need to get over to the driver's meeting." Clint says. "Then let's go, I've been itching to do something racing related all day." Marcus says. The two walk to the media center, where they meet up with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, driver of the Cingular chevy for RCR. They take front row seats as the drivers and team members chatter amongst themselves, the noise dies down as Mike Helton, NASCAR President and race control director, steps to the podium.
"Good morning everyone."
"Good morning!" The teams reply.
"I'd like to thank you all for staying an extra day here in Michigan for this test, I would also like to extend a welcome to the developmental drivers here today."
"He's talking about you" Jeff whisper to Max. Max nods.
"I'd like to just go over today's schedule of events to you all. After this we're going to allow the teams an hour to setup your cars before we open the track so you don't loose any valuable track time. If you get your car setup early, exit the garage area safely via the 2nd opening to pit road and park your car in the 2nd lane down at the end of pit road in a single file line. At 9:30, the track will be open for business. If you where here the past 3 days, you know that when you exit pit road, you know to stay on the apron all the way around to the back stretch then merge safely onto the track. At 11:30, we will break for lunch and sweep the track for any debris. During this time, Goodyear technicians will be coming by to take a look at the tires, at 1:30pm we will start the afternoon session, at 5:00 the red and black flags will signal the end of the day, just as they will be displayed to end the morning session."
Mike continues " While your on the track, be forgiving, it's not a race, it's a test. Give room when someone tries to pass, and listen to your spotter, they're here to help you."
As Marcus listens intently, his focus is broken by the sound of a faint gasp from behind him. Turning his head slightly to the left, he sees JT and Liberty behind him. Liberty's face is flushed, and one of JT's hands is out of sight, causing Marcus turns around, holding down the throw up that climbed into his throat. "Any questions? If not, have a good day, and your all dismissed." The crews stand up and walk out of the media center, but before he heads to his car, Marcus is stopped by Jeff Burton.
"Hey, I saw you look back." Jeff says. "You did?" Marcus asks. "Yeah, and you where none to pleased" "Oh, nothing, I just need to discuss something with them." Marcus walks up to JT, who's talking with Kevin Harvick and another torco crew member, and pulls him aside.
" Hey, what where you and Liberty up too?" Marcus asks. "Oh, OHHHH! Don't take that the wrong way, Liberty is not feeling to well, something from breakfast is not sitting well with her." JT says. "Is she ok? Where is she?" Marcus asks in a concerned tone. "She went to the bathroom to throw up, here she comes now. Liberty walks up to them, color in her face slowly returning. "Everything settled in your stomach?" JT asks. "Yeah, but that's the last time I eat anything from that Hotel's buffet, but I'm fine now." Liberty says, Marcus and JT chuckle. "Glad to see your ok Little sis, now, I need to go change, you two go help Pat out. Take it easy Liberty." "I will." With that, JT and Liberty walk back to the garage. Marcus and Kevin are joined by Clint and Jeff.
"Is everything alright?" Jeff asks. "Yeah, my sister was a bit under the weather, she's ok now." Marcus replies. "Ya know, I think I had JT pegged wrong. "What do you mean?"Clint asks. "Ah, its nothing. I'll see you guys after I get my fire suit on."
With that, the team mates break off to change into racing gear, and for Marcus, a new-found respect for his best friend.
END CHAPTER 4
My parting shots: I'm sorry to cut this chapter short, but I don't want it to be SO long; anyway, prepare for Chapter 5, coming your way next week because I'm going to basketball camp, also, I'd like to thank those that have reviewed my story for your support, remember to R and R!