CHAPTER 7:

NO REST FOR THE WEARY

Testing complete, Marcus, JT, and Liberty return to Quebec that evening. The torco team returned to the track during the Afternoon session to evaluate different adjustments to the car that would be made during the race. They also shared information with there RCR teammates on the setup before packing up to go home. Liberty has gone to her room and fallen asleep early, while Marcus sits on his bed, dressed in a white undershirt and Black pajama bottoms, and wearing a Microphone headset that's connected to his computer. He's talking to Toby using the Ventrilo chat program that he and his friends use from time to time.

"I read Maxine's blog, looks like she really hates Liberty." Marcus says. "Well, your not gonna believe what we saw today." Toby responds. "What, Spinner asking Mrs. Kwan out on a date?" Marcus says with a chuckle. "Ok, horrible mental image a side, we found a rose on Liberty's locker." Toby says. "From who?" Marcus asks, concerned. "Rick." Toby responds. Marcus nearly falls of the bed at Toby's statement. He thinks back to when Terri was put into a coma by Rick's temporary loss of sanity, "You think Maxine brought him into this?" "Probably." Toby responds. "We need to get this diffused as quickly as possible, see you tomorrow. Due to jetlag, I probably won't be in until lunchtime if I come at all." Marcus says, yawning.

The next day, Marcus arrives around lunch as stated. He receives praise for his lap time as he walks through the cafeteria, taking a seat with JT, Emma, Manny, and Toby. " Afternoon everyone." Marcus says. "Hello to you too. Why did you come this late?" Emma says. "Jetlag is a trip, that's all I'm saying. "Liberty was still sleep when I left." Marcus responds. "Anyway, we need to talk about how we're gonna stop Rick." Marcus says. "Rick didn't do it." Toby says. "And how do you know?" JT asks. "Because I saw Maxine put another one up there earlier today." Toby answers him. "She's trying to make JT jealous or something? Because Rick's not her type." Marcus says, yawning.

"Well, what if he was lying?" Manny asks worriedly. Marcus rolls his eyes and answers "I know I'm going to be sorry for this, but what do you mean?" "What I mean is, what if Rick was lying to you to secretly kidnap your sister and use her as his..."

JT cuts her off before she could finish.

"Manny, shut the fuck up!" He yells at her. Emma and Toby shake there heads in disapproval of her comments, while Marcus puts his head down to hide his laughter. "What? It could happen." Manny reasons. Struggling to compose himself, Marcus raises his head. "Ok, I propose we revoke Manny's speaking privileges for 20 minutes."

"Second it!" Emma, Toby, and JT say in unison.

"I believe we are unanimous, motion passed." Marcus says. Manny sticks her tung out at them and leaves the table. "Ok, now that that's taken care of, I'm going to go talk to Hazel and company." Marcus says, rising from the table. "Alright, see ya later." Toby says.

Marcus slings his bag over his shoulder and searches around for his friends. Hazel sees him and motions for him to come sit down.

"Hi guys, how's it goin?" Marcus says, taking a seat next to Hazel. "Fine, oh, Congrats on the track record yesterday." Hazel says, smiling. "Thanks Hazel." He responds. "So how was it down there in Michigan? Spinner asks. "It was good, a little too hot, mainly because of the fire suit I was wearing, but it was good." Marcus responds. "Did you here about Rick?" Jimmy asks. "I did, and before you continue, the rose was planted by his cousin, he had no prior knowledge." Marcus responds quickly. Jimmy gives him the "Yeah, Right look." "So, where is Mrs. time keeper today?" Spinner asks. " Liberty has a serious case of Jetlag, she's at home sleep." Marcus says.

"So, have any plans for your birthday?" Hazel asks him. "Well, my birthday is on Saturday, and hopefully I'll be celebrating it with a victory at the Dover International Speedway." Marcus says with a smirk. " I'll be there to cheer you on!" Hazel says, smirking back. "Ok, what are we witnessing?" Spinner whispers to Jimmy, who shrugs his shoulders. Marcus's cell phone goes off, he flips it open to see he has a new text message from His sister. The message reads:

Max:

Dad is infront of the school with your birthday present.

Lil' Sis.

"Who is it?" Hazel asks. Text message from Liberty, she said my dad is out front with my birthday present... Whatever that means." Marcus says. "Well, let's go see." Hazel says. "Not Like I have a choice." Marcus says.

Marcus and Hazel leave the cafeteria to walk towards the front of the school. Marcus takes her hand into his own as they walk, causing Hazel to smile at him. When they get to the door, Marcus and Hazel look out to see Mr. Van Zandt standing next to a shiny blue 1965 Chevy Corvette, with white racing stripes.

"Oh, no way!" Marcus exclaims as he and Hazel walk out side.

"Dad!"

"Hi Max, Hazel." Mr Van Zandt says. "Hi Mr. Van Zandt, nice car." Hazel says. "Thanks, but it's not mine, It's my son's." Mr. Van Zandt says. "Dad. Are you serious?! This is mine?!" Marcus exclaims. "I wanted to wait until you got back, but you earned it, Son." Mr. Van Zandt says with a smile. Marcus and Hazel look into the car. The seats are Blue in the middle, with white on the sides. The steering wheel is a classic Chevy wheel, colored white. The gages have a more modern look to them, with blue needles on a white background. The rims are 16 inches holding 4 brand new Goodyear Eagle tires.

"This is great, no, this is perfect!" Marcus says excitedly. "Thank your sister, she found the car. We sent it to RCR to totally restore it, and there's a suprise for you under the hood." Mr. Van Zandt says. Marcus opens the driver side door and pops the hood, then walks to the front and lifts it up, revealing a RCR racing engine underneath. "Whoa... it's the C-18, I helped build this back in July! It's got at least 450hp of power!" He says. "462hp to be exact" Mr. Van Zandt says, handing him the keys. "I'm proud of you, Max. You've worked so hard with your racing and in school, this is a token of our appreciation for everything you've done." Mr. Van Zandt says.

"Wow, thanks dad." Marcus says, hugging his father. "You're welcome. Hey, take the day off and take it for a spin, I'll get the work you missed." Mr. Van Zandt says. Marcus and Hazel get in the car and buckle their seatbelts, smiling at each other. "See ya at the house!" Marcus yells out the window. "Drive Safely, Max." Mr. Van Zandt tells him. Marcus puts the key in the ignition and starts it. The car comes alive with a roar. "Well, shall we go?" Marcus asks.

"Yeah, let's drive!" she answers, kissing him on the cheek.

Grinning, Marcus shifts into first gear and gently accelerates. He drives from the front of the school and turns onto the main street. Marcus guns it, squealing the tires as he accelerates, shifting through the gears before reaching fourth, and gently letting off to speed limit level.

"Wow, now THIS is a ride!" Marcus says. "I never knew you had a drivers license." Hazel says. "I got it in July, when I came back from Daytona." He answers. "You went to Daytona?" Hazel asks with interest. "Yep, got to watch the cup race live from pit lane." He says. "Wow, do you think you could get me into pit lane?" Hazel asks. "The guest passes just arrived at the house, and one of them has your name on it." Marcus replies. We'll go there now."

Marcus and Hazel drive to his house and go to the backyard, where Liberty is sitting at the table in her pajamas, drinking coffee to try and wake up. "I see your upright." Marcus says, chuckling. "It's an improvement, I've spent most of the day asleep on the sofa." Liberty responds, yawning." Marcus and Hazel take a seat next to each other. "So, how is it traveling from track to track with a race team?" Hazel asks. "It's fun, save for the massive amounts of jetlag." Liberty says, sipping her cup. "Especially when flying from Canada to California." She adds.

"It's alright for me, I don't know why Liberty gets effected so much by it." Marcus says. "So, what was your hardest wreck in a stock car?" Hazel asks. Marcus pauses to think, then answers. "It was an Arca race at Talladega, we were 10 laps from the end, someone blew an engine and got run over, they piled up and I got clipped, I spun and started to flip over, and got hit again before I completely rolled and I just went flying down the track. I flipped on my side about 10 times down the backstretch before coming to rest on my wheels." "Everyone was in silence when that happened, I was screaming on the radio asking if he was okay." Liberty adds. "Well I'm glad I couldn't here you since the radio antennae got sheered off during the wreck. I climbed out after my head stopped spinning and stood on what was left of the roof to show I was ok." Marcus says, thrusting his fist in the air to mimic his move from the race. "Oh yeah, thanks for the present."

"You got the car?"Liberty asks "He wasn't supposed to give it to you until after the race." "Well how do you think I got here?" Marcus responds. "Anyway, since we're here, why don't we play a game of Degrassi what if?" Marcus asks. "How do we play that?" Hazel asks. "Well, we go around in a circle asking "what if" questions about Degrassi. Like, asking questions about people if they switched personalities, if situations ended differently, etc." Marcus says. "Alright, let's do it." Hazel says.

"Ok, I'll start." Marcus says. "What if Emma was Like Jay and Jay was Emma." Marcus says. Liberty and Hazel laugh."Wow! Uh, that would be weird and unusual. I mean, Emma the rebel and Jay the environmentalist, that would be comedy." Hazel says. "Emma and Sean would be even more of a couple if that where the case."Liberty adds. "I don't know, I couldn't see her and Spinner getting along." Hazel says. "I could. Anyway, Liberty, it's your turn." Marcus says, looking at his sister.

"Ok, let's see. Oh, remember when Craig got dumped by Manny and Ashley at the same time, and how Ashley and Paige went together for a little while after that?" Liberty asks. "Yeah, what's your point?" "What If Manny went bi instead of Ashley, and went with Emma?" It was Marcus's turn to laugh this time. He bursts out in a fit of laughter to the point of nearly falling out of his seat. "Oh, Sean would be pissed! Or excited, or both." Hazel says, "Would that be a site, Emma and Manny together. It would be funnier because one moment they hate each other, one moment their best friends." Liberty says. "Could... Could you see if those two kissed?!"Marcus says between laughs. "Oh, Mr. Simpson's reaction would be priceless!" he adds.

Marcus continues to laugh as JT, Manny, Toby, and Emma walk into the back yard. "Hey guys, what's up." "Nothing, just playing Degrassi what if." Hazel says. "Degrassi what?" Toby asks. Marcus regains his composer enough to talk. "Take a seat and I'll explain the rules." Emma and Manny take a seat next to each other, causing Max to chuckle, while JT sits next Liberty and Toby sits next to Emma. " Marcus explains the rules, and then JT takes his turn.

"Alright, what if Paige was Liberty and Liberty was Paige?" JT asks. "Ahh Jeez, Liberty the cheerleader and Paige the bookworm, that's disturbing." Marcus says. "Well, at least JT would get his older woman." Hazel says. Liberty rolls her eyes. "Liberty would be meaner then Paige, I mean, when Liberty gets pissed, she can be a real brutal girl, and I couldn't see Paige using 3 syllable words." Max says. "Well, hopefully she wouldn't share Paige's view of Auto Racing." Toby says. "I doubt she'd have a choice." Manny adds. "I'm having a nice visual of Liberty as a cheerleader"JT says. Liberty, Max, Hazel, and Emma slowly scoot away from JT at his comment.

"OK, JT killed this game" Max responds. "Anyway, who's car is that in the drive way?" Emma asks. "That would be mine." Max says, smiling. "You got a car?! Emma asks. "And a license to drive it. It was an early Birthday gift from my dad, for everything I've done." Marcus says, grinning. "So, are you racing this weekend?" Manny asks. "Dover 300 this Saturday, I'm leaving on Thursday." Marcus says. "Liberty, could you get those pit passes from the counter?" "Sure." Liberty says, walking into the house. " I have extra pit passes since my parents and Danny don't like going to the races, I have two extra passes. JT helps out with the car, and Liberty is my time keeper, of course, and Hazel already asked so their getting the passes." Marcus says.

"Right." Emma says, winking to Manny. "I'm back, and here are the passes!" Liberty says, handing the passes to JT and Hazel. "Alright, I need some sleep, seeya. "By Max!" The group says at the same time as Max walks back into the house.

End Chapter

(A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy with my mothers wedding and summer work for school and everything, but here it is. Look for another story coming down the pike soon in the anime/Naruto section. Chapter 8 coming soon, I hope!)