Chapter Six: Crash Course

The cold night air hit my body and sent shivers up my spine. Hands pushed me towards my car, a random arm opened the door, and another threw me in. Cheering and shouting could be heard from outside the car. People surrounded me, and I saw them around the other cars as well.

James approached, wobbling, and I rolled down my window. "I think I want to drop out..." I mumbled.

He snickered. "What? Arre you scaaaarredd?" He laughed at me.

"No!" I shouted back.

"Theeen doo this, man!"

I nodded, putting the car into drive. A girl in her underwear held a flag on the sidewalk. We watched her and waited for her to wave it. When she did, we flew off in our cars.

I got an early head start, zooming past the competition. Mitch came in close behind me, followed by the two guys I hadn't heard of. As he got closer, I watched him carefully through my rear view mirror. How was I gonna beat him? I was now getting close to 60 mph. I wasn't really focusing on the road.

Little did I realize that there was a corner approaching. Just as I was about to swerve and cut off Mitch, I lost control of the car and, spinning out of control, I hit the curb and crashed into a streetlight. I heard the screeching of tires and the crunching of metal.

I blacked out for a second. When I opened my eyes again, I could barely even see. All I detected were some fading lights and all I heard was the roaring of engines shooting past me. I felt a trickle of blood coming from the top of my head and a searing pain in my torso. As I looked down, I saw that I was bleeding from there as well. I couldn't move, and my head was limp. People crowded around my car, shouting for help, and I saw Blossom's face in the window.

"Blossom..." I whispered.

As I lost consciousness, I gazed into her pained eyes.