Chapter 2 - Racing Through Life

Cassie

I was in the middle of completing my final pre-race check on my bike when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I put down my tools and pulled it out of my pocket and smiled. It was a message from my dad. Hollywood actor Johnny Cage. Star of Ninja Mime and…a bunch of other cheesy action movies. He was in the middle of shooting…either the third or fourth sequel to Dragon Fist currently and I didn't think he'd be able to leave in order to see my race. His message read "Hey Punkin! Managed to sneak away! I'm near the top of the bleachers near the first turn!" Still smiling, I typed out a quick response and put my phone back into my pocket and returned to what I was doing after wiping a few stray hairs out of my face. I recently started to rock a new hairstyle. I had decided to grow out my typical pixie cut a few months ago and liked how it looked so I kept it that way. As for myself, my name is Cassandra Cage but pretty much everyone calls me Cassie. Some people call me Cass, my dad calls me "Punkin" (so don't even THINK about calling me that) and…and one person used to affectionately call me "Cass-hole." Damn. Has it really been that long since…since that happened? I sniffed and wiped my nose when my mind pictured him again. It also liked to remind me how it was all my fault he was gone.

Many Years Ago.

I ran into my house right past my dad who was eating a sandwich, ignoring his call of "Hey Punkin!" and right into my room, slamming the door in the process. I flung myself down on my bed and started crying into the pillow. How could Vic do this to me?! He told me that he loved me! He was my first time and…and he made me feel so good and safe when I was with him! Was I just used in order for him to lose his v-card and sleep around with everyone at school?! Did our years-long friendship mean nothing?! He actually had the nerve to call me at this moment too. I angrily hit the accept call button suppressing a twinge of betrayal as his face appeared on the screen.

"WHAT?!" I shouted into the phone.

"If you would just allow me to explain," he answered back. Oh OK! Not "I'm sorry baby. I still love you?!" No, this utter bullshit! What was there to explain?!

"EXPLAIN WHAT?! HOW YOU MADE OUT WITH HER?!" I shrieked.

"I didn't,"

"OH, SO YOU JUST FUCKED HER?!" I screamed. "I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING! SOMETHING GREAT! WE WERE EACH OTHER'S FIRST TIME! AND YOU DUMP ME FOR THE HEAD CHEERLEADER?! WAS I NOT GOOD ENOUGH?! IS THAT IT?!" Hopefully…my parents didn't hear that…but that night was so wonderful…no…no STOP. You're mad at him girl, remember?

"Ask Malcolm where I was Cass. Or your friend Jacqui. She saw us hanging out at the coffee house. Why would I ever hurt you?" He had…he had a point…but I didn't know what to feel at the moment.

"Just…just stay away from me…" I said and hung up…but immediately regretted it. I still want him. Him and his talent….and his cute butt. GAH! I don't know what was even happening to me right now! I just started crying into my pillow again. A soft knock on my door got me to stop wailing so loud. I opened it to see my dad standing there in a tank top and some gym shorts.

"You ok?" he asked sweetly.

"Yeah," I lied quickly but he managed to see right through that. I collapsed against him and tried to form words but all that came out was "Vic…cheated…me." As soon as my dad registered what I had said, he gently put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me off of his chest.

"Vic cheated on you?" he asked. I nodded.

"I love him daddy but…but," I began and started sobbing again. My dad wiped a few of my tears from my face and said "Do you know for sure, or did you hear it from someone?"

"The…the second thing…." I answered. My dad pulled a puzzled expression.

"So…did you ask him about it?" he asked.

"No."

"Let me guess, you gave him the cold shoulder all day rather than just talk about it?"

"...Yes."

"Then why are you mad? Are you mad that he didn't actually know about the rumor or that you're believing it actually happened?" I didn't answer. My dad smiled down at me and gave me a small squeeze.

"Sleep it off ok? Talk to him in the morning. That doesn't sound like him at all."

I did follow my dad's advice but again, I made a lot of bad decisions in the next few days. First off, before I called Vic, that Lacey BITCH posted photos of her kissing MY boyfriend all over social media and…my stupid teenage ass believed what I saw. I ended up returning Vic's Christmas gift he gave to me, a beautiful necklace from the jewelry store in the mall, to him with a note telling him that I never wanted to see him again. A few hours later, while I was wallowing in my own sorrow, I got a private message from one of Vic's buddies. It was Steve. The drummer for his band. He told me he had his sister take a look at the photos and determined that they were doctored and attached all of the evidence. A message from Malcolm came through shortly afterwards confirming that Vic was with him that day rather than Lacey. That was followed by the best message of all. A video message to be specific sent to me by my bestie Jacqui Briggs. Jacqui happened to be one of the starters on the school basketball team and apparently the cheerleaders were having their practice on the same day too, even though it was Spring Break. The short video message consisted of Lacey talking to her friends about how her plan to steal Vic from me had failed. According to her, my baby had told her that he wouldn't ever date someone that tried to ruin a relationship just to get what she wanted. Now that's the Vic Harris I knew.

I rushed back over to his house as soon as I could and knocked on the door. His mom answered. She was a very attractive Asian woman with shoulder length dark hair and a full sleeve tattoo along one of her arms. Vic looked much more like his dad than his mom but I can see where he gets his kind personality from.

"Oh hello Cassie," Mrs. Harris said a little coldly. Knowing Vic, he had told his mom…and big sister. And his big sister was very protective of him. Speaking of his big sister. I heard her voice shout from nearby followed by her sudden appearance behind Mrs. Harris.

"YOU!" she snapped at me. Mrs. Harris held her daughter at bay with one glance.

"Here to apologize to my son?" she asked me. Kimi snorted. I nodded.

"I'm…I'm sorry…I should have gotten everything laid out in front of me before making a decision. I love him Mrs. Harris. That's why I was so mad at him," I spluttered. Mrs. Harris gave me a smile but Kimi wasn't buying it.

"He was devastated. You broke his heart. And you think you can just say sorry and get him back?!" Kimi snarled at me again. Jeez…note to self. Never EVER make Vic sad in front of his sister.

"Kimi. Stop. You're almost thirty and yelling at an eighteen year old," Mrs. Harris scolded. "I believe her. Unfortunately honey, he's not here. He's over at that concert with his friends, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" I said. I was supposed to go to that with him but…I shredded my ticket the same day I stupidly dumped my favorite person in the world. Mrs. Harris put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll have him call you as soon as he gets back ok?" Mrs. Harris said sweetly. "He still has your necklace." Kimi was still glaring at me before I heard her boyfriend call her name from deep in the house. Something about needing to finish packing for their vacation.

"Mrs. Harris," I said before she closed the door.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks…and…and I'm sorry again," I said. Mrs. Harris wrapped me in a small hug.

"It's ok. I've made rash decisions in my youth that cost me relationships too," she said. "He'll call you as soon as he gets home. I'll make sure of it"

But…but he didn't. I would never hear his voice again. I remember this day vividly and it would haunt me for the rest of my life. After an hour or so of not hearing from Vic, I decided to go surprise him. I didn't really want to talk to him on the phone anyway. I wanted to give him an "I'm so so sorry" kiss. I was listening to one of his band's cover songs as I walked to his house. It was an older song from the 80s. One of his dad's favorite bands. They were called "Megadeth" and I actually liked the fact that I could understand the lyrics both in the original song and the cover version. Vic played bass and was the singer in his band but he also knows how to play the regular guitar too. Ever been serenaded by a cute boy after spending the whole day with him and then making out with him in a car? Because I have. When I turned the corner expecting to see his familiar house standing there, instead I saw…devastation. I froze in my tracks in complete shock. Vic's house was in ruins as if it was burned down in a fire. No. I ran over to the remains of the house, surprised that there were no clean up crews there and…

"NO!" I screamed over and over again as I came upon the bodies. There were 3 of them. One of them had part of a tattoo showing, the other was grasping that body's hand and the third one…the third one I knew was my beloved Vic. I slowly walked over and fell to my knees in front of the body. Without thinking, I turned the body's head towards me and…honestly I couldn't believe a human could make a sound that I had just made. It was between a shriek, cry and shout of rage. I was holding the charred remains of Victor Harris in my hands. My mouth was open in a silent scream. He had died believing I hated him.

"Vic…Vic no…" I managed to say after dry heaving a few times. "Please…I love you…I love you…don't leave me…please…I'm sorry." I heard more voices from behind me.

"HOLY SHIT NO!" a male voice I recognized shouted. It was that guy Kurtis Stryker. Kimi's boyfriend. And that means….

"NO! NO NO NO NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Kimi's almost unrecognizable voice blared from behind me. I felt myself get shoved away and into Kurtis who caught me before I fell over. He too looked pretty broken. I saw his eyes glance over at Mr. Harris' body and he wiped his eyes.

"DID YOU DO THIS?!" Kimi bellowed at me and went to wring her hands around my neck. Kurtis sprung into action and held her back.

"Kimi…KIMI!" he said, struggling with her. I started to back away slowly.

"SHE DID THIS. SHE KILLED HIM!" Kimi was yelling. "SHE KILLED MY FAMILY!"

"Kimi, think! Why would Cassie do this! She's eighteen years old!" Kurtis was shouting back. I caught his eye and he was telling me to run and call his precinct as it was the closest one. I made to do so…but before I did, an object caught my eye. A picture frame shattered on the ground. In it was a photo of Vic carrying me in his arms with my head against his shoulder. It was taken after his band's first show at school…where I finally decided to tell him I had feelings for him after so many years of being friends. We dated throughout high school until I threw it in the garbage a few days ago…and now I'll never see him again to tell him I was sorry. I scooped up the photograph and ran while the echoing of someone who I wanted to be my sister-in-law followed me all the way home.

Present Day

My painful trip down memory lane was cut short when the announcement came over the intercom that all racers were to report to the starting line. After wiping my eyes again, I quickly finished my inspection of my bike which was a Kawasaki Ninja 600 colored white with blue and green accents. Blue for me…and green for Vic. Even after all these years, there was a part of me that still loved that man with all my heart. I have tried to move on but only recently have I been able to start seeing other men again. The last two I dated didn't end so well. One of them was in a band (a fucking prog rock band too) and the other wore a lot of leather. Yeah…apparently I have a type. Here's the good news, I actually have a date with a new guy I've been seeing for a few weeks tonight. His name is Dylan and we've already gone out twice and kissed once. He was a nice kisser but I did have this sinking feeling that he wanted more from me and I haven't really been with anyone since Vic. I kept to myself throughout college and my early twenties, preferring to hang out with my dad on movie sets and talking to the stunt team about motorcycles. Whatever, no time to dwell on that now. I grabbed my helmet and removed my phone and wallet from my pocket to store it in the locker nearby. Before doing so, I did what I always did every race as a good luck ritual. I pulled out the old photo of me and Vic that I saved from his destroyed house and looked at it. It was still in good condition even after all these years of being kept in my wallet.

"Keep me safe Icky Vicky. I know you will." I whispered, then kissed my fingers and pressed them against his face.

I walked over to my assigned starting gate after my name was announced over the speakers and I waved to the crowd. I was able to spot my dad in the distance. Mainly because he was wearing a bright pink Hawaiian shirt today. I smiled to myself under my helmet. Typical daddy. Always wanting to be seen, even if he himself wasn't the main event. To him though, I always knew he would drop anything and be there for me at a moment's notice. I climbed onto my bike and turned the key. The bike roared to life as I knew it would. I waited with increased anticipation as I watched the countdown commence.

"Three…" my hands gripped the handlebars of my bike and my foot was ready to jump to the clutch.

"Two…" I gave a quick scan of the other racers. Mostly rookies like me but I knew I was the best out of all of them. Cages are always number one!

"One…" I nearly fell off my bike as my eyes landed on a figure hiding in the shadows. That Thrash guy from the news…but no…that's not right. Girl, your eyes are playing tricks on you, FOCUS!

"GO!" I kicked my bike to life and sped down the track, weaving my way in and out between my opponents. I knew this track like the back of my hand. Nothing was out of the ordinary as per usual. I pulled into first place relatively quickly and barely registered the shouting of the crowd…although I thought I heard my dad's voice say "YEAH! That's my girl!" I took the next turn with a hard lean to the right where my knee almost scraped against the ground. I was still in complete control of my bike. I came out of the turn like clockwork noticing that one of my opponents was trying to overtake me on my left side. Yeah ok, not on my watch. I allowed him to get ahead of me but I used his own slipstream to get around him (while flashing him the peace sign) and rocketing ahead. To save you the monotony of hearing about me going around the track twenty times, I'll give you some of the highlights. During lap eight, I lost my lead until about lap twelve due to not taking a turn as well as usual. Stupid mistake that took me way too much time to correct. Lap fifteen is where I pulled so far ahead, I thought I was going to lap the poor sap in last place.

I sped through the checkered flag almost a full five seconds ahead of the person in second and pumped my fist in the air while decelerating slowly so as to not fling myself from my bike. I pulled into a small slide and came to a complete stop near the podium where the officials were waiting for me. Usually, I would take a victory lap, but you know I had a date tonight and I needed to change. I pulled off my helmet and let my hair blow in the soft evening breeze as the crowd cheered for me and the announcer shouted "Cassie Cage is your winner this evening!" over the speaker. Again, to save you the boring parts, I was given a gold medal and returned to the garage where my personal belongings were. Except my dad was there waiting for me. As I expected, I got a rib cracking hug from my daddy. Before you ask, yes. I do get paid for these races. My actual day job is also related to bikes. I do maintenance on and test a lot of them for multiple companies. It's something that I love doing.

"Congratulations Punkin," he said into my ear. "You were incredible. Mom sends her love. She was unable to get away." I returned the hug but for some reason, Vic was still on my mind. I felt he was watching over me and if I strained hard enough, I thought I heard his voice among the screams of the crowd. Plus that glimpse of that Thrash guy reminded me of Vic for some reason…but I'm still not actually sure I saw him.

"I…I really missed him today," I said before I could stop myself. Dad let go of me and looked into my face.

"Vic?" he asked. I nodded. He smiled.

"I know you still miss him. Even after all these years," he said.

"Because…it was my fault…" I said again before I could stop. Dad pulled me into a hug again.

"No it wasn't Punkin," he said. "Don't you have a date with that Dylan guy you told me about tonight?" I nodded and felt my old guilt start to fade a little. I knew Vic. I knew he wouldn't blame me for what happened even if I could talk to him again. He always wanted me to be happy.

"It's the third date right?" Dad asked. "If so, that's when you can usually tell if the relationship is going to work out. I've gotta go over lines for scenes tomorrow so I'll see you in a day or two alright?" He gave me a kiss on the forehead and I returned it before he walked out of the room saying "Wait until I tell the director that my daughter is the best MotoGP racer in the city!"

Later that night. At Guiseppe's Italian Bistro.

I was sitting at the bar with Dylan chatting over drinks as we waited for our table to be ready. He was cute but…something was different about him tonight. He was incredibly fidgety. As if he didn't actually want to be here at all. It was my insistence that we at least go to dinner first before I went to his house which is what he wanted to do anyway. I frequent this place a lot because of the great food and amazing desserts.

"Look Cass," he said. "45 minutes is a long time to wait. Why don't we just ditch this place and go to my house. I hear the food's kind of mid anyway."

"Oi, say that again, and we're gonna have a problem bud," the bartender said and placed our drinks in front of us. This guy was most likely Giuseppe's son and his name tag said "Tony." I liked Tony as a person. He was a man of average height with some muscle to him. His girlfriend also tended the bar with him. She was a muscular woman, with a short hairstyle that touched the top of her neck with some bangs covering her forehead. Her name was Cameron but the staff called her Cam. Often, whenever I was here, I heard her and Tony cracking jokes all night. It reminded me of what Vic and I used to do on occasion.

"Cass," Dylan said and waved his hand in front of my face.

"Wha?" I said.

"Let's drink and bounce." Dylan said. I was about to answer but…no…no way…There was an all too familiar man standing against the wall…no..he was floating a few inches off the ground. It was…Vic. He was glaring at Dylan's back with his arms crossed as if he knew Dylan's secret agenda. Suddenly, Dylan's hand was on my thigh and I jerked it away.

"Babe, come on," he said but my attention was back to the area I thought I saw Vic but he was gone. I needed a moment. I got up from the barstool, said "Bathroom" and began to make my way toward it. It was unoccupied and I locked the door after entering. I stared into the mirror for a few moments and took a bunch of slow deep breaths. That could not have been real. I was just seeing things right? Why would I suddenly see an apparition of the last man I loved right before my date tried to put hands on me? Was this my subconscious trying to tell me that something was indeed off with Dylan? I shook my head once and decided to give him another chance.

I left the bathroom and returned to the bar and sat down. Dylan was busy reading something on his phone while muttering to himself. He didn't even notice that I sat down. I started to reach for my drink but Tony started laughing.

"Bah! Hahahahaha! Yo, moto racer!" he said to me. "Look what my little sis just sent me! This shit is hilarious!" Deciding to humor him I looked. Instead of a funny text or picture or something like that, I saw that he had typed a message on the notepad app of his phone. It read; "Do NOT take a sip of your drink anymore. I saw him drop something in it when you got up. Cam called the cops and the DEA. I remember this guy now. He is a bad man." Tony winked at me and I laughed along with him as if I actually saw something funny while silently cursing myself for going out with this bastard.

"Is that good," Dylan asked and motioned to the drink that I did already have a few sips of. I made a show of pretending to take another sip and saw the son of a bitch smile wickedly for a few seconds before relaxing.

"Oh yeah," I said and stood up. Dylan followed. Good.

"How are you feeling," he said, emphasizing the final word with malicious intent. I smacked my lips once and then pretended to be woozy. As soon as the sleazy bastard put his hands on me, I dropped to the ground into the splits and punched him in the nuts with all the force I could muster. He doubled over in pain and cried out but I followed that up with a devastating knee to his face and he flew backwards…right into the arms of the restaurant's owner. Giuseppe. A 60 year old man that was almost made of pure muscle. He wasn't a bodybuilder, but he was pretty fit and a former MMA fighter. He picked Dylan up by the scruff of his neck and growled "Stronzo" into his face.

"Yeah Pop, that's the guy," Tony called from the bar. "Drugged her drink. I saw it."

"Is that so?" Giuseppe snarled into Dylan's whimpering face. "I believe the police are here to talk with you Dylan." Wait…he said that as if Dylan wasn't his real name.

"You lied about your name too?!" I hollered.

"No, but he is a registered sexual predator," a familiar voice answered. It was Kurtis. I hadn't seen him in a few years but it's almost as if he hadn't aged a day.

"Isn't that right Dylan? Thought you learned your lesson about praying on famous people's children," Kurtis said and took the man from Giuseppe. "Thank you sir. Love your chicken parm by the way. You my friend are going to have yet another chat with Agent Harris about your new supplier."

"No please! Anything but that!" Dylan begged and tried to reach out toward me for assistance. I recoiled in complete disgust and watched him get hauled away. Giuseppe addressed me after the door closed and I stopped hearing Dylan's shouts of protest.

"I'm so sorry about that. Can I offer you anything? You pick, it's on the house!" he said.

Later. At my Parent's House.

I was outside my parent's house with a to-go bag filled with some of Giuseppe's wife's famous cookies and a piece of chicken parm. My dad opened the door and saw me standing there.

"Cass?" he asked. "What happened?"

"Johnny!" my mom's voice called from deep in the house. "Please tell me that's Cassie! The news is saying that Dylan, the guy Cassie was seeing, got arrested! He was a sexual predator too!" Dad's head snapped back to me and I nodded. Then I felt myself begin to cry but Dad led me into the house and made me sit at the table. He quickly fixed me my favorite drink, a cosmopolitan and sat across from me.

"What happened?" he asked. I explained everything that happened. From seeing how fidgety Dylan was, to going to the bathroom, to Tony's warning and how I attacked him.

"Am…am I a bad person daddy?" I asked after finishing talking. He shook his head as I started to nibble on a cookie.

"There's someone out there for you Cass," he said softly and put his hand over mine.

"There was…but I ruined it…" I muttered before I could stop myself. "Everyone I seem to give a chance to never seems to actually care or treat me like a human. It's always wanting to get in my pants and toss me aside. Vic never did that. Remember when he played guitar at that bonfire for like two hours straight taking requests from everyone?" It was so stupid to be stuck on someone that died so many years ago. But every day I wonder what would have happened if I stopped being so stupid just a few days earlier. He would have been with me and not in that terrible fire. His parents wouldn't have had to stay home and wait for him to tell him to call me.

"Honestly," Dad said. "He was my favorite of the guys you've dated. Even if there weren't many."

"Gee, thanks Daddy." I said and threw a small bit of cookie at him. He smirked.

"I try. Do you want to stay here tonight? So you're not alone?" he asked. I nodded. Dad got up and gave me a kiss on the forehead again.

"Mom and I will be gone early though. Just lock the house when you decide to leave." he said and left the kitchen.

I finished my small dinner in silence and began to walk up to my room. I passed behind my parents cuddling on the couch and wished that that could be me someday with some guy. But every time I had thoughts like this, I imagined that the guy was Vic. Every single time. I had this fantasy of me coming home after a bad day and he would just go get his guitar and play something for me to calm me down. Sometimes, when I was really lonely, I would imagine him laying next to me in my bed with his arms around me. I remember running my finger along the lines of his tattoo on his right forearm while we cuddled. That was his eighteenth birthday present from his parents, that tattoo. It was something I would never forget. It was a tattoo of a samurai from the chest up. It took about six hours to complete and he nearly passed out from dehydration. Thankfully, I was there too and gave him some water and made sure he was going to be ok. I stripped down to my underwear and pulled open a drawer of my old dresser to find that my mom had apparently decided to keep some spare clothes for me in here at all times. I pulled out a pair of plaid pajama pants and put them on before climbing into bed. I looked out the window…and I saw him again. The apparition of Vic. Except this time he wasn't glaring at anything, he was smiling at me with his arms crossed. Now that I got a good look, he looked a little older than I remembered but still had the features I loved about him. The long hair, short chin goatee and the warm inviting smile despite his love for heavy metal music. The apparition placed his hand over his heart and inclined his head at me before vanishing into the night.

I know you're still watching over me Icky Vicky. I still love you. With all my heart.