Summary: A Special Chapter Independent from the Main Story - On the way back to Bayview from Olympic City, Rachel Teller meets a young Alice Hart, the future pioneer of the world-famous Horizon Festival.
Every once in a while, Rachel Teller could kick it back and enjoy the slower moments that came in life. When you're as busy as she is, you find those slower moments come when you least expect it, from the most obtuse places.
On the way back from Olympic City, Rachel cruised along the open country highway that spared no amount of lush trees and small cities peeking behind towering mountains. An early morning sunrise wrapped the fields in soft tones; creamy pinks and lush blues. It was an extended highway along the west coast that didn't see too much action, from her experience at least. Peace and quiet, well, whenever she didn't get the urge to rev her Nissan just for the hell of it.
Through her Ray Bans, Rachel peeked up at her rear-view and got a glimpse of a Dodge Viper just a bit behind her. Maybe that "peace and quiet" would be taking a backseat today. She rolled her shoulders, took a deep breath, and let her palm rest across her dragon's head gearshift. Even when she was off her game, Rachel still always found a way to win when need be.*
At the driveway of a random truck stop, Rachel waited for her defeated opponent. Her arms were crossed, her feet followed suit with one ankle swept across the other. She drowned out the sly whistles from early morning truckers, and focused instead on that unique timbre of the Viper's engine pulling up next to her. All the Dandelion Yellow in the world that the Viper offered was broken up by the red plaid that came from the driver as she opened her door. Her smile was somehow brighter than her car, accompanied by tall cowboy boots, high-cut shorts, and some Ray Bans that could've been the exact same model Rachel sported. She was definitely a woman confident in her stride, just like Rachel, but with her own spin on that said confidence - a little bit more aloof and carefree.
"Hey, you're pretty good!" The exotic car aficionado introduced herself with a handshake.
"And you're… just a kid…," Rachel said, eyeing the much younger driver up and down. She said it more so to herself, surprised that someone her age could handle a notoriously difficult supercar like the Viper.
"I am not a kid, thank you. I'm nineteen."
"So… you're a kid," Rachel rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"Okay, sure. Whatever. Point is, that was a pretty rad race!"
Right away, the teen's accent slapped Rachel in the face, more so than the western-style outfit that anybody in Bayview wouldn't be caught dead wearing. "Where you from? Ain't from the west-coast, that's for sure."
"Oh! I'm from Colorado actually!"
"Say what? What are you doin' all the way from Colorado?"
"What does it look like? I'm living my freaking dream! How many teens you know get a Dodge Viper for their birthday?!"
Rachel tilted her head past the girl's shoulders, back towards the supercar sitting pretty and catching the attention of the truckers. "True that. My sweet sixteen was a not-so-sweet Fairlady. My mom and pops were well off, but not enough to afford a hot new ride fresh off the line like that. Your parents must have some serious dough."
"Nah, just my dad. I'm an only child, so you can bet he spoils me like one. Not like I'm complaining or anything! I mean, what else am I supposed to do with a car like that for a birthday gift?"
Rachel chuckled and nodded. "I feel you. And I gotta be honest, you handled that thing like a champ. That's pretty impressive comin' from a teenage driver that ain't got much experience with cars like that."
"Ahh, as a matter of fact, that's not the first time I've driven a supercar. My dad has a Diablo SV back at the house. Tons and tooons of other cars that'd make your mouth drool." The teen put her hands on her hips and scanned the green paint and purple flames on Rachel's car. "But I gotta say, it's always a blast to see these totally out-there cars with their own personality! I'll always love a cool Italian-made work of art, but a car like this? It's one of a kind."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
Rachel paused, and took in the silence - the teen's boots crunched under the gravel as she coasted around and examined the 350Z in awe. "Geeez Louise this car is FAR out there."
Rachel couldn't help but stifle out a chuckle. "Say. You got a name?"
"Sure do! Name's Alice! Alice Hart."
"Nice name. Keep on livin' life at full speed, Alice." Rachel opened her driver door, addressing Alice from the opposite side before she was stopped.
"Hey, you've got some great energy. You must be popular wherever you're from."
With one arm resting on her roof and the other hand on the open door, Rachel tossed her head toward the back of the car and smirked. "Peep the license plate."
Alice crunched back over the gravel, and let her mouth drop. "Whoooah! Bayview?! I've always wanted to go there. I hear the car meets there are totally out of this world! You see cars you've never even known existed!"
"More or less. Stop by some time. If you're lookin' for one of a kind rides, I'll hook you up."
Before she could attempt for a second time to get in, Rachel was stopped again by Alice's bright enthusiasm. "When I get old enough, I'm gonna do my own thing! Put on my OWN car shows! It'll be the sickest thing anybody who loves music or cars can get."
Rachel stayed patient to the much younger woman's energy, stepped back out of her car, and shut the door. She flipped up her shades to rest on her hair. Rachel shot her finger towards the truckstop entrance and eyeballed Alice. "Tell you what. I've got an hour or two to kill. Wanna grab a bite?"*
"Here you are! Breakfast for you fine young ladies," the truckstop's waiter, an older gentleman, sat down a plate of grits, eggs and sausage. The other plate was a half-assed attempt at a salad. "Thank ya kindly." He tipped his hat and wandered off back to the kitchen.
Alice turned her nose up at Rachel's plate. "Are you sure you just want a salad? Geez, I could've made that with the weeds in my backyard."
Rachel grabbed a napkin and a swig of water. "When your metabolism starts slowin' down at my age, you'll remember this day. Trust me. Best to start early," Rachel said, flicking her eyes down to Alice's naked midriff.
Alice did the same, eyeballing her own toned stomach. Through her peripheral, she counted the number of eyes that ogled over her and Rachel. "Gotta say, I don't really mind the attention. Too bad there's no hot guys here to motivate me even more."
All Rachel could give was a sigh through her nose. "When you get older, you'll get tired of that too. Trust me."
"You keep saying 'when I get older', but you don't look that much older than me. How-"
"-Twenty-seven," Rachel answered before Alice could even pump out the question.
The two women took a moment to start eating, letting their forks clink along together with the sound of nineties pop music from the radio.
"So, earlier you mentioned wantin' to start a car show of your own, right? Is that somethin' your dad does?"
You should've seen the way Alice's face lit up at the opportunity to talk about her passion again. She swallowed her portion of grits and spoke up. "Oh, hell yeah! Well, see, my dad doesn't pull off his own car shows, but he's taken me to plenty! Even as a little girl! I'm pretty sure my first memory ever is being in the backseat of his GTO, drag racing on some backroad down the street where I live. I must've been liiike, I dunno, five years old."
"Wait a sec, what?! What on Earth was your dad thinking-?!"
"-I know, I know! Suuuper bad parenting moment. Like, really REALLY bad, but it's stuff like that I remember falling in love with more than anything else. My dad always wanted a son, from what I've been told, before my mom left us. Sooo, I guess he just raised me as one."
Rachel nodded. "I'm right there with you. My mother always told me it wasn't 'ladylike' to even be into cars as much as the boys."
"Right? So you get me."
"Uh huh. I do."
"Well, my dad also liked music. If you can't tell, me and my dad are mad tight. But, yeah, like I was saying, he got me into music just as much as cars. I've always thought, like, what would it be like if someone combined the two into one huge party. Fast cars, and good tunes! Am I right?!"
While sipping her water, Rachel nodded. "You ain't wrong. There's somethin' out there for everyone." Rachel paused, thinking about the car meets she often frequented in Bayview. More specifically, the Eastsiders, and their crunk music they blasted whenever they showed up to steal the show. Eddie and his Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boyz CD went hand to hand, along with his top-grade assholery. "Back in Bayview, there's these cats that bump music so loud, you can't even hear nothin' else when they pull up."
Alice wiped her mouth with a napkin and turned her nose up. "That's not really what I'm thinking. I don't want the music to just be THERE, y'know? I want it to be a part of the experience. Tell me, Rachel, what are some of your fav bands?"
Crossing her arms, Rachel tilted her head back in thought. "Okay, let's seee, maybe OutKast, Destiny's Child. Anything Snoop Dogg. If I'm feelin' classy, I might throw some Isley Brothers in there."
"Aww, I think we're on totally different sides when it comes to music."
"Whaddya mean?"
"Rap and R&B is fine, but you gotta open your ears up to new styles, Rachel! Stuff like, Foo Fighters, The Strokes… Hell, if I'M feelin' classy, it's hard to go wrong with some Speedwagon. Oh! There's this newer band called Paramore that I'm freaking in LOVE with!"
"*Chuckle* Guess that's the beauty of it. Just like cars, people like different flavors of music."
"Hey… you know something, you're right! If I ever pull off the festival of my dreams, we'll have all types of music with all types of cars. But, I gotta say, indie rock is taking first place. It'll set the mood I'm going for perfectly."
Rachel fondled with her fork in between her fingers and really studied the way Alice talked about her passion. It was people like her that made Rachel so proud to be in the scene that she was in. When it came to people passionate about the world of cars and what cars mean to them as individuals, there wasn't anything else quite like it. It motivated her, so to speak, to stay in the scene, even with its dangers and troubles. Because she knew deep down inside, that the people involved were something special. Alice seemed to also understand that - even better that the woman was so young in her car enthusiast career.
"Alice... if there's one thing I've come to realize, is that if you want it, you can have it. Shoot for your dreams, and don't let anybody stop you. I can tell, you're gonna do great things in life, and this festival of yours is just the tip of the iceberg."
Poor Alice looked like she was about to melt away under Rachel's words. She held her hands close to her heart and smiled at the older woman from across the table.
"Awww, you're such a sweetheart! Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. Whenever I tell my dream to people, it's like they're treating it like a phase or something. But I've always wanted to do this."
Rachel nodded and motioned for the waiter to come over for the check. "Then y'know what? When you get the ball rollin' on the festival, you better be sure to invite me."
"Haha! Alright it's a deal!"
"Just one thing... what are you gonna name it?"
Alice looked out of the diner's windows, towards the sun rising above the horizon...
"Hmm... how about...-"*
=Year 2012=
=Eight Years Later=
"THE HORIZON FESTIVAAAAL!"
"...Only right here at the Horizon Festival!"
"Welcome to the first annual Horizon Festival!"
No matter how often Alice Hart heard the name uttered from the mouths of spectators and racers, it always hit the same. The same rush of adrenaline and genuine unbelief that something she worked so hard for was born out of her own hands.
The Horizon Festival.
And based on the kick-off and reception afterwards, there would be many more to come.
Alice stood with an iPad in hand, on top of the world, her own world. Strobe lights pierced the sky, and stripped away the drowsy contours of the clouds with bright colors. Hardcore rock shoot the Colorado mountains in harmony with the rumble of engines as cars of all types swept past her. Alice just couldn't get enough of it.*
There were so many things to appreciate about all sorts of car enthusiasts migrating to one spot for a month or two. And one of the best things was the types of cars that Alice got to see. She called it "Roll Call", where she would go around and personally enroll the drivers into the activities playlist with color-coded armbands. It was during one of the last nights of her first festival when one car in particular made her stop dead in her tracks.
What first got her attention was the roar of VQ engine somewhere from the rear of the center stage. Japanese cars weren't Alice's particular favorite, but that engine specifically was hard not to love when it came to the way it sounded. Alice shot her head towards its direction, and then came the second thing she noticed about the car - its body work. It was low slung, and had a body kit reminiscent of the Y2K era that people seemed to either love or hate. But something about this bodykit seemed familiar... Then came the livery of the car specifially... and when the car rolled on by Alice's path so that she could see the dragon on the side, she nearly had a heart attack.
"Holy shit!" On instinct, Alice covered her mouth and flashed a look to her assistant directors that stood next to her. Even as a twenty-seven year old entrepreneur, Alice felt like she had a squeaky-clean image to maintain if she wanted to get investors to continue to support her work.
"What is it?" One of the assistant directors asked.
Alice didn't answer right away. She just looked ahead in disappointment when she realized the driver of the car wasn't Rachel Teller at all. And now that Alice got a good look of the car underneath the lights of the center stage, there were certain parts about the car that were off.
"It's a replica..." Alice muttered, a bit more in a mournful tone than she meant.
"What is, Ms. Hart?" Another one of her assistants asked.
"That car over there. It's made to look like the car that Rachel Teller was known for."
"Rachel Teller? Who's that?"
Alice tapped her chin in thought and pondered a better way to explain. "You guys remember an illegal street racing group called 'Team Underground'?"
Once the infamous name was uttered, everything started pouring out.
"Oh right! Aren't they still around?"
"Didn't they cause an entire city to shutdown because of how bad the street racing was there?"
"Yeah! I remember that! Wasn't that, like, ten years ago or something?"
Alice got their attention as she clarified, "Yeah, well, that car there looks almost like Rachel Teller's car. She was the one who started Team Underground."
"Ohhh! Riiight! I think I remember her now!"
"Yeah, me too. Damn, I wonder what happened to her?"
"Rachel and all those Team Underground guys are probably in jail. I mean they have to be. I heard things got really bad during those years..."
Drowning out the speculation, Alice went into her own mind about the brief history she had with Rachel. She wanted to tell her associates that she actually met Rachel all those years ago one fateful morning.
For now though, Alice kept her musings to herself, as well as her curiosity to Rachel's whereabouts. It was getting late, and time to wrap things up for the night.
For old time's sake, Alice would satisfy her curiosity by engaging in a street race herself just to keep spirit alive.*