Death by a Thousand Cuts | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 21: First Times

"Do you really think I am ready?" I clenched my hands around the wheel, the other cars roaring their engines as they sided next to mine.

"You were born ready for this" Kim smirked at me from the passenger seat, she turned up the volume. The whole car shaking from the vibrations.

My heart was beating so fast and hard that I could feel it in my throat. I was trying to remember everything I had learned with Kim on that abandoned warehouse, and another part of my mind was also trying to remember all of my knowledge on physics.

"You were born ready" she kissed my cheek and squeezed my thigh, I let out a shaky breath.

I did not feel the need to take out my inhaler but I could feel my heart pumping blood as fast as possible, I felt alive.

This feeling was something I thought I had lost the moment Rosalie walked away. I had a purpose, even if it only was to get to cross the goal line first.

"Remember to watch your surroundings and always keep an eye on the cars around you" she whispered in my ear, my skin got goosebumps from her proximity but I ignored it.

"I am so going to kill you after you are done with this" Leah appeared out of nowhere on my window, I jumped while clenching the steer wheel even tighter.

"Leah" I gasped, I turned to Kim with a grimace.

Leah showing up was not something I had planned.

"I texted her" Kim admitted with a guilty face, I frowned at her disapproving "Your first race it's always kind of a big deal, so I got you all the support that you could get"

"You are stupid" Leah smacked me, I hissed "How can a genius be so stupid?"

"We have lapses" I admitted with a shrug.

"It's about to start" Kim sang next to me; I gave Leah a pleading look.

"If you die, I swear I will kill you Soffia" she groaned and stepped off the car.

I did not correct her on the imprecise statement. She was willing to let me go and I was not pushing my luck.

Following the other cars to the starting line, where a 20 something blonde girl in a black bra was flaunting her body with -what I supposed was- her blouse in her hand.

People were gathering around and whistling, I could hear Kim pumping me up on the passenger seat but it was like a vague whisper on my right.

My mind was elsewhere, in a time that now seemed too far away.

A time where she was with me. When I was happy, in love but also delusional.

Part of me – the reasonable part- was trying so hard to convince me this was a bad idea. But if Rosalie did not care about me, if she did not love me then what was the point.

Then the exuberant blonde dropped the white t-shirt, and I bottomed the gas pedal.

"Dear Lord" Leah embraced me in a hug pulling me out of the driver's seat.

I was breathing heavenly, still not believing what just had happened.

"I told you, you were born for this" Kim jumped at me, kissing my cheek repeatedly, my arm wrapped around her.

"You won" Leah squealed, people started gathering around my car to congratulate me, then a redhead woman with tattoos on her fingers handed me a bulky envelope.