Life in The Fast Lane

Aaliyah held in a curse as the red eighty-seven Mazda racing beside her cut her off, clipping the right side of her hood at a dangerous angle. Her breath left her in a gasp as the car jerked, sending her straight into the car trying to pass her on the left. The windows shattered around her, sending glass spraying in every direction. Her eyes met the frightened ones of the driver next to her as he came to an abrupt halt. Smashed into the wooden totem of a street light.

Phone pinched between her ear and her shoulder Liyah let out a hiss of a laugh as she continued the process of trying to remove her week-old nail polish.

"What? You think that's funny?" Xander huffed, disbelief clear in his tone.

Holding back a giggle at the mock annoyance in his voice she cleared her throat. "I don't, I mean what's funny about you losing your pants during a live stream free fall?"

"I don't know why I talk to you," he deadpanned.

"Because I'm your favorite," she returned just a dryly.

"I don't know, due to recent events Mia might have that place."

Liyah forced out a gasp. "Lies! Would Mia have let you teach her how to snowboard on dry dirt?"

Silence greeted her over the line and she grinned triumphantly as she finally got the last smudge of purple nail polish off. "Exactly, now-"

A knock sounded at her basement room door. "Liyah? You down there?"

Liyah blinked as the vision faded. "Dom's almost here, so unless if you want to-"

"Bye!" Xander chirped before the line went dead.

"Love you too, X," she huffed, hanging up the phone just as the sound of the front door opening drew her attention. Footsteps sounded above her before the expected knock came.

"Liyah? You down there?" Dominic called.

"Yeah!"

The sound of her door opening and then footsteps as they took her stairs at an easy pace sounded before her older brother came into view.

He glanced around her room as if expecting to find someone else. "Mia home?"

Liyah shook her head no, idly picking up purple-tinged cotton balls from around her to throw them away.

Dom seemed to mull over his next words before speaking. "Then come out with me for a minute."

She glanced up from her task with a frown. "You mean I finally get the house to myself and you want me to go out."

He sent her his own frown. "I don't like you being home alone." Turning he made his way back up the stairs. "We're taking the Chevelle."

That had her moving.

Sitting in the passenger seat as Dom drove down the winding road, Liyah held back the urge to once again ask where they were going. Without touching him she wouldn't get a precise vision, so with a repressed sigh she resigned herself to his favorite answer.

"You'll see," he'd said.

First, he implied he didn't trust her home alone and now he was dragging her off to some unknown location. She tried not to tsk, spending more days than not without a chaperone and at the age of twenty-four? The idea was laughable. Though she had to admit she was curious as to the reason behind the lie and the house had been unnervingly silent without Mia or even Letty to talk to. The sound of his cell ringing drew her from her thoughts before she tuned out his conversation in favor of sending a text to the leader of her pit crew, Manny. There was a drift competition just around the corner and she wanted to make sure everything was ready.