Wildly Driven

Chapter 58

"You never really took us out for party." Lily said as we wrapped our classes for the day.

"The party we had was not enough for you?" Nick asked, putting his arms around my shoulder.

We finished the classes early for the day. Thankfully, my English classes were cut today since the teacher had got the flu. And since Nick and Lily were already free, we slowly walked down the cafeteria thinking ways to kill time.

Ever since I had accepted the offer from VS, they were persistent in getting my photos for their magazine and commercials. Though I had requested them to not expose me, at least for a little while, they had reluctantly agreed making me sign another contract before I changed my mind.

The same tracks where I learnt  my driving now looked scary. They had given me the wings to fly and I wondered if I was making justice to it.

Suddenly, I missed Robert. He had been avoiding me for the past so many days that I lost count. He didn't answer my calls or return my texts after that night. It was as if he had vanished completely. This time, I didn't know why I was being punished. I did my daily conditioning and jogs scared that I might lose the next big race while I was hung up on my coach's absence.

"You seem silent." Lily said when I didn't answer the questions that was thrown my way.

"Sorry, I blacked out." I said, running my hands over my free hair. "What were you saying again?"

We walked outside the cafeteria to the parking lot. If everything seemed to go smooth with no ideas to spend the afternoon, I was more than happy to head home.

"Nick was suggesting to go go-karting." Lily said, shrugging her shoulders squarely. "You know a few people there, right?"

"We should go and have fun while we can." Nick said with a genuine smile. "I mean, if you were to lose a game tomorrow, they might kick your ass at go-karting too, who knows?"

I laughed, hitting Nick with my bag. Lily snorted along with me.

"What do you say?" Lily asked hopefully. "If you are tired or you are tied up, we can go some other time. No pressure."

I had completed all my assignments till next week putting myself way ahead of the class, not wanting to be guilty about the races. Except for the sleep that I desperately needed, I was up to date with most of the things. And going go-karting meant, I would meet Gary there, who might hopefully give me an insight on why Robert was dodging me.

"Sure." I shrugged. "But I need a lot of caffeine for that."

Lily laughed, while Nick pouted cutely. "If that is your secret in winning the races, I want double of it to make you lose."

We reached the grounds after another hour of driving. Since I had told them I would head to the tracks directly, Nick and Lily drove in another car while I drove mine.

"Last time, we came with Robert, right?" Lily volunteered to get the topic high in the air. Nick was more than eager to catch it and call it his own.

"He was so cool, you know?" Nick said dreamily. "He had arranged everything – the food, the games and even the go-karting. He organized it all and asked us to relax and enjoy the day."

"But James is more responsible than him." Lily rolled her eyes.

"I agree." I said for the first time ever since his topic came up. I felt like I had been defending him for a long time now, nodding my head when someone said nice about him and jumping right up when there was a wrong word thrown in the mix. "He's not all the God you make him seem to be." I said to Nick.