word count: 3394
[part 2] ep. 12 - ep. 19
Wednesday morning was absolute chaos at school. Everyone was treating Jay like a king, they might as well clean his shoes and give him a foot massage. Getting all the way to your classroom was a nightmare. You weren't even near the damn bike god and yet every student was asking you about him. You'd lost count of how many times you'd told someone you didn't have Jay's number and that no, they couldn't join the hummingbird crew.
Minu had to wait until the middle of math class when he was sure no one was awake enough to listen to you to tell you about Jay's secret birthday party after school. Dom was supposed to tell Jay you were all doing special training in order to drag him to some bar.
Secret birthday parties aren't exactly your forte but you couldn't say no to anything that involved a little bit of alcohol and a lot of chaos. You weren't technically supposed to drink yet but that hadn't stopped you before and it certainly wouldn't stop you now.
"Do I have to be here?" asked the red haired boy.
"For sure! You're on the same team~!" says Minu who's always in for some team building.
Turns out Dom works at the club sometimes in the evening and he'd asked the guys who owns it if you could borrow it for a bit. You had the whole club to yourselves, so many opportunities.
Jay didn't seem too thrilled about the surprise but then again he didn't seem too thrilled about anything ever.
You stayed a little bit away from the others still not entirely sure where you fit in with them. Vinny was on his phone somewhere on the other end of the room. He probably didn't feel like he fit in with them either, he didn't seem to want to fit in.
You made your way to the bar and checked out the bottles. You'd seen some of them before, some others looked like they were older than your grandma and the rest looked like they cost more than three of your limbs on the black market.
"What are you doing?" Vinny asked from behind you startling you in the process. You hadn't noticed him.
You were currently checking out a bottle of cherry rum in a cabinet near the floor. You handed him the bottle instead of answering his question. He smiled at it and wasted no time opening it. You stopped him before he started drinking straight from the bottle.
"Get a glass dumbass," He looked you straight in the eyes and took a swig from the bottle anyway.
"Fuck's sake," you sighed before taking the bottle from his hands and drinking as well.
You found somewhere to sit and both took turns drinking in silence for a while. You were thinking. Thinking about how this is exactly what you'd once pictured when you thought of the future. You and Vinny, you'd be sitting somewhere, sharing a drink and enjoying each other's presence. Of course it was a little bit different but if you squinted you could almost believe nothing had changed. You thought about that a lot these days, the past and the present and how different things were. You thought of the future as well, you wondered how wrong your vision of it is. Burried deep inside of you was a little bit of hope as well, a small flame growing each day and that flame hoped Vinny would still be in your future.
The boy beside you was also lost in thought, if you had to guess you'd say he was wondering if he made the right decision joining the crew or maybe he was thinking about how crazy it was that he ended up here. However his thoughts were similar to yours. He'd forgotten what your presence felt like and now that he'd remembered he wondered why he ever thought he didn't need it. He felt nice, he'd missed feeling nice.
You felt warm, you blamed it solely on the alcohol but you knew damn well there was something else as well. You thought about Vinny way too much these days. He'd completely taken over your brain. You heard your laugh echo in your ears before you felt it bubbling in your stomach. You weren't sure how long you'd been smiling but you didn't mind it. All it took was a couple of days with Vinny for you to go completely insane. You'd forgiven him long ago but you were much too stubborn to act on it. You thought, damn, and with that you laughed again and took the last bit of rhum left in the bottle.
"More?" Asked the boy beside you.
"Yeah," You managed to let out with a smile.
The bar was no longer empty when you returned. June, Minu and Dom were mixing god knows what.
"Shouldn't a birthday drink have some alcohol in it? It seems kind of weak," you heard Minu say as you got closer.
"True but we're still minors," answered Dom.
You and Vinny looked at each other and silently agreed like you used to do many times before. You looked at the many bottles inside the counter, Vinny tapped you on the shoulder and handed you a bottle with golden alcohol inside. Perfect.
"Fuck that, pour some in," You said interrupting their debate.
They looked at both of you with eyes as round as marbles.
"badass," you heard Dom whisper before he took the bottle from your hand and poured some in the cup. June had to stop him before he poured too much.
"pussy," Vinny said barely loud enough for you to hear. You elbowed him in the side doing a terrible job at hiding your snicker. Thankfully June didn't hear his remark otherwise he wouldn't have let him hear the end of it. Though you would've liked to see that.
Dom named his creation 'the dragon's breath'. Unfortunately he didn't have time to give Jay his very special birthday concoction. Shelly took the glass from his hands, thanked him for the drink and then drank the entire glass. You all stood there in silence. Shocked and slightly concerned, you all waited for her reaction. You were totally fucked.
"What drink is this?" She asked "It's really got a kick,"
She thanked Dom again and went right back to dancing not questioning what she'd just consumed too long.
"Is she okay?" Dom asked no one in particular.
She didn't make it very far before nearly falling on her face and getting back up.
"of course she's not okay!" Dom answered himself "What do we do?" He seemed quite panicked, you would probably be slightly worried as well but the cherry rhum you took earlier stopped you from doing that. This whole situation did not seem like a problem that concerned you.
"I don't know man. We were just lending a helping hand," Vinny shrugged before leaving.
Dom turned to you for an answer. You smiled like an idiot because fuck.. you didn't have a clue. He quickly realized you were going to be absolutely no help and turned to Minu and June instead while you followed after Vinny.
He was back where you were both sitting earlier and he'd brought the bottle of alcohol you'd poured into the drink with him.
"What even is this stuff?" You asked him.
He looked at the bottle and read the label before answering "I don't know, it's Italian,"
He drank some and handed the bottle to you.
"want some?"
"of course,"
You sat down beside him and both went back to what you were doing earlier except this time you talked about what you'd just done. You both tried to keep it down even though there was no way the others would ever hear you talking over the music, it didn't matter anyway because those kinds of conversations are just better like that. You laughed about Dom's face when Shelly took the drink from his hand. The panic that took over his features in slow motion. Both of your laughs sounded stupid because you kept telling each other to be quiet. Not a single logical thought was formed in either of your brains for the entirety of the conversation but it was okay because you were both happy.
"Hey you two! Stop laughing alone in the corner and come join us!" Screamed Shelly from across the room. The others had managed to contain her before she became a threat to others or herself but she was still very drunk. They'd all stopped dancing and sat in a corner.
You weren't totally sure what to answer her, you wanted to stay where you were but she didn't look like she was giving up anytime soon and the others had also started joining in. Why not you thought, after all you and Vinny were the only ones missing, even Jay was there. Vinny seemed to have come to the same conclusion as you, he stood up and joined them silently and you followed after him.
"We're playing truth or dare," Shelly giggled.
"We are?" June questioned.
"We are now," Minu added with a smirk. June still didn't seem convinced but Dom and Minu had already been swayed and Shelly had managed to get both Mia and Yuna on her side so majority won.
"I want to start!" Shelly called out excitedly. She looked around a little bit and her gaze settled on Jay. She smiled and said "Jay, truth or dare?"
"I'm not playing,"
"Oh come on don't be boring," She whined. She pouted at him truly determined to get him to play but he was not budging.
"Hey Shelly it's fine, just ask someone else," Mia said putting her hand on her shoulder. Shelly looked at her for a second considering her words and then surprisingly agreed. She muttered something about Jay being lame before looking up with a big smile and going on the hunt for her next victim. She looked at each and everyone of you carefully before looking Vinny in the eyes.
"Vinny. You know.. you're very good looking. Truth or Dare?"
"Thanks?" He answered looking quite confused but not particularly fazed. She was saying whatever came to her mind but then again so was he. He picked truth because that was the first one his brain thought of. He'd probably lost most of what she'd said as soon as it had left her mouth. You were both a little bit out of it.
"Are you dating anyone Vinny?" She asked because it was also the first thing that came to her mind. Thinking was too much effort and not worth the wait.
He hesitated for a second because the real answer was no but he was supposed to be dating you so he answered yes instead. His statement was followed by collective surprise.
"No way, how did Vinny get a partner before me?" Said Minu. June looked at him as if to say 'really?' but Minu couldn't care less.
Shelly looked very excited, she was asking him every question imaginable and both Mia and Yuna were trying to get her to calm down. They eventually managed to convince her that she only got to ask one question per turn and the game went on. Though as soon as her turn came up again she smiled like a maniac and turned to Vinny.
"Truth or dare?" She said. You laughed because Vinny was pretty much doomed either way but then stopped because you remembered if he goes down, you go down with him. Suddenly you found the whole situation a lot less funny.
"Dare," He said carefully.
"I dare you to tell us who you're dating," She laughed because she knew she had won.
"Can she really do that?" asked June who looked genuinely concerned.
"Of course she can," answered Minu who cared a lot more about Vinny's answer than the rules themselves.
Vinny looked at you and smirked. He was going to tell them. He would most likely regret it later but oh well, that was a problem for later. Right now he just wanted to make you suffer along with him because he thought that was absolutely hilarious.
"Y/n," He said. At first everyone was confused. It took a while for it to really register but once it did there was no saving the two of you from the avalanche of questions that followed.
"Since when?" Minu screeched looking absolutely horrified. He looked at Dom and June to make sure he wasn't the only one going crazy. However Dom looked more insulted than bewildered.
"Dude.. why didn't you tell us? We're your bros!" He said like he was heart broken.
"Did you guys not see them holding hands?" Yuna said. She seemed to be the only one that wasn't surprised at all.
"Who cares? I want to know all the details" Shelly squeeled. You barely recognized her anymore, she was usually cool, calm and collected but now she'd completely lost it and it was a little bit funny and very refreshing.
"Yeah Vinny, your bros want to know all the details," Dom said staring at him.
"Ask them!" He responded pointing at you.
"Y/n wouldn't betray their bros like that,"
The look on Vinny's face made you smile. His plan was failing miserably. The game of truth or dare ended as quickly as it had started and soon you were told the club was going to open soon and you would have to leave to Vinny's great delight.
That night you walked home alongside the red haired boy. You didn't take your detour, you walked the normal and shortest way into your neighborhood. You talked about Jay's birthday party and continued making fun of Vinny's failed partner reveal.
"You know, I never walk this way," Vinny said after a moment of silence. You looked at him surprised.
"What?"
"I take a detour,"
"You've got to be joking. Why are you taking a detour?"
He stayed silent and started walking faster making you jog to catch up.
"What the hell have I been taking a detour for then? Do you know how many flat tires I've gotten from those alleys?"
"Why the fuck do you take a detour?" He asked having finally figured out what was going on.
"I asked first dipshit,"
You both stayed silent, you knew exactly why you were taking detours. You both sighed and laughed a little.
"We could've just taken the normal way," He said.
"Would you have taken the normal way?" You asked because you knew damn well neither of you would've done it out of pure stubbornness.
"No," He smiled, he also knew.
You'd expected your mom to be there when you arrived but she was not. It was pretty late, at least later than usual. It made you worry but you tried your best not to because you knew she didn't want you to worry.
You took leftovers in the fridge and a glass of water. You ate while silently scrolling on your phone. In the hummingbird groupchat Mia informed everyone that she and Shelly got home safe and Dom had renamed Vinny 'traitor'. You got more and more attached to those idiots as the days went by.
You never heard your mom come home that night and the next morning she was already gone. You hoped she actually came home.
Minu came in late first period, he sat at the desk beside you and told you about how Shelly nearly decapitated him next door. He also said Jay hadn't taken his helmet off since he put it on which seemed out of character for him but also kind of sweet. The period went by quite quickly when Minu was telling you his fabulous stories.
School that day was mostly the same as usual though Mr.Nam had decided to turn gym class into extra training time for the crew. After approximately five minutes of dragging tires around the basketball court as the rest of your class watched you started to envy Vinny who was either asleep at home or asleep at school.
The others had scheduled training that evening as well, you had never been so happy to be working because every muscle in your body was already at it's limit.
"I can't believe he made us drag tires around during gym class," You yelled to Heri from across the shop while putting your backpack down in the backroom.
"Is that even allowed?" you added as you made your way back to the front of the shop.
"Doesn't your principal wear skinny jeans with a camo print?" She asked.
"Yeah,"
"Then it's probably allowed,"
"Fuck.."
"Banana man came back, there's new paint cans in the back,"
"again? It hasn't even been a week,"
"Yeah, apparently the goats were totally wild this wednesday,"
"Fucking goats," you sighed as you made your way to the back bracing yourself for another paint job.
This time you made sure to wear gloves so your fingers wouldn't be yellow for days afterwards. You kept getting better and better at painting this man's bike. You'd been inhaling so much yellow paint fumes these days you were starting to like the smell. You might as well make a career out of this.
After a meticulous paint job and a few wheel changes you told Heri you were heading out. She was working later than you were so you didn't walk home together this time.
When you arrived your mom was there. You hadn't seen her much these past few days, you were glad she was okay. She was asleep on the couch, she'd left you some food on the counter.
You ate in your room to not wake her up, she needed the sleep. You went to bed soon after but it took you hours to fall asleep.
The next morning you had to meet the others at the park for the race. Dom's 'guys' as he called them were giving you all a ride again.
The car ride to the race was a lot quieter than last time. Vinny, Dom and June were all sleeping and you were trying your hardest to get a few more minutes of sleep as well but your body didn't seem to have the intention of letting you do that. You really wondered how your mom managed to function with so little sleep, you were nearly collapsing everytime you woke up before noon.
The fatigue was knocked out of you by the cacophony of the league of street site. You'd forgotten how loud everything was since the last time you'd been here.
The same guy with teal hair from last race called out to the crew as soon as you stepped foot outside the van.
"fuck's sake," you whispered. You weren't used to the whole tournament thing. As soon as the words left your mouth Vinny took your hand like you had done with him back at school. You squeezed it and he squeezed back.
"The first race of the finals will be starting soon! participants from each team, please gather in the central hall!"
The man screamed the announcement a couple of other times in the speaker and then the music started once again.
"It's finally starting," Minu said awaiting the next announcement.
"The course of the race is construction street!" the voice continued "The race is a team battle death match! For your safety personnel will be stationed in each zone,"
"three riders from each team will be representing their teams and compete together. Whichever team has one of their riders cross the finish line first is the winner!"
The board lit up with the list of teams and their opponents. You were going to face off against the smart crew.
"The smart crew.. ?" June said.
"We have to pick three riders from our crew. Who-"
"I'll go," Said Jay interrupting Minu mid sentence. That was the longest thing you'd heard him say since he joined the crew.
"Who else will go?" Asked June. Everybody was silent for a bit before Vinny spoke.
"I will,"
"Me too," you added.
"What kind of trio is this.. ?" Minu questioned.