I knew when Scarlette said the word, fun, I should've locked myself into my room and waited for her to leave. My perception of fun is watching a nice movie, and maybe ice cream. Not Nascar driving. I pale instantly when Scarlette leaves me in a crowd of people to pick out a car.
The cars are lined outside of an old garage. It's been abandoned for years, and the owner left behind at least a dozen nice cars. At least that's how Scarlette put it. A random guy throws his arm over my shoulder, and pulls me in.
"You here with Scar, huh?"
"Heh, yeah."
"Aw, man," he slurs, his body swaying which makes me stumble a little, "She's a beast on the street."
Scarlette walks back over to me, a set of keys in her hand, and a gigantic smile planted on her face. Her smile must be contagious because my own lips form into a smile. She pulls me away from the random guy, and wraps her own arm around my shoulders. I keep my arms stationed at my side to be safe. I don't know how she would feel about me touching her.
"You brought me along, so I could cheer for you, right? Shouldn't I stand back there?" I ask, curiously.
I trip over my feet a couple of times because Scarlette's arm is still wrapped around me, and she's walking at a swift pace. She doesn't answer my question, but I doubt she'd hear anything I said. More people showed up to this place, and it was getting a little rowdy. This isn't my scene at all.
Scarlette was looking ahead, so to get her attention, I tug on her shirt. Scarlette glances down at me, her eyes almost look as if they're shining. These things must really excite her.
"Are you going to leave me in that big crowd while you...race?" my hands interlock, nervously, and my eyes unknowingly dart around, assessing the crowd for a second to third time.
Scarlette smirks down at me before suddenly stopping in front of a sleek, blue car. I don't know much about cars, but this one looks really nice. Scarlette's actual car is black, so this must be the car she chose for the race. I stand there, quiet as always, while Scarlette grabs a jacket from the top of the car. It's black with a single, white stripe on both of the sleeves. She hands it to me without hesitation.
"Put it on, so people know you're with me."
I hold up the jacket, and look at Scarlette with confusion. Why do people need to know that I'm with her? Plus, aren't I going to be cheering anyway?
"Whose jacket is this?"
"Mine. I wear it everytime I race, think of it as my good luck charm."
Scarlette sits in the car with the door open, and I'm still standing by her side. She checks the steering wheel, pedals, emergency brakes, and everything else. Her face is dead serious, and it's an expression I'm not used to seeing on her. I look at the other participants, my mind suddenly wondering.
"Where's your friend? I thought he was going to be here?"
Scarlette glances up at me, and goes back to what she was doing.
"Nah, he got caught up with something. He was just letting me know that this was going on."
"Oh. So you really like these sorts of things, huh?"
"Yep. Get in."
I nod, but stop myself from walking to the passenger side of the car.
"Wait, why?"
The question gets Scarlette to fully look at me. She leans back in the seat, her arms placed behind her head, and her legs spread. She gives me a questioning look, obviously surprised and confused by the question.
"I can't tell if you're messing with me or not, church boy."
Again with the terrible and embarrassing nicknames.
"I'm not. I'm just confused as to why I need to get in the car with you."
"Ohh," Scarlette says, finally understanding my confusion, "you're racing with me. That was originally the plan, and it sounded like you didn't want to be stuck in the crowd."
So she did hear me.
"Oh... is it scary driving so fast?"
Scarlette smiles at me reassuringly, which seems to ease my nerves just a little. My shoulders relax, but I still make no move to go to the other side.
"You're riding with me, so you'll be fine. I wouldn't drive too recklessly when I know you're in the car with me."
I search her face for any hints of a lie and when I find none, I start to walk to the passenger side. Scarlette stops me as I'm almost there, making me turn to look at her.
"If you don't believe me, you can sit in my lap sweetheart. You'd be as safe as possible," she teases.
My cheeks burn, and my face lights up with its usual pinkish-red color. Scarlette's smile turns into its usual smirk. I ignore her remark and make it to the passenger side without any casualties. Scarlette closes her door when I get in while putting the key in the ignition. My gut tells me to put on my seatbelt immediately, so I do.
Scarlette puts her foot on the gas, and drives the car up to the starting line. It's big enough for three cars to fit side by side. Good thing there's only three cars at the line.
There's no girl with two white flags in her hands like I see in the movies. Instead, there's a clock-like thing that has ten seconds on it. It starts to count down at an agonizingly slow speed, and my nerves increase. Scarlette has her feet lightly pressed on the gas. I start to count down from ten myself, trying to ready myself for the near death experience I'm about to have. Scarlette glances at me from the corner of her eyes, and gives me that same reassuring smile.
"No need to be so tense," she starts off, "just sit back, relax, and watch me dominate these streets," she ends, a smug smile prominent on her face.
Her excitement along with her smiles did little to calm me down now that we're actually at the starting line. I'm just worried my little body will slip through the seat belt and my ghost will have to explain to my parents why my body is laying in the middle of an abandoned street with my tongue hanging limp from my mouth.
*play song*
The timer dings, loudly, signaling that the racers could go. The two racers on our right and left speed off, the dark green one in the league. Scarlette just sits there, making me look at her confusedly.
"Why aren't you going?"
"Well, I can't drive how I want with a freaked out Nolan beside me, now can I?"
My eyes must've looked like they were ready to pop out of my head from the way I stared at Scarlette. Is she crazy, now's not the time to be thinking about me and my feelings!
"What are you talking about, go!" I shout at her while leaning back in my seat.
"That's the attitude I want to see," she grins, and presses her foot on the gas as hard as she could.
The car zooms past the white, starting line along with the timer. You would think we're far behind from the other two cars, but we were pretty close to them in a maximum of thirty seconds. Scarlette got around the obstacles easily, and cut the corners sharply. I thought we would hit a million curbs, but she had complete control of the car.
"Hey, can I let my window down?" I ask, over the buzzing and roaring of the car.
"Go for it!" Scarlette shouts, obviously enjoying herself. I let the window down enough for the wind to cool down my face. My hair blows in different directions, but I do nothing about it. I'm feeling pretty free right now. My parents will probably kill me if they found out I did this, but hey, it might be worth it.
Scarlette is now neck-and-neck with the other two racers, and there's this huge open space right in front of us.
"Hey, Nolan...do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Don't scream," is all she says.
I don't get to ask her what she meant because in less than a minute, Scarlette puts one arm in front of me with the other still firmly placed on the steering wheel. She steps on the gas harder, the car accelerating at a speed unknown to me. Scarlette gets to the opening and does a wide, fast donut, the car now facing the way we came in. My eyes are blown wide as we speed back down the street. I let out a long breath that I didn't know I was holding.
Scarlette glances at me for a split second, a laugh escaping past her pink lips. I couldn't stop looking at her. Her mouth is pulled into a huge smile, and her eyes resemble stars that shine brightly in the night. I soon join her in laughter because that was both crazy and cool.
"How's that for fun?" Scarlette beams.
"It was...wow!" is how I describe that experience.
Scarlette is way ahead of the other two racers and I can see the white line that we started from in the distance. I let my window down more, so my head could stick out. I let out a scream of victory, and Scarlette follows in pursuit. We continue to scream until Scarlette crosses the white line with zooming speed. The car screeches as she presses on the brakes, the car sliding around in another donut. Scarlette and I unbuckle our seatbelts before getting out. The other two cars slowly cross the line, so they don't hit us.
They get out too, and stand next to Scarlette and I. Scarlette gives them a small nod, and I would've followed in her footsteps, but I was scared they would give me dirty looks. I mean I didn't even drive, I was just here for the ride. A guy comes out of nowhere with a gold, shiny medal and he tries to put it over Scarlette's head, but she stops him. Instead, she grabs it from him and turns to me, putting the medal over my head. I touch the shiny piece with my fingertips, my eyes glued to Scarlette's. I think this is the longest I've ever held eye contact.
"Why?"
"I have enough of these things," she says, flicking the piece of metal, "plus you did good today. You deserve it."
I blush at her praise, and thank her quietly. Scarlette throws her arm over my shoulder and leads me back to her actual car. She says bye to some people before getting into the driver's side. I make my way to the passengers side, and get in. My attention is all on the gold medal that's hanging freely from my neck. Way better than those ties my parents suffocate me with.
Scarlette drives back to my house with low music playing. The windows are down, the wind cooling down our warm bodies. Scarlette bobs her head along the entire way. We get to my house soon enough, and my eyebrows furrow when I see my parents car in the driveway. I unbuckle my seatbelt, and open the door to get out. Scarlette does the same, which makes me look at her confusingly.
"What are you doing?"
Scarlette looks back at me with the same confused expression. She sits back in the seat, her eyebrows raised.
"Helping you clean up inside. I said I'd do it once we got back, Nolan."
Hearing my name fall from her lips will never cease to put a blush onto my cheeks. I do remember saying that, though. Scarlette raises her eyebrows at me, my silence continuing to confuse her. I look towards my house, and back at Scarlette. She has her arms crossed across her stomach as she leans back in her seat. I hesitate to speak, but realize I can't sit here in silence forever.
"My parents are back early, and I don't want them to see you..."
A look of realization crosses Scarlette's features, and I hurry up to speak again before she responds.
"I'm sorry-"
"Keeping me all to yourself, Nolan?" she smirks, teasing me, "that's selfish."
I try to splutter out a response, Scarlette's laughter echoing throughout the car. She looks towards my house, then back at me, a curious look on her face.
"What is it?"
"Don't you think your parents are going to ask where you were? They seem like the type to call the police if you weren't in their line of vision for a second. You need an alibi."
Why do I feel like I'm about to prepare for an interrogation?
"Okay, what should I say?"
"You hang out with that friend of yours, right? Just tell them you were chilling with her."
"Chilling?"
"Hanging out," Scarlette explains.
Of course. I knew that.
"Right. One thing, if I was hanging out with Madaline this late, I would stay over at her house for the night. How would I explain coming home?"
Scarlette is silent for a short moment. She looks to be thinking and after a minute of silence, she says what's on her mind.
"I can take you to her house. She wouldn't complain, would she?"
"No..."
"Good, problem solved. Let's go."
Scarlette closes her door, and turns the key in the ignition. Her car purrs back to life, and she turns the radio up a bit. I put my seatbelt back on while getting my phone to text Madaline.
Hey, do you mind if I come over?
I keep my phone on the messages app, so I don't miss her texts. The chat bubble pops up, then her message.
Sure, my mom made nachos. Hurry before they're gone!
Wait how are you getting here?
I glance at Scarlette from the corner of my eye, and decide to ignore that question.
Thanks I'll be there soon. Save me some nachos! Or there will be a price to pay
"She said it's cool," I inform Scarlette. She nods her head in affirmation. Or maybe she's bobbing her head to the music. I don't know. We're not on the road for long as Scarlette pulls into Madaline's driveway. She waves to Madaline who's standing on her front lawn, waving like a madman. I get out, quickly, and yell for Madaline to stop her act. Scarlette is about to back out of the driveway when I stop her.
"What's up?"
"Thank you. For the fun night, and stuff," I say, holding up the medal. Scarlette just smiles at me before driving away.