Don't forget to press that little ★
It's a Friday night, and there are two places any young adult would be in this small rural town. The strip or the field.
My fingers wrap around a link in the metal fence separating me and the paved slab of asphalt about twenty feet away. Two cars go racing pass, exhaust fumes follow in their wake, along with the loud tune of their tail pipes. The excitement as they race towards the finish line is palpable, just watching gets your blood pumping. I don't know either of the drivers but the determination to win is contagious.
The maroon Ford Mustang is in the lead, but the further away the cars move down the track, it's harder to see who crossed the finish line first.
Two large digital boards, standing tall above the drag strip on either side of the lanes, flash the racers time confirming the Mustang beat it's opponent by .5 seconds. It was a close race, but those .5 seconds mean everything.
My gaze moves back to the starting line as the next two opponents pull up. The black Mitsubishi Evolution roars loudly, the driver reeving it's engine until it hits the red line causing the car to pop in multiple sessions. The car is done up nicely, lots of money put into that engine. I would know, that's my best friend's boyfriend. His opponent, a Subaru WRX, rev's his engine causing the same back fire. A communication between racers, a way of saying, 'It's on!'
"WHOOO! Let's go baby!!" the unexpected scream comes from my left, making me jump. I grasp at my chest, and turn to look at my best friend, "Geszus Tay." I yell.
Taylor laughs as she tucks a few blonde strands of her hair behind her ear, "Sorry V, didn't mean to scare you." she says simply, her attention on the starting line.
"What the hell took you so long?" I ask her curiously. She was seriously gone like fifteen minutes. "I almost called the potty police."
Even though she's not facing me, I can see the roll of her eyes and her thin lips pull back into a smirk, "The line was a mile long, it's like every single person had to pee at that moment. Oh! ' she gasps as if remembering something, "I ran into Jessica too, apparently she's seeing Blake now."
Ah, Blake. We have some history, and it's only history because of my brothers. My four very loud, very overbearing, and very protective brothers. Speaking of, I look over my shoulder at my three brothers who are currently huddled together looking under the hood of a silver vehicle. With the lot of them standing in front of the car, I can't make out what it is, and what's so special about it that has them so fascinated. My eyes squint together, hoping to make out an emblem or maybe a headlight, but my brothers are wide as they are tall. It's no use, I can't see anything. I turn my attention back to the race that's about to go down.
The cars buck as each driver rev's it's engine waiting for the Tree, placed in the middle of each lane, to light up. The flash of the light shines the front of each car, showering their car in an orangish-yellowish color.
Amber.
Amber.
Amber.
Green.
Both cars take off, their front ends slightly lifting up as they press on the gas. Jeremy's quick off the line, just a smidge faster than his opponent, giving him an amazing reaction time. Within seconds, they're racing pass us, Jeremy holding the lead.
"Yeeaahhh! Go baby!" Taylor yells while jumping up and down, shaking the fence with her movements, her high pitched scream nearly bursting my ear drum. Even though she knows he can't hear her, it doesn't stop her from being his cheerleader. My hands move to my ears, covering them, "My god Tay, you're going to bust my ear drum!" I yell to her.
"Oh shut up and put in some ear plugs!" She pulls a pair out of her pocket, still in the wrapper and throws them at me. They bounce off my boob and land in the grass. "There's no way I'm louder than the cars!"
Point for Taylor. I shake my head in amusement before bending down to pluck the plugs from the grass, then shove them into my back pocket. She screams again and suddenly jumps on my back, completely taking me by surprise. My hands shoot outward, grabbing onto the fence for support before we both eat dirt, well mostly me. "Taylor!" I yell, "Are you insane?"
"He beat him!" she shouts, her legs clutching my sides ignoring my grunts of protest, "WHOOOO!!!!" she screams loudly while clinging to my back like some kind of monkey. Despite her weight, my head shoots up to look at the times displayed on the boards. He indeed, won.
"He had two hundred bucks on that race!" she announces at a more reasonable volume.
"Really?" I glance over my shoulder, her face hovering above mine.
Her large almond shaped blue eyes are wide with excitement, "Yep! Honey taken his boo out to dinner!" she gestures to herself with a mega-watt smile.
I slap my hand against her knee at my hip, "Your fat ass could skip a dinner. Get off you monkey!"
She mumbles as she slides down my back, and I finally stand up straight. "Fat ass is getting some dinner!" Taylor shouts out in victory, pumping her fist up in the air, not caring at the weird looks people are giving her.
A loud deep rumble is quickly approaching our spot. The black Evo appears behind a line of parked cars, coming from the exit of the drag strip and pulls into the open space next to the silver car. The same silver car that my brothers are engrossed in.
"Okay Pauly D, let's go congratulate your man." I pull her arm down and drag her towards the group.
As we approach, I can hear my brothers speaking very loud and animatedly to whom I assume is the owner of the car. Their backs are to us, until I move to the side, standing next to the driver's side fender. I've never seen him before, which is odd considering I know most of the people who come here. Even if not personally, by car or name, but mostly by car. He's really tall, lean and broad, clean shaved, thick eye brows over sharp features, and just really freakin' hot. He's almost too hot for me to notice his car. Almost.
Now, I understand why this car has my brothers undivided attention. It's a Nissan Skyline. A very rare, and very expensive beautiful art of machinery. Now I have a serious lady boner.
Taylor snuggles into Jeremy's side, his long tattooed arm wrapping around her shoulder pulling her closer. She tugs on his shirt, and Jeremy leans down to meet her for a kiss. My second oldest brother, Vincent aka Vin, notices Taylor's arrival and scans the group until landing on me. "Do you see this V?" his hand gestures to the engine bay of the Skyline. All clean and shiny.
Vance, Vaughn, and the new guy all look towards me, and I smile wide, "I see it Vin. Nice wheels." I nod to the newcomer which prompts a sexy as sin grin to spread upon his lips.
"Thanks baby doll." his voice is deep, and rough when he speaks.
"Nuh uh!" Vance cuts in, snapping his fingers in front of the dude's face, pulling both of our attention to my third eldest brother. Vance's finger points in my direction, "Our baby sister is off limits!"
"Seriously Vance!?!" I yell at him, my hands move to my hips. The guy's eyes cut to me, and Vance growls, "Comprende?
The new guy large hands move upward in a way of surrender, "Got it."
How embarrassing! I can feel the heat at the tip of my ears, "You are such a dick." I mumble loud enough so Vance can hear me. This earns a glare from him, and a chuckle from my two other brothers. Vance continues talking like he just didn't humiliate me in front of our whole group.
Reluctantly and curiously, my gaze flickers upward catching the eyes of the new guy, his eyes flicker away quickly but return a second later. The corner of his mouth slightly turning upward, despite my brothers warning, his eyes are on me. He's risking his eye balls, but I like it.
XXX
Welp..the very first chapter of Labeled! What do you think? What do you think of Veronica and Taylor? The bros?
Have any of you been to a race/drag strip?
Fun Fact: I have spent quite a few nights at a local track, and it's always thrilling! I once saw a car loose control, it was terrifying, but they thankfully managed to get it back under control.
If you enjoyed this chapter, make sure to vote! I'd greatly appreciate it!
**This chapter is dedicated to my very own 'Taylor'. To my best friend, my very first supporter, my confidante. Thank you for always being there in every way possible.