For the love of speed.

Chapter 12: Saveen age 16

My father was already in a bad mood today, because I told him yesterday that I have a school event today that is 30% of my grade. He had yelled at me that it looked like I was going to fail, because I'm too stupid to see if there was another way out of it. I went to bed without dinner tonight, because I was scared that he would hit me again. I knew the meet was going to be at 10 pm out at the track, so I had texted Dex to pick me up at 9:45 so that we could make it in time. I set up my bed so that it looked like I was still in it, just in case my father came to check on me, he would think I was still sleeping. At 9:38, I made my move and snuck out my window. I made sure I didn’t make any noise while I crawled out of the window and took off down the road. Dex was already waiting for me with his bike turned off. He handed me his helmet. “ Here, get on! I thought you weren’t coming.” I slowly grab it. “Dex, I can not get on this thing, I won't fit, and I don’t know how to ride,” I said, shyly turning my face to the ground. He places his fingers on my chin to make me look up. “Saveen, yes, you will do, you trust me?” I smile, “No, because you’re a boy.” He chuckled, “Okay, I see your point, tell you what.” He spat in his hand and held it out his hand. I looked up at him. This is something he and I did when we made a pact or when we made a bet. I spit in my mouth and held it close to his hand. “ I, Dexter Ruby McDermoitt, promise you will fit and will protect you with my life, as long as we both shall live.” He held out his hand, I grinned like a kid and slapped my hand to his, shaking it. “I, Saveen Opal Lockheart, act on your promise and shall hold you to it.” I scrunch up my face when he lets go and wipe my hand on his shirt.

He bust out laughing, “Hey, I don’t mind you wiping your love juice on me, but come on, this is a nice shirt.” He says jokingly, I put on the helmet, and slaps him on his big arm. “Oh shut up, you don’t even know what love juices are, you nasty.” He turns, looking at me, raising his eyebrows, “Want to help me find out?” I laughed, “You wish, sexy, you wish now, how the hell do I get on?” He grins at me goofily and explains to me how to get on. As I settle into the small seat, I’m shocked that my hips and butt fit. Dex grabs my arms and wraps them around him and yells, “You have to hold on, lean with me, and when I tap your leg, we go fast, so hold on tight.” I nodded my head and held onto him as he turned on the bike and drove down to the meet. We got about three-quarters of the way there when I saw another bike flank us with a girl on the back of it. She has her hands in her arms feeling the wind blow, and I slowly let go of Dex to do the same, and I think for the first time in my whole life, I felt light as a feather. I knew that I instantly got addicted to this, and this is something I never wanted to give up. I looked over at the girl again and noticed something. She was on the back of Killian McWright's bike, and he was looking right at me, like I didn’t belong on a bike. It was almost a look of disgust. I quickly put my arms down and back around Dex's waist, and Kill's gaze darkened. I yelled at Dex, “ Dex, I want to get out of here. Can we go fast like you said?” He reached back with a nod and tapped my hip/butt, and I held on tight. Off we went, leaving Killian and his mystery date behind us.

We got to the track so quickly that I am honestly sad that we are here. However, I don’t have enough time to be sad because Kill pulls up right next to us. The look on his face is that of pure fury. “What the f**k are you doing, Dexter? Put HER on the back of your bike?” He gets in Dex's face, and I am so shocked that I put myself in the middle of them, “Killian, stop will you?” I put my hand on his chest and it’s like he doesn’t hear me or stop “Dude I had to get her here and that’s what I just did I didn’t see you jumping to offer to get her” he leans over “And now I see why with that pretty thing on the back of your bike.” I stop and look over. She really was pretty, with tan skin, long brown hair, and these black eyes that seemed to see into your soul. “Stop, she is just a friend who transferred from my old school to here. Her and her sister, she wanted to see the last race, so I brought her and.” I stopped listening to him and dropped my hand, and moved away from them. She looked amazing, and God did she complement Killian so well. Then she spoke, her voice super soft and pleasant, “Um, Kill, can you please help me off this bike? I don’t want to fall.” Kill stopped arguing with Dex about me being on the back of the bike. I set the helmet on the back and spoke softly, “I am just going to go inside, obviously, I'm not allowed to be here, per the pretty rich boy there, so I'll go find Grayson.” Dex goes to grab me, and I just duck away. Last thing I heard was “You dickhead now she thinks you don’t want her here!”

I walk in and go where I was told to, the energy here alone is insane, I feel the electricity of the event and the rush of everyone. What is this feeling? My heart is beating so fast with excitement as I'm taking in my surroundings. Sebastin comes running you, “What are you doing, you need to get ready, the race starts in 10 mins!” he is yelling at me and grabs my arm, running me to a building. “Here, this is the only suit we have, so you're just going to have to make it work, pads go everywhere, knees, wrists, elbows.” He is talking so fast, I have no idea what is going on. “Sebby, stop confusing her.” A smooth voice washed over us, and I don’t even have to look to know it's Kill. “Go back to the car, make sure everything is good, and I will get her ready. Plus, I need to talk to her about what to expect for tonight. Go and make sure that the steering is tight.” Kill walks up to me and looks me over with a sigh. I threw my hands up. “Stop, I need my head in this race, and you need to get me ready, so tell me what I need to know, and that’s it.” His face softened as he looked down on me. “Okay. You need to listen and listen to me good.” He pulled my jacket over my head and stopped for a second. I forgot that I was only in my lacey bralette, because I didn’t want to raise suspicion at home. He growled under his breath, and this time, I did get mad. “Look, I know I'm nothing to look at, and I know I am not like one of those skinny bitches you used to date.” I took the shirt out of the bag I was carrying with me and threw it over my shoulder, “but you do not need to be mean about it, Killian McWright.” He shook his head and was about to say something when we heard “ Racers, you have 5 mins to get to your cars and get ready!” over the intercom.

This pulled him out of whatever he wanted to say to me, and he started putting pads on and sliding me into a giant suit that must have been made for one of these five giants. “V listen, when you come to a turn, take it tight and do not let off the gas. Feel your car as if it is an extension of you; the car will tell you when it needs something. Don’t do anything risky, seriously. I will be in your ear the whole time.” Killian grabbed me, pinned me to the wall and grabbed my face, and made me look up at him. “Saveen, do you trust me?” I looked into his eyes, and after a breath, I nodded my head. “Yes, Kill, I do.” He leaned down, and my breath caught in my throat. “Good, now for once in your life be a good girl and listen to me.” He leaned in closer to me and was looking into my eyes, searching if he was searching for permission, almost. “Racers to your cars, it's showtime!” That snaps us out of it, and I push him away. He shoves the helmet on my head and tightens the strap. I walked out without even looking back. What the hell was that?!