Sparks Under the hood
688 Words
⸻
It was a quiet Thursday morning when Lana Kingsley first learned how to change a tire without breaking a nail—or her spirit.
Jayden was already in the garage by 7 a.m., sleeves rolled up, wiping down a dusty old pickup truck. When Lana arrived, he didn’t greet her with his usual sarcasm. Instead, he just handed her a pair of gloves and pointed to the car next to him.
“Today, we work,” he said.
“No insults? No nicknames?” she asked, sliding on the gloves.
“Don’t tempt me, Princess.”
There it was.
But something in his tone had softened. Like he’d finally decided she might actually be worth his time.
He started with the basics—how to jack up the car safely, how to loosen lug nuts, how to inspect a tire’s wear. Lana listened carefully, sweat already forming along her brow.
It wasn’t easy.
Her first attempt ended with her nearly dropping the jack. The second time, the tire slipped out of her grip and bounced comically across the garage. Jayden didn’t laugh—though his smirk was definitely mocking.
But by the fourth tire, she was getting it.
“You’re not terrible,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Wow. Is that a compliment?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
She grinned, brushing a grease-smudge from her cheek. “Feels like I just passed a test.”
Jayden tilted his head. “It’s not a test. It’s life. You either keep up or you fall behind.”
“Is that your motto?”
He shrugged. “Something like that.”
⸻
Later that day, during their lunch break, they sat in the back of the shop on old crates, sharing cold sodas and the world’s worst vending machine chips.
Lana leaned back against the wall, looking up at the open garage doors. The sun lit the pavement in warm gold, and for once, she didn’t mind the smell of oil and heat. She was getting used to it—almost liking it.
Jayden glanced at her. “So what was it like?”
She turned to him. “What was what like?”
“Being rich. Having everything.”
She exhaled slowly, a thoughtful frown forming on her lips. “It felt normal, I guess. Like… it was all I knew. I thought the world would always look like marble floors and champagne brunches. I thought my friends actually liked me.”
“Do they?”
“They disappeared the second the money did,” she said quietly.
Jayden nodded, like he wasn’t surprised. “Money doesn’t change people. It just shows who they always were.”
She looked at him, something tight in her chest easing a little.
“What about you?” she asked. “You ever have it all and lose it?”
He gave a dry laugh. “Never had it to begin with.”
She waited, sensing he wouldn’t say more. But after a pause, he added:
“I was gonna be a lawyer. Full scholarship. Top of my class.”
She blinked. “Wait, really?”
“Yeah,” he said. “But life had other plans. My mom got sick, my little sister was still in high school. Someone had to pay the bills.”
“So you gave it up.”
He looked at her then, eyes dark and steady. “Some things are worth giving up dreams for.”
Lana was silent.
In that moment, the grease, the sweat, the tired hands—they all felt like part of something bigger. She wasn’t just learning how to fix cars. She was learning how to rebuild herself.
And as Jayden looked at her—not with pity, not with judgment, but with something closer to curiosity—she realized he wasn’t just fixing engines.
He was fixing her too, piece by piece.
⸻
That night, as she walked home in the cooling twilight, Lana touched the old locket hanging around her neck and smiled.
There were sparks under the hood today.
And not just from the car.
- Writer
