The Race For A New Life

Chapter 1 It all started as a fun friendly competition between friends. However, over a couple years the race became a national sensation. Starting and ending in Florida, the HLT race lasted about three weeks. You would find it hard to believe that it only started with three teams, but now is consisting of twenty. No-one knew, but there was a tension in between the original three teams that involved the kids, not the parents. Russell Holmes was a well-known lawyer who stood at six feet two inches with brown hair and dark gray eyes. His wife, Susan had beautiful blond hair and blue eyes while she stood at five feet eight inches. Both Russell and his wife were the proud parents of two kids, Rae and Darren. Rae was the oldest and was the perfect mixture of her mom and dad. She also stood at five foot eight inches and had her mom’s body type. But she had her dad’s brown hair and had hazel eyes. As for Darren, well. He was basically the younger version of his dad but with lighter gray eyes. Now Rae was the main driver for the competition. She thoroughly enjoyed it considering her job was to design cars and racetracks. Meanwhile, Darren was the secondary driver and navigator. His job also involved cars, as he tested safety and features. The Locke family consisted of Steven, Tracy and their two daughters Grace and Lacy. Steven was the head of a huge communication company. Now he wasn’t much to look at standing at five foot ten inches with dark brown hair and gray blue eyes. But his wife, Tracy was a stunner. With strawberry blond hair, honey brown eyes and standing at five feet six inches, she easily could get anyone’s attention. Now their obviously inherited their mom’s beauty. But they had their dad’s hair. Grace was blessed with her mom’s eye color while Lacy got her dad’s. Lacy, the youngest, was a driver in the race. Her main reason for even doing the race was to get more attention, besides her career as a model. Grace, the oldest, also drove as well as navigated for them. Grace’s reason to do the race was so she could have a break from her job of running several restaurants. Finally, John and Julia Travers both worked with law enforcement. Standing at six foot even, John could look quite intimidating with his as white blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Of course, Julia looked very laid back with her beautiful dark brown hair and brown eyes while she stood at five feet ten inches. Their sons, Graham and William were both six feet two inches and had their mother’s hair while they had their father’s eyes. It was surprising that they weren’t twins. Otherwise, Graham and William were both drivers in the race. William did most of the navigating for them. He doesn’t mind as his job as a surveyor helps. Grahams job in marketing had him help promote and organize the race. About a week before the competition, the three families met up at the Holmes residence near the Keys of Florida. The parents were on the back porch of the beach house catching up and reminiscing about the old days. “Do you remember when your old man was about to lose it when he found us tinkering with his Chevy Impala?”, John said to Russell, trying not to laugh. Rolling his eyes, “Well if that old man had kept up maintenance on her, we wouldn’t have been tinkering.” Tracy Locke looked over at them with a raised eyebrow, “Her?” All three husbands in unison said, “Lola…” Tracy turned back to her conversation with the other wives shaking her head. A few feet away, the kids were enjoying the swimming pool. Darren Holmes, along with the Travers brothers, were messing around in the pool. Rae was enjoying herself on an inflatable raft. Grace and Lacy were laying in the sun on lounging chairs. Will tossed a ball towards Darren, but Darren toppled into Rae causing her to flip over. Emerging from the water, Rae started to go for her brother. However, Graham wrapped his arms around her waist and stalled her. “Graham, let me get him! Let me go! Please!”, said Rae. Graham continued to hold her tight, “Just relax Rae, he didn’t mean it.” Rae turned her head to look at him, pausing for a second looking in his stormy blue eyes. Looking back at her brother, “Ok, ok, ok. I’m fine. I won’t go after him. Yet.” Graham rolled his eyes as he let her go. Right then Lacy shot up from her seat, “Hey! You better watch yourself with my boyfriend, Rae!”. Graham looked over to Lacy with a ‘really’ look, “Lacy, you and I are not dating. Never have, never will.” Giving him a wink, Lacy said, “Sure baby, whatever you say.” Rae turned to climb up the pool steps, “Don’t worry Lace, I wouldn’t dream of ruining your non-existent relationship.” Lacy scowled at Rae as Rae was walking off. As soon as she dried off, Rae headed for the kitchen. Pulling a few ingredients from the fridge to make a smoothie, she didn’t realize that she had eyes watching her. Turning to go to the blender, she quickly met up with a muscular chest. Looking up, Rae saw that it was Graham. “Are you alright?”, he asked with a concerned look on his face. Walking around him, “I’m fine, your girlfriend didn’t hurt me.” Graham grabbed her hand, “You of all people know that I don’t have any feelings for Lacy.” Reclaiming her hand to chop fruit, Rae glanced over at him. “Graham, I was just joking. I know how you feel about her and her stupid publicity stunts. Also don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Graham opened his mouth to say something, but Rae turned on the blender. After turning it off, she turned to him. “Well despite all her drama, she’s an okay gal.”, she said while filling a glass. “I’m going to go clean up, so I’ll see you later, Graham.” He watched her leave the kitchen and head up the stairs before he also left the kitchen. Before she got into the shower, Rae went into her room to get something. She retrieved a box of hair dye and proceeded to the bathroom that she shared with Darren. Closing the door behind her, she grabbed his shampoo bottle and put the half of the dye in there. Then she got his bottle of styling gel and put the rest of the dye in that. Making sure that he wouldn’t find any trace of the dye, she then stepped into the shower. Meanwhile, walking back outside, Graham decided to take a break from the others and headed towards the side of the house. He pulled out his Vape pen, savoring every quiet moment and the taste of the juice from the pen. Tilting his head back, he caught a glimpse of someone in the upstairs bathroom. Graham moved a little bit to see who it was. His eyes widened as he realized that it was Rae in the shower. Only seeing her shoulders and up, he slowly realized that he wanted to be in there with her. Taking one last puff of his Vape pen, Graham decided to go back to join his family and friends. After a nice shower and changing into fresh clothes, Rae headed back downstairs. She noticed that Steven and Tracy Locke were in the living room. She gave a little wave to them, and Tracy waved her over to them. “Hey sweetie, we just wanted to apologize for earlier”, said Steven. Rae moved her hand, “Pssf! It was nothing really! There’s no need to apologize.” Tracy patted Rae’s hand, “Honestly we have no idea where she gets it.” Steven looked at his wife with a raised eyebrow, “Simple… your side of the family.” Sliding him a glare, Tracy said, “Two words… your mother!” Raising his hands in defense, “My mother at least knew when to stop hassling people!” “Of course you would say that!”, Tracy pointed to him. “RAE!!!!” Stiffening her body, “Apparently that is my que to leave! See you guys at dinner.”, Rae sped out of the house. A couple hours later, everyone was at the dinner table. Darren’s hair, which is normally brown, is now pink. He’s glaring across the table at Rae. Grace, who was trying not to laugh, was the first one to say anything. “Darren, I must admit, you look very… very flamboyant this evening.” He proceeded to glare daggers at his sister, “I have some choice words to say, but I won’t. You can thank my sister for this color that my hair is now.”, he said. Rae looked at Darren with a surprise, “I’m sorry, I figured with all those pink shirts that you have that you just wanted to go with the flow.” Russell puts up his hands to settle down the argument, “She does kind of have a point, son. By the way, where did you get all those pink shirts anyway?” “They were a gift!”, Darren said, looking bashful. Rae looked confused, “From who?” “From me.”, Lacy chimed in, “I thought that they worked great with his body type and I was right.” Rae raised an eyebrow, “My brothers body type? You checking out my brother, Lace? Because I don’t know how I feel about you putting a free hand in my brothers back pocket.” Lacy rolled her eyes, “As a model, I notice body types, so sue me for being nice!” Susan Holmes decided to end it right there. “Well thank you Lacy, for being so considerate! That way I don’t have to push him to get new clothes. And as for the hair, it will wash out Darren, so relax.”