The Race For A New Life

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Grace made her way to Rae’s room when they got to the next checkpoint, making sure that she didn’t see Matt around. She calmly knocked on the door. Rae cracked the door cautiously, only to open it wider when she saw that it was Grace. “Hey Rae, just wanted to check on the make-up”, Grace said with a small smile. Rae waved her in, “Yeah, thanks, Grace. I appreciate it.” After closing the door, Grace took a close look and touched up her neck. “Well, it looks good. So, are you going with us for dinner?”, Grace then asked. Rae frowned, “I don’t know, I just might stay in.” Grace looked concerned, “You sure? What if Matt comes to see you again?” Rae inhaled sharply and thought for a moment, “Yeah, okay. I could probably use some fresh air anyway.” Grace gave her a smile, “Good, we’ll be meeting up in half an hour.” Rae smiled back, “Okay, I’ll see you guys then.” With that Grace left Rae to freshen up.

When Rae left her room to meet with up everyone for dinner, she noticed Matt at the end of the hall. He turned his body towards her direction and started to walk towards her. She stepped back, expecting the worst, only to have an arm go around her shoulders. Rae looked up to see her dad. “Hey honey, you ready for dinner?”, Russell asked. She smiled up at him, “Yeah, I’m starving!” He gave her shoulders a quick squeeze and walked with her down the hall. She looked over her shoulder, only to see Matt standing still with a devilish smirk. Rae looked back to dad and gave him a sideways hug as they entered the lobby. Thankful that he unknowingly just saved her.

Once the three families were together, they called out a couple places for dinner. With the majority vote being pizza, they got into a large van for carpool. Everyone then exited the large van once they got to the pizzeria. Upon entering, the parents sat at one table while the kids sat at another. After a few minutes, everyone ordered their drinks and pizza. After that, everyone got caught up with conversations and laughter. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Graham was nursing a second beer when they were waiting for the check. Lacy was sitting next to him, unfortunately. She would occasionally put her hand on his thigh. Graham grew tired of constantly moving her hand. So when he got the opportunity to move when Lacy got excited talking to Darren. He quickly slipped out of his seat and sat next to Rae on the other side of the table. Rae looked over to him and smiled, as he put his arm on the back of her chair. He noticed that Lacy was glaring at Rae and scowled back at her. After a few minutes, he looked at Rae’s hands, noticing that they were shaking. He figured that it had to do with what had happened with Matt. Removing his arm from her chair, he held one of her hands in one of his. Rae glanced over to him as he squeezed her hands, she didn’t hesitate in squeezing back. A silent thank you for giving a friend some comfort.

When they all got back to the hotel, Darren walked with Rae to her room. He wanted to make sure that she got there safely. “You were quiet today”, he murmured. Rae looked a little worried, “I really didn’t feel like talking. I guess that I was just out of it.” When she opened the door to her room, Darren followed her in. “I should get to bed, so I’ll see you in the morning”, she said. Darren then brought her into his embrace, and hug his sister tight. Rae had a confused look on her face because Darren didn’t normally do hugs with her. “Rae”, Darren quietly said. “I know what happened yesterday, and I want so bad to stay with you or have someone stay with you. But I know that you would put up a fight. Just know that I love you and am willing to do anything to protect you”, he continued to say. Rae pulled back looking horrified, “How-How do you know what happened?!?” Darren put a hand on her shoulder, “Graham walked by your room after Matt left your room. He saw you on the floor crying and also saw the handprint on your neck.” She quickly grabbed her neck and became wide-eyed. “Oh no, no, no, no! Oh God! He’s going to go after Matt! Darren, he can’t get involved, please! Please stop him!”, Rae cried. He brought her back into his arms. “Shh! Shh! It’s okay, it’s okay. He’s not going after Matt, okay? We already came up with a plan to make sure that you are safe”, Darren explained. She looked up at her brother and nodded, “Okay, thank you!” He kissed the crown of her head and headed for the door. “Someone will come get you in the morning”, he said as he turned and walked out. Rae let out a deep sigh and rubbed her face in disbelief about what was happening. But she decided to just forget about it and get some sleep.

As Rae drifted off to sleep, her dreams entered a memory that she would love to forget. Matt had taken her out on a date, nowhere special to either of them. Matt was holding her close to him, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, making her smile. Rae knew that he was charmer, but she didn’t care as long as he didn’t hurt her. They were walking back to his car after they had just finished dinner, talking about the race and drivers. “Come on, baby doll! You know that I can beat anyone in the race!”, he said smirking to her. Rae rolled her eyes, “Oh please! Graham is a pretty good driver and he isn’t cocky like you!” Matt lifted her chin for her to look at him. Rae noticed his pissed off look and tried not to look worried in return. “Why are you noticing Graham’s driving? Does his driving give you enticing thrills that I can’t?”, he asked. Rae shook her head, “No, no, that’s not it. He’s just a friend and we grew up together. I know how he drives, that’s all.” Matt kissed her forehead, “Okay, baby doll, okay.” Rae gave an uneasy smile to him as they continued to walk. Completely unsure of why Matt would be jealous of Graham, Rae tried her best to push it out of her mind.

When they got to his car, some guy was looking at it. Immediately Rae felt Matt tense up, and immediately knew that he was about to blow up. “Hey! What do you want?!”, yelled Matt. The guy looked up at Matt and started to say something to him, “This Camaro yours? It’s real nice! Where’d you get it?” Matt let go of Rae and moved in between his car and the guy. Rae was not looking forward to what was about to happen. “Yeah, it’s mine! I know it’s nice, in fact it’s a pretty sweet ride! And that’s none of business punk!”, Matt said. The guy looked over to Rae to see if she would do anything about Matt. All she could do was shake her head. “Hey! Don’t look at her! She’s mine and there’s nothing that will stop that. So just start backing up and get away from my property!”, he said as his face got redder with anger. The guy immediately backed up and left after seeing that there was no reasoning with Matt.

Rae then moved to Matt’s side, “Matt, that was unnecessary, he just wanted to look at the car.” He turned to look down at her, “I’m sorry, but I don’t like it when someone looks at my possessions without permission!” Rae took a step back as her jaw dropped, “I am not one of your possessions, Matt! You do not control what I say or what I think!” Matt grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. “You are mine! And only mine! I don’t care who I have to beat up or kill to make sure that you stay by my side where you belong!”, he said with a growl. Looking up at him with a horrified look, Rae tried to get away from him, but couldn’t. “Matt please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I won’t bring it up again! Please let me go!”, she begged. Dragging Rae with him, he moved to the other side of the car. Once he opened the passenger side door, Matt shoved her inside the car. Before closing the door and going to the driver’s side, he bent down to face Rae. Matt then grabbed her chin for her to face him, “You better not bring it up again! Because I won’t let you go! You are mine! And the sooner you realize that the better!” He forced a kiss to her lips before releasing her chin and slamming the car door before going to the driver’s side of the car. At the sound of the car door slamming shut, Rae woke up.

Looking at the clock in her hotel, Rae saw that it was four in the morning. Removing her sweating body from the bed, she made her way to the bathroom. Standing under the pool like temperature in the shower, Rae tried to ground herself. Haunted by the dream and memories of their past relationship didn’t easily go away. Especially after not seeing him for three years. Stepping out of the shower and drying off, Rae decided to go back to bed. Even though she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Her dreams and memories were too much that night.