"Yeah, sure."
Wes kisses Taylor before walking back towards his car, removing the now watered-down bag, and closing his hood. Brandon and Wes both drive off leaving me, Taylor, Vance, and a handful of girls. Taylor and I move towards the fence, not really caring to be near Vance.
"Did you see him totally diss that girl?" Taylor asks, low. "I was mentally cheering."
"It was great," I tell her with a smile.
"If that's not a devotion of love, I don't know what is."
I look at her and scoff. "You're nuts."
"Maybe a little, but that boy be lovin' you."
"It is way too soon to be throwin' that L word around, okay?"
"Okay. He be likin' you," she pauses, "a lot."
"Who likes you?" Vance chimes in.
"Where the hell did you come from?" I ask, perplexed. He seems to keep appearing out of nowhere, lately.
"Your mom," Vance responds. "Are we talking about the guy who asked you out?" he presses.
"Yep," I agree to just shut him up.
"I'll kick his ass."
"You will not! Shut up." I push on his shoulder.
"Vance, what's with your friend? Is he like...gay?" I glance over Vance, noticing the same girl that Chase turned down. This causes Vance to burst out in laughter. "Who, Chase?"
She nods her head, "He totally blew me off."
"No, sweetheart, he's not gay. He's pussy-whipped."
I scrunch up my face.
"The only girl I see him with is her,” her finger is pointed my way, “and he's definitely not with her." What? The anger in me flares up, and I want to break her finger off.
"No, he's definitely not," Vance agrees. "But he's been talking to some girl."
"Well she's not here, so what she doesn't know won't hurt her."
I can't help the bitter laugh that bubbles out of my throat. "You've got to be kidding me," I mumble. "What was that?" she sneers at me, peering around Vance.
I smile at her. "You," I point my finger at her, "are exactly what's wrong with people today. Have a little respect. If someone is taken, don’t be a snake. You don't go after another girl's man. It’s pathetic."
She crosses her arm, seemingly unaffected by my words. Her smug smile is making her, once pretty, face ugly. She laughs bitterly. "If he bites the bait, he obviously doesn't care." I shake my head, completely baffled. "Exactly! Chase isn't interested in you, so move along."
“We’ll see,” she says before throwing her long blonde hair over her shoulder and sauntering away. I throw my hands up and glance at Vance, who shrugs his shoulders, but is clearly amused by the whole exchange.
"Vance, I'm sorry bro, but you need to stop slumming." My words cause the blonde to stop in her tracks, and she whips around.
"Um, excuse me? Slumming? Take a good look in the mirror, sweetie."
Two cars zoom by, pausing our intense conversation. I'm about to respond when Vance's loud voice stops me. "Enough!" He barks, eyes on her, "You do realize that's my sister, right?" Her full attention is on Vance now, and her face is becoming pink.
"And?"
"And? You want to hang with us? Then you respect the people I hang with, especially my family. If you can't do that, then you can take your ass elsewhere."
Without another peep, she stalks away. The remaining girls standing on the other side of Vance glare at me, but follow their blonde friend, like obedient pups.
"Buh-bye." I wave.
"Knock it off, V," Vance says annoyed. His voice is raised because of the loud exhausts from the cars behind us.
"What? That girl was a bitch," I point out.
"Bitch or not, she was hot."
I groan. "She wasn't even interested in you!"
"I could have swooped in and healed her wounded ego when Chase turned her down."
I take notice of the two girls standing not too far away from us and point at them. "Go talk to them."
He eyes up said girls, "Good idea." And walks over to them. I watch as they openly invite him into their conversation. Another set of cars whirl by.
"I cannot believe I'm related to him," I say to Taylor. "You were pretty quiet, by the way." I look towards her.
"You were handling yourself!"
I rub my nails on my shoulder, then laugh at myself. The times from the last race flash up on the board at the end of the track.
"You're such a nerd." Taylor bumps my shoulder. I just shrug. There's definitely no denying that. Taking my place back at the fence, I notice the familiar car pulling up to the starting line. "Oh! Chase and Vaughn are up next!" The feeling of pride erupts within me, and I'm jumping on the tip of my toes. I guess this is what Taylor feels like every time she watches Wes run. Seconds later, they're off. Chase getting a good jump off the line. I scream out loud, not able to contain my excitement.
Taylor slaps at my arm, "You scared me!"
"Good! That's just for one of the many times you've scared me!"
Chase gains the lead by almost half a car length. "He's got him!" I yell, "Yes!" Their score flashes on the board.
"WHOO!" Vance yells beside me. The two girls have followed him over, "That was a great run!"
"I'm gonna go see Chase," I tell Taylor.
"Okay, I'm gonna stay here and wait for Wes." I nod, just remembering that Wes is running again. I glance behind at the starting line and spot his Evo, but it's about two cars behind.
"I'll be right back," I tell her again, and move away from the fence. Vance does the same, but the girls remain at the silver linking. Chase's silver Z pulls up as we're walking towards the pavement. His smile is enormous and contagious. He removes himself from his car, throwing up his hand in a victory salute.
"Yeah, buddy!" Vance yells.
Vaughn's gray VW pulls up shortly after, but rather than the smile Chase is sporting, Vaughn looks aggravated--like the sore loser he is. Chase moves to Vaughn with his hand out, and Vaughn takes it. We come to stand before the cars. Vaughn is looking around and when he doesn't find what he was looking for, his eyes land on Vance, and asks, "What happened to Sabrina?"
I can only assume he's asking about one of the girls who stalked off not long ago. I just shrug, and no one else seems to pay him much attention. The focus is on Chase’s victory. I hold my hand up for a high five since I can't plant a ‘winning kiss’ on him. "Nice run!"
He's amused at my lame attempt but precedes to slap my hand with his, “Thanks.”
"Yeah man, that was great," Vance agrees. He turns his attention back to Chase.
"Pure luck!" Vaughn cuts in.
"Whatever makes you feel better, dude." Chase laughs.
Vaughn crosses his arms, "Seriously, where did the girls go?"
"Rocky here chased them off." Vance nonchalantly points his thumb at me.
"For fuck's sake, V!" Vaughn throws his hands up.
I huff. "What? That girl was grimy!”