We cruised down the streets of Ridgeway, past the now not so floating welcome sign and out of town. I probably should've been worried that we were heading out of town but being next to Harry messed my brain up.

A mixture of Willow Smith, Cannons, the Weeknd and Chase Atlantic played as we drove in his lime Ford hatch. It wasn't as dramatic as the Demon but I actually liked that he brought his own car. I had never been in it and the fact that Annabeth, our friends and Jessica had been was a little annoyance of mine.

We sat in comfortable silence but I couldn't help but glance at him. He seemed different, confident even. Maybe something had changed.

I was surprised the road was so busy too. It wasn't big city traffic, mind you, but there was constantly a car in sight. A lot for back country. The glint of headlights behind us as we drove.

"I was worried you'd be afraid of me." His voice pierced the music. My heart momentarily stopped as I turned my body to face him. He peered down at me.

"How do you always know what I'm thinking? Huh?" If he wasn't driving, I'd make him kiss me. How'd he know my exact insecurity?

His eyes caught mine as he smiled. "Maybe we just think alike. Ever thought about that?"

Then his face completely turned towards me, away from the road. I couldn't help but take in everything. His eyes, nose, lips, jaw, hair. I really missed him. I was glad he was okay.

"Should I be worried you're taking me out of town?" I returned my gaze to his eyes, looking up to them. I had a sudden flashback to a Tiktok about doe eyes.

His eyes returned to the road but he shifted slightly in his seat. "You'll see. It's a surprise."

Almost an hour since we left Annabeth's, the glow of another filled the night sky. I had trouble guessing what exactly we were driving to but I could guess this was it.

"What is this place?" I asked as he turned down the road leading to it.

Massive things that suspiciously looked like stands ran for what looked like miles. A black tripod sort of building stood at the closest end with a row of windows piercing near the top. Near the bottom two massive gaping squares led to someplace I couldn't see. All around the building was parking for hundreds of cars. I wasn't an expert on cars unfortunately but I could see jdm, muscle, pickups with trailers and cars like Harry's. Even behind us, cars followed to pull in.

I had an idea of what the place was but it was confirmed when I saw two straight lines of cars, some with chutes on the trunk.

I turned to Harry who was already watching me. "Is this a drag strip?"

He nodded and then came around to help me out. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Then again, I wasn't expecting a date with Harry and even if I went on a date with him, I wasn't expecting a normal place like a restaurant. Still, I felt uneasy as I looked around. People of all ages including some from the cars that pulled in with us miled around. Occasionally, individual roars would light up the night, the sound of cars racing down the strip.

Drag strips were my brother's thing. He would hog the TV and watch those shows of classic cars street racing. It looked interesting but I never took much interest in it. Until now.

"Let's get something to eat before we do anything." Harry's hand wrapped around mine and dragged me along. My eyes stared down at our hands, the simple gesture completely alien to the profile I built for Harry.

He pulled me to the dozens of food trucks. "You hungry?"

Harry bought everything that I wanted and more. I'm talking corndogs, hotdogs, popcorn, sweets of every kind and two massive cups of sodas of our choice. I didn't understand how Harry was just giving money indiscriminately but it was almost like he wasn't paying the full amount. A few times I actually caught the price for certain things, I knew he wasn't giving that amount but he just kept on handing me stuff until both our arms were full. The owners behind the counters smiled.

"You getting discount or something?" I wondered aloud.

He took a long sip of his mystery drink and sighed, content. "Something like that. You good with all that? Need anything else?"

I lifted my arms that barely contained everything he already bought for me. "I think we've covered the food portion of the date, yeah?"

He led me to one of the pathways leading up to the stands. Under the fluorescent lights and night sky, the track was absolutely lit. Engines revved like crazy as cars did burnouts before staging. Harry led me somewhere towards the middle of the stands and sat down.

"What's with the new hair, btw?" I asked as we munched away. The green light flashed and the two dragsters took off, flying past us. I nearly choked on my food.

I knew drag cars were fast but not that fast.

"It's for my wound." He turned to look away from me and I saw it. A jagged, red scar the size of a pinky was just below his ponytail. "When they stitched it up, they had to cut the back off completely. Because the doctor kinda knows me she cut all the sides too so it looks okay. You like it?"

I wasn't actually sure if I did. I'd gotten use to his long hair, dangling in every direction. The constant urge to want to run my hands through it and pull while... Uh, nevermind that. But I liked the ponytail and loose strands. It added another layer to him.

"You look like a very specific anime character." I teased, popping a sweet in. He reached over and grabbed one for himself.

"Does this character start with a 'Eren' and end with a 'Yeager'?" I nearly choked again as he smiled at my reaction.

I reached up and gently tapped his cheek a few times in an affectionate way. "So you watch anime, huh? Such a cultured, young man."

He rolled his eyes and sipped his drink once more. I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "You really like it, don't you? What are you drinking anyways?"

He looked down at his drink and handed it to me. I raised an eyebrow. "It's vanilla flavored pepsi. My mom and sister don't really care for it but I like it. I get it whenever I can. Try it."

I did. He eyes lingered on my lips as I wrapped them around the straw that was in his mouth a few moments before. The cool, sweet soda taste filled my mouth with slight hints of vanilla. It was an odd taste, something I wasn't expecting but it tasted good.

"Told you." He grinned but it was hard to focus with him biting his lip. He moved closer as we passed his drink between us.

We watched a few races. Mustangs, Demons, built trucks and classics alike pulled up to the light and staged before speeding away. The sight was amazing. The vibrations through the stands, the roaring of the engines and the wind coming off those cars as they sped past was exhilarating. I couldn't imagine going that fast much less actually being down there by the lights. Heck, I couldn't even drive yet.

"Hey! Look who's here!" A bald man below us, pointing towards Harry, shouted out. He smiled up to us.

Almost immediately a group of teens that looked near our age appeared. Five boys and two girls along with that guy smiled up at us.

"Harry!" One of the girls, a latina with medium black hair and gemstone-colored eyes, hastily sprinted up the stands and tackle-hugged Harry.

The others climbed too but not as rushed as the girl. They all had the same smiles though, genuinely pleased to see Harry.

The girl pulled back to check Harry out. I decided to do the same. It felt weird watching someone being that close to him and she definitely was beautiful.

"It's been forever man! You look good though." She slapped both his arms and gripped them, presumably feeling his muscles.

"And who's this?" An asian boy with short black hair and earrings peered down with me. "Harry Malakai finally brought a girl to Jason's Strip?"

I was a bit uncomfortable with all their attention on me all of a sudden but I smiled towards him. "Alice. I didn't know Harry knew people here."

They looked at him strangely. The girl that was on Harry now sat in front of me. "Clearly he hasn't told you anything. Men. Anyways, Harry used to be a regular here so everyone knows him. Hailey. It's an pleasure to meet you."

They all slowly introduced themselves. Dawid, Manan, Armin, Floyd, Will and Carlotta. Their names sort of melded together but Hailey and the man's name Chris stuck.

"So what are your plans? Hope you're not gonna sit here all night, huh Alice?" He winked down at me, teasing Harry.

Harry leaned back and sighed, almost annoyed. "I'm gonna take her down for the Top Fuel runs."

My eyes slowly widened as I digested what he said. "Take me down? You mean to the start line? W-what?"

"Relax, Alice." Hailey laughed at my reaction. Of course this wouldn't seem like a big thing for her, she was like Harry. A usual around here. "Harry knows his way around a drag strip. You gonna do a run or two and show your date the other side of the strip?"

"Another time, maybe. For now I just want to have a good time." He slowly laced his pinky around mine. He could be cute sometimes.

"Well, we'll leave you to it. Don't stay away too long, Harry!" Chris greeted and dragged everyone reluctantly with him.

"Sorry about that." Harry immediately apologized after. "I haven't been here in a while."

I moved closer, almost leaning into him. "I didn't know you drag raced. Don't you need a license for that?"

His fingers played with mine which was distracting as he laughed. "I got mine when I was fourteen. I'll maybe take you one time."

I dragged my eyes from him towards the strip once more. "You really gonna take me down there?"

"Surprise." He slung his arm around my shoulder. "You ready?"

"Now?" I shouted, thinking that I'd at least have time to prepare myself but he was grinning like he enjoyed putting me in the flames unprepared.

"Now."