That evening I messaged Liam. He'd seen it, but he hasn't replied. I looked at the clock. It was past 8pm. Something was nagging at me. I kept trying to do the homework but with little success. I kept looking at the phone. But there was still no news from Liam.

I almost jumped when my phone finally beeped.

"Tonight. 9pm. Old Windmill Park," the message read. Someone sent that in a chat that we had with my former school friends. My heart skipped a beat.

"What's happening?" I typed back. Silence. I tapped nervously on the desk as I waited for a reply.

"A race," came as a reply.

This could only mean an illegal car race. I looked at the time again. It was 8.30pm now. There was still no news from Liam. I couldn't be seen at a race. I never had gone to any before. If my father found out.

But Jake would be there. And the Shields and the Rileys. And Liam. This would not end well. I wasn't gonna go.

But curiosity gained the better of me. I quickly changed, gave myself a last glance in the mirror, and rushed out.

As I was getting closer to the Old Windmill Park I saw more and more cars heading in the same direction. Fancy cars from the East side and no so fancy ones from the West side. So it was true. I pulled up and parked my car. There were people everywhere and I couldn't believe what I was seeing: East and West side mingling. Each still stuck to their "hood" but at least gathered in the same place.

Music beamed from huge speakers. Engines roared. I pushed myself through the crowd to get a better look. Blake was tall, so spotting him in the crowd was no issue. And beside him was Liam and their other friends. Blake was leaning against the car, with his arms folded.

The crowd around them was having fun. They were dancing and drinking.

Blake was the first to notice me. He rose to his full hight and grabbing Liam by the collar of his shirt, he told him something. Liam's looked in my direction and saw me then too.

He immediately made a move toward me.

"What are you doing here?" He shouted through the noise when he got closer. He took my hand and pulled me away from the crowd.

"I might as well ask you the same," I replied. Blake was now beside us too.

"Get her out of here," Blake told Liam. He towered over me and was looking at me like with much annoyance.

"This is an illegal race," I told Blake marching up to him.

"Then run, before your daddy hears of it. Nobody wants you here anyway."

"Hey!" I heard someone shout. It was Jake. I rolled my eyes. That's the last thing I needed now. "Don't tell her what to do!" Jake pushed Blake away from me. "Are you ok?" He asked me and I nodded. Jake wasn't alone. A few of his friends were with him. They all had their fists balled. Things were beginning to not look good at all.

"What's going on here?" A guy, I've never seen before came now also toward us. He looked about 20 and he had the Riley twins with him in tow and a few others. All of them unmistakably Rileys.

"It's none of your business, Riley," Blake told him. But the other wasn't budging. He came closer and gave me a good-measured look. I was being surrounded by all those guys and I was alone among them. It unsettled me slightly.

"Ah, I've seen you with Blake in the newspapers. You must be his new girlfriend," he said looking from me to Blake. He was almost as tall as Blake, and very handsome and I had the feeling he knew it. He eyed me from head to toe and gave me his best, coy smile. "What don't you ditch him and come with me instead?"

The other Rileys laughed.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Jake demanded to know now too. It was all getting too much. Suddenly coming here didn't feel like a good idea.

"No, the boyfriend would be me," Liam announced pulling me closer to him. "Let's go, Hope."

"You've been at that school just for what? A week? And already got yourself a new boyfriend!" Jake was not giving up. It seemed like everyone was angry with me now.

Liam meanwhile was still pulling me after him. Jake, on the other hand, had grabbed me by other the arm, pulling me toward him.

"I also keep telling her what an efficient little gold digger she is," added Blake oil to the fire. "How quickly she's upgraded you, man."

"You shut up!" Jake shouted at him.

"What is this?" Someone new asked coming up from behind Blake. Three more guys joined the scene, all also in their 20s, all with an unmistakable resemblance to Blake. So these must be the other Shields. Those guys looked from the Rileys to Jake and his friends. "Is anybody bothering you, cuz?" One of them asked looking at Blake and placing his hand on his shoulder.

"This does not concern you," Blake replied. "And you," he said looking at me. "Just go." It sounded like an order.

"Stop telling me what to do. I'm tired of your bullshit."

"Has he done anything to you?" Jake asked stepping between me and Blake. I knew, one word of mine and this powder barrel could explode. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, so I pressed my lips tighter.

"Hey, leave the girl in peace." Claire appeared from behind all the Rileys and made her way through to me. "Are you ok, Hope?"

I nodded. Her appearance lowered the tension. Somehow I was grateful that someone stood up for me.

Just then a loud horn sound cut through the music.

"You coming or what?" One of the Rileys told Blake. Blake gave me another look that I wasn't sure how to read and then followed the Rileys back to the cars. And so did the rest.

Jake lingered behind, still looking from me to Liam.

"Come on, Jake," one of his friends called to him. "The race is about to begin."

"Hope..." Jake began.

"Just go," I told him.

"Are you ok?" Claire asked with concern. I nodded. "Don't let them get to you. Guys can be such brutes."

And then she also disappeared in the crowd. And I allowed myself to be pulled away by Liam.

The news had come in a few days ago that the Rileys were calling for another race. Duke just couldn't get over the fact that so far, he had not managed to win against me. Truth be told, I expected him to challenge me sooner, but I've heard he'd been abroad over the summer. He was a good driver, so I knew he'd keep me on my toes.

I was as ready as I could be. There was excitement and anticipation. The Rileys and the Shields, everyone old enough from the East side was here. Plus the West Side crowd, but they didn't really count. I caught sight of that upstart Jake, but that could wait.

Winning against Duke Riley mattered more tonight.

Until she turned up. I almost felt her before I saw her. When our eyes crossed, she held my gaze for a moment, but then she saw Liam, and I somehow felt disappointed.

Why the hell was she here? Did she even understand what almost happened because of her? The tensions between the Rileys and the Shields have been rising a lot lately. And if you add in the idiots from the West side butting in just now, this could have ended badly.

When I reached my car and got in, I was eager for the race to begin. Six other cars pulled up to the finishing line. The music stopped and the crowd cleared the race track. Duke was in the car beside me and pointed at me with his hand as if pulling a trigger. I ignored his antics. He had always been full of himself. I was keen to put him in his place.

Again.

"Good luck, kid," Austin, one of my cousins told me. "Don't disappoint us."

Leave it to him to always make things sound as if the whole Shields' future depended on that one thing. I squeezed the wheel harder and chose not to reply.

It was as if time stood still. I loved this moment. And then the horn sounded again and I hit the gas. I drove like a maniac, leaving one car after the other behind me.

The last few months have been tense and lately, I felt more and more like I wanted to punch someone. My own friends we annoying me. And I still haven't managed to get one simple thing accomplished - getting my new nemesis kicked out of school. I feared what she could do, what she could find out. And for some reason, it bugged me to see her with Liam. I've watched them at school and it was getting obvious that she was really into him. That bastard turned out to be right. Or maybe she was just really good at faking it?

Did I want her to be into me instead? Even if she lies and pretends?

I hit the gas harder just as a corner came into sight. I shook my head, trying to shake off the thoughts of her and focus again on the race. Duke was also pulling up beside me and together we flew into the corner. That we crushed had much to do with us both being stubborn and neither wanting to give in for the sake of the cars.

Damn it! We flew out of the race truck. My car almost made a flip, but I managed to whirl it around and drive it into a sand wall. A few moments after, Duke's car landed in the same ditch. The other cars raced passed by.

Fuck!

Duke jumped out of the car. I thought he'd be fuming, but he had a wide smile on his face instead, that crazy bastard. I guess he saw also that we were both to blame for this.

No, actually, there was only one person to blame for this. I hit the wheel with force.

"Let me drive you," Liam told me as soon as we found my car. I gave him my keys. Once inside, I told him, "I messaged you. You didn't reply."

"Is that why you came?"

"I also my ways of knowing about illegal car races. I thought I'd come out and see it for myself."

"It's a Riley-Shields thing, you must know. They bud heads every now and then. Best not to get involved."

"Why are you getting involved?"

"I'm just there to make sure Blake doesn't do anything stupid."

"How is that working out?"

"Moderately."

"You could've told me. You know you can trust me."

"We didn't think it was a good idea, considering who your dad is." He took my hand and kissed it. "Don't be mad."

I wasn't mad. I was beginning to realise that Blake would always stand beside us. Blake ordered, and Liam did as told. Was he realising that or has he gotten too used to do Blake's bidding?

And then another thought came: what if Blake told Liam to get Justin to clean up after him? Of course. That would make sense. Blake and Jessica could've been in the car together. It would make sense to sent someone else to deal with Justin and cover their trucks. I gave Liam a side glance. He'd do that for Blake and Jessica. He'd put himself on the line for them.

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't. It's better this, than them killing each other. The Shields and the Rileys have been resolving their differences this way for decades now. There is always someone challenging the other. Sometimes it's a car race, or a polo game, or whatever else they can come up with. Sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other. This time it was Blake and Duke's turn."

"What will the winner get?"

"Glory," he said with a smile.

"Putting themselves in danger for glory?"

"It's their lives they are risking. And nobody would be able to stop them anyways."

"That's madness."

"It's their madness. These two families are fucked up beyond hope. It's not your fight, what do you care anyways?"

He was right. What did I care?

"What's the West side doing there?"

"There are just extras, nothing else. To keep things interesting. But it's the East side that gets the booze, and the music and DJs, and organises the space."

Liam's phone peeped and he looked at the screen.

"Looks like the race is over," he told me. "Blake lost."

"Serves him right," was all I replied.