"So, I was thinking if we could go to the bowling thing all are talking about." Nick said, as I was jotting down notes from the screen in front of me.

There was only ten more minutes to bell and I wanted to finish the notes as soon as possible, not wanting to postpone it to the next day.

I stopped for a second and looked at him. His attention was focused on the screen and if I hadn't heard him speak, I would have thought he hadn't said anything at all. "What do you say?" He asked, turning to me with his beautiful smile.

God, I was whipped.

"How about seven tonight?" He asked again, bringing my attention back to him.

"Mr. Everest and Ms. Stone, eyes on the screen." The teacher yelled at us, as we sat staring at each other. I nodded and turned back to the screen.

"I've to go practice Nick." I said, writing down the notes.

The bell rang just as I wrote the final sentence off the screen. I grabbed all my stuff and put it into the bag, standing up.

Nick had already packed his and was waiting for me. "What practice did you say exactly?" He asked, as I fell in step with him.

"The race thing I told you about." I reminded him. "I've told you, my Dad has never let me sit behind the wheel before, so they would have to start from the scratch with me."

"Can't you start tomorrow?" Nick said, pouting that pulled all the right strings of my heart. "My other friends had asked me to come with them, but I said, I was taking you with me."

My Dad and I had a huge argument about me going to the race just this morning. When the race gang had come home and decided, they never once asked me if I was okay doing it. I didn't get a chance to say what I wanted.

Of course, I had always longed to sit behind the wheel and had even asked my Dad to get my own car. But I had understood— we had to save as much as possible, not only for my education, but also for the insurances that we often claimed for my Dad's injuries.

"I'm sorry Nick, I really got to go." I said with a sad smile. When I saw his face fall as I declined his offer, my heart melted a bit. "How about we go to that new diner that has opened up down the street? Tomorrow during our fourth hour break?" I asked.

I saw a lopsided grin on his face that I adored. "Okay. But I'm still taking you out for bowling." He said, talking my hand in his.

"And get your ass beaten by a girl?" I asked, tilting my head to a side to see his face. "I would love that."

He laughed. "Well, don't get too ahead of yourself there." He warned, cocking one eyebrow at me as we made through the corridor hand in hand.

"Yeah?" I challenged. "And why is that?"

"Because I would hate you see cry when you lose." He smirked, as I shoved him in his stomach.

He laughed as I walked past him. "Well dream on, dumb ass. It's a free country after all."

"Hey Scarlet." Brian greeted me, halting me in place. We had English and Chemistry together. I gave a confused smile. We had never spoken to each other until now.

"Hi Brian."

He was a lean jock who played football for the school. To be frank he was pretty popular among the girls and it was said that he was a playboy. Looking at him, who voluntarily came to talk with me was still a hard concept that was difficult to understand.

"Everything okay?" I asked, when he didn't make a move to talk.

Nick eventually came to my side. "What's going on?" His tone was different and I wondered what was wrong.

"Sorry, I... um... I'm throwing a party this weekend." He finally opened his mouth. "And I was wondering if you would come."

I gave out a nervous laugh. Sure, I had been to a few parties before but that was only because Lily's, my best friend's boyfriend was the vice-captain of the football team. 

Now, with Brian asking me to go to his party only made me wonder how in the hell he knew my name.

"Party and me are never a good combination." I said. "I don't think—"

Brian cut me off in mid-sentence. "What if I took care of it?" he asked.

"Huh?" I asked, looking at Nick for some support. Nick was looking at Brian as if he was some alien talking our language for the first time.

"I mean," Brian rubbed his neck, clearly being nervous. "You can't complete high school without going to a bunch of parties, right?"

He had a point. But it was not like the world was ending and his party was the only thing that held us all together.

Nick laughed. "It's not like her school life is over, dude."

"Well, thank you for asking me." I said with a polite smile. "I'll see if I can make it."

"Sounds good enough." Brian said, before disappearing into the group that stood at a corner. Some of the other jocks were chuckling at the scene that unraveled before them.

"I think it was just a stupid dare." Nick said, taking my hand in his. "Don't worry about it."

---

It had already been six in the evening when I reached the tracks, just as Calvin had instructed this morning. To say Dad was mad, was the understatement of the century. He was more than furious and wouldn't let me go out of the house.

I promised him that I would text him every half hour and I would call him when I left. He huffed something inaudible and I, assuming it as a yes, got out of the house, before he could change his mind again.

I walked up to the corner building where I knew Calvin and Dan would be present. My stomach had knotted since it would be the first time to sit behind the wheel. I could tell it was more of excitement than fear.

I climbed up to the last floor of the building, which held a great view of the whole track. It was a place where the new riders were tested and added to their group. Seems like they made an exception for me on that one.

I knocked on the door that read Calvin on the top. The building looked old but this room was posh. It was as if Calvin had styled according to his needs.

"Come in." was all I heard from the other side.

"Scarlet!" Dan exclaimed, as I entered, pulling me into a hug. "Long time, no see?"

I laughed as he put me back to the ground. "Dan, we saw each other just this morning."

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Calvin shake his head with a smile. "Welcome aboard." He said, bringing his hand to shake it with mine.

I looked nervously at Dan. He gave a supporting smile and a head nod. I took Calvin's hand, wondering what in the world I was signing into.

"Awesome!" Dan said, excitement still evident in his voice. How could someone be so excited to add a new person to their team, when that person knew next to nothing about cars or races?

"First things first, Scarlet." Calvin said, his face suddenly growing serious. "Ashley agreed."

I squealed. That meant we could hold onto our house and garage. I was so happy, but when I saw Dan, he was not as excited as he was before. "That's not okay?"

"But, she wants to race against you after six months." Calvin continued. "If you win, there would be no need for any amends, but if you fail..."

"Everything goes to her. Even the money along with the property." Dan finished.

It was as if my world had come to an end once more. My breath was sucked out of me. I could practically feel my heart stop for a second more than necessary and I collapsed into those seats that they had put.

Nothing in this world came for free and Ashley was just proving a point.

"It's not that bad." Dan tried to console, as he crouched in front of me. "I mean, we can train you like a ninja and you will kick her ass."

I laughed, in spite of the situation. "Ninja would have been better post then?"

"A sexy ninja if you would ask me." Dan winked as I made a disgusted face at him.

"You are a rotten pig, you know that?" I asked, pushing him away. "Anyway, no time to waste. Let's start?"

"Whoa, I like that spirit." Calvin said, smiling at me. "Dan take her to the track and as assigned, introduce her to Robert. He's going to train you, Scar."

We made our way towards the garage, where the boys would usually work when they were free. It was like a dream place for people especially people like Dad. I remember those days when he would end up sleeping here, never bothering to come home.

"So you are not the one who would be teaching?" I asked, as Dan shouted for Robert, near the garage. I had assumed that he would be the one, since he was thrilled and all.

"Awe," Dan cooed as my cheeks became warm. "I would have grabbed this opportunity, but idiotic Calvin has gotten me to run errands."

"Ouch." I said, placing my hand on my heart, making a sad face at him.

"You are such a drama queen." Dan gushed, ruffling my hair.

"Hey!" I cried, as I redid my hair. Dan shouted for Robert one more time, throwing a few curses along with it.

A guy of my age walked towards us. I recognized him as soon as I laid my eyes on him. He was Bert, the one that was acting like a jerk the other night at the race.

"Bert?" I asked, as he came closer. He still hadn't cut his hair, which covered a part of his face.

"You know this idiot?" Dan asked confused.

"You." Bert said, with a smirk on his face. "Yes Dan, we had met during that race."

"Oh, right." Dan said, scratching his head. "Anyway, this is Robert, your coach for the races." Dan said, looking at me, pointing his thumb towards him. "And she's Scarlet, Edward's daughter. She's a newbie."

"He's Bert." I said, still not getting the hang of it. "I remember it correctly since he was the one who stood ranting about the accidents that would take place in the tracks."

"What?" Dan asked.

"I'm not getting coached under him, Dan." I said, crossing my hands over my chest, with a frown on my face.

If I recollected, the damned race took place just as exactly as this jerk had predicted. I, for one didn't trust him. And spending time with the guy who was responsible for the accident was not in my books.

"Why is that, sweetheart?" Bert cocked his eyebrows at me. "Are you scared?"

"Scared?" I shouted, anger bubbling through me. "You are the one that made the accident on the first place! If anyone, you should be the one to be scared!"

Bert's façade fell for a second before he recovered. "I was with you the whole time. Does that mean that you are involved in that somehow?"

"Guys!" Dan shouted, to get us to stop bickering. "I'm already having a migraine."

My eyebrows were still furrowed and I was breathing heavily. I kicked a stone that lay next to my feet. "Dan, please find someone else to coach me, because he's clearly not."

"Well, I'm not in high spirits to work with you either." Bert folded his hands and looked at me, hatred written all over his face.

Dan heaved a sigh. "Scarlet, there's no one available for coaching right now. Robert is new here and he's free most of the time." He then turned to Bert. "Robert, I would have coached her myself, but I've to take care of some things. So you have no other go." Dan looked alternating between me and Bert. "So please don't kill yourselves in the process."

"Dan, you can't possibly—"

"I don't want to hear any more of your complaints, Scarlet." Dan said in an authoritative voice that made me shut up for good. "Robert, I want her to be professionally trained within the next month." He patted on his back and then left without another word.

"Ugh!" I stomped my foot on the ground, like an eight year old. "I hate him."

Bert just laughed. "Welcome to my world."

I hate the world too.

---

A/N: Yes! The student is ready and so is the coach! Now, are you guys ready?

What do you think of Nick's affectionate hand holding and Brian's party invite? Has that sort happened to you?