The evening air was cold and though the clouds were clear, it looked gloomy after a bright sunset. My watch had hardly shown six when I had reached the tracks. A fresh smell of grease and oil surrounded the atmosphere when I reached.

There were talks and laughs as I looked around. Though it was early to have a lighting set up, the yellow lights highlighted the area with profound positivity. Feeling like a fish out of the water, I decided to talk to Robert after my sessions were over.

I went to my spot where the tyres were kept. No matter how many times I had lifted it up and paraded them all around the tracks, they made me want to cry each time I went for a lift.

I heaved a sigh and continued with my work since I didn't want Rob to point out to me later telling that I was absconding from my practices.

My body ached as I moved from one exercise to the other, making sure that my body was aligned properly so that I would be following the proper principle of the exercises. I was just stretching my legs winding up for the day when Luke came up to me. When I looked up, I saw him smiling at me, his grin a centimeter longer than usual.

"I see you are building up some fine body." He commented, with a smirk. I wondered if he were drunk, because the Luke I knew hardly spoke, let alone flirt. "I can see some abs."

"Yeah," I said, pulling my hair up to redo my pony tail. Once I had completed my job at the café, I had changed into my gym shorts to soak up all my grime and sweat. It had not only helped me with the flexible movement, but also helped me catch some cool air. "What else do I live for?"

Luke grinned at that and helped me pick up the tyres to place them back at their spot. Though my initial conditioning was only for half an hour, Robert and Luke together had pushed me up eventually to reach three hours without water. I had stuck to those rules like they were the only route to get out of the Bermuda triangle.

"You seem quiet." Luke noted, crossing his arms and looking at me like I was a caged animal.

I wondered if there was a disease of prodigious-analysis-syndrome around the tracks. Everyone seemed to observe meticulously, trying to get into each other's loopholes. I tried my very best to put up my poker face in front of him, scared to let lose any sort of emotion at his way.

"I wasn't quiet before?" I pouted. "I thought I was."

"Quiet doesn't suite you, Scar." He smiled at me. "Is anything bothering you from past few days? You look so gloomy and hardly ever smile. Edward's okay?"

I would have been surprised if the next person who knew me didn't ask me that question. What was with everyone asking about me being gloomy?

"Everything is okay, Luke." I said with a smile.

"Not everything." Luke said, giving me a knowing look. I rolled my eyes at that. He probably knew about Robert's attitude with me, after all, Robert was only close with Luke here. Robert would have bitched about me to him and he was probably here to save me from his highness's wrath if I decided to go talk with him. "Not with Bert."

"He is being an ass as usual." I shrugged. "I want to smash his head and feed it to the hounds."

Luke laughed at that. As far as Luke was concerned, he only gave a small lift to his lips but he never laughed. But now, he was holding his stomach laughing at my harmless sentences.

When he finally recovered, I gave him a nervous smile. "You want to smash his head, while he wants to rip yours." He said, with a smirk. "Why is it always the head?"

"Argh!" I curled my hands and let out a frustrated groan. I picked up my towel to wipe away my sweat that was trickling down my forehead. I packed up all my belongings and put the towel around my shoulders. "Now I want to kick your ass back to its place."

I walked further, wanting to talk to Robert before things spiraled up and the whole tracks knew about me fighting with my ever-so-charming coach. As I passed the garage, where the lights were still on and the laughter was in high swing, I caught a glimpse of the curly haired boy, who had meekly ruined my reputation.

Robert was laughing at something, holding a glass of beer or rum, I was not sure, nodding his head at another fat guy. As if on cue, his head turned to me and his eyes found mine. Soon, his laughter was forgotten, and he only stared back. Without taking his eyes off me, he poured down his drink down his throat and smiled at the fat guy. He said something to him and then he was walking towards me.

"Here comes the coach." Luke muttered behind me, giving me a startle. I didn't know when he had made his way here, next to me. "If you are actually smashing his head off, can I see?"

"You'll be the first one to witness." I jokingly added. Luke gave me a serious nod and went to join the club under the flashing lights as Rob came to me. "Good luck, guys!"

"Shut up, asshole." Robert commented back at Luke and then turned his eyes towards me. "You wanted to talk?"

"I never said that." I said, crossing my hands over my chest, looking away. The whole fight seemed like a moot point now and it made me wonder why we had been avoiding each other all this time.

"I spoke with Nick today." Robert said. "I know he came to you after that. Its pretty clear that you want to speak to me."

"You are so full of yourself; you know that?" I asked. I was angry because he knew my conversations with Nick. It was as if he had set it all up. "You should start solving crimes."

Robert let out a small smirk play on his lips. "If this field doesn't work out, then I'll definitely try that." He said, slicking his hair. "You think I'll ace that?"

Robert, smirking and making fun of me, was not something that I had in mind. I hated how his curly hair, for once was behaving normally and the stubble that he hadn't shaved looked good on him. His thin oversized, sleeveless shirt fluttered at the cold wind, making him look like he was at ease.

"You know what?" I asked, clenching my teeth, not exactly waiting for him to answer my question. "I hate you so much."

Robert smiled back. "Well, the feeling's mutual, sweetheart."

I wanted to rip that smile off his face. The fact that he laughed and smiled for every mean thing I was saying was getting me on my nerves.

"Why the heck did you tell Nick that I was the one who was avoiding you?" I asked, not beating around the bush. I put my index finger in front of him for more effect. "When clearly, you were the one who was avoiding me."

Robert laughed, the same one which he always did when he was caught red handed. He shook his head sideways, as if he hadn't solved me yet.

"Bert!" Someone from the fat men club called him. I twisted my face away from him, disgusted that he didn't find time to talk it out. "It's time, you should be leaving."

"Uh-huh, Mister." I gave him a fake laugh. "You are not going anywhere without talking to me."

"Yes, man!" Robert shouted turning his back to me, to silence the one who had screamed before. He was clearly ignoring my questions and like all the three days he had done, he was choosing things that were more important at the moment. "I'll be leaving in five."

I stomped like a five-year-old kid, scolded for having extra ice-cream during dinner. "Fine, go." I said, as I put my sling bag on top of my shoulders. "Who wants to talk to me anyways? In the end I'm the only one avoiding here."

I turned around, not waiting for Robert to tell me to leave. This was humiliating enough, and I didn't want to stick around for more.

"Where the heck are you going, babe?" Robert asked, making me halt and look at me in an are-you-kidding-me stare. "I thought you wanted to talk."

"No, that was someone else." I said, my voice seething. "You have confused me with your many errands. Next time, I'll remember to take an appointment."

Though Robert's smile was intact, he didn't dare to laugh this time. "What are you doing tonight?" He asked instead. "Want to come with me?"

"And why in the thousand hells will I be doing that?" I asked, crossing my hands across my chest. "I'm not coming anywhere with you."

Robert pouted cutely and brought out his puppy eyes at me. He looked adorable with the expression, but today, I was not going to budge at that.

"Pretty please." Robert almost begged. "I want to talk to you, too." He walked a little closer to me and put his hands on my shoulder. He leaned forward and almost whispered in my ear. "How am I to win the race if my earpiece is not there?"

---

He had a way to make people agree to what he had in mind. After tremendous arguments back and forth, I had not only agreed to go with him, but use my BMW for his transport. I wondered if he used black magic to get his way with everything.

But as soon as I had agreed, he whistled once, and two more guys were coming our way. I looked at Robert in question who only smiled sweetly at me. Luke and the fat guy, Martin were the ones.

Robert threw me his jacket while he picked up a new one from his Maria. I knew I was going to be cold with the current outfit that I had which only consisted of a over sized gym shirt and shorts with worn out sneakers.

"If you are not comfortable, I can drive it." Luke said, earning a glare from me.

"Sweet ride, sweet cheeks." Martin said, as I took the driver seat.

"Mar, no." Robert said with a smile, taking the front seat next to me. "She's an angry bird. You don't want to die in a normal accident now, do you?"

Martin and Luke laughed at his snide comments, but I was fuming inside, and I was ready for the kill. I took a depth breath to calm myself and concentrate on the driving part. But then, I had an idea and I was sure it would work out very well.

"Buckle up, guys." I said, pulling the seat belt across me.

I smiled wickedly at Rob and turned to face the road. Once my passengers were all set and were cracking another joke on me, I revved the car and pulled out of the tracks making it to the roads.

"I'm not liking the look on your face, Scarlet." Robert said, holding on to the dashboard for support. I accelerated much higher than the normal speed limit, hoping that I wouldn't get caught by the local police for over speeding.

"Jesus! I don't want to die on the road." Martin cried, holding on to my seat. "I want to die on the tracks like a hero!"

I smiled wickedly as I dodged another bus in front of us. I was proud of my driving skills now and all those fast and furious movies had paid off. When I looked back at the rare-view mirror, I knew Luke was too.

Robert was giving the directions, way ahead of time so that it would be easier for me to drive through. Even though he was holding on to whatever he could, I knew he was impressed.

As usual, we landed in one of the remote locations for today's drive. My plan to talk during the ride was shattered and I was not able to do anything about it. I got down first, stretching my legs as I inspected the area around me.

Bushes, shrubs and lights to only light the required area were the only things around there. I was sure it was an illegal race. No wonder it was placed in this location.

"Oh, my God." Martin said, slowly getting down. "It was an hour drive from there and you made it here in fifteen minutes." He said looking at his watch. His legs were still shaking. "That was one hell of a drive, where did you learn it?"

"I'm her coach." Robert said proudly, putting his hands around my shoulder, pulling me towards him.

"Well, you are a bad coach." Martin scolded him. "Who the hell drives like that? With passengers? God, I cannot believe that I was in such a drive."

I smirked and folded my hands. I would take that as a compliment, thank you. Martin was still muttering something about the crazy devil bewitched skills I had possessed, walking to the entrance to tell them that the participant was here.

Luke came with a big smile plastered on his face. He gave me a fist bump and ruffled my hair affectionately. "You are awesome."

With that he was gone, leaving me with Robert who was watching Luke strangely. "He hardly speaks." Robert noted. "What demonic spells have you put on him?"

"Very funny." I said, getting away from him. "I'm leaving, we can talk tomorrow. I've waited for all these days; another day is not going to affect me."

Robert's teasing smile fell at my choice of words. "What about being my earpiece?" He was taken aback, and he suddenly seemed to be transformed into a small boy, asking his parents not to leave him alone. "You are going to be blamed if I'm going to die tonight."

"You are not going to die." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, you are going to be great."

A small gang of four drunken men walked around. When they saw us talking, there was some flicker in their eyes and I knew if I were to be alone now, then I was doomed. When Robert saw how worried I was with the new arrivals, he smirked back.

"Okay." He said, faking hurt. "If you say so. Get home now. Safe and sound."

I glared at him. "You know what?" I asked, gulping at the stares I was getting now. "I'm staying, just to see how you are going to die."

"That's the spirit." Robert laughed. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's race."

Martin and Luke had already signed in for Rob and when we went in, he was directly sent for the costumes. The fire-resistant jacket and a helmet was placed on him.

He opened the windshield and called for Luke. "Keep an eye on her. Don't let Mar get close to her."

Luke nodded and then turned to me with a small grin. "You are stuck with me, Scar." He handed me a blue tooth connector and smiled. "Just for you."

I smiled back. It was good having someone you knew on the track. Robert gave a thumbs up and sat behind the wheel, closing the door shut securely. We walked further where Martin stood at the wheels, talking and laughing with the crew while Luke accompanied me. We were standing on an elevated spot. Though it was illegal, I saw that there were no such troubles on the way and there was no use of an earpiece here.

Yet, I stuck them to my ear, wondering how I'll be of any help. Luke led me to the high deck, and I kept my eyes on the black sports car, trying to burn it into flames with my stare.

"You guys okay now?" Luke asked. Thankfully I hadn't switched the Bluetooth on yet or else the surprise of how Robert was going to die would have been revealed to him. "I didn't see him get stuck by knife."

I laughed. "That was my plan!" I beamed back, feeling comfortable in the alien tracks. "Since you have figured it all out, I'll have to make a new one."

"I'm sure you are more creative." Luke winked and then he turned his attention to the phone he pulled out from his pocket. "I'll just be over there. Don't wander away planning his kill. I'll be dead before Bert finds you then."

I switched on the Bluetooth and looked at the black car, which had now made its way to the start line, waiting for the flag to be waved in the air.

"High time you came." Robert's voice said from the other end. "I thought you had left."

"Oh, trust me, I will." I said. All the calm atmosphere that Luke had created for me, vaporized and my inner dragon had slowly awoken from its deep sleep. "Not without a good slap on you. You have seen those videos from my school, right? So, I'm sure you know how good I'm at it."

Robert laughed at my threats. "I can't wait for it, babe."

A person with a classy jacket walked in front of the cars and was giving some speech. This race was not only illegal but also on low budget. The mics were not present to entertain the crowd and the lightings were very dull compared to the one I had been before. It seemed more like they were wanting to finish the deal and get home faster than necessary.

"What's he saying?" I asked, since I was not able to hear him out. "He looks scary from up here, with white hair and wrinkled skin."

"Nah," Robert said, and I could almost imagine him waving his hands in front of him. "They are only appearances, Scarlet. You don't need to get intimidated by them. Actually, from this close, its quite disgusting. I can see his teeth rotting due to excess cigar."

I chuckled. "Really?"

"I think it's mostly due to drinking." He said. "Remember what happens next time you want go near them."

"You are impossible." I laughed at his ridiculous statements. "He blew off the flag. What are you waiting for? Get going."

Robert raced, pushing the gas to his maximum. I looked at him zoom past the cars and make his way somewhere in the middle, driving smoothly without any drawbacks. So far, there were nothing out of the ordinary that were happening, and I laid back, not wanting to disturb his concentration when he drove.

"Darling, you there?" Robert asked after his sixth lap. When I hummed a response, Robert sighed contently. "Are you watching me race or are you stuck with your phone?"

"With phone." I said, not leaving my eyes from the tracks. "Not so exciting here."

"You want exciting, huh?" Robert asked with an underlying humor in his voice. "I'll deal with that later. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"Why don't we deal with it when you have completed your laps?" I asked, as calmly as possible. I was not going to risk his life for our fights. "If you are dying, I want it on my hands."

"How else do you think I'm dying?" He asked chuckling. "So, what did Nick say to you? That I'm awesome?"

"And I'm avoiding you." I added, crossing my hands. "Tell me when have I ever done that?"

"I told him it seems like you are avoiding me." Robert said, stressing his voice. "He also needs to stand for his own ideals than behind girls who has crush on him."

"He's not standing behind me!" I screamed at the Bluetooth and Luke looked up from his phone and stared at me, wondering what happened. "He didn't even know that we were... you know..." I looked around to see if I had an eavesdropper near me. "I didn't want him to know and get hurt by it."

"What is he, a charity case, you adopted?" Robert's voice rose evenly. "I told you to think for yourself, did you do that?"

"Look out that car, idiot!" I said, taking one step ahead. "Turn left and reduce the speed. Let him pass by and then you move. And no, Nick was there for me when no one else was. It's only natural for me to be there for him."

Robert drove as I told him to, not complaining. "You are still putting him on top." Robert accused. "Okay, I'll agree to everything you are saying. Just give me one good reason why we shouldn't hang out like before?"

"Well," I started, looking away. With all the confessions, I didn't know why we were bickering in the first place. "Because, I would be flaunting with you when that poor guy suffers."

At my words, Rob's voice dipped. "Flaunting, huh?" I could almost see him smirk. "I like the sound of it. What did he say for you ratting him out to me?"

I stayed quite. It wasn't something that I had anticipated. It just took me by surprise.

"Did he scold you, babe?" Robert's voice was teasing as he went ahead.

Robert was a multitasker. He was arguing with me like an old grandpa while he drove like a formula 1 racer. He had made sure that he hadn't dashed any of the cars and he was competitively arguing his side of the argument at the same time.

"Look, I'm not answering you that." I said, making up my mind. I heard a laughter from the other end. "The bottom line is you lied about me."

"And you lied about him!" Robert complained. "Do you think I should just touch his rear?" He asked and I knew he was talking about the car which was in front of him. The car raced in front and didn't wait for Robert's touch to come its way. "See, he's already scared."

"What did I lie to you?" I asked.

"That he liked me." Robert said, as if he was talking to a degenerated brain. "He only has a crush and you just made it seem like a boulder was falling on top of you."

"That's exactly what he said." I muttered.

"Look, he's okay with you hanging around me." He said, calculatingly. "Do you like hanging out with me?"

It was a question that I had buried deep inside of my brain, not wanting to think about it as long as I could. But with Robert asking me the exact questions that I was running away from, I knew it was high time. It was a simple enquiry, yet the heft it held was weighing down my shoulders.

"I guess." My voice was low and was barely above a whisper.

The dead silence from the other end made me look up to see what had happened. To my utter disbelief, he was on a drag race with the one he wanted to bump. They were scratching each other, and sparks were flying along the rusted metals.

"What the fuck are you doing, Hastings?" I almost shouted into the Bluetooth, taking two steps ahead to me to see what was happening. "Get your ass here to the pit. Now!"

For once, Robert did as he was told. He slowed down his car and let the other one go. Reluctantly, he drove himself back to the pit where Martin and others were ready to look at the car's condition. I marched to him, anger evident on my face. The crew were looking at me as if I was possessed, but I didn't care.

As soon as the window was lowered, I yanked Robert's collar towards me. Though I was not able to see his face due to his opaque windshield of his helmet, I was sure my eyes gave the message that I wanted to deliver.

"Get your head in the game, idiot!" I shouted. "What the heck are you doing out there?"

There was no sound from the other end as others took over and completed the task they had in their hands. I hit his helmet hard and let him go. Though I was cursing him, I didn't want a scratch on him.

"There's only four more laps to be done." I stated, resuming my position back in the deck. "Make them clean and get out of there."

With Robert obeying my words, it wasn't hard to complete and win the damned game. I didn't make an attempt to go and congratulate him on his win. It was an easy win and if he had put his head in the game from the beginning, he could have finished it way earlier than before.

Luke was protectively standing next to me, putting his hands over my shoulder as one of the other groups passed by. With a smile-less face that he carried, it didn't take much effort for him to shoo the guys away. He waited till Robert was at my side, nodding at Luke at some understanding they had earlier. Luke let me go and joined Martin.

"See you tomorrow." Luke smiled and waved at me.

"Where are you going?" I asked. I had known that they had come with me and without a ride back, I didn't know how they were making it back, given that the ride back home was too long. "You don't want a ride?"

"We are going to party, baby!" Martin said, holding his hands together and shaking his ass. He was too cheerful for an odd hour of twelve and his eyes twinkled just thinking about the ways he could party in next twenty minutes. "It's a shame you are not coming."

"I'm not coming?" I asked, crossing my arms against my chest. I looked at Robert for some answers, but he scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "It really is a shame."

At that, Robert turned his attention to me and gave a relieved smile.

"Robert wants to stay back and make sure that you reach home safe." Martin said, clearly narrating the lies he was fed with.

"Such a gentleman." I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Martin." Luke smiled, pulling Martin with him. "Let's let her go home now." He walked further and stopped short at Robert and pointed his thumb at me. "I like her, man. I really do."

"It's hard not to, isn't it?" Robert smiled, his eyes staring mine.