TROUBLE

Chapter 64 "We're not friends."

 

I walked into the surprisingly crowded Topman, a new sense of urgency coming over me as I scanned the store for Aubri. People were packed in like sardines, running around grabbing articles of clothing off shelves and racks; some carrying large piles that they were barely able to see over. I looked towards Aubri’s normal place, to see her getting surrounded by loud customers. With long strides, I quickly made it to the outskirts of the shell of people all around her.

“Do you have any more in this size?!”

“Are there more of this color?!”

“There’re no more fitting rooms!”

I just barely saw Aubri in the center of the crowd, trying to back away and help one person at a time. “Aubri,” I called. She made eye contact with me, looking as if she was begging me to get her out of there. I shoved through everyone, before finally reaching her and standing in front of her to keep everyone back. “She’s off duty.” I announced—which was true.

“You okay, babe? What’s going on here?”

“Yeah, it’s just a sale…people are going crazy.” She let out a breath, “I…don’t really like being surrounded by many people to be honest.”

“Oh…” I mumbled. How is she going to handle when I have to drag her to the race in a week and a half? How is she going to handle seeing Jeremy again…?

I shook my head; I need to push those thoughts away, at least for right now.

“Let’s go.”

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I decided I’d take her out to the country to an old abandoned track, since neither of us had anything better to do today. It was more like an old path through the woods, which proved to be useful when practicing for a street race. I’m pretty sure no one knows it’s here, because in the years I’ve been using it, I’ve never seen a person drive by it. It’s the perfect time and place to give her this driving lesson she wants so badly.

I drove to the edge of thick woods, stopping at the start of the path before parking the car and taking a deep breath. For some reason, I’m nervous about this, like I-might-be-having-a-heart-attack nervous. I looked to Aubri, feeling a little better when I saw how excited she looked; I couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“An old track.”

Her eyebrows knit together as she looked out the front window, into the dense woods, “It doesn’t look like any race track I’ve seen. I thought it would be like NASCAR.”

“It’s street racing, Aubri.” I reminded, slightly annoyed. I hate when people compare the two. “There’s a difference between driving in a circle 500 times and actually driving through the street with heavy traffic and—”

“Okay, okay! Jesus…” She moved to reach for the door, but I grabbed her hand in mine before she could slip out of the car. “What is it?” She inquired.

I hesitated, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“What, are you afraid I’ll mess up your car or something?”

“Yes, actually…” I stated, starting to get worried about how light she’s being. She’s about to drive my prized possession through the woods…where there are shit loads of trees that could make scratches and marks. Why didn’t I just take her to a parking lot?! “Maybe I should drive some of it for you…”

She rolled her eyes, “Harry, it’s fine. It’s not like I can’t drive.”

“Well I’ve never been in a car with you driving, Aubri” She scoffed at my panicking tone. I’m glad someone is finding the wellbeing of my car humorous…