Combustion

Ignition Pt II

The last piece of my outfit for school was a pair of Air Jordan 13s "Atmosphere Grey". We had school uniforms that consisted of a black collar shirt that had our school name, motto and logo embedded on it and any pair of khaki pants as long as they were khaki, tan, black, or grey in color. I chose khaki for today. I walked into the kitchen to a hot plate of toast, eggs, and a cup of apple juice. Orange juice is overrated in my opinion. My dad was at the table reading todays paper and my mom left for work earlier but not before she made us breakfast.

"Eat your food before it gets cold champ," said my dad without looking up from his morning read. I sat down and took a bite of toast and swallowed the apple juice in two gulps. I slammed the cup onto the table and grabbed my backpack to rush out the door. "Forgetting something?" he asked rhetorically while the BMW key dangled from his finger. As I grabbed the key he didn't let it go but put his newspaper down instead. "I talked with Layla's mother and she said it was ok for her to ride with you to school today," he released the keys and continued, "I figure this way you'll be more aware while you're driving." Layla was the daughter of our next door neighbors. We were the same age (she thinks she's years older because she was born a week before me) and grew up together since elementary. She was my best friend and she was loyal.

"Thanks dad, for real," I said while giving him a hug, "this really means a lot to me, I'll make sure I'm careful." He nodded and picked his paper back up and kept reading. Lay (that was her nickname back then) was already standing at the car with her backpack on when I walked outside. She was wearing a pair of white Air Force 1s with our school shirt and a khaki colored skirt on. She had light brown skin similar to a cup of coffee after the creamer had been added, dimples, freckles, hazel contacts (it was a phase most teenage girls go through) and her hair was in a high ponytail. Layla was gorgeous but that was the homie, nothing more nothing less. We tried to date once in junior high but realized we were just really good friends.

"If you crash this car while I'm in it ima kick yo a— butt," she said in a nervous voice. Her tone went from playful to scared and I wondered why until I heard the voice of my father.

"Yeah because I'll be the one to kick his butt if he so much as scratches my car," he said. He must've came outside to watch us drive off I thought to myself. I unlocked the door for Lay and we both put our backpacks in the backseat. We sat in the car and I adjusted my seat and rear view mirror. As I buckled my seatbelt my dad approached my window and bent down. "No texting and driving, find a playlist and keep it there, don't be on your phone looking for songs and skipping them, focus," he was talking calm but I knew he was dead ass serious.

"Yes sir," I responded while igniting the cars engine. All of the 282 horsepower in its V8 engine roared to life.

"And do the speed limit," he said. Lay put on her seatbelt when he said that like her life was in jeopardy at that exact moment.

"Yes sir," I responded as I shifted the car into drive while applying pressure to the brake pedal. I turned to Drakes radio station on Pandora and pulled away from the curb. "Started from the Bottom" by Drake started playing as I glanced in the rear view mirror at my dad. He stood in the street as we drove out of the neighborhood and made a right onto 64th avenue.

School was just a 13 minute drive from where we lived. Southern Hill High was a 7a high school which meant there were a lot of kids in attendance and funding for the school wasn't a problem. It was actually quite packed if you asked the average student. Success in their sport programs was a given being that Southern Hill was known for producing 4 to 5 star athletes in multiple sports, some of them becoming All American. Academic levels were astounding, ranked number two in the state just behind Acorn City High School. Our mascot was a mountaineer that received the key to the city in 1874 for climbing the tallest mountain in Southern Hill. We were the Southern Hill Mountaineers and I was damn proud to be one, while I was still playing sports atleast. After I had a foot injury as a freshman my career in football or any other sport was over. Until I discovered racing that is, but we'll get into that later.

We pulled into the school with our windows down and music blaring through the car speakers. I dropped Lay off by the front entrance then turned the car off while leaving my hazard lights on and exited the car too. Since it was my first time driving to school I needed to get a tag for my car before I parked in the student section so they wouldn't give me a ticket or even worse, tow it.

"See you in class B," said Lay as she headed towards home room. I walked into the office and approached the front desk. I requested a parking pass and was told I would have to wait until the school's accountant arrived because she was the only one who could accept the required payment for the pass. I was thinking to myself how the hell can you charge me for parking at my own school but didn't let it aggravate me. Today was going to be a good day.

As I took a seat to begin waiting on the accountant a father and his son walked in the office. I hadn't seen him before and I knew pretty much every one that went to Southern Hill no matter what grade they were in. He had to be new here. Too mature looking to be a freshman, his swag was that of a jock. He wasn't in school uniform but he did have on an Acorn City High School letterman jacket. He was a transfer.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Harding," said our Principal walking out of her corner office as she greeted the father, "and that must make you Benjamin," she continued as she turned to the boy. "You two can come back to my office," she said leading the way to her dungeon of an office. It was so dull and uninviting in there. I hated getting in trouble just because of the time I had to spend in her office.

Atleast 20 minutes passed meaning I was late for home room so I would need the accountant to write me an excuse when she arrived. The father and son had finally finished their meeting with the principal and when they walked out of her office they stood in her doorway to finish chatting. I saw her pointing at me and the father and son glancing in my direction. It made me curious but not cautious. Surely she wasn't about to make me show him around the school. Her and the father shook hands, he hugged his son and then he left the office completely. She then started walking over to me with the new kid slowly dragging behind her.

"Goodmorning Benjamin," said Principal Dallas as she approached me with an over eager smile, "this is also — Benjamin, you two are in the same grade" she put her arm around his shoulder and scooted him up so that he was right in front of me. "Benjamin here is new to Southern Hill High and he also needs a parking pass, I told him you were waiting for one as well and that'd you'd be delighted to show him around school until our accountant arrives, " she said.

"But what about home room?" I asked.

"I'll write you both excuses after you've gotten your parking passes, you two are in the same home room, no worries," she said confidently while giving a playful wink to the new Benjamin. "Well off you go," she said while rushing us out of the office, "Show him around, help him adjust," she said as she walked back to her office.

We walked out of the main office and stood in the lobby facing eachother. "What's up man," I said extending my arm out for a handshake, "My names Benjamin but everyone calls me B or Benny." He took his hand from out of his pocket and shook my hand back. I examined his outfit. It was plain Jane but he pulled it off. He had on an Acorn City letterman jacket with a white t-shirt complimented by a gold chain with a cross connected to it, faded blue jeans and a pair of white Air Force 1s. He looked like a character from Grease except he was African American.

"Everyone calls me Ben," he said in a relaxed voice.

"Fasho', welcome to my school Big Ben," I responded. He smirked at my remark, he seemed like a cool dude, only time would tell. We started walking toward the gymnasium as I examined his Acorn City jacket. I was certain he was into sports.  "So what brings you to Southern Hill homie?" I asked him.

"It's a long story bruh," he responded, "where should I start?"

"You can start with that jacket you got on my boy," I said while tugging at its cotton material.

"Ahhh here we go," he said as we walked into the gym.