Asphalt Burning [N.H]

3. Bad Blood

Now we got problems
And I don't think we can solve 'em
You made a really deep cut
And baby, now we got bad blood
- Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
—

Ashton and Ally rushed me out of the door this morning because they thought I needed to practice a few runs with Skyline. With the help of peer pressure and Alyssa's bullying, I, they, basically decided I'd be joining the two of them on the track for race practice today. 

Ashton has made me do a few laps in this scorching hot sun because he needs to see how 'bad' I've gotten... It's been three months. I still know how to drive my car.

My tires screech as I stop abruptly next to Ashton. He stares at my car for a second then looks over it. Alyssa comes running over to Ashton's side and starts panting, raising her hand in the air to show she's okay. 

"Give me a second. It's hot out here," She leans against her knees like she's just run a marathon. 

She takes a second to catch her breath as we both stare at her in silence. She takes a few deep breaths and composes herself again, standing up straight, and starts bossing me around like always. "Okay. Pull to the side by Ashton's car."

I listen and drive up next to his red car. Supposing she wants to look inside the hood, I pop it. Doing exactly what I had thought, she immediately hunches down to the burning hot engine as if it's nothing. As I let her do her thing, I climb out from the sweet air conditioning in Skyline to wait for Ashton to start his bitching.

"You know," He starts, readjusting his baseball cap. "It's not that hard to know how to drive a car..."

I stare at him for a second, squinting my eyes in confusion. "...what?"

He cleans the lenses of his sunglasses with his shirt and puts them back on his face. "But it is hard to know how to race a car."

Alyssa comes out from under the hood just to understand what he's saying. She shakes her head at him and sucks her teeth. "No," She points her finger at him and threatens to hit him with a raised arm. "Stop doing that. Shut your mouth. I know what you're doing."

He thinks he sounds philosophical and smart when he says things like that and Alyssa absolutely fucking hates it. That is why he continues to do it, even if he makes himself look and sound sillier than usual. 

"Ashton...what does that even mean, babe?" I scoff at him, glancing over him and readjusting my sunglasses to sit on my face nicely. 

He stares at us briefly, rolls his eyes, and walks away. He throws his hands in the air and yells for me to get to the start. Alyssa takes her sweet time under the hood, not doing anything besides looking around. Ashton is standing by the line waiting for me, sighing as loud as he can, knowing I can hear him from the side of the track. 

He drops his arms from his chest and scoffs loudly, shouting. "Alyssa! What the fuck?!"

Just after he yells at her, she pops up and slams my hood. She pats it with a smirk at me and gives him a double thumbs up. "It's all good! We're ready to run it again!"

I climb back into the car and start it up, heading back to Ashton at the start. He holds up two fingers, not even giving me any other task than to drive two laps. 

Ashton Irwin

Alyssa and I stand together, watching River circle the track a few times. We study her every move, critiquing even the smallest mess-ups because in a race they will not fly.