Demolition Lovers

Chapter 4

It was especially hot out today, and only in a tank top and shorts, Jake was still sweating. He was outside in his driveway with a variety spray paint bottles and a will. He was gonna have a cooler car than Drew, he had decided earlier that morning.

The sun beat down on his shoulders and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he should put on sunscreen, but he was too focused on not letting his sweaty fingers slip from the spray paint nozzle while he was trying to spray out the design in his head.

***

Jake was woken up to the group chat being spammed with more texts than usual. With blurry eyes, he unlocked his phone after a bit of fumbling and scrolled through the messages.

Hailey 11:08am :
sorry guys! won't be in the next derby 😣, me and zander have to go out of town!

Luke 11:09am :
Zander told me :(, we'll miss you guys!

Milly 11:14am :
I didnt sign up in time for it so I wont be in it either (╥_╥)

Luke 11:15am :
Who's car am I gonna lift now :(?

Sean 11:23am :
Have fun out of town Hailey and Zander!

Hailey 11:24am :
thanks sean 💙

Jake stopped scrolling, tossing his phone aside and falling back onto his bed with a groan. He couldn't even show off his fancy car now that half of his friends won't be there. He supposed Luke and Sean would see it, but they were both kept pretty busy inbetween matches, with Luke operating a forklift and Sean being a ref.

He could take a photo of it, but that would ruin the surprise. He rubbed his face with his hands, sighing deeply.

The demo was in two days, and out of excitement he had practically gotten everything done with, his car already parked on the back lot. The only thing he really had to do was slap his number on it, which he could do the day of the competition.

When Jake had gotten home and in bed after the fire had struck out on his car, he stayed in his bed for the whole next day. His body felt so much better after that.

His mom had been unbelievably worried and wanted him to quit altogether, but he convinced her that fires happen often and his clothes would protect him of any possible damage before the firefighters got to it. She seemed to disagree but since Jake already had money down for the next couple of derbies, she sighed and shook her head, allowing him to do them.

He got up from his bed, the blaring red of the alarm clock telling him it was a little past noon.

He wondered if he would be up against Drew. He already had been so many times, and if what Hailey said was true, then it was practically guaranteed right?

He distantly realized he had never really stopped thinking about Drew these past couple of days.

***

The weather was absolute shit the day of the derby. Jake had just finished messily taping on his number to the top of his car, getting to the derby just in time to get it on before his match. He was late, missing the matches before his, but he had a decently good excuse.

He was one of the last matches of the day, and he honestly wondered why they didn't just postpone the whole derby a day, or even cancel the damn thing. It was chilly, and rain beat down pretty steadily. There was still a good amount of people in the audience, but Jake had a sneaking suspicion it was only because they didn't want to waste their money on tickets so they had to show up.

Just because there was a good amount though, the audience was sparce, and it was probably people leaving early so they could get out and drive through the weather before it got too dark.

The arena was definitely more muddy than usual, and he hoped that his car's tires would hold up well.

He got into his car, the rain leaving him soaked as he sat down. The derby cars not having any windows didn't really help keep the rain out. At least his hair was dry under his helmet, he thought as he wiped his visor clear with his gloved hand.

The keys already were in the fob, and he turned them, his car sputtering for a moment before the engine growled to life. The tap of the rain on his car was almost therapeutic in a way if it wasn't for his body having chills from being wet.

A ref walked, directing cars with a bright orange flag. They pulled out into the arena and parked one by one. Jake followed his directions and slowly pulled into the arena. His tires slipped in the mud for a second before getting traction.

He pulled up besides another car, glancing around as the last car pulled in and parked to his left. The plum color was no where to be seen. Before he really had any time to think about it though, the ref blew his horn, and Jake reversed out.

Drew must have been in a different match after all, an earlier one. He felt stress bleed away, but also felt somewhat disappointment. He had been looking forward to going up against him. His cool paint job really did go waste with none of his friends, or Drew, here to see it before it got destroyed. Good thing he had taken pictures of it.

Despite that, Jake was set on winning, he could go for a cash prize. Mud was getting everywhere more easily with how sloppy the arena was, and Jake's tires struggled to get traction.

The match was a long one, and Jake got a few good hits on people, even getting someone to break their stick. He felt more confident as the remaining number of cars grew less and less.

He ended up with a fucked up car, third place, and a measly twenty-five dollar gift card to a coffee place he had never even heard of.

The rain was heavier now, and before the match had even ended most of the audience was gone. He accepted the gift card in the middle of the field from a ref, his helmet still on his head as he looked to the bleachers.

On the sidelines, there were almost no drivers from earlier matches that waited to watch Jake's match end. They had all left earlier, and honestly Jake didn't blame them.

There was one person sitting on the bleachers, a dark umbrella over his head. Jake froze in his tracks, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Before he could do anything else, bright plum purple hair got up and walked off. Jake watched frozen in the middle of the arena, rain pouring down onto him, covered in mud.