^*| At The Races |*^
"And first to cross the finish line is none other than bike number 7!" The directors voice boomed through the speakers and everyone broke out into cheers and whistles. I slid my helmet from my now sweat covered head and smiled at the people in the crowd. I wiped the cold fluid from my temple and thought to myself, this really is the best feeling ever. Off in my own world and embracing my victory, a warm hug removed me from my thoughts. "You did so good! I'm so proud of you." My best friend blabbered on.
I pulled away from the hug and smiled, "Thank you, Ivy." "Good job, lil sis." My brother soon raced over and ruffled up my hair. I pushed his head away playfully before my mum walked over. "Well done, sweetheart! You did so well!" She said with the brightest smile plastered on her face. "Thanks Mum." I replied and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "So, what's the plan now?" I really needed to sit down. My question brought a mischievous grin to Finns face and I dreaded the words that were about to leave his mouth. "Elijah is racing today and he wants us to watch." Yep, I had every right to dread those words. I grimaced, "Yeah, not happening." Elijah Fisher. He's been my brother's best friend since we were like four and he's stuck around ever since. We've never got on, we figured that out when we were exchanging dirty looks on the first day we met. Some say we're enemies, some say it's just a silly little rivalry. Although my little brother, Everett, adores him. Every time Elijah's round ours or we go round their house, he's clung to his hip 24/7.
Finn rolls his eyes, he was clearly fed up of mine and Elijah's rivalry but it's been thirteen years since it started, why stop now? "Come on, please? I drag him to all your meets so I have to drag you to all of his too!" The sound of his voice was growing very annoying, like a ringing in your ears that won't stop. "Oh my life, fine!" I interrupted, not wanting to listen to his whining for a second more. His face held a cheesy smile when Ivy grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where it was being held. "Okay, why are you so excited to see this race? You hate him as much as I do." I asked a very speedy Ivy. I was behind her but I knew the second she had a smile on her face, I could feel it. "IVY WOOD, HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING TO SOMEONE?" I shouted louder than she would have liked. "Shh!" She hushed me down as we found our seats. She waited until everyone started talking to continue our conversation. "You see the guy by the dark blue car?" She pointed to the vehicles at the starting line. I nodded when I found the one she was on about. "That's him, he wants to meet you after the race." I groaned. My face dumped any slight tingle of happiness when she finished her sentence. She has the worst taste in men and half the time they're pure dickheads that I try so hard not to punch in the face. I look at her ,unamused, "Why?" "We've been talking for a while and I never shut up about you so I guess he wants to see what all the fuss is about."
She tried, so hard, to sound innocent but failed miserably. "Erm, why didn't I get asked if I want to meet him?" I never get asked these things, I'm just forced into them. Don't get me wrong, I'd never let anyone else try and force me into anything but I'd die for Ivy and she knows that.
So she uses it to her advantage. She tried to mimic the face of a little girl that had never sinned in her life and I laughed. I saw straight through it and I think she realised that too because she soon returned to her usual state.
"Because you love me so very much and you want me to be happy," The tone in her voice gave me a feeling that she wasn't finished talking. "And I'd force you to meet him regardless of if you wanted to or not." Called it. I turned my head back to the revving cars in front of me, "Why did I ever think it was a good idea to choose you as my best friend?" I could hear her grin, "Because you'll never find anyone else that'll put up with you." She said and leaned her head on my shoulder artlessly. Finn leant over the back of our seats and began pestering us like usual, "Will you two actually shut your fat asses up for two seconds? Some of us actually want to watch this race."
I gave him a middle finger and grinned at Ivy. "Racers, are you ready?!" The speaker half shouted down the microphone with more enthusiasm than my Mum when she's talking about my love life. Multiple engines rev and the crowd began to cheer. "Which car is he in again?" I turned my ear toward Finn so I could hear him better. You'd think I'd know, him being my brothers best friend n' all but it's very rare that they can actually ever convince me to come to an event of Elijah's. He pointed his finger to the one right on the far end, "The black Lamborghini."
I nod my head and get my phone out, ready to record.
"Three.." The speaker started.
"Two.."
"One.."
"Go!"
The tires screamed at the tarmac as the cars did a burnout, each and every one eager to win.
The smell of burning rubber raced around our noses as they took off. "I got such a good angle." I mentioned as I gave my brother the phone.
He grinned, "This is why he gets you to take the videos." He passed my phone back to me and I quickly sent it to Elijah before redirecting my attention to the race. Why do I have my enemies number you might ask? Well, I don't particularly want it but Finn felt safer with me having it incase of if there's an emergency and Finn can't get there. The cars still hadn't even crossed the other half of the track so I stopped watching.
It is a big track so I can't blame them. "Where did you find this dude then? Tinder?" I asked Ivy with an amusing edge in my voice. She gave me a dirty look as an answer. She was fed up of my shit. "No, actually, I met him at the bar." She said as if that was much better. I scoffed at her unoriginality and looked back at the track. They'd passed the halfway mark of the track now, so I got out my phone, zoomed in, and got some content for Dicker to post on his Instagram. "The racers are coming back to us, people!" The speaker shouted down the microphone. I squinted my eyes shut when Ivy's earsplitting hollering nearly burst my ear drums. I looked over at the cars and they had about a quarter of the track left now. I was sort of intrigued to see who won. "Who do you think's gonna win?" I leant over to Ivy. "Honestly?" She paused for a moment. "I think Elijah." I stood up now that they were getting closer and tried to get the best angle possible. "Here they come!" The sound of engines filled the crowds ears as the racers inched nearer and nearer. "HOLY FUCK, HE WON!" Finn screamed down my ears. "Jesus, Finn, bit dramatic." I mentioned while I hit stop on the video. My Mum, Finn and Ivy raced down the bleachers, right to the rails separating the racers from the herd of approving fans. I took my time making my way over to them. Everyone was pushing and shoving to go and congratulate him, plus, I didn't really give a shit. A few minutes later and I managed to reach them. Ivy skipped happily over and tried to give me a hug. I pushed her away. I've never liked physical touch but she refuses to respect that. "You're excited." I chuckled as she let me go and I brushed myself off. Either side of her grin nearly reached her ears it was that big. "I'm gonna go congratulate Lucas!" Ivy beamed and spun around, about to walk off. I grabbed her wrist before she could and turned her back round with confusion fixed on my face. "Who's Lucas?" She rolled her eyes.
Ivy has hundreds of different eye rolls but her main ones are; The playful eye roll, the annoyed eye roll, the bored eye roll and her 'oh my god, don't you listen' eye roll. Well this was an, 'oh my god, don't you listen' eye roll. "Lucas?" She repeated, thinking it would click. It didn't. "The talking stage I told you about earlier?!" Finally, it did click. "Ohhhhh!" I waited. "Go on then." I released my grip on her wrist and she left. I sat down on the closest seat and waited for the others to stop pestering Elijah. I looked down at my phone and sorted through the videos of the race, deleting any bad ones. Although, I was soon stalled when four feet came into view. I looked up and to my displeasure, it was Ivy and her 'talking stage'. "Chaz, this is Lucas. Lucas, this is Chaz." She introduced. I looked him up and down, deciding if I think he's right for her or not. He stretched out his hand for a handshake and I looked at it, then at his feet, then at him and scoffed. "Chaz, shake his fucking hand." Ivy snapped at me. I stayed still. "Chaz, I swear to god." She said again. Just as she finished her sentence, she was interrupted. "What's going on here?" The deep voice of Elijah Fisher growled. "Who's this?" He looked Lucas up and down as if he was a piece of chewed up gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. "Lucas Clarke." He acquainted himself, once again stretching out his arm for a handshake. Elijah didn't move. He looked at his hand, then his feet, then at him.
I sat there, amusement all over my face. The tension right now is so thick that you could cut through it with the second hand from a clock.
Mum walked over, cluelessly, and said, "Where do you guys want to go to celebrate your wins tonight?" And just like that, the earlier tension vanished into thin air. "Ivy, you're welcome to invite your boyfriend to come along too if you like." Mum smiled at her and she smiled back in appreciation. "The Cozy Cabin?" I suggested.
Mum turned to face Elijah. "What about you Elijah? It was your win too." He grinned. "Henway Central?" He answered. "Moron." I spat out and crossed my arms over my chest. He stuck his tongue out at me like a child that didn't get their own way. "If you guys can't decide, then I'll let Everett pick when we get home." I sighed, "Just let Everett pick."
