Slide of your Life

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

The next morning, Ryan awoke to a mass amount of text messages. All of them regarding his and Alex's return to the scene. Challenges upon challenges were in his inbox. For some reason, everyone wanted a piece of Ryan and Alex. He decided that he would just show up on the mountain and take on anyone who challenged him that night. He picked his phone up off of the nightstand and dialed Alex's number. The line rang for a while before he picked up. 

"Hey partner, what goes on?" Alex sounded like he was driving, fast as he spoke. Ryan could hear the engine roaring in the background and the blow off valve whistling occasionally.  

"Not much, are you going to be on the mountain tonight? A lot of people want a piece of us for some reason. Do you have anything to do with this?" Ryan was pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt while he waited for a response. 

"Definitely man, people need to know we're back. We were some of the best drifters out there before the accident. We have to take that back. A lot of little upstarts have taken our places, we have to put them back at the bottom where they belong." 

"Alright, as long as shit doesn't get too crazy, because you know as well as I do that shit can get really crazy." Ryan grabbed his car keys and headed out of the house, hanging up the phone. When he got out to his car, he found a note attached to the windshield. 

"Heard you’re back on the scene. Good luck getting your rep back.You'll need it." 

Ryan already  knew that someone was trying to test his mettle, to see if he had it in him to climb back to the top. He unlocked the door to his car and got in. When he started the car, he just sat in the seat, thinking about the note he had just finished reading. He didn't feel worried or intimidated by it, but something hadn't felt right. Why would someone go to the trouble of leaving a note when they could of said it to him in person? Ryan shrugged off the feeling and pulled off. 

Ryan had to go and get the car sanded and repainted because the old paint was fading badly. He was supposed to meet Alex there so they could talk details about how they would take the mountain back. When he got there, Alex was already waiting for him, leaning on the hood of his blue 240SX. 

"It's about time you got here, I was starting to think that you got lost or something bro. Pull the car into the booth and pick a color" Alex said jokingly as Ryan stepped out of the car. 

"Hmmm, so many choices... What to pick? I think I'll pay homage to my little panda Trueno. White body and paint the body kit black. Yeah, that's perfect." Ryan pulled the car into the booth, smiling, content with his choice of color. Simple, yet meaningful. That was exactly how he liked things.  

Alex's Blue Nissan sat outside in the bright afternoon sun. It seemed to just glow in the sunlight, but maybe that was just the paint type he'd chosen. Metallic paint did shine nicely in the light. Alex never really cared about how his car looked though. He had put that little coupe through so much hell in the short year he owned it. The bumpers were scratched, chipped, dented, every word you could think of that meant damaged. The body kit was held together with double sided tape and zip ties and the front right headlight worked whenever the hell it felt like. But somehow, that blue paint always gleamed so wonderfully in the light. Alex stood there, just staring at his car when a mysterious figure in jeans and a Gray hooded sweatshirt walked up to him and handed him a note before hastily leaving, ignoring Alex's demands for information. He eventually gave up and read the note, then walked into the shop where Ryan's car had just been cleared to drive without risking the new paint job.  

"Um, Rye Bread, we got another note. The usual." Alex scratched his head quizzically as he handed Ryan the note.  

"I'm so done with these damn notes... Wait, did you just call me Rye Bread?" Ryan gave Alex a playful look of disgust.  

"Yeah, I like Rye Bread. It sounds funny. You are now dubbed Rye Bread." Alex laughed  

"I think you mean, Sir Rye Bread, or whatever. But you're not the queen so I'm pretty sure you can't dub anyone anything." Ryan laughed at his painfully bad comeback.  

"Whatever bro, we going up to the mountain tonight?" Alex took out his keys and started walking toward his car.  

"Yeah, of course. I can't wait, the anticipation is killing me." Ryan grabbed his keys from the man who painted the car and unlocked it.  

Later that night, Ryan and Alex made their way to the top of the mountain for the first time in what felt like twelve eternities. They were met with a mixed greeting. There were boos and go homes as well as cheers and hollers for the somewhat fallen heroes. Immediately after the two parked their cars and got out, someone approached Ryan and looked him dead in the face.  

"Race me. Right here, right now. I won’t take no for an answer." Her expression was as serious and cold as stone.  

"Well, It would be rude of me to refuse a challenge, wouldn't it? You're on sweetheart." 

"I'm not your sweetheart. Start it up." She said as she walked toward her car. 

Ryan got into his FC and pulled it to the start line. He wondered what she would pull up in. She finally did in a Sunshine Yellow Nissan S15 Silvia. Ryan laughed at the bright colored car on the line next to him but quickly remembered that it had the same power plant as Alex's 240SX so it had to be able to put at least 300 horses to the pavement. The two revved their engines lightly as they sat on the start line. The sound of the rotary in Ryan's FC and the six cylinders in the mystery girl's S15 almost went together nicely. 

The starter put his hands up, signaling the race was about to start. He dropped his hands and both drivers popped their clutches...