Tips From A Street Racer

Chapter 4: I Do Not!

I rush down the stairs and take in the scene before me. The tray of lasagna is on fire, the oven is smoking and the smoke detector is loud enough that the whole city could hear it.

Mom's trying to turn off the smoke alarm, but ends up hitting the button to turn up the volume. I cover my ears and sprint over to the lasagna that now has flames dancing over the top layer.

Rummaging through the cupboards, I find two pairs of oven mitts and slip them over my hands, then quickly shove the steaming tray into the sink. I shower the lasagna in water as the flames shrink before disappearing into the cool liquid.

I heave out a sigh of relief when the alarm stops, but leaves my ears ringing. My heart feels like it is going to beat right out of my chest.

Just then, the door swings open, revealing my uncle Dan and my older cousins; Sam and Elise. "Sam!" I say, running to greet my cousin. "Hey shorty!" Sam greets, razzelling my hair. I gaze up into my cousin's hazel but brown eyes that resemble mine so closely, and feign irritation. "What? No hug for me!" Says Elise from the opposite end of the room. I giggle and run over to her.

"Hey El!" I exclaim. "Mom set the lasagna on fire and I had to be the hero, like always..." I emphasize the last part, a victorious smirk on my face. "...But now we have no dinner." I say, dead serious. El and Sam just laugh while I fix my gaze on the pair, not showing any sign of a joke.

"What, you're serious?" Sam asks. "No worries, I have the magic wand that can have a pizza here in twenty minutes." He says, sarcastically waving his phone in the air before wandering off.

Elise smiles at me. "So what have you been up to lately?" She questions. "School, life, boys, the usual issues." I reply nonchalantly. El seems very interested in the last part. "Boys!?" She exclaims, disbelieving. I try to patch up my mistake by continuing to blabber on. "Not romantically!" I shout frantically. "Just, um..." I trail off before motioning for Elise to come closer. I cup my hand to her ear.

"I may have accidentally on purpose punched the bad boy in his annoying little face." I finish hurriedly.

El gasps and begins to shake her head, but I see the smile she tries to hide behind her hands.

"You did not!"

"I did too!" I whisper back.

We sit on the ground giggling for a while until Sam comes back. "So how about a game of truth or dare?" Sam asks. Elise and I nod our heads, signalling that the game can begin.

I start.
"El, truth or dare?"

"Dare." She replies. I tap my chin to build suspense when in reality, I know exactly what the dare is.

"I dare you to eat a piece of the burnt garbage lasagna, but both Sam and I get to step on it first in bare feet." El shakes her head and sticks out her tongue before covering her mouth.

"No way!" She shrieks.

"Only two chickens, use them on your dares wisely." I say, in a sing song voice. El contemplates the dare.

"Ugh, fine!" El whines. She marches over to the garbage and pulls out a soaking wet piece of over crispy lasagna. I kick off my shoes and wiggle my toes in front of El's face as she pulls a disgusted look. She hesitantly places the lasagna in front of my feet and I carefully tap the top with my toe, as if to test it. Sam does the same before we both slam our feet down on the pasta.

El cringes, before disgustedly picking up the piece and bringing it to her mouth. Her nose wrinkles in distaste as she squeezes her eyes shut and sticks out her tongue like a toddler eating broccoli for the first time.