Just Met You | Choni AU

27

Toni hit the gas the moment Cheryl's flags went up.

The car beside her did the same.

And for a moment they were shoulders to shoulders.

When the crowd behind them disappear, Toni felt the other car hit them, trying to throw them off the trail.

Of course they were going to play dirty.

Toni couldn't retaliate because she was trying to rebalance her car on the road.

Jughead was pretty useless up to this point.

It was all very fast to handle, and the Ghoulies were very good at this.

One moment they were first, then the next they were second.

And the pressure of this being the last round was not making it any better.

In her mind, the land that they were going to earn seemed pretty worthless now.

Jughead warned her that the bridge they were crossing couldn't handle two cars at once so they either get ahead of them or risk the chances.

' Let me think, beanie head.' Toni raised her voice though the engine sounds.

Jughead could hear Malachai's laughter from across the car and it was taking everything in him not to reach for him and smack that laugh off his face.

Once again, the red Ford hit them again as the bridge came into view.

Toni hit the gas harder but it only got her so far.

She was not going to leave behind the bridge.

She'd rather die trying.

But the cross never came as several gunshots went off from out of nowhere.

Toni could identify the sounds any day.

' What the hell?' Jughead shouted as he got down to face the dashboard.

And before it could sink in that the shots had hit their tyres, both cars lost control as the drivers tried to balance the steering wheel.

To no avail.

Toni tried to hit the brakes, but her car was in full speed, it seemed impossible.

It's gotta be at least two shots per car, because the cars were swerving uncontrollably.

The other car skidded across the bridge diagonally, making a loud screech.

He also seemed to have hit the brakes too because the moment he did, the car flipped and made its way to the side in a loud bang, like metal hitting concrete.

Jughead was shouting in her ears but with the adrenaline and the fear, Toni heard nothing at all.

She hesitated to hit the brakes again, not wanting to end up like the car ahead of them.

So she made up her mind quick and made a hard turn to her left.

It seemed to have worked because the car slowed down.

But it didn't slow down enough as it rammed into the tree closest to them.

Toni closed her eyes, bracing for the impact.

' Toni!' Jughead shouted, pointlessly.

It was like time had stopped.

Said impact was unbearable because they had no airbags installed in the air.

When time "supposedly" resumed, Toni opened her eyes.

Jughead cursed under his breath and groaned beside her.

Toni's visions blurred and she couldn't feel anything.

Adrenaline was still rushing through her.

Her ears were ringing as she checked on Jughead.

He was visibly fine, a couple scratches here and there.

' We need to get out of here.' He shouted, but the sounds came in muffled.

Still, she did what was told and tried to get out of her seatbelt.

And by some miracle, they were not broken, unlike the windshield and the windows.

Her door was stuck so she had to climb out of the window of her side.

She felt something sharp poke her somewhere.

She didn't bother to check, however.

It was happening very fast.

Her heart was thudding so loud she's afraid it's going to jump out of her mouth.

Toni couldn't breath properly until she and Jughead were fully out of the car.

They got away from the car as far as their legs would allow them.

Jughead seemed fine, she looked at him up and down.

He did the same.

' Toni, your hand.' He spoke between breaths.

That was when she looked at her hand.

During all of this, a piece of glass seemed to have imbedded deeply inside her left palm.

It was bleeding excessively, she could feel the blood trickling down to her elbows, through her serpent jacket.

She couldn't move her fingers.

Toni began to register the pain only when she saw the blood.

Jughead came closer to see it, but a distant cry made the both of them turn their heads.

The ghoulies were still stuck in their car, which was now upturned.

' We gotta go help them.' Toni shouted as she ran towards them.

Jughead didn't argue with her as he followed.

She had heard of cars exploding after accidents, and the Ford was well qualified to be one of them.

Rivalry or not, she had to get them out.

Kurtz was screaming, trying to get free of his seatbelt.

Jughead shushed him impatiently as they both tried to get him out.

' Pocket knife.' Jughead commanded.

Toni did as told, reaching into her pants' pocket for the knife with her good hand.

Kurtz dropped head first to the ground the moment the seatbelt was cut free.

Jughead dragged him away from the now fuming car.

Toni knew it was going to explode, she just didn't know when.

Malachai was unconscious, fresh blood dripping down his face, onto the inside of the car roof.

She did the same to him as Jughead did to Kurtz, but it was hard when there's a piece of glass "stuck" in her hand.

The car was now heating up, ready to explode.

Jughead came over to help Toni and the both of them improperly dragged the ghoulie out of his seat.

Several paces later, which seemed like forever, the car held up to its promise.

The three of them were knocked away from the explosion.

They were thrown flat to the ground, rolling a few feet over.

The alarms from her own car blared and fire roared behind her.

Out of her blurry vision and the ringing ears, she could see the serpents' motorcycles charging over to them.

And then the sound of the sirens.