14: In Too Deep

Friday morning, I woke up smiling for three reasons. Firstly: my mom was coming home today and I really did miss her (and I was really excited for my typical mom-went-away-and-got-you-a-present-so-she-doesn't-feel-bad gift). Secondly: after I got through the next eight hours of school, I would be school-free for the next two weeks for our break. And thirdly: today was the day of Brett's race and I would be back at the tracks again.

Because of my particularly good mood that morning, I didn't even cringe as I pulled up my tight ripped jeans, nude heeled booties, and a tight black top with an exceptionally low vee-neck cut. The day went by pretty quickly, but that was probably because I was too eager for winter break to start that I didn't pay attention to the whispers and stares. Instead, I merely counted down the minutes until I was home-free.

Nathan wasn't in school today, which only convinced me further that he wouldn't be making an appearance at the tracks tonight. With that confidence in mind, I had a feeling that Steph and I would be able to make it in and out without an issue tonight. Even though Nathan said I could go with him to watch him steal Nina's money, I still knew he was adamant that I don't go without him.

When I entered science, I was particularly blessed because my smelly lab partner was absent and the teacher was running late. I sat down in my normal seat with a breath of relief that I didn't have to plug my nose all class and got out my books from my backpack. Moments later, Brett sauntered into class and sat in front of me, then turned to greet me.

"Hey Lauren," Brett greeted with his signature friendly smile.

I return the smile easily with my own and say, "Hey Brett."

"Are you still coming tonight?" His grin becomes boyish as he leans forward and teases, "I promise that I'm better at racing than Thomas is at football."

I laugh and nod eagerly. "Yeah, I can't wait."

Brett's smile fades for a second as he thinks of something. "You know, you should bring a friend with you. It's not safe for a girl to be walking around there alone."

His thoughtfulness made me smile sweetly at him as I disclose, "My friend Steph is coming with me."

"Stephanie Cain?" Recognition dawns on his features as I nod. "Great. Justin will like that," Brett teases and I smirk. "After the race, you should-"

Brett is cut off by our overwhelmed teacher walking into the door with a briefcase in one hand and a coffee, some of which had landed on his white button down, in the other. "Sorry I'm late, class. Everyone quiet down and take out your notebooks. Today we'll be starting aquatic ecology."

And for the next forty something minutes, I happily jot down notes while my mind wandered elsewhere. All I could think about was going to the tracks again. The exhilarating feeling of watching the cars speed around the racetrack had left me in awe last time and I was eager to get that feeling back. I could only imagine what kind of adrenaline rush it would be like to be the one driving.

By the time school ended, I was skipping out happily at the thought of not returning for the next two weeks. That was no more whispers, stares, or invasion of privacy for two entire weeks. It was weird how excited I was over the prospect of being socially invisible for fourteen days when I spent most of high school flying under the radar with Bailey and Sasha.

I got home and parked in the driveway besides Cole's car. I hauled my backpack to the front door and then let it drop in the foyer as I heard distant sounds of a conversation. Following the voices, I shuffled toward the kitchen and heard Luke and Cole discussing something that sounded pretty serious. So, naturally, I eavesdropped.

"Andrew and Walker will be there," Cole faintly warns.

Beefy and meaty?

"I'm not going to be there late," Luke says. "Besides, Holden will be there too. Just in case they try to pull something."

Cole scoffs, "Because he was so much help at Nina's."

My mind worked quickly to understand what they were talking about. Cole had to mean Nina's party, where Nathan was defending a belligerent Luke, who was ready to fight beefy and meaty.

"Dude, don't worry," Luke says and I frown from the hallway. "I'm going to be up early in the roster and then we can get out of there."

"I guess," Cole mutters dismissively.

When the conversation shifts to something else, I decide it's time to make my grand entrance and pretend like I hadn't been deliberately listening in on their conversation. I walk into the kitchen and see Cole and Luke sitting at the counter sharing leftover pizza. Both of their heads pop up when they hear me walk in, and Luke's eyes widen.

"Oh, hey Lauren," Luke greets in surprise. "When did you get home?"

I decide not to inquire about the information I had just gathered and instead shrug nonchalantly. "Just a minute ago. I'm starving."

Both of the boys nod in easy acceptance of my lies as I walk over to the counter. I grab a slice of pizza and lean against the counter as I take my first bite into the pepperoni goodness. Even though I conceded not to make it obvious I just heard them talking about something sketchy, I couldn't help but ask some innocent questions.

"So, do you guys have any plans for tonight?" I ask conversationally and watch their expressions closely.

Neither of them reveal anything as Cole answers calmly, "Just hanging out with the guys." And then he turns to Luke. "Dude, do you want to go to the mountains for a day trip and snowboard next week?"

"Hell yeah I do," Luke exclaims in excitement as an easy smile crosses his face. "I've wanted to get back on my board since last year."

"Sick," Cole nods feverishly. "We can take my dads truck."

Luke high fives him. "I have to find out where my gear went, but I'm down to go Thursday of next week."

I frown as I realize that I lost control of the conversation and Cole had managed to change the subject in a blink of an eye. How did that happen? I let out an exhausted breath as they continue to plan their trip and glare at Cole for hijacking the conversation.

When I go upstairs to my room, my mood shifts. It's time to focus all my energy to going to the tracks tonight, where I can get answers to some of my questions.

. . .

As I'm climbing into Stephanie's car later that night, she chirps excitedly, "Hello my little spy!"

I shut the door behind me and grin at her. "Don't you mean ninja?"

Of course, I had worn all black like I was instructed. Black skinny jeans, a black sweater, and even black boots. Stephanie had similarly worn all black with black leggings and a black jacket. Tonight we were ninjas.

She shoots me a cheeky grin and says in a sing song voice, "My little spying ninja. Is that better?"

I chuckle and tell her, "Perfect."

As she begins driving out of the city, Stephanie mentions, "I was looking over the footage from yesterday. I can't believe Nina vandalized your locker," Steph looks at me with her narrowed gaze and adds: "And more importantly, that you didn't tell me."

I frowned because, well, I had completely forgotten about the camera hidden on my body. And then I realized that if she saw everything that happened yesterday, then she saw me-

"Way to throw yourself at Nathan, by the way," Steph teases and I feel my face flush. "Literally throw yourself."

I ignore her comment and resist face palming myself. "I forgot that the camera was in my scarf."

Similarly, she ignores my comment and continues, "It was really good footage. And even though it sucks Nina wrote 'slut' on your locker, it's going to tie in nicely with the film."

I frown again at the idea of a video being made to document the entire process. I didn't exactly like the fact that Stephanie was going to be presenting my life in a short video production, but I was too far committed to back out now. Besides, a little video wouldn't hurt... Right?

"Nathan won't be in the video, right?" I ask suddenly as the thought crosses my mind. "I don't want him to be in it."

Stephanie frowns at me as she hesitates to answer, "You really don't want him in there? It would be kind of awesome to have a part about how Nathan and Thomas hate each other, and after you broke up with Thomas you befriended his arch enemy-"

"Arch enemy? Really, Steph?" I can't help but snort, but then shake my head again. "But seriously, I don't want him to have anything to do with this. He's my friend. It wouldn't feel right to put him in the middle of this experiment."

She sighs and nods. "If that's what you want, then I'll make sure that I won't mention him in the video. Or the write-up."

"Okay, good," I say with finality. I plan on being done with this conversation, as I didn't particularly like the idea of a video, but my curiosity gets the best of me. "Have you, uh, started the video?"

"A little," Stephanie says evasively. "But we definitely need more footage."

And even though I'm not sure that I really want to, I still have to ask, "Can I see it?"

Steph shakes her head and scolds, "You're not allowed to see it until it's finished. It has to be perfect."

"Okay," I agree easily, because I don't really want to see it at all.

It was one of those things that was interesting but you knew it was bad for you. I knew that seeing my life spelled out for Stephanie's sociology professor would only make me feel strange, and yet I was interested in seeing what she would come up with. In the end, I decide to forget about it for now, and I'll decide later whether or not I want to watch it.

While we drive, I think about all the questions swimming in my head, and I can't help but think some of them are related. Like why Nathan and Thomas hate each other so much- is it because they're racing rivals, or something else? And what Nathan meant when he said I had no idea who Thomas really was.

Hell, maybe I could get some insight on why Luke and Holden were friends, or why Beefy and Meaty hate Luke. Regardless, all of the secrets felt somehow related, but I didn't know why. I didn't know why Holden showed up to take money from my little brother, or why Luke insisted on fighting two guys from Thomas' crew while he was wasted.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I feel the car tires shift onto the familiar dirt road that lead to the racetrack. Instead of parking in the middle of all the commotion, Stephanie parks on the outskirts of the other cars, near the big garage. I climb out of her car in excitement and make sure to grab my bag, which is loaded with pepper spray, before we're off.

The roaring sounds of engines in the distance made my giddy as we swerved through the rows of cars and strings of people. Much like last time, there were biker looking guys milling around with beers in their hands and lounging in the back of their pick ups. The air distinctly smelt of gas and beer as we walked around.

We walk aimlessly through the throngs of pick ups and trucks until we were a few rows of cars away from the racetrack. I hear someone call my name and I grab Stephanie's hand before turning around so I'm careful not to get split up. When I turn, I see Brett, Justin, and some other guy that I vaguely recognize from school.

Justin and the other guy were leaning against the hood of a truck with beers in their hand and a cooler not far away while Brett stood talking to them. Stephanie and I rerouted and walked toward the familiar faces and I felt a little relieved to see Brett amongst the crowd. A place like this was full of sketchy strangers and questionable personalities, but Brett's boyish grin calmed me down a little.

I was surprised when Brett pulled me in for a hug to greet me, but hug him back and murmur, "Hey Brett."

When he let me go, he grinned at me. "I'm glad you could make it, Lauren." And then he turns toward Stephanie and gives her a sweet smile as well. "It's good to see you again, Steph."

Stephanie grins back at him. "It's good to see you too, Brett." She glances at Justin, who is still leaning against the car and watching her, and smirks a little. "Hey Justin. Hey Joe."

Justin winks at her. "Hey Steph."

"I have to head to the garage to talk to Cotter," Brett cuts off the mandatory greetings to tell us. "You guys should be able to see from here. Just hang with Justin and Joe until I get back, alright?"

I nod in understanding and he walks away a moment later toward the stage on the other side of the racetrack. When I turn back to the group, I notice that Stephanie already took the spot beside Justin leaning against the car. I hide my smug smile and focus on my main task: finding answers. So I turn to Joe, who looked like a likely candidate to give me some, and smile.

"Hey Joe," I greet quickly. "So, who's Cotter?"

"The bookie," Joe explains. "He checks in all the racers and takes all the betting money."

I nod and look around for a moment before I turn to Joe again and ask, "You play football with Alex and Thomas, right?"

Joe looks at me warily as he grunts, "Yeah."

"So," I start out nonchalantly, but then realize there's no causal way to put it, and instead ask bluntly: "Why do those guys hate Nathan Rhodes so much?"

I thought back to the fight outside of school a few weeks ago and think about how Alex told Nathan to stay off the tracks. Did they all hate him because Thomas hated him, or did it go further than that?

Joe just shrugs noncommittally. "They've lost a shit ton of money betting against Rhodes whenever he races one of us. They're probably pissed 'cause he's better at racing than they are."

It made sense but it still didn't explain why Thomas and Nathan were such enemies. I mean, they couldn't possibly hate each others guts just because they were racing rivals, right? Regardless, I drop the subject momentarily and look around again. There was a faint cloud of smoke coming from the idling cars by the track that was beginning to waft toward the cars.

The flag girl was sitting on the edge of the stage talking to some guys while a burly guy- Cotter, I presume- collected money from others on stage and recorded something on his note pad. The lot beside the racetrack was full of Chevvy's, Camaro's, Corvettes, and some Mustangs. They were all sleek and polished with what I was sure was an impressive engine under the hood.

"Brett's about to start," Someone mentions excitedly.

I watch the flag girl begin to walk toward the starting line with extremely provocative clothing and hear men wolf whistle from the crowd. Two cars pull up to the starting line and I recognize one as Brett's as they begin to rev their engines.

"Who is he racing?" I hear myself ask but never take my eyes off of the cars.

Justin muses, "Some kid who graduated last year. It's going to be an easy two hundred bucks in my pocket."

Stephanie asks incredulously, "You put money on Brett? I didn't think he was that good."

"He's gotten better since the last time you saw him," Justin tells her and reminds me that Stephanie has been here before. "Besides, this kid is horrible at drifts. It's an easy win for Brett and basically free money for me."

The flag girl slowly lifts the flag above her head and waits for a few seconds before bringing it down abruptly and signaling the start to a race. Both cars zoomed past her, leaving her hair flying all over, as they began to speed around the racetrack. I watched as Brett's car lurched forward a bit as he got on the inside during the first turn and I smiled to myself.

"So," Stephanie begins from behind me, and I can practically hear the devilish smirk on her lips as she asks an innocent question. "Who else is a solid racer?"

"Thomas Clark and Alex Fisher," Justin offers.

"Nathan Rhodes," Joe answers instead and ignores the look that Justin gives him. "What? Just because you don't like him doesn't mean he's not a solid racer. Probably the best one here, too."

Joe's answer doesn't fail to impress me. Nathan was that good of a racer that he even gained his enemies' praise?

I hear Justin mutter, "Don't let Thomas hear you say that or he'll kick your ass."

While Joe just chuckles at his comment, I decide that it's my cue to step in and redirect the conversation. My eyes zero in on Brett's car as he maintains the inside as he drifts around the next corner and I ask the group, "Are Nathan and Thomas rivals or something?"

I can feel both of the boys' eyes on me as Justin asks cautiously, "Shouldn't you know? You dated Clark for a little."

"A few weeks," I mutter begrudgingly. "But he never talked about racing with me."

Brett was easily putting space between himself and his opponent as they went around for the final lap. My heart was racing in my chest just from watching how quickly their cars moved around the track, as if they were made to race.

Justin continues our conversation behind me. "Yeah, you could say that. Nathan has always hated Thomas and vice versa. No one knows why, really, besides them. But they've always hated each other, and the fact they both race makes them despise each other even more."

It made perfect sense, but I was still curious as to why they harbored such a strong hatred for each other in the first place. My next question was cut short by my own shout of excitement when Brett crosses the finish line moments before his opponent does. My lips twist into a full grin as I cheer for Brett and then turn around to look at the group in excitement.

"I forgot how exhilarating this was," I say somewhat breathlessly to Stephanie.

She nods with a matching grin. "It's amazing, isn't it? If I had known you were into this stuff back in high school then I would've taken you with me to watch Justin."

"I don't know if I would've been into it then," I admit to her.

"Ladies," Justin cuts into our conversation with a cheeky smile on his face. "How about a celebratory beer?"

He holds out two cold beers that he had fished out of the cooler and we take them eagerly. Justin tossed one to Joe and I opened the can with a satisfying fizzle before tipping the drink back and letting the cool liquid slide down my throat.

"Are you already celebrating without me?" Brett's amused voice questions.

We all turn and cheer for him as Brett walks over to greet us. Justin and Joe clap him on the back as they congratulate him on his win, and Justin digs into the cooler to give him a beer, too. I lean against the car and watch the next cars line up to the starting line as the boys talk about the race, and a moment later, Brett walks over.

"So," He says as he leans against the car beside me and opens his beer. "What did you think?"

"You were great," I tell him honestly with a genuine smile on my lips. "Seriously, it was a really great race. You totally kicked ass."

Brett laughs with a twinkle of boyishness reflecting in his eyes. "Thanks, Lauren. I'm glad you enjoyed."

He takes another sip of his drink with his gaze on me. I look away again, toward the racetrack, to see if the race was about to start. I expected to see the flag girl standing in between the two cars with the flag raised above her head, but that was about it. I definitely didn't expect to see a familiar black Mustang lined up in the queue to race, nor did I expect to see Nathan Rhodes staring back at me.

And he looked pissed.