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Turn after turn, I stay ahead of the pack, nearly completing the course with one final straight away ahead leading back to the finish line. I allow myself one brief glance in the rear-view mirror, and grin when I take in the swarm of headlights closing in on me.
With less than five seconds ahead of us, I step on the gas and hold tight.
The finish line comes and goes quickly, and I whoop in excitement. Decelerating slowly, I bring the engine back down and make my way back toward the crowd.
With barely any time to bring the car to a stop, the crowd surges out around me, cheers deafening the idling engine.
As soon as I step out, Bodhi approaches me with a grin stretched across his face, his eyes sparkling with pure excitement in them.
“Fuck yeah, that’s how you do it,” he says, and I meet his waiting palms with my own, accepting his high five.
This guy is a completely different guy from the night of the accident, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe I got him all wrong. He seems so light-hearted now when, before, all I wanted to do was wring his neck for his outright arrogance.
Since then, he’s proven to be generous when I thought him incapable, funny when at first, he seemed to not be able to take a joke, and thoughtful when I assumed all he could think about was himself.
Could it be that I miss judged him?
Making the rounds, I talk with a few of the people I know from previous races while waiting for Deacon to compile my winnings. I would leave here tonight with eight grand more than I showed up with, and while most people saw that as a decent chunk of change, I knew that after splitting it as many ways as I had to in order to get bills paid, I’d be lucky to add a full thousand dollars to my savings account.
People began to clear out, going their separate ways as parties were announced. I turned to find Bodhi amongst the crowd.
“All right Cinderella, I think it’s time I get you home,” I say, approaching him.
Glancing down at his watch, he looks back up at me with furrowed brows.
“Pretty sure you’re confused.”
“Why?”
“You’re the princess, not me,” he says smiling, pleased with his cleverness.
I roll my eyes before we make our way back to the car and get on the road, heading toward his house, which I failed to realize earlier was nearly half an hour away from me.
Cruising along at a comfortable pace, I settle in for the drive ahead.
“You know,” Bodhi says minutes later, breaking the silence, “I really don’t understand why so many people go to watch the races.”
“What do you mean? I thought you loved those races.”
“I do, but as the driver. You can’t even see anything from the sidelines except for the start and finish. You miss all the action along the way. All the time you have to fight to stay in front of someone, pulling inside every turn to block the drivers behind you. As a spectator, you don’t see any of that, so I guess I just don’t understand the excitement behind it all.”
“I mean, I guess I understand where you’re coming from, but maybe they just like being out there, supporting their friends.”
“I guess.”
I chuckle, shaking my head.
“What’s so funny?” he asks, eyes twinkling with the reflections of the dashboard lights.
“You,” I say, nodding my head in his direction.
“What about me?”
“You don’t do well unless you’re center stage, do you?”
“Ugh, you make me sound like a spotlight whore or something.” He scoffs.
“Umm, you kind of are,” I laugh.
