by CJ Adler
I catch the towel in one hand, a ferocious glare fixed on him all the while.
“I'm going to, but only because I want to and not because you told me to.”
***
Feeling refreshed and reenergized, I happily skip down the cursed stairs, humming a random tune to myself. I purposely slow down in my steps when I spot Jay leaning against the front door with his arms crossed over his white V-neck, an impatient look on his face.
Of course, his look wouldn't be complete without his trademark black leather jacket. After all, that's how I first officially met him. My ice cream and his jacket brought us together. The simple thought brings a smile to my face.
Obviously, he's been waiting for me. I quietly watch on as he fishes in his pocket for something. He takes out his phone and checks the time, muttering a complaint under his breath.
I stifle a laugh.
“About time, Street Walker,” he suddenly says without having to even look up from his phone's screen, his frown slowly fading when he realizes that I'm all set to go.
I shoot him a scowl when he finally lifts his head to look at me.
A smirk curls at his lips as it dawns on him. “About time, Klutz,” he emphasizes for my sake.
“Much better,” I reply, knowing that it's one or the other. I much prefer the original 'Klutz' to the overrated 'Street Walker'.
“So, where to?” I ask joyfully, sauntering ahead of him as he opens the front door for me.
“You, home. Me, work,” he answers in nonchalance, oblivious to my situation.
I stop walking, allowing him to pass me as he casually makes his way over
to his red Gallardo. “C'mon.” He motions me onward. “Let's go.”
I stomp my foot like a toddler would, shaking my head in defiance, refusing to obey. “I'm not going home, Jay.”
He gives me the 'don't argue' glare, and so, of course, I take the bait and argue anyway. “No! No! No!” I raise my voice, jumping up and down in desperation, stubbornly crossing my arms over my chest.
“Are you seriously throwing a tantrum on my front doorstep?” he asks, now irritable.
I nod, owning up to it.
He scoffs in disbelief. “I think there's still a remnant of tequila in thee Aqueela.”
“Jay.” I sigh, staring him straight in the eye, wishing he'd magically understand. “Please.”
“I'm going to be late. Just get in the car,” he demands, not budging.
I continue to stand frozen in place, waiting for him to let up.
“Why do you insist on fighting me on everything?” he asks, taking a daring step toward me.
I flinch back, not wanting to return home to Yolanda just yet. I'll deal with her tomorrow. “Please, Jay. Please,” I beg, throwing my dignity into oblivion. “Why can't I just come with you to work like last time? I promise I'll behave.”
He stares at me for a second or two, reading me, before arching an eyebrow.
“You're lying, aren't you?” I jut my bottom lip out and give him my best puppy eyes.
He shakes his head, averting his eyes as he caves. “Alright, alright, 'doe eyes'.
Truth is, I'm not going to the bar,” he explains, choosing to be vague.
I wait for him to elaborate.
He gets the gist. “I have a second job, one that you can't go with me to.”
I'm going to that job with him one way or another!
I let out a long, tired sigh, followed by a groan, followed by a whine—all done in the hopes to break him and persuade him over to my side.
He keeps his eyes on the ground, refusing to meet my gaze. We both know he'll give in if our eyes meet, even if it is for a split second. He is too kind at heart to say no.
Eventually, I comply. “Fine.”
His head snaps up, his blue eyes lighting up with relief. “Fine?” He repeats, checking to see if he heard right.
I nod and walk up to him. “Fine,” I confirm, patting his chest before pushing him away so that I can get into the passenger seat.
He stares at me, completely bewildered. It takes him a second or so to break from his stupid stupor. “Great,” he breathes out quietly, regaining his composure as he jumps into the driver's seat, wasting no time in setting foot on the gas pedal.
Immediately, I place my seatbelt on, almost forgetting that he thinks he's Brian O'Conner The Second.
It's as good as any time to put my plan into action.
Phase 1: Ignore him.
“So just give me directions. Where do you live?” he asks. “I know you want your own car, or my car, not entirely sure on that one,” he jokes, “but if you ever need a ride, just let me know.” He spares me a glance. “It's not a problem.”
Why does he have to be sweet when I'm ignoring him? He's so selfish—making my task a gazillion times harder than it has to be. Now, of all times, he chooses to be nice. Inconsiderate jerk!
I force myself to turn my head away, ignoring him despite finding it difficult to do so. Silent treatment is awful! He'll probably last longer than me. Not talking is killing me.
I distract myself by glancing out of the window as the night slowly seeps in. I still can't believe that I slept the entire afternoon and missed school. It's all Jay's fault really. I even have a tiny cut and some swelling on my forehead, thanks to him. I'm sure it will bruise over too. At least my beret covers it, making it barely visible to the human eye.
I take out my phone, trying to pass the time, only to find three messages from Bells and one call from Mase. I bite my bottom lip in realization. I completely forgot about them. They're going to kill me. Nonetheless, I will deal with that later too. Procrastination is the best solution to everything. With that, I switch off my phone.
Jay takes one hand off of the wheel and waves it in front of my face, his eyes still on the road. “Hey.” He coaxes gently, trying to snap me out of it. “Where do you live?”
He isn't bothered that I didn't answer him earlier? He's sure upbeat to-day. He's going out of his way for me. That's not the Jay Taylor I know. He's acting as if I'm some fragile kitten ready to crack.
With that thought in mind, it hits me; I'm not talking about the fact that my head hits the dashboard when Jay suddenly takes a sharp right, but sadly, yes, that hits me too. My head is prone to injury. Jay's only being compassionate because I confessed . He doesn't feel the same, and so now he's trying to let me down easy. Dammit! Why can't he just be a jerk like always and like me back?
“Aqueela?” He repeats, snapping his fingers in an effort to gain my attention. He takes his eyes off of the road to glance my way. “You listening to me?”
I quickly look away, but that action ends up being too obvious.
Jay is perceptive and catches on all too swiftly. “Silent treatment? You're serious? You're really falling that low?”
I don't answer his petty questions even though I'm being the petty one here. He lets out a chuckle, finding it amusing—not exactly the reaction I wanted from him. “Fine, be childish just because I'm not letting you have your way. If that's how you wanna play this...”
I continue to ignore him, leaning back in my seat instead, inhaling the smell of leather. I get cozy, putting up my sneakers up on the dashboard. In a flash, Jay swats my feet off of the dashboard, making it evident that he has serious problems. I help him out by putting my feet straight back on the dashboard, ignoring his reprimanding glare.
Time to initiate the next step.
Phase 2: Poke, Poke, Pokémon.
I poke Jay on the side of his cheek—let's see him be cool and survive through phase 2 without lashing out. No one withstands phase 2.
He turns to look at me, a frown on his face as he wonders what I'm on about now. “You bored of silent treatment already?”
I don't reply and poke him again on the side of his face.
He doesn't reply, keeping focused on the road ahead of him lit by streetlights. It's his turn to ignore me, well attempt to anyway.
I continue
on with my idiotic antics:
Poke.
No response.
Poke.
His resolve is dying ever so slightly.
Double poke.
He's gonna snap!
Triple poke. Qua—
He suddenly slams on the brakes, swerving over lanes without warning before pulling off the road. He grabs my hand in his before I can finish the phase. “Enough,” he says through gritted teeth and one hard look that shakes me to the bone. “I'm driving.”
“Okay,” I comply in ease for the second time.
He drops my hand, astounded. It takes him a minute. He blinks once, twice, several times before nodding. He starts the car up again, carefully moving back onto the road.
Phase 3: Please, JT, with some cheese.
I give it a few seconds before putting the next step into action.
“Please, can I come with you, Jay?” I test the waters and ask nicely, hoping that he has cooled off in the couple seconds of peace given since the poking fest. “Please.”
“No!” he snaps in exasperation.
So he hasn't exactly cooled off yet...
“Someone's moody,” I mumble in a voice just loud enough for him to hear.
He sends me a sharp glare to which I surrender, holding my hands up defensively.
“Just saying.”
“Just don't,” he replies back smoothly.
There's brief moment of silence as he tries to tune me out. Funny, it started with me ignoring him and ended up the other way 'round. We switched roles.
“Please. Pretty please. Please. Please,” I beg.
I go on and on until, as predicted, he finally explodes. “Fine, dammit! You can come!” He shouts, slamming his clenched fist against the wheel, swerving dangerously in and out past other cars, having lost his temper.
A mischievous grin creeps onto my lips. “Thanks, pal.” I wink teasingly when he spares me an infuriated glance. I smile and motion back to the road. “Keep your eyes on the streets, JT,” I advise and shake my head in disapproval. He's so irresponsible.
He scowls at me, turning back to the road as he spouts obscenities under his breath, truly aggravated with his circumstances.
What a child! How immature can he get? As mature as me? I won't judge. 'Peopling' is hard for introverts like him.
“Grow up, Jay,” I lecture him on his pig-headedness. He needs to be more mindful of all his faults or I will banish him from Minnesota, from the world.
He shakes his head. “Now that's really the pot calling the kettle black.”
I stay quiet for the rest of the ride, deciding it's best not to provoke him any further in case he changes his mind.
He finally stops the car across a dodgy looking building.
Okay, so maybe I do need to open my mouth again so that he will actually change his mind and get me out of here.
“Can we leave now?” I plead, out of the blue. “I've seen enough to know what you really are.” I narrow my eyes at him, having worked it out, throwing an accusing finger in his face. “Gang leader!”
He scoffs and licks his lips in frustration before looking elsewhere. “I'm not a gang leader, Aqueela.”
“Tell that to that rundown, piece of crap staring me in the face!” I point back to the desolate building.
“You're so annoying,” he grumbles out aloud, running a hand through his hair as if aggravated.
I shrug, not caring enough to be offended. “I've been told worse.”
“We're not even going into the building, we're going behind it,” he reassures me.
“Oh.” I part my lips in thought. “Okay, I guess that's fine then,” I say cheerfully, opening my door, now eager to see where it is that we are, other than in the middle of nowhere.
“You change your mind quickly,” he states calmly, leading the way.
I mindlessly follow after him as he crosses the street without first checking for oncoming cars. “Hey!” I call after him. “Jay, you're jaywalking!”
I snicker at my own joke, not earning a reply from him.
“Is everything in order?” Jay asks a shady looking guy who happens to be standing beside the building, smoking a cigarette.
“Yeah, you're good to go.” He nods at Jay as if he knows him well, blowing out a puff of smoke. “You can bring the beauty in. Streets are clear.”
“Why thank you.” I bow in respect, ready to enter into the forbidden yet oddly noisy place. “Don't mind if I do.”
I start walking, only for Jay to catch my arm, effectively stopping me from entering through the rusty gate before us. “He's talking about the car,” Jay corrects, biting back a grin, his blue eyes twinkling in hidden amusement.
He doesn't wait for my response. Grabbing me by my hand, he tugs me back to the car. This time, I don't fight him.
“If at any time you want to go back home, just let me know,” Jay says, placing his arm at the back of my seat as he turns his head. He checks out the back window while reversing, turning the car around, before steering us right into the creepy building.
My eyes widen in shock as I turn to face him, accusation written all over my face. “You lied to me!”
He grins and nods, barely paying me any attention. He fixates his attention on the road in the building sloping downward, proving that the building has been built on a one-sided hill. “Yeah, yeah I did.” The road exits the building into a large open area. I immediately feast my eyes on the sight before.
Cars. Everywhere.
I remember Jay once telling me that he raced for pink slips. I just never knew he did it for a living. He's definitely got my approval on this one.
He parks his car over to the side of the roads before getting out. I hop out too, walking quickly in order to try and catch up with his long strides. The whole time, I'm multitasking, scanning the entire area while walking.
“Wow,” I sputter in awe at the change of scenery.
“Yeah.” He stops to wait for me. “It's something, isn't it?”
I nod eagerly, agreeing with him for once.
“Welcome to the wrong side of the tracks.” He grins in pride as if the place is home to him.
“Racing?” I ask him in spite of it being fairly obvious.
He breaks out into a warm smile. “With me, it wouldn't be anything else.” “Street racing?” I ask again.
“Underground racing, street racing.” He shrugs. “Call it whatever you want to call it.”
“So long as we all call you the king of the street champs, right?” a short, boyish girl interrupts us, sending Jay a wink, having obviously eavesdropped on our conversation. She walks away before he can even reply.
I raise an eyebrow at him, curious as to what that was about. He brushes it off as if it's no big deal. I shrug, deciding that I will take the easy route out: find her myself and ask.
However, instead of finding her among the crowds, I spot a tall guy instead.
His green eyes are ablaze as he argues with a guy bigger than him . Next thing I know, green eyes tackles the big guy to the ground before mercilessly pounding his fist into his face. Everyone walks on by, unfazed, as if used to green eyes' behavior.
“What the heck?” I quirk an eyebrow, elbowing Jay in an act to get his attention. “Why is no one doing anything?”
He lifts his head to follow my gaze. A grin finds its way to his lips when he takes in the scene. “Don't mind him.”
Am I the only one that finds it out of the norm? “Shouldn't we do something?” I ask, hesitant and confused.
“Trust me,” Jay smirks knowingly, “someone will in…” he checks his watch, “…three, two—”
“Get off of him, Lan!” A pretty redhead tugs green eyes up before going off on him. The guy covers his ears, blocking her out, before storming off with her hot on his heels.
Couples these days…
When I zone back into reality, I find that Jay's gone to help the guy on the floor. I sigh in impatience when they begin talking. He's left me a
lone.
“I noticed you came with the speed demon, JT. A friend of Taylor's then?” I turn to the voice addressing me, only to find a rugged, older looking guy staring down at me with a grimace. He's covered in tattoos and his breath reeks of alcohol.
I open my mouth to answer, but before I can even get a word out, a strong arm suddenly wraps around my waist, materializing out of nowhere. “Back off, Geezer. She's mine. Off limits,” Jay speaks for me in a low, threatening voice. As if to make his point, he pulls me toward him, warding off the other guy known as Geezer.
Jeez, what is with this town and names?
I turn in Jay's arms to face him, puzzled by his sudden change of attitude. I didn't realize by doing so that I'd find him so close. My heart quickens when I see just how near he really is. I inch back on reflex and then mouth why to him .
He leans in forward, his lips moving past me and to my ear. “Just go with it. You don't know these guys like I do,” he coaxes, his warm breath fanning my neck.
I nod and then pull away from him slightly, needing to breathe a little before
I suffocate.
Geezer holds his hands up apologetically, seeming anything but. “Relax, full throttle. I was just asking,” he tells Jay before walking off.
“JT, get over here! You're racing in two,” a deep voice hollers from some distance away.
Jay releases me entirely, pulling me by the arm as he drags me to the guy calling him. “Grey, I'm not letting her race with me. Just watch her until I get back with the pink slip. You're the only one I fully trust around here.”
Grey nods. “Got it. Now get going. My bets are on you.” “Thanks, my man.” Jay grins.
It's the last thing Jay says before heading back to his ride. I watch in anticipation as he and the other competitors drive their cars out to the front of the starting line, mentally preparing themselves as their fans begin to cheer them on.
I had no idea Jay was so well-liked around here. He definitely isn't at school. People start booing when a black Gallardo pulls in last at the starting line, right beside Jay. The driver in the black Gallardo revs his engine tauntingly, but Jay is smart enough not to take the bait.