“They disapproved of him making his own decisions. It was just like my mom and dad got mad when I chose you instead of one of their ‘suitors’.”I replied.
“When did they start doing that?” he asked as if it were ridiculous.
“My mom and dad always wanted me to marry someone rich and I promised myself that I wouldn’t marry for money. Only love, the way my mom did. But they started setting me up with these really annoying rich guys. The only one I met that wasn’t conceded was Bailey, but he already had a girlfriend and we agreed to just be friends.”
“Wait my cousin Bailey?” I nodded. “Gross.”
I laughed.
“So what kind of business did Ben start in Miami?”
“Of course you’ve seen The Fast and the Furious?”
“How could I not? Greatest car series ever!”
“It’s like that. But he has a business just like Dominick in the first one.”
“That’s awesome!”
“I went there the summer after I got my driver’s license.”
“What did your parents do? If they didn’t want him to go there, they obviously wouldn’t let their sixteen-year-old daughter go.”
“They made me go to boarding school.” I paused. “And I liked it.”
“Where did you go before this?”
“Jefferson High School.”
“What?” he objected. “Are you sure? I’ve never seen you before this.”
“I was pretty much invisible.”
“How long did you stay with your brother?”
“All summer.”
“Why did you even come back? I’d have stayed in Miami.”
“Did you want me to come back?”
“Well yeah, but it’s nice in Miami.”
“I was kind of miserable,” I said looking at the ground.
“Why weren’t you happy?”
“Ben had Jerica, my sister-in-law-to-be. Jacob had Laura.”
“Who’s Jacob?”
“My brother’s partner.”
“Okay gotcha.”
“Well everyone had someone except me. It was like living in a soppy love story sometimes. It made me miserable because I couldn’t be with someone all the time.” I said. “On nights when Jerica worked late, I would go into my brother’s room like a little kid and stay with him because I got lonely.”
“Didn’t your mom and dad come looking for you?”
“Well yeah but since Ben was over eighteen and could be a legal guardian for me, they decided that he was well prepared and could take care of me enough so I could live there as long as I wanted. But I left before school started at the end of the summer.”
“What did you do all summer?”
“I drove.” I said plainly hoping that he wouldn’t be one of the oblivious ones and say what I thought he would.
“Like you drove parts around and stuff?”
“Not really.”
“Well did he at least pay you?”
“Yeah. How do you think I got the Bentley?”
“You paid for that?”
“Yeah. It used to be silver. Jacob painted it.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want it to be silver.” I said. “Ben almost pummeled me for it.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted it to be silver.”
“What did you do then?”
“I can’t tell you exactly. I’d have to show you.”
“Show me? Huh? Sounds fun.”
“It is. I promise.”
“Explain,” He said.
Even though we were on the mile, I still ran away in my Gucci heals. I ran backwards something I had been good at.
“Katie wait!” he stopped me.
As he chased me, I lost my balance and fell backwards. I fell on my ass and just laid there laughing. And the saying ‘rolling on floor laughing’ was true in a literal sense.
“Katie, are you alright?”
I just laughed.
“Katie.” He sighed my name.
“Yes dear?”
“Don’t call me that!” he exclaimed miserably.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you back.”
“Okay,” He helped me up. When I was walking, he took out his phone and dialed someone. “Alright, bring ‘em out.”
From right behind the large building beside us came two cars, both black. “Did you?” I asked, not able to finish a sentence. They were nice too. One was the Mercedes McLaren and the other the legendary Ashton Martin Vanquish.
“No, it was your dad,” He said. “Pick one.”
“How could you remember?”
“Good memory. I do listen to everything you say.”
“You proved that.” I said. “Vanquish.” I ran to the driver handing me the keys.”
“You can have the Mercedes.”
“What?” he said, as if he thought I was kidding.
“Come on, I’ll race ya.”
“To where?” he said as if he were betting me.
“Your house.”
“Sure. What do you wanna bet?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Ok. If I win, I get to drive the Bentley for a week.”
“What?!” I said. That was bogus. He only bet that because he knew I wouldn’t go for it. There was no way in hell I’d let him drive my car. Because he thought I would lose. “Ok if I win, you have to take me to The Westin Resort and Hotel in uptown Detroit.”
“Okay. You’re on,” he said.
“Go,” I replied, starting my first and last race in Detroit.
Chapter Sixteen: Prom
I took off like a black bullet, switching gears and driving smoothly through the mile escalating to over 120 miles per hour. I was schooling Chris down the road to his house, the one he’d driven more often than I had.
When I switched gears again, I pulled the E-break and drifted a corner and that made me look amazing at driving, even if it was just looks. I could feel eyes on me. Chris’s eyes particularly. About another 500 ft or so I switched gears again. I turned the radio to something smooth; make me feel cool as if I were seriously hot behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Vanquish.
Chris’s driving was making the $450 tires skid across the pavement. I cringed just a little when I heard them squeal. It was just the block before his house and I knew I wouldn’t be able to drift into his driveway and make a complete stop without hitting a car or his house. But I did know that it was still snowy enough outside to drift into the curb on the side his house resides on.
I pushed on the pedal, feeling the acceleration. I made it up the hill and around the corner. I hit the gas and whipped the emergency brake to drift the corner. When I hit his driveway I came to a stop. I fell back due to adrenaline and excitement. I took a deep breath and sat waiting.
When Chris pulled up in the Mercedes next to me, the look on his face was priceless. He got out and stood there. I got out and locked the bullet with the key fob.
“Okay so I know that this car is faster, but you drive like the devil in southern Texas on a hot day.”
I knew I was a talented driver. I knew I always had been but I also knew that it was because of Ben. I smiled at Christopher.
He opened his mouth to speak but my phone rang in place of his first word. I picked up my phone and looked at the caller ID. I fumbled with the green phone button on mine to answer.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hi Katie White. This is Meredith Jules from Juilliard School of Arts. I was wondering if you had a few moments.”
“Of course!” I squeaked excitedly.
“Juilliard will be in Detroit on April 22nd and 23rd to examine your technique. We would like to set up an audition with you and interview you. Which day would be good for you?”
“April 22nd would be good.” I said.
“Good. Thank you Katie. We’ll see you then.” She hung up.
I couldn’t do anything but smile at my phone.
; “What?” Chris asked as if he were annoyed a little at my pleasure.
“It was Meredith Jules from Juilliard.”
“What did she say?” He asked.
“She wanted to set up an audition.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes.” I said in the most obvious tone possible.
“So when is it?” he looked confused.
“April 22nd.”
“That’s the week after prom.”
“Yeah I know. But they called and now I have an audition.”
“That’s awesome Katie!”
I heard the porch door squeak shut and slam loudly. Chris’s mom stood on the patio. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!” she exclaimed. “First I hear tires squealing and then hear Katie screaming. Chris what the hell did you do?” I laughed.
“Hey who said it was me? Thanks Mom.”
“So what’s wrong then?”
“Nothing.” I said. “Juilliard called! They want an audition.”
“Oh.” She said unenthused. “That’s cool.” It was alright. Chris’s mom didn’t know how important this was to me. She just knew that I loved Chris and that was all that mattered. Which was true. “Chris, when’s prom? Your grandparents want to come down.”
“Aww, Mom you had to tell them about it?” Chris complained.
“Yes I had to. Now, when is it?”
“April 18th. This weekend.”
“So in three days?” Chris nodded.
“Thanks for the warning.” She said sarcastically walking away.
“No problem,” He said sincerely. I laughed.
When she was gone, he started again. “Where the hell did you learn how to drive like that?”
“You know how I said I went to Miami for the summer when my brother went down there?” I asked him.
“Yeah.” He thought a moment. “OH NO FREAKING WAY!” It registered.
“I drove.” I said. “That’s how I learned.”
“Teach me.” He said.
“I can’t just teach you. It took me four full months to learn and be good at it. I finally started to win races.”
“How many races were you in at first?”
“Three or four a week, maybe, if Ben wanted to lose that much money.”
“Lose money? You mean he bet on you?”
“No I mean the cars I wrecked, he and I fixed together to teach me that too. I loved cars and engines and I wanted to learn.” I replied. “The first thing he taught me was paper work so I could order parts. That part was boring but he taught me on a Chevy truck the parts and stuff. Then the Honda Civic, because we loaded those up all the time. They’re light weight and tend to go faster than they’re made for. And then when I started winning and we started making back the money we lost, I paid for all the part money I owed Ben from the beginning. Every so often I’d lose a race because, well, I’m not the most perfect driver and life isn’t the movies. When I was consecutively winning I told Ben I wanted my own car that I could just drive around. So far I had just been driving his truck everywhere and the lifestyle we grew up in and the class rate of it all made driving a truck look like we were broke. I knew Ben loved that truck but it was a piece. I was fixing the damn thing every day.” I paused.
“What happened then?” Chris asked.
“I told Ben I wanted my own car. I came back from getting parts one day to my Bentley, only it was silver.”
“Why’d you paint it?”
“Silver isn’t really my color. It’s too common.” I said.
“But it was a Bentley.” He said. “You think you’d take it either way.”
“I did. It was my birthday present.” I said. “I told Ben that actually getting me the car of my dreams was too much. He said I’d earned it. He just said that I had to take charge of my own dreams now instead of letting Mom and Dad control them because he didn’t have a choice.
“When I promised he handed me the keys and I jumped in it.” I stopped.
“When did you get it painted?”
“A week later I came back with the Bentley all metallic purple and Ben flipped a tit!” I replied. “He came out and started yelling at me because now I had to change all the paper work and stuff on it. I told him I didn’t have a problem with changing paper work. I just didn’t want someone ELSE to key my car.”
“Someone else?”
“That’s exactly what he said. I told him I wanted to paint the car because someone keyed it. It was an outright lie but he understood and didn’t question me further.”
“I would have. I would have been like, ‘who the fuck did this to my baby sister’s car’. But that’s just me I guess.”
“Your mom didn’t even notice the Aston Martin or the Mercedes in front of her house.”
“She probably did and had grandma on the phone.”
“Okay,” I said sarcastically.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Alright.”
“Katie, can we just leave them here like this?”
“I leave my Bentley in front of your house all the time.” I replied.
“Yeah but it’s a Mercedes McLaren.”
“Where do you suggest we put them? I seriously doubt that you have a garage we can just lock them in.”
“Right.” He said. When he didn’t argue, I led us inside.
I stopped where I stood. “Actually,” I said. “I have some homework I need to finish.” I went home and played clarinet for the rest of the night.
I had never gone to prom before. I was too involved with my music to go.
“Your hair is unbelievable!” said Ella. She ran her fingers through my thick mop of hair. “How do you get it so gorgeous?”
“Wash it.” I replied. I shut up as she began her work. “Mhmm.” I basked in the touch of her fingertips against my scalp. So relaxing.
“Are you and Chris a thing again yet?” she played with my hair, making it go every-which way.
“I’m not sure. He’s giving me mixed signals. I’m not sure if he wants to date or if he just wants to bang me.” I had NEVER said that word in a sentence and meant it the way I just had.
“He’s changed you Katie, for the better. You used to be a stuck up prissy girl I couldn’t stand; now I actually like talking to you and hanging out.” She explained. “Pin…” I handed her a pin. “I mean, you’ve actually looked at life a little bit, not everything revolves around music Katie.”
I couldn’t believe my own ears. Ella. My prodigy. I laughed at her. And then she laughed. I wasn’t sure if we were laughing at the same thing. I had learned a few things about life and all. At the beginning of this school year it was as if the entire world revolved around me and my music, as if there was nothing else in the world. When stuff started to go wrong with my personal life, like Zack and Chris broke up with me and then Blake… I felt so bad for Blake. He didn’t even do anything wrong. I just didn’t like him the way he liked me and I led him on. I felt different after I met Blake. He was different and I got to see things from another perspective that I never had before. Because I was “seeing” Blake and it wasn’t a full on relationship, I found what I knew too well. Ben went through hard times before him and Jerica broke up a few times. I saw my brother, the only person I really cared for since my dad’s new found riches, mope around like he wanted to just go to bed and not wake up. I felt what that was like and I had my own experiences that changed me for the better. Ella was right. I wasn’t the girl I was ten months ago. I thanked God for that fact, that He had given me Ella, and Chris. If not for them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I’d probably still be bitchy, demanding and too smart for my own good.
As I was caught in my thoughts Ella had finished my hair. “Here yah go.” She said.
When I looked at myself, it was as if I had never seen this me before. The hair and makeup were perfect. Ella constructed my hair in a curly loose bun on my head so it was easier to take out at the end of the night. I could smell the hairspray she used. Wow it
was a lot. She sprinkled glitter over the top of my head as if I were a fairy, like Tinkerbell.
“I can’t wait till Chris sees you.” Ella said to my awed facial expression.
“Yeah,” I said. “Neither can I.”
You know what sucked about tonight? My pants didn’t damn fit. The tailor gave me a twenty-eight instead of a thirty-two so I had to suck in things that didn’t suck. Katie looked absolutely angelic. There was nothing that could make her look better. For pictures she smiled at the camera. I smiled at her. With her dress, her hair, her skin, her eyes, and her shoes even; they almost made her taller than me. She even got her nails done so I would be happy with a head scratch. I know it sounds like I’m a dog but seriously try it. It’s gotta be the next best thing to soap.
“Wow,” said Zack’s obnoxious voice. “I thought I’d never see the day that my cousin would be in a tux.”
“He looks pretty good huh?” replied Katie’s voice, her eyes on me.
“At least I don’t look like an underdressed rich “hottie”.” I used quotes.
“Underdressed rich hottie, huh?” Zack thought aloud. “Is that what you call a come back? I could have thought something better came from the kind you are.”
“Kind? At least I worked for what and who I have, you have Mommy and Daddy give it to you.”
“Are you saying I’m a momma’s boy?”
“No but that’s a good one, thanks,” I said. “Why don’t you go hang out with your friends because obviously you’re too girlie to get your own date.”
Zack stormed away
I was standing beside Katie, her arm looped through mine. My parents were up on the bleachers, waiting for them to announce the prom king and queen. Obviously it wouldn’t be me. I didn’t even go to this school. I came because Katie wanted me to go. Hell no was I going to the prom at my school.
“And now, the Prom King and Queen of Vegas theme 2009 are….” They began a drum roll. “Zackary Michaels and Katie White!”
I was going to kill him if he tried anything with her. I could see his probably snooty date get all upset because she was jealous of the Queen. Katie left my side and made her way, beside Zack, up on stage. They put the crowns on each other’s head’s and made their way to the floor.
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