I nodded, saying something along the lines of “nice meeting you too” and watched as he said his goodbyes to the rest of us and left with Carter. A strange pang of disappointment fluttered in my chest as he walked away, and I found myself wondering if I would ever see him again. I shook my head to snap myself out of the weird, unfamiliar trance I was in, remembering that I would not allow myself to be flustered by any boy. Even if he did have the most incredible eyes I had ever seen.
We enjoyed the rest of our night, playing carnival games and going on the rides. Nate even won a ginormous stuffed unicorn for Mel, and Isaac was thrilled when he scored a girl’s phone number. After stuffing ourselves with funnel cakes and cotton candy, we called it a night. They dropped me off at Frank’s Drugstore so I could pick up my aqua blue Ford Focus and drive myself home.
I made it home at 12:25pm…five minutes before curfew. I wasn’t even sure why I had a curfew since there was rarely anyone home to enforce it. My mother and stepfather had opened a small pub, and it was extremely rare that they were home before me on a weekend night. Per the “arrangement” I had with them, I was supposed to call the pub when I got home so they could verify I was home on time.
It didn’t make sense to me because, technically, I could call from anywhere and they wouldn’t have a clue about it. They didn’t want me to text because they wanted to actually hear my voice, and they didn’t want me to call their cell phones because they were too preoccupied to notice their cells when they were bartending. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number to the pub as I walked to my room.
“American Pub!” a man answered.
“Can I talk to Grace please?” I replied.
“What?!” he yelled, trying to shout above the pounding background music.
“Grace! Is Grace there?!” I hollered, with my voice echoing through the quiet house.
“Hang on!”
Geez, this wasn’t going well already. It must’ve been a busy night at the pub. I waited for a moment, listening to the laughter and fun that the pub patrons were having. Finally, my mother was on the line.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom. I’m home.”
“What?! Who is this?!”
“Mom, it’s me! I’m home!”
“What?! I can’t hear you!!!”
Oh Lord, here we go, “I...AM…HOME!!!”
There was a short pause.
“Livie, I can barely hear you, but thanks for calling, sweetheart,” she said in a quieter, more relaxed tone. She must’ve looked at the time. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she finished.
She hung up, and it was suddenly very dark and quiet in the house. The exhaustion from my full day hit me hard in that moment. I slipped off my sandals, flopped onto my bed, and closed my eyes, making a mental note to sit down with my mother in the morning to revisit the texting-when-I-get-home conversation. A simple text would be so much easier.
Chapter Two
The sweet, buttery aroma of bacon and eggs mixed with coffee, stirred me awake the next morning. My eyes cracked open as I glanced at my alarm clock and saw a blurry, green “9:07AM.” Crap, it was late, and I had a full day of work ahead of me. I sprung out of bed, causing a blinding head-rush. Once I felt normal, I dressed and went to the kitchen.
“Morning, Livie,” my mother chirped.
She was the “mother” of all morning people. It baffled me the way she could go to sleep later than me, yet wake up before me. She seemed to only get about six hours of sleep per night, yet she was always so energetic in the morning. I wished I had that problem.
“Morning,” I mumbled.
“Hey, will you bring home my cellphone from the pub? I left it there last night.”
“Aren’t you going there later?”
“No,” she glanced over at my stepdad who was reading the paper at the kitchen table. “Jeff and I are taking the night off to go to dinner and a movie.”
Mom and Jeff had offered to pay me to clean the pub on the weekends, and I enthusiastically accepted when I found out how much they would compensate me to do it. It was a dirty job, but it only took me about three hours, and I couldn’t pass up the pay. I made it more enjoyable by cranking up the music and taking time to practice my pool game.
The pub opened at 2:00PM on Saturdays, which was the same time I was scheduled to work at Frank’s today. I had to get going so that I would have time to shower before Frank’s. I quickly shoveled down breakfast and headed out the door.
*
Mel was the only one waiting for me in the parking lot when I left Frank’s that night. It had been a while since we had even a little bit of one-on-one time together, so I was glad to see her alone. Leaning on the hood of her white Pontiac Grand Prix, she texted on her cell as I approached. Hearing my heels click on the cement, she looked up with excitement in her eyes and gave me a grin.
“Hey, Liv! There’s going to be people at Gavin’s tonight. You wanna go?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Sure. I’ve had a long day. I could use a little fun.”
Gavin, a friend of Nate and Isaac, was my age but was homeschooled and seemed to have a lot of free time, even during the school year. His house, which was the gathering place for our group of friends, had a partially finished basement with a pool table, wet bar, and a few old couches and chairs arranged in a circle. We could either get crazy or just kick back there. You never really knew until you got there. Usually, his parents were MIA, but on the few occasions they were in the house, they kept to themselves, never saying anything about the extra people or noise.
We approached Gavin’s house and spotted Nate and Gavin just outside the garage, standing around a flawless canary yellow muscle car with the hood up. Nate walked toward us as we got out of Melody’s car.
“Do you know what that is, baby?” He grinned at Melody with a look of excitement as he laced his fingers around hers and pulled her to the car. I followed closely behind them.
“A car?” she responded, sarcastically.
“That…is a 1969 Ford Mustang.” Then he rattled off some information about the engine.
“OK…” she said, clearly not as enthusiastically as Nate had hoped. Noticing his disapproval, she continued with a little more encouragement, “It’s a pretty car, baby.”
“Whose is it?” I asked
A slamming noise distracted me. I began to walk towards the front of the car, and realized that someone must have closed the hood. My answer stood in front of me and stopped me in my tracks.
It wasn’t the perfectly tanned, contoured abs that caught my full attention. And it wasn’t the strong, muscular chest and solidly shaped shoulders that drew me in. When my gaze wandered up to a warm grin and inviting hazel eyes I became fixed on the man in front of me. I’m not sure how long I had been standing there, staring.
“You like what you see, Liv?” a shirtless Logan whispered softly with an amused smirk, as I finally snapped out of it and began to approach him.
Shit! Did he just say that?
I could feel my cheeks getting red and my heart began to pound. Of course he would notice me staring at him. The others were already walking into the house, so I don’t think they had heard him.
What the hell was going on with me? I didn’t usually get so flustered around boys—even exceptionally attractive ones. I had a lot of fun with some of them, but there were never any expectations for a relationship, and that’s how I liked it. There was something about Logan, however, that gave me….butterflies. This was not a feeling I was fond of, and I felt a strong need to do something about it.
“Shut up.” I inwardly cringed right after my response came out. Oh yeah, real nice comeback, Liv.
His eyes gleamed as he let out a chuckle. My gaze searched for something to focus on, anywhere but his eyes, as I desperately tried to come up with something witty and clever to say, but nothing came to me.
“I was talking about the car.” he replied, lifting one eyebrow. Still smiling, he grabbed his t-shirt ou
t of the back of his shorts and put it on. “Better?” he teased.
I rolled my eyes, knowing full well he was not talking about the car. Clearly, he was not lacking confidence. In an effort to change the subject, I asked, “So, where did you get it anyway? The car, I mean.” I’m not sure why I felt I had to clarify that.
His smile toned down a bit, but not all the way, and his eyes became distant. “My dad and I spent about five years restoring it. He left it to me when he passed away last year.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” I was floored. Could this conversation have gotten any worse?
He must’ve noticed my panic, and his eyes softened. He hooked his arm around my neck and began to walk me toward the house where the others had already migrated. “Don’t worry about it, Liv. I’m okay.”
My heart went out to him. And I found myself wondering about his life.
In the basement, the party was already starting. I could tell it was going to be more of a “get crazy” night than a “kick back” night. School starting on Monday meant this would be the last party of the summer.
Rock music was blaring. Nate and Mel were at the pool table starting a game of doubles with Isaac and the girl he met at River Fest, Gavin was at the bar pouring himself a drink, and there were several people around the couches that I didn’t recognize. I caught Gavin’s eye as we approached the bar.
“Liv!” Gavin pointed at me. “You want the usual?”
I smiled and nodded, delighted that he remembered my drink of choice.
“Hi Logan.” A girl with a slim but voluptuous figure, in tight clothes and black high-heeled boots up to her knees, ran up to Logan and wrapped her arms around him. Bright pink streaks around her hairline embellished her long straight, bleach-blond hair.
“What’s up Chloe.” Logan simply stated, as if he weren’t expecting an answer from her. He appeared unfazed by her affection, and went around to the other side of the bar, where he and Gavin knocked knuckles, leaving her behind looking disappointed. He helped himself to a beer from the mini-fridge, then stayed behind the bar with Gavin and began some car talk. I concluded that they were friends. Just as Gavin handed me my drink, his phone lit up. I walked over to join Mel by the pool table.
“Hey, Liv! I was wondering when you’d finally get down here.” Melody actually winked this time. Then she leaned closer and joked, “I was hoping it would’ve taken longer.”
My hand instinctively smacked her in the arm, and with a disgusted look on my face, I replied, “Melody! You know me better than that!” I couldn’t keep a straight face, though, and we both started laughing.
I glanced over to the bar where Gavin and Logan seemed to be having a heated talk. Out of pure curiosity, I returned to the bar.
“Dude, I don’t need to. I just raced last night,” Logan said, annoyed.
“He wants a rematch, man. You could take double what you brought in last night,” Gavin persisted.
Logan turned to me as he realized that I was listening. He seemed to be contemplating something as his eyes met mine. After studying me for a moment, his expression quickly turned to excitement as if he just had the best idea of his life. Still looking at me, he grinned and said, “Ok, I’ll do it…But only if Liv comes.”
Gavin turned to me with an unsure look on his face.
“Liv…have you ever been to a race before?” Gavin asked.
Chapter Three
It wasn’t my first time in a muscle car. Logan held the door for me as I lowered myself into the passenger seat, closing it gently once I was in. The car was very well cared for. The vinyl bucket seats were unblemished, and there was not a speck of dirt or dust to be found anywhere inside the car. The smell of Armor All and vinyl immediately took me back to my pre-adolescent years, and I thought about Adam. My mind drifted to what he might be doing these days.
Logan slid into the driver’s seat and put the keys in the ignition. As I watched him turn the key, my eyes caught a little blue button on the steering wheel, but before I could ask what it was, I heard the high-pitched sound of the starter wheeling, followed by a loud, heavy roar and low rumble. As the car shook to life, I felt a burst of adrenaline rush through my body. If just starting the car was this thrilling, I wondered what it would be like to drive it.
The dashboard lit up along with what appeared to be a small touch-screen computer monitor in the middle of the dash. I looked over at Logan. His eyes were on me, and he had a small mischievous grin on his face. I wondered if he was getting an adrenaline rush from this as well.
“You might want to put your seatbelt on,” he said with a smile and that one eyebrow raised up again. I laughed and politely obliged.
He backed slowly out of the driveway. It felt intimate being in such a tight, confined space with him, the shifter in the middle of the seats being the only thing separating us. Once we were on the road, he hit the throttle. The car lifted to the right, my head jerked back, and I could feel the rumble in the floorboards from the exhaust. He was going fast. I wanted to tell him to slow down but it didn’t come out because of the exhilaration I felt.
Everyone but Gavin stayed behind. He followed us in his own car. I chuckled as I thought about how ironic it was that everyone but Gavin was partying at Gavin’s house. Chloe had been incredibly disappointed when Logan left so quickly after he had arrived, giving him a pouty face as he left. I wondered what their relationship was, but then quickly brushed the thought aside, telling myself that it didn’t matter and that I shouldn’t care.
We approached a gas station packed with what seemed to be twenty different compact cars in the lot, some with their hoods up, many of them looking incredibly flashy. A group of people surrounded the cars, and as we drove by, a girl pointed to us and shouted something, causing the people to scatter back to their cars and disperse from the gas station, following us to our destination.
We arrived at an industrial park a few minutes later. The people got out of their cars as they parked, some staying close to us, others going up the road further.
“Stay in the car for a minute. I’ll be right back,” Logan instructed me as he got out of the car.
Clearly, he wasn’t aware that I didn’t take orders from anyone, and I followed him out, causing him to stop at the sound of my door closing.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed, as he looked at me with a confused expression.
“What?! You’re not the boss of me,” I so eloquently replied, causing his confusion to melt into amusement. I giggled at my childish remark. Didn’t he know I’ve never been to anything like this before? I wasn’t about to sit, waiting around in a car while there was all this activity. How boring would that have been?
“Alright then,” he replied as he extended his hand out to me.
I placed my hand in his, and we walked over to where Gavin was already in a negotiation with another guy, who looked older, mid-twenties maybe. The intense, anxious look in the guy’s eyes, along with his constant rocking and fidgeting, hinted to the fact that he was not here for fun. They seemed to finish their negotiation just as we approached.
“Are we all set, Derrick” Logan asked his competitor.
“Yeah, we’re good, man,” he replied.
Logan turned to Gavin for confirmation.
Gavin nodded. “Let’s do it, man.”
Logan shook hands with Derrick then began to walk back to his car, pulling me with him.
Geez, that was quick. They must mean business.
Logan looked at me for a moment, contemplating something, then smirked and turned around, looking back at Gavin and the man.
“Oh, and Liv’s gonna be the flag girl,” he announced with a gigantic grin.
“What?!” My eyes widened and my heart started pounding. “What the hell does that mean? What does a flag girl do?”
“Don’t worry, Liv. It’ll be fun,” he encouraged. “You’re going to tell us when to go. All you have to do is stand between the cars, lift your hands up above your head, and whe
n you want us to go, drop them down to your sides.” His reassurance settled me slightly, and my panic dissolved into excitement.
“Ok, fine. I’ll do it.” I replied with only a slight hesitation.
He pointed to a spot in the road. “That’s where you’ll stand,” he said, then he and Derrick got into their cars.
I stepped into place, facing Logan’s Mustang on my left, and the man’s royal blue Honda Civic on my right. The drivers revved their engines. Looking over to my right, the man with his brows deeply furrowed, and a focused, troubled expression, nodded that he was ready to go.
I looked to my left, seeing the corner of Logan’s mouth turned up as his eyes met mine, and with an expression exuding calmness with a twinge of excitement, he nodded, indicating that he was ready. Looking away from me and towards the road in front of him, he became more focused but still seemed entertained.
Adrenaline began to course through my veins. All eyes were on me as I lifted my hands in the air and held them up for a few seconds. Engines revved. Then, the very moment that I abruptly forced my hands down to my sides, the engines roared like lions, tires squealed, and the hot wind from the cars as they quickly flew by, gave me an incredible rush.
Smoke and the burning rubber from the tires, combined with exhaust, filled the air as I turned around to observe the race. But I couldn’t tell who was winning from where I was standing. Cheering sounds from the crowd up the road alerted me to the fact that the race was already finished, and before I knew it, the cars turned around and headed back.
The Honda Civic sped towards me. Derrick slammed on his brakes five feet in front of me and immediately jumped out of his car.
“Fuck!” he shouted as he slammed the door violently. He must’ve lost the race. He stomped over to a group of women and grabbed one of them by the arm. “We’re leaving…Now!” he demanded.
“What the hell, Derrick?!” the woman argued, ripping her arm away from his grasp.
The Fine Line Page 2