pieces of wood and
tossed them into the big round fire pit and, after a short while,
we had a nice crackling blaze.
Some sat around the fire
while others wandered down to the water’s edge. It was just a
little bit nippy in the March air, so my jacket actually felt good
and the fire was a perfect complement to the night. Ryan and Jewels
were into a pretty deep conversation so I didn’t have any worries
about him and Evan causing friction. Kev and Carlie were beside us,
Kevin having vaulted into an explanation about the special effects
from the movie. Evan looked over and asked if I’d like to walk to
the water. There were other people there so I felt it was safe.
Once we were far enough away, he asked me what I’d driven on the
speedway. I grinned and looked down at my feet trudging through the
sand.
“ Your VW isn’t your first
car, is it?” He sounded fairly sure of my answer.
Now I had to decide how
much to say. I’d told him my family had money, but I never said how
much. I knew his family must also have money, simply because most
teenagers don’t have a brand new forty-five-thousand dollar car to
drive, so would it matter to him? “I’ll tell you, but on one
condition.” I stopped walking and looked up, my hair getting
tousled by the wind. He took both hands and tucked the fluttering
strands behind my ears.
“ What?”
“ You’re getting information
about me, but I know almost nothing about you.”
The smile slowly faded from
his face, “There isn’t much to tell.” He turned and continued
walking toward the water.
“ I still want to know more
about you.”
He rubbed the hidden scar
on his arm. “You may not like what you hear. Tell me about your
car—your real car.”
I was assuming that was as
close to a yes as I was going to get. We reached the place where
the loose sand became compacted and I lowered myself to sit with my
knees drawn up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. He
followed suit, putting himself hip to hip with me.
“ Before I turned old enough
to get my restricted, my mom bought me a Jaguar—so I could learn
how to drive,” I added.
He let out something that sounded like
a half laugh, “Nice first car to learn in.”
“ Yeah, but it was an
automatic and the kind of driving school I attended…” I let my
words fall into nothingness.
“ Not your average driving
school, I take it?”
“ No, not at all. And, if I
was going to learn how to do some of the more—more challenging
moves, I needed a manual transmission and a faster car.”
“ Daddy to the rescue,
right? You talked your dad into something sportier than what your
mother bought?”
“ No—Dad thought I was too
young to have a car. So I bought myself a Porsche 911.”
He got a funny look on his
face as he stared at me. “That explains your driving.”
“ I wanted to at least see
what it could do.”
“ At least ,” he mused.
“ So my driving instructor
got special permission for me to try it out on the speedway. There
was nothing going on there so I had some privacy. Tony said I could
try my favorite moves and then I could run it flat-out on the
track, but only for the length of one…”
“ Song,” he finished for me.
“So how fast did it go?”
I was trying my best to be
humble at that moment, but I could remember the thrill of nearly
unchecked speed. “I ran mostly about one-fifty, one-sixty, but I
got it up to one-ninety before I lost my nerve.”
“ I don’t believe that,” he
said rather nonchalantly.
“ It’s the truth! I really
did run on Daytona,” I insisted
“ Oh, I believe that. I
can’t believe you lost your nerve.”
“ I’m not a big risk taker…”
I started to say, when he burst into laughter and rolled back on to
the sand.
“ What?” I stretched out on
the sand as well, rolling to my side to face him. It was cold and
slightly damp, but it was worth it to get a good view of the
genuine happy look on his face.
“ You are not a risk taker?
I saw
tossed them into the big round fire pit and, after a short while,
we had a nice crackling blaze.
Some sat around the fire
while others wandered down to the water’s edge. It was just a
little bit nippy in the March air, so my jacket actually felt good
and the fire was a perfect complement to the night. Ryan and Jewels
were into a pretty deep conversation so I didn’t have any worries
about him and Evan causing friction. Kev and Carlie were beside us,
Kevin having vaulted into an explanation about the special effects
from the movie. Evan looked over and asked if I’d like to walk to
the water. There were other people there so I felt it was safe.
Once we were far enough away, he asked me what I’d driven on the
speedway. I grinned and looked down at my feet trudging through the
sand.
“ Your VW isn’t your first
car, is it?” He sounded fairly sure of my answer.
Now I had to decide how
much to say. I’d told him my family had money, but I never said how
much. I knew his family must also have money, simply because most
teenagers don’t have a brand new forty-five-thousand dollar car to
drive, so would it matter to him? “I’ll tell you, but on one
condition.” I stopped walking and looked up, my hair getting
tousled by the wind. He took both hands and tucked the fluttering
strands behind my ears.
“ What?”
“ You’re getting information
about me, but I know almost nothing about you.”
The smile slowly faded from
his face, “There isn’t much to tell.” He turned and continued
walking toward the water.
“ I still want to know more
about you.”
He rubbed the hidden scar
on his arm. “You may not like what you hear. Tell me about your
car—your real car.”
I was assuming that was as
close to a yes as I was going to get. We reached the place where
the loose sand became compacted and I lowered myself to sit with my
knees drawn up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. He
followed suit, putting himself hip to hip with me.
“ Before I turned old enough
to get my restricted, my mom bought me a Jaguar—so I could learn
how to drive,” I added.
He let out something that sounded like
a half laugh, “Nice first car to learn in.”
“ Yeah, but it was an
automatic and the kind of driving school I attended…” I let my
words fall into nothingness.
“ Not your average driving
school, I take it?”
“ No, not at all. And, if I
was going to learn how to do some of the more—more challenging
moves, I needed a manual transmission and a faster car.”
“ Daddy to the rescue,
right? You talked your dad into something sportier than what your
mother bought?”
“ No—Dad thought I was too
young to have a car. So I bought myself a Porsche 911.”
He got a funny look on his
face as he stared at me. “That explains your driving.”
“ I wanted to at least see
what it could do.”
“ At least ,” he mused.
“ So my driving instructor
got special permission for me to try it out on the speedway. There
was nothing going on there so I had some privacy. Tony said I could
try my favorite moves and then I could run it flat-out on the
track, but only for the length of one…”
“ Song,” he finished for me.
“So how fast did it go?”
I was trying my best to be
humble at that moment, but I could remember the thrill of nearly
unchecked speed. “I ran mostly about one-fifty, one-sixty, but I
got it up to one-ninety before I lost my nerve.”
“ I don’t believe that,” he
said rather nonchalantly.
“ It’s the truth! I really
did run on Daytona,” I insisted
“ Oh, I believe that. I
can’t believe you lost your nerve.”
“ I’m not a big risk taker…”
I started to say, when he burst into laughter and rolled back on to
the sand.
“ What?” I stretched out on
the sand as well, rolling to my side to face him. It was cold and
slightly damp, but it was worth it to get a good view of the
genuine happy look on his face.
“ You are not a risk taker?
I saw
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