Status and Glory

I locked the front door and walked down the front steps to my bike. I got on it, strapped my helmet on, and revved the engine before driving away from my house. It was an hour to the time for the race, but I had to leave early. The track was a forty-minute drive from here, so to avoid arriving late, I had to be on my way an hour before. I always got gas on my way there, so I calculated it all together.

Thirty minutes after, I was filling my tank and shortly after I was back on the road. I got to the tracks five minutes before the race.

Eli was all over me by the time I got there. He handed me the keys to my Lamborghini and guided me to it before slipping on my leather gloves for me. Eli had possession of my Lamborghini because I couldn't go home with a Lamborghini that my parents didn't buy for me and I couldn't use the one they bought for me to race, they'd lose their shit if it got scratched even just a little.

I always raced with my leather gloves on. I considered them my lucky charm. The first time I raced and won, I had them on and since then I always wore them to race and I hadn't lost a race ever since.

My opponent, Red, stood by his car, waiting for me with a cocky smirk on his face. His smirk deepened when he saw me.

"So you're the Phoenix, huh?" He sounded like the typical cocky rich kid.

"And you're Red," I lifted a brow at him.

He just chuckled before quickly kissing the blonde bimbo beside him and getting into his car.

We didn't use our real names on the track and so Phoenix was my track name. Only those that knew me outside the tracks knew my real name.

Eli appeared behind me and turned around, and pressed my lips to his. The kiss was for two seconds, but I could taste and smell the alcohol and the cigarette on his breath. He was stiff with shock because I always kissed him on the cheek and not on the lips. He was the only person I would dare kiss since I didn't know anyone else but him and Nick, who was basically his shadow, here on the tracks. If Eli wasn't around, I would pick a random person to kiss on the lips.

It was a law of the tracks that, before any race, the racers must kiss someone. I didn't know why, but it was a tradition and everyone went along with it.

I drove to the beginning of the tracks and watched as Theo counted. At three I revved my engine and immediately he wove the flag I was speeding down the tracks.

Red was fast and had good control, I gave him that, so for the first lap of the race I made it look like he was winning, not leaving so much gap between us and by the time we get to the second lap I was ahead of him but not by much, I could increase the gap but I chose not to, I had to let him believe he could still win me. At the beginning of the last lap, I stepped on the gas but he was faster, coming in front of me. I had to slow down so I wouldn't run into him. About 400 meters from the finish line, I swerved to the side, and as expected, he followed me. I smirked before swerving back to the other side and this time I was faster and I sped right past him, crossing the finish line before him.

As I hit the break a few meters after the finish line, I looked at my rearview mirror and a second after Red crossed the finish line.

I climbed out of the car, and everyone rushed to my car, cheering and screaming. I handed the key to Eli and followed him out of the crowd of people. Once we had gotten to my bike, he gave me my share of the cash and I shoved it in my backpack that I brought along with me. I secured the bag on my back, got on my bike, and wore my helmet. I was about to start the engine and drive off when I heard my name, which made me pause.

I looked behind me and saw Red jogging toward me.

"Nice ride," he nodded at my bike.

"Thanks." I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to get to why he called my attention.

"You're good, I give you that. Do you want to hang out some other time?" He almost looked shy.

I shook my head and scoffed, "no thank you." And with that, I drove off.

When I got back home, I was too tired to take off my clothes, so I got into bed like that.I locked the front door and walked down the front steps to my bike. I got on it, strapped my helmet on, and revved the engine before driving away from my house. It was an hour to the time for the race, but I had to leave early. The track was a forty-minute drive from here, so to avoid arriving late, I had to be on my way an hour before. I always got gas on my way there, so I calculated it all together.

Thirty minutes after, I was filling my tank and shortly after I was back on the road. I got to the tracks five minutes before the race.

Eli was all over me by the time I got there. He handed me the keys to my Lamborghini and guided me to it before slipping on my leather gloves for me. Eli had possession of my Lamborghini because I couldn't go home with a Lamborghini that my parents didn't buy for me and I couldn't use the one they bought for me to race, they'd lose their shit if it got scratched even just a little.

I always raced with my leather gloves on. I considered them my lucky charm. The first time I raced and won, I had them on and since then I always wore them to race and I hadn't lost a race ever since.

My opponent, Red, stood by his car, waiting for me with a cocky smirk on his face. His smirk deepened when he saw me.

"So you're the Phoenix, huh?" He sounded like the typical cocky rich kid.

"And you're Red," I lifted a brow at him.

He just chuckled before quickly kissing the blonde bimbo beside him and getting into his car.

We didn't use our real names on the track and so Phoenix was my track name. Only those that knew me outside the tracks knew my real name.

Eli appeared behind me and turned around, and pressed my lips to his. The kiss was for two seconds, but I could taste and smell the alcohol and the cigarette on his breath. He was stiff with shock because I always kissed him on the cheek and not on the lips. He was the only person I would dare kiss since I didn't know anyone else but him and Nick, who was basically his shadow, here on the tracks. If Eli wasn't around, I would pick a random person to kiss on the lips.

It was a law of the tracks that, before any race, the racers must kiss someone. I didn't know why, but it was a tradition and everyone went along with it.

I drove to the beginning of the tracks and watched as Theo counted. At three I revved my engine and immediately he wove the flag I was speeding down the tracks.

Red was fast and had good control, I gave him that, so for the first lap of the race I made it look like he was winning, not leaving so much gap between us and by the time we get to the second lap I was ahead of him but not by much, I could increase the gap but I chose not to, I had to let him believe he could still win me. At the beginning of the last lap, I stepped on the gas but he was faster, coming in front of me. I had to slow down so I wouldn't run into him. About 400 meters from the finish line, I swerved to the side, and as expected, he followed me. I smirked before swerving back to the other side and this time I was faster and I sped right past him, crossing the finish line before him.

As I hit the break a few meters after the finish line, I looked at my rearview mirror and a second after Red crossed the finish line.

I climbed out of the car, and everyone rushed to my car, cheering and screaming. I handed the key to Eli and followed him out of the crowd of people. Once we had gotten to my bike, he gave me my share of the cash and I shoved it in my backpack that I brought along with me. I secured the bag on my back, got on my bike, and wore my helmet. I was about to start the engine and drive off when I heard my name, which made me pause.

I looked behind me and saw Red jogging toward me.

"Nice ride," he nodded at my bike.

"Thanks." I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to get to why he called my attention.

"You're good, I give you that. Do you want to hang out some other time?" He almost looked shy.

I shook my head and scoffed, "no thank you." And with that, I drove off.

When I got back home, I was too tired to take off my clothes, so I got into bed like that.

***

I took the first step up the stairs leading into the school building when I caught the eyes of the nerd from yesterday. He was looking at me, but not the way everyone else was. He stared at me with so much curiosity in his eyes. I tore my gaze from him, but not before I caught the smirk on his face.

When I got to my locker, Jane and Chloe were there, obviously gossiping. When they saw me, a huge grin broke out on their faces. I raised an inquisitive brow at them.

"Hey guys, why are you grinning like that?" I put in my combination and sighed in content when it clicked open.

"There are two new students resuming today and they are the definition of hot," they said in unison, and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay," I said with a flat tome. "Is that all?" I shoved my bag into my locker, holding my English textbook and my note in my hands.

Their faces fell, making me laugh. That wasn't the expression they were expecting. Boys were the last thing on my mind and new hot guys didn't faze me.

"Liv, loosen up a bit, hook up with someone," Jane said, her lips forming into a pout.

"I have Callum." I closed my locker and rested my weight on it.

They both gave themselves a knowing look before facing me again.

"That aside, you hardly hang out with us anymore," Chloe spoke while poking my arm. My heart sunk a little.

"Sorry, I've been caught up with a lot of things." Honestly, I wasn't exactly occupied with so many things, but how would I tell my best friends the social person in me was taking a break? "Let's go get a smoothie today after practice?" I suggested, trying to save my ass.

Jane, Chloe and I have been best friends all our lives, and it hurt knowing that my distance was hurting them.

"Sure," Chloe nodded, her brown locks bouncing with her head.

"Alright," Jane smiled as she locked her hand with mine. Chloe did the same.

When we were close to our English class, Jane and Chloe gasped at the same time and stopped in their tracks, causing me to do the same. I was about to ask them what was going on, but noticed they trained their eyes on something in front of us.

I followed their gaze and realized the something was actually someone. And that someone was Red.

Could this day get any weirder? First, the nerd was looking at me in a funny way and now Red was in my school. What was he doing here? I never thought that he was still in high school.

There was a guy beside him. He had red hair and grey eyes and just like Eli; he had a lip ring and tattoos on his arm.

Red's eyes met mine. He smirked and closed his locker before walking in our direction. Chloe and Jane seemed stuck because no matter how hard I tugged them, they remained standing at the same spot and their eyes widened when Red and the other guy started walking towards us.

Every other person in the hall had their eyes on us, wondering why Red and his friend were now heading towards us.

Red stopped in front of me with that smirk still on his face. "Phoenix, what a pleasant surprise!"

I rolled my eyes. "Red, what are you doing here?"

He chuckled, "same thing you're doing here."

I spotted the nerd from earlier from the corner of my eye and I looked at him. His eyes met mine for a second and a smirk appeared on his face.

Why is today so weird?

I turned away from him and looked back at Red. "I'll see you around Red," I pulled Chloe and Jane away this time and everyone went back to their business.

Now they had something to gossip about.

Jane and Chloe didn't stop asking me how I knew Red and why he called me Phoenix, so when we got to the front of our English classroom, I stopped in my tracks and looked at them.

No one in school knew I raced at the tracks and even if they did, it was never a topic of discussion, mainly because the tracks is almost at the end of this town and no one went that way especially at midnight unless you had a reason to be there.

"Guys, just drop it," I told them before pushing open the door to our English classroom and stepping in.