Spy Racers: World Tour

Chapter 2: What's up with Toretto?

POV Layla

Layla should've been ecstatic. She and Tony were nearing the end of their race and she was currently beating him by a larger margin than any other time they'd raced before. But something felt off. She realized Tony hadn't said anything over the comms since they'd passed the halfway point. Usually he couldn't shut up, responding to her sarcastic comments with quips of his own- especially when he was losing. Layla didn't know what to make of the sudden silence.

Maybe that was Tony's plan. Let her think she had the win in the bag and then act weird to distract her so he could pull ahead at the finish. Then again, a strategy like that required thinking ahead, which wasn't exactly Tony's style. Whatever was going on with him, though, would just have to wait until after Layla won the race.

As they came around the last turn, Layla made sure to take the inside, cutting off Tony's last chance at passing her before the straightaway, where she floored it and sped across the line a full car-length ahead of him. Frostee had been filming the race with his drone so they could rewatch the finish if it was close like usual, but this time there was no question who had won.

"Yeehaw, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Layla exclaimed, stepping out of her car triumphantly. "Told you I was gonna win, Toretto!"

She watched as Tony got out of his own car, looking a little dazed but regaining some composure as the team gathered around.

"Yeah...whatever," He replied, crossing his arms and leaning against his car.

Layla raised an eyebrow and the rest of the crew exchanged glances. Tony Toretto with nothing to say after losing a race? This was new.

"Uh, what's wrong with him?" Frostee muttered to Cisco.

"I don't know but I don't like it," Cisco replied nervously.

"Yo, T, you're not even gonna ask for a rematch?" Echo asked. "That's, like, kind of your thing."

"Nah, it's cool," Tony said, straightening up. "I can take a loss. We said one race, and Layla won fair and square. Nice driving, by the way." He added, giving Layla a thumbs up.

Echo, Frostee, Cisco and Layla gaped at him. Tony shrugged.

"What?"

"It's just," Layla began, choosing her words carefully. "You don't normally take losses this well. I mean, usually when we race you're still arguing over who won a week later."

"Yeah, T," Echo agreed. "What gives?"

"Uh, I don't know," Tony replied. "Maybe I'm just growing as a person?"

Layla didn't buy that for a second, and she was pretty sure no one else did either. Not that Tony wasn't a good guy- he was a great guy, actually- but he was insanely competitive, especially when it came to racing. There's no way he would've been this okay with losing unless something else was going on.

"That's great and all," Layla said. "But are you sure nothing's bothering you? You didn't say a word to me the whole second half of the race. No insults, no teasing, nothing. And then you complimented my driving? That's not what we do, Toretto. What's going on?

"Oh, uh, my comms stopped working." Tony replied quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. Then, apparently having just registered her last comment, he furrowed his brow and crossed his arms "And what do you mean? I've complimented you before."

"Okay, okay," Frostee said. "Look, if Tony says he's fine, then he's fine. I'll tell Miss Nowhere that Layla's our driver. And we should probably head back to the garage- I want to do some more research on this Grand Prix before we leave tonight and we've got to get Layla's car ready."

While Frostee was right that they needed to get going, Layla was a bit put off by the fact that he didn't seem to think anything weird was going on with Tony. Maybe the kid was just better at reading code than reading people.

"Uh, I'll meet you guys there," Tony said, heading back to his car. "I'm gonna go, um, pick up some FroYo for the trip. You know, since the machine is broken and all and, uh...yeah"

With that, he threw up finger guns, got in his car, and drove off. Layla didn't know what to think.

"Okay, that was weird, even for Tony," Echo said.

"That's what I'm saying," Layla agreed. She turned to Frostee. "You seriously believe him that nothing's wrong?"

"Oh, he's definitely acting weird," Frostee said with a shrug. "But I think I know why. I thought something was wrong at first too, but then you mentioned how he complimented your driving and how he didn't insult you at all during the race. That, and he didn't seem to mind that you won. Tony says he's growing as a person, but I'm pretty sure he just likes you."

"Yeah, right," Layla scoffed.

"I don't know, Layla," Cisco said. "That would explain why he was acting weird when you asked him about that stuff."

"Seriously?" Layla protested, crossing her arms. "I don't believe this. Echo, help me out here! There has to be a better reason Toretto is being weird."

Echo shrugged.

"Sorry, dawg. I think they could be onto something."

Layla couldn't believe what she was hearing. They seriously thought Toretto had acted the way he had just because he liked her? That made no sense. Tony wouldn't throw away a chance at winning for something like that. He was way too competitive. Also, why would he even like her in the first place? She'd quite literally tried to throw his car off the side of a mountain before. And then slapped him when they reached the top. Sure, they were on the same team now, but still.

"Y'all are idiots. There's no way Toretto would throw a race because of some stupid crush. Something's going on with him."

"Look, if you wanna know so bad, why don't you just ask him?" Echo replied.

"I'll bet you ten bucks I'm right," Frostee said, taking the cash from his pocket and handing it to Layla.

"Yeah, you won't be gettin this back," Layla replied smugly, taking the money from him. "Cuz I'm gonna prove y'all wrong."