Girl on Track

70| Quite the view

The whole ride home, my parents can't stop gushing about my win. Even my mother has forgotten how worried she was about my safety and tells me she knew I could do it. I try to enjoy it, and a big part of me does, but I also can't stop thinking about Tyler. I've messaged three times, and other than a brief I'm okay and I'll see you tonight, there's been nothing; I just hope I was able to get through to his dad, or tonight won't be much of a celebration.

Back at the house, Mom surprises me with a two-tier cake shaped like a motorcycle, the words Congratulations on your win written in icing across the top. Smiling, I say, "What would you have done if I'd lost?"

Dad grins as Mom starts to cut up the cake and serve it onto our plates. "Feed it to you anyway."

"Sociopaths."

"Hey," Dad says through a mouthful of cake, "we're not the ones who used to tie up Barbie and Ken and waterboard them in the bathtub."

Mom gives him a disapproving look and says, "Just be happy she turned out as well as she did. It was touch and go for a while there."

"True," Dad says, and they give me this look like they think they're so funny even though they're not. "Anyway," Dad continues, "I kind of have some news I wanted to share with you both. I'm thinking of spending more time at the track – maybe get a job there helping the riders out or something."

He risks a look at Mom, no doubt expecting her to be mad at the thought of him wanting to go to the track, but instead she smiles softly and pushes back his hair before giving him a kiss on the forehead. "I think that sounds like a lovely idea. You can keep an eye on Roxy while you're at it. Speaking of which–" she turns to me now, raising an eyebrow in that motherly way she's perfected so well, "–we've been invited to Mojack's tonight to celebrate your win. You don't mind if we come, do you?"

"As long as Dad keeps his psychopathic stories of my childhood to himself, I don't mind."

The plan is for everyone to head to Mojacks for seven, so as soon as I've finished my cake, I shower and change into something more casual before checking my phone. There's a message from Kianna asking how the tournament went, and I send her one back saying, I WON.

Straight away, her name pops up on my screen as a FaceTime. "Oh my god," she says over and over, "I'm so frickin' proud of you, Roxy."

Just the sound of her voice has this way of comforting me. Despite the distance and us not talking as much as I once thought we would, it's nice to know that no matter how much time passes, she's always my biggest fan. "I just wish you could have been here," I say. "Can't you come and visit in the summer?"

"I know, me too," she says. "If I can save up enough money, I should be able to come for a few days, though there's no way you're getting me on a bike."

"We don't have to ride. There are other things to do here, surprisingly."

She snorts. "Not from the way you tell it."

I realize she's right. I've spent so much time focused on riding that I wonder if maybe now's the time to explore Pinewood properly. "Well, then you'll just have to see for yourself."

She grins in the way I've missed before catching me up on everything back in Arizona. When we're finished, I tell her I'll talk to her soon and finish my makeup before heading downstairs. For some reason, I'm nervous about seeing everybody tonight. It's not often the whole town gathers in one place. For once, those different versions of myself I've been trying to balance will be forced to coexist; I just hope it works out.

By the time we get to Mojack's, the place is busier than I've ever seen it. Mom pushes Dad through the doors as I bring up the rear, but I can barely walk two feet before people start cheering and patting my back. I manage a few smiles and lackluster waves before making a beeline for Niko and Vanessa over by the bar.