Daynight Racer (Completed)

Chapter 22

Dinner with Ashley was, well... Normal. Besides the part when Lyst shared about her contract extension causing her friend to hug her tight for two minutes, they both ate in silence, only occasionally exchanging a few words between themselves. Lyst knew Ashley had a tiring day, so she provided her with sufficient space out of respect.

After cleaning up, Lyst found herself sitting alone in her room, staring at the ceiling, letting her mind wander. She still couldn't believe she had told Richard about her thoughts on contract termination. What was she thinking? At the time, it wasn't even a coherent thought in her head, just a silly idea that popped out of nowhere. But now that she had said it out loud, it became more serious, like a new voice in her mind guiding her towards the potential outcome of quitting racing.

For the past few months, due to her dedication to Formula 3, the idea of revisiting street racing hadn't really crossed her mind at all. But now, she missed the intense, adrenaline pumping atmosphere of heavily modified cars blasting past hyper-enthusiastic crowds.

She couldn't help but wonder what the street racing scene looked like now. At the start of the year, Lindsay mentioned that the community was struggling. But a few months had gone by now. In this period of time, could she have turned everything around? Was street racing still the spectacle that it once was? Or had everything come crashing down?

At the thought of that, Lyst grimaced. She didn't know for sure, but she had the urge to find out for herself.

With a jerk of her hand, she pushed herself upright. She grabbed the Obsidian's keys from one of the cabinets, and left her room.

Ashley noticed her at the doorway. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to find Lindsay," answered Lyst. She stopped in her tracks. "You wanna come?"

With a wave of her hand, Ashley declined. "No thanks. I'm watching the news right now. There's some serious stuff going on, look." She gestured towards the television, showing a picture of a man. "They're talking about this ill-famed loan shark. Damien, I think his name is? But he was recently arrested and sent to prison."

Lyst nodded. Although she didn't think this piece of news concerned her a lot, it was good to have an idea about what's happening in the world. After all, she would rather not be living under a rock.

Ashley turned her focus back towards the television, and Lyst took that as her cue to leave. She stepped out of the house and sauntered over to Obsidian. Dropping herself into the comfortable bucket seat, she twisted the key. The engine fired up, purring a heartwarming tune that resonated deeply with every fibre of her being, pulling her lips up into a smile.

***

Despite having not travelled these town roads for quite a while, Lyst still had them memorised at the back of her mind. Well, she could never really forget them anyways. They're a part of who she was as a person. She crafted memories on these roads, some sweet, others bitter. But driving along them washed her with a wave of familiarity and nostalgia that she very much welcomed.

The traffic lights located at the side of the junction lit up in bright red. In the absence of sunlight, it stained the objects around it in a very apparent reddish tint. With a smooth, satisfying rev match, Lyst rolled Obsidian down to a stop. She waited patiently as the other cars drove by her.

They look so normal, so... stock. I look like an absolute freak in this beast of a car.

For some reason, the thought made the ends of her lips twitch into a smile. Composing herself once more, she watched as the lights turned green again. Like she had done a million times, she engaged first gear and gently dropped the clutch, letting the car roll forward before gaining some speed.