The Precious One ✔

Chapter 12

After cheerleading practice, I ran upstairs to do as much homework as possible before I had to get ready for my date with Chris. Dad's working as perusal so we probably won't see him till Monday.

My plan to do homework backfired greatly when I found myself too distracted by the thought of seeing Chris. So I jumped in the shower and spend almost an hour trying to find something to wear.

Eventually, I pick a black flowy skater skirt, that sits mid thigh, worn with black pantyhose, and a mustard yellow cable knit sweater. Last but not least I add black leather ankle boots, and loosely curl my long blond hair.

For makeup, I apply some bb cream, concealer, nude eyeshadow, a thick layer of mascara, and a little lip balm.

With that, I make my way downstairs. Immediately I spot Gina standing at the bottom of the stair case with a wide smile. Her mid-length chestnut brown hair is pushed behind her ears, and her brown eyes are directed at me.

"Mi precioso you look Hermosa" Gina takes a step back to admire my outfit, as I make it to the bottom of the staircase.

Suddenly Ned speeds down the stairs in dark jeans, sneakers and an olive green hoodie. "Where are you off to?" I ask him curiously.

"The tracks" Ned announces as grabbing his coat from the closet by the door.

"Tracks?" I furrow my brows in confusion.

"To street race" he specifies.

"Isn't the illegal?" I fold my arms judgmentally.

Illegal activity is the last thing Ned needs. If dad finds out he'll flip out. Our dad is a cop with a lot of connections but despite this, he wouldn't use his position to help Ned. I honestly believe that if Ned were to get into trouble with the law, our father wouldn't help him at all.

"What? You planning on telling somebody?" He cocks a brow as pulling out his car keys from his back pocket.

I shake my head as he walks towards Gina "No"

"Then we have no problem" he redirects his gaze at Gina. "Adiós Hermosa" he kisses her cheek.

"Your Spanish is getting better, Mi niño Guapo" she places her hands on both sides of his cheeks "what's this about illegal? Huh, you don't get into trouble?"

He smirks "who me? Never" Ned glances at me "have fun on your date, remember don't do anything I would do" with that he exits the house.

I laugh. That's good advice. Dad says it to me a lot. He constantly tells me to do the opposite of whatever Ned does. I guess subconsciously I always make sure that I do.

Beep Beep

My eyes widen as I smile at Gina "he's here"

"Have fun mi Precioso" she encourages as wrapping her arms around me.

"Thank you, I will" I smile as taking my coat, and walking slowly out of my house.

In the corner of my eye, I spot Ned turning the garage lights on. Drag racing, he could get seriously hurt. But I know for a fact that he wouldn't listen to my objections, I guess there's no real point trying to convince him otherwise.

Gina opens the gate from inside the house, allowing me to get exit our property. I spot Chris's car at the kerb. Well here goes nothing I guess.

"Hey, beautiful" Chris smiles widely as I jump into the passenger seat of his car.

"Hi" I grin as my heart flutters. I notice his button up navy blue shirt and dark jeans "you look nice"

"Thanks" he smiles "You look incredible"

"Thank you" I blush slightly as he begins driving down the street "so uh where are we going?"

"Have you heard of Moretti's?" Chris cocks a brow, causing me to respond with a head shake "Well it's this really great Italian restaurant"

I smile "its sounds nice"

Chris smiles sweetly "So what's Ned doing tonight?"

I sigh in annoyance "street racing, can you believe that?"

"Uh" he nods "he's with Sam"

I blink "he's street racing with Sam?"

Sam? Why does that not surprise me. I should have known it was Sam's idea.

"Yeah them two and some others verse the other schools" Chris explains "Blake and Jenny are spectating"

"Unbelievable" I mutter under my breath.

Sam is a bad influence on Ned. Ned hasn't done anything illegal in his life, now Sam's teaching me how to break the law? He doesn't need any help getting himself into trouble.

"You and your brother are so different" Chris observes "he acts so broken...whereas you're so....put together"

Ned and I are very different people. I guess he just has all these feelings and doesn't know what to do with them. I try my hardest to use all my pain for something good.

I shrug "Life isn't about the cards that you've been dealt. It's about how you play the hand. A wise poker player can take a weak hand and still win the game" I inform "that's the difference between my brother and me"

"Is that what you're doing?" He raises a brow "Bluffing?"

"No, I think that I take my pain and use it as fuel....whereas Ned uses it for destruction" I look down.

"Well, I hope one day you feel comfortable enough to tell me about the pain that you and brother share" Chris half smiles sympathetically.

Oh, I wish I could. God knows what would happen if the authorities got a hold of our lieutenant father physically abusing Ned. If either Ned or I were to tell anybody, the consequences would be awful.

I really don't like the idea of Ned being on the tracks. He could get seriously hurt. Or he could get into a fight with somebody. Sam, Blake, and Jenny don't know my brother well. They don't understand how fragile he truly is.

"The uh restaurant....you didn't make a reservation right?" I furrow my brows.

"No" he shakes his head "you just turn up and they seat you"

I nod "I hate to do this to you but can we go to the tracks instead?"

Chris shoots me a blank look "I thought you were against the idea"

"Yeah, I know...but Ned's there...my destructive, short-tempered brother, who is competing with other schools in an illegal activity-" I start.

"Yeah I see your point" Chris nods

"Thank you" I half smile as he turns the car around.