Silently Falling in Love: Race (THE EDITED VERSION)

Chapter 11 - Race

Anjali July 1990

"Hey, how are you?" Arjun asked me as I lay on my bed.

"Hey yourself. I'm great. How are you?"

"You sound thrilled; any reason?"

"Yes," I laughed softly into the phone so my parents wouldn't hear me.

"Are you going to tell me why?"

"Why don't you guess?"

"Okay, I'll bite. You went shopping and got an awesome deal on a designer dress."

"That's so stereotypical and no that's not the reason."

"If it wasn't a dress, was it a new pair of jeans?"

"If I were next to you I'd smack you! It has nothing to do with shopping."

"You saw Katherine today?"

"No. She's not the reason for my cheery mood."

"Another friend?"

"No. It's something I did today."

"Give me a hint."

"I went with my brother."

"You went to New York City and hung out for the day."

"That's not it either."

"I give up!" Arjun exclaimed.

"I went racing today! It was so much fun!!! It's the first time I've gone this summer. Do you race?"

"Race what?" he asked stupidly.

"Cars what did you think?"

"Like remote controlled cars? You don't seem like the type."

"No, not remote-controlled cars, REAL CARS! It's one of my favorite things to do."

"Like drag racing?"

"No. We go to a speedway and race sports cars around the track. I even beat my brother several times – which is awesome given I haven't raced all school year."

"What did you race?"

"An F3! God, I love speed."

"Like a real race car - the one professionals' race?"

"Yup. The one and only and it felt awesome. Do you race?"

"Absolutely not! I definitely don't race; I'm not stupid, Ama... I will never race! And you shouldn't race either; what the hell was your brother thinking!"

It was weird it almost sounded like he was about to say something about Amar. His negativity towards racing surprised me.

"My dad was there with us. He's the one who taught us to race. Don't worry, we've been racing for a while. My dad wouldn't let us do it if we sucked at it. Arjun, you really have to try it. Let's find a racetrack in California and I'll take you."

"No thanks, I'm good. I'm not interested. And you shouldn't be interested either. Are you looking for a death wish?" Arjun said in a parental voice.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it," I laughed into the phone.

"Arjun, when are you going to be off the phone? You know there are others in the house that would like to use the phone too!" I heard Amar yell in the background followed by a loud knocking.

Then I heard another big thud before Arjun spoke. "I just got on! Wait your turn!"

"Mom!" I heard Amar yelling, "I need to call Christina before it's too late. It's almost 10pm her time. Can't you get Arjun to hurry!"