Stuck With You

5: Smoke and tires

I practically flew out of school and all the way home. The week was over. Finally. I dropped my back pack inside the door of the house and jogged into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Bridget, my foster mother, was sitting at the counter on her laptop. "You're home quick." She said, not bothering to look up.

I grabbed a package of Poptarts out of the pantry. "I guess I just walked fast." She didn't respond. Big surprise. "I'll be back tonight." I grabbed some money off the counter and left without waiting for a response. I wouldn't get one anyway.

Despite the fall season, it was hot out, which was less than ideal since I was walking to the location of the race tonight. I almost wished it was raining. Races were much more interesting in bad weather. But since I wasn't actually participating today, I wasn't too disappointed.

I ate my Poptarts as I walked. They were kind of stale. How disappointing. But I needed something to get me by until after the race. At the end of race nights, I always went with the other racers to eat somewhere and cause some trouble if we felt like it. But I wasn't about to starve before hand. So stale Poptarts it was.

Half way there, a car slowed beside me and honked. I glanced over to see Jackson. He waved me over. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."

"And here I thought you weren't a gentleman." I teased. I ran around to the passenger side and got in. "You're racing tonight and you're this late? Didn't you want to practice?"

Jackson continued driving. "I don't need to practice, unlike you, miss 'I'm the best driver'."

I rolled my eyes. "You're confident, I'll give you that. But you're also a dumbass. Practice makes perfect, you know. It's probably also why I'm better than you. I actually practice."

He shrugged. "Whatever you say, Rylee. I guess we'll see who is really the best next week when we race."

"Your confidence will shatter under my victory." I assured, being just as cocky as he was.

"We'll see about that." Jackson glanced at me. "So. About Anne."

I raised my eyebrows. "Anne? That's a bit random, isn't it?"

He scratched his head. "Uh, well, it's never just you and I alone, so I was just taking this opportunity to talk about Anne unfiltered."

I turned to him as I slowly smiled. "Hold up. Does Jackson James have an actual crush?"

"You make it sound like it's impossible." Jackson muttered, his cheeks looking a bit more red than normal.

I laughed. "You're the ultimate player, my friend, of course it seems impossible. So, what do you want to know about her?"

He finally looked at me, looking surprised. "You're okay with this?"

"You're a player, sure, but you're a good guy, Jackson. If I thought you would mistreat her I wouldn't let you near her. Trust me. Now, what was it you wanted to know?"

For a moment, he hesitated. "Okay, fine. So, I've... liked her for awhile now. I have been hanging around you guys more lately because I want to actually try with Anne. But... I'm not so sure she likes me."

"Oh, I see." I said, nodding. "I can find out what she really thinks of you. No problem."

"Well, don't make it obvious. Be... subtle about it. Please."

"Of course, of course. I'm very good at getting information without anyone's knowledge."

Jackson nodded. "Okay. You do that. If she ends up liking me, or at the very least not hating me, you need to help me plan a way to ask her out and to plan a date."