Page 19 of Shifting Gears

I exited out of the app and let myself get lost in the scenery passing by as the playlist went from song to song.

Two more stops later, I finally got off of the last bus, directly across the street from where the meet was going to go down. It was still pretty empty, but we were an hour from the start of it, technically. So, I walked into a nearby bar and grabbed something to eat while I waited.

Soon, the streets were filled with the sounds of tuned-up engines revving and backfiring as they rolled into the meet. I paid for my food and stepped out as I watched a matching pair of Mitsubishi Eclipses drive past. They both sported cherry blossom liveries, but the underglows were different colors—one pink, one red.

I followed into the space right behind them, keeping as low of a profile as possible. I stuck to the outskirts of the meet. My eyes went from car to car as they parked. Soon, the entire space was packed with cars, and the levels going up were filling up as well. This parking garage was a JDM car lover’s wet dream.

I could picture Rosalie running from car to car, striking up conversations with the owners and getting into the details of what modifications they had and why they’d chosen their paintjobs on their cars. I felt a smile creep up on the corners of my lips.

She would love it here.

“Fuck,” I growled out as I stomped up the stairs to the next level. I slammed the side of my fist against the cold concrete.

Get your head in the game. If you’re not focused, you’re gonna fuck up, and instead of rolling out of here with a whip, you’ll end up in the back of a squad car, rocking a new set of bracelets.

I finished walking up the steps and began to browse the selection on the second floor. There were a couple of Silvias here, but too new and surrounded by people.

I knew more cars were just flooding into the upper levels, so I kept looking. I spent an hour walking around the floors. There was a pretty damn perfect one on the fourth level. But again, there were too many damn people. I was about to throw in the towel when a commotion broke out on the sixth floor. From what I could tell, someone must have talked shit about another guy’s whip because they both squared up to each other before getting into their cars and drove out of the parking garage, followed by a mass of people. Leaving most of the top levels empty.

I went back down to the level where the Silvia that I’d had my eyes on was. There were a handful of people scattered around, but they were all off in their own worlds. It was now or never.

I walked over to the driver’s door and slid my slim jim out of my pocket, shimmying it into the door. I got the lock popped and yanked the door open and hopped inside. I looked around for keys, and when I found a spare set in the glove box, I smirked. Didn’t even need to hot-wire it. I shoved the key into the ignition and turned it, feeling the car roar to life under me. I rolled it out of its spot and down the levels toward the entrance. The best part was, no one even gave me a second glance until Iwas stopped at the intersection right outside the parking garage. Then I saw a pair of dudes do a double take and start yelling and running toward me.

That’s my cue to say fuck traffic laws.

I gassed it, weaving through traffic and down the other side of the intersection. I passed car after car, getting farther from the meet.

Once I was a good distance from the action, making sure that no one had succeeded in following me this far, I decided to test this car out fully. I flew down the narrow roads out of Tokyo and hopped on the expressway that would take me back home to Yokohama. The street signs had English on them, so finding my way back was easier than I’d thought it would be. And the car handled like a goddamn dream.

I cruised down the docks a quarter after midnight. I parked out front of the main mechanic bay’s garage door. I walked inside and rolled it up. The paint lab at the shop was small, but it would do the job I needed to change the color of the car I’d stolen—and fast. It didn’t need to be fancy; it just needed to be different.

I drove the car into the shop to the spray lab and got to work. First taping off parts I didn’t want paint to get on. Once I had that done, which had taken almost a fucking hour to complete, I went through the paint selection. There wasn’t much to pick between, and in the end, I settled for a midnight purple. It was a color we hardly used, so we had a ton of it sitting around. I finished the last-minute prep work on the car before I got to work, spraying it with its new color.

The entire time I worked, I was reminded of Rosalie. How meticulous she was with her work. She would have loved working on this car. Shit, I even missed watching her do her thing—her excitement and skills were addictive to watch in action.

I made an effort to do as good of a job as she would, and while I didn’t have any major fuckups, I knew it wasn’t perfect. But the job was done. I left it to dry and noticed the clock was getting closer to three a.m.

Fuck, is it that time already?

It was later than I’d thought. I finished cleaning up, and then I snapped a photo of the car, deciding to shoot off a text before going up to catch a few hours of sleep. I sent her a photo of the car first, and then I followed it up with a message.

AJ

If you need a ride again, I can pick you up in style now, baby. No more buses.

Raven

As nice of a car and offer that is, I doubt I’ll ever take you up on it.

AJ

Come on. I know you want a ride, and I’m not just talking about in the car either. *winking emoji*

Raven

*shy laughing emoji* You are so full of yourself. What’s this, the fifth time this week you’ve tried to get me back in your bed?

AJ

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