Page 94 of Hyperspeed
But Kai being Kai, I had a feeling he wouldn’t let this slide. A feeling that proved right during the fifteenth lap.
“You’re avoiding me,” he said over the radio.
I knew I could ignore him, a fact Kai knew too. I could switch the drivers’ radio off, only responding to my team on the Zenith channel.
But that would be petty, so I opted for the next best thing.
Lying.
“No I’m not?” My voice trailed up at the end, like it was a question.
“You’re a terrible liar, Revvy,” he replied, and I cursed myself. “Your face hides your feelings, but your voice gives it away.”
I sighed, because while I’d expected Kai to call out my odd behaviour, I didn’t want to discuss it on the drivers’ radio.
“We can’t talk about this here, Kai.”
“Why not?” He replied.
“Because I don’t want to give the league and the fans a front-row seat to my dirty laundry.”
Kai chuckled. “We’re not on the drivers’ radio.”
“Um, yes we are.”
“No,” he explained. “It’s a private frequency.”
I looked at my wheel, surprised to find it set to a channel I’d never seen before. “How did you do this?”
“I paid a member of the Zenith crew to set it up for me,” he replied, and I could picture his smug expression. “It was the only way we could talk since you literally turned your back on me.”
I winced. “Who’d you pay off?”
“I’ll tell you later. There are more important things to discuss right now.”
“I’m a little busy, Kai,” I snapped, and this time it wasn’t a lie.
I’d been stuck in twelfth since we started, and I was struggling to catch up to the driver in front.
He sighed, and I wilted a little under the weight of his disappointment. “Rev, talk to me. Why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m n—”
“If you say you’re not, I will turn around and shove your car into an asteroid.”
A surprised laugh burst out of me, and Kai whispered, “I like it when you laugh, Revvy.” I could imagine his fond smile, the one that’d sent me running earlier. “Please talk to me.”
“I . . .” I trailed off, unsure of what to say.
I’d already opened up once today. Did I have the energy to do it again?
It was a sad thought, but I wasn’t used to letting people in. Whenever I did, it ended the same way—disappointment. I became a little more hollow after giving away a piece of myself I’d never wanted to lose.
I only showed my true self, unmasked, to my family, because they never asked for anything in return. To them, I wasn’t a freak because I was different. I wasn’t a novelty for people to gawk at. My family never made me feel like I was anything less than worthy, just as I was.
Except, Kai hadn’t either, had he?
He challenged me and pushed back, but never because of my species. We clashed because we were both stubborn, both driven to win. Despite that, he’d shown me his softer side, steady and kind when I’d crumbled at the dinner, never asking for anything in return.
