Page 20 of Bending Under Pressure

I tighten my hold on my towel, take a step toward my dresser where my pjs are stored, and say, “Come in.”

She opens the door with a soft smile. “Getting ready for bed?” I nod. “Us too. We’re more tired than we thought. I wanted to check on you and make sure you’re still doing okay.”

“Yeah, Mom. I’m fine. His loss, right?”

I regret my words the moment she tilts her head at me with a touch of pity and sadness. “Exactly.” Mom comes over and hugs me tightly. “We love you.” I want to roll my eyes at how even now, when she’s telling me she loves me, she has to include Walter.

“I love you too, Mom.”

She leaves and I change into a pair of shorts and the red top. I lotion my legs, and then I mutter, “Crap.” If I blow dry my hair this late, Mom will hear it. She might get suspicious. I don’t usually dry it if I take a shower at night. Dang it. Thinking quickly, I run my brush through it before running my fingers through it in an effort to give it more body. My hair retains water, I swear, so it’s like deadweight until it starts drying. I grab a hairband to help as well.

I debate applying makeup, but figure it’s already obvious I’ve taken a shower. I don’t want to look like I’m trying to impress Keelan, which I’m totally not, so I decide against it. For the remaining time, I read until Keelan texts me.

Sneaking out my window is as easy as before, but my heart is hammering twice as much this time. It picks up speed when I see Keelan at the end of my driveway, leaning against the passenger door of his car. God, the boy is hot. He’s not even trying either. He’s wearing a regular t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoe, yet, I still want to kiss him as if he was standing before me in a suit.

His grin sets my blood on fire and his eyes run up and down my body as he blindly reaches out for the door handle. “Hey, Hales.”

“Hey,” I smile. “Do you need help?” I perk an eyebrow as he snaps out of it and looks for the handle.

“You got jokes tonight, huh?”

I giggle softly before getting in, and I have to remind myself we need to get out of here as soon as possible.

“Are you ready for this?” Keelan asks once he’s in the driver’s seat.

“So, so ready.”

I park on the left side of the road since Alan, the guy I’m racing, is on the right. The moon is full and bright tonight, allowing Haley to see the scene. There isn’t a shoulder, so it’s not like those who came to watch can park off to the side. Instead, they are piled into the bed of trucks, like Cam’s, which are parked where the tractors can turn into the fields. There are some in intervals, all the way to the imaginary finish line.

“Will we get caught?” she asks, her head turning so her e

yes land on me.

“It’s unlikely. This road is barely used as it is and we’re so close to the county line, we could cross over and the cops would be out of luck. No one has ever been caught before. C’mon.”

We get out of the car, and I walk around to the front.

“What’s this?” Alan asks. “Does Keelan Moore have a chick riding with him? I don’t believe it.”

I laugh and playfully shove his shoulder. “Shut up.” Alan is from a neighboring high school, so I introduce him to Haley. “This is Haley, and yeah, she’s riding with me.”

Alan sweeps his eyes over her as she softly tells him hello. “When Keelan loses, you’re free to ride with me,” he grins at her. She only raises an eyebrow at him.

“All right, let’s stop with the chit chat and get this going,” Cam says.

The few people hanging around begin walking down to where they’ll watch, and we get back in our cars. There’s only one guy left, Tom, as Cameron heads to the finish line where he’ll record a video on his phone in case he needs help judging who wins. We buckle up and start the engines. I glance at Haley to see her grinning.

“Excited, Hales?”

“Oh my God, yes.”

I laugh. Tom makes sure our cars are relatively even and lined up. He checks his phone, which is likely a text from Cam, saying he’s ready.

“Three!” Tom begins to shout. “Two! One!”

We take off as I smoothly shift gears. We can hear the cheer of people as we zoom by them. Alan and I are neck in neck. My stomach bottoms out when we go over the first hill. Part of me wants to close my eyes and relish in the feel of the engine, the steering wheel, the gearshift underneath my hand, and the sensation of going so fast over these hills. I don’t, of course.

We’re approaching the curve and the invisible finish line fifty feet ahead of it. I press harder on the gas, wanting to secure the win, especially in front of Haley, and take a deep breath as I pass where Cam is recording on his phone. I think I won, but I was focused on staying on my side of the road, so I’m not confident yet. I immediately downshift and hit the brakes, making it where we’ll stop just before we reach the deadly curve.

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