Chapter 40
The race hadn't even kicked off yet when Alice yanked on David's sleeve and whispered, "Did I tick off Dylan? Why's he giving me the death stare?"
"Chill, it's not about you," David said softly. He was clearly peeved that Dylan was taking his crap out on Alice. That's why he had pulled her aside in the first place.
"Huh?" Alice gave David a puzzled look.
'What the heck does he mean by that? If it's not about me, why's Dylan glaring at me?' Alice thought to herself.
David raised his hand and plopped it on Alice's head, steering her gaze towards the track.
After what felt like forever, the race was finally about to kick off.
All the cars were lined up at the starting line. The referee waved the flag, and as soon as it dropped, all the sports cars shot off like rockets.
This was just for fun, so all the cars were sports cars, not those hardcore race cars. Each car had its own quirks, and the drivers had different levels of skill.
There weren't many rules:
1. Three laps to crown the winner.
2. No dirty moves like ramming into other cars.
3. It's all about skill.
Alice's eyes followed the sports cars, watching as the lead cars kept getting overtaken. It was a rush; her heart was pounding like crazy, almost jumping out of her chest.
It was wild. It was electrifying!
The top three cars were neck and neck, while the ones behind seemed to be cruising, not really gunning for the win, just keeping a steady pace without any fancy drifting.
Watching this, Alice thought, 'If James were here, I wonder where he'd place.' After all, it was James who had first made her to the thrill of street racing.
After three laps, a red sports car took first place.
When the red car stopped, the driver hopped out and waved to the crowd, even blowing a kiss.
Desmond rubbed his arms, "Man, he's really good for this."
Dylan was still fuming.
After the first round of cars exited and parked, the drivers came back to the audience seats. After seven rounds, the winners of each round would face off to decide the champ of today's race.
Alice noticed David hadn't said a word the whole time. She turned to see his pale face, tight lips, and furrowed brows. He looked really off.
Alice gently shook David's arm. "You okay?"
David snapped out of it and saw the worry on Alice's face. He smiled and shook his head. "I'm good."
"Your face says otherwise." Alice pulled David up and pushed him inward, taking the outermost seat herself. "If you're not feeling well, just tell me. We've already watched one race; we don't have to stay for all of them. We can head back and chill."
David rubbed Alice's head, then placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her close.
"The wind's pretty gnarly, and you're out here in the open. If you catch a cold, you expect me to play nurse?" David plopped his hat on Alice's head and stared off at the sports cars nearby.
He was sitting close to the track, reminiscing about the rush of speeding through the wind. But it felt different now. Back then, it was dark, with streetlights casting shadows, but no light in his eyes. The winding road, the overlapping shadows of trees, the wind howling in his ears—it didn't feel free. Instead, his body was tense, like a string about to snap, ready to break at the slightest touch.
He was super calm at the time, with just one thought in his mind. Until the sharp pain hit, and everything went black. He lay in the overturned car, warm blood trickling from his head, blurring his vision and filling his ears. He couldn't move, feeling like all his bones had shattered.
At that moment, he thought, it would be great if he could just die, No more feelings, no more worries.
"David!" Alice called out.
David snapped back to reality. Before he could say anything, Alice yanked him up by the arm and headed towards the exit of the audience seats.
David asked, "You don't wanna wtach?"
"No!" Alice shouted, clearly pissed, "If you're not feeling well, just say so! No matter how stubborn I am, I wouldn't mess with your health! You look like crap and still dare to say you're fine!"
Alice was fuming. She stormed all the way to the bus stop, and when David tried to speak, she shot him a fierce glare.
David reached out and touched his nose, lowering his head without saying a word.
It was a weird feeling.
Even though she was mad at him, he didn't feel angry.
When the bus arrived, Alice grabbed David's arm and pulled him onto the bus, shoving him into the back seat. She walked to the fare box, tossed in the money, and then sat back down.
They didn't speak on the way back.
Alice looked pissed. David wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, he felt a strange sense of guilt.
"I..." David coughed, licked his lips, and slowly said, "I was in a car accident once."
Alice was still looking up remedies for preventing colds when David's sudden statement caught her off guard.
"A car accident?" Alice was surprised.
David nodded slightly, leaning back against the seat, "Yeah, it happened because I was street racing and crashed. So when I saw today's race, those feelings came rushing back. It's not your fault, so don't be mad."
Alice hadn't expected this. She opened her mouth to speak but didn't know what to say.
After a moment of silence, Alice asked, "Why were you street racing?"
Such an incident would surely have been reported, but she didn't know about it, which meant the accident must have happened a long time ago. She just didn't expect the old David had such a wild side.
David lowered his eyes and didn't answer right away.
After a while, he said softly, "It wasn't a big deal. I got dumped, felt like crap, and went street racing."
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