chapter442

On the straight stretch, Rory's team slammed on the gas. Their engines roared so loud it rattled your bones, and the speedometers danced crazily, making everyone's heart race.

The competition was fierce, every second more intense than the last. Rory finally squeezed past another car on a bend, but before he could even smile, the other driver shot right by him again.

He let out a string of curses, completely lost. How were they suddenly this good? Just a moment ago, they were nothing special. Now it felt impossible to get ahead of them.

Was it that girl?

Before the race started, he'd seen her chatting with Chris and the others, but he didn't think much of it. Clearly, he'd underestimated her.

As the finish line came into view, the tension on the track hit its breaking point. Rory's teammates pushed their cars as hard as they could, jaws clenched, but it didn't matter. They just couldn't catch up.

Chris and his whole crew had already blazed across the finish line. All the fight went out of Rory's team in an instant. It was like someone popped their tires and let all the air out. They'd lost.

It was humiliating. They hadn't managed to overtake a single car. What, did Chris' team have some kind of secret weapon? Rory had never heard of anything like that in racing. None of it made sense.

Chris and his teammates jumped out of their cars, hugging and shouting. They could barely believe it. Lydia's plan had actually worked. The start was everything, and during the turns, they'd held their positions, not giving the other team even a second to slip by. Somehow, they'd pulled it off.

"Chris! We did it!"

Weston, who'd been insulted earlier, was so worked up his eyes were red. He still remembered how it felt to be stomped on, called trash, humiliated in front of everyone. He'd had to admit to himself that he was weak, that he'd let everyone down. But now, against all odds, they'd actually won. It didn't even feel real.

Rory and his crew finally rolled past the finish, faces burning with embarrassment. They couldn't even look Chris and his team in the eye. A few minutes ago, they were the ones doing all the trash talk. Now, they were the ones who'd been completely crushed.

"Little trash," someone jeered.

"Please. A bunch of A-level drivers? So what?"

"Yeah, still got schooled by us B-levels. How does that feel?"

"From now on, don't go around bragging about being A-level. Just say you're B-level and save yourself the trouble."

Rory and his team turned red with anger. It was total humiliation. A group A-levet drivers getting called trash by the fevels if word got out, how could they ever show their faces in the racing world again?

Now Rory sort of understood why his friend Newt's whole family ended up in jail. These people were just on a different wavelength. Or maybe it was that girl she was the real wildcard. How else could Chris team go from losing every race to winning the minute she showed up? It made no sense. Something was definitely going on.

Connor squinted at the track, trying to see who crossed the line first, but then he heard the cheers from Chris' crew. That was all the answer h needed.

"They won?" he asked Lydia.

Lydia smiled. "Yeah, they did." The other team was all talk, no bite. Easy.

Lydia, you're so amazing, sometimes I wonder if I'm even good enough for you."

Connor was being serious. His fianc e was gorgeous, smart, and talented. Sometimes he worried someone would swoop in and steal her away.

"Since when did you get so cheesy?" she teased.

"Am I being cheesy?"

"You are."

They were laughing together when shouts started echoing from Rush Bay. "We are

trash! We are trash! We are trash!" The words rang out into the night.

A moment later, Chris and his team pulled up, still riding high on their win.