DREXEL GENESIS

One of the outstanding emotions I feel right now is pure rage, as I see not only Ayla but also Crimson on the racing grounds. Nothing can go worse than seeing the two girls right here at The Abandoned Bridge at midnight.

Add the cops and a garbage dumpster and you get the perfect combo.

Individuals stumble and collide with one another in a mad scramble to escape the blaring police sirens, causing the atmosphere to reverberate with the clamour and chaos of the commotion.

I catch sight of the three boys ahead of me as they hurried to assist the girls who had tumbled into the dumpster. I try to navigate my way through the frenzied throngs of people, accidentally colliding with someone and jolting my shoulder in the process.

I grunt when I look up to see the seething face of Ken, John Grater's right-hand man. "Watch where you are going, boy! I rather have knocked your face and made you blind so you cannot race for life!" he manages to say despite the outbreak.

"As long as I live, your boss' son or any other racer you put in to race with me will be pathetically destroyed by me. Just like today. The Ferals have nothing on me," I smirk deviously as he is held by his two other lackeys when he tries to come onto me. "The cops are here, come on, let's go."

I don't turn back to entertain them any further as I make my way toward my friends.

By the time I reach them barely alive, the boys had already helped the two girls out. Luckily, the rusty dumpster was just empty and old. Archer has busted his pipes as he rebukes angrily at an annoyed Ayla. I fasten my steps towards Crimson, who is dusting herself off quickly with the aid of Zeke.

In contrast to Archer, my concern overrides my anger. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Crimson's honey-brown eyes find mine, "No, just some small scratches."

Good, I can give her a piece of my mind later. But first of all, we should scram.

"Come with me, Crimson and Jed. Zeke can take Archer and Ayla in his car. Hurry, before we get caught!" I urge frantically, seizing Crimson's arm and darting towards my car with the two of them in tow. However, Crimson suddenly bellows, "Wait!"

"What? What's the problem?"

I gaze on in a state of disarray as Ayla sprints towards us, pursued by Archer, who is flailing his arms wildly like a crazed man. "Where the hell are you running off to, woman? Come back here!" he yells furiously. Ayla promptly grabs Crimson's arm and shouts back, "Meet us further ahead at the driveway!" before hastening away with Crimson, who looked around anxiously.

I clutch my hair in exasperation, "Jed, follow the girls. Archer, go back with Zeke, FAST!" Archer yells in frustration and runs back with Jed to their vehicle barely escaping one police officer who almost got them with his black baton.

At this point, the bridge had devolved into even greater chaos, with police officers brandishing their batons and guns and driving away people, while cars and motorbikes made a mad dash, obstructing the roads.

I'm sure that there won't be street reaching for a while. Shit.

I run back to my car - a robust of loud motorbikes almost crashes me in their hurry to get away, but a sweating Terry blocks my way, "Genesis, here's your money for today's win." He urgently says and thrusts an envelope into my palm, the edges of $100 notes pocking out messily from its opening.

"Haha! Stop right there!!" a police officer interposes himself between us and the route to my car. I grit my teeth in a panic. Honestly, Terry, couldn't you have chosen a better time to give me the money?

"Don't think I didn't see the exchange there! I knew there were people selling drugs here!" the officer victoriously yells while his baton makes an entrance. "Sorry, kid," Terry utters lowly and before I could comprehend it, he was gone in a half blink of an eye. For a man half the size of a boulder, he sure was fast. Must be experienced enough, I guess. Even though this was also not the first time the police had crashed into a street race, this was definitely the first time an officer had trapped me.

"Hey! Come back here!" the police officer in front of me shouts after the fleeing figure, who disappeared into the disorderly crowd. But before I could make my escape, the officer blocks my path by extending his baton. "Hold on there. Put your hands up in the air! I'm Inspector Joyce. You can only escape me if you have a Rolls Royce, but even then, I won't give you a choice!"

Huh?

For a moment there, I just stare at the blond man in his blue uniform in front of me while I could also see that he was satisfied with his...joke?

"Sorry officer, but my Ford is enough to do the trick," and with that declaration, I bring his hat down onto his face, kick his baton down the bridge and stumble towards the passenger seat of my car while he flails about like a newborn calf, with the hat standing in the way of his vision.

I hop into the driving seat, nearly bumping my head onto the roof, and speed through the bridge, almost crashing into a few drunk people who were reeling away. I reflect on my actions when they catch up to me. I can't believe I did that to a police officer! Oh my God, what were you thinking, Drexel?! I hope that it was too dark for him to remember my face.

Having no time to wallow in my possible offensive bravado, I try to find my friends in this ruckus and finally spot Crimson's bright red hair. I bring my car to a stop next to Zeke's and my eyes narrow in a state of perplexment, loss and confusion at the girls.

Where in the unbelievable world did they get tricycles from?

Crimson opens the back of my car and hurries to toss the bike inside. Ayla does the same, hurling the cycle into Zeke's car, which elicits a loud outburst of annoyance from him, even audible from here. After Crimson and Jed jump into my car, I step on the accelerator and zip past the trees onto the road.

"Drex, I think there is a police car behind us?" Jed states as he looks into the rearview mirror. And sure enough, I could see the red and blue blares of a police car lightening up the insides of my car.

"Alright, Crimson, Jed, hold on tight!" They fasten their seatbelt and Crimson holds onto the tricycle anxiously, unsurely and jittering. Despite my panic, I had noticed how she was quivering with anxiety since the appearance of the cops.

I accelerate my car even more; it didn't help that other cars were dashing away ahead of me either. In another way, this also seems like a race, with me swerving the car from left to right, barely refraining from grazing other cars, in a haste to widen the gap between us and the blaring car behind me.

"B-be careful, Drexel!" shouts Crimson holding onto the bouncing tricycle for dear life. Jed looks as if he could finish reading two chapters of a book with how unbothered he is. "I got this!" I assure her, but the police car was unexpectedly only two cars away. It looked like its target was me, especially since it ignored the other escaping vehicles to catch up to mine, which gave me the idea that it was probably Inspector Rolls Royce chasing me.

It was downhill from here, so I change gears and fly down the road, making a dangerous right towards a shortcut lane. The police car probably saw me heading this way, but it was too far for it to catch up to mine, so I cut off my headlights to blend into the shadows of the towering trees.

"D-Drexel! What- Why did you turn them off?! We could crash!" comes Crimson's alarmed and horrified voice from behind as I turn off my engine while navigating through the sleeping residential area.

"Don't worry. A hidden rule when it comes to street racing is that you should always have an escape plan and know all the back roads. I know the roads here by heart, I could drive with my eyes closed," I explain quite confidently. Even Jed adds, "Yes, he knows what he is doing."

Crimson seems to calm down after observing Jed's undisturbed and cool attitude and turns to look back apprehensively for any signs of the incoming police car. I slowly bring my car to a halt next to a huge pickup truck that was parked under a huge banyan tree. It doesn't take more than a minute for the police car to drive past us. As the police car disappears into the distance, I let out a deep sigh of relief along with the others and lean back in my seat. "We made it," I say, my heart still pounding in my chest.

After a minute, I start my car and head back in the direction we came in from. "Coast's clear," Jed confirms and I open the shutters to cool the sweat off my face and avert my gaze to the front mirror to see how Crimson was faring. She was fixing the tricycle into position, and then she sits back, quietly exhaling and watching the passing trees that were lit up under the moonlight.

Jed clears his throat to break the tense silence. "You can drop me off at my place first," he says and looks behind at Crimson and back at me with a raised eyebrow, wordlessly asking what we were going to do about the girl.

I shrug. I'll deal with her when I drop Jed off.

After a few quiet minutes, I pull up in front of Jed's mansion-like house. He turns back to look at Crimson and wishes her a good night. After patting my shoulder, he gets off and swiftly slides through the towering gates of his house which were shining against the moonlight.

My eyes find Crimson. "Do you want to sit at the front?" I ask into the dark silence. Crimson hesitates for a moment before slowly climbing into the front. After she straps her seatbelt, I start to drive.

Let the interrogation begin.

"So, what were you girls doing back there?" I question. From the corner of my eye, I see Crimson biting her lip anxiously but she doesn't reply and looks out the window.

"How did you find us?" Silence.

"Whose tricycle is at the back?" Not even a peek.

My hands tighten over the steering wheel.

Okay then.

I come to a sudden stop, the screeching of tires against the road filling the silence. It's only then that the girl seems to snap out of her daze, turning to look at me with striking eyes. "What's going on? Why did you stop the car?" she demands.

"Speak or this car ain't moving."

"You can't do that!"

"I just did."

"But it's so late!"

"That didn't stop you all from following us, did it?"

Crimson shuts her mouth and focuses her eyes elsewhere.

Gotcha.

"So you did follow us. Why? Do you have any idea how dangerous it would've been? And we almost got caught by the police"

And did they use those tricycles to follow us? How in the world...?

"Thank god we didn't get caught," she mutters to herself but I stay put, awaiting her answers. "Can we just go, please?" she pleads, unenthusiastically leaning her head against the seat.

"No," I rebuke sternly.

She doesn't spare me a single glance as she opens the door and steps outside, striding away with her head held high. I stand there with my mouth agape, bewildered by her sudden exit.

Stubborn Scarlet.

I quickly get down and yell, "Come back here! It's the dead of the night!"

"There are no other vehicles. Might as well walk if the only car refuses to drive me back, right?"

I fasten my pace towards her and stop her by the shoulder. "Get in the car, right now."

She shrugs off my hand and stubbornly says, "Only if you promise that you will drive me back. My stuff is at Ayla's. You should've let me go back with them." I clench my teeth and drag my hands over my face in irritation. I instantly know there would be no use in trying to get answers out from Crimson when Ayla is clearly the mastermind behind this.

"Fine, will you please get in the car? Don't make me carry you."

She narrows her eyes at me and stalks past me into the car. I probably wouldn't have had any strength left to carry her anyway.

After a few minutes of driving in an uncomfortable silence, I felt compelled to break it by offering an apology. "I must say I was rather harsh on you earlier," I said, turning to face Crimson, who looked at me with a mix of surprise and resignation, she looks at her lap with a resigned sigh, "I understand why you reacted that way, I mean, if I were in your shoes, I would have been equally pissed if I suddenly saw my friends whom you've kept in the dark, suddenly see you race."

"I'll coax the answers out of Ayla, although I'm sure Archer has already done it. She was too curious for her own good. So, you don't have to tread on eggshells around me," I assure her. Crimson audibly lets out a relieved laugh. "Thank god, I really didn't want to walk back."

"But never dare to do something like that again though, for whatever reasons," I say in an authoritative tone.

"Of course, I'll do that again!" she exclaims to my utmost horror that I whipped my head at her so fast I heard a bone crack. "That was so awesome, I've never seen cars race in real life before! It was exhilarating and very exciting! I can't believe that you street race! And to think that I was almost in a car race with the police chase and everything! I can't imagine how excited you feel when you race!"

"Have you gone bonkers!?" I exclaim. Crimson rolls her eyes and giggles at my stricken face.

"Aw, aren't you happy you gained yourself some fans?"

I don't reply immediately.

"Are you really upset about us being there, Drexel?" she treads after a moment. "It's dangerous, you saw it today with the police. What would've happened if you got caught and we hadn't seen you?" I reason.

"I'm sorry," she finally says with her head down and fingers interlocked. "It was daring of us to do that." Then, Crimson sports a thoughtful look, "So, can I come to watch next time with you guys?"

"NEXT time?!" I yell almost slamming my brakes in a haste. Is this girl out of her mind?

"Come on! I loved watching everyone race. I can stay with Jed and the others in the crowd."

"But it's at midnight, what will your dad say?"

"I can tell him that I'll be over at the girls'. I told him that I'll be having a sleepover at Ayla's...it's the truth anyway..."

I heave a sigh. There is no convincing this stubborn girl. She doesn't know that people would watch HER more than the racing. People there were not exactly my type of crowd, nor were they likely to be hers. Crimson tries one more time. "I want to watch you race, Drexel," she says in a small voice.

I knew what she was doing, but it didn't stop my stomach from doing rhythmic gymnastics. I straighten up in my seat and clear my throat. "I'll think about it."

Crimson gives out a dazzling smile. "That's great! It wasn't a no at least-"

"It wasn't a yes either," I cut in.

Her smile turns into a frown and she looks out the window with a huff. I quietly chuckle at her actions but then, an unsettling question crosses my mind.

"What role does Rowan play in this? Does she know?" I urgently ask.

Crimson obviously senses the conflict in my voice, because she quickly replies. "No, she doesn't know about your racing...she only knows about you sneaking out at night and that we followed you."

I mentally curse. I should've been more cautious at home. "This is what you are going to do. You are never to tell Rowan about what happened today," I state firmly.

"Why not?" she inquires.

"Because I said so."

"I see no reason not-" she begins.

"Listen here, let's make a deal. If you won't let Rowan know about the fact that I race, I will let you join the boys to watch the street races," I lay out.

"But she is my friend-"

"And she is my sister, it's for her own good."

Crimson shuts her mouth and slowly nods without asking anything further whilst leaning her head on the window. I lock the doors which earns a teeny tiny smile from Crimson.

I finally pull up by Ayla's house and see the dark figure of the girl seated on the porch. I was glad that my other friends had gotten home safely. Ayla stands up when she sees us and runs stealthily toward the car. She holds up a finger to her lips and points at her house to warn us to keep quiet and takes the abandoned tricycle that was forgotten in the backseat.

Crimson climbs down and waves at me with a smile. "Today was not what I expected, but thanks for the ride Drexel, we'll talk about this at school today. Good night," she whispers.

I salute with a little smile of my own in return. "Sure. Night, Scarlet."

I wait until the two dark figures disappear into the house before letting out a tired breath and driving back to my home.

Man, what a night it was.

Crimson seemed....out of it.... wonder why hmm

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