"So I'm back" Ryder said, closing the door behind him.

"Do you mind if I open the window?"

He asked, but before Skylar could even answer, he had already unhinged the window. Leaving it ajar, making the cool wind sweep through the room. It felt refreshing to him, but Skylar pulled the cover up higher, putting it around herself neatly, as to shelter herself from the cold.

"You need some fresh air" he said, as if he knew what she needed?

"You still want me to read?" He asked somewhat indifferent.

"Yes...That's why you are here, remember? Apparently that's your punishment, you really hate reading that much?" She asked, looking at him rather perplexed.

"I just never read anything remotely useful to me, that's all. I prefer living instead of hiding in books" he said, realizing how patronizing that actually sounded, seeing as Skylar didn't have much else to do in here...but read and watch TV.

She was like a spectator to life passing her by, and it made him feel trapped on her behalf. Not that he cared that much about her situation.

He didn't.

This was just a job to him, a punishment. It was far from enjoyable. Looking at her, he just assumed she was some spoiled princess?

"So...you are telling me you never read anything interesting? Life changing?" She asked him, fiddling with a book, flipping through the pages carelessly, as if she was going to pick a random page, and prove to him that every book had a hidden treasure inside.

She looked like he had just given her the biggest challenge of her life...and maybe he had?

"I bet you live life to the fullest?" She said.

"I bet that's why you ended up in here, because you felt like you were on top of the world...invincible. Right?" She looked at him with a stubborn glance all of a sudden.

"So you think you have me all figured out?" He said crossing his arms, as to guard himself, defenses up. Her arrogant poise irritated him. She looked like a know-it-all!

"By all means...give it a go" he said, feeling cocky.

"If you insist" she smiled. She paused for a while, looking at him closely, as if his exterior would give him away?

"I think you are the popular guy...The guy who all the girls want to date, and all the guys want to be friends with, just to bask in your fearless glow. You have this mysterious look about you, so I can see why. Tough guy...Pretty boy...You do all these things to challenge yourself, because you want to feel alive, that's probably why you race in the first place...To feel alive. Maybe you are trying to outrun the past? Drive away; leaving it all behind, or maybe that's why you drink? To forget your sorrows. You say, you prefer living, but you are doing a hell of a lot to avoid doing that, huh? Risking your life...drinking...being careless, that's not respecting life. You might as well be in a bed next to me? Am I right?" Skylar's sweet demeanor suddenly changed, she seemed bitter.

"It's not my fault you are in here unable to live! I am living regardless of what you say. I do feel alive...I feel alive when I drive fast...When my life feels like it could end at any second! I drink because I have to forget all the shit that happened in my life, but I am alive. I just choose to disappear sometimes!" He found himself yelling for some reason. Skylar had pushed a button.

Her silence pissed him off!

"You are reading me like a fucking book, aren't you? That's what you are doing? You are making me into a fucking story!" He screamed.

He felt his blood boil.

"You are very perceptive" she laughed out loud.

Her apparent triumph made him angry, she got what she wanted, she had made him into a story, just like that.

And he let her so willingly!

"You said you never read a story that contributed to anything, but we are all like books. We are all made up by pages filled with memories; experiences, and things we can look back on, and learn from. Just like we can learn from reading books, they make us think. Reading is like thinking. Don't you at least like you own story?" she said, no intention to hurt him.

"No" he said.

"I hate my story, and that's why I never read...or think too much!"

He truly hated his story.

His story was sad, and not worth mentioning. She had forced him to uncover his story to her, well...parts of it. Or better yet she guessed! Normally he would never admit the hate he was carrying around. The fact that he hated his own story, he hated his life...who wouldn't?

He was just angry.

Angry at himself, and at Skylar for pushing him like that, and so he didn't utter another word for hours. She didn't challenge him, she accepted his silence. He just stared out the window, avoiding eye contact, and once the apropriate amount of time had passed, he just got up and left!

No goodbyes; no intention of ever coming back.

He wanted to get the hell out of there, knowing that he was making a wrong decision, as he chose to get behind the wheel of his newly fixed ride, and speed out of town, into the open road, into oblivion - once again.

But he didn't care.

He just wanted to get away, and he did it the only way he knew how. By leaving...speeding, driving way too fast. Hoping it would be fast enough to leave all the bleakness behind, but of course it wasn't. Darkness always follows you, no matter where you go, or how fast you drive. You can never escape your past?

He ended up driving to the compound, the place he raced at, just days before.

It was empty.

No cars, no people, no voices.

He heard nothing - but the sound of his engine running - and the music blasting from his stereo, and he thought about Skylar...Why?

For some reason she followed him here, and he decided to go back...not knowing why?

Maybe because it occurred to him, he had no place to run?