"You think I have a chance of beating him?" Judy asked Rex.

Rex nodded, a smirk lighting up his sweaty face. "Hell yeah I do."

She smiled back.

I looked between the two of them. "Beat who?"

Judy glanced at me before walking outside the tent, then pointed her finger. "Him."

I stood next to her, looking at the man she was pointing at. He stood over the engine of a red car a few tents down from ours.

   "That's Ronnie Burch, they call him the Red Rider because of the same obnoxious red he paints all his cars." Rex said.

"He's been racing here since we were kids and he's untouchable. No ones ever been able to beat him." Judy added, folding her arms over her chest.

"Until you started racing." Rex said, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"I haven't beaten him yet, but today might just be the day." She replied.

Ronnie seemed to sense us looking at him because he glanced over at us, a cocky smile on his face.

Judy rolled her eyes as he started making his way over.

"Howdy, gals... Rex." He said, looking between us.

"What do you want, Ronnie?" Judy asked.

"Well, I happened to notice this beautiful young lady standing next to you and thought to myself, 'self, you would be absolutely remiss if you didn't come over and at least introduce yourself'." He said, winking at me.

I folded my arms over my chest. "Take a hike, asshole."

He chuckled. "Ooh, I like 'em with a little bite."

Rex walked between us. "You heard the lady, beat it."

He raised his hands in fake surrender. "Sure, have a nice day, ladies."

Then, he was gone, taking a quick look back at us.

"What a dick." I said.

Judy rested a hand on my shoulder. "Just ignore him, he's not worth your time."

"If you say so." I replied, still staring the man down.

"C'mon, ladies, we got a race to focus on." Rex said, leading us back into the tent.

   As Judy got to work under the hood, Rex walked over to the work bench to grab some tools.

   I walked up next to him. "She really doesn't like him, huh?"

   He turned to me. "You can say that again."

   "What happened between them?"

   He took a quick glance at her before sighing. "Her dad used to have a pretty serious rivalry with him when they were younger. During one of their races, Ronnie lost control and veered into her dads lane, crashing right into his car and killing him on impact."

   I lowered my head. "Jesus."

   Rex lowered his head as well. "Yep, it wasn't necessarily his fault, but Judy still blames him for it."

   "Hey, you guys gonna help out or what?" Judy asked.

   Rex and I shared a quick glance before joining Judy under the hood...

   As day turned to night, everyone started lining up for the start of the races.

   Rex and I found some seats in the bleachers, awaiting Judy's race.

As the first two cars lined up at the starting line, I turned to Rex. "So, how does this work?"

"This is what you call an 'elimination race.' It's like a big tournament, the winner of each race moves on while the losers get eliminated. It carries on like that 'till we only got one car left."

I nodded before turning back to the track just in time for the first two cars to take off.

"Damn, they're fast." I said, watching them race all the way to the end of the track.

Rex chuckled. "Not as fast as Judy though."

As the night wore on, car after car sped down the track and just like Rex said, the losers would pack their things and head home.

After what seemed like hours, we saw Judy's car pull up to the line.

"Here we go." Rex said, getting to his feet for a better view.

I stood up next to him, excitement and nervousness filling my gut.

"C'mon Judy! You got this!" I cheered.

Rex laughed. "We'll make a fan out of you yet."

I smiled at him before turning my attention back to Judy's car.

After her burnout, she lined up next to her opponents car, then the lights counted down.

They launched on green, Judy's car taking an immediate lead.

"She's got 'em." Rex said before retaking his seat.

"How can you be sure?" I asked, sitting back down as well.

"'Cause, I did the work, nothing can touch that car." He replied, folding his arms.

"What about Ronnie?" I asked.

He shrugged. "He's not winning tonight."

I smiled, Rex's confidence seemingly rubbing off on me.

   The races led deep into the night, until there were just two cars left.

   Judy pulled The Rocket in front of the starting line, Ronnie's car pulling into the lane next to her.

   "And now the real race has begun." Rex said, once again getting to his feet.

   I did the same, those familiar nerves running through my stomach.

   "Do you really think she has a chance?" I found myself asking.

   He just nodded. I assumed he was to enthralled in the race to answer.

   As the amber lights started to light up, I sucked in a tight breath, the anticipation getting to me.

   Then, the green.

   Both cars took off with more speed then we've seen all night.

   Excitement replaced my nerves as Judy's car started with an early lead.

   But, as they were approaching the halfway point, Ronnie's car started to catch up, just barely inching past her for the win.

   "Dammit!" Rex yelled, throwing his hat on the ground.

   I slumped back down in my seat. "I thought she had him."

   Rex plopped down next to me. "Me to, darlin'."

   He shook his head. "I guess we better go see her... just a warning, she might be a little pissed."

   And boy was she. As we approached the tent, we could hear yelling and the sound metal hitting the floor.

   "God damn son of a bitch!" Judy yelled, pushing another tool box onto the floor.

   She leaned forward on the work bench, resting her head in her hands.

   "We'll get him next time." Rex said as he started cleaning up the tools.

   Judy didn't answer, she just slumped down into her chair, face still hidden by her hands.

   As Rex picked up the tools, I quietly walked over to Judy and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?"

   She reached one hand up to squeeze mine. "I will be."

   The sudden contact caught me off guard and I could feel my whole body start to heat up.

   "I-is there... um, anything I can do?" I asked.

   She finally looked up at me, wiping a few stray tears in the process. "You free tomorrow night?"

   "I should be, why?"

   "Well, they're playing the new Burt Reynolds movie at the drive-in and I'd love some company."

   A smile tugged at my lips. "Alright, consider it a date." I joked.

   She smiled back.

   To her, I was joking. But, in my head, all I could think about was being alone with her...