Favorite chapter right here. You're going to love it!

"So you're sure we can't do Chicken? That's so much more fun than a drag... Or are you too scared?" Alex asked me.

"It's not that I'm too scared, Alex, I just know that you can't drive yet, so I'll be putting myself even more at risk, and I don't feel like dying today because you're an idiot," I told her. She scoffed, flipping her curly red hair behind her. It's not like I was exactly a pro at driving either, I mean, I only had a learners permit and I couldn't afford to ruin the '69 green convertible car that I "borrowed" from my parents driveway earlier that day, but I didn't tell her that.

"Fine. A drag race it is. And just so you know, I can drive perfectly fine," Alex responded. Angrily, she walked off to her car. We both revved our engines, staring at the track in front of us. Well, road. It's basically unused, so we wouldn't be disrupting traffic or anything.

A crowd of people stood to the side of us. Most of them are for her, and a few for me. I'm not really very popular, but I'm not disliked either. Most people just figure that if they're not close with the driver, or aren't looking for a good race, there ain't any point to going. And that's fine with me. I'm kind of shy, and don't socialize a lot. As long as I have Faith, my best friend and cousin, I'm okay. And lucky for me, I do have her. She sat right next to me in the passengers seat, going with me for the ride. Literally. 

"You sure you wanna do this?" She asked, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. I nodded.

"Hell yeah, I want to do this," I told her, smiling wide.

"You sure you wanna be sitting there? If I crash, you're kind of dead," I asked, laughing. She glared at me.

"Well, I'm not just going to leave now! But try not to kill me, my daddy wouldn't like it," she said, laughing with me. And I knew she was right. In her home, Faith Curtis is a princess, and if I got into a car accident with her, her father would kill me. Probably rip my head right off my body, even if she was still alive and had not even a scratch on her. Then again, my parents would kill me too, seeing as I only have a learners permit.

"You're dead," Alex threatened from her window, flipping me off. I'd known this girl long enough to know that that's probably an empty threat and she'd just have something new to say by tomorrow. She wouldn't actually try to kill me. Instead of responding to that, I look at her middle finger. 

"Awe, that's cute. You're flipping me the bird. Well, look at this, Alexandra. I have a finger too, and I can also use it, just like you." I flipped my middle finger towards her.

"How mature," she said. I rolled my eyes, watching her talk to the girl accompanying her in the car. I looked out in front of us, my heart beating fast. People stood all around us and I looked at them. There was much more people for her, but at least a few for me. My eyes went to a familiar looking tanned boy with shaggy black hair and chocolate colored eyes. He was handsome. So handsome that I didn't want to take my eyes off of him. But when Faith tapped me, I had to.

"You ready? It's now or never," she said. I blinked back into reality just in time to see Alex race off. I pressed the gas as hard as it will go, soaring past her in an instant. 70, 80, 90, up to 100 miles per hour. Alex didn't go nearly that fast, probably too nervous.

Faith gripped the dashboard like it was her lifeline. My heart beat in my chest, the only sound I could hear as Alex's mom's red '62 corvette tails us, closer than I liked. I pressed the gas harder, and switched lanes. 110 mph. As much as I wanted to, seeing how much further I got then her, I couldn't go much faster.

115 mph strong and I could barely see the road in front of me. Everything was a blur, except for the red dot that I saw from behind me when I looked in my rearview mirror.

"Hope, this is dangerous. Slow down a bit," she said.

"If you want to lose, or die for that matter, I'd be happy to," I yelled over the noises of the road. She looked behind us.

"Seriously, slow down." She said it like our lives depended on it, so I do, but only down to 90.

"Hope!" She yelled as Alex passed us. But that's wasn't what she was yelling about. Not at all.

Looking into the rearview mirror, I could see a police car, it's lights flashing and siren wailing, trailing us.

"Shit," I whispered.

"Slow down," she demanded. Instead of trying to ditch the cop, I just pulled over to a stop, opened my window, and probably lost the race.

"Hello officer," I said, nervously, when he got to me. .

"You have got to have a good reason for driving that fast," he said, his thick accent making it hard for me to understand what he was saying. I blushed, looking to Faith for an answer.

"A'right. We'll cut this short, kid. Lemme see your license," he said, my heart beat fast and loud, but all I could hear was my own breathing. I was panicking, trying to figure out what to do. How could I show a cop, who pulled me over for speeding 60+ miles per hour over the speed limit my learners permit without getting arrested?!

Slowly, I pulled it out of my wallet and handed it to him.

"Really, kid? You've got to be kidding me," he said, annoyed. His accent got in the way of his words, I noticed.

"I... I'm sorry," I said, quietly. My voice cracked as I tried to hold back my tears.

"Step outta the car," he said, all business. Obviously my sorry wouldn't help none. I looked to Faith, and the look in her eyes told me to just do what he said. I opened the door, swung one leg out, and then stopped for a moment as he listened to something on his Walkie-Talkie.

"I don't have time for this," he said, and I couldn't tell if it was directed at me or whatever was just said, until he pulled out a piece of paper, wrote something down, then handed it to me. I took it, but was too ashamed to look.

"I better not see your or your little friend out again without an adult, young lady. And I better not see you speeding again, at all," he said.

"No, no, of course not, officer. Thank you," I said, my voice shaking as I got back in the car. The police officer walked off, put his siren and lights back on, and left me sitting there, crying. I laughed a bit, something I guess I've always done when I'm upset. Faith tried to comfort me, but it didn't help.

"Maybe we could still win," she said, but I had given up on that thought as soon as I saw the officer.

"It's too late," I said, weakly.

"Hope, c'mon. You can't just give up. You dragged me all the way out here, keep going!" Faith said. So I did. But instead, I turned around where I was and drove back, at just over the speed limit. We thought that, even if it was by cheating, we might be able to win this. We were wrong. Alex was already there when we got back.

Putting on my best smile and wiping my tears, I got out of the car to go congratulate her, tell her that she won fair and square, but she was preoccupied. Boys and girls from middle school to early high school age were yelling and screaming, jumping up and down for her, and she was eating it right up. Only one person sat on the side watching.

"Are you okay? The tan, black haired boy asked me. My heart fluttered at the idea that he cared. I looked into his eyes, which were a bit darker than my muddy eyes. 

"I'm fine," I said, not even thinking to ask who he was.

"Good," he smiled at me, holding his hand out. I looked down at it, wondering what he was doing. A piece of paper lay in his hand. I took his offering, and scribbled across it was "Elliot C." and a phone number. I thanked him before running back to the car to tell Faith what had just happened. Maybe losing wasn't all bad...

A/N: I'm in love with Elliot already. If Hope doesn't marry him I will.
Also, this is my favorite chapter that I've written so far, and I've written a LOT of chapters. So I hope you enjoy!! Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Let me know!!