Rebel With A Cause (7 page)

“Nervous?” Bekah asked. Kaitlyn shook her head. “I bet Carter’s never taken you in one of his races, has he?” Kaitlyn shook her head again.

“Well,” Bekah laughed. “Enjoy the ride.”

It was odd, Kaitlyn thought, to be inside of a car, instead of starting the race, like she normally did. As she sat inside, she could feel the engine running and the grunt of it when Bekah revved the engine.

“Ready…” the race marshal cried.

Bekah revved the engine, earning a few impressed looks from onlookers. She ignored all of them.

“GO!” the race marshal cried.

Kaitlyn had to hold onto her seat as Bekah planted her foot and shifted up the gears, whipping quickly past the other racers and creating a
 
whooshing
 
sound.

They were coming up to the first corner and Bekah dropped the clutch, doing a partial donut around the sharp turn. She straightened up and whooped.

“Amazing, eh
?” she grinned. Kaitlyn nodded.

Bekah shifted gear again and sped up, now doing one hundred and sixty on a narrow, bumpy road. Kaitlyn was terrified.

They were quickly coming up to a roundabout, and Bekah drove straight on through, not even noticing the bump as she went straight over it. Kaitlyn stayed quiet, hoping not to distract her.

The
drove through a series of winding
streets and when they hit a long straight, Kaitlyn relaxed a bit.

That was, until she saw the U-turn at the dead end.

Bekah slowed down a little then pulled on the handbrake, swiftly manoeuvring the car around the cones. Kaitlyn felt the seatbelt cut into her when she fell against it. She hit the back of the seat with a thump.

Ouch,
 
she cried mentally.
 
Whiplash
.

They made their way back the way they came, with a few variations along the way. Bekah kept on pushing the speed limits, leaving Kaitlyn terrified out of her mind.

Without either of them seeing it coming, Bekah lost control of the car. She swerved dangerously and came perilously close to hitting a lamppost on the passenger side – where Kaitlyn was sitting. Kaitlyn screamed.

“Got it!”
Bekah suddenly cried, and the car straightened up.

“Maybe you should slow down?” Kaitlyn asked timidly.

Bekah laughed. “Slow down? You’ve got to be kidding me! Can you not
 
feel
 
that adrenaline rush? It’s exhilarating!”

Kaitlyn tried to get her breathing under control, and relaxed as the finish came into sight. Carter was standing there, looking like he was having a hard time controlling his temper.

Bekah swung the car around to a stop and cut the engine. Before she could step out, Carter had wrenched open the passenger door and gathered Kaitlyn into his arms.

“Are you ok?” he asked hurriedly. “Are you hurt?” He kept talking, but his words were soon lost in the screams of joy around the car.

Kaitlyn didn’t say anything, but buried her head in the crook of Carter’s
neck
and held on to him like he was her lifesaver.

“She lost control of the car,” she mumbled.

Carter’s sharp hearing heard that.

“What?!” he yelled angrily. “She did what?!”

Kaitlyn shrugged. “She lost control. She was going two-ten and hit the roundabout wrong.”

Carter growled and hugged Kaitlyn tighter to him.

“You are never getting in the car with her again, ever,” he growled angrily. “From now on, only I am allowed to drive you anywhere. I don’t care what your parents say. From now on, you’re living with me.”

Kaitlyn ignored him and pressed her lips to his throat.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too,” he replied. “And don’t you
 
dare
 
ever say I don’t.”

She nodded and squeezed him tighter, loving the safety and protectiveness he radiated. She loved Carter, and would do anything to keep him happy.

Kaitlyn didn’t go home that night. Instead, she waltzed in at breakfast time, ignoring the scowl on her father’s face.

“Morning, Daddy!” she chirped brightly. “Lovely morning today, isn’t it? I thought you’d be out enjoying the fresh air?”

Her father frowned. “Where were you last night, Kaitlyn?” he asked sternly.

She shrugged and ignored his question as she walked into the kitchen. Her mother was making pancakes.

“Morning,
M
ummy,” she said brightly. “What’
s for breakfast? Pancakes?
Yum
!”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “Just go and set the table, will you?”

Kaitlyn grinned and walked into the dining room, striding purposefully past her dad.

“Kaitlyn,” he said sternly. “We need to talk.”

She shrugged him off and went and collected the placemats and cutlery, laying them out carefully on the table.

“Kaitlyn,” her father tried again.

She looked up and gave him her most adorable smile.
“Yes, Daddy?”

He frowned. “Where were you last night?”

She looked up at him, flashing her big eyes at him. “I went out street racing with my friend Rebekah.”

Her father ground his teeth together. “Don’t lie to me Kaitlyn. I’ve had it with all of your crap!”

At that moment, her mother walked in. “What’s going on in here?”

Kaitlyn looked innocently at her dad, and he glared right back.

“Our daughter thinks it’s funny to lie about where she’s been, and mock me about it,” he spat bitterly.

Her mother sighed. “Katie, don’t be rude.” She walked out, leaving a steaming husband behind her.

“That’s
 
it?
” he screamed. “That’s
 
all?
 
Just
a
 
don’t
be rude?
 
Laylz, she’s ruining this family! And you’re just letting her get away with it?”

Her mother poked her head around the corner and shot him the look. “She’s your daughter, too. You do something about it.”

He growled in frustration and spun around to face Kaitlyn, who was still pulling her innocent act.

“You’re an ungrateful little girl,” he snapped. “Get out of my sight.”

Kaitlyn was stunned. He’d never sounded so venomous in her whole life.

“Fine,” she replied, shocked. “I’ll go. By the way, I’m moving out.”

Her father turned puce. “
You’re what?
”

She turned around and looked him dead in the eye. “I’m moving out,” she repeated. “I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back.”

“Kaitlyn!!” her father screamed. “You are
 
not
 
leaving this house!”

“Yes, I am,” she replied coldly. “You don’t want me here, and that’s ok. I’m leaving. You can have your perfect little life without me.”

She turned around and ran up to her room, grabbing her overnight bag and randomly stuffing things inside. She packed her clothes and her shoes and her make
-up
, but left behind everything else. She didn’t need the family photos or the ones with her friends. She wouldn’t be going to school anymore. She would be a girl racer, and make enough money to live on. Her friends didn’t even know what she was really like, anyway.

The door behind her creaked and she turned around defensively, getting ready to yell at anyone who dared enter, until she saw it was her little brother. He had tears streaming down his small face.

“
Oh, Jordy,” she said, bending down to hug him. “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t want you to go!” he cried, flinging his arms around her neck. “Please don’t leave me!”

She clung tightly to her little brother and kissed the top of his head, gently stroking his hair.

“I don’t want to leave you, Jordy. I love you. But daddy doesn’t want me here anymore.”

He sniffed. “Then I don’t want daddy.”

Kaitlyn gave a sad smile and squeezed her brother tighter. “I’m so sorry, Jordy,” she whispered, before removing his arms from around her. She looked into his eyes and hated that she was the one to put the sadness there. “I’ll come back and see you,” she promised. “I’m your big sister, and I’ll be there for you whenever you need me.”

She kissed his forehead than climbed out the window, leaving behind a sobbing six-year-old and a broken family.

“So you walked out?” Carter asked, holding her close.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “They wanted me gone anyway, so I left.”

“What about Jordy?”

Kaitlyn sobbed as her heart clenched in pain.

“He’s better off without me,” she whispered. Carter sighed. They stood in the hallway for a minute before he dragged her into the kitchen.

“Sit,” he ordered, taking her bag from her. He put it on the bed in what was now their bedroom and returned to the kitchen, intent on making brunch. Of course, as usual, there was no food in the house.

He sighed. “Do you wanna go out for brunch?” he asked. Kaitlyn looked up at him.

“Why? I’m not hungry.”

He sighed and held his hand out. “Well I am,” he announced. “And besides, we haven’t been on a proper date in a
 
really
 
long time.”

They sat together at a bench table in the sun at a local café.

“God, it’s been forever since I’ve done something like this,” Carter murmured to himself.

“Why?” Kaitlyn asked, not bothering to pretend she hadn’t heard.

He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. It was such a sweet, simple yet romantic gesture and it made her heart melt.

“Well,” he began after a pause. “You’re my first girlfriend. But you already knew that. Anyway, lately I’ve been so obsessed with racing that I haven’t thought about doing something like this in a while.”

Kaitlyn smiled. “It’s ok. Racing’s cool. I love going to the races.”

He gave a little smile in return. “Is that why you wanna race? You wanna be like your big, strong boyfriend?”

Kaitlyn laughed. “Sure,” she smirked. “You just keep thinking that, big boy.”

Carter kissed her hand again and they smiled at each other.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar patronizing voice said. Carter looked up to see Marcus standing behind Kaitlyn. He growled angrily when Marcus rested his hands on her shoulders.

“What do you want?” he snapped angrily.

Marcus smirked. “I was just passing by and I saw your crappy red Evo in the parking lot. Thought I’d come and say hi.”

As Marcus and Carter glared at each other – Carter angrily and Marcus smugly – Kaitlyn felt trapped. She was caught in the middle of their petty feud, and she was so over it.

“Guys?” she asked angrily. “Can you stop checking each other out for
 
five minutes
 
please? I’m being suffocated here.”

Carter frowned at Marcus before flipping him off and focusing his attention on Kaitlyn again.

“So, the only way you’re racing,” he said, “is if you do a defensive driving course. I’m not letting you race unprepared.”

“What’s this?” Marcus butted in rudely. “Katie’s going to be a girl racer?”

She pulled a face at Carter and ignored Marcus. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Marcus frown.

“Well,” he said, “I know
 
I
 
wouldn’t make you do a defensive driving course before racing. I’m not that uptight.”

Kaitlyn flipped him the bird and kept on looking at Carter, who was absentmindedly playing with her fingers. The only way she could tell that he was getting frustrated was the increasing but gentle pressure he was putting on them.

“Do you have a car?” Kaitlyn stayed silent, and Marcus took that as a no. “I can buy you one,” he offered.

Carter finally looked up. “Fuck off, loser,” he growled. “We don’t need your charity.”

Marcus smirked. “Ah, you’re going to let her use yours then, are you?”

Carter growled and grabbed his keys. “Come on, Katie, we’re outta here.” He pulled her up and led her to his car. “Sorry about the interruption,” he apologised.

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied, hopping in the car. “Marcus is a jerk. Can you believe he actually had the nerve to tell me you thought I was just an easy lay?”

Carter groaned as he started the car. “That guy is a twat.”

Kaitlyn sighed. “Yeah, he is. I just wish he would leave me alone. I’m getting sick of his attention.”