Dirty Friends (Beautiful Friends #1) (2 page)

My father just handed me money the night before and said to behave. There was no good luck or have fun. He thinks riding, or better yet, paying to ride is stupid. So, I’m grateful to have Ryan’s dad on my side. He helps us fill out the sign-up forms, and also signs to be my guardian for the day. Since I’m just shy of my seventeenth birthday and under the age of eighteen, it’s necessary.

“You ready for this Ryan? You know I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Me? Umm, you better be ready to eat my dirt…literally.” He’s laughing hard at his own statement.

“Oh, yeah…we’ll see, tough guy.”

“Boys, we need to get the rest of the stuff out of the truck and be ready to go to the riders’ meeting at eight thirty, under the announcer’s tower.” Mr. Evans has been through all of this before, so he knows exactly what will be taking place and in what order we need to do things.

“After we’re ready, can we do a track walk? I overheard other riders talking about it while we were standing in the sign-up line.”

“Yeah, Dad, I want to do that, too.”

“Ok, boys, get moving then.”

We start setting up faster at this point. We get our gear and boots on while setting out helmets, gloves, and goggles on the tailgate of the truck. The chairs and coolers are under the tent and our bikes are on their stands, with our chest protectors hanging on the handlebars. As soon as the toolbox is set next to the power sprayer and water tank, I shout, “Let’s go!” We have fifteen minutes to spare before the riders’ meeting, and I’m anxious to see the track.

“Alright, boys, let’s walk it.”

We head over to the start line first, quickly looking it over before heading out to see the rest of the track. After l take note of every jump, line, and corner…I’m ready. Listening to the official talk about riding a fair and respectable race, I can’t wait to get on my bike. Right after the national anthem is played, it will all start. Let the races begin.

“Boys, ride smart, ride safe and keep it on two wheels.” His dad gave us a concerned, fatherly look.

“Yes, sir. We got this, right, Ryan?” I say.

He nods to his dad and gives me a chuckle, “Cooper, of course we do. Just don’t get pissed when I blow by and roost your ass.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, pretty boy, I’m ready and not worried at all. Bring it.”

There are a total of nine race classes, which means there are eighteen motos. Ours will be race two and then race eleven. It will give us a chance to sit and relax a bit in between each race. We need to get to the staging area since the first race is underway already. With a full gate, which means forty riders are in our race, they will be calling out race numbers at random, directing us to pick which gate we want to line up at on the start line. I have race number three thirty-four and Ryan’s is four fifty-two. He’s called first, then I go two riders later. We are about ten gates apart.

Right before the thirty second board turns to show just ten seconds remain before the gates will drop, I look over at Ryan and he does the same to me. We both give a thumbs up and a nod of our heads. With my right hand on the throttle and left on the clutch, I’m ready. The gate drops letting the bikes fly off the line. I know I don’t get a bad start but know there were still several bikes ahead of me. I end up finishing that first moto in fifth, and Ryan is right behind me in seventh. Not bad for our first time racing.

Heading back to the truck, we set our bikes up on our stands again, then immediately pull off our helmets, gloves, chest protectors, and throw off our jerseys. We’re sweating our asses off. Working out every day after school keeps us in great shape, though the race still took a lot out of us. Putting in the extra time to train is crucial for us to be able to maintain our speed during the whole race. It’s time to get something in us to stay hydrated, find a chair, and then food. Burning off that much energy makes you hungry. It’s important that we get to relax a bit before heading out for our second motos.

“Great race boys. I’m proud of both of you.”

“It was a tough one. Some of those boys are really fast. Holy crap.” Ryan tries to still catch his breath, as he drinks and talks at the same time.

“No kidding. I tried catching number thirty-two in front of me the whole time. I couldn’t do it,” I say, panting myself.

Just as we sit down and start talking, a bunch of girls walk by, staring in our direction. You can totally tell they are enjoying the view. Of course, both Ryan and I look at each other then back to the girls. They all have on their Daisy Dukes and tight little tank tops. It’s a hot day, which means thankfully, little clothing is needed.

“Hello, ladies.” I nod.

“Hey, you could come join us.” Ryan can’t help flashing those pearly whites with a big ass smile.

As the four ladies walk over, I sit there watching each one strut their way under the tent. Ryan immediately starts shooting off the compliments and has the girls eating out of his hands. He just has a way with ladies. He’s dated several girls in school, but none have kept his attention long enough to make it past a month, before he’s moving on and seeing the next. We are a lot alike in that sense. It’s a running joke with us to see who will stay with who longer.

“So, did you guys come here to watch someone in particular or did you just bring your hot little selves here to find us?” He smirks.

The pretty brunette speaks while the others just stand next to her, giggling. “Well, we came to see my brother and his friends ride.”

“Well, ladies, you are more than welcome to stay here and hang. I’m Cooper and this is Ryan,” I say, pointing in his direction.

I look over at Ryan and he is already engaged in a conversation with two of the girls. We both stand up and offer them a chair. Pushing our helmets and gloves deeper in the back of the truck, we both hop up on the tailgate. We only talk for a minute or two before the same brunette speaks again, “We really can’t, sorry, we have to get back to help out with lunch before the next set of races start. But it was nice meeting you both.”

Ryan jumps up right away, and I know exactly what he’s going to be doing… getting digits. He is never one to pass up an opportunity. “How about you give us your numbers so we can get in touch with you beautiful ladies, sometime?”

Numbers are exchanged after realizing we don’t live that far from each other. It’s only about a thirty to forty minute drive to their town. “Damn, Ryan, I think I’m going to like these races and not just for the ride, but for the ride,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows. We both bust up laughing and fist bump each other as we enjoy the view when they all walk away.

Mr. Evans comes back over and we start making sandwiches. We have about two hours before we have to get ready to head down to the staging area again. It’s time to relax, put the Beats on, and listen to some music to get us back in race mode. I immediately hit my race play list.
Life Off My Life
by Lee Brice
comes on first and that’s it, I sink low in the chair, tip my head back, and close my eyes. I can tune everything else out when I have a song on that I can totally relate to, and this is one of those times.

Before I know it, Ryan’s slapping my leg, telling me it’s time to get our shit on and get down to the line. This moto is different; we are able to pick our gate choice by the way we finished. I enter fifth, and again, I pick just where I lined up before. It worked well for me the first time, and I learned a long time ago…you don’t rock the boat. This time Ryan picks one a few spots closer to me. I look over at him and we do just what we did before. Silently telling each other good luck and to kick ass. His dad walks over to both of us, pats us on our backs, and shouts over the noise, “Ride smart, ride safe and keep it on two wheels.” Just like he had done before.

As we both ride off the track, we are side by side going back to the tent. I got fourth, and Ryan was on my ass the whole race to get fifth. After handing off our bikes, one at a time, to Ryan’s dad, we drop in chairs, removing our helmets.

“Holy shit, you were on my ass.”

“Ha, well you needed to get moving. I almost had you in turn two, but you gassed it and roosted me hard core, asshole.”

“I guess you’ll find a different line next time, won’t you?”

“No, next time you’ll be behind me.”

“Umm, never.”

“Boys, get something to drink, wipe all that dirt off your faces, and then let’s get loading everything up. We have an hour drive and I want to stop for dinner, too,” he says, as he throws us both a drink and towel.

“I also want to check the race results before we leave. It’ll let us know where we placed overall,” I wipe off my face at the same time as I speak.

“Agreed,” Ryan says.

We get out of our dirty gear and throw on some shorts. Packing up and heading out only takes about a half hour. We decide we will wash the bikes when we get home. Stopping quickly at the sign-up tower we see the results, I see that I finished fourth overall and Ryan ended up in sixth. We are more than happy with the way the day went. It’s time to head out, get something to eat, followed by a shower and a place to relax. It was a long day and I am exhausted.

Ansley

SPENDING MY SUNDAYS WITH my mom is something important to both of us. She’s more than just a mom; she’s my friend, too. It’s always been just the two of us. My father walked out on us when he found out she was pregnant. We lived in Virginia at the time. She said he still lives there. He sent money to us once but mom sent it back, telling him we didn’t want anything he was offering. He never sent a single dime after that. It’s fine with me, but I hate seeing my mom work so hard to make ends meet. Mom works a lot, so when she doesn’t, we try to spend our time together. She got offered a great job shortly after I turned twelve. That’s what brought us to where we live now. She’s a charge nurse in the labor and delivery department for a much bigger hospital now, before she was a floor nurse for a tiny community hospital. She loves delivering babies and seeing their tiny little faces as they are brought into the world. I thought it was going be hard to leave my last school but my best friend had moved the year before I did, so truly it wasn’t a big deal at all.

My two best friends are now Cooper and Ryan. They both live next door to me, one on each side. We have a smaller, two bedroom ranch style house but it is still in a nicer area of town; nicer than any we’ve ever lived in before. The guys are busy at a Motocross race all day. They asked me to go, but Mom comes first when she’s not working and they know that. I can’t wait to hear how they did. They should be home soon. They are the first two people I met when we moved here and the only two I feel I truly connected with. I don’t fit in with girls a lot. I don’t mind getting dirt under my nails while they like nail polish on them. I have a couple of girlfriends in school but the guys are, and always have been, my true friends. They know all of my secrets, well almost all of them. They are also the only ones I really trust.

The guys are protective of me so when they see a boy showing any interest in me, they go on high alert. I’ve been seeing someone now for a couple of months and I don’t think they like it, at all. I don’t know why they care who I see and when. They see whom they want and don’t ask my opinion. In fact, they see quite of few girls and sometimes, it’s more than one at a time. They say, “
It’s tough being this good looking
.” At that point, I hit them both in the back of the head and tell them to “
wake up, you are dreaming.”
It usually gets me a good laugh from both of them. They both have a great sense of humor.

Cooper seems to have a real problem with me dating, and I don’t understand it. I’m closer to him than Ryan, but still, it doesn’t make sense. He never thinks anyone is good enough for me. The guy I’m seeing now, Riley, is a great guy, but I don’t feel like it is as serious as he’d like it to be.

The night we went to the movies, Ryan and Cooper suddenly showed up with dates, too. I look over to them staring at me, while the girls they were with were trying to kiss them. I gave them dirty looks trying to get my point across, while they just sat there smirking at me. At one point, I glanced over and Ryan was very much into his date, while Cooper still sat there staring at me out of the corner of his eye. I didn’t talk to them for two days, but I couldn’t take the silence any longer. I lean on them for things that I can’t talk to anyone else about.

The one secret I keep from them both is my virginity. I’m sure they know I haven’t been with anyone, but I’ve neither confirmed nor denied it. I like to keep them wondering. I’m only sixteen, so I’m in no rush. My mom’s had conversations with me about it, but it’s usually the same talk that all parents have with daughters. There’s no rush, don’t do it until you are ready and use protection. I always assure her that I’ve never been that serious about anyone. I want to be in love, like real love, when it happens. I can’t help it, I might be the girl that doesn’t mind getting dirty, but I still want the fairy tale romance like everyone else.