Page 46 of Trading Paint
When I got closer to my pit, I noticed Sway perched upon my car, sitting on the edge of the right rear tire, laughing at Tommy dancing around.
She was beautiful.
Her hair shined under the lights, auburn highlights sparkling with the light breeze reflecting the light. She caught me staring at her and smiled, motioning for me to come over. I did.
Slinging my right arm over her shoulders, she leaned into me.
“You smell like racing.” She said breathing me in as though the scent was pleasant to her. I had yet to change out of my racing suit.
“Well I did just race. I won by the way.”
“I saw.” She smiled looking up at me. “I watched every lap.”
“I don’t doubt that.” I returned the smile. “Let’s party. We are graduating in two weeks and I won.”
Sway jumped off the tire. “Don’t have to ask me twice.”
Getting drunk was exactly what I needed. I wanted to forget everything for one night. I didn’t want to think about racing, sponsors, school, Chelsea...nothing. I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to be a teenager.
And we were teenagers.
We did stupid shit, drank too much and ended up together in a sleeping bag. Too drunk to function, we ended up kissing some more. I felt my way around her soft body as did she. Her smooth hands crept under my shirt and then removed it. I didn’t stop her as I was too busy kissing her.
But it never went past touching and kissing. It never did. It seemed like we both wanted to. The desire and temptation was there but then again there was hesitation...from both of us. I don’t know what it was but it was there. It was as though we both saw the boundary. There was an imaginary line surrounding us and we both knew what happened if either of us crossed over.
We all ended up camping in a field that night. Sway and I were in one sleeping bag and oddly enough Tommy and Spencer were in another. Not sure how they ended up that way as the night was seemingly a blur but when they awoke and found themselves snuggled together, they were alarmed to say the least.
It was a good joke for the entire trip home. I even took a picture for future blackmailing. And like usual, Sway and I never spoke about our kissing; that imaginary line we had developed or what it meant.
Once we got home, graduation was approaching fast. I couldn’t wait. The other important event was our senior prank.
The night before graduation, we finalized our plans.
When Spencer graduated, he stole Sheriff Stevens’ car, took it for a spin around town and then returned it.
I decided that I would race my sprint car through downtown Elma one last time, for old time sake.
At the Homecoming football game earlier in the year, Spencer and I took a pair of 360 sprints onto the running track around the football stadium.
Jimi was not happy about that.
Knowing that, I knew he wouldn’t behappyabout this either but come on...a kid has to get his kicks somehow.
Sway was amused immensely at the thought of Stevens having a heart attack at the sight of my 800 horsepower sprint car broad sliding down E. Young St toward his house.
She couldn’t stop laughing as she push started my car with the Red Dragon.
We installed a 2-way radio in my car to communicate while she told me when and where the police were. The goal was to make it past the Sheriffs house and then back to my house before he caught me.
So there we were pulling out of my driveway ontoCloquallumroad.
All I heard on the radio were Sway’s giggles which made me laugh.
“Focus Sway,” I said between my own laughs. It really was that funny to us. “We have to focus if we want to pull this off.”
“I’m trying...ahshit, I can’t breathe.” She said breathlessly trying to catch her breath.
“Stoplaughing. This is supposed to be sneaky.”
