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“Hana,” she says, leaning across Danny and looking up at me. “Since you’re wondering why I’m here, I thought you should know that your father invited me.”
“That’s cool,” I say as if it really is cool. “Great idea.”
My nonchalant response triggers her infamous scorn. Before Danny accelerates again, she calls out one last time, “And of course, I wanted to see what sort of thing was so great it was worth missing my wedding!”
Shelby and I emerge from the gate with a new outlook on life as we had just survived the longest sign-in in the history of Mixon Motocross Park. Every square inch of the pits has a car parked in it. There are even cars lined up to the edge of the woods that separate our house from the track.
“Did you happen to see Ryan?” I ask Shelby while we trudge through the grass, clipboards and moneybags in tow.
“Yeah, he was with his parents in their truck. I signed them in as a favor to you,” she says, smiling.
“Did he say anything about me?” I must have said this with a little too much hopeful yearning in my voice because Shelby hesitates before answering.
“No…but, I don’t know why you would care about him anyhow.”
Practice is already over by the time we get to the tower and wait to be assigned our next task. Molly and the older women are busy registering people at the windows and other staff members come in and out of the tower on errands. Everyone seems busy except for Shelby and me. I look over Molly’s shoulder at the track below.
The new section of the track is blocked for practice. When I ask Dad about it he laughs as if I had made a joke. “Yeah right, Hana. If anyone got to practice on that section then they’d figure out the secret! And no one gets to know the secret.” He belts out another hearty laugh as he walks away shaking his head, still amused at the hilarious joke I accidentally made.
I slump into the futon and bury my head in my knees as an overwhelming feeling of guilt envelopes me. Of all the stupid things I have done in my sixteen years, telling Ryan the track secret is the worst. Ryan will win the race now that he has the upper hand on Ash. Sickening remorse doesn’t begin to describe what I feel.
Shelby is next to me in an instant. “Do you feel sick?”
I shake my head and remain hidden between my knees and fallen hair. “Then what’s wrong?” she asks.
I blink back tears and sit up, looking into the eyes of the closest friend I have ever had. Tears catch in the corners of my eyes, causing her to shift into a watery form and for a moment I see Ash staring at me through her eyes. His face is more masculine and often conceals their identical features, but the guilt I feel causes their similarities to stand out even more.
“Ash isn’t going to win…” I mumble.
“What are you talking about?” Her face softens. “Of course he will.”
A loud clink sounds from outside, followed by another and another. Someone, or something, climbs the stairs to the tower. Startled, Shelby and I turn to the door, curious about what causes the obnoxious noise. The clunking stops and the door swings open, revealing my little brother, dressed head to toe in his riding gear.
“Momma!” Teig yells into the small room. Molly rushes over to him and he whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh and send him back outside.
At the rider’s meeting, Dad stands on the roof of the score tower and goes over the rules of the race into the microphone. I stand next to him and look at the crowd of riders standing below us listening to every word he says. The younger kids listen as if their lives depend on it, while the experienced racers don’t look as though they need the information but listen anyway out of respect for my dad.
Shelby hangs out with Ash and Shawn during the meeting and I watch them while Dad explains the race order and then defines what each colored flag means. Ash stands rigid with his arms crossed, eyes watching my dad while his mind is somewhere far away. Shawn plays with a toy dirt bike, still wheelchair-bound but at least he’s gained some weight. Shelby watches Ash with a look of concern.
Not only does Ryan not deserve to win, Ash doesn’t deserve to lose. Although Ash is to blame for refusing to practice in the weeks after Shawn’s injury, Ryan knows the secret and that is completely my fault. I can’t allow Ash to start the race without a fighting chance. If Ash would stop being stubborn and allow me to tell him the secret, he may have a chance. There’s still time to catch him before he races, but I don’t know if he’ll even talk to me. Of course, getting to him without having Shelby next to me will be another problem.
Dad ends the rider’s meeting and everyone stands for the National Anthem. Alyson is visibly nervous as she begins to sing. I can almost see her knees shaking when she belts out a few off-key notes. I can’t blame her for being nervous in a crowd that is ten times the size of our normal races.
After the anthem, everyone disperses to their pits with a collective feeling of enthusiasm. Motors crank from every direction and the first moto lines up on the gate. Shelby and I gather with the rest of the staff who would be flagging today. Molly hands everyone a big yellow flag and tells us which area of the track we’re stationed.
My flagging section is one turn away from the finish line, probably the best view of the track. I can see every major part of the track from this angle and will have a clear view of the victor of each race. We have ten minutes before we need to be on the track. Molly advises for everyone to take a bathroom break. I grab a sports drink out of the cooler and head away from the bathrooms hoping to lose Shelby in the shuffle so I can find a way to talk to Ash.
It seems to work because as I meander through crowds of spectators, Shelby is nowhere to be found. I pick up speed and jog through the pits to where I had seen Ash’s truck earlier this morning. When I find the Mazda, his bike stand is empty and his family is gone. Defeat washes over me, making my knees weak and my stomach sick. I have to tell Ash the track secret. I owe it to him. With no more time to kill, I run all the way back to the track and to my section.
The first moto revs their engines at the starting gate. The pro class is the last moto but I won’t be able to leave my spot until after they raced and intermission begins. Unless Ash and I are somehow telepathic and I can find a way to activate those magical powers now, I won’t be able to talk to him before he races.
The riders on the line rev their bikes and lean forward, in full concentration. The sun beams down on me as I stand on the edge of the track, holding a yellow flag, wearing a lame purple shirt, and commiserating on the situation I am in: stuck with no way to tell Ash the secret, and desperately needing to pee.
Way to go, Hana I think as the gate drops and the races began.
Chapter 21
The first moto is a complete blur. I stand in silence as bike after bike tears through my section of the track, throwing dirt on me in the process. The only thing I concentrate on was holding my flag tightly closed – we’re only allowed to have it waving in the air when a rider falls down.
