Long Drive Thinking

Alright, I lied last week. This isn’t the wake for the Racers that just died. It’s leading up to the wake. I completely forgot about my dive into Jay’s headspace. To story!
*********
“Are you okay?”

Amy glanced up from her homework, not the least surprised to see Nat and Aaron exchange worried glances at each other before focusing their attention back to her. It was her first day back at classes since the race and she wanted nothing more to avoid talking about it. Thankfully, her study buddies understood and said nothing about the race. However, they quickly picked up her rotten mood.

“No,” she said bluntly, feeling the bitterness in her mouth. “The Circuit had decided that for my little stunt this last weekend, that I can’t leave Acro City limits until after the next race.”

“Ooo,” Nat said, flinching. “That’s… not so bad…?”

Amy scowled, thinking of Tyson and what a nice time she had with him. “I have friends outside of Acro City,” she grumbled, knowing that she only had one friend she wanted to see outside the city limit. “Now I can’t see them.”

“Can’t they come visit you?” Aaron asked.

“They don’t have cars,” she muttered, thinking of the call she gave Tyson the day before and how they just talked. She had explained her punishment, hoping that the young man would take pity on her, but he told her that he couldn’t come, because he didn’t have a car to drive. Not to mention he worked a lot so… She was stuck with just calling him.

“Well,” Nat said, trying to be positive. “Look on the bright side. At least you can focus on your homework.”

“Oh, yes,” she sighed, looking down at the worksheet. “So much fun.”

“You volunteered for it,” Aaron pointed out with a chuckle. “You shouldn’t grumble.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said. “Now, are we studying for this quiz or not?”

The rest of the day at school was uneventful, filled with classes and studying with her friends. It was almost enough to help her forget her troubles, to forget the Circuit and it’s drastic hold on her life. A simple life she always dreamed of having.

However, it didn’t last long as she walked back to Maxx when her phone rang. Hoping it was Tyson, she was disappointed when she saw who it really was.

“I thought I wasn’t talking to you,” she snapped as she held the phone up to her ear.

“You aren’t,” Jay admitted. “I just thought…”

“Thought what?” she demanded to know, coming up to Maxx and sitting on his hood. He was the typical silver sports car they favored. “That a few days of letting me stew would make things better?”

Wisely, he didn’t answer that.

“I know I’m supposed to go to Hacker’s shop,” she went on, rolling her eyes. “He’s already texted me that I didn’t let him check Maxx out after the race. I’m probably going to get an earful from him when I get there.”

“Yes…” Jay said slowly. “Do… Do you want me there or…?”

“No, Jay,” she quickly said, glaring into nothing, hoping that he could feel it wherever he was. “I don’t want you there. I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life not seeing you again.”

“Amy…”

“Don’t Amy me,” she snapped. “I told you that I didn’t want to race and you made me do it anyway!”

“You’re the one who wants to go to the Final,” he quickly pointed out. “The reason why I wanted you to race earlier was so that you could get enough points so that this next race you don’t have to push yourself into the top three.”

She didn’t want to admit it, but it was a bit nice that he didn’t want her to push herself too far. However, she shook her head of the notion. The only kind person she had met this weekend was Tyson. And he was far better at it than Jay was.

“It doesn’t matter,” she grumbled. “They’re not going to let me leave the Circuit anyway.”

“Yes, you will,” Jay said sternly. “I promised to help you get there. I can’t break that promise to you.”

She hated it when he brought up his Talent. Honestly, she was glad that of all the strange Talents she could have had that she wasn’t landed with one as terrible as his.

“I want to help, Amy. I just don’t know how right now since you won’t tell me anything.”

Ooo. He was good.

“He’s right,” Maxx said quietly.

“Shut it,” she snapped at her program. “I still don’t want to see you, Jay.”

He sighed on the other end. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but the longer you avoid me, the more the rumor mill is going to churn out things neither of us want.”

“Oh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “And why would I care what the rumor mill is saying about us? What could they possibly get from it?”

“That I’m about to sell your contract to someone less understanding as retribution for what you did this weekend.”

Amy felt herself pale.

“Or that the Circuit is considering of pulling your contract back, give you another year before letting you race again…”

“Jay…” No, they wouldn’t do that to her. They couldn’t! She was one of the best new Racers in the Circuit. She knew how much she was worth to them.

“I’m just saying,” he said, his tone oddly cool. “There are people who think that you aren’t stable enough to be racing and a lot of those rumors are stemming from the fact that you aren’t talking to me or making any sort of appearance.”

“I have classes!”

“They don’t care. You’re acting aloof and they don’t like that.”

She gritted her teeth. That was the problem with rumors. If enough people heard them and took notice of them, then they started to believe the rumors to be true. She couldn’t afford for those rumors to become true. She wanted out of the Circuit!

“Fine,” she snapped. “What do I need to do?”

“There’s an event at the end of the week to celebrate the lives of the Racers lost during the last race. If you only show up for a few minutes I’m sure that would be enough.”

Amy wanted to vomit. Show up to a wake for Racers? The Sponsors must know how hard all this is on her. They were just trying to push her to the breaking point.

“And let me guess,” she said bitterly, submitting herself to this distasteful task. “You’ll be accompanying me?”

There was a slight pause. “It doesn’t have to be me…”

She frowned. Why had he said that so quietly? “Really?” she asked, hesitant.

“Maxx told me that you met someone,” Jay muttered. “He also said that you were smitten.”

She glared at her car. Maxx, she could tell, was ignoring her. “I don’t get smitten.”

“He didn’t know who you were,” Jay said softly. “I’m sure that was appealing.”

There was truth in that. “He can’t make it,” she muttered. “He doesn’t have a car and I can’t leave the city. Won’t be happening.”

There was another pause. “I could get him.” It almost sounded like he was dragging the words out of his mouth.

Amy sat up, nearly standing off of Maxx. “What?”

“I could get him,” Jay repeated. “I know you don’t want to be around me… so maybe if you had a friend with you, it would help.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she muttered, wishing that she wasn’t blushing. Jay and Tyson meeting? She wasn’t sure if she wanted that. “Besides, he might be working that evening…” He wasn’t. He was one of the few people who could fill the day shift at his work. Tyson almost never worked evenings.

“I’m sure he could get it off,” Jay said in a neutral tone. Amy narrowed her eyes into nothing. What was Jay up to now? She was aware that he did have feelings for her so why was he offering to go get Tyson, someone he had never met?

“Just call him later, ask if he can, and let me know,” Jay went on to say. “Honestly, it’s the least I can do after what I put you through this weekend.”

Really? She wondered. What’s your game Jay?

“Thank you,” she said instead, careful to keep her own tone neutral. “I’ll let you know. I still don’t want to see you at Hacker’s shop today.”

“Tomorrow then?”

“Fine.”

“Alright,” Jay sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

She ended the call, frowning at her phone. Sitting back down on Maxx, she went over the conversation again in her head. What was that about?

“What was that about?” Maxx asked, voicing her thoughts. A few other students were walking past and jumped when they heard the car talk. It only took them a few seconds to recognize her and walked off nodding their heads and sneaking glances back at them. She did her best to ignore them; an easier task with the confusion she was feeling.

“Why did you tell him about Tyson?” she asked instead, glancing at the windshield.

“He had a right to know,” Maxx stated. “You brushed him off when he was worried about you. And he is your Sponsor, he’s responsible for you. I think you’ve been a little harsh towards him.”

She sighed. She really hated it when her program was right.

“Maxx?”

“Yep?”

“Shut up.”
***********
If Jay weren’t driving, he would have been staring forlornly out at the scenery. A week after the race and the wake for the three Racers was today. He really had been dreading this all week, more so after Amy had called him back.

Tyson was coming.

And his Talent was triggered and he couldn’t back out of getting the young man from Wendell. He wondered what he was like, what Amy could have possibly seen in him…

Jay sighed. Maybe this wouldn’t have been so bad if Amy and this Tyson were just friends, like how she was with Hacker and Aaron, but he knew it was different this time. After he was allowed back into the shop, Amy had ignored him, instead spending her time either worried about Maxx or texting the boy. Sally had snickered that Amy was finally showing some heart and had interest in the boy. Dear, blessed Sally, generally so ignorant of any sort of emotion unless it dealt with love. If Sally called Amy out on this, what chance did he have?

It really struck him that as much as he had tried to gain Amy’s affection, she was quick to give it to someone else. Someone who didn’t know who she was or what she could be. Literally a random person off the street who had offered her a milkshake.

And the worst bit? He couldn’t bring himself to blame her for it.

She associated him with the world of the Circuit. He was her Sponsor after all, he told her what races to enter, provided her paycheck… Maxx was a product of his family’s company! Her own car came from him. She hated the races, she hated the Circuit, she hated that no one would let her pursue her dreams without her Talent. And he was lumped into it. He wondered if there was any chance that he could have separated himself from all that hate and that Amy would see him as Jay without everything else people associated with him.

He could see the appeal in that. After a lifetime of watching women who only cared for his family’s money, at first towards his father then towards him as he grew, it was a breath of fresh air to find someone who didn’t know who he was. And Amy… Even though she knew who he was, she wanted nothing to do with him. He liked that she scorned his social position, brushed off all he could offer and choose instead to shove it back in his face. It was nice. Perhaps that was why she was attracted to this Tyson, someone who didn’t recognize the famous policy-changing Racer that she was.

Taking the turn off for Wendell, he did his best to school his face. Amy liked this guy. Amy liked this guy. Though it hurt to acknowledge that Amy was fond of someone else, he would prove to be a decent man and treat this guy with respect.

He would pretend that it didn’t hurt.

Just like when he told his father that he was picking up Amy’s date for her. Jay’s cheek twitched at the memory. His father was smug about it. Smug! He knew why his father reacted like that. Ford didn’t want his son to be associated with another Talented, one who had quickly taken the spot light. Jay wanted so much to just brush it off, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that his father was right.

He had spent his entire life hiding his Talent, a difficult task at times, but he knew what to do. Don’t make promises that are spelled out in black and white, make sure there is grey area. Grey area didn’t trigger his Talent. Don’t make promises that contradict each other; that lead to pain. Be careful of the promises he did make, small ones so that no one would notice that they were being forced to keep up their side. But most importantly, don’t bring attention to himself.

Despite being the son of a powerful businessman, Jay always made sure that he didn’t do anything too scandalous, too dangerous, or too outrageous. Unlike other company’s heirs, the media thought him to be a decent man with good morals and great business skills. That was how he wanted them to see him; he didn’t want them to know he was an Oath Maker…

And his father was right. Being with Amy, a Talented who was almost always in the news for her behavior, would bring attention to him. The media and businessmen would start looking closer at his past, trying to pick apart the lies he had so carefully laid to hide his secret. If they found out… He shook his head. Amy was also right. Being Talentless was better.

He hated to admit it, but… It was a good thing that Amy was showing interest in someone else, someone with no secrets, with no dreaded Talent that people would fear and try to destroy, with no idea just how dangerous the world of the Talented could be. The media could latch onto Tyson, Amy’s new… Boyfriend?

It made Jay sick even thinking about it. He was using Tyson as an escape goat to hide his Talent but at the price of loosing a young woman he was slowly growing to love.

It really did make him sick.

He parked on the street of the address that Amy had given him. He sat there for a moment, collecting his thoughts, shoving his emotions down, and schooling his face to pleasant. He hated this. He hated all of it and wished that he, too, was Talentless.

Taking a deep breath, he got out of the car and approached the appropriate door. The building was a four apartment complex, with Tyson’s address being one of the ground apartments. He knocked on the door, a bit surprised when he heard a child screaming. Still schooling his features to pleasant, he smiled as the door opened and a haggard looking young mother with the screaming infant in her arms answered.

If Tyson was married and hitting on Amy, the boy was going to be in a world of hurt.

“Is Tyson here?” he asked.

“Yep, just got back from work. I think he’s changing,” the woman sighed, rolling her eyes. She turned her back on him and shouted into the apartment. “Hey, little brother! Your ride is here.”

Little brother? Darn it. He was living with his sister.

“Coming! I’ll be out in a minute!”

The woman rolled her eyes again. “Come on in,” she grumbled, opening the door wide enough for him to slip in. “He’s going to take a minute or two.”

“Thanks,” Jay said, feeling awkward as he stood beside the door, glancing around the apartment. In all honesty, this was the first time he had been in an apartment that wasn’t spotlessly clean and well cared for. Then again, all the apartments he had been to usually belonged to single, rich heirs that wanted out of their parents’ homes and live on their own. Those apartments were generally high end and used to host parties. This apartment looked lived in, with papers piling over tables, couches covered in pillows and blankets, and toys littered across the floor.

“So…” the mother said, eyeing him. Jay ignored that; he was used to people looking at him. “A funeral?”

“A wake,” he corrected. “Amy would have come herself…”

“But she was punished for leaving without permission,” the woman finished for him. “I know. I’m on top of all the Circuit news.”

“And your brother isn’t?”

“He wasn’t until he met Racer Aims,” she laughed. “I’ve never seen my little brother so smitten by someone. It would figure that the first woman he takes a liking to is a famous Racer and he didn’t even know it.”

Jay shared a weak chuckle. “Sometimes that is very attractive.”

“Speak from experience? You’re… Aims’s Sponsor, right?”

He shrugged. “If I weren’t, she wouldn’t associate with me.”

Before she could reply, Tyson came into the living room. Jay gave him a quick glance, still not knowing what Amy saw in that. A younger man with slightly chubby cheeks and short black hair. At least he knew how to dress, picking nice slacks and a pressed button shirt to wear, similar to what Jay himself wore. However, he could tell that Tyson’s clothes were far less expensive as his own and it showed with the slight rumbled look the clothes took when compared with his.

“You must be Jay, Amy’s Sponsor,” Tyson said, walking up to him and holding out his hand. “I’m Tyson.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jay said as he shook the young man’s hand, hating how the words tasted in his mouth. “We should probably be going if we don’t want to be late.”

“Right,” Tyson agreed. He turned to his sister. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Don’t be out too late,” his sister warned. “You open tomorrow.”

“Right,” Tyson sighed. “Bye.”

“See you later.”

Jay walked out first, wishing that he wasn’t doing this. Why did he agree to give Tyson a ride? Why couldn’t he have said that he would send someone else to pick him up? He had plenty of underlings who could. Why did he agree to do this?

Oh, that’s right. He wanted to meet the guy who managed to grab Amy’s attention out from under him.

“So,” Tyson said as they reached his car. Jay unlocked it and motioned for the young man to get in. “Thanks, I guess, for giving me a ride. I know it’s probably awkward for you to do this. I mean… You are a high end businessman picking up one of your underling’s date…” He paused, groaning as he shut the door. “That came out wrong.”

Wrong, yes. But you’re also right, Jay thought bitterly.

“I owe Amy,” Jay said with a shrug as he buckled in and turned the car on. “I owe her a lot. Besides, it’s nice to break away from all the hassle of the city and enjoy a ride.” Not that he enjoyed the ride here. He had been dreading it all day and his thoughts while coming weren’t any comfort either.

“Acro City is a busy place,” Tyson agreed. “Wendell is a slower pace kind of place and that’s fine. I kind of prefer it actually.”

That’s nice, Jay thought, trying hard not to speed as he drove back to the city. He could already tell that Tyson was actually a nice guy, a bit nervous but that was alright. Jay started to see what Amy liked about him. He suppressed a sigh.

This was going to be a long drive.
*******
Personally, I love long drives, except when I’m worrying about something. I’ve been in Jay’s place one too many times of being on the road with nothing but my own thoughts to haunt me. It’s… unpleasant. Also, I’m starting to feel more sorry for Jay than for Amy. That, however, will change. Probably sooner rather than later…

Next time: the wake. Really. The next post will be the wake.

Enjoy the journey!