Chapter 7: Cars

This is not fun.

My hands are gripping the sides of my seat so tightly that my fingers have gone numb. I might be screaming if I wasn't scared that opening my mouth might result in not being able to close it- and, at this point, I'm not breathing anyways, so I wouldn't even have the air to scream.

Meanwhile, he's hooting like he's having the best time of his life, and if I wasn't so terrified for my life I might be telling him to focus on driving, or at least slow down.

Earlier, when he mentioned test drives, I assumed that he was talking about normal test drives. Like, where you take out a car for a short drive to see how it feels.

Naturally, this is not the case. Jake has his own 'test drive' track, where he test drives all his cars before buying them. The company doesn't seem to care that he's the most reckless driver in the world, because they probably figure that they can charge him for any damages and sue him for a lot of money if he doesn't pay. Also, he's probably like, their best customer, considering he buys a car every two weeks. And he doesn't seem like the type to trade in his old cars for a discount.

When he finally, finally (FINALLY!) stops, he turns to me, grinning wildly. His dark hair (the same colour as his moms, almost) is sticking up in every direction, and he looks like a complete maniac (I'm not sure he isn't, right now). "That was exhilarating, wasn't it?"

I open my mouth, and nothing comes out. I try again, and manage a small squeak. He laughs.

"You're so pale right now. Where'd all your blood go?"

Not to my hands, that's for sure. I slowly pry my fingers off the seat and press them to my legs. They're shaking- all of me is shaking.

He leans closer, inspecting me for a moment (not in that way, that he usually does- he looks less intense and manic about it right now, like he's actually trying to find my blood).

"Really though. Are you going to pass out?"

I manage to work some moisture into my mouth. "Nope, I'm great." My voice comes out at least an octave and a half higher than usual.

He laughs again. "Wow, you're tense. And also lying. You don't look great."

I swallow, because he's paying me to enjoy myself, and while I definitely am not, I'm going to at least pretend, since I'm going against my parents rules of studying for this, and if he decides not to pay me then... I'd be screwed.

"I'm fine. So, are you going to buy this car?"

He considers that. "I don't know. It's smooth, drives real nice, but it's green. I had a green car, like, not even two months ago. I was hoping for a purple one. It's been a while since I had purple."

I'm not sure I'd survive another test drive like that. "Maybe... get this one painted purple?"

"Not a bad idea. But did you see that beauty in the parking lot?"

I blink. No, I wasn't really looking. "Um... which one?"

He grins. "The purple one. The dark violet with the silver trim and..." that's about where he loses me, and I kind of nod along to all of the car terminology. "So... I think I'll test drive that one before I make any decisions. What do you say?"

My face might have been regaining some colour, but at his words I'm sure I go white again. "Uhh..."

He opens the door on the driver's side of the car and hops out, seeming to have already made his decision. "Come on! Oh, I can already imagine how it's going to feel..."

I slowly climb out of the car, my legs immediately protesting and threatening to fully buckle. I take a moment, then start towards him. He smirks a little when he notices that I'm still trembling so hard I can barely walk.

"Todd, really. I'm paying you to enjoy yourself, you've gotta loosen up a little."

Immediately, I force a smile onto my face. "I'm great. Enjoying myself."

He looks pointedly at my hands which are essentially vibrating. I hide them behind my back stubbornly.

"You're a horrible liar. And I don't want you to lie, anyways. I don't want you to enjoy yourself for my benefit. It just seems like you'd be a lot happier, maybe enjoy your life a little more if you actually lived."

"I take offense to that."

"Sure." He shrugs. "Just loosen up a bit. Stop focusing on how you might die, because in reality you're going to at some point anyways. You've just gotta enjoy the ride, because that's really all you have, at any given moment. No guarantees of even getting to live through the next minute. And if you keep focusing on when it's going to get taken away, you'll never get to experience it at all."

I stare at him. That got extremely deep, extremely fast. And without even changing his tone of voice, or expression, or posture, or even acknowledging in really any way that what he was saying was as deep as it is. Like he thinks about this all the time.

After a few moments of me not saying anything, he grins and gestures for me to follow him. I do (on still slightly wobbly legs), and we weave through the parking lot until he finds the purple 'beauty' that he was talking about earlier. He points it out to me, grinning more now.

"Look at that. Gorgeous. So, are you up for another test drive?"

I stare at him for a moment, not entirely sure if he's actually asking. He watches me for a moment, then gives me a pleading look.

"Pleeeeeeeeease, Todd? For the sake of enjoying your life while you have it?"

"However long that may be, with your driving," I grumble, and he grins.

"So, yes?"

I roll my eyes, but nod. "Fine."

As soon as we're both in the car, on the test drive track, I sorely regret it. Jake glances over at me and bumps my shoulder with his elbow. "Todd. Take your hands off the sides of the seat."

I do, clasping them in my lap instead. He rolls his eyes.

"No. Try letting your elbow hang over the top of the door. That's what you're supposed to do in convertibles. Also, relax. Feel the wind in your hair and all that. And stop watching your life flash before your eyes."

"That's easier said than done when you're driving like you're immortal."

He grins, showing his teeth. "Fake it till ya make it. And speed is fun. It's thrilling, intoxicating, exhilarating. Have some fun, yeah?"

If his parents hadn't told me not to correct him, I'd be telling him that you can't fake being immortal until you become immortal, because humans are immensely mortal, and no matter how much money he has or how recklessly he drives, that is not going to change specifically for him, but he suddenly slams on the accelerator and the car shoots forwards. I immediately tense up and press myself against the seat. A moment later he glances over at me.

"Todd! Relax!"

"Keep your eyes on the road!"

"Relax first!"

My dear goodness, that's not even- I force a couple deep breaths in and out and release my death grip on the side of the car, then look at him pointedly. He grins and sets his gaze back on the track, turning just in time to avoid crashing into a wall. I recoil and tense up again, but a moment later his eyes are back on me, as though he can sense it, so I quickly force-relax again.

Eventually, though, I manage to unwind a little bit for real. The speed we're going at is terrifying, but it's also kind of thrilling. I would not say intoxicating or exhilarating, though- I'm perfectly fine with just this.

He drives around the track not once, not twice, but three times, then finally slams to a halt. I'm shoved back by the force of the airbag aggressively inflating and slamming into me.

Jake's laughing.

Eventually, we both manage to get out of the car, and he comes around to my side. "Wasn't that awesome?"

I press my lips together. "Thrilling, maybe. Intoxicating and exhilarating, no."

He grins toothily and throws his arm around my shoulders as though we're best friends. "Oh, don't worry. I'll make an adrenaline junkie out of you, yet."

"Not a chance."

He laughs again and, with his arm still slung across my shoulders, starts walking towards the car dealership building, pulling me along with him. "Which one did you like better? Purple or green?"

"Green. It was quieter."

He eyes me carefully. "Are you trying to talk me out of it?"

"No. I like quiet."

He buys the purple car.

Music is completely optional, there's no real reason for it... the chapter just reminded me of this song, so I figured I'd put it in. Thoughts?

What did you think of the chapter? The millionaire's test drives? His little monologue about human mortality? And Todd finally managing to relax a bit?

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