When I met up with Chris at lunch, he had several scratches on his face and a large bruise on his forehead.
“What happened to you?”
“Matt., but don’t worry about it. Everything’s cool.”
“Great!” I exclaimed as I smiled. “So, we’re still going to ‘The Ruins’ for the race?”
“Yes, and we’re going to ride with Tony.”
“Is that safe?”
“Of course,” Chris replied, and I agreed with him.
“Dude, what happened to Matt?” Riley asked from behind.
“He was trying to get into my head a bit.”
Riley shook his head.
“Do you have practice this afternoon, Riley?”
“Nope, going to see Tony leave some Jefferson punks in the dust.”
“You can come with us then. Right, Chirs?”
“Sure, Tai, sounds good,” Chris said with a look at Riley that I didn’t understand but I also didn’t bother to ask about.
The three of us walked up to the lunchroom, passing by Barry, Paul, and Wes who gave Chris high-fives as they passed by us. The four were a part of project to help the homeless.
We walked into the crowded cafeteria area and stood in line. I scanned the room and saw Matt sitting by himself with his hands on his head when noticed me and looked at me. Matt had similar scars and what looked like a bruise on his face as well. I turned back to Chris, they almost matched.
Tony sat by himself at the table we all usually sat together at. This would be the first day since grade school we would be a part and without Matt. I’d have to ask Chris what happened when I had the chance.
“Oh yeah, they’re serving tacos.”
“You can have mine, Riley,” I replied.
“Thanks, Tai.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chris looked back at Riley for a moment, then picked up two trays and handed one to me.
The cafeteria workers doled out the tacos, trimmings and some pears that looked they had seen fresher days. My head pounded for a second and I felt like I was being pulled back. Chris grabbed my waist with his free arm and my eyes darted to his.
“You okay, Tai?”
“Just feel dizzy,..guess I just need to eat.”
Chris nodded as I steadied myself back onto my feet.

“I’m going to hustle them, make them think they’re going to win before smoking them out at the end,” Tony beamed a the rest of us sat down.
“I wouldn’t call it hustling. You can call it, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.” Riley said as he sat down in a chair next to Tony.
“Yeah, you need to pull up looking like you have a junked out car and then you can smoke them” Chris added as we sat down next to each other. I slid my tray across the table to Riley who picked up the taco.
“I’ll run a burnout and then pass them on the way back.”
“Just be careful, Tony, we’ll be in the car with you.”
“Not me,” Riley replied. “I prefer to slam into someone on the field then behind a wheel.”
“‘C’mon, Riley, I’m a great driver.”
“Yeah, you are,” Riley replied and then took a bite of a taco. “I’m talking about the guys in the other car doing something stupid.”
Shadow fell over the table. We looked up to see Matt.
“Speaking of people doing stupid things,” Chris muttered with a sigh.
“Hey, is everyone going to the race tonight?”
“Not if you are,” Chris replied.
I nudged Chris and then looked back at Matt. “We’re all going. You should come too.”
“Fine, whatever. Find your own ride though.” Chris muttered.
“I gotcha covered, man,” Riley said through another mouthful of taco.
“Thanks, Riley.”
“I‘m going to jerk their chains a little, maybe allow a few bets to roll on the side. We need a bigger crowd.”
“Not too big,” I cautioned. “The police?”
“Only if they can find us.”

Tony was partially right as “The Ruins” was the remains of a mall that never opened. It was built over an actual garbage dump and the foundation cracked four days before opening day. The stores scrambled to remove their merchandise, but alphabet soup red tape prevented them from going in, so it became a free-for-all for anyone brave enough to scramble over a security fence. A few weeks later, a large part of the façade fell, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the mall where you could drive two cars in at the same time. There were also flare-ups of methane gas which gave the area a “Mad Max” kind of feel. It was sad, really, as the mall was going to have the first Ulta Beauty store in the tri-state area.

The five of us walked back to the main building for our afternoon classes. I kissed Chris and said “see you later” to the others so I could gather my books for my next class.
“Tai!” Katie called from the back of the room.
I waved to her and walked to the desk next to her.
“I saw you sitting with those guys.”
“They’re my friends I was taking about.”
“Nice,” she replied as we sat down. “I admit I need to find a few good friends.”
“Why don’t you come with us to The Ruins.”
“The Ruins?” Katie asked as she opened her binder and wrote down “the ruins”.
“Anthony, one of my guys, is racing tonight.”
“No way, like street racing?”
“Kind of,” I replied, but instantly regretted it as maybe Katie’s family were in law enforcement or something that could make our lives hell.
“I’m so in, what time?”
“Sundown.”
“Can’t wait. Now, what can you tell me about this class?”
“What’s to say,” I responded with a shrug, “it’s Biology taught by the football coach. We usually watch videos.”
Katie nodded and then looked at me. “So Tai, which of your friend’s is the cutest?”
“They’re all cute, as you say, in their own way.”
“But you have eyes on one of them, right?”
“I’m with Chris. We been friends forever and then, one day, we were a couple. We’re all still close and no matter happens, we always help each other.”
Katie nodded again as Coach Mitchell walked in and stood in front of his desk.
“Okay, settle down. I’m going to call the roll. We have a new student to the class. Katie Walid, can you stand up please?”
Katie stood up and waved to the class. “Hello.”
Coach Mitchell took a textbook off of his desk and put his hand out. Katie walked up, took the book from him and sat back down.
“I hope someone left answers in this book too,” she whispered.
“Wouldn’t that be cool. I always thought about wishing for the answer to everything.”
“You never know,” Katie replied as Coach Mitchell continued calling the roll.