Heart of Stone

Chapter 1: ready, set, go

Alex's POV
Ready,
Set,
Go
Right when the announcer says that two letter word, I step with all my might onto the gas pedal. Driving down the chute is the easiest part. I pulled to my pit stop so my team aka my dad and his employees scuff the tires in.

I love the adrenaline I get when I'm on my final lap. It's the best feeling when you cross that finish line for many sports not just car racing.

"Always #1 kiddo." My dad said as I took off my helmet. "It must be genetic." I said smiling and high fiving him. "Great job Alex." One of my dad's coworkers said. "Thank you." I said politely. "What do you say after we finish all this up, we head to Mo's." Dad suggested. "Yes please, I was picturing a chocolate milkshake as I crossed the finish line." I said and we laughed.

Ding! The bells ring as we walked into the vintage diner. "Good afternoon Mr. James and hello Ms. Alex. How are you this evening?" Bertha asked. "Hey Bertha." I said waving.

She has been a waiter here since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. She's the sweetest lady ever.

"So the usual James?" Bertha asked. My dad smiled nodding. "How about you Miss Alex?" She asked. "Hmm I think I'll do the crispy chicken salad and don't forget my chocolate milkshake." I said. "How can I? You should just marry Barry over there so you can always have his chocolate milkshakes." She said pointing her pen to Barry the chef. "I would if I could." I joked.

"How can you eat chicken and waffles every afternoon we come here?" I asked my father. "How can anyone not? Salty and sweet? Breakfast and savory delicious crispy chicken? It's literally a tornado of delicious flavor in your mouth." He explained. My dad is the goofiest man on the face of the Earth.

Ever since my mom passed, he became depressed. Slowly but surely he recovered. That's when we invested our lives into car racing. It helped with all the depression and helped us move on and be happier. I almost had a near death experience one time, from then on we promised each other to always be happy and stick together. My race car crashed and caught on fire, but I somehow managed to climb out. I thank God everyday for that moment. I cannot imagine what would have happened if my dad lost all his family is such a short period of time.

Bertha came back with my chocolate milkshake and my dad's strawberry lemonade. My dad talked about upgrading the gears on my car. We have been saving up for this. I need it to win The Piston Cup. That's my only way to make it to college, unless a scholarship magically appears.

I study hard because I know what it is like to not get a proper education. My dad's brother was never fortunate enough to finish high school. Without a high school degree, he couldn't find any jobs. This led him to drug dealing and that is how he landed himself in lockup.

My dad doesn't want me to associate with him anymore. He always says "It's for your own safety." I feel like parents always say that. Don't they know that we are going to have to face it sooner or later? I didn't say anything to my father though because I didn't want to cause an argument or upset anyone.

At school, I focus myself on doing well so I can get out of there sooner. My best friend, Gracie, understands. We met each other through freshman orientation and basically stuck together to now, senior year.

Monday
"I live my day as if it was the last, live my day as if there was no past." As I hear Zara Larson sing my alarm song, I slap my snooze button and bury my face in my pillow. This is why I set three alarms.

I finally got up to get ready. I put on jeans and my adidas sweatshirt. I go into the bathroom and brush my teeth. I run downstairs and grab an apple, kiss my dad's cheek, run out the front door, and jump into Gracie's car. I should get a medal for the obstacle course I just ran.

"What block do you have first?" I asked Gracie. "French and you have psychology." She said. She knows my schedule better than I do. "Aw man. I gotta deal with mrs. Psycho Ficsh in the morning? I'm not ready for this." I groaned. "What? Mrs. Fisch is not psycho. She is just very passive aggressive and sometimes a little crazy." G said. "A little?" I asked.

As we pulled into the parking lot, we spot the one and only Stacy Stinson. The school's cheerleading captain, the one who wears her skirts shorter than her tube tops, and the one who wears more powder than a clown does. Yeah, that's Stacy for you. She's literally in between Kile's legs as he's leaning on his car.

You're probably wondering who Kile is. And yes his name is literally spelled K-I-L-E. He was probably too dumb to know how to spell his name so his parents changed it for him. Let me tell you about Kile in one word: asshole. He changes girls like he changes clothes. He has two younger brothers. He is the poster boy for the stereotypical 'bad boy'. He is an egotistical man whore. Basically, he's a horndog.

I walk into Psychology class two minutes early so Mrs. Fisch won't interrogate me. I hate being the center of attention. This is literally second semester of senior year, why do I have to care anymore? I say that, but I'd be that girl studying until 4 am for her Ap Stats test that day.

The bell rings and all but 3 students are absent. As announcements are said over the PA, I take out my notebook and start to doodle on the back. "So class, this semester we are focusing on the relationships and how we can improve them." Mrs. Fisch began. She said a couple more stuff, but all I heard was blah blah blah as I continued to doodle. "We will be starting off this semester with a huge project. You all are getting married!" She said excitedly. Most students stared at her with a blank face. My jaw dropped. "I do this project every year. This project is worth half your final grade, so you should do this right." She was explaining when the door flung open and everyone turned their heads to see Kile?

"I'm Kile Stone? I just got transferred to this class." He said handing her the little blue slip. "That's alright. We are all getting married this semester." She said taking his slip and smiling. "Uh this is Psychology 2 right?" He asked and everyone kind of chuckled. "Yes. Now take a seat." She said. He sat near the back of the room. I scoffed. Typical.

"So I have already chosen your partners for this project, there was an odd amount of students so I was just going to have a thrupple, but since Kile just joined us I guess we will have 13 even couples then." Mrs. Fisch said. I feel bad for whoever is marrying Kile. She started rambling off names and I listened intently for mine which seemed to be near the end. "So Olivia and Alex, which one of you wants to marry Kile?" Mrs. Fisch asked. "Not me." I said as quick as a reflex. "I can do it." Olivia said batting her fake eyelashes at Kile. "Why won't you do it Alex?" Mrs. Fisch asked me. "Yeah who wouldn't want to marry me?" Kile chooses now to butt in on the conversation. "Me. I would not. You see how arrogant he is Mrs. Fisch. I cannot marry a man like this." I tried to explain to her. Kile put his hand over his heart pretending to be hurt.

"This is exactly what happens in reality. Opposites attract. I have made my decision. Alex and Kile will marry each other." Mrs. Fisch said. "But Mrs. Fisch please." I tried to reason. "No butts. Butts stay on your behind, not your mouth." She said and walked away. "They stay in my mouth." Kile said chuckling. He literally had the nerve to say that and fist pump other guys near him. How much more immature can he be? Right there and then, I made a promise to myself that I will never ever marry a man like Kile in real life.