"Alrighty then! First up is me! Against...?" Luhan looks at us. Simultaneously, Kris and Xiumin points as me. I grab the controller and scroll through the selections to choose my car.

"Why're you so confident you'll win, eh?" Luhan asks while picking his car.

"Because I will," I say simply. I select a Lamborghini Reventon.

"Flashy," Luhan comments, picking an Audi R8. "But looks aren't everything."

"Yes, most of the time," I argue. "But a flashy Lamborghini winning looks much nicer than other cars, don't you think?"

"We'll see about that," he echoes me.

"You're on."

The number on the screen flashes. 3.

"Lay's gonna win anyways."

2.

"Adrienne you can do it!"

1.

"Squash her, Luhan!"

0.

I smile grimly and press the buttons as hard as I can.

"GOGOGO!!!!" they shriek. Our cars zoom off.

At first, it's not certain who's winning. The number at the corner keepa flashing between 1st and 2nd. Then we arrive at the first curve, an incredibly wide one, and Luhan turns smoothly, barely lessening his speed. I, on the other hand, brake and accelerate at the same time, pulling a near perfect drift. Can't help it, not when the temptation's so great. 

Kris lets out a low whistle. "Nice one Adrienne!" he calls out. But showing off comes with a price, as Luhan's ahead of me now.

"We're winning! We're winning!" Jade yells.

"Not so fast," I mutter. Too bad this is only 1 lap.

As we near the finishing line, I press the turbo button and I speed up, passing by Luhan smugly. He gasps and presses his too, but it's too late and mine is much more powerful than his, and I race across the finishing line, winning by seconds.

"YES! YES!!" Xiumin whoops, punching his fist in the air. "Man, you are good!" I high-five him.

Luhan stares at me. "And I thought I was pretty good," he says in wonder, shaking his head. I smirk.

"Told ya."

Xiumin grabs my controller. "My turn, my turn!" he squeals. Jade takes the other and they pick their cars.

"I didn't know you could drift," Kris says quietly in my ear. I jump.

"Well, now you do," I rely, grinning widely.

"I'M OFF!!" Xiumin yells happily, turning around to look at us. "Look at me!! I'm faster than Jade!!"

"EYES ON THE ROAD XIUMIN!" I yell at him.

"Oh, right," he says sheepishly. Now he's in 2nd place. Then he goes and smashes his car head-on onto the side of the track. But Jade isn't very good herself either, and right now it's more of a let's-see-who-hits-the-side competition more than a let's-see-who's-faster race. Lay, Luhan, Kris and me laugh like mad at them, literally rolling on the floor like buffalos.

Then it occurs to me that Kris is actually laughing. A real, show-his-teeth laugh. And suddenly he's the most beautiful man in the world.

Kris notices me gaping at him. "What're you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Well---"

"I WON! I WON!" squeals Jade, bouncing up and down. Xiumin races across the finishing line a few seconds later. He scowls.

"But we're still ahead," he points out, referring to our total time.

"Lay is gonna kill you, Kris," Jade says happily. Xiumin growls.

"Aw, come on Xiumin, lighten up," I laugh, ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, I'm not bad either you know," Kris jokes.

"So you do have a sense of humour," I say in mock surprise.

"I do. A proper one. You only have a kindergartener's sense of humour."

"BUUURRRRRRRRRRRRN," interjects Luhan, laughing.

"Shut up, Hannie," I say, throwing a cushion at him. I miss and hit Lay instead.

"Hey!" he protests.

"Sor-ry," I say evilly. "Come on you two, I really wanna see who wins."

They grab the controllers and choose their cars.

3.

"Oooooh Kris I didn't know you liked Lamborghini too!"

2.

"MURDER HIM LAY!"

1.

"Come on Kris you can do it! Kill him!"

0.

Tires screech and off they zoom off into the distance.

At first they're super close, like me and Luhan, but then somehow Kris lags behind while Lay's still on full speed. He drifts perfectly at the last curve.

"Show-off," Kris mutters.

"Like Adrienne," Lay smirks, and races across the finishing line with Kris closely behind. The final score flashes across the screen.

"WE WON! WE WON!" screams Jade.

"Like I said," Luhan says pointedly, lounging lazily on the floor, "you can't beat Lay."

"But... look at Lay's and Adrienne's scores, Adrienne's faster!" Xiumin argues.

"Yeah, by two milliseconds!"

"That's still faster!" Xiumin insists.

"Shut up, the two of you," Jade sighs. "The only way to determine who's faster is to have a rematch."

Lay and I exchange glances with narrowed eyes. We're forced to use the same car--- a Bugatti Veyron Sport--- 'to be fair', as Jade says. I'm not complaining. It's the fastest car out there, not to mention heart-stoppingly sleek yet muscular too.

3.

"Bet you Lay's gonna win."

2.

"YOU GOTTA WIN LAY YOU GOTTA!"

1.

"KILL HIM ADRIENNE! KILL HIM WITH FIRE!"

0.

We speed off impossibly fast, and this time when we reach that big curve, I make sure I'm ahead before I turn as widely as possible without drifting--- therefore effectively preventing Lay from finishing his drift and costing him precious seconds.

"HEY THAT'S CHEATING!" Jade yells.

"Actually, it's not... that's just really good driving," Luhan says through gritted teeth.

We speed through 3 laps this time, always neck and neck, until we turn the last corner and they start yelling and shouting. I try to block out their voices and time myself, counting to when I should press the turbo button, but I guess Lay's doing the exact same thing because we speed up at exactly the same time. As we near the finishing line I grow frustrated and I press the turbo button repeatedly--- and who knew this car can turbo twice?! Because of that last burst of power, I cross the finishing line first and Xiumin cheers and wraps me in a bear hug.

"Can't... breathe..." I choke. Xiumin instantly releases me.

"Oops, sorry! But YOU WON ADRIENNE OHMYGOD SOMEONE'S FINALLY BETTER THAN LAY---"

I ignore him and walk up to Lay. "Good game man," I smile.

"Yeah. Didn't know you were so good," Lay replies teasingly.

"Nah, that last turbo was an accident."

"I know." We grin at each other. Something else to play during First Aid periods now.

That night, I flop onto my bed and fall asleep within seconds--- something that hasn't happened in a long time, and for once my slumber isn't plagued by nightmares.

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roll like a buffalo. x) couldn't resist.

and yes I LOVE CARS.

AND HI NEW SUBBIES.

and AFF wouldn't load yesterday so sorry for not updating ;/

and that's a lot of and's. ;P