The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret 1)

Lila pulls her hair out of the ponytail and tousles it with her fingers. "Why? Can something go wrong?"

"With racing, anything can go wrong," I say, mad at myself for getting Micha into this mess.

Micha

I kick a tool box out of the way and step up onto the bumper, staring down at the engine. "So what do you think?"

Ethan wipes his hands on a rag as he shakes his head. "I have no clue if this quick fix is going to hold up or not and we don't have time to check the tie rods. If you got hit hard enough, they're probably bent and your whole steering is going to be f**ked up."

"I guess we'll find out when we get it going." I glance over at Ella and Lila, laughing in the corner of the garage.

"You're not going to take her with you when you race, are you?" Ethan rounds the back of the car and starts checking the tire pressure.

"Not with the car running like it is."

"And what if she gives you a hard time."

"She won't." I check the oil. "At least I think she won't."

Ethan wipes his hands on his jeans. "I think that all depends on which Ella you're dealing with. The nice, polite one or the one who got you into this mess."

I look over at Ella again as she bends over to get a soda from the cooler behind the chairs. Her short shorts ride up and the bottom of her ass peeks out. After getting a drink, she drops back in her chair and opens it up, laughing at something Lila said. I adjust myself and slam the hood of the car down. "I think she might be a little of both."

***

"Why are there so many more people tonight?" Lila asks from the backseat, gaping at the cars parked up and down the road. "It wasn't this bad the last time we were here."

The girl is scared shitless and I kind of feel bad for her. "Mikey likes to draw a crowd."

"To watch him lose?" she asks, prodding Ella with her elbow.

"Maybe," I say with a heavy sigh, psyching myself out as I climb out of the car.

The three of them follow me out and Ella takes my hand as we hike through the crowd where Mikey's talking smack to some skater dude who drives a Honda in the middle of the crowd, showing off for everyone. There's a bonfire burning over near The Hitch and people sitting on tailgates, drinking beers, waiting for the race to start.

I push my way through the crowd, keeping a hold of Ella's hand. When we step out into the open, everyone looks at us and gossip starts flowing.

Mikey stops talking and claps his hands loudly. "Holy crap, I didn't think you'd actually show up."

"Do I ever not show up?" I say. "You're the one that backed out the last time we tried to race."

He spits on the ground and crosses his arms. "So which one of you's racing? The little one with the big mouth that got you into this mess? Or are you gonna race me yourself?"

Ella starts to move forward. "I'm - "

"I am." I squeeze her hand, pulling her behind me.

"Micha," she hisses. "This is my thing. I can handle it."

I shake my head, not looking at her. "Let's line up and get this over with."

Mikey grins, rubbing his hands together. "What? You eager to get your ass kicked?"

"No, I'm eager for you shut up." With that I turn away and head back to the car with Ella in tow.

"Micha Scott," she says, tugging on my arm and planting her feet in the dirt, trying to get me to stop walking.

Ethan and Lila are a ways back and Ethan's trying to explain to Lila the rules of racing. I keep walking forward, dragging her along with me, refusing to let her have her way this time - not with this.

"Stop being all noble and just let me drive," she says hotly. "It's much better for me to lose to him then for you to. He'll bug you about it for the rest of your life."

I stop just in front of the car and turn to her and brush the pad of my thumb across her cheek. "Hey, who said anything about losing?"

She gathers some strands of hair out of her face and stares at the front end of the car. The glow of the fire highlights the worry in her eyes. "I know Ethan and you didn't get everything fixed. You were working too fast and I'm sure you didn't do that great of a job."

"The car's fine," I assure her. "But you need to sit this one out."

"No way," she argues, folding her arms over her chest defiantly. "I'm going to at least sit in the passenger seat and ride with you. "

I shake my head. "Not this time, pretty girl." She starts to fume, so I lean in and kiss her right in front of everyone, cupping the back of her head and grabbing her ass, letting people know she's mine. Her body trembles as she kisses me back, even when someone whistles.

When I pull away, she has this glazed look in her eyes. "Now take Lila and go sit over by the finish line."

She opens her mouth, then seals her lips shut and nods. Ethan and her trade places and she walks off with Lila over toward the line.

Once they're out of sight, Ethan says, "You sure you want to do this?"

I nod, my gaze tracking the line of the road and the trees next to it. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely," he says. "I have nothing better to do."

We bump fists and climb into the car. I rev up the engine a few times, then inch it forward across the dirt and through the crowd toward the lineup area in front of The Hitch.

"How's the steering?" he asks rolling down the window, and letting the night air flow in.

I veer it from side to side, testing it. "It's shaky."

"Left or right?"

"To the right."

"Make sure you do your turnaround to the left then."

I nod as we roll up to the lineup and Mikey's already waiting for us. Ella and Lila are just off to the side, near the trees, sitting on the tailgate of someone's truck. She has her eyes glued to us as Lila talks to her, swinging her legs. I thrum my fingers on the top of the steering wheel, eyeing the end of the road.

"Quit psyching yourself out," Ethan says and snatches up the iPod. "I think it's time for a little tunes." He scrolls through the music and "The Distance" by Cake flips on. He cranks it up so the base is bumping and we start nodding our heads. When it hits the chorus we start singing and Ethan taps his fingers on the dash, like he's playing the drums. The more the song goes on, the more we get into it. I catch Ella laughing and shaking her head at us, because she knows this is Ethan and mines thing, but usually she's in the car with us.

"Hey, are we going to race?" Mikey shouts, slipping out his window and looking at us from over the roof with his hands in the air. "Or are we going to sit around and listen to music?"