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RACHEL

“I’ll explain later. Just get on the bike,” Noah said, already climbing on.

I hesitated for a second… then sighed and did it anyway.

“Just know I’m killing you if you don’t tell me later.”

He didn’t answer. And that scared me a little.

Noah is usually all jokes and noise. He's absolutely terrible at keeping things like secrets. But right now?

He wasn't smiling or giving any of those wild sarcasm. Just that hard, straight face that said don’t push me.

By the time I got on the bike and buckled my helmet, he took off down the road.

We didn’t even get far before a car swerved in front of us and blocked the road.

Noah slammed the brakes. The bike screeched to a stop and I crashed forward, my head hitting his back.

“Aw!”

“You okay, Rachel?” he asked quickly.

“I… I don’t know.” I mumbled, pulling off my helmet and touching the side of my head that stung.

Then the car door flew open. And surprisingly, Tiara stepped out.

She stormed toward us like she was ready to fight the whole street.

“Can you explain what the hell is going on, Noah?”

Noah jumped off the bike like danger had just announced itself in person.

“Fuck, Tiara,” he jerked forward, biting his lip. “How did you even know I was here?”

“Seriously?” she yelled. “That’s what you’re asking me right now?!”

If anyone ever needed proof that chaos could fall in love, it was these two. They'd successfully won the world's most iconic couple a million times.

I just stood there, rubbing my throbbing forehead.

“I’m killing Thane if he’s the one who ratted me out,” Noah muttered under his breath.

Too bad Tiara heard it.

“Thane?” She shoved his chest. “So he knew you were here and lied to me?!”

She started digging into his pockets.

“Hey—hey!” Noah struggled. “Chill, T. You’re acting like a crazy girlfriend.”

That was an absolutely wrong thing to say given how mad she was at the moment.

“Oh wow,” she snapped. “You want ‘crazy’? I’ll show you crazy.”

Noah tried to move, but he wasn’t fast enough. Tiara caught him, jumped on his back like a clingy monkey, and grabbed his ear like she was about to rip it off.

I didn’t even have the energy to break up whatever that was.

So I quietly slipped into Tiara’s car and shut the door.

On a normal day, depending on how mad she was, they could argue for a full thirty minutes, usually ending with a dramatic breakup that lasted exactly one hour.

I picked up my phone and saw two missed calls.

One from Tiara and One from… Simon?

Why would Simon be calling me?

Then my mum’s name flashed across the screen.

I froze instantly. I can’t pick that right now.

I bit my nails nervously as her message popped up.

MUM: Your dad picked up a surprise gift for you. He wanted to give it to you personally before he flies out for his business trip. School okay?

My eyes flew wide the second I read it.

No. No. No. No. Simon cannot come to my school.

I jumped out of the car immediately.

“Guys!” I shouted, cutting straight through their argument.

Tiara turned to me fast. “Is it true Thane is your freaking stepbrother, Rachel?”

“Yeah,” I swallowed. “But we’ve got a way bigger problem.”

“Like what?”

“Dammit, T. Simon is probably already driving to my school right now. We have to get there before he does.”

“Simon?” Her eyes widened. “Thane’s father? Coming to our school? Why?”

I didn’t even answer. I grabbed her arm.

“Get in the damn car and drive. Now.”

“Yo! Hello? I’m still here!” Noah yelled.

“Fuck off, Noah. We’re done!”

Tiara slid into the driver’s seat, but Noah still threw one last line that made her pop her head back out the window.

“I’m sorry, T, but a breakup like this isn’t fair!”

She glared at him for one second.

Then she switched gears and rolled the car forward so fast it almost hit him.

The bike took the full impact instead.

“Fuck, T! That’s not cool!” Noah shouted as we sped off down the road.

***

RACHEL

“Can you step on the stupid gas and drive this thing faster!” I yelled at Tiara.

She turned to me and gave me that flat look that clearly said why don’t you come drive it then. Nope. Hard pass. I stopped driving when I was fifteen.

Unlike most people, I learned early. Started with a scooter at five, bicycle after that, and by twelve I was already behind the wheel. My dad owned this big junkyard full of wrecked cars he somehow brought back to life, and during training sessions I was the one allowed to destroy them again.

Yeah… I shouldn’t be thinking about my dad right now.

He left. And now I have a stepfather who’s kind enough to drop his whole schedule just to bring me a “surprise gift” at school.

Fuck.

“You know a frog can actually drive faster than this,” I muttered.

“Fuck, Rachel, how about you get behind the damn wheel,” Tiara snapped. “I don’t know what your plan is, but I’m certainly not getting us killed.”

Then she suddenly banged the steering wheel and turned fully toward me.

“You know what? You suck, Rachel. And I honestly don’t give a shit about your problem right now because I’m dealing with mine. So how about you let me drive in peace?”

I scrunched my face. “Girl, if you breaking up with Noah is a ‘problem,’ that’s a joke. You two go on and off like a light switch. My mom finding out I skipped a whole day of school through my stepfather? That is a real problem.”

“Well, I don’t care,” she shot back. “I’m not your Uber driver. This is my damn car, and you caused this whole shit, so deal with it.”

Seriously?

I get that Tiara’s in one of her breakup moods, but I’ve got my own disasters to handle. Why should I be managing her drama too?

“I didn’t cause anything, at least not your breakup. And you almost hitting your… well, ex, a few minutes ago? That wasn’t on me. Can we stop fighting like damn teenagers and focus on the road?”

She scoffed and fired right back.

“If Noah wasn’t out there saving your ass, he would’ve been on schedule with our plan. And I wouldn’t have been worried sick about where he was while someone who called herself my friend couldn’t even text me about the shit my boyfriend was in.”

“Stop blaming me, Tiara,” I defended calmly. “Noah is responsible for not being honest with you. And he’s the one who got caught up with the police—”

Shit. I shouldn’t have gone there. 

Tiara tore her eyes off the road and stared at me. “Complete that.”

I shook my head.

“Don’t make me ask again, Rachel.”

But it was too late.

The next second, something slammed into us. Our car spun at the center of the road and crashed into something I didn’t even register before my head smashed against the dashboard.

And just like that… everything went black.