by Leigh Hutton
‘Sorry, Dallas,’ Clover said, a little too sharply. She took another breath and dug her nails into the palms of her hands. The pain was only mildly soothing. She suspected it would have felt better if she’d inflicted it upon Sera instead of herself. ‘I know I should have explained it. I would have, but Sera just had to beat me to it, the fu … ’ But she stopped herself from carrying on.
‘Just a case of unfortunate timing.’ She wriggled closer to him, and when he seemed to relax, hugged him tightly. ‘Can I please tell you now?’
Dallas bit his bottom lip. ‘I already know most of it. Sera told me about the tons of guys that will be there. All sleazy, dirt bike guys, like the one who tried to rape you.’
Clover coughed instead of choking on the words. ‘They’re not all sleazy like he was! And it wasn’t as bad as you make it sound. But all of that’s beside the point I’m with you, okay?’
Dallas took a deep breath, then nodded. ‘Let’s go get sumthin’ to eat.’
All Clover could think about was finding Sera.
SEVENTEEN
Clover spotted Sera as she entered the bio lab. Her ex-best friend was hunched over her desk, her nose in her mobile. The curtains were open. The wind was blowing with such force now, the glass was actually shivering.
The teacher was waiting patiently, watching the clock on the front wall of the room, waiting to close the door in preparation for the learning to begin. The only lesson Miss Sera Gordon will be taking away from this class, however, Clover thought, was not to screw with Clover Kassedy’s boyfriend.
Sera looked up, sensing Clover’s arrival. For a second, Clover saw a sheen of regret dull Sera’s eyes, but the flame quickly returned. And the petulant expression on the little traitor’s face made Clover’s head spin. She clenched her fists and marched down the middle row of desks.
‘You’re a real bitch, Sera, you know that?’ Clover spat, slamming her fists down on the desktop.
‘What’s gotten your panties in a twist?’
‘You know freaking well what’s up!’ Clover noticed that Sera’s hands were shaking. But Sera didn’t lean back. ‘You went too far this time. Just had to say something, didn’t you?’
‘He deserved to know,’ Sera said. ‘Especially after you slept with him.’
Mr. Aspley’s timid voice cut in, ‘Now, now, girls. Can you save this for after class, please?’
Clover glared Sera down. ‘I can’t believe you’ve been such a backstabbing bitch!’
‘I’m sick of you acting like you’re better than me!’
‘What the hell are you talking about? I’ve always been there for you, and just when my life’s starting to go right, you have to try and screw it up!’
Sera stood, pushing the desk back against Clover. ‘You’re the idiot who doesn’t realise you can’t have it all!’
‘That’s enough!’ Mr. Aspley stepped around Clover and grabbed Sera by the arm.
‘It’s fine, Mr. A,’ Clover said, eyeing Sera with disgust. ‘We’re done.’ She shook her head, and then spun on her sneaker. She ignored the whispers starting up all around her, and the crowd of students who had packed into the doorway from the hall, marched up to the front of the lab, and picked a desk front and centre.
After school, Clover stopped by Sera’s to drop off her things that had been in her truck, including the black velour hoodie and heeled boots that were behind her seat. She’d been meaning to return them anyway. They just weren’t her. She’d also found some textbooks, makeup, a hairbrush and a pack of gum. She left the items on the doorstep of Sera’s unit, then bolted back to her truck.
As Clover pulled away from Sera’s, however, the tears started to fall. Mourning the friendship that once was. Sobs took control of her, and she insisted on listening to her and Sera’s favourite song. But only for the length of a few repeats. After that, she switched CDs and forced herself to think about Florida and the World’s for the rest of the drive home.
As soon as Clover made it into her bedroom, she shut the door behind her and went about erasing all proof that she and Sera had ever been friends. She tore the pictures off her mirror and ripped them into tiny pieces. Grabbed her mobile, erased Sera’s name from ‘Favourites’ and ‘Contacts’. Blocked her as a friend on Facebook and removed any pics of them together.
That was it. Sera had hurt her deeply, her words had been harsh for too long, and at the very worst, she’d seriously jeopardised the best things that had ever happened to her. From that moment on, as far as Clover was concerned, Sera Gordon could no longer exist.
Until Wednesday afternoon, that was.
The home-time bell had just gone and Clover and Sydney were in high spirits, laughing their way down the hallway about how Travis had been made to wear purple girls’ spandex shorts and a pink tank top after the assistant gym teacher had heard him call someone the c-word. The normal gym teacher didn’t care when any of ‘his boys’ did anything reprehensible, but this sub didn’t take any crap. Everyone had laughed at Travis because he didn’t fill out the front of the shorts. His face had actually gone red for the first time in his life.
Sera came around the corner.
Her expression was smug and Clover felt like slapping her.
‘Hey, Syd,’ Sera said.
Clover stepped back and looked up at the ceiling, then to the wall and pretended to be reading one of the boring posters tacked to it.
‘So, Syd we still on for shopping?’ Sera asked.
Clover was surprised. She hadn’t considered what would happen with her other friends and Sera. Sydney looked at Clover, than back at Sera.
‘Actually, no,’ Clover said without looking up. ‘Sydney and I have plans.’ They didn’t. She was just driving her home, then going for a jog and working on her bike for the first ice race.
Clover felt guilty the second she lied. But she didn’t know how to take it back. Sydney’s glare hurt worse because her eyes were usually so kind.
‘Whatever,’ Sera said, pushing past and tapping off down the hallway.
‘Wait!’ Sydney said. ‘Ser I’ll call ya later!’ Then she narrowed her eyes at Clover, as Sera disappeared around the corner.
‘What? ’ Clover said.
‘When are you gonna forgive her?’
‘You can’t be serious? Using my boyfriend to try and manipulate me is hardly acting with good intentions.’
‘She just wants you two together. She thought if Dallas told you to stay, you would. It was stupid, I know, and I’m mad about it, too. You deserve this and of course you can make it all work! But you guys need to talk about it and there’s no way she’s gonna be the bigger person.’
Clover threw back her head and laughed. ‘Always the story. Everyone has to accommodate the Crazy Bitch! Well, I’m sorry, Syd, but this time Sera’s gonna have to deal with the consequences.’
‘She just doesn’t want to lose you.’
‘I know!’ Clover hugged Sydney, and wanted to cry. ‘But that’s the thing, Syd, we’re big girls now. Even if we move, we can still stay best friends, and visit and Skype and everything else.’
Sydney nodded, and wrapped her arm around Clover.
‘I’m serious about racing, Sydney,’ Clover continued. ‘I have to be. I’m no good at anything else, and I love it! This thing with Sera has just made me realise how important it is that I surround myself with positive people. It’s imperative, if I want to achieve what I’m setting out to do.’
‘Look, I don’t want to be in the middle. I’m not going to stop being friends with Sera. But, well, you are my best friend, Clover.’
‘You’re mine too.’
‘I’m so glad I moved here,’ Sydney said. ‘And met you. But what I really want to know because I’m dying to watch you is … ’
Clover nodded.
‘When’s your first ice race?!’
EIGHTEEN
‘I’ll take these three Denver Chronicles, please,’ Clover said, handing her bankcard across to the young, male
teller of the Silvertown Gas Station. ‘Oh sorry, and the gas pump two, I think it was.’
Clover grabbed the papers off the counter before she’d even been asked to select her account or enter her pin number.
She was so excited about her first ever story in a big city newspaper that she even considered showing it to the guy, but refrained, sure she’d look like a dork.
She speed-walked out to her truck, driving the fifteen or so metres from the pumps to a parking spot and cranking the heater, so she could sit and read the story in full.
Denver Chronicle
Monday Feb/24
Page: 3
Section: General News
Type: City Edition
Pic [inset]: Clover Kassedy
Ice Queen eyes Florida prize
HOLDING the throttle of her dirt bike wide open around a frozen lake is a skill Clover Kassedy can now add to her resume.
The Silvertown High School Junior has taken out the Pro Ladies Class in her debut season of this year’s Rocky Mountain Ice Racing Championship.
Kassedy, 16, beat a record number of six Pro Ladies Class riders to become the youngest girl ever to claim the honour.
And this Rev Girl won’t be stopping here.
‘We leave for Florida in a few weeks time,’ Kassedy said. ‘My dad’s taking me to my first ever national race, and I can’t wait!’
Factory sponsorship and stardom in this dangerous sport won’t come easy for Kassedy, however, with her ‘arch-rival’, Texan Lasha Moore, also set to line-up in Florida next month.
‘I’m looking forward to racing Lasha again,’ Kassedy said. ‘I would have loved the chance to really take her on in ice racing, but unfortunately her dad decided he wanted her racing motocross in Texas, so she only did the first round.
‘It was awesome meeting the other ladies and finally having a go on the ice.
‘It felt so good to be back on my bike and to finally have something to do on Sundays again! Ice racing has helped my confidence so much and I learned a lot that I’ll be able to take with me to Florida, and hopefully the World’s.
‘I really hope I’m fast enough against the Pro Ladies to land on the podium down in Florida if I can, I’ll be heading to Europe in September to race the World Championships. Fingers crossed for Florida!
‘I’d also like to quickly thank my new sponsors: Big Rock Motorsports and FOX Racing, for hooking me up with this gorgeous riding gear.
Thanks so much, guys!’
It seems racing runs in the blood for the Kassedy family. Clover’s father, Ernie, also had a win at the final round of the series, held yesterday at Highstone Lake.
‘Dad finally took down the reigning champ in the Master’s Class, after close racing at all four rounds,’ Clover said. ‘He also struggled with the outside line, but finally, by the last heat, both of us nailed it and made our passes out there! Congratulations, Dad!’
Kassedy’s high school boyfriend, Dallas Cash (Vice-Captain of the Colorado Crusaders) also turned heads yesterday when he steered his team to a 4 0 win over the New Mexico Arrowheads in their first game of the play-offs (more in Sport).
Reading the story was like reliving the ice racing season, the journalist had captured her words so well.
She re-read her story three times before resting the papers carefully on her passenger seat, popping in her favourite P!NK CD, and racing to school.
★
Clover was surprised when Leslie announced that she’d organised a family dinner to celebrate her seventeenth birthday before she was due to leave for Florida. Leslie had booked her ‘usual table’ at the back of Lucio’s Italian Restaurant, in downtown Denver, for the occasion.
Leslie insisted they drive in as a family, ‘We never do anything together anymore.’ Clover found this statement hilarious considering they’d never really done anything as a family ever. Leslie hadn’t found the time to come to any of their ice races, even though many of them had been less than an hour’s drive from home. She hadn’t been there to celebrate Clover’s victory. Hadn’t taken any notice of the newspaper article when Clover showed it to her, just dropped it in her inbox like any other item of business.
Clover felt like a baby, buckled into the backseat of her mother’s Suburban next to her little sister, who only looked up from the novel she was reading to tell Clover that she was ‘stupid’ for not reading more books.
Clover rolled her eyes, and looked back out her window.
When they finally made it into Lucio’s, Leslie ushered Clover to the head of the table so embarrassing and proceeded to announce to the family, and Sydney, who’d met them there, that the two vacant chairs on either side of Clover were for Sera and Dallas. Clover had hardly seen her mother since Christmas, so hadn’t had a chance to tell her that Sera was no longer her favourite person and that Dallas had a team meeting, which was also a sore point. Clover was sure she remembered him saying those meetings weren’t compulsory, and now she wouldn’t see him until after she got back from Florida.
Clover reached for the menu and hunched down behind it. Things got even more awkward when Leslie placed Jasmine in one of the empty seats, and took the other herself. Before their pasta had even arrived, Leslie must have decided that this would be the perfect opportunity for her to again tackle the birds and the bees talk with Clover.
‘I’m just saying,’ Leslie said, ducking behind a piece of garlic bread in a lame attempt to be discreet. ‘You need to be careful, Clover. If you do go there with a boy, it can change your feelings towards him. Make you think you feel stronger than you actually do.’
Clover didn’t know whether to rush off to the bathroom or pretend she wasn’t listening. Her face heated with rage and embarrassment. ‘I can’t believe you’re using this family dinner to bail me up about Dallas!’ Clover hissed. Leslie widened her eyes and leaned in closer, demanding to be heard. ‘With Florida and the World’s coming up, maybe it would be better not to have a boyfriend?’
Clover bit her tongue to keep from screaming. ‘I’ve gotta go.’ She told herself not to cry as she got up from the table and rushed off to the bathroom, where she hid for a good five minutes, splashing cold water on her face and doing her best to calm herself down. This is why I avoid my mother, she reminded herself, dealing with the hurt of her words and her neglect and ambivalence, was beyond hard.
She sat at the opposite end of the table, next to Sydney, for the remainder of the meal.
On the way home, Clover tuned out the rest of the family’s conversation about Jazz’s first big horse show of the season, and focused on the most important job she had that evening; packing for Florida. Her new gear was awesome; pink, black, white, leopard and zebra print all fused into a killer design, as well as the most amazing FOX boots. She was going to be just as cool as Lasha ‘La-La’ Moore.
NINETEEN
Clover rolled up the sleeves of her cardigan as she stepped onto the escalator leading down to the baggage area of the Orlando International Airport in Florida. It wasn’t as hot as she thought it would be. She heard voices below it sounded like quite a crowd.
When the baggage area came into view, Clover blinked with disbelief she’d never seen so many bikers in all her life. The wide hall was packed to capacity; barely room for anyone to move. It was as if the Supercross, Motocross, Enduro and road bike worlds had all collided in the one destination. The crowd was a multi-coloured mix of different disciplines, united by love for their two-wheeled machines.
It was easy to identify the road riders from the dirt riders. Most were tattooed and wearing leather vests with motorcycle club badges. Some had shaved heads, and others were grey and going bald naturally. A few of the younger guys were serious hotties big, dark and menacing, or blonde and tough like bikers she’d seen on TV. She found herself wishing there were more guys like this in Silvertown.
Clover stared in awe at their glamorous female counterparts, several badass chicks in studs and leather and lace. Seeing all these beautiful wome
n spurred Clover to steal a glance at her own arms, which, unfortunately, were florescent white. Once she found the dirt bikers, she felt more at home. Such a welcome feeling, even though she was feeling more secure in Silvertown, being the ‘biker girl’ always made her the odd one out. Here, far from school and with no Lasha in sight, Clover knew she belonged. She was especially drawn to a group of guys in racing pit shirts, pulling oversized gear bags off the middle carousel. She wished she hadn’t worn her bow cardigan and had opted for her new REV GIRL T-shirt, which the bike shop had also sponsored her with. She wanted all those guys to know she was here to race, just like them.
Suddenly, her hand shot back, catching Ernie in the ribs. ‘Dad Look!’ She pointed to the petite blonde sitting next to the famous Enduro racer, Tuck Smith. ‘That’s Steph Gibbs!’
They were the perfect couple. Clover longed to be Steph Gibbs a champion, celebrity rider, with a boyfriend who raced. But she pushed the thought away. She had a good thing with Dallas, every girl’s dream. She was just fascinated, that was all, as they were the first famous racing couple she’d ever seen. ‘Do you think she’s racing the Enduro?’ Clover asked. There was no way she could compete with Steph, who had reigned supreme ever since she was a junior one of the fastest women in the world.
‘I think her deal’s just for motocross.’
‘Phew.’
Clover and Ernie weaved their way through the crowd. As they passed the row of chairs, Clover took a closer look at Steph and Tuck. A dirt bike Ken and Barbie.
A barb of jealousy stung her heart as two guys from the end of the row moved down in front of Tuck and Steph. She wished she could stride up and have a chat about the race, like she was one of the gang. Then she remembered, the only person she’d actually know down here was Lasha the one person who’d do her best to make sure Clover didn’t fit in. She might feel more at home, but she was still an outsider, just like she’d always been in Silvertown and at the Rocky Mountain races, just trying to break in.
