Page 35 of Furious

Zaynah eyes us shrewdly. “We’d all love to know.”

“It’s nothing,” El says, glancing at her best friend and then looking away quickly. She seems nervous.

“We’re just strategizing,” I say. “About how to get Max’s jacket back.”

Now El looks at me, eyebrows shooting up in alarm. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say anything?

“Who’s Max?” James asks, in between bites of his burger.

“My sister,” El mumbles.

“What about Max? What jacket?” Zaynah prods, her voice tense.

“We … Remember, Z, she sent that postcard from Boston a few weeks back?” El starts twisting her paper napkin into little snakes. “She asked for her jacket back, and JoJo and I are, uh, figuring out how to get it. Her friend said we could have it, if we, um—”

“We’re racing for it.” I put El out of her misery. And why not? We’re among friends. Family, even. Though I notice she didn’t mention Max’s address as a second potential prize.

CJ flicks another fry at me. “You shouldn’t be doing any racing unless it’s for the F1 training program.”

El snaps her gaze over to me. “What F1 training program?”

“CJ means the F1 Academy,” I say carefully. I’ve still not told El about it. “It’s not a big deal. Just something I’m thinking about doing.”

Ever the planner and my number one fan, CJ jumps in enthusiastically. “It’s a huge deal! Like it means Jo will get to travel all over the world, going to all the F1 races and driving in some of them. It could really make her career. She’s been carrying around an application for weeks and it’s due by August, but she won’t ask her dad to sign the form.” CJ turns their smile on me.

I scowl back as I pop a fry into my mouth. Maybe if I’m eating, I won’t have to answer more questions?

“Will you leave Dell’s Hollow if you get into the program?” El asks, a frown between her eyebrows.

I shrug and wash down the fry with some strawberry milkshake. “Maybe? Yes, but the academy doesn’t start until the fall. And there’s no guarantee I’ll get in.”

“You’ll get in,” James says. “CJ has shown me all your races that are on the internet. I’ve never seen anyone drive like you.”

Pride fills me, but it’s quickly squashed by the look on El’s face. “I’ve not even applied yet,” I remind her. “Besides, the only race I care about right now is the one to get Max’s jacket back.” The words rush out of me, my tongue loosened by my desire to erase the crushed look from El’s face.

“And what race is that, exactly?” Zaynah asks, still fishing for details.

Shit.

I let out a long breath and look over at El. She nods slightly, and so I fill Zaynah, CJ, and James in about our trip to Riley’s place, his demand that we race for Max’s jacket (I don’t mention the address, since El’s apparently keeping that part to herself), and the race that’s happening tomorrow night.

“Okay, so even if you did do this illegal race,” CJ says, leaning in close, as if the pair of elderly women in the booth behind us is actually listening to our conversation and not arguing about a recent Love Island episode. “How would you do it?”

“You can’t do it!” Zaynah chimes in. “Even if this weren’t the worst idea, what are you going to race in, the Oatmobile?” She turns to CJ and James. “That’s what we call El’s mom’s minivan, which is her current mode of transportation.”

El rolls her eyes. “No. Of course we’re not going to race in the minivan.”

I lean in, lowering my voice despite the fact that we’re at a loud party and Grandma Jolene is nowhere around. “We’re going to take my mom’s car.”

“Fuck off,” CJ says. “The Hornet? No way. I thought it hadn’t run in years.”

I nod. “I got it working. Now, I just need to get the keys out of Grandma Jolene’s safe. She locked them up before she left for Italy.”

“Which we’re never going to get open,” El adds. “Unless you know a safecracker.”

“I mean, I do totally have a heist crew I can call.” I pull out my phone, scrolling my contacts quickly. “Let’s see, to do a heist, who do we need? Hacker, a money person, some muscle—”

“Don’t forget an acrobat, for getting into small spaces,” James says, with a laugh.