Wrecked

Laina

“No,” I breathed.

Everything seemed to unfold before me in slow motion.

The crowd was tense, and all seemed to be holding the same breath as the three cars hurtled toward the finish line. The roar of the engines and the crash of the bumpers slamming into each other echoed in my ears as they approached, and all I could think was one thing. This is going to end badly.

The three cars passed the line. Mason’s brake lights came on. The crowd gasped.

And then Sid and Mark made their move and sent Mason’s car spinning across the track where he slammed driver’s side first into the cement barrier. The passenger side tires lifted off the ground with the impact, and the whole frame seemed to crumple inward, leaving the car looking warped and crooked like a piece of plastic left out in the sun for weeks.

I think I might have screamed.

I didn’t realize I’d started moving away from the crowd in a desperate attempt to get