Part 3: The New Beginning

Daniel wiped the grease off of his hands.
It had been nearly a month since he had witnessed the race that changed his life.The race that had really changed him."How does that look to you?" Trevor asked, whipping his head out from under the hood of his 240SX.
Daniel looked over the engine.
Every inch of the now maitenenced engine looked nicely in place.
"Looks fine to me." Daniel stated.
"Heh, I better look over it again then. You still have quite a bit to learn about engines." Trevor reminded.
Daniel shrugged as Trevor rechecked everything.
He had spent the past week or so helping Trevor and Paige with the 240SX.
He had mostly done trivial things, a hand here or there and an extra pair of eyes, but he felt he knew enough to know how to help, and was more or less correct in that assumption.
"Well it looks alright." Trevor said as he emerged from his double check, "Guess I won't know until the next time I race."
Daniel nodded.
He remembered Trevor's last race against a Mazda Miata.

Trevor had entrusted Daniel to learn everything he could about the opponent's car, as he was impressed when Daniel admitted how much he knew about Trevor's car.
Luckily for Daniel, Taylor's Miata was well known.
Her Mazda MX-5 NC had a carbon fibre hood ("As if the Miata wasn't light enough." Trevor had said), lime green neon under lights, and a screaming bubblegum pink paint job.
Daniel had also found it easy to find people who knew the car, but he had, however, found it difficult finding out exactly what was under the Miata's hood that made it a reputable mountain racer.
People either talked about a "bolt-on" or a "swap".
When he had reported these things to Trevor, he had been bothered by both prospects, but mainly the latter.
"More power to a feather on wheels like that means trouble." Trevor had admitted.
Daniel's mind had worked fast, and he started talking, with out-of-character confidence, as to where the Miata could attack on the mountain, one such spot being "Daniel's Cursed Curve" (Paige had called it).
Both Paige and Trevor had looked at Daniel in amazement after his ten minute long rant on Lavenner's course.
"What?" Daniel asked, confused by their impressed looks.

Trevor had spent the days working out the kinks in suspension for Kelmont's mountain pass, and adjusting his cars engine for a little sharper of acceleration ("The engine won't like the extra pressure, but I'll need it for this one." Trevor had admitted before turning to Paige "Just this once.").
During the night, Trevor, Paige, and Daniel went up to Mt. Lavenner to work on the techniques to tackle certain corners that took more than Trevor's instincts.
Paige had made several good points, and Trevor was well prepared for the race.

"Wish me luck." Trevor said, as he let Paige and Daniel out at Daniel's Cursed Curve.
"Good luck." Daniel said before climbing over the guard rail.
"You better win, I've got money on this one." Paige said with a smile before following Daniel off the road.
Trevor drove away up the mountain to the starting line, leaving Paige and Daniel alone in the dark.

Silence sat between them as they waited, until Daniel tried to break it:
"Did you actually bet on the race?"
"No." Paige answered truthfully.
"Then why did you say?" Daniel inquired
"It'll make him race better, he knows I get mad when I lose bets."
They both snickered.
"He really is something." Daniel said conversationally.
"Yeah. I'm glad he takes me with him." Paige agreed.
Silence.
"I'm glad I met you guys..." Daniel trailed off quietly.
"Hmmm?" Paige said, snapping out of her thoughts, "Did you say something sentimental?"
"Uhhh....." Daniel turned a little red.
"Heh, you're always doing that." Paige smiled, "You talk like you could die any second."
"Well I could." Daniel said trying to recover.
But Paige just gave him a sceptical look.
More Silence.
"It's just...." Daniel started, but stopped when he caught eyes with Paige.
"Just what?" Paige asked softly.
"It's just I wish we packed some food, I'm hungry." Daniel admitted honestly.
Paige stared at him in surprise, before falling over with laughter.
"But beyond that," Daniel continued in a more serious tone that made Paige sit up in curiosity, "My life wasn't the same before you two. I mean I had no plans, after high school, so I just worked and slept and ate and lived and wasted. I feel like I'm actually doing something now."
Paige stood up and moved closer to him.
"Trevor said he probably wouldn't be going into this race with any confidence if it wasn't for you. He's really thankful. Without you, this would have only been a practise battle and another lose under his reputation."
Daniel looked at Paige in reaction to her sincerity.
"And I'm glad you're around too." She admitted shyly.
They locked eyes and Daniel could feel his face getting warm and his palms sweaty.

The screeching of tires interrupted their moment.
They both rushed up to the guardrail to witness the Miata and Trevor race by.
Trevor's practise had paid off, and he held the corner with the Miata just behind him.
There would be no passing anywhere else in the race, and the 240SX got it's first win on new turf.

Trevor had raced back up the mountain to pick up Paige and Daniel.
When they got in the car, he was silent.
They congratulated him and talked about other stuff, expanding what they had in common, all the way to Walt's, Trevor not saying a word.

They got their usual table and ordered their regulars, the night waitress Leslie now knowing them by name from the multiple times they've come in.
"What's wrong?" Paige asked, hoping that her worst fear hadn't come true, and her secret was still safe.
But Trevor stayed silent.
"Trevor...man..." Daniel started as Trevor pulled a pink piece of paper out of his pocket.
Paige looked shocked.
Daniel looked confused.
Trevor was still silent.
"You raced for pink slips?!" Paige exclaimed.
"No..." Trevor finally spoke.
"Then what...?"
Trevor unfurled the paper.
There were seven digits on it, a heart, and a name.
"Taylor...." Daniel said, musing the name over.
"You got her number?!"
Daniel and Paige looked at Trevor with anticipation and burst into laughter when he nodded.
Trevor's smile grew and grew, until he was laughing too, as the waitress cleaned up their plates.