ALICE Ch 378

“She’s not gaining pace on you.”

“Come on, Alice,” Val mutters, concentrating.

“Is that what you want to be saying? Let’s worry about Akiko.”

“I don’t worry about anyone. We should box.”

“Not yet. Your tires are good. I know you want to fight Alice. Be calm.”

“I’m always calm,” Val replies.

FF1

Lora’s worried, but she puts that aside. “Faye, you have DRS.”

“All right.” Faye always sounds like she’s panicking, yet at the same time, she always sounds as though her thoughts are a thousand miles away. Lora grips a can of Red Bull, letting the light of her screen burn into her eyeballs.

“Push.”

“Ora! Ora! Ora!”

Lora takes a deep breath through her nose. Sometimes she misses Alice. Faye’s easier to work with, but more difficult to understand. Alice gets very sassy when she’s nervous, but Faye is weird all the time. Heart racing, Lora does a tiny fist pump. Faye has overtaken Danny Ricciardo. “That’s it, Faye!”

“Yas,” Faye cheers weakly.

“All right. You’ve got the bad stretch up ahead. He’ll be right on you, and you’ll have to defend.”

“Oh, no.” She sounds so timid.

Lora grimaces. “He will go on this one. Here he comes.”

“No! Muda! Muda! Muda!”

FF1

“See, Coach Riley always liked her better. And I was supposed to be Coach Adella’s favorite, but Coach Adella doesn’t care about anyone but Riley. And she doesn’t care about kids playing soccer because she’s fancy and from Spain, but Riley cares because she’s from Gurlberg, you know? So, Val always got a better deal. Always,” Alice says.

“Alice! Tell me about this when you’re not bloody wheel to wheel with her!” Glynda rages.

Alice pushes and holds, but Val doesn’t yield.

“Fuck!” Alice falls back, noticing the telltale instability as she goes into the turn. “We have to box.”

“I know that, Alice.” Glynda sounds shaken. “It was a good try.”

Alice groans. “She makes me so mad!”

FF1

“Are you actually a crazy person?”

Val doesn’t dignify that with a response. As much fun as it would be to have to overtake Alice, she’s likely to have to do that anyway due to tire timing. And whatever anyone thinks, fun is still secondary. There’s a lot of race left. Enough to overtake Alice twice? Val isn’t so sure. Even once will be a coin flip if the FUTA car really has improved.

“Keep your shirt on,” she mutters.

FF1

“Here we go, people!” Colby roars.

Riley and the others hurry into position. Even with PPE and active headsets, the noise level is apocalyptic.

Alice flies down the lane, yet rolls in among them as gently and precisely as a scalpel. Tools whirr, and tires slam into place. Riley tightens and leaps back. The smell of rubber crashes through her facemask like a punch to the face, and Alice shoots off with a howl of her engine.

“Two point six!” Colby announces, and the pit crew cheers.

“Fuck yeah!” Riley throws her hands in the air, a surge of triumph that she hasn’t felt since her days as a player. Adella grabs her and lifts her off the ground, spinning around.

“Hey, watch it!” Colby squawks as Riley’s flailing legs nearly knock her cold.