ALICE Ch 201

“What did you have to be upset about?”

“Eh?” Lora looks up from her phone to find Kylie peering at her suspiciously.

“It was a free trip to Japan,” Kylie says. “What’s not to like?”

Lora opens her mouth but thinks better of what she is about to say. She shakes her head.

“Can’t tell me?” Kylie looks annoyed, but Opsec is terrible enough on FUTA. Lora is not going to be the source of a serious leak. But can’t Kylie figure it out? Half the internet is already speculating about it. Why was Glynda trying to form connections in Japan? A new engine? No. The whole car is shit. Dumb luck and Alice are the only reasons that FUTA is even competitive.

Every night, Lora prays to god that Alice will never get put in a decent car. If she realizes how much FUTA’s holding her back, she’ll run and never look back.

Meanwhile, Faye’s car has been reconfigured. She was only driving as well as she was because she had leftover settings from when the equipment belonged to Red Bull. Glynda deliberately put her in that car and Alice in the slow one to spare her daughter the embarrassment of being at the rear of the pack. Faye can drive, but she’s no Alice. And Lora is starting to seriously consider the possibility that Alice belongs up there with Max, Valeria, Fernando, and Lewis.

“Doesn’t matter,” she tells Kylie, who takes that in with a little eye roll.

They drink in silence for several minutes.

“Maybe you should be Mio’s trainer,” Lora says after a while.

Kylie snorts. Then she frowns and cocks her head. Then she turns sharply to look at Lora.

“Wait,” she says.

Lora feels a flash of panic. Kylie looks as though she’s had some sort of epiphany. Did Lora let something slip?

“Did I hear you right?” Kylie asks, staring at her hard.

Lora swallows, mouth dry. What did she say?

“Did you say the pit crew is… unsupervised?”

Lora stares. This idiot. How she ended up best friends with the dumbest woman on Earth is… not really a mystery. Kylie’s right; they’ve been over her confidence more than once.

“Are you joking?” Lora asks.

“No. Colby’s life should be my life. I’m the one who had to call off her marriage. I never cheated on anyone,” Kylie says glumly.

“That cannot be your type.”

“Scuse me, you’re the one who shagged Short Round,” Kylie retorts.

“Don’t say that,” Lora blurts, aghast.

Kylie leans in, beer breath in full ****. “You’ve seen that porn, right?” she asks excitedly.

“What?”

“You know,” Kylie says, nudging her. “Where it’s one white girl and a load of black guys.”

“Jesus Christ.” Lora takes a deep breath and drinks. “I don’t think they’re black exactly,” she notes. “They’re from somewhere called Dagestan.”

“They’re darker than me,” Kylie insists, eyes shining. “That’s what matters!”