Pitbabe S2, Chapter 7 pg7
Pitbabe S2, Chapter 7 pg7
“I’m not talking about your boyfriend anymore. Talk to me for a bit.”
“What’re you doing here?” I finally gave in and responded. It seemed Willy wasn’t the type of kid to give up easily or be fazed by being ignored. Even if I treated him like air, he’d probably keep talking anyway. “Outsiders aren’t allowed in here.”
“I got permission from Phii Alan,” Willy grinned widely, clearly thrilled that I’d finally opened my mouth to talk. “I wanted to hang out with Phii North and the others, so I asked to stop by.”
“Don’t you have friends anywhere else?”
“I’ve got tons of friends, but friends who are fun to be around? Not so many.”
“Didn’t know those kids were that fun.”
“Fun or not, they make you smile, don’t they?” The blond kid tilted his head, and I felt like his smile was teasing me a little. “You were all grumpy at first.”
“I’m sitting here polishing a wheel alone. What do you expect me to smile at? The wheel? I’m not a Disney princess.”
“Huh? You’re not?” Willy widened his eyes, covering his mouth in mock shock. “Seeing you sitting there all cute by yourself, I thought you were.”
I had no idea how to react to that nauseating line, so I just turned to look at my reflection in the mirror by the pillar. There I was, in old jeans and a white T-shirt smeared with black stains at the hem and sleeves. My neck and face had the same smudges, probably from wiping my hands, covered in cleaner and grime, across myself. Looking like a stray dog in a cardboard box on the street, Willy’s words suddenly seemed even more ridiculous.
“Huh?” After taking in my disheveled state, I turned back to the little trickster. Willy burst out laughing, collapsing to the floor at my reaction, even though I hadn’t even cracked a joke yet.
“You’re hilarious, Phii.”
“Hilarious how? I didn’t even do anything.”
“Your face… it’s funny,” Willy clutched his stomach, wiping tears with the back of his hand. He gasped for air like he was dying from laughter. “When you made that ‘huh?’ face, it was so funny, like that cat meme. You know the one, right?”
“Yeah, I’m sure I’d know,” I said, ignoring the shallow kid and turning back to the wheel. I don’t know when I’ll ever finish polishing this thing. Every time I try to focus, someone comes up to chat. What kind of day is this?
“Hey… Phii Babe,” Willy said, starting up again after laughing to his satisfaction. “I know our first impression wasn’t great, but I don’t want you to hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Just don’t wanna see your face. It annoys me, and talking to you makes my feet itch.”
“Okay, clearly you don’t hate me,” Willy nodded slowly, as if trying not to read too much into what I said, even though it was already crystal clear. “But I’m serious, if you ever really hated me, I’d be super upset.”
“That much, huh?” I raised an eyebrow, his words sounding more and more exaggerated.
“Yeah, dude. I really like you. You’re my idol. I became a racer because of you.”
“Weren’t you the one who said you got into racing because of your dad?”
“Got obsessed with racing because of my dad, sure. But at first, I just thought I’d do it as a hobby. The one who made me want to take it seriously was you, Phii Babe.”
The sincerity in Willy’s tone and eyes was too genuine to dismiss as a joke or flattery. It might be the first time I felt like I was talking to the real Willy—not some smug robot coated in an annoying smirk like some clueless jerk.
“I want to be number one like you, want everyone to respect me. When people think of racing, I want them to think of me, just like they think of Pitbabe now.”
“Who paid you to hype me up like this?”
“Phii North slipped me twenty bucks before I walked in here,” he quipped.
“Twenty bucks and you’re performing at this level?”
Willy burst out laughing, delighted that I played along with his joke. His smile looked more appealing when he wasn’t trying to be a smug jerk—younger, fitting his age and limited experience. I thought this was probably the best trait he should hold onto, because as time passes, everyone gets forced into adulthood one way or another. It’s a harsh truth, but trust me, no one escapes it.
“How’d you get so good?” Willy asked, shifting to sit cross-legged on the floor, staring at me with such curiosity that he seemed to forget the dirty ground was about to ruin his expensive jeans. “Got any tricks?”
“Nah, just kept practicing,” I said casually, rolling the freshly polished wheel to lean against a pillar before grabbing a dirty one to clean next.
“You trained all by yourself?”
“At first, Phii Alan trained me. Once I got the hang of it, I started watching others race and copied them.”
“Wow… so Phii Alan was your teacher too?”
“Of course. You didn’t know?” I was a bit surprised that Willy seemed unaware of the X-Team captain’s reputation, even though he’s in the racing scene himself. “Back when he was a racer, he never lost. Phii Alan was way better than me.”
“Better than you?” Willy’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, but you probably weren’t born yet during his prime.”
“You must really like Phii Alan, huh?”
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