_{Hannah and the other competitors gathered around a small table, a map of the nearby area laid out. A track that fed through the majority of the highway, around a few blocks at the end and through the streets and back again. The track was risky, they all knew that. There were 2 high activity roads they would be passing through, which would be patrolled by the police. They’d have to be careful with how they went through this track. The rest of it seemed pretty good though, the highway provided a good comeback for anyone who got pushed back in the streets.}

_{The race was set to start in 30 minutes, so in the meantime the crowd had spilt into their little groups, the racers and their closer groups checking everything was in place and their cars were prepared. Hannah ran a hand over the smooth exterior of the car, she knew she’d have to play this one smart. Just because there was no money at stake with this individual race, the stakes were high. Get caught and you’re going away, lose and you forfeit your place at the championships, do badly and your reputation and influence were going downhill.}

_{Hannah saw a few of the newer competitors she hadn’t met before drinking. She almost laughed, the dumbest thing to do before a race was drink. Sure, it’d take the nerves down, but once it really hits you, there’s no way you’ll be getting a placing in the race. She was standing with a few friends, chatting about the race. None of them had been invited to compete except for Bailey, which didn’t surprise her. They didn’t compete in the big leagues, the smaller less-risky races were more their style. Hannah and Bailey ended up walking off to talk about the race in private.}

_{Soon enough, the first shot went off, signalling the competitors to prepare. Nodding to her friends, Bailey and Hannah made their way over to their cars. Bailey gave her a final smile before getting into his. She chuckled but did the same, sliding into the seat. Tucking her phone into the glove compartment once again, Hannah turned on the engine. With everything sounding right, she pulled into the complex and took her designated position. Looking in her mirrors, Bailey was on the other side of her, third in line-up. There was no way he’d be happy about that.}

_{Hearing the engines begin to rev, Hannah breathed deeply, calming her nerves and focussing her gaze. Checking the road in front of her had no visible disadvantages that she could see from her car, she nodded to the host. He nodded back and turned to the group of cars. The second shot rang out and they all took off, flying down the beginning of the track. Hannah and Bailey took their usual places in the front, as well as a guy she hadn’t seen before right behind them. He was getting too close to Bailey for Hannah’s comfort.}

_{Looking over, she saw Bailey nod at her. Smirking, she turned back to the road. Almost at once, the two of them sped up, watching the other guy struggle to keep up. Soon enough, he was far enough behind for them to relax a little. The track veered to the right, as the pair turned in perfect sync. This was where it was about to get rough. Hannah turned onto the road, the streets around her growing in number of buildings and cars. In the distance, she could hear sirens. Clenching her jaw, Hannah sped up again, just enough to get through the streets before the police caught up to her.}

_{Bailey had fallen behind her, but that was the least of her concerns right now. Finally, she could see the beginning of the freeway in front of her. Hannah made it out of the blocks within 5 minutes of entering them, the sirens fading into the distance. Within seconds of her switching onto the freeway, Bailey’s car appeared behind her. A sigh of relief escaping from her, for a minute she was worried he had been overtaken or caught. Smiling, she watched him catch up to her a little, staying far enough back to not threaten her placing.}

_{Hannah watched her mirrors carefully, a few more people had rounded the bend and had started on the long fly down the highway. Bailey had reached a respectable distance behind her, giving her enough room to do as she pleased, but close enough to maintain his position in second. Watching as a few racers tried coming up behind her, she smirked, shaking her head softly. The audacity of them was getting crazy. There weren’t any others cars or police in sight, the perfect opportunity to show them what they had been missing while she was gone from the scene.}

_{Hannah her mirrors once more before speeding up a great deal. She didn’t want to go any faster than this, it’d be too easy to lose control of the car. It hadn’t happened in the past, but it was always a risk on this type of track. Hannah was confident in her capabilities, no doubt about it, but she didn’t want to push it too far so quickly. Hannah debated for a moment, there was still a good ten minutes before she’d make it back to the end. Plenty of time to really see if she still had her skills.}

_{With the people behind her falling behind, except one of them. She frowned, she didn’t recognize the car. Eyes flicking between the road in front of her and the mirror steadily keeping up with her in her mirrors, she scoffed. Turning her music up, the speakers blasting, she leaned back in her seat. Feeling the comfortable nostalgia of it all, Hannah made her decision. Pushing down on the acceleration, easing off the brakes completely. She knew the risks of it, but she needed to know if she was still just as good as she had been before she left it.}

_{Watching the road disappear just as it quickly as it came, she grinned, seeing the car that had been close behind her ease off. Behind them, there was nobody else in sight. Hannah watched her surroundings more carefully than ever, pushing 300 km/h. The customisations she’d had done on the car had enhanced the car’s capabilities a serve amount, but there was no way she was going to go that far so early on in her comeback. Hannah remained like this for the next 5 minutes, after that, the end was just ahead. The highway had been an easy drive.}

_{Hannah approached the end, refusing to slow. Only once she made it through first, she turned the wheel, drifting off the side, a smooth turn, facing the way she had just came. Turning the car off, Hannah grabbed her phone quickly and got out. She leant against her car, the metal had remained cool luckily. Hannah was curious to see whoever was behind the wheel that had overtaken Bailey. It hadn’t happened before, and the fact they kept up easily until the last 5-10 minutes was only a slight concern to her. Soon enough, the car came into her view.}

_{The car had eased off a lot since she pushed it, smirking, she watched the car approach, pulling over to the side next to her. The car was nice, no doubt, but it was clearly no match to her. Raising an eyebrow, she watched warily as the door opened. Hannah’s eyebrow raised as a tall guy got out, he had clear confidence. He walked over to her slowly, checking out the car and then her. Realization flashed in his eyes and he noticed who she was. “My queen, I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced” he murmured to her teasingly.}

_{Hannah rolled her eyes at the use of the dumb nickname, most people knew she wasn’t a fan of it, but it wasn’t much use getting them to stop, somebody always came around saying it and it flared up again. She looked over at his car, eyeing it up once more before turning her attention to the man in front of her. It seemed it was only the two of them had made it back yet. The crowd had started to approach her but a few whispers about the interaction going on had seemingly made anyone stop from saying anything.}

_{Her eyes flicked over him, before standing up, stepping away from her car. He was hot, no sugar coating it, and he was clearly confident enough to even approach her. A lot of people she raced with never had the guts to attempt to keep up with her, let alone approach her afterwards. Hannah smiled softly, stepping closer to him. Raising her head to look up at him, her eyes twinkled with clear curiosity. “And you are?” she asked him, raising an eyebrow. Hannah had her arms crossed over her ribs, her expression calm but a small smirk showing.}

_{He smiled at her, watching her carefully. Hannah could tell he knew all about her, it was rather obvious. The way he had looked at her car and then her and still had the courage to talk to her, it was something new. “Ryan. I noticed your little stunt at the end there, threatened?” Hannah watched him as he stepped towards her, as she had done to him. She could see him up close now, dark hair, brown eyes, way too cocky for her own good. Hannah laughed quietly, looking down before stepping closely to him, her eyes flicking back up.}

_{“Threatened, by you? And here I was thinking you knew about me, if you did, you’d know you’re no match for me. My little stunt as you call it, was barely a taste of what I can do. Watch yourself, you might find yourself in a rather- compromising position too quickly” Hannah told him, pushing him back with a hand on his chest. She smirked at him, before turning away from him and disappearing into the cheering crowd. By now, majority of the other competitors had arrived and were standing around watching the interaction between Hannah and Ryan, including Bailey.}

_{She saw him move past Ryan after she left, coming after her. Soon enough, he had caught up to her and walked with her up to the front of the crowd. Shaking her head at him, he nodded. He knew Hannah would tell him later, she had made it clear that now wasn’t the time. Hannah and Bailey joined the other competitors at the front, in line of their final placing. She cockily brushed past Ryan, standing in front of him. Hannah heard his quiet laugh, but chose to ignore it. She’d find him later to continue their earlier conversation.}

_{Hannah stood quietly as the places were announced in ascending order, with her being announced last. The top 5 were sent their prize money before the announcement, Hannah was happy with the number she had pulled. But she knew the amount was only so high because of her little confrontation with Ryan. Oh well, it wasn’t like she was complaining, and neither was he. The names of each placing were read off, along with the sum of their prize money. Hannah made sure to snicker quietly at Ryan’s calling, earning a glare from him in return, despite it’s clear fakeness.}

_{Once the announcements had been finished, they all went their separate ways, enjoying the party. Hannah found herself back with her group, having a debate with Bailey about the newer drivers. Neither of them had seen them before so it was weird for them to have been invited into the race to compete. Eventually, they figured the drivers were likely from another region who had come for the Championship in the next few months. It made a lot of sense that way, if that was the case. But it was still weird how none of them had seen them online.}

_{It was getting into the late hours of the night, nearing midnight and the party looked like it had just started. More people were showing up as the night went on. It seemed everybody who raced or watched had shown up to show their support and join in on the fun. Soon enough, Hannah and her friends gave up on figuring it out, and resigned to actually having fun, that’s what they had come for, right? They were sitting near their cars, Ryan’s still parked nearby. Hannah didn’t know where he had gone to but he wouldn’t have left yet.}

_{As the went on, she wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on. But eventually, she had somehow ended up back at her car, Ryan’s body pushing her against it. Hannah didn’t really know how or when things escalated to this, but it was the current situation so she’d have to deal with it. She felt his arms leaning on the car beside her as she pulled him closer, a smirk finding its way onto her face. “well well, looks like I’ll be the King tonight” Ryan teased, his voice fill with the obvious restraint he managed to have.}

_{Hannah rolled her eyes, before slipping out of his grasp. She made her way over to her friends who had been pretending they weren’t watching. Leaving that conversation for a later date, she said her goodbyes, a clearly impatient Ryan left leaning against her car. Hannah took her time, letting him wait. But quickly, she was back at her car. She got in, watching Ryan hop into his car. Pulling out of the complex, majority of the crowd had left, a few larger groups who were still here beginning to leave. Hannah made her way back towards her neighbourhood.}

_{The drive seemed painfully slow, the traffic was clear, Ryan and herself really stepping on it back through the freeway. Luckily, her street came into view and she turned into it, pulling into her driveway. Ryan had stopped to grab something from a nearby corner store but she had just closed the front door behind her when she heard his car pull into the driveway. Moments after she heard the engine cut, Hannah heard the door opening and closing shortly after. Quite soon, she felt her body being pushed against the wall. Hannah looked up, as his mouth crashed onto hers.}

_{Hannah stood under the shower, the hot water soothing her aching body. She had checked the time beforehand, it was nearing the early hours of the morning. Hannah couldn’t miss another day of school, especially after the unexplained absence today. By the time she had gotten out and dressed, she found Ryan downstairs on his phone. Getting a glass of water, she looked over at him “You’re welcome to stay the night” she told him. After hearing his murmured reply, she retreated back upstairs to her room. Hannah sat on her bed, checking her phone for the time in hours.}

_{One of her friends had texted her something about a previous champion returning to the fighting scene, but she left it for the morning. Hannah had a few friends who were really into that stuff but she had never gotten into it, Hannah could handle herself in a fight better than anyone she had met, but doing that sort of thing hadn’t really interested her much. Racing was more her style so it was what she went with. Besides, after she lost a friend in one of those fights, Hannah tried to stay away from it as much as possible.}

_{Hannah soon turned the lights off, a few minutes later hearing Ryan join her. Adjusting her body, she felt his arms around her. Quickly after that, she felt herself fall asleep. Hannah wasn’t planning on being close with Ryan, maybe except physically, she wasn’t close with anyone besides Bailey. Hannah didn’t like the risk being close with people posed, it wasn’t worth the pain when she eventually lost them.}