Ted sighed, and shifted in the confines of his seat belt.
"Relax, Ted. Don't worry, they'll never find out!"
Ted frowned. "But what if they do, Greg? They won't just ground us, they'll make us stay home this summer instead of going to Uncle Paul's. Is this race really worth losing out on a whole summer of freedom? Come on, let's just go play laser tag like we said we were going to."
Greg chuckled. "How can they possibly find out? They're home, and we'll be 15 miles out of town. We're not using my car, but the one Billy and I have been working on since November."
Ted sighed again, and leaned against the window. "Go on, but drop me off to go play tag."
Greg shook his head. "There's no time. We're in this together, little bro."
At home, Mom and Dad sat in the living room.
Mom looked up from her laptop. "Still working on your speech?"
Dad tapped his phone one final time, then looked up. "I'm installing a recording app on my phone for tomorrow's presentation."
Mom smiled. "That's a good idea. Be sure to test it first."
Dad tapped the big red button. "Testing 123. Oh wait, Ted's calling. I'll see if it worked in a minute."
A deep sigh came through the speaker. "Relax, Ted. Don't worry, they'll never find out!"
Dad scowled. "Ted? Greg? Hello. Who won't find out?"
Mom set her laptop aside, and walked over to Dad. "What's going on?"
They listened for a few more seconds, then Dad gently set the phone on the coffee table. "I do believe we have a ringside seat to one of Greg's most recent groundable offenses. Ted obviously butt dialed my number, and doesn't know it yet. Shall we have a listen?"
Mom nodded. "I'm proud of Ted, but very disappointed in Greg. He knows how we feel about drag racing."
Dad sighed. "I'll call Greg and tell him to come back home."
Mom gently touched his arm. "No, I think Greg needs to get it out of his system, and learn a lesson at the' same time. If you call him home now, he'll just reschedule. It sounds like he and Billy had this planned well in advance. At least now Ted's with him, and we know what's going on."
Dad's jaw tightened. "You're right. I don't like him taking risks like this, but you are right."
The two sat side by side, eyes locked on the phone.
"Are you sure you don't want to come along for the ride, Ted? It's gonna be a blast, finally letting her loose!"
"No, and I still wish you'd change your mind. You've never driven over 60 before."
Greg grinned. "Stop worrying, or I'll call you Worrywart."
Minutes later, four late model cars with new paint jobs were revved up in front of a white line. A thin well toned blonde girl, of perhaps sixteen, held a checkered flag. Before she dropped it, she adjusted the thong of her bikini, causing an intake of breath from the small crowd of young men.
The engines roared, and Greg found himself in the lead! "I knew you could do it Baby," he crooned, patting the steering wheel.
Ted watched his brother speed away. "I hope he's careful..."
Greg leaned back, enjoying the power and speed. Suddenly the engine began to sputter. "Oh no, you can't quit! Come on, we can win this thing..."
The sputtering died, and there was silence. Greg opened the door, and stepped out of the car. A few seconds later the other three cars caught up. He waved his arms above his head. "Hey, wait up!"
They never slowed, and Greg was forced to jump back into the vehicle. An instant later the door was knocked off by the last car.
"Where could he be?" muttered Ted, as he watched the other three drivers grab cans from a cooler, and walk towards a small campground. The small crowd trailed after them.
Greg sighed, and pulled out his phone. A second later the screen went black. "Oh great, the one time I really need to make a call and the battery is dead."
Ted followed the small group. When they began to settle on picnic benches, he approached. "Hey guys, I'm looking for my brother, Greg. Have you seen him?"
The three drivers laughed roughly. "Sure, kid. His car quit on him less than halfway through the race. He's probably still sitting there unless he called a tow."
Ted's hands balled into fists. He forced them to relax. "Someone should have checked on him after the race," he muttered as he walked away.
A tall young man with a serious expression stepped forward. "Hey Ted, Greg's told me a lot about you. I'm Billy, his best friend and half owner of the car. I've called my dad, he works at a garage and can get us a free tow. If you want, I can drive you out there in my car and we can see if he wants a lift. I should've done that before, but I don't think he's gonna want to want to leave the car."
Greg nodded. "I think he would want to stay if he could, but we're due home in about 45 minutes."
Billy nodded. "Let's get moving then, I heard your folks are dead set against racing."
Ted snorted. "That's an understatement."
Soon they were parked in back of Greg. Billy jumped out first, with Ted close on his heels.
Billy ran up to the driver's side. "Hey man, are you alright? They never said anything about an accident!"
Greg shrugged. "I was trying to flag them down. I didn't get the door shut in time before the guy in last place went by."
Billy punched his own hand. "Those three are jerks!"
Ted nodded. "I don't think they'd have cared if there had been an accident."
Billy offered Greg his hand. "Come on, take my car, and leave it at the starting line. I'll stay here, and Dad can drop me off at my car. Ted told me you guys have to be home soon."
Greg sighed with relief. "Thanks for this, you're literally saving my summer."
As the two brothers pulled in the driveway, Ted checked the time. "We're only three minutes late, I can't believe we made it."
They quickly made their way in, and found their parents staring at a cell phone sitting on the coffee table.
"Hey, what's up?" Greg asked, looking around the room.
Dad tapped the phone, then picked it up. "One of you two are grounded for the week. The other will be spending the summer helping me renovate the house. Can you guess which is which?"
They looked at each other, eyes wide.
Greg composed himself. "What happened?"
Dad tapped the phone again, and held it up. "Testing 123. Oh wait, Ted's calling. I'll see if it worked in a minute." Sigh. "Relax, Ted. Don't worry, they'll never find out!"
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery
Can you please give feedback on this story? Because I used a different style, I'm not entirely sure if everything is correct. Thanks so much in advance :)!