So I decided to start working on it. When you need to write you just have to do it. This is what I have of chapter one so far. any input is welcome.
Chapter One (no title yet)
The dust settled after the last doughnut was made on the front stretch. The crowd spilled out towards the end of the stands with a mixture of cheers and mutterings about traffic. A few die-hard fans down front stayed to cheer on the victor, a wiry, red haired, bright eyed young guy. They screamed with more enthusiasm then a Friday Night qualifying race required and waved crudely written signs made on poster board as the winner climbed from his car.
Delaney Kaplan sat at the top of the bleachers watching the extravagant reaction from a few awkward looking girls down front. They couldn’t be more then thirteen or fourteen but they swooned and carried on as the red head pulled himself to a standing position on the window of his less then pristine car. What’s the big deal? she wondered. It’s just a qualifier. The real race isn’t until tomorrow night.
“Come on Del,” her friend, Trevor, said as he pulled on her sleeve. She slowly got up, still staring at the commotion below her and made her way past crumpled popcorn bags and forgotten, half drank cups of flat soda. She tried hard not to knock them to the floor below but gave up after a few steps and began kicking them out of the way. She hoped no one was under the stands. The cheers of the few people, mostly young girls, that were left drew her attention back to the red headed driver. He was standing on the roof of the car waving and bowing. Delaney rolled her eyes. What a ham, she thought. Her friends had stopped to watch the spectacle, too and were laughing along with the others as he began hopping up and down on the car like a four year old that was just offered ice cream before dinner.
Then he fell. In his exuberance he jumped one too many times and the flimsy sheet metal of the roof caved in. He flailed his arms wildly as he lost his footing. His wild red hair and the surprised look on his face reminded Delaney of the cartoons she used to watch as a kid. At the last second he turned and fell flat on his face. A gasp erupted from his fan club in the front row, followed by and strange silence. His fans looked at each other in a frantic attempt to allay their fears, but just as quickly as he had fallen he jumped back up and waved at the crowd. Trevor and the rest of Delaney’s group pointed and laughed, then returned to wading through the mess to the stairs at the end of the row. Delaney stayed put. Something about the red headed driver caught her attention. Maybe it was the bright, wild hair or the cocky grin that crossed his face trying to cover his embarrassment. Or maybe it was just his true, pure enthusiasm he had on winning a race that meant nothing more then he got to race again the next night.
Delaney marveled at his joy. He would probably push his car to a trailer in back and drive back to whatever back water town he lived in only to stay up half the night doing repairs so that it would be ready to race on Saturday in the main event. Delaney realized she was still staring with her mouth open when she noticed the driver watching her. At least she thought he was watching her. She looked around in embarrassment and saw her friends waving to her from the stairs. She hurried along, grabbing a used program from the seat below her. She glanced back at the stairs and saw that he had started towards the lower exit on the opposite side of the track. His rubbed his left wrist and Delaney found herself wondering if he had hurt himself falling and considered how that would effect his race tomorrow night. She started to understand why the girls in the front were so crazed about. There was just something about him that drew you right in. He had charisma, even as he walked away injured. The way he carried himself said, “I’m great, but I’m humble.” And Delaney liked that. She decided she would have to come back tomorrow and find out if his wrist would hamper his driving.
0 Ranted.