Andrea and the 5-Day Challenge by Cindy K. Green Page A

watched one too many teen flicks from the fifties? I was waiting for him to pull out a comb and slick his hair back.
    Josh leaned forward and shouted, “So, you guys want to race?” He raised his eyebrows like he was cute or something.
    Stephanie beamed into a smile. “Oh, yeah, let’s race. What do you think, Luke?”
    I couldn’t see Luke’s face as he was looking out the window, and, I hoped, giving them both the evil eye. Then he surprised me by what he did. He set his elbow over the side of his opened window and pressed the gas pedal, revving the engine of the car. “You think road racing is cool, right?”
    Oh, help! He was going to race. Don’t a large number of teens die every year from road races? I didn’t want to become another statistic. This is one of many reasons why I would never drink or enter cars with others who drink. (Oh yeah, and I think it smells gross. Plus, I believe it’s wrong and my parents would totally kill me!) And yet here I was about to die in a car accident.
    I grabbed onto his arm, and he instantly peered over at me. “Luke, please don’t do this. Josh is just stupid; don’t let him push you into this.”
    He chuckled. Yes, he had the nerve to actually laugh at my concern. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.” Then he winked at me, and I realized my fingers still clutched at his arm. I was that disturbed by this turn of events.
    Releasing his arm, I sat back in the seat and seized hold of the armrest in preparation for takeoff. I suppose I could have demanded he let me out of the car, but I would have looked like the worst kind of a dork if I had. See what peer pressure does to you? I would rather enter a road race than be smeared by my peers even if I would no longer be alive to be smeared because I would, in fact, be physically smeared all over the road.
    Josh revved his engine again.
    My desire to live took over from the part of me that hated being ridiculed. “Luke, I think you better let me out.” I grabbed the car door handle.
    Luke looked straight ahead. He placed a hand on mine. “It will be fine.” His voice came out calm and deep. That tone made me believe it all would turn out fine.
    The light changed from red to green and Josh took off, covering the road in his burnt rubber as he went.
    Luke just sat there and waited. He slanted a smile at me and shook his head. “You didn’t actually think I’d be stupid enough to race that guy, did you?”
    I smiled awkwardly. “Well, I didn’t know if…”
    The squealing sound of tires erupted in the air. Up ahead, Josh almost crashed into the people in front of a shopping center at the next light only a couple yards ahead.
    I gasped. “Oh, my gosh. Josh is such an idiot. Wait until I tell Alisha what he did.”
    “I grew up with guys like him in California. I’d never endanger people’s lives like that.” He looked so serious when he said it, as if he were from the sheriff’s office giving us safety tips.
    “I didn’t think so. Not really.”
    There were cars behind us now, and they honked impatiently.
    Luke put the car into drive and slowly entered the intersection. I guess all I could say after this episode was that Luke was not easily riled and was secure enough in who he was that he didn’t have to stroke his male ego and impress anyone. He didn’t seem to be affected by peer pressure with the need to come off looking like the cool guy.
    I wished I could be more like that. I worried way too much about what people thought about me. Although, after my interaction with Stephanie, it seemed I might be getting there.
     
     
     
     

8
     
    “So, you want to tell me why you neglected to mention that you’re actually a superhero fan? I mean, will I have to look up your screen name at the Kryptonite Place message board now, or what?” Luke sent me a quick grin as we drove along.
    A little bit of warmth moved into my cheeks, and I peered out the opened window, allowing the cool air to rush over my face.