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She set sparks flying with the tuned rear end of her motorcycle on the road, letting one leg hang free before jumping back into the seat and ending the wheelie.

I did a wheelie too and jumped to a stand, which I hadn't done in a long time, so it took more concentration than usual.

When I sat back down, she gave me a thumbs up, but quickly pointed back to her bike.

And suddenly she jumped into a squat, slid further back, even let go of the handlebars, giving up all control over speed and steering.

With a rare nervousness in my stomach, I looked ahead and behind. We had enough distance, and I hoped she knew what she was doing.

She gripped the seat with both hands, trying to keep her balance, and... tipped forward.

I thought she was going to fall over and crash in the next moment, and an overwhelming feeling of panic rushed through my stomach, but she simply rested her helmet-protected head against the fuel tank, pushed off carefully with her feet, pulled her legs up into a squatting position, and… slowly stretched them into the air without letting go of the seat with her hands.

What the...

My mouth opened slightly, and I was glad no one could see.

This girl just did a headstand at... I looked at my speedometer... 100 km/h?!

Envy spread through me, but it mixed with pure admiration.

She quickly came out of the headstand and slid back into the seat, where she regained her balance before reaching for the handlebars and continuing as if nothing had happened.

Her hands were shaking slightly, but she had really just done that.

I stared, incapable of doing anything else.

I wished I could see her face, her reaction. Whether she was laughing at me or already thinking about how to leave me speechless with another stunt.

But she just pointed to the road ahead... and shot past me again.

Was she playing with me? Did she want to show me up?

Oh baby, you don't know how much I love to play. And how much I love to win.

I sped up and passed more cars until we were both driving side by side, both getting faster and faster.

The road ahead was clear, and I already knew she had lost.

I kept getting faster until I finally shot ahead.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bus coming out of the next big side street, where the road curved toward Vanderwood.

Fuck, I wouldn't make it. Obviously, the bus driver intended to cut me off. He probably didn't even see me coming.

I braked just before the bus could hit me, slowed down, and came to a stop as the bus pulled onto the main road.

A shadow shot past me and cut so close in front of the bus that the bus driver had to slam on the brakes, honking his horn, and three cars behind the bus almost crashed into each other.

Holding my breath, I stared after the motorcycle.

Her.

I thought I was an adrenaline junkie, but this crazy girl seemed to be addicted to death. And something about it made my blood rush.

I took advantage of the bus driver's moment of shock and twisted the throttle to follow her.

Indeed, she merged into the lane leading to the Vanderwood parking lot, and when she looked over her shoulder and spotted me, she passed the waiting students who were all trying to get into the jammed parking lot.