Chapter 1

I was rooted in the driver’s seat, my right hand, ready on the ignition key, the other holding the steering wheel tight. In anticipation, I waited for Nick to give me the go-ahead to fire up the engine. He was seated alongside me; his seat slid back as far as possible to accommodate him and the laptop on his legs. As his fingers danced on the keyboard, his eyes were focused on the small screen, analysing the software program that would eventually show us if our project was successful.

“Shoot,” he said. That was his signal to start the engine.

My task was to keep an eye on the speedometer and the rev counter. Nick would notify me when to change gear and how much to force my foot down on the accelerator. Once the Beamer was in gear, the instrument panel didn’t take long to show we were doing 120mph. A quick glimpse at the screen on the laptop confirmed a similar speed reading. I would put my foot down in normal circumstances, pushing this beast to 150 mph, but when the car is on a chassis dyno and the wheels are spinning on rollers. To me, that isn’t normal. It just freaks me out.

“Release the pedal,” Nick yelled. So I could hear his voice over the sound of the roaring six-cylinder engine.

As I released my foot off the accelerator, the engine’s thundering sound dropped to idling speed. I let the vehicle purr softly for a moment while Nick finished off with his calculations on the laptop. Once finished, he made a hand gesture across his throat. Another one of his signals, this one, was to switch off the engine.

“What’s the reading? How’s the engine running?” I asked Nick eagerly.

He didn’t say a word for a moment. With an emotionless expression on his face, he stared at the laptop screen. He turned the device slightly towards me, giving me a better view of the screen. It showed a reading of 242bhp. The graph for the car’s torque and brake horsepower was almost identical.

“How the fuck did you push the mod-chip to that level?” I screamed with joy. Both of us rejoicing, making the car shake.

We both froze when we heard the familiar voice we both knew. “How many times have I told you guy’s to fit the fume extractor onto the exhaust when you test the cars?” Mr Sutherland yelled from across the garage. “I go out for ten minutes to get lunch, and you break every rule in the book!” He marched towards the car, stopping by the passenger side window.

“I’m sorry, Mr Sutherland. I just thought we would get a better reading if the exhaust didn’t have any diversions,” I said before Nick could say anything. “It was my decision. I’m sorry, sir.”

Nick turned the laptop to face Mr Sutherland, our teacher.

Mr Sutherland took a glimpse at the screen. He squinted his eyes as he got closer to read the small numbers. “How the...” He paused. “How did you get the brake horsepower so high?” he curiously asked. He looked at us with a smile from ear to ear.

Nick explained to Mr Sutherland what adjustments he had made to improve the engine’s performance with the mod-chip, giving the car power enhancement. By the time Nick explained everything to our teacher, other students had gathered around to see what we had achieved.

Noticing the commotion by everyone around him, Mr Sutherland yelled, “You better clean up before you guys go home today.” His voice had a tone of authority.

“Yes, sir,” Nick and I replied at the same time.

He sauntered off towards his office, taking a sip of his soft drink as he walked away, checking with other students’. He said to Alan and Eddie as he went past them. As usual, they mumbled to themselves.

“Why do you always have to do that?” Nick said.

“What?” I replied.

“Take the blame when we are both at fault.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I smiled while I cleaned the area behind the car from the exhaust fumes.

We rolled the BMW of the chassis dyno, pushing the car outside. Nick and I were giving the engine a quick check before pulling the bonnet down. That is when Alan and Eddy sneaked up behind us.

“Remind us again, how old is this piece of crap?” Alan chuckled.

“What do you want, Alan?” I attacked back.

“I hope you two are ready for tonight? After the race is over, you’ll be taking that piece of crap to a scrap yard,” Alan said while he looked over at our car as he began to chuckle with his friend Eddy.

Nick and I watched them as they walked back to Alan’s car, both of them still laughing.

Alan drove a BMW 120i M Sport. As he opened the driver’s door, holding it ajar for us to see his most recent purchase. He had mounted a pair of Sparco bucket seats. Nick stepped forward. He was ready to say something to him. I raised my hand, blocking his advance. Alan sneered while he slid into the bucket seat. Eddy, like a snake, slithered into the passenger seat. With a roar of the engine, the 120i M Sport disappeared around the corner.

Finishing off our inspection, we closed the bonnet then climbed into our BMW. Nick got into the driver’s seat, as it was his turn to drive the Beamer today.

“Why is it? When we put a new component on the engine, it’s the day you drive the car?” I asked Nick.

With a smirk on his face, he replied, “You drove it when we tested it.”

“Yes, while the car was motionless. I was doing 120 mph on rollers.”

“At least, the police can’t stop you from speeding,” he smirked. We both started laughing as he fired up the engine.

I have known Nick for two years. I met him at Hatfield University when I was enrolling for the course we are both studying. He was in the queue in front of me. As we were waiting, we got chatting about the university and the subjects. By the end of the first year, we were two of a kind. Our friendship got more vital day by day.

Nick is the same height and built like me. He has golden blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He’s the brains between us, always helping me with the day to day lessons we are taking and being the group leader in any projects our teachers assign us.