“Not this time, you jive mothasucka!” Stevie slammed her hand onto the stick, quickly shifting gears. The gas pedal was pressed firmly to the ground and she swerved through asteroids in her path. She was quickly catching up to the pilot in front of her and soon they were neck and neck. Stevie looked out of her spaceship window to the right, making eye contact with the racer next to her. She winked and flashed a grin as she started to pass him. He looked back with anger, but then she noticed he started to look at something past her. Before she could turn to see what it was, her body was jolted forward, the seatbelt knocking the wind out of her. She briefly lost grip of the steering wheel and the ship spun a couple of times until she could finally straighten it out. She looked behind her and saw an asteroid lit on fire, along with part of her ship. She turned back and watched as her competitor sped off into the distance, and various other racers who flew past her. 

“Damnit!” She yelled at herself as she slammed her fist into the spaceship door. Her brow furrowed in determination and she flipped a bright red switch labeled TURBO. The ship flew forward and she was flung backwards into her seat. Stars began to blur as she continued to grow in speed. 

1,000 mph

1,500  

5,000 

10,000

Stevie was catching back up now, regaining her spot in second place. It wouldn’t be long until she was far in first, and the finish line was coming up. She felt it. She was about to win. Her moment of glory was quickly interrupted as she found herself tumbling through the galaxy at ridiculous speeds. Her ship couldn’t handle the turbo and blew out another motor. Multiple racers had already passed the finish line by the time she could even figure out what was happening. 

“GAX WINS!” The bright neon words lit up on the screen in front of her, and she heard it in her ears over the intercom. She sat there, the smoke of her burning ship ascending into the endless depths of space. 

Stevie sat at the bar, hand cupped around a glass of cherry cola. Disco music blared from the speakers and drowned out the voices of the people around her. Humans, aliens and robots all together on the dance floor, grooving in their platform shoes and bell bottom jeans. She was back on planet Vorix, although she wasn’t too happy about it. All anyone would talk about here was how awesome it was that Gax won. Thank god someone finally broke Stevie’s winning streak! She gripped her cup even tighter at the thought of it. She was interrupted by someone clumsily slapping their hand on her shoulder.

“Yo, Steve! How’s it hangin’?” A boy with curly hair and thick glasses looked at her with a big grin. “You seem a bit tense over here.” He said as he sat down on the stool next to her. She looked at him for a moment before looking back down at the counter. 

“I can’t believe I lost, Zero.” She muttered. Zero gave her a sympathetic look. 

“I know, dude. But it happens, you can’t expect to win every single time, you know?”

“But I can! I’m basically the greatest racer alive.” She furrowed her brow. Her shaggy brown hair drooped over her shoulders. 

“That arrogance is probably why you lost.” Said a voice from behind her. Stevie quickly looked back, anger setting on her face. 

“You don’t know shit.” She stood up and glared at him. He was human and quite large, much larger than Stevie was. He looked at her with with a face of annoyance. 

“I know that you lost.” Now he wore a smirk that made Stevie incredibly angry. She grabbed him by his popped collar and pulled him closer to her. Zero watched both of them while he fiddled with his fingers, not knowing exactly what to do. 

“Uh… Why don’t you just step off, man.” He directed at the stranger. The man stood for a second and looked at both of them. 

“Fine. Just know that you’ll never be great with that wack attitude.” He said as he shoved Stevie off of him and walked away. Stevie angrily stomped off, shoving through crowds of dancers to the doors that lead outside. She stepped out and felt the cold air hit her like thousands of needles pressing into her skin. As she looked up into the sky and watched the millions of stars, she felt something within herself. She knew where she was meant to be and what she was meant to do. Who cared if she was a little confident? It was just proof that she truly was good. She thought about her ship and the feeling racing gave her. Screw anyone who told her otherwise. 

It was about a month later. Stevie’s spaceship had just finished being repaired and it was the day of another major race. Although she had been discouraged in the past, she knew that she had to prove herself today. She sat in the ship and felt the steering wheel. It had been so long since she was last in her own vehicle. She watched as the other racers piled into their own spaceships, all lined up and waiting for the race to begin. The countdown flashed on their screens in front of them. 3, 2, 1… They all accelerated and raced through the galaxy. Everything happened so fast and Stevie didn’t realize anything until she sat there, across the finish line, her name in bright neon lights across the screen. Nothing else mattered. She knew this was how it was supposed to be.