Alex presses harder on the gas pedal, picking up speed. Cars honk furiously at us as we weave through the lanes. My heart thumps wildly in my chest.

“Don’t worry, I’m an excellent driver,” he says.

I twist in my seat to see the van still hot on our heels. “They’re gaining on us!”

Alex presses a button on the car’s touch screen to make a call. The phone rings, and whoever he’s calling picks up immediately.

“Alex?” the voice says.

“Hey, Daniel. You see the situation?”

“Yep, I see it,” Daniel says.

“Who is that?” I ask.

“My buddy. He drove with me to the airport in his separate car in case something like this happened. See the red Honda behind us?”

I was so fixated on the van that I didn’t even notice the red car speeding through the lanes behind us. It has the slightest lead against the paparazzi van, but they’re pretty neck and neck.

“Time for the plan, A?” Daniel asks.

“Time for the plan,” Alex says. “Rachel, hold on tight.”

The phone goes dead as Alex zooms off the highway and onto the city roads, followed closely by Daniel and the paparazzi with hardly any regard for traffic light signals. I cling on to the car handles for dear life, my heart racing, sweat starting to form at my forehead. As terrifying as this all is, I can’t help but feel slightly thrilled by the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Wait until I tell Leah that I was in a high-speed car chase! If I make it out alive, that is.

Alex makes a sharp left, swerving into a narrow alley. Daniel is right behind us and the paparazzi van right behind him. The alley is getting more and more narrow, nearly scraping the sides of our car. Oh my god, oh my god. We’re not going to make it.

Suddenly, Daniel slams on his brakes, the red Honda skidding to a stop in the middle of the alleyway. The paparazzi van nearly crashes right into him, but they stop just in time. With Daniel’s car blocking them, and the alley too narrow for the van to go around, the paparazzi are stuck, forced to back out of the alley and find another route. I see them in the rearview mirror, the photographer stepping out of the passenger door and slamming his hand on the hood of the van, just as we squeeze out of the alley and make our escape.

Alex and I both let out a victory scream.

“I can’t believe that just happened!” I cry. So this was what he meant by being prepared for anything.

“I told you I’m a good driver,” he says, laughing and slapping his hands against the steering wheel. “Whew. That was fun.”