A Better Life
Written by: SerenaBlackmore98

A/N: hey guys! I hope you enjoyed chapter 3 of 'A Better Life'! I'm back with chapter 4, and I hope you all like it! I will admit, this chapter does tug at the heartstrings a bit (at least it tugged on mine!) and I'm seriously considering seeking help because this shit is sad and I don't know why I write this kind of stuff…

Anyways, here's chapter 4!

-SerenaBlackmore98

Chapter 4: First Day

Every night, Lyra would wake up screaming and drenched in sweat, and every night, Lightning would console her. He hated to see his sister in such pain, and did all within his power to help her. It came to a point where she didn't want to sleep out of fear of having yet another nightmare.

"you're okay, Lyra. You're safe now, I promise I won't let any harm come to you ever again." Lightning soothed, holding his baby sister close as she cried.

It pained him to see the child in such a state. she shouldn't have to deal with this kind of stuff; she was just a kid. The NASCAR racer couldn't help but blame their parents for his sister's current mental state; they're the ones who permanently scarred her like this.

"I don't want to go back to sleep, Lightning; every time I close my eyes, dad…" Lyra started, but choked on her words as she sobbed.
"shh, it's okay, kiddo. He will not come anywhere near you, even if it's the last thing I do. I will always protect you, baby girl." he soothed.
"I don't want to go back there…" Lyra cried.
"and you won't; I won't let them take you, Lyra." Lightning reassured.

As the girl cried, Lightning rocked her in his arms, and tried his best to soothe her. After about twenty minutes or so, Lyra fell asleep in his arms. Looking at the clock, he realized that it was nearly four o'clock in the morning, and that he should probably try to get some rest too.

The following morning, Lyra got ready for her first day of class at Radiator Springs Elementary. She was excited, but nervous to meet her classmates. At least she already made two friends in her class, so she knew she'd have someone to talk to. Lightning drove her to school that morning,

"have a great day, kiddo!" he sent her off.
"thanks, Lightning! I will!" the girl smiled, stepping out of the car.

As soon as she got out of the car, Luke and Savannah spotted her and greeted her.

"hey Lyra!" Savannah exclaimed.
"hey guys," she replied.
"you ready for this?" Luke asked.
"you know it!" Lyra exclaimed with a laugh.

With that, the three friends went inside. Savannah and Luke helped Lyra navigate through her new surroundings. Their classroom was on the second floor of the school, and they shared the top floor with the 4th and 6th graders. Lyra's desk was luckily between Luka and Savannah, which relieved her a bit; at least she knew who she was sitting with.

"good morning, class! Did you all have a good weekend?" the teacher, Miss Tina greeted her students.
"Today, we actually have a new student joining us; Lyra McQueen. Welcome to Radiator Springs Elementary, Lyra, how are you liking the town so far?" she asked the red-headed girl with a warm smile.
"I love it here! Everybody's so nice!" Lyra replied.
"McQueen…are you related to Lightning McQueen?" a boy in the class named Chase asked.
"he's my big brother, actually…" Lyra squeaked.
"whoa, really? That's so cool!" the boy exclaimed.

The morning went on without a hitch. After recess, Miss Tina gave the class a writing assignment; they needed to write a paper about their personal heroes and why they're their hero.

Miss Tina said they had until lunch to work on it, and that they would share their works afterwards.

"who are you writing about, Lyra?" Savannah asked.
"I think it's obvious, Savannah; she's going to write about her brother!" Luke replied.
"…maybe…" Lyra grinned slyly.

After lunch, Miss Tina urged her students to share what they wrote. After a few students read theirs, she scanned through the class to see who hasn't shared their work yet.

"alright, who's next? What about you, Lyra?" the teacher suggested.
"o-okay," she squeaked, making her way to the front of the class.

"You may think it's a little cliché, but my hero is my brother; Lightning McQueen." she read off her page.

"Just about everybody knows him, but not in the way I do. My brother was 15-years-old when I was born. He left home to pursue his racing career when I was 3-years old; my earliest memory of him is of the night he left. I remember him hugging me, and telling me that he loved me very much. I haven't seen him in 7 years until now, but even after that long, it feels as if we were never apart. While my brother wasn't always physically there for me, he always did his best to make sure I was taken care of. When the kids at school talked about his latest victory, I was always so proud of him for going for his dream, and I wished I could have seen it. My brother takes care of me, and makes sure I have everything I need.

To you, he's just a famous racer, but to me he's the best big brother a girl could ask for." she finished, as her classmates applauded her.

"that was great, Lyra. Thank-you for sharing such a personal story with us," the teacher thanked.

At the end of the day, Lightning went to pick up Lyra from school. He spotted her exiting the school with her friends. The young man was glad to see his sister adjusting well and making friends in their little town; it made him smile.

"hey kiddo! How was your first day?" he asked as she approached him, her friends in tow.
"it was great! I had a lot of fun!" she exclaimed.
"I'm glad to hear it, baby girl. You ready to head home?" he asked as she nodded in reply.

Saying goodbye to her friends, Lyra got into her brother's red corvette and they headed back to their apartment. At home, Sally was sitting at the table with her computer; she was searching through various Florida laws. So far, she hadn't found much they could use to their advantage, but she wasn't going to give up.

Hearing the door open, Sally looked up from her laptop to see the McQueen siblings.

"hey, you two!" she greeted with a smile.
"hey, Sally, how's the search going?" Lightning asked in reply.
"haven't found much yet, but I'm sure I'll find something!" she exclaimed, determined.

"how was your day, Lyra?" Sally asked, her attention solely on the young girl.
"it was great! I had so much fun! My teacher, miss Tina is really nice! I even made some new friends today," the child beamed.

Lightning and Sally smiled at Lyra's enthusiasm; they were both relieved she was liking it in town and that she liked her new school. They were glad to see she was adjusting well to Radiator Springs, and the more-so stable home life.

"oh! Stickers, this came in the mail for you," Sally exclaimed, handing him an envelope.

Lightning examined the envelope; it was from Florida. Exhaling sharply, McQueen opened the letter.

"what is it, Stickers?" Sally asked once he finished reading it.

"they decided on a court date; March 3rd." he stated.

"that's only a month or so away, Stickers…" she noted.
"it's definitely a lot sooner than I expected, but there's not much we can do about that, Sal."
"I suppose you're right; how are you feeling about all of this?" Sally asked in concern.
"I just want all of this to be over, so we can try to move on from it." He replied honestly.

That night, once Lyra was in bed, Sally looked at Lightning with concern. While he was putting on a brave front for his sister, Sally could tell when something was bothering him. She understood why he would be anxious and nervous about the trial, and wished there was something she could do to help him. Knowing that there wasn't much she could do about this right now, Sally snuggled herself up to her boyfriend, resting her head on his chest.

A/N: There you have it guys! I wasn't really sure how to wrap up this chapter, so I hope this is satisfactory. I will say that I am actually pretty excited to start Chapter 5 (a lot of drama and chaos so to speak), so hopefully I will have this up and going soon! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I had a lot of fun writing it!

-SerenaBlackmore98