This chapter is pretty short and quite insignificant. I guess you could say it's just a filler chapter.

I do have some good news, though. I finished writing Cars Origins: What the Fudge? today. So, I'll be posting more of that soon.

In the meantime, however, I do hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 19- Friendships Grow

"It's just us girls!" Cruz declared happily.

"Yeah..." Fudge supplied a response. She didn't really know what to say, but she felt like Cruz wanted her to say something.

It had taken them a lot longer than they would've wanted to get going because Guido and Luigi were uncertain about letting Fudge go off with Cruz. Even though Fudge was sixteen, a lot of the time, she acted like she was younger. Could they really trust her to go off into a town with which they weren't familiar without either of them or Lightning with her?

"But I know where the town is!" Cruz had protested. "And I know how to get to Thunder Hollow! I can take her there when we're done! Come on! She's sixteen! In a year and a half, she's gonna be an adult!" (It didn't surprise Fudge that Cruz knew how old she was or when her birthday was; it was probably on the Internet.) "She'll be fine."

Reluctantly, the two Italians let their daughter go off with Cruz.

"I'm so glad Luigi and Guido let you come!" Cruz added. She laughed. "They were talking to you like they were your parents or something."

Fudge looked a little embarrassed. "That's because they are my parents."

It was Cruz's turn to look embarrassed. "Oh! That's right! You're adopted." She remembered reading that somewhere.

"Yeah I am."

"What happened?" Cruz wanted to know.

"My mom showed up in Radiator Springs in labour, she gave birth to me and just left." The human girl made it sound like a very simple process, which it kind of was. A very simple process to hurt her own daughter so badly. It hurt for Fudge to think about being abandoned by her mother and every time she felt unwanted, those awful memories of finding out that her own mother didn't even want her came rushing back to her. The worst part was that Fudge's mother would never know the pain she'd caused her own daughter.

"Oh, my gosh!" Cruz's voice was very quiet. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. Really", Fudge insisted, fighting back her tears. She never liked to think, let alone talk, about her mother. She couldn't believe that she was getting into this then and there and with Cruz, but once again, she seemed so nice and non-judgemental, it didn't seem to really matter. "Luigi and Guido are the best. My whole family is." That was the great thing about Radiator Springs; Fudge's family extended beyond the tyre shop where she lived.

"Your family?"

"Yeah. Luigi and Guido are my parents; Lightning and his best friend, Mater, are like my older brothers and the others are like my aunts and uncles."

"So, do you know much about your real family?"

Fudge hated when people used the term real family. Sure, she wasn't biologically related to anybody in Radiator Springs, but they were still her real family. After all, real family don't do what Fudge's parents did to her. Still, she knew what Cruz meant, so she just answered the question.

"A little. I've got a half-sister, who lives in Georgia and a half-brother, who moved to Alaska about a year ago."

"Do you like them?"

"Yeah. They're really nice..."

"So, what's the problem?" Cruz wondered. She got the feeling that there was some problem.

"RJ, my half-brother, he's nice and all, but he doesn't really feel like my brother. I guess that's 'cause he was seventeen and I was twelve when we met."

"I guess so", Cruz agreed.

"So... you don't know anything about your parents?"

"Well, since my half-siblings and I have the same dad, they've told me a bit about him... I found out I look like him... But I don't think he's ever gonna be a part of my life. Apparently, he travels a lot for work and they don't hear from him much."

"What about your mom?" As Fudge hesitated, Cruz added, "Sorry. I don't mean to pry." Truthfully, Cruz was especially curious because she hadn't been raised by her parents either.

"No, no, it's okay!" Fudge assured her hurriedly. "I just don't really like to talk about this, but my family always tells me I should." This was the most open Fudge had been about this kind of thing with anybody but her family in Radiator Springs and her half-sister, Sammy and she still didn't talk about it to them that often. Luigi and Guido had sat her down the day after her twelfth birthday to have a long talk about her family (telling her everything they could about her parents and how they'd come to adopt her and reminding her that no matter what, she'd always have a family who loved her very much in Radiator Springs) and she'd bawled like a baby. "I never knew much about my mom, but I recently found out where she is."

"Where?"

"In jail. She killed a bunch of people. Have you ever heard of Dawn Hathaway?"

Cruz nodded.

"Yeah, she's my mom..." Fudge blinked back more tears, still horrified at the thought of everything her mother had done. Cruz just looked shocked and sympathetic. "For years, my family have told me what they remember about her when she was in town and my sister's met her and she's told me stuff too. Still, I always had the feeling there was something nobody was telling me. Now, I know. And part of me wishes I didn't."

"Wow!" Cruz murmured softly. "That's unbelievable! I can't believe your mom..."

"It's okay. Really. I mean, sure, I wish my mom had never abandoned me and she wasn't a mass murderer, but I'm happy with the way my life has turned out."

"Yeah! You've got a great family, a cool job and you're very close to Mr. McQueen."

"Yeah... He is great." Fudge agreed, knowing that although a lot of people knew who Lightning McQueen was, she knew him in a way that a lot of people didn't.

"He is."

Still, there was something tugging at her brain. Cruz was talking about how great Lightning was. She thought Cruz was her friend. Was she just as bad as everyone else? Maybe it was something to think about. (Thanks to her mother and incidents like the one with Zara and Layla, Fudge had trust issues.)

"Oh, no!" Fudge exclaimed abruptly.

"What?" Cruz asked worriedly, coming to a stop.

"I think I forgot my glasses case..." Fudge dug through her backpack. "Oh. Never mind. Here it is."

"If you don't mind me asking", Cruz began thoughtfully. "When did you start wearing glasses? I've watched you on TV a lot and you didn't used to wear them."

"I've worn glasses ever since I was twelve, after the accident..."

Cruz was quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no! I just forgot about your accident. When I first met you at the Birthday Bonanza, you were in a wheelchair, but now, you can walk and you look fine. It's just so easy to forget you've been through all of that."

"Not for me, it's not", the human girl muttered bitterly

"Well, considering what you've been through, I think you look great."

Fudge couldn't help but smile and felt her face go red. "Thanks."

"Here we are!" Cruz called out about five minutes later, pulling up to a thrift shop. "I'm sure you'll be able to find stuff here."

"Yeah! And pretty cheap too", the human girl agreed.

They went inside.

"So, what were we talking about before I thought I lost my glasses case?" the sixteen-year-old asked.

"We were talking about Mr. McQueen."

"Oh, yeah." Fudge dug through a mountain of clothes, trying to find something. "He really is a great guy."

Cruz nodded. "I know. He's the reason I wanted to become a racer."

"I just hope his deal with Mr. Sterling works", Fudge mused.

"I know", Cruz repeated. "I still can't believe Mr. Sterling didn't want to race him." After a moment of hesitation, she added, "Mr. Sterling can be a jerk sometimes."

"Yeah... Can I ask you something? It may be none of my business, but I have told you some personal things about me."

"Sure. What?"

"If you wanted to be a racer and you think Mr. Sterling can be a jerk, how come you work at the Rust-Eze Racing Center?"

When she saw Cruz's reaction, Fudge regretted asking. The yellow car paused and turned away from her slightly.

"Well..." she began before trailing off uncertainly.

"I'm sorry", Fudge apologised. "Forget I said anything."

"Okay."

The two were silent for a moment as they kept searching for something for Fudge to wear. The only sound was Fudge humming and later singing the song, "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

"Hey. You know what we need to come up with?" Cruz questioned after a while.

Fudge didn't look up from what she was doing. "What?"

"Fake names." Even though Cruz was sure she wouldn't get recognised, she thought it would be fun to go in there with a pseudonym if Fudge and Lightning were.

"Oh, yeah!" Fudge recalled. "What could I be called?"

"Pat Mahiney?" Cruz suggested with a snicker.

"I'm being serious here!" Fudge reminded her with a grin. She thought for a moment. "What about Holden Magroin?"

Of course by then, they started to get a little silly.

"Max Power?" Cruz suggested.

"Holly Wood!"

"Ben Dover!"

"Which means you can be my sister, Eileen!"

"Eileen Dover? Oh! Oh! I get it! Very funny! Flame Boy!"

"Laser Child!"

In the same breath, both of them yelled, "JOHN CENA!"

Pretty soon, they were laughing too hard to speak.

In that moment, both Fudge and Cruz realised that they'd found their best friend, which was a great accomplishment for both of them. Neither had ever had a best friend before. Still, Fudge couldn't take her mind off how Cruz had acted earlier. It seemed like she was going to be a tough nut to crack, but the human girl sure hoped that she would open up soon enough.

Yeah, so, I just wanted to show that Fudge and Cruz are becoming pretty good friends. So, they're opening up to each other and goofing off and having fun.

Since, like I said, that was a short chapter, I'll probably get the next one up soon.

Please review!