2

Caleb

Another racer passes Cruz and crosses the finish line instead. Such show offs. The racer's probably evil. Never judge someone in less than a second, but I never trust anyone outside of my home. I lived with them for seventeen years, and everyone else is nothing, especially those competitors.

Competitors are our enemies, and they cannot be trusted. Everyone who beat Cruz does not deserve to win. Cruz can race on dirt and use modern technology. The rest just use modern technology. How pathetic of them. Every racer sucks including the one who beat Cruz.

Her pink paint flaunts her ego. My light salmon pink coat never shines like the new racer's. It welcomes everyone with kindness. She sponsors Tank Coat, and sports the number, thirty-five, with white accents.

We attended Cruz's next racing season at Copper Canyon Speedway in our home state. We're near home. Well, Copper Canyon Speedway might not be near home, but who knows?

Cruz minds her own business and notices the racer, and I stay beside her like every other racing season. Cruz approaches and says "hi" to her. However, the racer gives us a "go away" face. What the heck?! You don't do that to us! Dad's saying about rookies debuting as arrogant racers is...The racer's a rookie, and...

"Congratulations on the win, Leah!" Cruz says.

"There's no need to congratulate me! I'm already the best racer!" the new racer says.

"Cruz, who is she?" I say.

"Her name is Leah Tran. She's a new racer."

Leah Tran…okay. Well, she's a nasty little…competitor! Cruz and I watch that little…idiot racer giving pictures to fans and press members, and Leah winks at everyone and smiles. What the heck is up with her?!

What the heck is with all of the other racers?! Well, two racers already had it! That's what they get for messing with my family like this! No racer except Cruz wins a race! Cruz deserves better.

Cruz always deserves winning that race. No other racer can stand a chance against her. What kind of racer can race on dirt and asphalt and race with modern technology? Cruz! What can these racers do? Race on asphalt and race with modern technology!

"Oh, alright, but there's something off about her," I say.

"I don't know," Cruz says.

"Why? You can't retire! She's just going to ruin everything!"

"I've been racing for twenty-one years."

I drive towards victory lane and meet up with Leah, and I blow raspberries at her. I can't trust her, not as a racer, not as a friend, not at all. I throw an unused tire, and it hits Leah. However, she throws the tire, and something hits my roof.

Cruz parks there and blinks, but she glares at Leah. I was just confronting her. Leah yells at Cruz, but Cruz demands her to stop it. Cruz continues telling Leah to stop. Leah chuckles.

"Aren't you the little child?! Anyways, what have you been doing in front of everyone else?! I'm in the middle of taking pictures! Shouldn't you move also?! It's called having common sense!" Leah says.

"Alright, but won't you consider everyone else for a change?" Cruz says.

"Look, Ma'am! I'm new to racing, and you're not! I already had my first win!"

"Fine! Have it your way, but you shouldn't talk to me like that!"

"Yeah! respect Cruz, and respect my family for being amazing too!" I say.

You better say my family's name and Cruz's with respect! I'll not tolerate trash talk! You racers are nothing! You have nothing! You can't even race on dirt like everyone else! This disrespect is banned from the racetrack!

Everything is about respect. It's not just a thing in racing, but everyone at home is bound to this at all times. Mom spreads this word out to us, and we never forget it. I even learned it fast, and my parents are proud of me for it.

Adelaide and Zachary on the other hand…learned it, but they stopped for a while. They've probably done this for six years or maybe longer than that. This fighting only started when Adelaide kept on seeking her dreams. However, the fighting worsened in the last six years. Poor Adelaide and Zachary. They don't deserve this.

The three of us should get along, but that's been lost in ages. I still get along with them, but I can only get along with one of them. If they're with each other…it could get worse. Do Adelaide and Zachary even believe in respect?

"Yeah right! You're just a child!" Leah says.

"Well, you're a—" I say.

"Can we please not bother the rookie?! The last time you confronted a racer who won instead of me was a disaster!"

"How?"

Cruz and I leave, and we never look back. Leah shows off for her stupid pictures. At least, we're not in her way. Leah seems very happy about her win and won't care about us. The press could just boo her for this. She deserves nothing out of this.

Cruz rants about the incident with Danny Swervez. However, the crowd gasped and stared at me. Their stares turn into jeers. Cruz was second place. Well, no racer is better than Cruz, and everyone should know that. Dad gasped.

"Cruz rules! Danny swerves and crashes on a wall!" I said.

"Caleb?! What was that about?!" Cruz asked.

"Danny sucks! All of the racers suck!"

"The other racers are great too, and we should appreciate them!"

Eat that, Danny Swervez! Cruz was a true winner at heart, and no racer took that dignity away from her! If you did, then that happened! You got humiliation from a child, not just any child, the child of the Great Lightning McQueen!

You also better give the Fabulous Hudson Hornet respect! He was the greatest racer ever, and no one ever smeared his name like that! You better respect the Fabulous Hudson Hornet by respecting his successors!

His successors learned how to race on dirt tracks and race on asphalt! However, Cruz learned with that and modern technology! You racers learned how to use modern technology! You'd probably be failing dirt track racing!

"You're better than all of them! You have all the things a racer couldn't have!" I said.

"That doesn't mean we could tease them!" Cruz said.

"This is your second strike and second warning!" Dad said, "One more, and..."

Such memories, and Leah pays the price too. We all know Cruz is still the greatest racer ever, and no one is better than her. Cruz and Dad kept scolding me about it. I can't help it. Cruz has the best of both worlds. She's more gifted than any of those racers.

At least we're out of sight from victory lane. It's best to stay away from Leah. What will happen to Cruz? Her rant is nothing. Leah is a competitor, and competitors are nothing, and I stand by it.

I stand by my word no matter what, and Mom and Dad admire that from me. Well, that's only for my loyalty to everyone at home. Out of the three kids, I get everything. However, competitors…they get what they get from me.

"Honestly, I don't trust her, and I'll never ever trust anyone who isn't any of us," I say.

"Suit yourself, and your dad's going to hear this," Cruz says.

"Why?"

Cruz smirks, but she flares up. She stares at me. It's not my fault, Cruz. It only happened to three racers including her and Danny Swervez, but I can't help it. I can't help making fun of them. They're competitors, and they have a disadvantage against Cruz.

We also make fun of Jackson Storm. He hates my parents, and we can get away with it. However, we can never get away with making fun of other competitors. They haven't done anything to them, but I despise them nonetheless.

"The incident!" Cruz says.

"Earlier encounter with Leah? How's he going to care?" I say.

"Actually, this is your third strike!"

"So what?!"

"You're going to be in big trouble!"

We both meet up with Dad and everyone else, but Dad drives to the pit stop and meets up with everyone else as he looks around. We yell at him about what happened, we pant about Leah and how awful she was acting, and I tell him about the fact about rookies being true. However, Dad dismisses the fact being true. He said it could be a coincidence. It might not be as true.

Dad revokes my strike. Thank the incident. Was it my fault or Leah's fault? He couldn't punish Leah. She's a rookie. Good thing her status set me free. If she was a racer Cruz's age… I'm…done.

"Are you two okay?" Dad asks.

"Yeah, we got into a fight with Leah Tran, and she disrespected us," Cruz says.

"Don't mind her."

"Are you still gonna punish me?" I ask.

"Just please don't try to get into a fight, alright?"

"Don't worry, I won't."