Author's Note: As always, thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you've enjoyed this chapter or if you're enjoying the story so far! You don't have to, but it'd sure be cool if you did. c:
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I always post sneak peeks and extras. C:
Chapter 35 - "A Hicks by Any Other Name"
Much farther away on that very same night, the whimsical desert winds whistled around a lone abandoned cabin.
At least, it looked abandoned, nestled there in the middle of nowhere with stray bits of grass struggling to peek out from under its perimeter.
The wooden walls rotted from decades of monsoon rainfall, radiating a strong musty odor filled with mold. The structure stood at a slant through years of dust storm after dust storm. Any more and surely the entire foundation would collapse.
But that's been said for years.
Still, there it was; fearlessly braving the passing days.
Inside, a young red Kia Sorento moaned, "Vermella…," and he whimpered, "...water….please…."
The floor, which creaked underneath him and bled the stench of spilled oil and decaying food scraps, held his axles down by thick chains. Again, a blindfold hindered him from looking around the shelter. He remained a slave to his sense of hearing and his sense of touch.
"...just….one….little sip…," his voice - his only weapon of defense - ached without the added moisture he so desperately needed.
Then, the pitter patter of rolling treads slithered around a basement floor below him.
"...please.."
Someone else was in the cabin. No longer would his begging be unheard. Vermella would rescue him. His mirrors instinctively twitched at the rustling.
"...help...me…"
The rhythm of the tires ascended through the floor, driving up to the level he was on over a rickety ramp, and the Sorento could hear them turn toward him.
Then the four whispering wheels stopped.
"...water…"
The teenager dragged his face in the direction of the other car. He couldn't see it, but he felt the car watching him.
"...th-the heat…give me water...I….need water..."
As every breath dissipated into air, they evaporated more critical moisture out of his tongue.
A loud clap jolted into his hearing and he jumped up.
The chains jingled against his metal, scraping some of his paint, but the boy stiffened up his body and silenced himself. Finally, his primal mind caught the unique sloosh and slosh of a steel bucket of water.
The bucket slid toward him, following the sound of moving tires again. The base of the bucket rumbled over wood grain louder than the car drove.
"...yes...please…"
The sound continued until it stopped right in front of him.
He huffed, "...th-thank you, Vermella…," and he lifted his bumper over the edge. He extended his jaw and let his tongue slip down to the water's surface. He slurped up gulps like an animal, "A-Ah…ah…"
Water leaked out from the corners of his mouth. His hooked tongue wasn't meant to drink that way. Cars are supposed to sip, but the desperate Kia didn't care.
"Caleb," a strangely….gentle feminine voice replied, "You're welcome."
Hearing his name between the words of a woman who clearly didn't sound like Vermella at all made Caleb chirp, "Who-eek!" he hit the side of the bucket with a wheel and some of the water jumped up and over.
She spoke slowly with a melodic tone that just seemed off.
It could have been that English wasn't her first language, but she pronounced her words perfectly, so that couldn't be it.
"The water is clean," she paused, "I poured it all by myself."
All by herself? She's wasn't a child. She didn't need to say that.
"Who are you?!" Caleb grabbed the water in his axles and pulled it closer to himself, afraid it would be taken away.
"Water girl," she replied, "See?"
He obviously couldn't - blindfolded - which made it all the more annoying when the woman dipped her wheel into his bucket and flicked water all over his grille.
She snickered.
Caleb grit his teeth, outraged, "Are you mocking me?!"
"I'm playing a game!"
He violently yanked his chains, ripping away his paint like he couldn't even feel it anymore, "DOES IT LOOK LIKE I WANT TO PLAY?"
"I'm just trying to help you?" the woman justified. She put her tire into the water again and flicked some more on him.
"STOP. IT."
"It's hot out though! This should feel good! Like a sprinkler!" she continued showering him with his drink.
"STOOOOP IIIIIT," Caleb threw his tires around, drooling up half of the water he got down, "STOP IT."
The front door kicked open and slammed against the wall.
She squealed, but at that point Caleb stuffed his grille back into the bucket of water and tried to drink as much as he could before the new intruder could steal his beverage.
He knew better now.
"LILITH," a much more familiar voice hissed, "I thought I done TOLD you not to speak to the BOY."
"Ohhhh nooo, Vermella," replied the woman, "I wasn't talking to him. I gave him some of the water you let me get."
Although Caleb was swallowing mouthfuls of water, he listened to their conversation.
Ah, so Lilith was the pest's name. Still, how very generous - he thought - that another car under Vermella's demands would give away some of her privileges to him.
"FINE," Vermella shut the door and drove over to the two cars, "Now you get back down in that basement and you keep a listen for any sheriff rumbling in the desert."
"Yeah, okay," said Lilith. Caleb pulled his lips away from the bucket, hearing Lilith drive away.
"HEY," Vermella slapped the floor in front of him.
"YES-eh-yes?" Caleb made a lap over his lips with his tongue.
"Did my assistant tell you anything?"
Was this a business? An old office? Caleb couldn't figure it out, but he sure tried to put the puzzle together.
He shook his hood, "She didn't. I was asking for you because I wanted water. I needed water."
"Ah didn't say you were allowed to have water yet."
"That's why I was asking for you, ma'am…"
"Enough," Vermella demanded, "Next time you want water, FAINT. When I return is when you get water."
"Yes, Vermella," Caleb sank down on his suspension, feeling the weight of his body press into itself.
"One day, you'll listen to me the way Lilith does. Don't look so damn glum all of the time."
"I-I want to go home," Caleb sighed, "I want to see my family again...my friends…"
Vermella brought her wheel to the knot in his blindfold, "You ain't going nowhere," she ripped one of the knot tails and it dropped onto Caleb's hood, "Lilith and I are your family now."
The young man took the opportunity to finally look around the shelter he's never seen before. His eyes scanned the room as if he needed to memorize it.
Vermella was the only car there, besides himself. He wanted to see what Lilith looked like, but she was already in the basement.
No electricity flowed through to the building, for that would compromise the anonymity of those who lived there. Instead, the one long room where Vermella and Caleb stood was lit only by a gas lantern next to the Mustang. Though some of the corners were still a bit dark, a dim light came from a cut out rectangle in the floor. It must have been the start of the ramp into the basement.
A desk, nailed to the floor, supported some ancient documents with maps and a radio with rabbit ear antennas. It stood opposite a rustic cabinet holding food supplies which did not have to be refrigerated.
The Mustang's front bumper bent under the weight of a rough scowl while the Sorento kept a defeated stare at his master. His eyes, empty of all fight, and their color almost grayscale.
"You've been loyal, so I trust you enough to see this place now," she adjusted the lantern, "So let's get back to work."
"Right...Jane…," Caleb confirmed.
"My Leo. My little expensive one," her body shook in delight with a passing chill, "Knowing that brat," she grumbled, "I know she's gonna be gettin' there early to ride them practice laps. You said you'd help, so you're gonna get her over here."
The Sorento didn't answer her. In his mind, he couldn't get past never seeing home again. A movie on repeat in his imagination. He could see his mother with her axles deep in the kitchen sink, scrubbing away at all the plates he promised he'd put in the dishwasher, but never did.
"Not that she needs any practice laps with all the work I put into her. Who does she think she is anyway?" the delusional Mustang scoffed, "If she wins that damn Piston Cup it ain't gonna be hers. It's mine."
The stolen Kia swallowed a hunk of saliva stuck in the back of his throat. Now he saw himself playing video games with his little brother in front of their living room television. He was another Kia Sorento, but green with black trim instead of Caleb's own red paint and black trim.
(And quite shorter.)
In fact, Caleb could see the unplugged game controller he would give him, so that his little brother thought he was playing along.
"Anything that girl wins is mine," insisted the Mustang, "Natural talent is all a lie. She ain't got talent. Jane is what came out of how I brought her up in the moments I had her in my axles...before she was stolen from me."
Caleb couldn't help but glance over when she said that. Her hardened expression seemed to be falling.
"She was mine," she repeated, "I found her in the snow. I was the one who pulled her out of the cold. She was alone. She was mi-...no. No, she IS mine."
He inhaled, unsure if he should speak.
"Caleb," the Mustang made she he was watching, "First of all, ya can't go by that name no more. If we're gonna catch this Porsche, you can't be driving around as Caleb anymore."
The young man replied with a fast look of confusion, but he caught himself before she could notice.
"I've been thinkin' for you and I'm thinkin' Videl," she said, "That's a good name. You'll be named after he who won't be named."
Caleb tilted his cabin, "I think you mean...Volvomort. That car who has no hood or grille from Swervy Potter...?"
"DEVIL, you fool," Vermella narrowed her eyes, "It's 'devil' with the letters all mixed up."
He flinched back, "...I-I want to be called Caleb.."
She didn't give him an impressive alias either.
Vermella snarled. Her upper lip curved her grille and she snapped, "I don't care WHAT you want to be called, Videl. You don't GET to ch-," she paused and shifted into park.
"D-Don't hit me…," Caleb rolled forward a few more feet, offering himself before being stopped by his chains, "Wh-What's wrong? What did I do?"
She shook her hood, calming herself down.
"Whatever I did, I didn't mean to do it I SWEAR. PLEASE. I WILL GET JANE. PLEASE."
"...ya didn't do nothin'," Vermella ensured.
Caleb's axles released a minuscule amount of tension, "Then...what?"
Vermella increased the gas in her lantern, letting it glow brighter, "..seems like you need to learn a lesson I wasn't able to give Jane."
Caleb turned his wheels toward her, "..yeah?"
"Cale-...Videl, you don't get choose your destiny. You don't get to decide who you turn out to be. It's the other cars."
Caleb cocked his body to the side again, "What other cars?"
"Everyone else," she explained, "The people you meet. They get to decide who you get to be," she scoffed, "The nice guys call it 'networking', ya know. Other cars get to decide if you become rich. How successful you're going to be. If you have friends. If you become a parent. It takes two cars. Always. Everything does."
Caleb blinked and through a choked whisper, he asked, "S-So then...who decided you were Vermella?"
She lost herself in her own thoughts, but eventually found her way enough to say, "Priscilla."
In that very moment, Caleb's eyelids raised, but then the bright spark lit up inside of his mind, "So that's your r-real name.."
Vermella didn't confirm his theory, nor did she deny it. She just kept speaking, "Priscilla had two great parents. Her mother was wonderful," she even released a genuine laugh, "She told the greatest jokes because she could never finish them. That was my favorite part...but then…," her voice trailed off. She rolled her tongue on the inside of her cheek.
Caleb brought his eyes to her axles. He noticed they didn't hold her to her usual tight and intimidating stance.
"Then my father decided to help me find out who I was," the rest of her smile disappeared, "Don't you hate it when your parents ask you who you're gonna be when ya grow up?"
Caleb nodded, "I'm...uh...I feel that every single day. With graduation coming up soon and all."
Maybe he could reason with her, by bringing up the ceremony.
"Well, Daddy made a couple things very clear. Like I said, no matter what, everything takes two cars."
It didn't work, so Caleb continued to listen to her rambling.
"That and there are only two kinds of cars in this world."
"...coupes and sedans?" he asked.
Vermella rolled her eyes. She presented her right tire, "Good cars," then she presented her left tire, "...and bad cars."
A nervous chuckle escaped Caleb's consciousness, "C'mon...every good car has a bad side to them. Every bad car has a good side too."
"I thought you was too old for fairytales," Vermella moved her tires back into her wheel wells, "You're either good or you're bad and that's that. It's cars like you who don't wanna admit which one you are that make this world more complicated than it's gotta be."
"No," Caleb shook his hood fast, "N-No, that's not true…"
"Yes, it is."
He adjusted his chains, "Wh-What about Priscilla?"
Vermella gasped softly and her eyes hardened, "Don't you EVER go bringin' that name up again."
"You c-can't tell me Priscilla was the same as Vermella.."
She jerked forward, "EXACTLY the same. She just didn't know it yet."
Caleb couldn't believe her words; so difficult to think that a car as strong as that Mustang could ever be so weak.
It made the young Sorento think.
Could Vermella be saved?
"Y-You have good in you…," he said, "You're still Priscilla to everyone who doesn't know who you p-pretend to be."
The Mustang wagged her tire, "That car ain't nothin' but a stranger now. She's long gone."
Caleb cleared his throat, "M-...Maybe we can go find Priscilla again instead of g-going after Jane Taylor."
Vermella had enough. She hung her wheel behind one of his chains and jerked them twice.
"N-NYA!" Caleb's body shook. She made the cuffs dig into his axles like a saw, "S-STOP!"
"Get this THROUGH your headliner," she threw him backward, "You are guiding that Porsche to ME. If we don't get her here before she gets to California, then YOU are gonna bring her WITH that Piston Cup."
His rear hit the wall behind him, "Y-YES, I-I will."
Then, as the two vehicles shared a brief moment of silence, Vermella studied him through his gaze. She tried to figure out the best way to break him down.
"Besides helpin' me," she scoffed, "I'm sure this isn't the only time you've ever been bad. I seen you smokin' when I got you."
"I-It helps me relax," Caleb defended.
Vermella sighed heavily, "You're a kid. You have nothingto be stressed about."
"It feels...good," he admitted.
Vermella pointed to him with her tire, "Now you're telling me the truth."
"...yes, ma'am..it helped me make friends too. My best friend...I met him by the smoking gate at school. You know that car that won the RSN thing before Jane? That's him. His name is Murphy."
Vermella froze, "Aw, no," her eyelids stood tense, "That means she ain't alone. It's one thing for her to be transported on a slow moving truck like real race cars. They're easy to outrun...but another racer.."
Caleb stood taller on his suspension, "N-No don't hurt him!"
"I ain't gonna hurt him, but you're gonna stop him."
"H-How do I-..," Caleb looked around his hood, as he thought about his friend, "Well..I think I know a way."
Vermella grinned.
Her plan worked.
"So you have done this before," she raised a lid with a smile, "That's my boy."
"Murphy and I used to bother this kid in our class," he paused to correct himself, "We went around bothering a lot of cars, but this one bothered us the most, so we kind of...bothered him the most."
"Go on," Vermella was much less tense watching him discover who he really was. She idled back with satisfaction painted upon her lips.
"A kid named Austin who wants to be a police officer, but-," Caleb forgot where he was at the moment and laughed, "He's, like, made of paper and he's clumsy as all hell. If Officer Bonehood were here right now, I'd-..I'd…," his eyes trailed up to meet Vermella's, "I can hear it."
"Hear what?" Vermella asked.
"That I'm...bad. I'm bad…aren't I?"
Vermella rolled forward and put her wheel underneath his chin, "Yes. Yes you are," she felt for his axles and unlocked the chain cuffs. They dropped to the floor.
Caleb rotated his joints, feeling the freedom, but he didn't move. She was right. He wasn't as good of a car as he thought he was. Not even close.
He was a bully.
"That was easy," Vermella encouraged him, "Now how does it feel? To know who you truly are just before you finish school."
"...like a truck lifted off my fenders," Videl put himself into gear and said, "And I know how to take care of Murphy."
Vermella knew Videl wasn't only telling her what she wanted to hear anymore. Finally, she would get what she wanted and the Porsche would be one step closer to being all hers again, "What's our first step, son?"
"First, we have a drive we need to take."
Vermella turned one of her wheels out, exposing her pistol hidden in her wheel well, "I'm way ahead of you, Videl."
The night continued.
Beside the chirping crickets and the sound of Lake Mohave gulping behind a Porsche and Grand National, a tall red semi still idled in shock, scorching the corneas out of the teenagers' windshields with his headlights.
When Mack looked at Murphy, he saw his cigarette put out on the ground by his wheel. Murphy stood awkward and crooked on his axles and his lips somewhat glistened from Jane's saliva. But when Mack looked into Murphy's eyes, he saw the mass of concern.
Was he in trouble?
Perhaps, but what stole his stare the most - what really gripped onto Mack's surprise - was the Porsche who seemed more and more unfamiliar to the entire town of Radiator Springs as time went on.
He saw Jane alright. He saw her fresh rosey paint, proudly representing her father in lightning bolts by her quarter panels. He couldn't miss her big curious eyes, more scared than anything in that moment. Her lips were puffier and a bit swollen from the stimulation, but she stood so stiff that Mack could even feel it in his own body.
The two souls looked right into each other's eyes, who knew each other so well, so how could they possibly feel like strangers?
After two quick blinks, Mack peered above a much smaller Jane, so tiny and pearly white. A vision, right in front of him, of a little girl who carried a stuffed toy car in her left wheel nestled against her undercarriage for comfort. Her itty bitty lips could barely speak any form of language and yet, right there - right in front of him - Mack witnessed those same lips pressed against another car not moments before.
Mirroring him, but with her headlights off, Jane kept as still as a tipped tractor. Her lips were parted and still tingling from the touch of Murphy's lips. Her hood was still a hot red, but no longer blushing from her intimate moment with him. The heat had spread all the way through to her cheeks.
Jane was full on humiliated.
"...Mack," she could barely make out the sound of his name, "...don't freak out," Jane checked her mirrors and saw that Murphy tried to keep himself as quiet as possible. His engine rumbled from the lingering adrenaline of the kiss, but he made sure it didn't sound threatening.
Mack's expression fell to the dirt, dropping his jaw, "...you were kissing Murphy."
Jane had no real reply, "I-...I came to look at-...I-.."
The truck pointed to the cigarette by Murphy, "Were you out here smoking with him too?"
Jane's eyes bugged out, "No! No way!"
Mack moved his glance to the young man.
"Whoa," Murphy said, putting up a wheel, "Hold on. I'd never make her smoke. We-uh-..."
Murphy stopped speaking. As his sentence trailed off, Mack already brought his eyes back to Jane. He still couldn't believe it.
His stare made Jane nervous. She pressed her tires into the mud, "Hold it, Mack! Listen to me! He isn't a bad guy!"
"I didn't say he was," Mack corrected. He shook his cab, "...but I guess I just thought you two were rivals."
Murphy moved closer to Jane, "We are! I...," he peeked over at her, "I mean.."
"I didn't know you two were dating this entire time either."
"NO," both Jane and Murphy said at the same time.
Mack blinked, "Then…if you're not dating, how am I supposed to tell Lightnin' that you were kissing a 'Hicks' under my supervision, Jane?"
Murphy tightened his jaw behind his lips. To calm himself, he exhaled with forced control, feeling his breath shake through his grille. His rear axles wanted to jump his entire body forward and ask - rather loudly: What's wrong with a Hicks?
As much as he wanted to talk back, he knew it would only make matters worse.
"What? No!" Jane's gas tank turned over itself, "Mack, don't tell him! Please! You don't have to say anything to anyone!"
"Hey, hey," the semi rolled closer, "Dad asked me to keep you safe, kiddo."
"I'm perfectly safe! See?" she opened her front wheels, presenting her argument, "This was my fault! Okay? ME."
"Stop," Murphy cut in, "Mack, it wasn't her. I kissed her. I just went in for it and I-," he let out an aggravated sigh, "I KISSED HER."
As their voices raised, so did Mack's, "The fact that your father, my boss, is going to know you were out of my sight is enough to get me fired!"
Back at the small campfire, Lutum, Hammer, and Springwheel all raised an eyelid and their attention shot in the direction of the yelling. It echoed through the trees.
"N-No!" Jane's breathing escalated, "Please! Don't tell dad! We can all forget this ever happened!"
Murphy's mirrors slumped, "...forget?"
"You think I want to, Jane? I have to!" Mack's eyes widened, "I left you two alone because I thought you were more responsible than this!"
"I AM responsible," between the embarrassment and the scolding, Jane's eyelids folded into anger, "You DON'T have to TELL HIM."
Mack noticed the teenager becoming more and more angry. He never had children, nor did he ever see Jane's tantrums as much as Lightning and Sally, so he didn't really know how to handle the situation, "Y-...Yes I do, Jane. I thought you were more honest than that."
"Are you KIDDING me?" she shot herself forward and pulled up to his grille, "I AM honest."
"I...I know you are, which is why-..," he planted his tires down steady. Mack wasn't going to let her talk to him that way, "..-which is why I have to say I'm pretty disappointed that you took advantage of my trust! Both of you! A-And I was doing you a favor! I was very lenient with you during our drive, Jane! I let you listen to your music as loud as you want! I let you do everything Lightning didn't want you to! But...this...this I need to tell him!"
Murphy tried to convince him as much as Jane, "Mack, I swear we didn't just come down to the lake to kiss. We really were just taking a break to-"
Mack groaned, "Murphy, stop. Stop right there."
"H-Huh?" Murphy furrows his eyelids.
"I've been your age," Mack eyed him up and down, "I can believe Jane didn't come down here for a kiss, but you? You know what you were doing."
"MACK," Jane revved hard. Her engine's roar steamed away the soft blush once on her cheeks and vibrated the twigs on the earth.
Mack flinched, not expecting her engine to sound so intimidating, "Jane," he exhaled and tried to calm her down. He gestured with his tire, "Look, c'mon. Just drive on over here and let's go back to the trailer," he tried to smile at her, so she knew he meant no harm, "We don't have to yell at each other. It's late and we're on a time limit. Heh...look at that! Even I can give a race car a lesson! Racecars are always pressed for time when they're traveling!"
Jane scoffed, "You AIN'T my FATHER."
When Jane snapped at Mack, Murphy jerked in reverse. He'd never seen her so angry before. He'd seen her annoyed with him. He'd seen the faces she used to make at Gianna, but he'd never seen such a stormy response come out of her. He tried one last time to chill the Porsche and truck, "Guys-"
"I know I'm not your dad, but he put me in charge. You know that. I don't know what's gotten into you or why you're being so difficult!"
"Because you WON'T LISTEN."
"Guys, really-"
"Young lady, you need to listen to me. I didn't want to bring it up, but that Mustang is still out there somewhere. I shouldn't have taken my eyes off of you. That was my fault. I promise I'll tell him that when I call Lightning. So now it's time to head back to the trailer because we-"
Jane punched the mud underneath her treads and it splattered up onto Mack's cheek, "LISTEN. TO. ME."
The mess infuriated him, "-BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN, JANE," Mack's voice thundered against the lake, practically rippling the water's edge away from the shoreline.
Murphy gasped hard and the young Porsche reversed back. Her tires stumbled in the sticky road and her cowgirl hat slid down her rear window and into the lake, "Nn!" she blinked fast, "My hat!"
Her name ricocheted toward the campfire.
"Jane…?" Springwheel asked, "Anyone else hear that?"
"That sounded like Mack," Hammer mentioned, "Kind of."
"Oh that's NOTHING!" Lutum cleared his throat, "I CAN YELL LOUDER!"
"Will you pipe down?" Hammer waved his tire.
Murphy cleared his throat and looked Mack in the eye, "Mister...uh...Mack? She was alone with me and she was completely safe. Not that she couldn't handle herself."
"I know she's strong," Mack replied, "But we only have one Jane. No matter how strong she is, we're not taking the chance. The same goes for you, Murphy. You're at just as much of a risk," he rolled forward and calmly took Jane's tire.
"Pfft," Murphy sucked his teeth, "Crazy Mustang can't do anything to me. I dare her."
Jane wiggled her axle and looked up at the giant truck, "What are you-!?"
"I'm taking you to the trailer. Your name has been in the media now, so only the manufacturer knows if that Mustang can see that. At least I know you'll be safe there."
She pulled her tire back, "NO."
"I'm only doing this because I love you, Jane. I need to know where you are after the sun sets," he tried to take her wheel again, "I let you do it tonight, but if it happens again, Lightning-"
Jane shifted and threw herself back. She moved to the side so Mack couldn't reach her, "Out of all the vehicles I know, I thought YOU would be cool about this."
Mack stopped himself. He thought about her words and how far the both of them have come, "Jane, I'm sorry that I raised my voice. You didn't deserve it."
She didn't say a word. She just stood away from him with her engine idling high.
Mack frowned and looked at Murphy.
The young Hicks pulled forward and gave him one small nod with his lips pulled in, "Let me."
Mack's eyes moved between Jane and Murphy and, against his better judgement, he gave in, "Eh..y-...go ahead.."
Murphy pulled back and brought his tire against Jane's muddy wheel. He didn't mind the gunk. He took it anyway and he held it in his, "...psssst."
Jane's expression softened up almost instantly and her lost gaze met his.
Mack watched them with regret. As much as he understood those two must have reacted during the heat of the moment, his job was still on the line.
...or was it?
Jane was right. If he didn't say anything, no one would be in trouble...so long as it never reached Lightning or Sally.
Jane tried to move his tire off of hers, "Murphy, we don't need to add to what Mack is gonna tell my dad...don't.."
But much like how he treated everyone else who told him to do something, Murphy didn't listen, and he didn't let her slip away. He kept his treads right on hers and insisted, "Let Mack see."
The manner in which the two cars admired each other made Mack question his own feelings. Murphy's attitude problem didn't mean he'd be a danger to Jane. Jane's feelings for her first real crush didn't mean she had no judgement.
"Mm…," Mack went to speak. Both Jane and Murphy took their eyes off of each other for the moment to see him.
But Mack couldn't look at them anymore. He put himself in reverse and watched the road, "Be at the campfire in ten minutes," and he turned his wheels.
"Mack..? Wait...you're letting us stay here?" asked Jane, as the night's darkness crept over them again without Mack's headlights illuminating their grilles.
He stopped short with the back of his cab facing the teenagers, "Ten minutes," and he drove off through the trees again.
Jane's eyes widened and she peered back to Murphy. He too was shocked, but then he brought his eyes to Jane's.
The size of Mack's body rolling through the lightly wooded forest agitated sleeping fireflies. They rose up from the greenery and tumbled into the air. Their golden flashing lights danced in and around Jane and Murphy, making their paint sparkle.
Jane's cheeks burned into a fiery blush again and she scuffed the floor with her wheel, "The lightning bugs are like the blinkin' stoplight we got in Radiator Springs," a grin faintly appeared on her bumper again.
"Come here, you," Murphy said, "It's gonna be okay. He's cool with it."
"You heard him," said Jane, "He's probably keeping us here while he goes and makes the phone call."
"Naw...I think you're wrong. I think we'll be okay."
"With everything going on...the race, you leaving, and now this with Mack...I only want the next ten minutes to be with you.."
Murphy put her tire down and made sure he kept his voice tender, "Okay...let's just focus on right now," he let off his brakes and brought his lips to the corner of hers.
"N-Nm..," Jane's rpms, between Mack and Murphy, were through her hood.
"Relax," Murphy whispered against her.
"Murphy, I can't do this," she looked in his eyes.
"You kissed me pretty good," he said, still softly pecking the side of her mouth, "...if that's what you're worried about," even though he was talking, he held her eyes on his.
His brown eyes made her temperature rise, so much so the bottom of her windshield fogged up, "I-...whoa..," she blinked away the moisture.
He laughed, "Take it easy, girl."
"Bless me, Manufacturer, for my dad is going to murder me when he finds out."
"Jane, look at me."
She obeyed.
And he continued, "The next ten minutes are ours."
"You heard Mack," Jane said, "You're a Hicks and I'm a McQueen."
He sucked his teeth and groaned heavily, "You can't be serious," he pulled away from her, "I'm sorry for doing this to you then."
"No! Murphy!" she put a tire up, as if to reach for him.
"I get it, McQueen," he pushed her axle away, "We're rivals."
"Nonono! Stop!"
"We can all forget this ever happened," he took himself out of park.
"I didn't mean that!"
"You're a terrible liar, Jane," he went to turn away, "Always were."
"We were still on that road!" Jane called out.
Murphy pressed his brakes, "Chrysler, Jane, what the hell are you talking about?" he asked with his attitude.
"We met on the very same road that brought us here," she explained.
"We're three hours away from home," he said, "At least your home. I'm on my way to mine."
"N-No you're not," Jane bit her bottom lip.
"You better start training for your race, McQueen, before you disappoint your entire town," he revved his engine.
"I told Austin the same thing! That road brings cars who belong together...together. We might be three hours away, but it's the same route!"
Murphy held his scowl firm, but Jane knew he was listening. He would have driven away already if he didn't want to hear her.
"The same road we followed Miss Fritter to school on the first day!"
Murphy shrugged, "Yeah? And?"
"The same road you took me to my first baby race track on!"
"Who cares?"
"The same road you ran away AND came right back on," Jane's axles trembled, rolling toward him, "The same road you DANCED with me on. The same road I saved your LIFE on."
Murphy blinked, his scowl changing. He heard a very familiar sound in her voice, like when she left him those voicemails he saved, but instead of her feelings coming out of a small speaker, she was right in front of him.
Jane's bottom lip trembled, trying to hold her emotions from spilling out of her eyes, "The SAME road I-"
"-kissed you on," Murphy finished.
Jane's lip stopped moving, "Y-...Yeah.."
"Let's get back to that river. You got mud on you from all that panic."
Jane nodded her front end slowly and followed him back to where the desert met the lake. Jane dipped her front tires right into the water. Murphy pulled himself in and helped her clean off any of the dirt stuck within her treads and wheel wells.
As Murphy massaged the mess, Jane watched him in the moonlight, "...you were right, Murph."
"About?" he pulled at her wheel so her axle stretched enough for him to get around it.
"The stars I saw," she let her engine run in a soft purr, "After ya kissed me."
"Whatever you saw was nothin' compared to the little star I was lookin' at…"
When all the dirt washed off, Jane reached down into the water and pulled her cowgirl hat back out. She shook the water off and threw it back onto her roof.
"Thank you again," she said, "For winning me the hat."
Murphy chuckled, "I had to. I didn't have a choice, birthday girl."
"Really, it's times like these when I think Gianna must have had it great if you did things like this for her all of the time. You probably made her so happy."
Murphy's smile faded, as did his chuckling, "Wasn't enough to stop her from looking for more somewhere else."
"Murphy, she had no idea what she had," Jane pressed her grille against the side of his face when she saw his smile leaving, "...and for the record, I wouldn't ever do that to you."
Murphy's eyes followed up her hood to her irises, "I know you wouldn't…," he listened to her engine purring and his eyelids lowered, "You know, you were the first person I thought of after that. I thought...how different it would have been if-...uh.."
Jane spoke while she nuzzled him, "It's okay."
"I wondered...how different it would have been if she were you."
"Funny, because sometimes," she turned her tires to drive out of the lake with him, "I thought about what it would be like if I were her too."
"Really…? For how long?" he asked, following her.
"One day, we were at school and all of the lights were turned down low. We had so many cars watching us," Jane smiled, "And you said…baby, it's cold outside."
Murphy remembered fondly, "That was so long ago…," he drove up next to her.
"Neither Austin or Alyssa knew that...I never told anyone," she paused, "Actually...Mia and Tia knew I liked you..."
Murphy laughed, "Hah...well that wasn't the only time I pictured what it would have been like if she were you."
Jane curiously tilted her body, "What were the other times?"
"O-Oh...uh…," Murphy cleared his throat, "Ah...I'll tell ya another time...hm, hm…"
She nudged him, "Well it's your turn. Tell me how long you've liked me."
"Who said I liked you?" Murphy asked.
Jane smirked, "Let's just say you're a terrible liar, Murphy."
"What gave it away?"
"Will you just tell me!?" she giggled.
"Fine," Murphy gave in, "I-uh-well...okay. Fine. You were driving out of the Wheel Well with a grumpy look on your face."
"Heeeey."
"And you pulled next to me on Miss Fritter's bus line."
Jane tried to remember when he was talking about while he continued.
"...and then we were on our way to school and you and I were just talking about stuff, you know how it is," Murphy laughed, "But you just wouldn't make eye contact with me for some reason."
"Murphy, I can name a thousand mornings we've done that."
"Nope, this was different. I started to like you...when you finally looked at me and you said….I'm Jane Taylor," he brought his eyes to hers, "...you can just call me Jane."
"When we met," Jane leaned herself against him.
"When we met," Murphy confirmed. He let his weight fall onto her body as well.
"Murphy, when you were kissing me, I was thinking about the Ferris Wheel and our conversation about you being afraid of heights."
Murphy raised a lid, "That's interesting to think about in the middle of kissing someone…"
"No! Really! I was thinking after the race is over...no matter what happens and no matter who wins," she turned to him and brought her tire to the side of his face, "I wanna take you back to where I live at the Wheel Well, overlooking the road."
"For what?" Murphy asked, bringing his wheel over the tire she had on his cheek, "Trying to mess with my feelings again?"
"To ask you what you see down at the end of the road while the sun is setting and...maybe...ask you out…? I thought it would make your fear of heights go away...the same way you made my fear of the dark go away."
"I did?" he asked.
Jane nodded, "Now when it's dark, I'll think of my first kiss...and I figured whenever you're driving high up in the canyons or flying across the country to your next race, you'll think of us and you won't be afraid anymore."
Murphy leaned his body such that his weight was pressing against the tire on his face, "Jane, after tonight I swear I don't think there's anything on this earth that could get me higher than you."
Jane's eyelids fell about halfway and she smiled as Murphy continued.
"And that alone makes me unafraid. So...I think I have a better idea."
"What's that?" Jane asked with a quieter voice.
"...how about we don't wait for after the race?" he moved her tire off of his face and instead, cupped his wheel under her chin and caressed it.
Jane looked into his eyes, "For…?"
"Us."
"I…," Jane beamed, so thrilled at the thought, "O-Okay!"
"You're too cute," Murphy gently guided her closer to his face, "...and...you're beautiful...and kind…"
She batted her eyelids with a giggle, "And you're incredibly handsome….and you're strong...and smart."
"Which is why…eh-heh…," he looked down for a second. His engine rumbled nervously, "...you know...while you and I are still on this road right now," he looked back up to her eyes, "...do you wanna be my girlfriend, Jane Taylor?"
Jane sighed happily, hearing her full name coming from his voice, "H-Hm…"
"...because I can't do the Charleston with anyone else."
His words made her laugh.
He smiled, "Really. I can't. Only like four other cars know how."
The Porsche continued to laugh, her engine purring with happiness, "I'll be your girlfriend, but only if you'll be my boyfriend, Murphy Junior."
"Mmm...deal," he smirked.
"...then," Jane went to pull in for a kiss, but Murphy playfully stopped her.
"Now how did that go again? One step back? Two steps forward? Maaade in Caroliiiina?"
"Murphy!"
"Okay, okay, but only because you're being nice to me."
"For now," she winked, "Oh! And I think I know what might feel better than my first kiss," Jane said.
"Oh really?"
"My second one," she pulled forward and cupped her lips right against his.
Murphy's eyes widened and he chuckled. He pulled back just a bit, "Girl, you gotta warn me!"
"Don't make me race after yooou," she cooed.
"Watch those words," Murphy warned, licking his lips, "You're a rookie at this, little star."
Jane watched his tongue and bit her bottom lip. She sucked air through her front teeth, "Then come show me how it's done, Champ."
Meanwhile, back where the fire crackled through old sticks found around the carnival grounds, Mack arrived with ghostly pale paint.
The murmur of conversation between Hammer, Springwheel, and even Lutum settled down.
Springwheel, poking the fire to keep it alive, glanced up with the other vehicles, "Mack, are you okay?"
"...yeah," said the semi. He pulled up alongside Hammer.
"You don't look good, Macky Boy," Hammer pointed out.
"You mind if I talk to you, Ham?" Mack gestured to the other cars, "Alone."
"Let's go by the trailers then," Hammer shifted into reverse with Mack and the two trucks drove away from the fire. They headed toward their trailers, which were parked beside Luke and Lutum's.
"Alright, what's going on?" asked Hammer, "We all heard ya yellin' out there."
Mack grimaced, "I might have gotten a bit carried away with Jane."
"Depends if she deserved it," Hammer shrugged.
"Maybe," Mack shifted back and forth on his axles, "I went to check on her," he explained, "...and when I found her she was down by the lake."
"Ohhh, I know what this is about," Hammer groaned, "I would hate it if I had to drive a soaking wet car too. Did she go swimming?"
"No, no, no," Mack shook his cab, "Actually, yes...she did, but this isn't about that...though I have news for you."
"Hm? What's that?"
"You're - uh - probably gonna be driving a wet car."
"You mean the Squeaky Wheel? Why would Murphy-," Hammer's mouth hung open when Mack's words clicked and he put two and two together, "Oh. No."
"They were both there."
"Stop it. You're kidding."
"They were in the water together andthey were kissing each other."
In an instant, Hammer began to chuckle. He slapped the ground with one of his big wheels, "Can't believe the kid went for it! Wow!"
Mack blinked, "Hang on, you knew about this?!"
"Nooo, I didn't know about the kiss, but I knew Murphy was trying to talk to her. Trying to ask her out all day," he continued to laugh, "I mean, Squeaky said he was gonna speak to her in a different way than he spoke to his ex-girlfriend but I didn't think he meant he was gonna plant those lips on her! Wowza! Hahaha!"
"Hammer!" Mack called out, "I could get in so much trouble for this!"
"Ahhh, what's the big deal?" Hammer brought his wheel up onto Mack's fender and gave him a tap, "You weren't the one kissing Murphy," he snorted.
"Ham, if my boss finds out I wasn't watching Jane, I'm fired!"
Hammer controlled his laughter with a sigh, "You are not gonna get fired."
"I know I'm fired!"
"All you have to do is pretend it didn't happen."
"No way! Then Jane will think it's okay to run off behind my cab. You should have heard the way she was talking to me!"
"Oh really? Jane's that type of car? Sounded like you were describing my Squirt. Good. I'm glad you yelled at her then. Sounds like she deserved it."
"As far as I can tell, Murphy has no discipline."
"Ain't that the truth!"
"What confuses me is that I know Jane does. She hasn't been outside of Radiator Springs enough to be influenced by much. Even when she's out of her parents' windshields, she has the rest of the town watching her."
"Now that's something to think about," Hammer scratched his chin with the top of his tire, "...hmm.."
"She can't start-"
"Mack, this is the perfect opportunity for you to be cool."
"Pfft, hang on," Mack's eyelids furrowed, "I am cool."
"Good, then if you just yelled at her for talking back, then you didn't do anything wrong. Don't feel bad. For a second, I was starting to think you actually yelled at her for kissing Murphy. Now that would have been uncool."
Mack's mirrors lowered, "I-uh...did."
Hammer rolled his eyes up to the sky, "Ohhh, Mack, what were you thinking?"
"What was I supposed to do? Let her keep kissing him?"
"That girl was probably terrified enough kissing that boy and you come barging through the woods?"
"It was my first reaction! Besides, I didn't just go driving into the woods to ruin their moment. That kid Luke is the one who told me to go looking for them."
Inside of his darkened trailer, with his eyes shut pretending to be asleep, the Impala's mirrors perked up at the sound of his name. He opened his eyes to slits and continued to listen to Mack and Hammer outside.
"Yeah…," Hammer glared at Luke's trailer walls, "That ugly twerp did tell you to get Jane and Murphy for bed…"
Luke's eyes shot all the way open when he heard the insult. He grit his teeth and rolled up to his trailer door. He pressed the side of his body against the wall to hear better.
"Where are the kids now?" asked Hammer.
"Well, I...apologized and gave them ten more minutes."
"YOU-...wh-wait, that's perfect! See!? I knew you were cool! Mack, you love to go against the rules! No matter how much you pretend to follow them!"
"That is not true!"
"You know this is good for her. You wouldn't have given her that time to be with him if you didn't think so."
Mack's eyes wandered down to his hood ornament.
"This is your chance to let Jane be the teenager she is. Let her break some rules. You know this is good for her."
"But what about McQueen?"
"Let yourself break some rules too," Hammer winked, "Mack, give Jane space, and let this be as much of a vacation for you as it is for her."
"If this blows up in my grille, McQueen isn't going to take 'my friend made me do it' as an excuse."
"You're right," Hammer nodded, "Because you're making yourself do it. You know you should do it."
"I did let her do some things on the way over here…," Mack continued to talk himself through it, "It was just a kiss…"
"Exactly," Hammer turned his wheels, "We should go back to that campfire and see if those two actually listened to you when you gave them those extra ten minutes."
Mack nodded, "Right behind ya," he turned with Hammer, but just as the two trucks went to drive away, Luke stepped on the button inside of his trailer which opened the door. It slowly made its way down to the grass and Luke put himself in gear. He rolled out of the trailer and let the door shut behind him.
Mack and Hammer glanced in their mirrors and their brake lights lit up.
Exaggerating a yawn, Luke smacked his lips together, "Boy, it sure is hard to sleep with all that chattering."
The two trucks exchanged a look.
"Heard you guys were going back to the fire. I guess I'll come along then. You guys woke me up after all."
Still, the two trucks wondered how much of their conversation he heard.
With all of the other vehicles gone, Springwheel was left alone with the crazed Subaru. The young sedan spent his time ogling at the Firebird with a looney grin across his bumper.
The lack of interaction between them began to get to him, so the veteran Firebird hummed a gentle melody to break the quiet breeze.
But before he could make it to the fourth note in his song, Lutum had to be heard, "WHAT SONG ARE YOU HUMMING?"
Springwheel jumped where he stood at the sudden yell. He cringed, "Wh-Whew...well, I didn't expect that."
"I LIKE SONGS."
"I, eh, was humming an old song. But you're young," he loosened up his axles again, "You've probably never heard it before."
"YOU SOUND LIKE A HIPSTER."
"A hip-what?"
Just then, Lutum pulled out a plastic bag of marshmallows from his wheel well. He ripped the bag open in his treads and a few stray treats scattered onto the dirt.
"Did-," Springwheel blinked, "Did you have those marshmallows this entire time?"
"I LIKE MARSHMALLOWS TOO," he put the bag down and grabbed one of the marshmallows that fell on the floor.
The teacher's experience led his instincts to want to tell him not to eat the soiled food, but he knew Lutum wasn't under his front bumper to worry about. If the crazy boy got sick, it only helped his racers. Instead, Springwheel furrowed his eyelids.
"DUH," Lutum stuck the marshmallow to the end of a stick and swung it over the fire, "TELL ME THE SONG NOW. IWANTTOKNOW."
The manner in which the Subaru presented himself and spoke to Springwheel made him feel as if Lutum actually stole half of his voice and used it to increase the volume in his own.
"Boy, you sure speak fast," the teacher pointed out, "And so loud," but he was getting off topic. With a sigh and a shaken hood, he continued, "It's a song I needed to sing in my chorus class with some of my friends back in high school. I was just about your age, actually. Maybe a bit older."
Lutum jerked forward and nudged the bag of marshmallows. Even more rolled themselves out of the plastic, "TELL ME THE NAME."
"For the Longest Time," Springwheel simply said, "A Billy Joel song. Have you heard of him? You need at least three other cars to actually sing it right."
Lutum's upper lip crunched up and he cocked his body to the side, "NONSENSE!"
"Lutum!" Springwheel's eyes were wide now, even though he held an amicable smile upon his bumper, "You know your marshmallow is on fire!"
Lutum sniffed the air, "HAHAHA YEAAAAH," he swung his burning marshmallow around like it was a composer's baton, "BURNBABYBUUUURN."
Springwheel muttered, "...are...are you even real?"
The Subaru sucked in a heavy breath and blew out the fiery marshmallow, "SING JUST YOUR PART THEN."
"Oh no," the Firebird chuckled, "It's much too late to start singing. Besides, I kind of...always showed up late to class, so I never practiced the beginning of it."
"Waaaaaait a minute," said a sleek young man's voice behind him.
Springwheel checked his mirrors and Murphy was just pulling up with Jane.
"You, Mister Springwheel, were always late to class?" Murphy snorted, "Hah!"
The Firebird cringed, "Out of all of the sentences you roll up on…"
"No way!" Jane exclaimed. She looked over at Lutum and smiled, "Hey there, Lutum!"
"Don't worry, Mister Springwheel," Murphy lowered his voice, "I'll only tell like four other cars."
"HI THERE MINI MCQUEEN!" Lutum shoved the marshmallows into his mouth and slid the stick out from inside of it.
Jane giggled and watched the bizarre kid. He reminded her of Austin, if he were a bit less shy, and maybe bumped his hood a few times too many.
"You two practically disappeared. Mack and Hammer went to look for- oh!" Springwheel bumped Murphy's fender in approval, "You exposed your headlights!"
"Yep," Murphy flashed his high beams twice, "I can actually see at night now."
"We were checking out the lake, Mister Springwheel," said Jane, innocently.
He nodded, "Mmhm. I hope you both had a nice time."
Jane smiled up at Murphy and her engine rumbled softly, "Yeah. We did."
"LOOKING GOOD, KARAOKE PARTNER," Lutum chomped down on some more marshmallows.
"Hey thanks, man," Murphy bowed.
The sound of tinkling pebbles against metal and rubber followed after. Mack, Luke, and Hammer were all coming back to the campfire.
"HE IS SLEEP DRIVING," Lutum pointed at Luke with his stick, "WE NEED TO WAKE HIM UP," he cranked the stick back, then threw it like a sword. It twirled in the air and bonked Luke's nose.
"Greeeat observation," the Impala hissed. He pulled up next to Jane and rolled his eyes, "I was going to sleep. I would have went to sleep, if not for these two trucks talking so loudly. Especially the red one."
Jane's mirrors twitched. If Mack was speaking so loudly, he must have told Lightning McQueen about the kiss. Murphy didn't catch it, however. He was too busy glaring at Luke for being on the other side of his Porsche.
Mack and Hammer pulled up on both sides of Lutum, across from Jane and Murphy. Lutum looked up at the two trucks towering above him and he snickered, "I AM A TRUCK SANDWICH."
Hammer raised an eyelid, "Excuse me?"
"Hey there, Jane," said Mack, trying to get her attention.
But Jane didn't look back at him. She kept her eyes away and focus on either Murphy's fender, Lutum, or her own hood.
Mack sighed heavily, exchanging a saddened glance with...himself.
"But siiince I'm back again, we can talk about California in all of its fabulous glory, am I right?" Luke continued, leaning toward Jane, "In fact, I know a really awesome place we could go to and get some dinner."
"We could always get to know each other right here," said Jane, feeling how close Luke was getting.
"But of course," Luke agreed, "We should get to know each other. Right here. Right now," he put up his tire, "But before that, I actually meant you and I can go grab dinner when we're in California. Us. Just us."
Murphy narrowed his eyes even more than they already were.
"We can talk about racing and other stuff, ya know," Luke leaned in even closer and whispered loud enough for Murphy to hear, "And I can show you a few things to get your engine goin' for that race, if you know what I mean," he flashed his eyelids up and down twice.
"That's funny," Murphy said.
Luke leaned forward so he could make better eye contact with the Grand National, "What's so funny?"
"That you think you're taking her to dinner," Murphy replied.
"Something wrong with that?" asked Luke. He noticed his uncovered headlights, "Look who decided to use common sense," he pointed.
Finally, Hammer noticed the headlights too, "Squirt! Now I can make you drive at night when you talk back to me!"
Murphy put himself in gear to pull forward and let Luke know, but Mister Springwheel sensed his reaction before he could move. He grabbed him by his tire and held him in place, "Murphy, I didn't get a chance to show you before, but I do have your final exam grade."
Murphy's tightened body lowered back down to his normal suspension and he brought his dark stare to his teacher, "Whatever. Another racing history semester as a junior. I don't care."
Luke overheard this.
Bad at racing history, huh?
He nodded to himself and kept that detail locked away in his mind.
Springwheel tapped his wheel twice and slid him a folded test packet.
Murphy's eyes softened up when he saw the fold. Even if he pretended not to care, again, he knew what a folded test paper meant. It meant he was going to be held back again.
"I'll look at it later," said Murphy, getting ready to put it away, but Mister Springwheel shook his hood.
"I would really appreciate it if you took a look at your test paper now so that we can discuss your work."
"Mister Springwheel, we're on break. Let's wait until the weather gets as cold as your soul again before we discuss any school crap."
"If that how you feel," the Firebird shrugged, "Alright. I just think it'd be incredibly weird for you to be sitting in my junior level racing history class next semester. Especially since you'll be marked absent everyday in my senior level racing history class."
Murphy went to give him another sly response, but he stopped right in his tracks, "Wait.."
Springwheel just kept a cool smile across his face, as Murphy scrambled the test paper in his front wheels to look at the score. His eyes traced up and around Springwheel's penmanship:
100
You just needed someone to show you.
Welcome to senior semester. You did it.
Phoenix Springwheel
A glimmer escaped Murphy's pupils, "Bro…"
Jane took a look at the corner of the test paper. Her smile gleamed with the pride she felt for him, "Look at that, Murphy! You're a senior!"
"Way to go, Squeaky Wheel!" Hammer pulled his truck horn twice.
"Y-Yeah! Hah! I guess I am!" Murphy couldn't peel his attention away.
"You'll have to work harder though, Murphy," said Springwheel, "I passed you because I believe in you."
Slowly, Murphy's happiness faded.
Springwheel raised an eyelid, "I...said I believe in you."
"Yeah, yeah...I heard you...thank you…," he put his test paper away in his wheel well, "Just that I won't be in Carburetor County next semester."
"Hey, hey, you're not dropping out over this class are you?"
"No, my dad got a job as the TV host of his own talk show," he glanced at Luke, "At that point, I'm gonna be living in Los Angeles. In a bigger garage. A huuuge garage. And I'll really know all of the good places to eat."
Luke scoffed.
"In that case, I'll make sure I push all of your buttons as much as I can before I don't have the opportunity anymore," Springwheel joked.
"Anyway...let's get back to talking about how you-," Murphy nudged the Firebird's tire, "-were always late."
"Let's not," Springwheel motioned his hood to Lutum, "Pass me a marshmallow."
"MINE," Lutum scooped all of the marshmallows up in his axles and buried them underneath his body.
"Okay…"
"C'moooon, Mister Springwheel!" Jane bit her bottom lip.
"Come on what, Jane?" asked her teacher.
"You taught us about all this racing history all semester long, but you never told us anything about you!"
"Exactly, what gives?" asked Murphy.
"You were part of it!" Jane added.
"I don't feel like it would have been appropriate to teach the class about it."
"Hang on, you can't just erase parts of history," Murphy pointed out, "That means the history you've been teaching us has been totally inaccurate."
"No, no, don't start," Springwheel gestured with his wheel, "Your grades were your grades because those were the grades you earned."
"You won four Piston Cup trophies in your career! You gotta have something to tell us!" said Jane.
"My time as a racer wasn't long enough to even be represented in history...in my opinion. Trust me when I tell you, it's best you don't-"
"WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, SPRINGWHEEL?!" Lutum snapped.
"I'm not hiding anything!"
"Now I'm curious," said Mack.
"Yeah, really," Hammer agreed, "Not everyone with four wheels becomes a Piston Cup racer."
Luke eyed Jane, who he saw as just a car with four wheels and a dumb luck opportunity, "Pfft...debatable."
Springwheel watched them all speak. The six other cars talked amongst themselves, exchanging glances with Springwheel while they gossiped about him.
The murmur of their voices all clouded up inside of the Firebird's mind, until one question he couldn't ignore.
"And who's Emily?" Hammer asked through the sea of questions. Everyone else quieted down as he continued, "You were talking to yourself and you mentioned her name."
"IS SHE YOUR WIFE?" asked Lutum.
"He's not married!" Jane called out.
Murphy laughed, "You would know that."
"Maybe she's his girlfriend," said Mack, "...or his sister."
"This Emily mystery woman is starting to bother the hell out of me," said Hammer.
Springwheel broke his silence, "Girl."
All eyes turned to the Firebird.
"Not a woman," he corrected, "A girl."
"Well, tell us!" Jane begged, "Before we have to go to bed!"
Springwheel's eyes lifted in concern, "...you really want to know about my racing days?"
"Now we have to know," said Hammer.
"Spill it!" Jane turned her wheels toward Murphy, as if to lean on him, but then she caught herself.
Springwheel sighed, "Alright. Fine."
Luke quietly paid close attention. He didn't want to miss a single detail.
"My racing days," he furrowed his eyelids, deep in thought, "Well, one day, I decided I wanted to race. I got noticed, became a racer, started racing, and bam," he stood proudly, "Next thing you know, I had four wins."
The rest of the vehicles all narrowed their eyes in disappointment. He didn't tell much of a story. Especially when Jane knew how he would teach his lessons in class. He didn't speak the same way. He was so...vague.
"And then I changed careers," he bowed his hood, "Goodnight," he put himself into reverse and went to drive away.
"HEY," Lutum dropped his bag of marshmallows and zipped around the group of cars. He stopped right behind the Firebird and Springwheel pressed on his brakes.
"Lutum, I almost hit you! You need to be careful!" Springwheel warned.
"TELL US WHO YOU ARE."
"You're not even one of my students!"
"Mister Springwheel, just tell us like you're teaching us one of your lessons," Jane suggested.
"Yeah, except don't give us a test afterward," Murphy said.
Just then, a cell phone rang out from one of the cars. They all looked around at each other, except for Mack, who felt his phone's vibrations. He slid it out from his wheel well and read the caller ID.
"I'm sorry, I need to take this," he said. He glanced at Jane, "It's Lightning."
Jane gasped under her breath and felt a jolt of ice fall over her metal, until Murphy covered her wheel with his. She wanted to look at him, but Murphy was watching Springwheel. He didn't want to make it obvious that he was holding her wheel, but he wanted Jane to know he was there.
With all of the attention on him, more than he's been used to in years, Springwheel felt the pressure. He took himself out of reverse and instead, shifted into park, and settled in, "I guess you can say it all started in 1982."