Chapter 6 - Eleanor Lark
She was a flawless white Toyota Innova, with sparkling chartreuse green eyes, as she drove slowly into Radiator Springs by herself. She was visiting someone very close to her, but hasn't really seen in years.
And when the Toyota Innova saw Flo's V-8 Café, she smiled brightly and her eyes lit up, as she picked up the pace to get there. And when she drove into the lot, there were already a few cars gathered for breakfast, likely to try to beat the breakfast rush.
The four cars parked under the awning were all rather brightly colored; the only one-colored vehicle was a Ford Mustang with canary yellow paint, as the other three male cars had way more colors that her, almost as if they were neon.
But that's not who the Toyota Innova was looking for; she was hoping to find her objective inside the café, especially when she noticed that the sign in the window read "We're Open!"
"Hello?! Mum?! Mum, are you there?!" she called into the café with a strong English accent, but there was no one at the front counter.
"Eleanor?! Oh, there's my little songbird!" an aquamarine 1957 GM Motorama Show Car cheered as she backed out of the backroom, and she immediately turned and gave the Toyota Innova a big hug when she had enough room.
"Hello, Mum! It's so good to see you again!" Eleanor giggled as she hugged her mother back, "it's been so long, how have you been?"
"Oh, I've been great, Honey, thank you! But I'll be honest, I missed you ta pieces!" Flo replied while giving her daughter one last squeeze before finally letting go.
"Likewise," Eleanor chuckled with a bright smile.
"Now, tell me, what're ya doin' all the way out here, Baby?" Flo questioned, and Eleanor's smile immediately dropped.
"Well, that's the bad thing about my visit," the white Toyota Innova began sadly and sheepishly, and she looked down at the floor in shame, "Sadie and I split up…"
"What? Why? What happened?"
"She said my singing wasn't good enough, that I was holding her back."
"Oh, what does that Mercedes know?! She's a damn fool!" Flo snapped with a scowl.
"Language, Mum!" Eleanor gasped.
"It's the truth, ain't it? And personally, it's HER loss for lettin' go of such a voice like yours, Honey," Flo reassured with a soft smile, "if she can't recognize your full potential, then your better off without her, anyway."
"Thanks, Mum…but what am I going to do now? That band was the only thing keeping me up on my wheels financial-wise, and I don't have a job," Eleanor pointed out with fear, but Flo wasn't phased at all.
"Well, then, just work here," she suggested with a smirk.
"What?"
"You're always welcome ta work here, Honey; you can even sing on karaoke nights. How's that sound?"
"I-I don't know, Mum…I don't want to be a burden."
"You're not a burden, you're my baby." With that, Flo gave her daughter a comforting little kiss on her fender, making her blush.
"Mum, I'm not a baby anymore!" Eleanor protested with a giggle and scrunched up face, but she couldn't help but smile.
"You're ALWAYS my baby! Now, c'mon, I'll show ya how things work around the café," Flo chuckled while picking up a pen and notepad from the front desk and handed it to Eleanor, and she then lead her back out into the lot, where there were more cars gathered for breakfast, and there were twin red Miata cars racing back and forth the lot with some of the customers' orders.
"Ok, Honey, for now, just go around and take everyone's orders and then give 'em ta me. I'll take it from there," Flo explained calmly while referring a tire to the pen and notepad, and she then drove back into the café when Eleanor nodded in realization.
"Hey, waitress!" called an impatient voice, and Eleanor's eyes snapped to her right, where she saw the same brightly-colored cars from earlier still sitting there.
"We've been waitin' here all morning with empty tanks! Aren't 'cha gonna take our orders?!" called the angry Kyoku Jitsu, who called her the firs time. And realizing she was the only other available waitress, she quickly and awkwardly drove up to the four cars.
"S-sorry! U-uh…w-what would you like?" Eleanor stuttered while her eyes rapidly darted between the cars and the notepad, and she shakily raised the pen to prepare to write down their orders.
"I want a medium espresso with no whip," Boost replied, less grimness in his tone.
"Ditto! But gimme lots of whip cream, please," Queen informed with a smirk.
"Me three on that espresso with extra whip!" Snot Rod quickly called.
"Ok…and what about you, S-?" The second Eleanor finally got a chance to get a really good look at DJ, she immediately froze and her mouth and eyes went wide; it was no better for DJ. He could only stare at the white Toyota Innova with just as much silent shock.
"Devon?" Eleanor muttered.
"Eleanor?" DJ whimpered.
18 years earlier…
It was Devon's first day of kindergarten, and he wasn't as brightly painted or heavily modified as a five year-old; no, he was just an average little Reko-Do Spinner with light blue paint, and he was getting rather nervous as he slowly drove into his classroom.
He didn't know any of the other young cars, and they didn't know him, and his parents couldn't come with him to school…so he had no idea how to make friends. But it suddenly got much worse when he didn't look where he was going, and he accidentally collided with another car, making them drop their lunch box and spill their sandwich and juice box.
"Oh, no! I'm sorry…oh, I'm such an idiot!" Devon sheepishly apologized, as the little white Toyota Innova before him pulled her lunch box from her cab, as the impact somehow caused it to fly up and land on top of her. But even though the contents of her lunchbox were now spilled, the sandwich was still bagged and the juice box was still intact, so she only smiled brightly and giggled at Devon.
"It's ok, no harm done," she reassured with a petite voice, "I'm Eleanor Lark. What's your name?"
"Oh…I-I'm Devon Montgomery Johnston lll," Devon replied with a stammer, surprised that she wasn't mad at him at all, but he still smiled.
"Wow, that's a REALLY big name! How do you remember all of that?"
"I don't, which is why everyone calls me DJ." Eleanor couldn't help but giggle.
"You're funny! Want to be friends, DJ?"
"Y-you really wanna be f-friends?" DJ asked with wide eyes, and his fender started to turn purple as his red blush clashed with his blue paint.
"Sure! I don't have any other friends," Eleanor informed with a chuckle.
"Really? Me neither! We should TOTALLY be friends!"
Unlike most friends, DJ and Eleanor actually stayed pretty close for the next fifteen years, as they continued to go to the same school, always had the same classes, and they even went to the same college together at the East Coast Music Conservatory.
For obvious reasons, they attended this certain college because they both advanced in music; Eleanor advanced in singing, and DJ advanced playing multiple instruments and was a pretty good disc jockey too.
And as the two best friends drove onto the massive school district for their first day, they took in all of the sights with excited smiles and wide eyes, especially when they drove inside, where all different genres of music could be heard everywhere, and there were paintings of music notes on the walls while huge music notes were hung from the ceiling for décor.
"Can you believe we finally made it, DJ? We're here, at the East Coast Music Conservatory, like we've always dreamed!" Eleanor pointed out while hardly able to bottle her excitement, as she grabbed one of DJ's front wheels and shook it violently.
"No. Never. Not in a' hundred years," DJ joked with a smirk, as he had grown out of the shy little boy he once was, and had become the cockiest car Eleanor had come to know, but she could never ask for a better friend.
"Oh, stop! We both know that you're just as excited as me; in fact, it was YOU who came up with the idea to come here," Eleanor protested with a smirk, delivering a pitiful punch back on the same wheel she was just shaking as well.
"Alright, ya got me there, Ellie. Just try not ta look stupid," DJ chuckled in defeat while rolling his eyes.
"I don't think you are one to talk about looking ignorant with THAT color, Mister," Eleanor argued, pointing a tire to his dark blue paint, which he bought shortly before they headed off for college.
"You keep saying that, but I don't see what's wrong with it," DJ argued back while shaking his head.
"First of all, it's not your natural color. And second, it doesn't compliment your eyes like your light blue paint did," Eleanor pointed out as she suddenly drove out in front of DJ, staring right into his midnight blue eyes nonchalantly.
And as he stared back into her chartreuse green eyes, he suddenly froze in his tracks, and blushed when he was at a loss for words.
"Uh…" was all DJ could say.
"You're still funny, Devon," Eleanor chuckled mockingly, knowing DJ doesn't normally like it when he's referred to by his full name. And she turned and kept driving before giving him a chance to speak, so he just scoffed and rolled his eyes in defeat before following her.
But how did they get separated? Why weren't they in touch anymore after college? Well, that story is for another time.
And Eleanor especially didn't want to talk about it now that she was standing right in front of DJ again, only he was hardly recognizable with his obscene paint job, sound system, and huge tail rudders.
The white Toyota Innova eventually just couldn't take the tension anymore, and she suddenly started hyperventilating and dropped the pen and notepad, and she turned and drove out of the cafe in the blink of an eye.
And DJ even tried to go after her, but he only moved a few feet forward when he realized he had no idea what to do. Even if he did catch her, what would he say?
"DJ, you know her?" Boost asked with surprise, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah…she's my best friend," DJ sadly muttered in response.
Drama. Drama, everywhere!
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure if I'm going to make Flo Eleanor's biological or adoptive mother. But I'll figure it out soon...
Well, you guys seemed to be interested who was next in the Love Game, and it looks like our winner is DJ! Love is a very complex and dangerous game, DJ, so I'm warning you to be careful.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!