Chapter 9 - Like a Date?

Earlier that day…

"DJ, you know her?" Boost asked with surprise, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah…she's me best friend," DJ meekly replied, making the others exchange concerned and confused glances, and the awkward silence remained for a few more minutes.

"I…I gotta go!" DJ eventually spouted, and he drove away in the blink of an eye while shaking his hood.

"That was weird…whaddya think their story is?" Queen questioned with a cocked brow.

"I'm betting there was another girl," Boost pondered aloud.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Queen muttered in agreement.

"Hey, speaking of other women, did, uh…did you ever catch name of the blue Chevrolet Camaro that helped fixed you, Boost?" Snot Rod asked out of the blue, and his tone sounded rather shy.

"No…why do ya ask?" Boost asked in suspicion.

"Well, it's just that…I-I've seen her in the shop and across the street a couple times, and…sh-she just looks kinda nice, so…" Snot Rod mumbled on as his orange paint slowly started turning red. And since the signals were so obvious, both Boost and Queen smirked at each other and then back at the Bragatron Roadburner.

"Oh, I see what's goin' on—you've got the hots for 'er, don't 'cha?" Boost asked suggestively, making Snot Rod blush even darker.

"W-w-what m-makes ya say th-that?" Snot Rod whimpered in denial.

"Look, she's right over there!"

"Really?! Where?!" Snot Rod was immediately granted with an evil laugh from Boost when he fell for his trick, and actually glanced all over the lot desperately.

"That's not funny," Snot Rod growled while once again turning a bit red.

"Yes, it is," Boos simply chuckled.

"Hey, here she comes," Queen suddenly pointed out while checking her right rearview mirror.

"Nice try. I ain't fallin' for that again," Snot Rod chuckled boastfully while backing out from under the awning, but as soon as he finished his sentence, his bumper suddenly hit something.

"Hey, watch where you're goin', ya…oh, no…" Snot Rod threatened while turning around quickly to face the tough guy who bumped into him, but he immediately lost his voice when he turned to find he'd actually bumped into the side of the same sky blue Chevrolet Camaro that helped fix Boost's engine.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you ok, Sir?" the Chevrolet Camaro asked with worry, her voice was small and timid.

"N-no…I-I mean, yes, yes, I'm fine…I just-," Snot Rod hopelessly stammered on while blushing even deeper red than before, but Boost suddenly interrupted. To save Snot Rod, or to embarrass him even more? No one really knows.

"What my acquaintance here is TRYING to say—is that it's not your fault, and that he'll happily pay for any real damage, like a gentleman. Won't you, Snot Rod?" Boost explained nonchalantly, and then flashed a cocky grin at the said orange Bragatron Roadburner.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that, but thank you, anyway…Mr. Rod," the Chevrolet pointed out sheepishly. But when she tried to continue forward, she suddenly winced in pain, and the others saw why when she revealed her right side. It was covered in a few bad dents, and her paint was pretty scratched.

"Oh, lord, I'm a monster!" Snot Rod suddenly exclaimed.

"No, no, it's fine, I swear…sure, it kinda hurts, but nothing a few pain killers and repairs from my dad can't fix," the Chevrolet reassured.

"Y-you're dad?" Snot Rod gulped in fear.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll understand if I just tell him what happened. He's a really nice guy once you get to know him."

"You mean you AND Snot Rod; he'd be more than happy to help you get to the House of Body Art," Queen joined in matter-of-factly, making Snot Rod curse her and Boost's names in his head for getting him into this situation in the first place…even though HE was the one who bumped into the Chevrolet.

"I-I don't know…" she began nervously.

"Maybe it is the least I could do. I ran into YOU after all, and besides, maybe it'll help me get on your dad's good side easier after he finds out I kinda wrecked his daughter's side," Snot Rod explained, his confidence suddenly boosting like he never expected, but he managed to keep himself from looking anymore stupid.

"Well…if you insist, then I guess it couldn't hurt. Thank you, Mr. Rod," she thanked with a slight blush.

"Oh, uh…Mr. Rod is my father, actually…everyone calls me Snot Rod," Snot Rod chuckled nervously with a whisper while quickly joining the Chevrolet's side, and he helped turn her around and drove slowly with her to Ramone's House of Body Art.

"Oh, sorry!" the Chevrolet giggled quietly, "my name is Charlotte—but everyone calls me Charlie."

As the orange Bragatron Roadburner and sky blue Chevrolet Camaro drove away, Boost and Queen could only stare on at their success of playing Match Maker.

"Who knew you were quite the little Match Maker?" Boost asked in surprise.

"I could ask you the same thing considering you've never let a girl see your engine—before me, of course," Queen pointed out with a smirk, and she chuckled darkly when Boost lightly punched her side.

"~I'm bringin' sexy back…them other boys don't know how ta act…~" a familiar voice sang suggestively as it quickly approached, and Queen and Boost both checked their mirrors to find it was none other than Wingo, as he parked on the other side of a gas pump.

"What's got you singin', Mickey Mouse, and how long 'till you're clickin' your back wheels?" Queen joked.

"I would click my wheels, but I've got a straight reputation ta keep—especially since I've got a hot date tonight," Wingo replied in a lustful growl.

"It's the Lamborghini, isn't it?" Boost asked flatly.

"Yup."

"Well, congrats, Romeo. Ya hooked one, but let's see if you can actually reel 'er in," Queen chuckled with a smirk.

"Oh, puh-lease. Haven't even known her for a week, and I've already got a date with her; I've got it in the bag—that being said, when're ya gonna pay up, Boost?" Wingo questioned the said dark purple Kyoku Jitsu, who immediately looked at Wingo in surprise.

"Pay up? What for?"

"For the bet, dummy, the bet we made to see if could win Angel's heart before the month was over, and you bet I couldn't—but it looks like you're losing, so ya might as well just pay up."

"Uh, we never actually made a bet, Wingo."

"Yes, we did."

"No, we didn't."

"Whatever! What do I care? I got myself a sexy Lamborghini," Wingo argued while driving away with a cocky grin on his face.

"Don't get 'cher hopes too high, Casanova!" Boost called in annoyance.

"Who knew he could actually get a date with the deputy, though?" Queen pondered aloud.

"Yeah, I will admit, it kinda is a shocker."

But after a few minutes of saying absolutely nothing else, a brilliant little idea popped into Boost's cab, and he slowly grinned at Queen.

"You ever drink?"

"Pbht! Are you kidding? Does Donald wear a wig?" Queen scoffed.

"Ya got me there," Boost chuckled.

"Why do you ask, though?"

"Well, if we really are gonna settle our differences, maybe we should have a little fun tagether?"

"Fun together? As in drinking the night away at some bar?"

"Well, you're not exactly gonna find wine in a candy store."

"What're you getting at, Boost?"

"Well, it's like you said: Let's just drink and party, you and me," Boost replied with a boastful smirk, "you up for it?"

"I don't know—what if we get too drunk?" Queen questioned with squinted eyes.

"Then one of us'll just have to make sure we don't drink too much, and if one of us DID get too drunk, they can be their designated driver."

"I volunteer to be the designated driver, so you don't you dare try ta get me too drunk."

"Alright, alright, I'll TRY ta remember not ta get ya too tipsy, but I won't make any promises for my sake," Boost admitted with a smirk.

"Fine. I don't care. But where will we go, anyway?" Queen asked in curiosity.

"Oh, I've already that figured out—ever heard of this joint called the 'Wheel Well'? I hear it's pretty nice."

It didn't take long for Snot Rod to finally help drive Charlotte all the way back to Ramone's House of Body Art, but the garage seemed completely empty when they got there.

"Hello?! Dad?!" Charlotte called out while inching away from Snot Rod since he was practically smushed up against her good side the whole time.

"Mr…uh…" Snot Rod tried to call out.

"Riley," Charlotte quickly informed.

"Mr. Riley?!"

"Hey, man, will you be quiet?! I was takin' a nap before you…oh, no! Charlie, what happened?!" Ramone growled as his bedroom eyes adjusted to the light while driving out of the back room, but he quickly went from angry to worried when he saw that Charlotte's left side was all dented and scratched.

"I'm ok, Dad, really…someone just bumped into me on accident, is all," Charlotte reassured her father, but when she pointed a tire at Snot Rod, Ramone's worried expression immediately turned into a cold glare.

"What did you do to my daughter, man?!" the lowrider snapped while rising up on his hydraulics to seem more intimidating, and it certainly worked on Snot Rod, as he shrunk low on his tires.

"Dad, please, it wasn't all his fault, I wasn't looking where I was going either. And it's just a few harmless dents, I swear—besides, Snot Rod said he was sorry, and he helped me get here so you could fix me," Charlotte quickly pointed out, and then smiled sincerely at Snot Rod, as if to say thank you.

Ramone's eyes darted between his daughter and the Bragatron Roadburner, as he would glare at Snot Rod and stare sincerely at Charlotte, and so on and so on. But he eventually lowered himself in reluctance, but he kept his eyes more focused on Snot Rod.

"If you say so, Charlie—but I swear, if he, or any man, ever hurts you, you just let me know, and I'll take car of 'em," Ramone pointed out, but it sounded more like a threat towards Snot Rod than submission, making the said orange Roadburner gulp in fear.

Afterwards, Ramone quickly got to work on his daughter's left side, and it wasn't even long after noon before he smoothed out the dents and repainted over the scratches to practically make her look brand new again.

But as Charlotte and Snot Rod drove out of the shop together, something kept rolling around in Snot Rod's mind.

"I-I don't get it—you told your dad that I said I was sorry, but I didn't. Why'd you tell him that?" Snot rod questioned softly when he finally found his voice.

"Well, you are sorry, aren't you?" Charlotte asked with hope.

"Of course I am!"

"Then I was telling the truth, wasn't I? Besides, you didn't have to actually say sorry, I already knew you were." Snot Rod stopped in his tracks and stared at Charlotte in surprise, as she stared back with a sweet smile.

But before Snot Rod knew, it they had been staring into each other's eyes for a few moments, and their faces weren't that far apart either.

"U-uh...well, I'd be pretty rude if I didn't, so…I'm sorry," Snot Rod stammered, breaking the silence.

"It's ok, Snot Rod. It was nice to meet you, and I hope we can talk again some time soon," Charlotte reassured with an even brighter smile, and she then drove away before giving Snot Rod another chance to talk.

But even though he didn't have any words for it, Snot Rod was sure enough now; Charlotte was truly the sweetest girl he's ever met…and he supposed Boost was right…he really did like her. Who wouldn't, though?

Eleanor waited in lot of Flo's V8 café, and she had waited for nearly twenty five minutes by herself shortly after closing. But with each passing minute, she became more and more worried that DJ was never going to show up.

And as Eleanor waited, she stared up at the clear night sky that filled with stars and a full moon, and she started thinking about everything that's just happened. To think, she was only coming back to see her mom after her and Sadie split up, but then she suddenly runs into her oldest and best friend, DJ.

Does fate have sense of humor, or was this really supposed to happen…or is it just a combination of both?

"E-Ellie?" a soft voice piped up, snapping Eleanor from her thoughts, and she smiled when she saw DJ approaching her. But as soon as he realized what he said, his eyes suddenly popped wide.

"Oh, I forgot, you didn't want me ta call you that! Sorry…" DJ remembered while getting flustered.

"No, it's ok, DJ…if anyone should call me that, it's you—you were the one who gave me the nickname after," Eleanor reassured with a sincere smile, "thank you for coming to meet me, DJ. It means a lot to me."

"What? Did ya think I was gonna abandon my best friend in the whole world? Not gonna happen," DJ joked with a smirk, getting a giggle out of Eleanor, but then he cocked a brow when he remembered something else, "so, why did you wanna meet my tonight, anyway?"

"Well, I thought if a couple of really close old friends are going to make amends, we should do it in a fun way—we're going out tonight," Eleanor replied while slowly driving down the road to wait for DJ to catch up, in which he quickly joined her by her side.

"O-Out…like a-a date, or something?" DJ asked with hope, but he couldn't help but blush a bit too.

"W-well…i-if you wanted to call it that, I wouldn't mind, but…it's more or less just for us to…to catch up, you know?" Eleanor informed nervously, her voice just as shaky.

"Right, right, I totally understand…so, where are we going?"

"Well, I asked my mum about the best places to go to, and she told me about this nice inn called 'Wheel Well'."

Kudos to those who caught the Donald Trump joke.

Well, this chapter may not have been exciting, but at least we finally learned the final OC's name: Charlotte Riley, and yes, she is Snot Rod's interest(in case that wasn't already obvious). Not only that, but she's also Ramone's daughter(keep this in mind).

And it also seems that our other three couples have dates planned too, so what'll that be like. Also, don't worry, I'm planning something for Snot Rod and Charlotte, too;)

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!