The Principles of a Grand Hunt // Part 1 - A Cars Story

Chapter 19 - Memories of an Unforgiving Past IV: Home Is Us

Graduation night, November 2026...

Dash swung the dorm door open hard, letting out an exasperated scream as he fell to the floor.

"Argh! I can't even have Graduation Night to myself, can I?! Stupid. Freaking. Principal!" Dash yelled, punching the wall three times.

He shoved himself back-first against the wall, pouting like a child. The gang slowly opened the door, finding Dash in his spot.

"What the hell was that, man?" Rush asked as he rolled in.

"He can't be serious! I knew he'd pull something like this. Nettes always has ulterior motives when he says something nice." Dash exclaimed.

"This was for our graduation. He had to say something about us, especially considering we got into the Piston Cup!" El exclaimed.

"Exactly, we got into the Piston Cup! Now, when the hell are they gonna let me leave?" Dash exclaimed.

"You always had the chance to leave. Mr. Thessels told you that!" El reminded.

Dash went to lay out another tirade. Before he could, he sat in the thought of justification. His friends watched, truly worried about his mental well-being. He quickly realized that they weren't there to get a rise out of him. He fell silent, looking the other way for a brief moment in embarrassment.

"Yeah... why didn't I?" he asked rhetorically.

Rush and the girls looked between each other, unable to answer him.

"I had the chance... why didn't I leave? Why did I stay here and continue to be wrung out?" He repeated.

"Well, we can't answer that. Only you know how to answer that." El said.

Dash took those words in and let out a long sigh, getting up onto his tires and packing his things.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rush asked.

"Away. I've got a chance to do that now... so I'm taking it." Dash answered.

"You do realize that you didn't say goodbye to Nettes?" Del added.

"Do you think I care at this point? I don't need to spew excuses to tell you that anymore." Dash retorted.

"If you leave, how the hell are you gonna be able to get into the cup?" Rush added.

Dash stopped packing his things for a second and let out another exasperated sigh.

"Agh! For the Manufacturer's sake! Why is it so hard to get out of this place?!" Dash yelled, slumping to the floor again.

"There's literally one evening to go now. Not even a full day. If you could do 8 years, surely you could do 8 more hours?" Del quipped.

"I think it's a bit more than that." Rush corrected quietly.

"Not helping!" Del exclaimed quietly.

"But what if Nettes baits me into something? What if I give him a chance to do that?" Dash asked.

"Baits you into something? You gotta stop overthinking, dude." Rush exclaimed.

"Hey. You try living in my tires for just a day! I dare you." Dash grumbled.

"You know that I'd jump at the chance. Being the best racer in the academy must be nice." Rush scoffed.

"You get responsibilities with that stuff! With great responsibilities, comes great-" Dash quipped.