McQueen's Kid

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴇɴ

Chapter Ten
"We're just leaving Radiator Springs. We'll see you soon." Mom stated in the phone in the trailer. Cruz, Ethan, and I were stuffed in the back while Dad chatted on the phone for hours on end.

"Perfect," Dad grinned as he turned around to look at me. I slightly rolled my blue eyes, knowing he thought that I was still afraid to go anywhere away from my mother, which I most certainly out grew years ago. "I've got to go, Sally. We're just arriving at the track." He added.

"Okay! Sounds good. Goodbye! I love you!" Mom quickly shouted into the phone.

"Goodbye. I love you, too." Dad chuckled as he ended the call.

"Geez, I didn't know you were such a talker, Mr. McQueen. You talked all the way from the hotel to the track. That's like an hour plus." Cruz awed, her eyes wide. Dad smiled and rolled his blue eyes. For once, I think I actually started to notice that he liked her. He didn't snap back at her or look annoyed. Maybe Dad really was changing.

"We're here." Mack declared as I watched us pulled into our spot. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Mack opened the trailer and Dad and Cruz quickly exited.

"Oh! It feels so great to finally stretch!" Cruz exclaimed as she stretched out her tires. Dad hummed and nodded his head, agreeing with Cruz as he stretched out his tires. I giggled and looked back at Ethan.

"Look at those two dorks." I smiled. Ethan laughed back, following me out of the trailer.

"Alright, guys. Today's gonna be a big day so we need to stretch and get warmed up!" Cruz grinned as she continued to warm up. We all stretched, even though Ethan and I won't be practicing today. This was just for Dad to get used to this new track.

"Alright, I think we're ready. Let's go." Dad smiled as we all headed to the track. I looked around, seeing the all of the empty stands. You could fit thousands and thousands of cars in this one stadium.

Cruz, Ethan, I went to the pits while Dad drove onto the track. Slowly, he took his place at the end of the pack. We listened to the headsets, heading him take a few deep breaths. "You okay, Mr. McQueen?" Cruz asked, concern present in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm alright." He quickly mumbled back, his voice slightly shaky. I glanced at Ethan, knowing Dad wasn't okay. This had to be a little bit traumatizing.

"Lightning, if you're not ready then-"

"Ethan, I'm fine. Let's just do this." He growled back. I frowned, my blue eyes locking with Ethan's brown ones. He softly smiled, bumping my side. I looked down, hoping Dad really was okay.

Suddenly, Dad took off. I watched him sped around us, his face contorted with determination. His blue eyes were narrowed while his lips pulled into a tight line. He didn't look like the happy racer I grew up knowing.

Just as soon as he started, he stopped. I could hear him panting, his breathing loud and heavy. "Stella," he breathed. "can you come out here?" He asked.

Without even thinking, I drove out to him. I quickly rushed to his side, but tried to hide my worry. He looked into my eyes, smiling as I got closer to him. "Yeah, Dad?" I questioned, looking him over.

"I'm okay, Stella," he chuckled, still breathing deeply. "I just don't like being out here by myself. Would you race with me?"

I felt my cheeks heating up. I was embarrassed that he knew I thought he was hurt. I should have known he didn't like being alone since his crash. "Of course, Dad, but I won't go easy on you." I teased.

"Please, like you even have a chance against me." Dad playful scoffed as he took his place behind me. I felt my tires underneath the track, quickly noticing how different it was from every other track.

"On your marks," Cruz spoke into our headsets. "Get set," she added. "Go." She declared, making Dad and I take off. I closed my eyes, feeling the wind brush against my paint.

I felt so free on the track. Dad and Mom hardly even let me leave Radiator Springs, besides for races, and even then I hardly got to do anything fun. This was the first time I'd ever raced on a real track.

I opened my eyes as I took the turn, leaning towards the bottom of the track, gaining as much speed as I could. Soon, I forgot I was even racing and everything was muscle memory. I felt like nothing could stop me.

I looked behind me, seeing Dad trailing behind me. Suddenly, I remembered that I was supposed to let him win. I was supposed to be his encouragement. If I beat him again this close to the race, his self-esteem would be too low.

I slowed down, letting him pass me. As he glanced at my face, his eyebrows were arched in confusion. "Stella, are you okay?" Dad questioned, looking me over. I nodded my head, plastering a smile on my face.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit tired." I grinned back. Immediately, his face harden. He slammed on the brakes, making me do it, too.

"Stella, I don't need your sympathy. I get enough of it from everyone else. I don't need you going easy on me." He scolded.

"Dad, I-"

"You were the one person I thought would actually treat me like I never changed," He grumbled, cutting me off. I bit my bottom lip, looking towards the ground, not wanting to look into his eyes. "Why did you slow down? Why didn't you keep going?"

"Because I don't want your self-esteem in the toilet. I want you to know that you have a chance to beat Storm!" I fired back, emotion smashed in my tone.

"I've always know that, Stel. I won't go down without a fight." He replied, his voice softer now. Before I could reply, sirens and lights began flashing around us. I turned around, seeing two cops zooming towards us.

"Stella McQueen, I need you to come with us." The male spoke up, his blue eyes staring into mine.

"What? What did she do wrong?" Dad exclaimed. The female quickly rushed to Dad's side, her brown eyes filled with sympathy.

"Mr. McQueen, we need to take her in. We have accusations placed against Stella." She explained, trying to keep Dad back.

"Excuse me! What are you doing?" Cruz shouted, running to Dad's side with Ethan on her tail. "Who are you guys?" She added.

"I'm Detective Spinner and this is my partner, Detective Bellhousing. We're taking Stella to our squad room for a few questions." The male officer replied, slightly pulling me away.

"I'm coming with." Dad fired back. Detective Bellhousing looked to her partner, reading each other's thoughts. She turned around, looking at Dad.

"Fine. But you can't sit in during the investigation." Detective Bellhousing agreed, her brown eyes scanning the crowd starting to form around us. Suddenly, camera flashes began blinding my eyes.

"Make a hole!" Detective Spinner shouted, shoving his way through the crowd as he dragged me along.

Detective Bellhousing drove up to her partner, concern present on her face. "El, who let in the press? I thought we both agreed that we wanted to keep this off the record." She whispered just loud enough to for me to hear.

"I didn't let them in, Liv, you know that. You know I how much I hate the press. It must have someone who's got beef with the McQueen's that tipped off the press." He mumbled back. I narrowed my eyebrows, confused.

Why was I being taken into custody? Why would someone hate my family so much? What was happening?

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Sorry it took me so long to update! Don't worry! I'm not dead! Hope you enjoyed!