A Girl Who Races

Arriving at the Track

"Ok Amelia, we only have one week left until the first race of the season. We should arrive at the track 2 days before so you and Lightning can get a feel for it. We'll leave on Wednesday, travel Thursday and arrive Friday. Which means we'll be leaving in two days. Sound good?" Doc asks the two racers sitting in front of him who both nod.

"Hot rod, call Mack let him know the plan. Both of you gotta get your stuff packed. Amelia get your car ready, check in with Jakob, Vex, Guido and Luigi, see if they have your tires ready. Ok, you got this guys. Now go." Doc orders.

"Hey Lightning." Amelia says gently hitting the car with her elbow. "You ready to be beat by a girl?"

"Not so fast Amelia, your going up against a real seasoned professional, I won't be going easy on you once we're out on the track." He playfully jibes at her. Amelia laughs before she rolls over to Guido and Luigis shop. Luckily Vex is inside as well.

"Hey guys, just coming to check in, see if the tires are ready for the race."

"Yep. We're all packed and ready to go!" Vex replies with a wink.

"Great! Thanks!" Amelia says as she leaves the shop. The town has a completely different feel to the atmosphere, the tension and excitement, lots of chatter going around too, mainly talking about who has their bet on who. Amelia goes to her Cozy Cone, she grabs some clothes, her racing gear, and toiletries. Anything she thinks she may need. Once she's packed she goes back outside. She sees Doc rolling up to her.

"Hey." Amelia greets

"You have everything ready?"

"Yep."

"Good, I got to go check on Lightning, make sure he's staying focused."

"Ok, see you later Doc."

The next one and a half days feels like forever to come to an end. When Amelia finally sees Mack pull into Radiator Springs her excitement skyrockets, the pit crew get all their equipment, loaded in the compartment in the trailer. Everyone who is going to the race gets ready to leave. Amelia pulls Tsunami out of the garage and pulls him up to the trailer. She waits for McQueen to say his goodbyes.

"Good luck Amelia!" Flo yells.

"Come back with a trophy!" Ramone calls.

"Bye!" Amelia waves from the drivers seat as she loads Tsunami into the trailer. The door closes and Amelia feels Mack pick up the trailer. She looks out the one way window and watches as Radiator Springs gets smaller and smaller until it disappears completely.

"So, What now?" She asks Lightning from her sitting spot by the window on the floor. Before McQueen can say anything Amelia decides to start a conversation. "It's so weird to actually be travelling with you as a racer, not as your pit crew."

"It's pretty exciting, huh?" McQueen says.

"Oh yea, it's hard to believe that I'm going to be on the racetrack with you. It's everything I've always wanted since I was a kid. What if I mess it up? This is my time to shine and if I mess it up I could lose my sponsor and everything!"

"Don't worry about it, you've got the skill and training to be just as successful as me. Just remember that the instant you back out of this trailer your life will change, there will be a lot of cars and people from media, so just remember to stay close and stay in your car for now."

"Ok."

The drive, feels like forever, Amelia starts going a bit stir-crazy, one moment she'll be jumping around the trailer the next she'll be sprawled out across the floor acting like a drama queen. She has multiple conversations, mostly just talking to herself once McQueen gets tired of responding to her. She was just saying whatever her mind thought of at the moment.