McQueen's Kid

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sɪx

Chapter Six
"Welcome to the Rust-Eze Training Center!" Sterling exclaimed as we entered the room. This place was amazing! There were so many different cars, all of them training on the millions of different machines.

"D-do you have th-the simulator?" Dad excitedly stuttered, his blue eyes lighting up. Sterling smiled, looking at Dad.

"Do we? We have the best one in the country. Jackson Storm wishes his was as nice as ours." Sterling gloated, driving us to the simulator. All of our eyes widen at the sight. Now I could see why Dad wanted to take that out for a spin.

A yellow car was driving on it, going 202 mph. Every turn she took was perfect. She was able to hold the racing line like a pro. She was really good. "What racer is that?" Dad asked.

"That is Cruz Ramirez. She's a part of the Fascia League. You know, where most cars get their first start as racers. That's where sponsors, like us, spot out potential racers. She works here as a part-time coach." Sterling explained. Cruz was panting, smiling as she came down from the simulator.

"There's my laps around the track! Didn't even have to go outside!" She cheered high fiving other racers. "Now, let's get to our training! Come on! Let's go, go, go!" She encouraged, taking her place in front of three different cars.

"Wow. Feisty, isn't she?" Dad chuckled, watching her coach the other cars.

"She's got a lot in her," Sterling agreed, nodding his head. "And she's going to be your coach." He added.

"Wait, what? A rookie?" Dad questioned.

"Mr. McQueen!" She shouted right behind Dad, making him scream and jump a full 180. His blue eyes were wide as he stared at her. Ethan and I tried to hold in our laughter. That was hilarious. "Hmm. Your reflexes are still good, considering how old you are." She complimented.

"I'm not that old," Dad replied, regaining his composure and steadying his breathing. Luigi nodded his head, agreeing with my father.

"Sure ya are! Just look at these lumpy tires!" She exclaimed, tapping his tires. Luigi let out a little scream, offended by her.

"His tires are not old! He's in da perfect condition!" Luigi defended. Cruz shook her head, driving around Dad.

"Nope. He's pretty old. Even The King retired four years earlier than him. Mr. McQueen is older than dirt!" She replied. "He's so old that I remember watching him on tv as a kid."

"You make me sound a lot older than I actually am," Dad grumbled, glaring at her. I couldn't help but laugh. I liked Cruz.

"Use that!" She shouted, making all of us jump. Dad softly chuckled and calmed down.

"Oh, I get it. That's supposed to be like my motivation, right?" He asked, a smile growing on his face. Cruz nodded her head.

"Yupp. That's your motivation, Mr. McQueen. Everyone is going to call you old and rickety, which is your greatest weakness. So we're going to use that to motivate you to get faster and show them whatcha got!" She explained, her optimism making me smile.

"Alright, so when do we start? When do we get to go on the simulator?" Dad grinned.

"We have to work our way up, Mr. McQueen. Don't worry, we'll get there very soon. But first, we all need to warm up!" She cheered, slightly jumping.

"Like all of us?" I asked, joining in on the conversation.

"Well, whoever wants to train," Cruz explained. "Actually, I never quite caught your names."

"This is Luigi, Ethan, and Stella." Dad introduced, pointing each one of us. Cruz stared at me, narrowing her eyes.

"You must be his daughter, right?" She questioned, looking into my blue eyes as she drove towards me. I sent Dad a nervous smile then looked back at Cruz as I slowly backed up.