The New Generation of Racers - Carol Weathers

3 - Gonna Pay

"Alright. Speed."
"I am speed."
"One winner, 42 losers. I eat losers for breakfast."
"Breakfast. Maybe I should've had breakfast—no, focus. Speed...speed...speed."

"Hi, Stormy!" I drove up to my best friend Jackson Storm.
"Carol! Hi! How's my favorite car today?" Jackson turned and smiled at me brightly.
"I've never been better. You?"
"Oh I'm just peachy. You know, why don't we take a cruise after school today?" Jackson requested.
"A cruise? I'd love to." I smiled, nudging him gently.
"Oh wonderful. I was scared you'd say no." he looked relieved.

I shook myself, pushing myself to catch up with the other racers. I can't get distracted by Storm.
"You seem distracted today, Carol." Cal said from the crew chief stand. "Everything alright?"
"Everything's fine, Cal." I replied, increasing my speed.
13th place.

"You're coming up to the leaders!" Cal warned which boosted my confidence in winning. "2nd place!"

"Thanks, Cal." I sighed, being neck to neck with Jackson and Daniel. "Hello, boys."

"Hi, Carol." Daniel smiled. "Finally got your head out of the clouds, huh?"

"Nah, I've always been light and fluffy." I replied, my eyes fixated on the checkered flag.

"100 meters to go—Jackson's blown a tire, go, go, go!" Cal yelled.
What? I looked to my other side and saw Jackson desperately creeping up to the finish line.

50 meters.

30.

10.

"It's amazing!"
"Indescribable!"
"Only once in the history of racing—!"
"And we don't even know who won!" The announcers said in unison.

"A tie." I said dully, driving up to the pits. "A three way tie. Between me, Daniel, and Jackson."
"Wouldn't have been the first." Cal shrugged. "It was a good race."
"Hey, Cal, your blinkers' on." Daniel called, driving past us.
"No, your blinkers on!" Cal retorted. And it was, for once.

"Good comeback, Cal." I smiled, bumping tires with him.
"Great race today, Carol." Shannon Spokes was interviewing me. "How did you manage to do it while up against Jackson and Daniel?"
"Thanks, Carol, well, I think it's just we get each other. We know that there's more to racing than just winning--even if someone is just a bully about it and doesn't realize it yet--"
Whipped cream exploded from nowhere, landing on my hood and back. Confetti floated gently down on top of it.

"Congratulations, cupcake!" Chris Roamin, another new generation car said with Rich Mixon behind him, laughing.
"Oh they are gonna pay." I spat out some cream. Shannon was looking as though she was trying to hold back a smile.

My pit crew got the cream off of my face and back just in time as the megaphones rang out with the signal that they had made a decision.
"Oh!" I looked up and drove to the curtains behind the stage where they'd announce who won.

"You know, if I won, I'll give you as many of those cherry parfaits as you like, Weathers." Jackson drove up beside me with a small little smirk on his face. "You know I can win over you with that temptation."
"At least I didn't get here by bullying and winning racing video games." I retorted which made his eyes narrow.

"You two bicker like a old married couple." Daniel snorted, nudging Jackson with his tire who glared at him in response.

"Do not." I defended myself. "Besides, I can't stand Storm."

"And I can't stand her." Storm agreed, huffing. "What happened in high school is over, Daniel. Get that in your head."
"Ouch." Daniel smirked. "Hey, you got another chance, Jackson. You really want this to blow over?"

Jackson didn't say anything.

"Oh, they're gonna announce it!" I exclaimed.

"And now for the second time in history--" Darrel Cartrip said, "We have a three-way tie."
"What?" Jackson and I said in unison, our eyes wide.

"A tie." Daniel looked amused as he led the way out onto the stage.
"The tie breaker race will be held in one week at the newly refurbished Thomasville Speedway." Darrel added.