Fanfic: In The Fast Lane

Chapter 39:This is Why

Chapter 39: This is Why

Once on the road, Harley and Ryan Lee made their way to the next town over. Even though Ryan had said it would only be a thirty minute drive, it wouldn't be so. Regardless of being a retired racecar, Ryan liked to drive slow. But Harley was fine with this because she hadn't had time to slow down in a while. It reminded her of the good days. The drives she would take with Ramone, Sarge, Lizzie all came back to her with fondness and warmth. Then came the bittersweet memories with Doc. Her giddy smile faded into a sad one. Ryan of course noticed, but didn't want to bother diving into a sob story. Instead, he decided to simply get her mind off whatever she was thinking of and back to the present.

"So, kid, what color are you thinking of?" It seemed to work because Harley's attention and thoughts were quickly reverted back to the 'here-and-now.' She raised her eye rims and looked over to her slow paced coach.

"Hm?" She asked not quiet catching his question.

"Color, kid, what color." He asked with a slight tint of irritability.

"Oh right!" Harley said as he sighed, "Hm, not sure." The thought hadn't exactly crossed her mind. She was just excited for her first racers paint.

"Well, you best decide soon." He muttered earning a scoff from Harley, "What?"

"Soon? The pace we're going is gonna get us there next week." Ryan rolled his eyes while Harley chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah." he nudged her fender, "Gotta drive slow if you're going to take forever on what color your getting." now Harley rolled her eyes.

"Ha, okay." Silence once again filled the air as she thought about herself in different colors.

"What about blue?" Ryan suddenly suggested.

"Blue?" Harley repeated. She took it into consideration, but as she was seeing herself in blue, she saw the garage. Doc's garage. The newspaper clippings of Doc flooded her mind. All she could see was Doc in his prime. Royal blue burned in her mind like a forest fire devouring the very woods they were driving through.

"Yeah, blue." Ryan continued. "It's a fan favorite, though lots a cars don't really use it anymore. The royal blue that is, you got that King who sort of owns the baby blue paint now. But hey, it's been a while since anyones given royal blue a shot." Harley's expression grew dark.

"No." Was all she could say and again Ryan noticed her change in mood, only this time he wasn't going to ignore it.

"Why not, It's a nice color." Harley was now starting to let her emotions take over.

"I said no, Ryan!" Her voice was suddenly raised and Ryan slowed down. "I'm not going to be blue!"

"Hey, calm down.." He carefully studied her. He had always been a very observant car. It was one of the traits that made him a great racer back in the day. He studied everyone else while making himself unreadable. "It was just a suggestion."

"I'm sorry," Harley sighed out her emotions and let go of her anger. "I just... really hate that color."

"Really? Couldn't tell.." He then went back to his original pace. "Maybe yell louder next time." Harley had no response. She wasn't even thinking about what color she could be anymore. She was just mad now. She resented Doc. He was such a hypocrite and a lier her entire life. How could he do that? Why would he? Did he ever really love her, or was that a lie too? Just part of his big scam over the entire town. She prayed she'd never see him again. As soon as she prayed that, she felt nothing but sorrow.

"Red?" Ryan piped up to break the awkward silence that had suddenly plagued them.

"Huh?" Again Harley forgot what the current question was. She heard red and thought about the soft spoken firetruck back home. Home. No, not home, back in some desolate place that only played the part, but it failed to earn the title. It fell short at the very end. Of course it was too good to be true. Wasn't everything?