Driven to Win

Chapter 23- Numbers Never Lie

Chapter twenty-three! Give it up for chapter twenty-three! XD (Anybody?)

Most of this chapter is the next couple of scenes from the movie (and Fudge isn't even in either of those scenes!). I've just added a couple of little bits to make it a little less boring.

Chapter 23- Numbers Never Lie

As tired as she was, sleep didn't come to Fudge right away. First, she had to endure an hour of crying and self-loathing. Luigi and Guido had tried to comfort her at first, but after a while, they realised that she needed to be alone. She needed some time to think. Her fight with Lightning and Cruz was still fresh in the sixteen-year-old's mind. She just felt hurt (both physically and mentally; as if she wasn't in enough pain, it started raining, meaning all of the pain from her previously broken bones came back!), mad at Lightning, mad at Cruz and mad at herself. Plus, she felt guilty.

The teen couldn't help wondering if the fight had been everyone's fault. Or nobody's. She'd told Lightning to shut up and accused both him and Cruz of not caring about her. Fudge sincerely wished that she hadn't said those things. Then Lightning had pretty much called her stupid and immature and told her he didn't have time for her s**t and Cruz had called her a pretentious b**ch. Fudge sincerely wished that they hadn't said those things.

Fudge pulled out her journal. She was tired and her arm was killing her, but she didn't think she could sleep until she'd gotten this out. A lot of the time, venting in her journal and trying to organise her thoughts on paper made her feel better. By that point, Luigi and Guido were both fast asleep (she wasn't even fazed by Luigi's loud snoring, which often annoyed her when she was trying to sleep) as was Mack, who had parked under an overpass to shelter from the rain, so she had to rely solely on the light of her phone and her headphones to listen to "Lot to Learn" by Luke Christopher. After ranting about how horrible Lightning and Cruz had been to her, she added, I can't be too mad at them, though. I'm just as part of the problem as they are. Cruz was right. Well, half-right, anyway. I honestly don't think I'm pretentious, but I am a b**ch. I said some pretty horrible things too. I didn't mean what I said.

The human girl paused for a moment to consider that. She hadn't meant what she said, had she? She thought about it, going through every single thing she said in her mind. Okay. When she stuck up for Cruz, it came out wrong. Sure, she wasn't sure of the point of Cruz's training, but the whole time, she'd been convinced that there was a reason for it. However, Cruz didn't understand that; she thought that Fudge was blaming her like Lightning had been. Then, there was telling them that she'd been trying to make both of them happy. She'd definitely meant that. Of course she hadn't meant it when she said that Lightning didn't care about her.

What about Cruz? That really made Fudge think. Was Cruz really like all those other people who threw themselves at Fudge just so they could find out more about- and possibly meet- Lightning McQueen? Maybe. She'd had said she was a big fan of both of them, but could she have just been saying that to be polite? Hold on a sec! What would Cruz possibly have to gain from pretending to like Fudge? She was training Lightning McQueen! Fudge didn't know, but she was sure it was something. Come on, Fudge! she scolded herself. Why can't you open yourself up to the possibility that Cruz might genuinely like you? Oh, come on! she scolded herself again. When has anybody ever liked me for me?

It was a lot to think about, but Fudge just couldn't deal with it at that point. With her journal entry unfinished and as incoherent as could be, she lay back on her bed and cried herself to sleep.