I made my way back to the stadium, to catch up with Cruz and Dad. I would first talk to Jackson, because I figured it was wrong just to throw it in his face that it wasn't a real relationship.

The thing is, it wasn't, so why did he get so offended? I mean, unless he...

Oh...

"You ready to go, Storm?" Cruz asked. I turned, and shook my head.

"Something happen with Jackson?" she asked.

"No," I said. "Well, yeah, but it's not just that." I explained. It wasn't really a lie. I had been going through a lot of pressure. Between lying to Dad's face, and the media going nuts about "the first female racer", I had been pushed to my limit to be something that I really didn't want to be, anymore.

Cruz looked around, as if to make sure no one was around. The other cars were too busy to really hear anything, anyways.

"Why the long face, Alex?" she asked. I looked to her.

"How long am I going have to keep lying?" I asked.

"About what?" she asked. "About being Storm? About the racing center?"

"About everything." I explained. "Cruz, I can't do it. It's too much pressure. I should just be at home watching this."

"Don't beat yourself up, kid," she said. "I get it. It's hard, but this is for your dad, is it not? If it's something about Jackson, don't worry about him."

"I lied right through my teeth to my dad's face," I said. "I feel horrible."

Cruz was quiet.

"Oh, honey," she said, after a while. "I'm so sorry you have to go through all of this."

"I can't do it." I whispered.

"Yes, you can," she encouraged. "I know you can. Alex, you are so, so gifted. You can't fool yourself into thinking that you're stuck forever. There's always a way, and we'll find it, okay?" she asked. I nodded.

"You'll get through all of this, and you'll win this thing." she said. She then looked me straight in the eyes.

"Win this race," she said. "Win it for your dad. Don't let the name "McQueen" burn out just yet. I'll make sure to let your dad know to do the same."

I nodded.

"Good." she said.

She then added one last statement that had completely stopped me in my tracks.

"Now, why don't we talk about this little budding "problem" between you and Jackson?"

Wait, what? How did she-...?

"What problem?" I asked.

"The budding romance between the two of you, of course." she answered. My eyes widened. She smiled at me.

"I'm not an idiot, Alex." she said.

I wondered how she had known.

"Cruz, it's not what you think-"

She cut me off.

"Oh, really?" she asks. "The smart remarks, the smile I've seen you giving him. Heck, he never smiles unless he's faking it for the media."

I thought on that, looking to Cruz.

"I've observed Team Igntr, and I've observed Jackson," she continued. "He doesn't act like Jackson around you, and you don't act like Alex around him." she explained.

I was quiet.

"Alex?" she asked, waiting for a response. I sighed, closing my eyes.

"You don't decide my feelings for me, Cruz." I said.

"I know," she responded. "And neither do you."

Whoa, way to answer, Cruz. You should be a lawyer.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your emotions are a psychological thing, Alex," she explained. "You can't wait up one day and say, "Hmm, I think I'm gonna be happy, today. Here I go!" It just happens!"

I stood, silent, partially taking in what she said, partially wondering where the heck Dad went.

"Alex," she said. "You like Jackson."

"No," I argued. "No, no I don't. He almost killed my dad. I can't-"

"It's not your decision, Alex-"

"I don't care, Cruz," I interrupted. "I can't. I'm not going to hurt my dad like that."

There was yet, another silence. I turned around.

"I've already lied to him, enough...gave him sixteen years of pure nonsense, and anger..." I continued.

"Alex," said Cruz, quietly. "Honey-"

"No, Cruz." I said. "I can't date my dad's enemy."

I turned back around to leave, and there stood Jackson, right next to her. It was at that moment that my heart dropped into my stomach. The look in his eyes stabbed straight into my soul, and I watched them close into a glare. All three of us were silent.

At that moment, Dad showed up.

"I didn't know you were there." I explained quietly to Jackson.

"Didn't know?" he asked. "I heard the entire conversation. Where did you think I was?"

"I thought you left-"

"Yeah, I left and came back." he said.

"Jackson, I-"

"What?" he asked, his tone sharp enough to cut through the ground. "You what?"

"I-I just.." I stammered. "I thought you, that you didn't feel the sa-"

"Feel the same way?" he asked. "Yeah, that's exactly how I felt until I heard you're little "Jack killed my daddy" rant." he snapped. "First you go ahead and throw it at me that the relationship isn't real, and now this? Especially when I thought-"

That did it.

"What did you say?" I asked, cutting him off..

"What do you mean, what did I say? Did you not hear me, or are you too caught up in your daddy issues to listen?"

"What did you say to him on that track?" I asked, my tone growing louder.

Jackson choked on what he was gonna say.

"What?" he asked. I felt something wet on my cheek.

I ignored it.

"What did you say to him?!" I yelled. "What provoked you to hurt my dad, Jackson?!"

Inside, I regretted saying that, because Dad was right there, and his eyes were full of both shock and anger.

Just great. However, I was too angry and upset at the moment. I ignored him.

I could have cared less, at this point.

Jackson had been silent. He muttered something under his breath.

"Say it louder," I said. "Say it louder, or I swear, Jackson-"

"Enjoy your retirement!" he snapped. I immediately shut up, looking straight into his eyes.

"I didn't care what happened to him, so I told him he had a good run, and to enjoy his retirement. All I cared about was the Piston Cup." he explained. "I'm sorry, Alex."

I could barely see him, because of the amount of tears blurring my vision.

"No," I responded. "no, you're not."

Jackson only stared at me. I choked through the next thing I said.

The tears took over from there.

"Alex-"

"No!"

He was silent, again.

"No, Jackson," I said. "I'm not going to hang around someone like you. Someone who's so focused on himself, that he doesn't even notice how many people he's hurt. Honestly? Name me one time you thought of someone other than yourself! I'll take it back--I'll take it all back!"

"I'm only thinking of myself?" he asked. "Why else do you think I left, after you slammed the whole "fake relationship" thing at me, back at the Speedway?"

I was quiet.

"You think it was all about publicity?" he asked.

"That's what you told-"

"I told you it was, because I was scared of looking like an idiot." he cut off, and it was easy to sense the hurt in his voice. "There never was any deal. I said that, because I'm supposed to be the "Great Jackson Storm". I'm the one who's supposed to do everything like some kind of racing god. So, how about you tell me who's only thinking about themselves?" he asked.

I remained silent.

"Exactly." he whispered, and left.

Nonstop tears streaming down my face, I watched his figure shrink, and eventually disappear from the stadium. Dad and Cruz were silent. Dad looked at me, seemingly studying me. Through the look in his eyes, it was easily seen he had figured me out.

"Alex?" he asked.

---

I stood, frozen, not knowing what to say. He shook his head at me.

"I-I don't understand," he explained. "Alex, why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I didn't think you'd want me to race after you crashed." I explained, trying not to choke, though I failed miserably. He was silent for a moment, and I knew I was in trouble.

"Who else was in on this?" he asked. "Cruz couldn't have been the only one."

"Mostly, everyone we live with..." I said, drifting off. He gave me a confused look.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked. "Cruz what did you guys do to her?"

"Dad, it was my idea." I said. He looked to me.

"Alex, why did you do this?" he asked. I tried to halt the flow of tears coming from my eyes, and compose myself.

"I didn't think you'd wake up," I said. "I didn't want people to forget you. I wanted to bring you back."

"Alex, I am back." he said.

"No, you aren't," I argued. "You're not as confident and happy, and all you were focused on before the crash was beating Jackson. You used to race for the fun of it, and now, you're not Lightning McQueen." I explained. He looked to the ground.

"Alex," he said. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of this. Had I known it would cost all this, I never would have done what I did in the past."

"He's gone." I said, not focusing on what he had just said, though I did take it to heart.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He's gone." I repeated. This time, he took the hint.

"Alex-"

"He's gone, Daddy." I sobbed, and immediately, he hugged me.

---

We'd made our way back to Radiator Springs, Cruz joining along with us. Dad had comforted me the whole way back to Route 66, and we met Mom at the entrance.

"How did everything go?" she asked, and she noticed Dad. She froze for a minute, then continued.

"You found out?" she asked.

"Everything." Dad responded.

"And..you're okay, right?" she asked.

"It's not me you should be worrying about, Sally." he said. Mom looked to me, and my red eyes.

"Hey," she said. "What happened, Alex?" she asked. I shook my head at her, and went to Ramone's paint shop. He met me at the entrance.

"Yo, what happen to you, man?" he asked.

"Take it off, Ramone." I said. He looked to Mom, who gave him the same confused expression. I overheard Dad saying something about "putting her to bed" and "giving her some time", and I knew he was talking about me.

It wasn't long, before the paint was gone, the parts were gone, my old parts were back, and I was just a regular Porsche.

Well, other than the V-8 engine.

---

I drove over to the tenth cone of the motel, and Mom drove up to me.

"You okay, Sweetheart?" she asked.

I was numb.

I had no feeling.

There was just too much that I had taken in. The fake identity, the lies...

...Jackson...

"I couldn't do it," I said. "I ruined everything, Mom. I hurt more people than I helped, including myself."

Mom frowned.

"I hit rock bottom." I said.

"Well, you know what they say, Alex?" she asked. "The best thing about hitting rock bottom, is that the only way left to go is up."

"I have no way up." I responded. She looked down.

"I was really routing for you. Alex." she said. "I hope you're willing to try this again. Even your dad is cheering you on."

I nodded, and heard her drive off. I sighed, and decided to hit the hay, since it had grown late.

I went to sleep hoping it was just a bad dream, and that as soon as I went to sleep, I'd wake up to peace, and to my family being full of the joy they once had, that had been replaced with heartache.

---

Breakfast at Flo's had been the most silent, and saddening that it had ever been. Fillmore hadn't even said anything about organic fuel, Ramone and Flo weren't flirting as usual.

Even Mom looked upset.

This was all my fault, and I didn't know what to do to fix it. I overheard Darrell Cartrip on Lizzie's radio, talking about the "rumor" that Lightning McQueen's daughter had joined the league, disguised as Storm Swift.

I guess I could understand that, being that Dad questioned my name aloud to the other racers practicing at the track, yesterday. I assumed that someone overheard and spread the "breaking news".

Or, Jackson told everyone, which seemed to be the likelier option.

After all, he probably hated me, by now. He had every right to, anyways. I reminded him of a fake relationship that he wanted to be real, and told Cruz in front of him that I couldn't date him, for Dad's sake. He probably felt like a pile of trash, and it was my fault.

In all honesty, I wanted that relationship just as much as he did, but I could never hurt Dad that way. The worst thing is knowing that your kid is dating the exact person you despise, and knowing they would betray you like that.

Besides, he was eighteen, and I was sixteen. It wouldn't work, anyways.

I had been thinking over my argument with Jackson yesterday, when my thoughts were interrupted by the radio.

"I'm here with Jackson Storm on the topic of Lightning's daughter, who supposedly joined in the racing leagues this season, as Storm Swift. Jackson, what do you have to say about this?" asked the car on the radio.

"I'm not going to lie to you all," he said. Just the sound of his voice made me miss him. "I was one of the people in on this story."

"Tell us what happened, yesterday, Mr. Storm." said the interviewer.

"It was all just a mess, guys," he explained. "the only one who didn't know was McQueen himself. I made a deal to keep the secret with her, if she'd keep a false relationship with me."

What he said next completely astonished me, because I had no idea he'd admit it on live radio.

"What I didn't know was that I would eventually want that relationship to become something more than just a deal."

"I'm sorry, are you admitting to expressing any feelings of the sort to the daughter of a short-term racing opponent?"

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I am, and after what happened yesterday, I'm not sure if she'll be back or not. There was a lot of chaos."

He did not, I thought.

But, he did.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"That's actually confidential," Jackson answered. "Though, I will say this: I made a mistake in using her disguise against her, yesterday. It was my fault, and I'm apologizing to all of you, right now for it. But as to the media, leave McQueen and his family out of this situation. I'm warning you."