Disclaimer: I do not own 'CARS', Pixar does. Any other characters not mentioned in the movie are mine.

Chapter 9

The Date

Part 1

At around three in the afternoon the weather had cleared up almost completely. Lightning, Sally, Tyler, Flo, Doc, Mater, Sam, Sommer, Jay and Mack were at the Wheel Well. Mack was bringing up all the food supplies, decorations, and karaoke stuff. Everybody else was setting up a big tent, just in case it did rain again. Some tables, and a stage were also being set up on the inside of the and Flo were helping Sally cook, while Lightning helped the others with the tent.

In town, Red had watered his flowers, and planted some new ones, before heading up to Wheel Well to help. Lizzie, as usual, was asleep on her store's porch. Sarge and Fillmore were in the middle of their usual early evening argument about something so small and stupid, that everyone around had forgotten what it was about, and were trying to break up the fight. Even Sarge and Fillmore had forgotten what it was about, so they decided to fight for no reason at all. Luigi and Guido were in their shop, doing their monthly re-decorating. Ramone was in his shop, doing some finishing touches on his newest paintjob: neon orange fading to light orange with black flames fading to light blue.

DJ and the gang were at their apartments behind Lightning's Racing Headquaters. (Lightning had originally planned for the five apartments to be rented out to his pit crew. But because most of them were already living in town, Mack was living in the oversized apartment. When the DRH gang's presence was in town alot, they would help Lightning practice racing. Lightning decided to let them take the four remaining apartments, since they were technically part of his pit crew. Now they sometimes followed him on races to practice at other tracks.) Boost, Snot Rod, and Wingo were helping DJ get ready by telling him what to say or do, and what not to say or do, and also other things from experience.

Michaela, Keely, and Sonny were looking after Abbie, Lilly, Amanda, and Jessica at the McQueen's house. Dana, Melody, Sierra, Mia and Tia were also there, in Dana's room. They were also helping her get ready.

"So, Dana," Sierra started. "Are you gonna get new tires?"

"I don't know, maybe. I was also thinking about getting a new paintjob." she replied.

"We should all get new paint and tires!" Mia and Tia exclaimed in unison.

"We should. Let's go!" Dana said excitedly.

All the girls went to Luigi's first and all got white walls, and were there for half an hour. Now they were at Ramone's. They were looking through magizines to get ideas for their paint jobs. Dana already knew what she wanted, and was almost done.

"Dana, you are gonna make DJ have an engine attack when he sees you!" Ramone said as he applied a second coat.

"Oh, I hope it won't be too serious! I would be heartbroken!" she replied.

He chuckled. "Do you want lip paint?" He asked.

"Sure, maybe a lighter shade?"

"Alright. I'll start on that when you're dry."

About an hour and a half later, at 4:58 P.M., they were all done and dry. "Okay, ladies. I'll see you all up at Wheel Well sowin' off your style at 5:30, right?" Ramone asked as they left. Keely, Sonny, and Michaela had come to check in with them.

"Right. Thanks, Ramone." Dana replied with a smile.

DJ had been at Flo's since 4:30. He was trying to think of what he would say to her when she got there. Doc, Mater, Sam, Tyler, Boost, Snot Rod, and Wingo were all amused, as they watched him as he paced on the side road between the cafe and the paint shop, talking to himself.

"Hey, Dana. You look nice. No, no...um..." he said. "Hey, babe. How you doin'? No, that makes me sound like wangster. Um,..."

"Man, this kid is beatin' himself up over nothin'." Snot Rod said, as his eyes followed the younger tuner up and down the road. "He's talkin' to himself more than he did the last time we had to do community service! And it's all over some girl!"

This caught Boost and Wingo by surprise, as they looked at him in disbelief, one on either side of him. "What?" he asked after a few seconds.

"You used to do that too!" Boost said.

"Yeah, but that was the old me. From, like, so long ago!" he defended himself.

"Dude! It was yesterday! Before you asked Tia to spend the afternoon with us!" Wingo spoke up.

"Oh. Yeah, huh?" He asked.

"And also, this morning! At the McQueens' house when you asked Tia to go on a date with you tonight!" Boost yelled.

"Oh. I did?" he asked again.

Everyone else rolled their eyes, and groaned. "YES!" They all yelled at the same time.

This caught DJ's attention. Then he noticed it was 4:58, he panicked and parked in front of the three, not facing Ramone's. "How do I look?"

"Great. But not as great as them." Wingo said as he pointed behind DJ.

"What are you talk-..." DJ replied as he turned around.

All the girls had come out before Dana, and formed two lines on opposite sides of the door. After DJ turned around, Dana came out and stopped a few inches in front of him. She had changed back to her original birth color she had worn for 15 years, but had it changed on her 16th birthday to the neon green. She was hot pink with a light pink glosspaint on her lips, and wearing white walls.

She was so close to him, that he could smell her cherry perfume, and could also tell that the glosspaint was cherry scented. He remembered from the last time he saw her that it was her signature scent. 'She...looks so beautiful...' he thought.

"Well? What do you think?" she asked as she did a small and slow circle in front of him, then drove around him. His eyes never left her.

"I-I-I..." his voice cracked. He cleared his throat as he tried to find his words. "I think you look...amazing!" he said with a smile. "I'm glad I didn't get a new paint job!"

Ramone came up next to her and whispered. "I told ya so."

Mia was a lighter cobalt blue to match Sam, Tia was a soft orange to match Snot Rod. Sierra was rustic brown to match Mater. Melody was just a lighter shade of her original color. Keely, Sonny and Michaela had just gotten small touch-ups, but nothing as major as the girls had gotten.

When the guys were done gawking over how good their dates looked, they all headed up to Wheel Well.

Ok, so, there's 'The Date' part one of two. Please review!