episode 13
~the bionic 500~

"leo, how'd you get to be first in line for locker reassignments?"

"oh, since i couldn't get any sleep, i've been here since dawn."

"is it cause of your new neighbor?" val asked, taking her lanyard off and placing it around bree's neck.

"yeah—-fyi, you do not want to see the lunch ladies without makeup."

"wait, they wear makeup?"

"but since i'm first in line, i'll finally get the corner locker," leo said as adam approached them.

"wait a second, i thought this was the line for lice check," adam clicked his tongue and walked away.

"there she is: locker 106. away from the traffic, near the cheerleaders, and i can see principal perry before anyone else—-and a two second head start can save a life," leo informed, and the other two davenport siblings nodded their heads before leaving.

"listen up, weasels! it's locker reassignment day. why, you ask? a little trick i learned from my days as a prison guard. never let the perps get comfy!" perry slammed the table in front of her after every word. "also, drag your hands through mashed potatoes to check for weapons. mhm, enjoy your lunch! alright, dooley, what locker do you want?"

"the corner one-"

"already taken!"

"what? by who?"

"by me, clayton harrington," a teenager in a light blue crew neck trudged towards the two, looking at valerie up and down.

"well, clayton harrington, i know you're new here, but i was first in line."

"oh, i know, that's why i offered principal perry an all-expense-paid trip to go wherever she wants," he smiled.

"staten island cat show, here i come! rroww!"

"but that's not fair," leo complained.

"i know, isn't injustice infuriating? hey, balderas, how's your dad?"

"he's swell," valerie faked a smile, hating how much perry loved her dad.

"tell him i'm still waiting on that call back?" perry adjusted her pantsuit, then spotted other kids she wanted to bother.

"balderas, huh?" clayton smirked, but before he could say anything else, leo opened his mouth.

"why do you care so much about getting the corner locker?"

"oh, i don't, but i hate lines, and harringtons don't wait. we let our money do the talking, and right now it's saying," he paused and took out his wallet, "you don't have as much as i do," he spoke in a falsetto voice. "anyways, can i get a first name, balderas?"

"she's not interested," leo growled, dragging the hispanic towards the gym.

"well, dooley, there are no more lockers left," perry stopped them. "so here's a key to the boiler room. just remember to knock first. my relatives stay there when they're in town."

                                                 ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

"why exactly am i here?" valerie asked, leaning against the barrier in hopes that she'll get a reasonable answer as to why mister davenport begged her to waste her time at the race track.

"leo told me that clayton is interested in you, so, go distract him or something."

"clayton?" bree stood up straighter.

"don't worry, he's not the one i'm going on a date with later tonight," she winked, causing bree to smile.

"are you sure you're gonna be able to beat pierce? i mean, you have no stock car experience. not to mention you get car sick going to the store."

"please. look at this track. even adam can drive in a circle."

"but this is an oval, and those terrify me," adam pointed to the ground.

"driving in a circle gets exponentially harder at 200 miles per hour."

"plus, no bathroom breaks. you're gonna need this," he picked up a black bucket.

"guys, don't worry about this. i have spent hundreds of hours training in a stock car simulator, i hired the best pit crew in town. i got this."

"well davenport," pierce caught their attention, and as soon as valerie turned her head, she noticed clayton fixing his collar. "we just wanted to wish you luck."

"you'll need it against our driver," clayton and his father chortled.

"driver?"

"yeah. i said we'd race; i never said i'd be the one driving. joey!"

an adult popped out of the vehicle, sporting a yellow and red suit. he made eye contact with valerie and sent a charming smile her way, only causing bree to move closer to the hispanic.

"that's your driver? when does he get his learner's permit?"

"uh oh, i've seen that guy before," chase panicked, but valerie beat him to talking.

"joey logano, he's been racing since he was sick. chris loves him."

"he's the youngest nascar driver to win on the pro circuit, ever," chase added.

"we're gonna need a bigger bucket."

"valerie-"

"on it," she sighed, popping a strip of gum into her mouth and yelling out clayton's name.

"am i finally gonna get a first name?" he arched an eyebrow.

"valerie," she smirked.

"why are you hanging around those fools?"

"charity work," val lied, resisting the urge to pummel clayton.

"ah, i heard your father owns a huge business company here?"

"i guess you could say that."

"hey, i'm joey logano," the brunette grinned, extending out his hand, which val accepted.

"valerie balderas."

"argh," clayton snarled, stomping his foot and storming off to his dad.

"i don't think he likes me," joey's eyes followed him, chuckling as they did so.

"i think it's just the fact that you're talking to me," val ran her right hand through her hair.

"hey, logano. rich guy. get your sassy chassis over here and let's talk some track!" perry called out.

"why is she here?"

"you know her?"

"school principal, good luck," she raised his nerves, but fixed it by comfortably rubbing her thumb on his arm. "don't worry, you've got a pretty face, so she'll go easy."

"logano!"

"i'll talk to you later," he smiled, jogging over to pierce and clayton. 

                                                 ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

"they sabotaged your car," val said out of breath, leaning against bree for support.

"how do you know that?"

"i was giving joey a pep talk or whatever and overheard pierce and clayton talking to your crew chief. the crew did something to slow it down."

"you guys are fired. get out of here, ken. 'ken.' that was it! probably shoulda waited until they put those back on," davenport said, referring to the tires that were laying on the floor.

"wait, mister davenport, what if we replaced your pit crew with a bionic pit crew?"

"or we could start rooting for joey logano. hey, just throwing out options."

"he is a pretty nice guy," val shrugged, but shut up when chase nudged her.

"hold on, isn't using bionics technically cheating?"

"look, they cheated first. technically, i'm just leveling the playing field."

"okay. i'll tap into the car's central computer and optimize it for peak performance. you use your super speed to change these tires and to gas it up. and adam-"

"-can do this," he bent down and lifted the car a bit. "pretty cool, huh? ow! hot radiator! hot radiator!"

"val-"

"-go be a distraction, i know, i know."

                                                ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

"come on, they sabotaged davenport's car," joey jumped over the barrier, reaching out for val's hand and leading her over to the bionic pit crew. "so, it looks like my afternoon just freed up. you guys need any help?"

"uh," they all murmured.

"please say yes. i want to hide from that flag lady."

"yoo-boo! hey, joey! wanna go halfsies on a hoagie?" perry shouted out, causing him to lay down on the floor.

"pass me the headset," he ordered from the ground, and chase quickly complied.

"i'm pretty sure you guys don't need any help so can we go?" bree hopefully asked, and when the boys all nodded, she grabbed val and her backpack and ran to the parking lot.

"what's the rush?"

"i've got to go home and clean up."

"you look beautiful just like that," val chuckled, taking off bree's hat and placing it on her own head.

without thinking, bree leaned in, and after some long awaited time, their lips connected.

the anticipation, the erratically beating hearts, the build up, the struggle to breathe.

no regrets.

a moment that felt like sunshine after days of rain. a moment neither of them would ever forget.

~

hi, i'm spending the majority of my day tmr with my family, since we celebrate the 24th, so the next chapter will be up by friday or saturday, after i write one for my brittany pierce book

anyways, happy holidays!