"So, what do people do around here for fun?" the new guy asked as the bell rang.

I was gathering up my books and almost didn't notice he was talking to me. "Um, well, guess it depends what you're into."

"Hm, that's nice and vague," he said, shooting me another one of those half-smiles. "What are you into?"

Was he hitting on me? Surely not. I don't think I'd recognize if a guy was. But, I was probably imagining it all in my head.

"Uh, I guess sometimes we go to parties, hang out on the strip, go to the beach. Depends," I responded. I failed to mention the car races. He didn't really strike me as a 'car race' kind of guy. And I didn't exactly want to bring him to the races.

We walked out of class, together. Mia had sped up down the hall. Heaven forbid she be two seconds late for her last period, or any period for that matter.

"What class do you have next?" he asked, looking down at his schedule and then around the halls.

"Auto shop," I told him. "You?"

"Um…chemistry. Room 301. You know where I can find a chemistry class in room 301?" He looked confused. And lost. I couldn't help myself.

"Yeah, um, I'll show you where it is," I told him. Granted my class was in the completely opposite direction. And I was pretty sure that if I got another tardy I was going to have detention. But, carpe diem. Seize the day. I sure as hell was going to seize this daily moment.

"Thanks," he said, stuffing his schedule back into his pocket. "I'm Luke by the way."

"Letty."

"Letty," he repeated. "Letty in auto shop."

"Yeah, what of it?" I asked, a tad defensive.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "It's just interesting is all."

I'd been called many, many things. Interesting was never one of them. I chose not to respond. I didn't really know how to respond to that. I thought he was pretty interesting too. Not because I actually knew anything about him.

"So, Luke in chemistry, where ya from?" I asked mockingly. It was the best I could come up with.

"Hawaii, born and raised. Northern side of the island," he stated, as if everyone was very familiar with the Hawaiian Islands.

"Oh yeah," I responded, as if I was very familiar with the Hawaiian Islands. "Cool, man."

"Yeah, I guess. LA definitely is a lot bigger. Seems like there's got to be a lot more stuff to do besides surf and work."

So I had a Hawaiian surfer boy on my hands. And the plot thickens…

"You're gonna wanna take these stairs right here," I pointed. "Then it's gonna be that first door on your right." I stopped. I didn't really want to stop. I was curious now. He was much more interesting than the company I typically kept. He was from somewhere cool. All my friends practically grew up on the same street.

"Oh." He seemed somewhat surprised. "Alright, well, thanks for the tour."

"No problem Hawaii," I said as I turned and walked away. Just then, the bell rang. Shit, just my luck.

"Leticia Ortiz," a stern voice I knew all too well called out from behind me. I didn't even want to bother turning around. "I happen to know that this is your fourth tardy this week. That means detention. I guess we will be seeing each other tomorrow after school."

I turned around and looked him in the eye. What an asshole. What kind of power-hungry shithead wants to become a high school administrator? Probably someone who had no friends themselves in high school and was destined to make kids these days pay for it.

"I don't know, Mr. McCauley. I think it's only my third," I said. I knew it was my fourth. He knew it was my fourth. But it was worth a try.

He just looked at me. If looks could kill, believe me I'd be dead so many times around. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. And I'll be calling your mother to inform her of your recent disciplinary infraction. Again."

As he walked past me I said, "well, tell her I said hi."

He paused briefly but kept walking.

As I made my way to auto shop, I couldn't help but think of how I got involved in the garage. And how everything changed when Dom turned sixteen.

I hung out at the garage with Mia everyday after school. I was mainly buying time until my Mom got off from her job at the hotel. I don't know if it was the fumes or mesmerizing sparks flying, but my interest in how these cars worked, and how they could work better, was immediately awakened. The fact that this newfound interest allowed me to spend more time with Dominic was just an added bonus.

Mr. Toretto was a good teacher, slow and patient.

Those first three years of living in LA sort of ran together. Dom didn't notice me. I didn't tell anyone that I was secretly obsessed with him…life was fine. Each day I learned more and more about cars. And each day I learned more and more about Dom. He didn't seem to mind me being around, at least not after I got the gist of things and was actually able to be of some use. I did easy jobs at first, oil changes, tire rotations, but eventually graduated into more extensive jobs like replacing the clutch plates and installing new suspensions or exhausts.

When Dom turned sixteen, things took a slight turn. The day of his birthday, March 16th, a day I am doomed to remember until I die, started out really fun for everyone. Birthdays with the Torettos were always pretty awesome.

I was thirteen. And, unlike Dom, did experience those awkward years of puberty. Grunge was in and I was sporting that look. In my eyes, the sun rose and set over bands like Soundgarden, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam. Vince and I bonded over music during those years.

Dom wanted to celebrate his sixteenth birthday by having a party- surprise, surprise. He wanted a keg but Mr. T would not go for it- surprise, surprise. So the guys settled on trying to sneak beer in under his nose. Mr. T went out, an attempt to be a cool adult and give his son some privacy. Mia was invited because it was her house. So if Mia was invited, naturally I was invited as well.

Around nine o'clock the party was in full swing. The house was wall-to-wall people. Many of which I did not know. Mia and I were standing awkwardly aside, looking around and trying to figure out exactly what to do.

"I have an idea," Mia said, grabbing my arm and pulling me upstairs.

"Mia, I may need my arm someday. Could you loosen the grip a little?" I felt like my arm had just been pulled out of socket as we made our way into her bedroom.

"We need to change," she said matter-of-factly.

"Like how?"

"Well, for starters, this look you have going on," she eyed me, "is not gonna work."

"Well I'm pretty content. And I don't give a shit what these people think."

"Maybe Dom may pay a little bit closer attention to you if he saw you in this," she said holding up a very, very short skirt, "instead of jeans that probably belonged to your brothers once."

"I don't care if Dom notices me," I shot back.

"Yes you do. And it's fine. I mean it's a little gross because he's my brother, but whatever floats your boat."

"You're talkin' crazy, girl," I said, trying to keep composure.

"Letty, I know you like him. I can tell by the way you look at him. You may as well try to do something about it. You're not gonna get anywhere just sitting on the sidelines your whole life."

Girl had a point. But, I didn't want to change for him- clothes or any other way. And that skirt was definitely not my style. Mia liked dresses and skirts, I preferred everything but.

"I'm not wearing that," I told her.

"Just try it on." She tossed it in my direction and continued to rummage through her closet. I picked it up from where it had landed on the floor and held it up. Short. Very short. Thinking about the consequences of this action, I hesitated.

"You better have it on by the time I get out of this closet," Mia insisted.

"Bossy much?" I quipped back.

I slid off my jeans, which was an easy task considering they were at least a size or two bigger than I needed. I pulled up the skirt. I circled around in front on Mia's mirror. Jesus, you could almost see my ass. Mia was a white girl, she didn't have much of an ass. Those of us from Latin descent, a little more junk in the trunk.

"I…don't…think this is gonna work," I told her.

She poked her head out of the closet. "Are you kidding? You look awesome. Nice legs!"

I just looked at her as if she had gone mental. Although, I must admit, I did have nice legs. Too bad I wouldn't be able to bend over all night.

"Here, try this with it," she said, tossing something else in my direction. I picked it up and tried to figure it out.

"What is this supposed to be? The other half of the skirt?"

"No, silly, it's a shirt."

"This is not a shirt." I held it up. It may have been part of a shirt but was missing the bottom half. It looked like a quarter of a tank top, and not really the quarter that mattered to a flat chested thirteen-year-old.

"Just trust me, will ya?" she said, pulling out some more clothes and spreading them over the bed. She studied them like she was studying for a test. I didn't get it. It didn't seem to matter that much. They were just clothes. But, for the sake of argument, I pulled the teeny, tiny shirt on and looked in the mirror. I was pretty sure I had on more clothes last time I went to the beach.

"I like it!" Mia looked up at me.

"I feel like I'm wearing underwear."

"Well, your not."

"What are you gonna wear? You can't make me wear this and not do the same thing to yourself."

"I'm still trying to decide. What do you like better, this shirt with this skirt or with this one?"

"They both look the same to me."

"That's helpful."

"Well, you shouldn't have asked." I continued to look in the mirror. This outfit definitely didn't look like me. Maybe that was the point. But, I guess it was like Halloween.

"Alright, I'm gonna wear this one," she decided and quickly changed into an outfit that I thought looked a lot like what I was wearing, just a different color.

"Now for hair and makeup…" she started.

"Whoa, easy there Barbie. I'll change my clothes but you're not touching my hair and face." I backed up.

"Why? You wouldn't want to ruin this not-showered, dirty, carefree thing you have going on right now?" she joked.

"Ouch," I joked back.

"Just let me try. If you don't like it, you can undo it."

I don't actually know how long I was sitting in the chair. It seemed like forever. In reality, it was probably around fifteen minutes. She did stuff to my hair, I don't know what. And, stuff to my face, I don't know what. But when she spun the chair around to let me see myself in the mirror I was a little taken back. It was hard to imagine that the person in the mirror was actually me.

"So…what do you think?" she asked excitedly.

I didn't want to admit that she was right. I did look better. But, she was right. I did look better. "I guess it's worth a try."

Mia smiled smugly. We put on some heels, that were quite the struggle to walk in, and made our way back downstairs to the party. I felt a little ridiculous. But, no one at the party went to our school. Maybe no one would recognize me.

"Letty?" a very surprised Vince called from behind me.

Guess they would recognize me.

"You say anything and I swear to God I'll deck you," I told him as I turned around.

He smiled. I wanted to punch him.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Easy crazy lady. It's just that you look good," he said. "You too Mia."

"Oh…well," was all I could say in response. Vince just kept walking. I noticed that his gaze lingered on Mia a few seconds longer than necessary.

"Ladies, ladies, ladies," Hector said, coming up and putting on arm around each of us. "You two are going to get me in trouble with tu hermano."

"Cool it, Hector. This was Mia's idea," I told him.

"I always pinned her for the brains of the operation," he responded leading us into the kitchen.

"So what does that make me?" I asked.

"The bronze."

I could live with that.

"You ladies want a beer?" he asked, walking towards the cooler and removing his arms from around us.
"Yes," I said while Mia simultaneously said, "no."

Hector just looked back and forth between us, trying to figure it out.

"Come on, Mi. You did this to me. Now I need something to ease the pain. I'm doing this to you," I told her.
"Fine," she relented and we both accepted beers from Hector.

I had never had a beer before, not a whole beer anyway. Mr. T had let us taste his from time-to-time, but never had I had a full one in my possession. I took advantage of the opportunity and brought the cool can to my lips. It tasted terrible but I wasn't going to let on.

We made small talk with Hector and a few more of Dom's friends that grazed in and out of the kitchen for a little bit. Just then, Vince and Dom came into the kitchen.

"Dude, I totally got something," Vince said, showing Dom a bottle of liquor.

Dom smiled, "shots." After that he briefly stumbled into me. I caught him, and felt his warm body press against me for a few brief seconds. "Excuse me sweetheart," he said without looking.

"No problem, Dom," I said.

"Oh shit," he looked over. "Didn't recognize you Letty."

"Figured."

"You got Mia-nized," he said.

"Huh?"

"You let Mia do…something."

"Oh…yeah."

"Looks good," he said. I could tell that he looked me up and down. It made me a little nervous. I felt like I was showing too much skin. I wanted to cover some more things up. "But you," he said, turning to Mia. "You're not wearing that here."

"Oh, Dom," Mia said dismissively.

"Seriously. Go change."

"No," Mia said, trying to mess with her brother. "I thought we were taking shots?"

Dom seemed stunned by the words coming out of his perfect little sister's mouth. I was a little shocked myself. Shots? Mia wanted to take shots? She had had all of about 3/4 of a beer, while I was on my third.

"You're not takin' shots," Dom commanded.

"Oh, come on Vee," she said, walking up to Vince, pressing her body flush with his and putting an arm around his neck seductively. "Can you pour me a tiny one?" Now it was obvious that she was just trying to piss Dom off. It was working.

"Sure," Vince smiled, looking down at her.

"Bro, no!" Dom said loudly to Vince. That did a pretty good job of snapping Vince out of his trance.

"No," Vince shook his head to Mia. "I can't do it."

Mia let go of Vince and laughed.

"She's gonna be a tough one in a couple of years," I said to Dom.

He looked at me and rubbed his head. "She's a tough one now. But between the two of you. Damn, we're gonna get in so many fights."

I smiled. I liked that Dom thought that way.

"Alright, enough of the bullshit. Mia, you can wear that as long as you don't tell Dad about, well, any of this," he said looking around at the madness.

"Deal," Mia said.

Mia and I stood there and watched Dom and Vince take shots of Jose. They took several. It was straight out of the bottle so it was hard to keep track of how many. Towards the end of the evening, I was getting a little drunk. And it was obvious that Dom had crossed the bridge. The party started to die down until it was just Vince, Dom, Leon, Jesse, Mia, and myself. We were watching televisions while Mia tried to clean up empty beer cans and bottles.

"Anyone gonna help?" she called in from the kitchen. No one responded.

"I'm either gonna go puke or pass out," Leon commented. He left the room and headed for the basement.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Jesse said and immediately followed in step.

"I think Vince has already, uh, passed out," I pointed for Dom to look at a snoring Vince.

"I think you're right," he said.

I reached over to the drawer on the end table and grabbed a marker. "Let's write on him," I smiled.

Dom looked back over at me. He smiled. He had a great smile. "I don't know," he hesitated.

"Pansy," I challenged.

"Pansy, huh?" he joked back, grabbing the marker out of my hand.

He walked over to Vince and drew a crooked mustache above his upper lip.

"Oh, that's the best you can do?" I asked, walking over and grabbing the marker from him.

I wrote 'HERPES' on his forehead, in all capital letters, just for effect. Dom laughed and we continued to fill up Vince's face with adolescent obscenities.

Mia came in from the kitchen and just stopped. She looked at me, at Dom, and then at Vince's face. She just shook her head in disapproval. "You guys will never grow up. I'm going to bed."

"I hope not," I commented back to no one in particular. I made my way back over to the couch.

Dom plopped down right beside me.

"So, did you have a good birthday?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, it was a pretty good one," he said. "You looked pretty hot tonight."

"You're drunk."

"So are you. Besides, is that always the way you accept a compliment?" he asked, turning his body to face me more directly.

"Probably," I laughed.

He just continued to look at me. I stopped laughing. I was trying to figure out what was going on. I felt nervous. I turned my head. He was still just looking at me. I wondered what he was looking at. But then, to my complete surprise, he leaned in. I didn't quite realize what was going on at first until I felt his lips on mine. Shocked, initially I failed to respond. But, after I came to my senses, my eyes closed. My lips embraced his. This was what I'd always wanted. I felt like it was my birthday. I felt his hand reach up and touch my cheek as the kiss continued. His tongue tickled my lips. I opened my mouth and welcomed him in. I felt him explore my mouth. I raised one hand and wrapped it around his neck. I don't know how long we kissed. But it seemed like forever, and yet it seemed all too quick. When I felt his lips pull away, I just sat there, eyes still closed. My lips were paralyzed. His breathing was heavier. I opened my eyes to look at him. His eyes were still shut. Slowly, his lids rose. He looked at me and smiled.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to just sit there like an idiot. I needed to get up. I needed to go. Go somewhere. Go to bed maybe. Go anywhere so I wouldn't pounce on him and start kissing him more. I needed to stay in control.

"Well," I said, slowly standing up. "Happy birthday."

He didn't respond. His eyes followed me as I left the room. I walked upstairs to Mia's room and climbed into the sleeping back that was set out on the floor. I knew I wasn't going to sleep. I was in love.

TBC

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