STATS
Title: Liar's Bunkum.
Author: leslienicolewrites.
Rating: M.
Entry Date: February 23, 2007.
Word Count: 4,550.
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DISCLAIMER
Nothing you recognize is mine. I don't even own a copy of the movie!
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NOTE
Hello there! I try to update frequently, but fan fiction is rarely ever top spot in my to-do lists. Sorry. But, I guess it's like that for everyone here given that is meant for fun. Thanks for hits and reviews. Replies go privately to the people that review. I love that. Any questions, suggestions, etc - just drop me a word. Bye!
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CHAPTER THREE – THE RACE
Adora had been to the racing scene of several places already thanks to her missions around the world. She had been to places like New York, Florida, Mexico and some in Europe as well; but she had to admit that the best place for a race was there, in Los Angeles. Riley totally agreed with her, even if she had never street raced anywhere but there. A Latin girl with toned skin named Helena, who had a last name too complicated for anyone to pronounce it, had been the one to take Riley to a street race for the first time and achieve the impossible: she had made Riley fall in love with it. Helena was two years younger than the girls and had met Riley when she started attending UCLA as well, though she had a different major. When Adora got to the city, the two became instant friends. Riley and her always tried to join Helena and her friends at the races.
Helena had an older brother named Hector, a funny guy with whom Adora got along really well. He was always asking her about the key to her heart, always jokingly flirting with her because she was the new girl in his sister's group of friends – even after an year. Adora and Riley were more mature than most of Helena's friends, so Hector enjoyed talking to them more than he did talking to the other girls – mostly racer chasers. He organized the big races and was a close friend of the Toretto Team. He had wanted to introduce Adora to the team after she had proved that she could race, but she always declined his offers. And she never went to their parties either, because she usually went clubbing with Riley, Helena and the girl's friends.
When they got to the races that night, a lot of people walked around and loud music played from mostly every car that was there. Many people asked if Adora planned on finally racing Toretto since she usually only got into the smaller races, wasting her talent – as Hector used to say. Riley had raced against Dom once or twice and lost. Some guys made moves on them, but all they got were smart ass comebacks to their uncreative and weak pickup lines.
Adora spotted a group of racer chasers that had never really liked her, noticing that she wore more clothes than all the seven of them together. Adora had a black pleated cotton drawstring miniskirt on and black, chunky buckle boots. Her capsleeve tee was lime green with the sentence 'I Have A One-Track Mind' in black. She had braided a few, thin streaks of her hair, which she had washed and was letting naturally dry now. Black eyeliner and lipgloss were all the makeup she had on her face. Riley wore leather hiphuggers and a strapless top.
"AJ! Riley! Good to see ya again," Helena said as she walked up to them.
"Hey, Lena. What's up?"
"The gang's over there," she referred to the people they always hung around with at the races. "Hector's talking to a blonde hottie that wants to race Dom tonight. Let's go, ya just have to check him out!"
The girl took Riley's hand before any could reply and Adora followed them to the place where the rest of the gang was just as Dominic Toretto and his team got to the place in the typical V-formation. Adora hadn't been to the races in a little more than a month, but she could see nothing had changed. Team Toretto still put up the same ol' same show for the people that went there to watch them. Helena pointed over to Hector and next to him was Brian O'Connor. Riley and her walked over to the recently arrived people, so as everyone else, leaving Adora alone. She leaned over a random vehicle and half watched the crowd.
She didn't actually understand why everyone liked Dom so much. If anyone asked her, she would call him a sort of Madonna of the racing world or something like that. She wasn't sure yet. Dom was a good racer that had a good car, a good team and his own garage. He had won every race since most of the people there could even remember, but that didn't explain the fascination in her opinion. He didn't look like the nicest or most charismatic person. And she couldn't understand why Dom was the only one of his team to ever race. She had asked Hector about it, but he hadn't given her an answer. He had said that why should the others risk losing if it was sure that Dom wouldn't?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt someone lean over the car, taking the spot next to her. Adora turned to see a pair of green eyes. The first thing she noticed was that those eyes were greener than hers. They were actually green and not like hers that seemed to be honey-colored most times. Those eyes were amazing and she felt like she could stay there, just looking into them, for the rest of the night. The second thing she noticed was that those eyes belonged to Leon Perez, who was looking back at her. Then, he smiled and she placed both of her hands on the hood of the car to avoid a fall. It had even felt like her knees had gotten suddenly weak.
"Why you're here alone?"
"Everyone else's too busy enjoying your friend's show."
She waved her head over to where Dom stood with two chasers in his arms. Letty already walking over to them with a murderous glint in her eyes. Leon didn't turn to look over there, he just kept looking at her. He was already used to Dom's acts; if there was something that Dom loved it was the attention he got at the races.
Leon was realizing that he liked looking at the woman next to him a lot already. She was so pretty. And those eyes... He was undecided about their color. Earlier on he would have said that they were green, but now they seemed to be honey. He wasn't sure about which color he liked more.
"I'd never seen ya 'round here before."
"I like to lay low."
"You race?"
"Yeah, but tonight I'm just watching. I'm giving my baby some rest."
"Where she at?"
"Oedipus is parked just a few feet over there," she replied pointing to the direction from which she had come from.
"Oedipus? Your car's a guy?"
"Yep. I thought it was too lesbian to make my baby be a girl when we do so many crazy things together. It's a kind of intimacy I'd rather not have with someone of the same sex as me," she replied with a wink.
Leon smiled at her and just then they heard Dominic say they were good to go.
"Ya comin' to the party later?" Leon asked.
"I'll think about it".
He smiled once more before he went back to his Skyline. Damn, he had a killer smile, that was for sure. As soon as he was out of earshot, Helena and Riley walked up to her with smiles on their faces and stated that Leon was all over her. Adora didn't say anything and gave them a look that meant they shouldn't insist – and they didn't. Getting looks from Adora was never a good thing. Helena then told her about the club her friends wanted to go to after the races and decided to ride with both girls to the races.
Soon everyone left and then gathered again where the races would happen. The drivers took no time to close the streets with their nice cars. Adora parked hers some feet after the finish line, what meant that the girls and her would be really close to whoever won. The race didn't take much time to end and Dom easily won. It was obvious that Brian was an amateur.
Just a few moments later, Leon announced the approach of cops. Riley, Helena and Adora got into her car and the Latin girl told her to follow Dom, but she decided to follow Brian instead. She was supposed to keep an eye on him, not Dominic after all. Two police cars started chasing them and Adora turned on the first street as Brian followed to the next one. The cop chasing her crashed right into a mailbox.
"Turn on the next left. It's either that or an overnight," Helena said and Adora followed her advice. She had been living in Los Angeles for the past year, Helena had lived there her whole life. Granted, the Latin girl would know ways out and shortcuts better than anyone.
"My, my. Look who's behind us!" Riley exclaimed. Adora checked the rearview mirror to see a Supra behind her. It was Brian's car. "Wait! Is that...?"
"Dom Toretto? Why's he in the hottie's car?" Helena finished the question.
"Fuck! That's Tran and his gang," Adora said when she noticed the group of bikers surround Brian's car, ordering them to follow into an Asian restaurant.
"Park somewhere around. They'll probably need help. Dom's not on Tran's good side," Helena reminded them.
Most people knew that Dom Toretto and Johnny Tran didn't mix together even if they didn't know exactly why. Hector had told the girls to stay away from them as well several times already. It didn't occur to Helena why Johnny and his gang weren't following them too.
"What the hell was that?" Adora asked no one in particular when they all heard a loud noise followed by a wave of fire in the distance. Something had exploded and she had a guess of what that had been. NOS tanks.
The girls told her to start the car when the group of bikers sped past them. She drove back to the restaurant and saw as Dom and Brian walked outside. Adora sped up, going right in their direction. Riley laughed as Helena asked her to slow down. The two men sighed in relief when she stopped just two inches away from them instead of running over both as it had seemed to be what was going to happen.
"What the fuck was that?" Dom yelled at her when she got out of the car. Helena and Riley, who still laughed hysterically, hopped out of the vehicle as well. "Are ya fucking crazy?"
"I like to think so. Do you two need a ride home?" she asked, innocently.
"What ya doing 'round here?"
"Runnin' from the cops, Dom. We saw when Johnny and his buddies got ya," Helena replied and the bald man recognized her as Hector's little sister.
Both men eyed the girls. By then Riley had finally managed to stop crying and leaned over the car. No one made a move or said anything so Adora motioned back to her car and the two girls followed her.
"Fine, if you'd rather walk back, I'm not gonna stop you."
"A ride would be nice," Dom finally said.
Adora smiled a bit and waved her head at the car. "Get in. Don't touch the radio."
Brian went on the backseat with the girls as Dom sat next to Adora. They were in complete silence, aside from the songs playing in the radio. They dropped Helena off at the club where her friends were expecting them. After that Brian was the first one to speak, when they already were on the way to Dom's house. He introduced himself and asked their names, since he hadn't gotten them yet.
Riley introduced herself and when Dom didn't say anything, Adora mentally thanked Troy. She had told him that she would take Riley with her to go to Dom's garage, so he had decided to do a fake profile to the blonde as well. Luckily, Riley Carmichael was a more common name than Adora and it had been easy to keep her real identity a secret. Not that he had changed much anyway. He had just changed Riley's school records to a high school in San Francisco instead of one in Washington DC.
"And you're Adora Jean Smith," Dom said and didn't get any reaction from the brunette. "I had my friend Jesse run a background check on you two," the bald man turned to look at her. "You have a different name. Is it French?"
"No. It's crappy," she stated as if that was a valid explanation.
The two in the backseat chuckled. They didn't talk again until Adora stopped in front of Dom's house and he hopped out of her car. She was asking Brian where she should drop him off when the bald man invited them inside for a beer. They accepted it and she told the three to go inside as she parked her car somewhere.
When Adora finally got to the door, she recognized Mia's voice telling someone to stop with whatever shit was going on. She quietly opened the door and then closed it. When she turned around she ended up colliding with someone. She then realized it was Jesse. He looked at her for a moment before smiling. She couldn't help but smile back at him. He seemed so sweet and something just told her that he could be a great friend. She suddenly felt a little more comfortable being there.
"AJ, what's up? I didn't see ya at the races."
"I like to lay low. Where's Riley?"
"Over there," he said and pointed to another side of the house.
Riley was standing next to Vince, who looked pissed off even with the beautiful blonde girl by his side. Leon was with them as well, gesturing as he spoke to the tattooed man. He didn't noticed Adora standing there, who guessed that the reason of Vince's moody face was the fact that Brian and Mia were nowhere around. The good thing was that Letty wasn't anywhere around either. She was probably with Dom, having sex somewhere.
"He better not do or say anything stupid to her."
"I dunno 'bout that. Anyways, ya play video games?"
"Not much, but I'm a quick learner. Lead me there!"
Jesse smiled and took her to the living room, where the television and the Playstation were. He stopped talking about the video games she could choose from when he saw two chasers using the Playstation, although they obviously had no idea of what they were supposed to do. Jesse shrugged as they approached the almost naked girls and asked them if Adora and him could play after them. Both girls turned around and looked up and down at Jesse. Then they looked at Adora the same way.
"Why don't you go fuck somewhere and leave us alone?" one of them said, causing both to laugh like idiots. Adora thought they looked like that dumb hyena from Lion King, except that the hyena should be smarter than the two combined.
"Get lost, losers!" the other one then added.
Jesse didn't say anything, but Adora could see that he had clearly been hurt by those girls' mean comments. For some reason, seeing the young man like that made her feel angrier than it should and she decided she had to teach those chasers to be a little more polite when they talked to them. She walked around the two girls sitting on the floor and stood in front of them, blocking their view of the television. They obviously weren't too happy with it and glared at the brunette, who snapped the controllers from their hands.
"Fuck off, bitch!" one said as they got mad and stood up.
"Why don't you two get lost before I lose my temper?"
"Just cuz ya got the team's engine freak it doesn't mean ya can walk 'round like ya own the place, whore! Ya're not Letty!" the girl almost yelled.
"Thank God I'm not," was all Adora said.
The girl got mad and tried to slap her. She grabbed the chaser's hand and pushed her aside, making her fall on the floor. Her friend quickly went to help her as Adora sat down in front of the television, apparently unaware that everyone at the party was looking at her. She looked at Jesse and asked him if he was gonna play or not. He just said a 'yeah' before he sat on the floor next to her.
Jesse talked a mile a minute about the games he had there and she tried to follow it as she could. For her surprise, she managed to understand everything he was saying and he picked one of the Grand Auto Theft versions. They played for some minutes, Jesse always giving her pointers and tips about the best places to hide from the cops and how many people she could beat the shit out of without dragging attention to her character.
"Whatcha playin'?"
Someone asked and they looked up to see Leon. He smiled to Adora, who let her eyes linger on his lips for a moment before she turned back to the television and shot someone in the head. Then the video game announced she had completed the level.
"Ya're not so bad," Jesse said.
Leon thought she wasn't bad at all. He hadn't seen her arrive because he had been too busy calming Vince down and convincing his friend not to go over to Brian and kick his ass – or have his ass kicked since the blondie could box – before Riley dragged him over to another part of the house. Leon had only noticed her there when she practically jumped on those blonde chasers because they had mocked Jesse. He had taken some time to work up the courage to go talk to her.
"I learn fast. And nice job with the background check thingy."
"You found out?"
"Dom told me," she shrugged. That was half of the truth.
"Yeah... It's just, something he asks me to do."
"So, you're the genius of the group?" she smiled and he seemed to blush.
"Nah... I just like... computers. And cars."
"Computers are awesome."
"Yeah. Did ya actually invade those goverment files?"
"I was bored and didn't think they'd get so mad just because I looked over some criminals. Or because I donated a hundred thousand miles to an orphanage," she shrugged it off. "I mean, the kids would sure make good use of them".
In reality, she hadn't invaded the FBI files since she had had access to them all along, but she had actually donated those miles while tracing for a suspect. Needless to say that her boss didn't seem to be quite pleased with her goodness of heart.
"I think ya've found yourself some competition, Jess," Leon said with a smile.
Adora looked up at him again. He was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. And she had seen a lot of men already. Frankly, she felt like standing up and jumping on him to kiss those lips and she didn't like that feeling. Well, she did, but at the same time she didn't because she knew she couldn't, she shouldn't do that.
"Looks like it, Lee" Jesse replied.
He liked that she could listen to him without thinking that he was a freak because he acted differently because of his ADD. She looked at him and realized that he was appreaciating all the attention that she was giving to him. Suddenly, Adora didn't feel so comfortable around him anymore because she started feeling bad for lying to him. And that had never happened before. Since her mother's death she had lied to everyone – her father, cops, her boss, everyone -, but had never felt that feeling of... guilt.
"I like cars too, but I'm not a big time mechanic. I'd love to design them, but it's too much for my little brain" she finally brought herself back to reality and managed to speak.
"Ya're kidding, right? If I can do it, anyone can" he threw his controller on the floor and stood up. "C'mon, I'll show ya some design ideas I have in my room and you'll see it's a piece of cake."
"I hope this isn't a trick to get me in your bed, Jesse," she remarked jokingly. "I'm better off as your friend, believe me, you wouldn't wanna date me".
"And here I was hoping to show ya my engine," he replied to her just as jokingly.
Adora just laughed and followed Jesse to his room in the basement. Leon almost sighed in relief. If she wasn't interested in Jesse that meant he probably had a chance with her. At least he hoped so. Leon hadn't been invited, but he decided to join the two. He was surprised to see how Jesse acted around that girl. Usually he was shy, even with the team, but around her he seemed to be more at ease. He noticed that Adora looked at the young man as if he was saying the most important thing in the world as Jesse went on and on about car parts, modifications and whatnot. Sometimes she would interrupt him to ask something and he would gladly reply. It was obvious that he was thrilled with the attention he was getting. On that moment, Leon realized that the team didn't give Jesse enough credit for all he did.
Some time later, Mia asked for Leon's help to kick the people out since the party was officially over. Adora took that as her cue to leave as well and Jesse still talked about her car as they walked upstairs. She told him he could drive her car sometime, all he had to do was ask. Jesse headed to his room as she asked about Riley's location to Mia, who didn't know where the blonde woman was. Adora called her friend's cell phone and had the disturbing impression that Riley was in the middle of a make out session to say the least, given that she was panting as she spoke, saying that she had gotten a ride home with someone. Adora didn't have the time to say goodbye to her friend as a ruffled male voice told her to get off the phone. The brunette smiled and then headed to her car. She heard someone following her and turned around to see Leon.
"Are you stalking me?" she asked with a small smile on her face.
"Nah. I just came to make sure ya'd get here safe."
"I think I could've managed myself."
"Humor me," was his simple reply for he was well aware that she didn't need help to protect herself.
They didn't talk as they closed the distance to her car in just some steps. She opened its door and motioned to go inside, but then stopped and stood up again to face Leon. She played with her car keys for a moment, trying to ignore the fact that she would probably regret what she was about to do later. Then, she told herself that she needed to approach the team and was just doing her job, not that she actually believed her own words. She blurted out the question before she decided not to.
"Leon, do you wanna go out with me some time?"
His green eyes widened in obvious surprise. That wasn't the reaction she had expected. Well, maybe it was, she hadn't thought about how he would react before asking him the question. He was caught off guard, after all not many girls asked the guys out, even if they were in the twenty-first century. He cleared his throat before smiling at her. Finally, she relaxed and smiled as well. He took a step towards her, what made them stand just a mere few inches from each other. They weren't touching, but they could feel each other's body heat as close as they were.
"I thought the guy was supposed to ask."
"At least you won't have to pay," she joked.
"And I'll be in very good company," he added.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We have a date. Is tonight good for ya?"
"It's good. Do you want me to pick you up?" she smiled, teasing.
"I'd rather pick you up, if you don't mind," he said, his lips almost touching hers.
"Ok," Adora got a notepad and a pen that she always left in her car, scribbled something on one of the white pages and handed it to Leon. "Here's my address."
"I'll pick you up at eight."
"In that yellow Skyline?"
"What do ya have against it?" he asked with mocked offense.
"It's yellow. That's a horrible color for a car," she told him with a smile. "But I guess it's ok. The driver makes up for that."
"Oh, he does?" Leon took another step and now their bodies were finally touching.
"Yeah, he does," she replied and closed the gap between them.
But she didn't kiss him on the lips. She planted a soft, lingering kiss on the corner of his moth, barely touching his lips, and then softly pushed him away. He smiled a smile full of lust and frustration. She was a tease. He surprised her when he brought her face to his, one of his hands behind her neck and the other resting on her waist. He pressed his lips on hers, gently for a moment, before letting his tongue snake over Adora's sweet lips. She had a good taste. Actually, good wasn't enough to describe it.
Adora gladly allowed Leon's tongue into her mouth to deepen the kiss. He was such a good kisser. There was just something about that kiss. It seemed to be different from every other kiss she had had in her life. It seemed to be... better. As she thought that, a sirene seemed to go off in her mind. She was not supposed to be feeling attracted to Leon. As far as she knew he could very well be behind those heists or at least participating in them. It was supposed to be just a job. It is just a job, she mentally yelled to herself when they pulled away from the kiss, air already becoming an issue.
Leon looked at her, searching for... well, he wasn't really sure what he was searching for. She hadn't pushed him away, so he was already glad. He smiled at her. Adora smiled back, her face and eyes never showing how nervous she actually felt. It had been just a kiss. She was sure that even if Leon did go on that date he wouldn't give any importance to it. He would probably be taking chasers to his bed the next race he went to.
"See ya at eight, Adora," was what he finally said.
She smiled a genuine smile this time. So, he did know her name after all. She hadn't written it on the note she had given him. And no one had called her by her name. Everyone always used the usual 'AJ' or maybe 'Dory' in rare ccasions. He reluctantly took a step back and allowed her to get inside her car. He closed the door for her as she opened the window. She said a quick 'see ya' before driving away. Smile still on her face.