School starts again and I do so not wanna go there. Thanks for all the reviews, they're a positive distraction!

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Tension

"Bullitt and Chica",Tej grinned at the siblings after they had gotten out of Brian's Nissan and shook hands with the blond man, while Lilly received a hug,"I knew there was something I have to give ya, Chica", and he gave her the money she had told Brian about.

"Thanks, boss", Lilly took the bills and put them into her pocket, already scanning the cheering crowd for Crash and The One and Only. Of course, the people's enthusiasm had only grown with Brian's arrival due to her brother being the best driver in Miami, next to her, and that didn't make it any easier to locate two teenage boys between them. So she walked behind Tej towards Suki and Jimmy standing next to their cars, where Brian was already hugging Suki and getting a "hello"-kiss.

"Hey guys", she greeted her friends, still searching for any sign of Crash, he had promised to come, after all. Suddenly, Lilly felt herself embraced and she saw Suki's happy face.

"Thank you for the designs, Chica. They're all fantastic", the young woman let go off her before taking the girl's hand and pulling her next to her car, where Suki had laid the sheets of paper. She searched for the one with the black and white Honda and her smile became even bigger. "I'd like to have this one", she said and Lilly regarded the design once more. The basic colour was white and there was a black cartoon dragon of which the head was on the bonnet and the body on the left side, while the Japanese characters for beauty, freedom and love were on the right side.

"'Kay", Lilly shrugged,"I can start tomorrow, I guess, but with school and all I'm not sure how long it's going to take."

"That's not important", Suki straightened her top, looking over to where Jimmy, Tej and Brian were talking,"just think of your bro if he found out that you're lacking in school. I don't wanna be the reason for you being grounded or something."

"Two more weeks and I've got holidays", the blond told her friend,"means that I can spend as much time at Tej's as I want."

They shared a laugh and were about to go over to the others, but somebody grabbed Lilly's arm.

"Hey, Lil", the sixteen-year-old boy grinned at her.

"Crash!" Lilly poked into her best friend's ribcage."Where've ya been the whole time?"

"Surprise. C'mon", Shane grabbed her hands and pulled her with him into the crowd of people, while Suki shook her head in disbelief.

"One of these days, I have to teach my lil' bro how to treat a girl in the correct manner", she then walked over to the guys. As soon as the young woman had arrived, she had to face a Brian O'Connor who was in full cop-mode.

"Where did they go?" He asked Suki and his tone of voice made sure that he wouldn't accept an "I don't know", but Suki didn't know what else to say.

"I don't know, Shane said he had a surprise for her and then they left."

"What kind of surprise?"

"C'mon Bullitt", Tej laid a hand on his buddy's shoulder,"ya know that they're just friends. Don't be worried 'bout Chica. She can take good care of herself and Suki's bro is a clever one, he would never dare pissing you off."

"You're probably right", Brian wasn't convinced by Tej's words though. It wasn't that he didn't trust his little sister, but he didn't trust any men or teenage boys who showed interest in his baby. She was barely 16 and way too young to……….he didn't even want to think about that.

"Ladies and Gentlemen",Tej raised his arms high into the air to get everybody's attention and almost immediatley, the crowd was silent. A grin crossed the young man's face. He really did rule the underground races. "It's time for the party to start! First group at the starting line in 45 seconds!"

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The people around them went almost insane after Tej's announcement, but Shane and Lilly were already used to all of this. For them, it felt like being home and all of these people were like family because they were thinking the same way the teenagers did. Everything was about cars. Racing was living, if you lost, you lost, if you won, you won, it didn't matter as long as you were sitting inside a car and driving it.

"Are we there, yet?"Lilly asked in a whining voice while Shane was still holding her by the hand and somehow managing it that they didn't bump into anyone.

"Wait a sec", Shane told her and looked around. His eyes widened and he pointed at some place right within the crowd,"there."

Lilly's eyes focused on "there" and an amused grin was suddenly plastered on her lips. "There" he was: Mike Anders, The One and Only, standing close to his car and he was surrounded by a few of the younger girls who were always coming to the races because of them hoping to get to know one of the drivers. Lilly couldn't understand why they had chosen The One and Only, though, but that wasn't important right now. The One and Only was actually here and he would get the beating of his life !

"He's in the third", Shane said and jumped, when Lilly hugged him tight and whooped and bounced. Not that it wasn't a nice feeling to get hugged tight by Lilly while she was bouncing up and down, but the boy couldn't understand her excitement.

"That's Brian's group!" The girl couldn't believe it: The One and Only beaten by her big brother! Prizeless! She was too happy to realize that the first race had already started and so, her whooping wasn't all that conspicuous………well, almost, because while being distracted, the boy and the girl hadn't noticed Mike Anders coming over.

"Look who's here", the team-captain sneered and put his hands into the pockets of his football jacket,"wanna see how real drivers handle their cars?"

"Thank you, but I've already looked into a mirror while driving", Lilly answered and she enjoyed the sight of Mike Anders' face showing his rage for merely a second before disappearing again. Shane snickered and a "So have I" came from his lips.

"Where is your car then?" He asked the blond girl and received nothing but a glare. How he loved being himself! Of course, these losers didn't have their own cars. They were simply jealous because he was the best and the best was always envied the most. Mike thought of them as nothing but stupid, especially Lilly who had been silly enough to ignore him. Tonight, she would regret having chosen Swim-Shane as a friend, because tonight, Mike Anders would win the race and show Chica, how everybody called her, what being popular meant. He had already found out that this Bullitt was Lilly's older brother and that he won every race he participated in, but this would change in not even half an hour.

"Close to the starting line, where else?" A new voice said calmly and the teenagers turned their heads to see Brian approaching them. Big bro-mode, Lilly thought once she saw the cold and harshness in her brother's eyes while he looked at Mike who seemed to have frozen in place. Well, at least for a few seconds, he then shook his head and wore his cocky grin again.

"Lilly? A driver? As in driving races? Yeah right, man", Mike snorted and found himself rather amused. The idea of a girl being able to drive properly was quite funny, but the idea of a girl being able to drive and win a race was ridiculous.

"You got a problem with that?" Brian narrowed his eyes. Nobody insulted his little sister or her skills, nobody.

"It's okay, bro", Lilly laid a hand on her brother's arm,"he's not worth the energy." She turned to Shane, who had been smart enough not to interfere,"when does Suki start?"

"Second group", the boy answered quickly, knowing that his best friend tried to separate her brother and The One and Only before something would happen.

"C'mon, bro", she tugged at Brian's black shirt and pulled him into the direction of the starting line with Shane close behind,"I don't wanna miss Suki's start."

"Okay", her brother muttered and allowed Lilly to lead him away from this smirking moron, deciding that he would finish him off on the road. When they had reached the orange line that was painted on the asphalt and Shane walking to his sister to wish her good luck, Brian couldn't suppress his fury anymore.

"Who's this guy and how can he dare talking like this about you?! Did he even win just once, yet? How come you let yourself be pushed around like this?! I……….I'm going to……….."

"Come down, bro", Lilly took one of Brian's hands in hers,"his name's Mike Anders, also known as The One and Only, he's the captain of my school's football-team and thinks of himself as the world's greatest. And no, he's going to race for the first time tonight and that's why I didn't give a damn about him insulting me, 'cause he's the baby in your group, I think, so I know that you're going to give him the roughest awakening he's ever had, please?"

"Course", the man embraced his sister and kissed her forehead,"nobody offends you like he did without being punished."

"That's my bro."

A few yards away from them, a woman was standing on the street and raised her arms. "Ready, set", her hands clapped together,"GO!" Four cars raced into the night, flames coming out of the exhausts.

"C'mon Suki! Show them what being a girl means!" Lilly screamed while seeing Tej leaving the crowd and approaching them.

"So", the grin that came across his handsome face showed that he was completely relaxed and rather sure about the money he would win this night,"Bullitt's driving or did Chica use her puppy eyes and made her big bro give in?"

"Tej", Lilly faked hurt shock,"I'm a good girl. I'd never use such evil weapons!"

"Oh yes, you would!" Brian and Tej exclaimed simultaneously. The girl crossed her arms and stuck out her lower lip just enough to form a tiny pout before growling at the men in front of her, showing them her white teeth.

"I'm going to the finish line now", she said quite determined while turning around and disappearing into the crowd once more. As if I'd need puppy eyes to make Brian let me race, Lilly sulked, though, her inner voice was telling her that Brian and Tej were right. But the anger was already forgotten when she saw Suki's flashy pink Honda arriving at the finish as the first of its group.

"She's an original", Tej licked his lips and his eyes sparkled.

"I know", the ex-cop merely nodded,"I know." He then gave Tej his cash and walked over to where he had parked his Nissan and got in. His group was next. It was time for the moron from earlier to start praying.

"50 seconds left", Lilly heard Tej calling and she let herself be dragged to the start by Shane and Suki. Again, the street was empty, again, the people were whooping and yelling the drivers' names, again, the electricity in the air became almost unbearable.

40 seconds left.

Two drivers were still missing.

30 seconds left.

Mike Anders drove his car right next to Brian's which was standing outside left. They looked at each other and Lilly wondered, if she had just seen The One and Only swallowing down his fear, but she wasn't sure, while her brother was smiling at her and nodding as well. He is so going to finish Anders off, Lilly grinned and mouthed a "hurt him".

20 seconds left.

The last bets were made. Brian let his engine roar to show his sister that he had understood. The last driver, Vittorio, completed the group.

10 seconds left.

Each of the drivers showed first signs of nervousness, except Brian. Being a believing Catholic, Vittorio kissed his lucky charm, a small cross made out of silver. John breathed deeply in and out. The One and Only drummed with his hands on the steering wheel. Brian leaned back in his seat and waited for the show to begin.

5 seconds left.

A young Spanish woman wearing light blue hot pants, white boots and a white bikini top walked cat-like onto the street.

4 seconds left.

She stopped just a few yards away from the cars and raised her hands into the air.

3 seconds left.

"Ready?" Her light accent was everything that cut through the silence. Her hands came closer to one another.

2 seconds left.

"Set!" Only few inches separated her palms now.

1 second left.

Everbody seemed to have frozen in time.

"GO!" And clap!

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Please review, okay? And again, I want to apologize for my English…………………..      

(Just in case that you didn't know: Chica is Spanish and means girl/babe)