Hollywood Hotshot

"She said she would be here." Trynten told an irritated Dominic as they all sat outside the Toretto house, standing out by their cars. It was almost dusk and the crew was ready to leave for race wars. The only problem was that Letty, untrue to her word was not there and now Dominic was getting pissy.

"She sad that when?" Dominic asked as he paced, checking to make sure the lock of the trailer Mia was driving was locked from behind.

"Earlier." Trynten chewed on her lip, really hating to be the one caught in the middle. She was rethinking her friendships at this point and wished Lace was here to help her out.

"Dom! Take it easy on her. It's not her fault." Leon said, giving Trynten a squeeze of her shoulders, making her grin despite the situation.

"Hey guys, sorry so late. I got held up." Letty said, roaring up and getting out of her car, her boots with the flames the first to make an appearance.

"Where the hell you been?" Dominic asked, scowling the job that was usually Vince's. Letty kept her head held high, a grin on her face, and just shrugged.

"I have been to the store to buy us all food, duh." Letty replied with a smirk, She motioned to the sacks in the back of her seat, and Dominic backed off, no doubt feeling like she was lying but he knew he couldn't call her on it. "You want to eat, right?" She asked, making the boys laugh. Dominic just walked away, not saying a word.

"Let's get goin, guys. The three hour drive in the night should slow down our rush of cops." Dominic said, silently fuming as he busied himself with loading last minute things.

"You ridin with me, Shortcake?" Letty asked, then noticed the silver Jetta with the thinner racing tires she was standing by. "You are not racing, Tell me you are not gonna attempt it again." She groaned. Trynten's head was high, her chin defiant.

"I just might. Dom has been working with me." Trynten laughed, hoping she was pulling a good bluff.

"You need more than his help, no offense." Vince patted the girl on the shoulder, making her hit him.

"NO comments from the peanut gallery needed, boy." She shot back, making Jesse and Leon laugh.

"What happened to that nice shy girl we helped out a few weeks ago, V?" Leon asked, making it a point to stare at Trynten. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You can thank Lace and Letty for that, Cuz." Brian added, his car starting up with a loud roar.

"Just because you can't get up never and she's not here to defend herself, you have to talk about her. It's okay. I'll tell her all about it when she gets back." Trynten laughed, shaking a finger mockingly. She looked at Jesse.

"You okay?" He asked, seeing her uncertainty in her face. He couldn't believe how genuine she was. Never in a million years would he have thought an actress could be this sweet and sincere and just nice. His admiration for her had grown more and more every day.

"I just hope I can drive this thing." She said, her voice soft, to keep the others from hearing her. She had really relaxed and opened up top the crew more than any of them had expected but she still had her moments where she didn't even have faith in her own self.

"Sure you can. It's all in your mind." Jesse grinned, opening the door for her and leaning down by the door as she worked on the buckle. He handed her the radio he and her would be sharing. "Just follow my lead and follow behind Letty and if there is cops, Dom and V and Leon will be in front to hand them and distract them, ok?" Jesse asked, meeting her eyes. She nodded and took a deep breath. She hadn't drove since she had crashed her car.

"Let's roll." Leon yelled, walking around to his side of he his car and getting in, holding up his two-way before getting in. Dominic took off and the rest followed, in a line just as the sun set and was almost gone under the bright orangish clouds. They drove for what seemed hours, Vine and Leon playing cat an mouse on the highway, only to be showed up by Brian and then they would settle down and fall back into line. The two ways were quiet for the longest time after that and eventually they made it to their destination of Race Wars.

"What the hell? It's like a damned circus." Vince muttered, stepping out of his car cautiously. He looked at the camera crew and news reporters and just looked at Dominic as to what to do. The racing scene never had been publicized, reason not only being illegal, it just wasn't s something normal. IT was frowned upon. Any kind of publicity was bad publicity.

"Oh shit." Trynten stepped out of her borrowed car, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

""There she it!" A voice yelled excitedly and immediately the red head found herself swarmed with news crews and cameras. "Where have you been? Are you into drugs as well?" An anxious reporter wasted no time in asking the questions that many of the other reporters were also throwing at her. She tried to push away the microphones and cameras and turned away, only to find more behind her.

"GO away." Trynten tired to be nonchalant, not acting as they wanted her to. Acting pissed off or mad made them report that you had tempers due to drugs or that you were simply a 'bitch'.

"You owe it to the public, Miss Adams. You want to tell us how you ended up with these street racing thugs?" The reporter who had made Trynten's life a living hell asked, and the rest of the reporters became quiet, intent on hearing her answer.

"She did this shit on purpose! To get back her damned career." Vi en muttered, pissed that she had brought all this attention to their secluded yearly event.

""She needed to get her career back on track….you're right. What better way to do it than to use us?" Jesse slapped his legs, as he stared at the group surrounding ht girl he thought so highly of. He sat on the hood of the car and leaned his head down in between his legs, his hands covering his head.

"I'm sorry, Jess." Leon patted him on the back, knowing Jesse was upset. He watched, almost speechless as the media kept grilling Trynten, not letting her move an inch.

"If you give us an interview, we will keep your friends out it all." A guy that had made Trynten's life a living hell during her most famous and not so famous years smiled, obviously proud of himself. He was a higher member of the paparazzi and had known Trynten way before her famous days. He had been the reason he had cost her the Miss America title and her reputation more than once. He had been following her around since she was an amateur pageant contestant.

"How nice of you…" Trynten muttered, feeling trapped and as though she couldn't breath. She looked at the crew and met Dominic's eyes. He gave her a cold stare and turned around, joining the others who were walking away. That look hurt her more than anything else she could remember.

""Miss Adams, Miss Adams." Jesse mocked at the camp they had made it to bitterly as he sat, still in shock at her ploy for fame. "I thought she was really the real thing. I thought…. forget it, she was just using us." Jesse threw a stick into the brightly glowing fire Dominic had made in disgust.

"Maybe she didn't know." Letty tried to be positive, though she wasn't even able to convince her own self.

"She knew." Vince scowled, giving Jesse a Corona before sitting down beside him.

"You guys should shut that bullshit up." Lace walked up, her frown on her face obvious to why she was mad. "How could you guys just assume the worst? She's not like that." Lace said, flicking Jesse on the head as she walked by him. "You, OF all people, Jess. I am disappointed in you." Lace lectured, getting her stuff out of Brian's car as she talked.

"You don't seem to be around her enough to know, thank you very much." Vince countered her words, defending his 'little' brother.

"Really? That's so funny you should say that. I grew up with ol' girl. Yeah, when I had no parents. I lived in the same orphanage she did. In fat, I used to take care of. She's too fucking nice and soft spoken to tell anyone no or speak up for herself." Lace said, stopping to glare at Vince. She looked at Brian. And Then Letty. "Will you two help me find her?" She asked, her words softer now. They both nodded as Lace, not waiting for a reply, took off on her own.

"Hold up. I'll help. Just slow down." Brian jogged to catch up to Lace. " You seem really mad." He said, trying to make small talk as Letty joined him on the left side of him.

"Just pisses me off, no one thought maybe she coulda used some help. She, if I recall correctly, has worked her ass off for you guys, never took advantage of you , any of you, and has always been nothing but genuine." Lace lectured as she kept her brisk pace.

"You're right." Letty agreed, knowing Lace was right. She especially knew this to be true. Trynten was working at the shop and at nights she did bartending job at a bar and stayed at a hotel, refusing to live in eh already over occupied house of the Toretto's

"You guys just left her. Nice way to welcome her to wars." Lace seethed as she walked. There was still the circle of camera crews, though Trynten was nowhere to be found.

"I'll check the bathrooms.' Letty said, heading off in the opposite direction. Lace looked at Brian.

"I know I shouldn't be shocked at how they all acted. I guess I just can't believe you and even Letty. I mean, you two have some kinda conscience. At least most of the time." Lace said, her words sounding like they could cut through bricks.

"That's low, I'm hurt." Brian said, the whole time his eyes looking around for Trynten.