The sun was beginning its descent down the mountains by the time Lenora finished with everything around the house She was internally thankful for not packing her whole life with her. After settling her computer and everything else in her room, she made a quick call to her sister.

" 'Sup Nora!" Ellion chirped from the other side of the phone. "I'm assuming you survived the pilgrimage."

Lenora snorted. "Duh, genius. Who else are you talking to right now?"

"I dunno, maybe your angry ghost that now haunts the streets of LA?" Ellion replied innocently.

The older sibling scoffed. "So funny."

"How'd it go?" Ellion pressed. "Met any cute guys?!"

Lenors resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No. I had to hitchhike."

"WTF?! What happened?!"

"I forgot to pack more change for the bus," she grumbled. "It was a shitshow."

She heard what sounded like muffled laughter on the other end, and she felt her cheeks heat up. "Stop laughing!"

Ellion chortled. "That's so you, though! Not gonna lie. I'm glad you're safe, but that's so-"

"Stupid," Lenora finished for her, "yeah, you don't have to remind me."

Her sister sighed. "Ok, ok! Just tell me the deets if ya have any." A loud bang sounded from Ellion's side, making Lenora's ears twitch with anticipation.

"...You okay over there?" Concern laced Lenora's voice. "Is Gran on your back or...?

She could make out the rustling of bedsheets on the phone, coupled with a pregnant pause from Ellion. The joking atmosphere vanished as Lenora tried to figure out what Ellion was up to.

"I'm gucci," she finally said. "Don't worry about me. I'll drop by when break comes around. Ring me up once you have tea!" The end of her sentence was pitched rather high, and it made Lenora uncomfortable.

"If you say so. Just lay low for a bit," she spoke. "I'll talk to you later."

"M'kay, bye!" Ellion hung up the phone first, leaving Lenora standing there with a dead line. She didn't bother telling her about the couple who hired her for tutoring sessions, it wasn't that big of a news to her anyway. Thankfully, air conditioner in the house worked just fine, much to her relief. Her roommate had given her a call earlier saying that she wouldn't be moving in for another week, so the place was hers for the time being. Lenora wasn't going to complain.

Gazing at the number Letty had left for her, she thought about what to say. It was strange that she would be nervous over something so trivial, she wasn't a meek person per say, but she never felt this amount of pressure just by talking to someone.

Ah, fuck it! You're acting like a five-year-old!

Her fingers gripped the phone in her hands and she punched in the numbers. The connection took a second, before taking her to the main line. She listened to the beeping for about four rounds before the click of the device notified her of someone taking the call.

"Hello?" It was the familiar female voice she had grown accustomed to the day before. Lenora held in a breath before relaxing her muscles.

"Hey, it's Lenora from yesterday," she began, "I'm calling for the tutoring session you wanted."

There was a pause on Letty's end, and Lenora feared that she might've already forgotten about the whole ordeal, thus making the call pointless. Of course they would've paid no attention to her after that, they had their own chaotic house to deal. The silence stretched long enough for her to become fidgety, a sudden sound came from the other end, and she could hear Letty hiss something in Spanish.

"Yes, it's her, Dom! Calm the fuck down!" Letty was not in a good mood.

Sensing the need to escape the situation, Lenora cleared her throat. "It's alright if you changed your mind! I'll get going if I'm interrupting something."

"No, no!" Letty exclaimed. "Dom's just antsy if strangers call us. He didn't know it was you."

Lenora mumbled a robotic 'oh' at that and dwindled her fingers. She didn't know how awkward it was going to get. It wasn't long before Leety was back on the phone once again. "So Mia is free on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. You can pick a time from 3 to 6."

"Cool, I can do 4 to 6 both days," Lenora replied. The rest of the details were hashed out with intermittent breaks where Letty would shout something back to whoever that was bugging her. There was more than one man in the house, as Lenora was sure there were multiple male voices talking at one time.

She braced herself for the chaos she was about to witness. Letty had asked if she needed a ride to the house, but Lenora assured her that the distance was walkable. Besides, she needed those thirty minute exercises. And with that, the deal was made. Lenora got off the phone feeling strangely pumped, she had only interacted with high schoolers and below before, so it was going to be a challenge tutoring someone her own age.

If she wanted to back out, it was too late. Her ego was not going to let her quit that easily.

The person who opened the door wasn't Letty or Dom, in their stead was a scrawny looking guy barely above her age with his dirty blonde hair springing in all directions. He seemed to have just gotten out of bed, despite it being way too late in the day.

"Hi, I'm Lenora," she introduced herself. The guy just stared at her with his half-lidded eyes, and it prompted her to question herself if she knocked on the right door.

"Oh, you're the new chick on the block," he drawled. She looked at him with a guarded manner, not sure if he was the person she should talk to. The guy's eyes widened a fraction as he took her full form in, his adam's apple bobbing noticeably. It was getting really fucking unsettling.

"Oi, Jesse!" Letty's voice rang from behind. "Stop checking her out and let her in!"

Lenora was grateful for the intervention, for she was sure she was just seconds away from dropping the job. Letty grabbed Jesse by the arms and dragged him away. With the teen gone, she greeted her with a cheery smile and showed her in. Beer bottles and empty chip bags littered all over the kitchen table, a nintendo set was on full display in the middle of the TV stand, with two larger males fighting over the game.

The place reminded her of the parties she used to go to with her old highschool friends, minus the people. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it was better than looking as if a shitstorm had rained through it. Her appearance had put an abrupt stop to the bickering duo in front of them. The clean-shaven man noticed her first, his trailing eyes caused the one with a full beard to turn his face to her. One looked confused while the other sulked like a child.

"I guess she's cute," the former spoke up. Letty threw him a glare.

"Shut it, Vince."

Vince shrugged and grinned sheepishly while the taller man punched him in the arms.

"You like women that look twelve?!"

"Suck a dick, Leon! As if you know better!" Vince countered. Lenora watched the scene unfold with wide eyes as the two started hurling insults, her presence forgotten. They were two grown men, for christ's sake, and they had the emotional maturity of a kindergartner.

Letty breathed out an exasperated sigh . "Just ignore them. They'll calm down by themselves."

"Wow," Lenora muttered. "You have a lively household."

Letty grumbled. "Dom wasn't lying when he said we were loud."

Lenora was going to ask how they dealt with this everyday, but went against it. Every family had their issues, and it wasn't her place to comment. Her job was to get out of the house alive every time she came here. She followed Letty up the padded stairs, the argument between Vince and Leon quieted as they increased their distance between them.

At the door, Letty didn't even have to knock before someone from the inside opened it. Lenora forgot her train of thoughts at the sight.

To say that Mia was beautiful was an understatement, because it was like a Vogue model had decided to step off the covers into real life. Lenora wouldn't be able to tell her that she was the epitome of her highschool beauty goal. She suddenly felt very small between the two women; she had the feeling she was some sort of kid crashing an adult sleepover.

"Hi!" Mia gave a shy wave. "I hope Vince didn't creep you out down there, he does that a lot to people."

Lenora's face probably gave away everything she was feeling, because the former shot her a pitying look. Glancing behind her, she found that Letty had already disappeared into thin air. Great, now she's stuck in an awkward position with a stranger.

"It's nice to meet you," she offered. "I'm Lenora, but you can call me Nora if you want."

Mia smiled. "I heard you also studied math."

Lenora forced a smile in return. Just because she was Asian, didn't mean she studied mathematics. It appeared Letty had forgotten all about that.

"I'm actually majoring in architecture," she corrected. "But I can help you with calculus or multivariable if that's what you're stuck on."

Mia's face lightened up like a lightbulb, her olive skin flushed with delight. "Yes! Thanks so much! You're a life-saver, else Dom's never gonna let me hear the end of it."

Lenora laughed. Setting her things down on the desk, she rummaged through her notes.

"Dom's taking his role as a parent rather seriously," she remarked. Mia scoffed from her seat, feigning an annoyed look.

"It's an older brother thing," she said, "sometimes it gets overbearing."

Where were their parents then? Why was Dom himself stressed over her education and not the mom or dad? Lenora sighed. Again, those weren't things she had the right to know.

"I wouldn't know 'bout that. I'm the oldest one in my world," she replied.

Mia wiggled her brows. "Brother or sister?"

"Sister," Lenora answered, "but instead of overbearing, she's kinda really annoying." She added the extra adverb for sarcasm. Mia giggled, her voice like bells.

"Looks like we can't relate."

Lenora snorted. "Not on that subject, but I do know we both hate math, so let's crack some problems."

It was easier to talk to Mia as time went on. Lenora went into the experience expecting to be scoffed at or made fun of, but the former was just a warm ball of sunshine, literally. She diverted a lot from the main subject, but that was to be expected. It took a special person to excel at mathematics, much less love it. And Lenora had always wondered how her mother had garnered a Phd in that area of study.

At the recollection of her mother, her mind went into full stop. She snapped herself from her trance and focused back on Mia. Now wasn't the time to get sentimental; it'd be a sore sight if she started crying in the middle of someone's house. She chided herself for her lapse in judgement.

"I think I'm getting this, Nora," Mia stated. "Your worksheet saved me."

Lenora let out a hum. "No problem. You're getting there, once you get over the learning curve, things should slow down."

"Like that's ever happened in school," Mia joked. It was obvious she didn't buy the sugar-coated truth.

"You're right. I lied," Lenora teased. "This ain't fun if you don't love it."

"At least you say it better than Dom. The guy looks pissed 24/7."

"I mean...I guess he means well," Lenora stated. Although to be fair, Dom did have the severe version of the resting-bitch-face syndrome. She didn't bother telling her that when she first met him, she thought he wanted to skin her alive.

The rest of the session continued with a side conversation here and there, but it was mostly centered on Mia's upcoming midterm. Lenora raised her notepad, and was beginning to go through everything they had worked on when a knock came at the door.

"Come in!" Mia called, not looking up in the slightest. The door opened just a fraction, and a head of sandy blonde hair poked in. When a stretch of silence came after that, Lenora raised her head to look at the incomer. Her brain registered him as Jesse, and she moved her head just slightly when her mind did a double-take. She noticed this man had a much stronger jawline with piercing blue eyes, and he was very handsome. If it weren't for the need to be professional, Lenora would've passed out with a bloody nose.

"Hey Mia," he said. His gravelly voice shook her companion back to reality and Mia's previous frown from her work turned a one-eighty. She practically beamed from ear to ear.

"Brian!"

Lenora regarded the whole scene with an awkward pit in her stomach as Mia launched herself off the bed to his side. From their interactions, it seemed like they were dating, or at least semi-romantically involved (if that was a thing). She felt like a good third-wheeler for a hot minute while they bantered about racing and whatnot. Mia noticed her gaping form and quickly turned around, cheeks flushing from embarrassment.

"Brian, this is Nora. Nora, Brian!" she blabbered breathlessly. "Dom helped her move in the other day and now she's my study buddy."

Brian eyed the sitting woman on the bed with amusement. "Hey."

Blinking back to reality, Lenora scratched the back of her neck. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine," he said smoothly. "Getting used to LA?"

"Only if the place has a giant air conditioner," she replied. Brian gave a slight smile.

"You'll get used to it. At least the people here are a lively bunch."

Lenora stared at him hard. It was the third time people were described like that here. This was starting to become some sort of trend. He wasn't lying, though. With Vince and Leon fighting like monkeys downstairs, she was inclined to believe that phrase now.

"Yeah, it's quite the difference compared to northern Cali."

The alarm on Mia's bedside went off without warning, breaking into the conversation rudely. Lenora flinched at the sudden attack. It served as a reminder that the time was now well over six, and she should be heading back before the night got too dark. "I think I should get going before someone mugs me on my way home."

Checking the clock by Mia's stand, she started to pack her things.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" Mia piped out of nowhere. Lenora gave a cursory glance at her schedule and found only making dinner and filing personal documents scribbled messily onto the notes. For some reason, it sounded so lame inside her head.

"Nothing much really," she admitted. "I just got settled so I'm gonna be twiddling my thumbs for a bit."

Her response appeared to satisfy the younger Toretto, because Mia clapped her hands together with enthusiasm.

"Well, if you want, there's a local racing competition by the downtown market tonight. I dunno if that's your thing, but you're welcome to come!"

Lenora, once again, was stunned by an unexpected proposal. What was with this family and inviting random people into their lives? The feeling of inclusiveness was strong with them, and she couldn't help but think that these people were some of the most tightly wounded communities out there.

She thought about rejecting the offer and then going back home to sleep. But the thought of returning back to nothing and just binging TV for the rest of the day didn't sound productive either. She could potentially meet other people and maybe feel more comfortable in this city. If she was going to live here for the next two years, she might as well get used to the culture.

"Sounds gucci!" Lenora said. A realization hit her hard in the head. "But I don't have a ride."

Mia canted her head. "You don't have a car?"

"No," Lenora replied. "I dunno how to drive…"

She didn't know what was more embarrassing, her not having a license by twenty or asking for another ride from this family. It was like living through highschool all over again. Her cheeks flushed pink, and she averted their gazes.

"Oh," Mia mused. "You can just ride with me then!"

Brian, who was left hanging by the doorway, peered down at Mia. "I thought you didn't go to races?"

That elicited a small giggle from the brunette. "Hey, just because I don't go to races doesn't mean I don't like 'em."

Hitting him lightly on the shoulders, she then guided him outside. "Dom's waiting for you, I'll catch up in just a second."

Brian smirked, running a hand through her hair before turning around to go downstairs. Ruffling her skirt, Mia shifted her attention to the sitting Lenora on the bed, who was doing her best not to look like she just saw a secret couple making out at school.

"That's one of Dom's friends," she explained. "Funny enough, he also picked him up during a race."

Lenora threw her a perturbed glance. "Your brother goes around adopting everyone, I see."

Mia laughed. "You could say that. He might be a lil' porcupine, but he has a soft spot for people he thinks that deserve it."

Well thank god he didn't deem me a danger to rip me to shreds, Lenora thought. Zipping up her backpack, she straightened out her legs, hearing the satisfying pop of her joints. Her back was a bit sore from hunching forward, but she figured she could do some stretching before heading out.

"I can drop you off so you can get ready," Mia continued, "I'll give you a call once I'm out?"

"Sure."

Mia went through her drawer, and started pulling out all kinds of tops and shorts. Lenora giggled at the sight.

"So is he your boyfriend?"

Mia blushed. "Who?"

Lenora scoffed at the lame attempt to deflect. "C'mon, it's not like I've never had crushes before."

"I'm not with Brian," Mia said, but her lips curled into a shy grin, "I don't date my brother's friends."

The Asian woman looked at her, her face written with doubt all over. "That's how my sister acts when she's crushing hard."

Mia feigned annoyance and sighed. "Fine, I like him. But who doesn't?! I'm terrible at acting."

"Not gonna lie, he's got that surfer boy hotness," Lenora teased. "My classmates would be drooling by now."

Her companion turned to her with a devilish smile. "You have a type?"

Lenora snorted. "Tall, dark, handsome, leather jacket, and riding a badass motorbike. Terminator vibes." She motioned her hands to her eyes to paint the picture of sunglasses. Mia bawled at the display.

"That's like every edgelord's type," she joked.

"I'm pretty basic," Lenora said. "Also, do I have to dress to a certain theme tonight?"

Mia was actually perplexed for a good minute. "For real, though, I dunno. I don't really go to races that often. I'm just picking out a cute outfit and crossing my fingers."

Lenora internally groaned. She still had to plow through all her bundled up clothes to figure out what she wanted. Even worse, she might not even have the right outfit. Just thinking about it stressed her out.

"It's been a bit since I've gone out. I hope I don't look like a hobo," she muttered.

Mia stood up like she just remembered something. "Right! I should take you back now."

Lenora pinched the bridge of her nose, pushing up her glasses. She also had to do her makeup, too. It was all beginning to pile up.