Stella moved her book bag up on the bed to make sure everything was in there for her first day in ninth grade. She was going to be in high school with everyone else this year and she couldn't wait. She smiled to herself as she closed the bag back up and put it down on the floor. She had her clothes laid out on the bed just waiting to be worn. There was a soft tap on her door as she quickly turned around to see it who it was. "Hey, you." Tony walked in. "I see you are all ready for school tomorrow."

"Yep! Just making sure everything is together."

"Are you excited? Nervous?" He sat down on the edge of her bed as she shook her head. "Nothing?"

"Are you nervous or excited?" Tony began to chuckle. "I'm going to be fine. I'll have Letty and Mia in the grade above me. Dom and Vince will be there…sometimes."

"I just can't believe you are going into the ninth grade."

"I love you." She replied. "But you really got to stop worrying about me. I am going to be alright. You've taught me everything I need to know about life, daddy. I just need you to trust me."

"I am just trying to remember when you grew up on me."

"I'll always be your little girl." She leaned down wrapping her arms around his neck. "Now get out so I can finish getting ready for bed." Tony chuckled as he lifted himself off the bed and patted her on top of her head. Just as he was leaving, Dom appeared at the door. "Hey, Pops!" Dom slapped the side of the man's arm. "Stel, we are leaving around seven tomorrow if you still want to ride with us. I'll even let you have the front seat." Dom smirked.

"I'll be ready."

Stella moved through the crowded hallway with her schedule in hand. Everyone looked bigger than her. She hurried away from two guys who looked like they were about to fight. "Hey." She looked up at the person who stopped in front of her. "You okay?"

"Hey." She smiled. "J..T right?" She knew what it was but she couldn't be obvious about it.

"Yeah, it's Johnny but you can call me JT." She smiled again. "It's a crazy first day, isn't it?"

"Yeah, my other school wasn't nearly as crowded as this."

"It'll die down once everyone gets over the first week. Many of the seniors will clear out of here."

"And what grade are you in?"

"I'm in eleventh." He was older than her. He was almost her brother's age. She looked around looking for any of her family. She could feel eyes watching her. "What lunch do you have?"

"Um…" She looked down at the schedule. He immediately jerked it from her hands causing her to giggle. "I am able to read it." She replied.

"Let's see here…" He ran his finger down the page. "Cooper… he's okay. He likes football so if you get him talking about that, you will be good. Stone…she's tough but keeps it interesting. You are in honors English."

"Listen…" She jerked the paper back. "Weren't you just looking at what lunch I had?"

"Oh yes!" He grabbed the paper again as she rolled her eyes. "Second. Me too. You can sit with me."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Hey, Johnny!" Two girls passed by as he held his hand up and waved.

"You need me, Stella Toretto. You just don't know it yet." He handed her back the paper before walking backwards holding on to his book bag by the strap. He never broke eye contact with her until she shook her head and turned away. It was definitely going to be an interesting day. But she couldn't wait until lunch time.

The lunch bell rang as Stella hurried through the hallway trying not to be obvious that she was dying to get to the lunch room to meet Johnny. She turned the corner and stopped herself taking in a deep breath before moving in. It was crowded. How was she was going to find him. "Hey!" He appeared next to her with his shaggy, black hair swinging to the side of his face. A smile plastered his face knowing he had scared her to death. She looked up into his dark, brown eyes and smiled. "You hungry?" She nodded her head. "JT!" A boy came over, slapping their hands together. "What's good? You going on for soccer this year?" Johnny looked back at her as she began scanning the crowd looking to see if her sister or Letty had the same lunch. "Sorry about that." He came back to her. The boy remained where he was staring at her as they moved through the crowd together. "How is your day going so far? You like your classes?"

"You were right." She smiled. "Football could possibly be Mr. Coopers favorite subject. We spent about forty five minutes of the class talking about it." Johnny began to laugh. "What is there to eat here?"

"Well…" Johnny grabbed a tray. "There are sandwiches, pizza, chicken fingers…" She followed him grabbing her tray and headed straight for the pizza. "I see we know what we want."

"Then pizza it is."

"I love pizza!" JT smiled at he led her to the line. She looked up at him wanting to examine everything about him but he couldn't take his eyes from hers. How could her father hate him so much? He seemed so perfect. Even his hair lined his face so perfectly. The line moved forward as she grabbed the pizza box opening it up to make sure it was her favorite…pepperoni. "So tell me about yourself, Stella?"

"What do you want to know?" She grabbed the water bottle that was sitting in front her face.

"What do you like to do?" Stella giggled before shrugging her shoulders. "So you live a boring life?"

"I mean…"

"Okay, so I find that hard to believe." He smiled at her again as she took a bite of her pizza. "Tell me…what makes you happy?"

"I like the beach." She replied softly. "I didn't see much of it this past summer but it's still my favorite place."

"What else?" He kept his eyes on her the entire time as she finally looked down at her food.

"My father wants me to have nothing to do with you. Why?" Johnny finally looked away from her with a sigh. "Are you dangerous?"

"No." He scuffed. "My family is in a lot of things dealing with money. Some, you may say, is illegal but I'm not involved. My father and yours, they just have known each other for a very long time. Yours isn't a fan." Stella remained silent. "Does that scare you away from me?" She shook her head but still didn't speak. "I like you, Stella. I don't want you to be afraid of me."

"I'm not." She whispered. "But I do have three men in my life who would kill for me. I've been in trouble most of this summer because we all decided we wanted to have a street racing team. It has been going on for years but Dom and Letty decided to race each other and it ended badly. I got most of the punishment because I knew about it and I lied."

"How was any of that your fault?"

"I'm fourteen. Everyone else is older than me."

"Stella, you…"

"Stella!" Mia was loud as she stood behind her. Stella sighed as she rolled her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, JT. But I should probably go." JT nodded his head as she lifted herself up from the table. "Thank you for lunch." She didn't wait for a response as she grabbed her book bag and moved towards her sister. She was embarrassed as she could still feel JT's eyes on her. "Thank you for that." Stella walked past her sister just as the bell rang.

"Stella!" Mia grabbed her arm jerking her back. "What are you thinking? You were told not to talk to him."

"He is harmless, Mia. He didn't even do anything. We were just eating lunch together."

"I'm going to have to tell Pops." Stella shook her head before walking away. Mia knew that if she got in trouble she would be out of the team for good. Stella tried to hold back the tears that threatened her eyes as she hurried through the crowd to her next class.

She threw her books on the table before plopping down putting her face in her hands. "Hey Stel!" Tony walked in as Stella sat up straight and unzipped her bag. "How was the first day of school?"

"Great." She mumbled. She took her books out as she began working on her homework. "Weren't you supposed to go to the garage today to go help Dom with something?"

"Mia went." She didn't bother looking up from the table.

"Do you need some help?"

"Not tonight, Pops. I just have to copy something from my book and explain it tomorrow in class. I don't have a lot to do." Tony just stood there for a little while longer as Stella wished he would leave her alone. Evidently Mia didn't tell on her but that didn't mean she wasn't going to. She sighed as she listened to his feet shuffle away from her. She could hear the laughter outside as everyone walked into the back door of the house. She gave a soft smile before going back down to her work. "Hey you!" Vince walked over to her. "How was your first day?"

"It was fine. I didn't realize how many people would be there."

"It's a lot different than your other school. Did you make any new friends?" Stella looked over at Mia as she licked her lips.

"I sat with Johnny Tran at lunch today." She bit the inside of her cheek as she continued to stare at her sister until Dom moved into her view. "It was harmless. He was being nice because I looked lost."

"Mia said that he was talking to you in the morning as well, looking over your schedule."

"He's not like his father." She set her pencil down. "But sure, Dom, I won't talk to him anymore."

Vince ran his hand down her head as she picked up the pencil again. "I actually have homework to do so if you could please leave me alone."

"Are you going to come to the garage tomorrow?" Dom asked.

"Sure, Dom." That was it. No one spoke again as she didn't bother fighting back the tears. They created a puddle on her paper as she looked up not realizing Mia was still standing there. They didn't speak as Stella closed her book and shoved it back into her bag. She licked her lips from the saltiness as she moved past her sister and into the living room. She felt like she was being treated like she was toddler who couldn't even tell right from wrong yet. It was getting old real fast and she was over it. She hurried upstairs to her room throwing her book bag on the bed before walking to the bathroom to take a shower.

The alarm blared in her ear as she quickly slammed her hand down on it shutting it off. She prayed her eyes weren't still swollen from the night before. She threw her legs over the side and began getting ready for school when a soft knock on her door caught her attention. "Yes?"

"Hey." Mia walked in. "I was wrong yesterday to question why you were with Johnny. We've all heard stories about his family and it's wrong to think he is the same way."

"I don't even know him, Mia." She ran the brush through her hair.

"I don't want there to be all this tension between us. It's been here since the wreck and I don't like it."

"I don't know what I am supposed to say to you, Mia. Everything has been completely different with everyone. Maybe I should just stay away until I am old enough to understand all of this. I'll stay away from Johnny. I'll stay away from racing. I just want to get back to normal where I am not questioned whether I am telling the truth or not. I am not a liar. I have never been but that is how I feel right now. So I'm done." She shook her head. "I don't want to do this anymore. I'll find new friends and I'll hang out with them. You guys do the garage and the cars, I don't want to anymore." She moved past her sister as Mia held her hand up to say something. She hurried down the stairs where Vince was waiting for her. "It's for the best and don't try to change my mind." He held the door open for her as she moved towards his car. It was for the best. She was only fourteen years old and didn't need to be involved in anything. She needed to find friends her age who enjoyed….she looked out the window. What did she enjoy? She wasn't sure. She loved the garage. She loved the diner. She loved learning new things about cars. She loved working with her family. She sighed as she looked out the window as Vince started the car. "I can't wait to be older."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be." She rolled her eyes. "Stel…" She slowly looked over at him. "Between you and me…I want you with us. I don't want you to quit."

"I will never be trusted to do anything. You guys will never be trusted to do anything as long as I am on the team. Don't worry about me, Vince. I will still be around." She patted his arm with a smile. "I need to be a girl for a while." The car pulled into a parking spot at the school as she grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulders. "Thanks, V. I'll see you later." She moved in with the line of students walking into the building. She could see Johnny standing near the door as she stared straight ahead and walked past him. She could hear the laughter as she tried to tune it out. "Stella!" He shouted her name. She cursed under her breath as she turned around to him tightening her grip on the straps of her bag. "Hey!" There that gorgeous smile was. "I was hoping I would see you this morning."

"Hi." She whispered. "Listen, I have a little more homework I need to get done before class. Can we talk later?"

"Are you avoiding me?" He smirked. She couldn't help but giggle as she nodded her head. She wasn't going to lie to them. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's my fault and I am sorry. I just am tired of being treated like a little kid. So I guess I should start listening to what other people tell me. Thank you for being so nice to me."

"Listen…" He touched her arm. "I'm always here, okay. I know I am older than you but…"

"Stella." Mia was behind her again as she shook her head. Johnny didn't even respond as Stella looked behind her. "I just…" Stella shook her head and walked away not even letting her sister speak. This was going to be a long year that was for certain.

"Hi!" A girl appeared in front of her as Stella sat at the longest table in the cafeteria reading a book. "We have Algebra together. I saw you sitting here by yourself and thought I would join you."

"Sure." Stella smiled moving her stuff from the seat and closing her book. "I'm Stella."

"Maggie." Stella smiled at the girl. "I've seen you around town, I think. Your brother is Dominic Toretto right?" Stella couldn't help but laugh as she nodded her head.

"Yes that's my brother unfortunately." The girl giggled. "It sucks being known for your brother."

"Oh you aren't known for your brother. People know you because JT Tran was talking to you and was seen eating with you." Stella cocked her head to the side. "He has the attention of every girl in this school and he chose to eat with a freshmen."

"I really don't want to be the talk of the school." Stella rolled her eyes. "I don't want to be the talk of anything. I met him at orientation where I literally ran into him. He was nice to me. He's been nice to me ever since."

"And he's very hot." Maggie smirked. Stella couldn't help but laugh as she could feel her face getting red. "Don't be shy. You should go for it. His family is very wealthy. He drives a nice car. And he's a junior showing interest in you."

"My dad would have a fit." Stella whispered. "Not to mention Dom. JT is very hot and I can't stop gazing into those beautiful, brown..."

"Oh please go on." Johnny stood next to them as Stella shut her mouth immediately as Maggie began laughing in her hand. "My beautiful, brown..."

"We should go!" Stella hoped up. "The bell is about to ring."

"No, please. I saw you sitting here and wanted to come say hi to you and..."

"Her name is Maggie and she is my new friend." Stella nodded her head as she went to move forward but he stopped her. "John..."

"Well Maggie, Stella's new friend. It is very nice to meet you. There is a party this weekend and I think you both should attend."

"I would love to! Maggie squealed as Stella shook her head. "But Stella is right, we should definitely get going as the bell is about to ring." Maggie looped her arm through Stella's and moved away from the table where he still stood. The smile spread across his entire face as Stella couldn't tear her eyes from him. "He is going to be the death of me." Stella mumbled as they glided down the hall. Maggie was still giggling as the two moved to their next class. A party on Saturday? And he invited her, himself. He wanted her there. She shook her head knowing it was damn near impossible for her to even go unless...she lied.

AN: Let me know what you guys think! REVIEW!