Some old Volkwagen*Fast and Furious*

Prologue - The Toretto's

*Disclaimer: the characters from the "Fast and Furius"-series obviously don't belong to me. 

Enjoy my story, comment and vote, please! Love, Jazzlin xxx*

"Betty? I'm sure I've lost my way. Where was I supposed to turn right?" – The woman on the other end of the line just laughed. "You were supposed to turn left, Nelly, right after the Toretto's." – "Excuse me – after what?" – Betty laughed again. "The Toretto's. It's a diner, sweetheart." – Nelly screwed her forehead while illicitly driving and phoning. It wasn't as bad as drinking and driving – of that she had by now convinced herself, and she was driving extra carefully. Not that she could perform any fancy manoeuvres, driving one-handed. Not that she could perform any fancy manoeuvres driving with both hands on the wheel. "Betty, do we know anyone with the last name 'Toretto'? – I'm sure I've heard that name before." – "Well, apart from the fact that Mum, Dad and I are the only people you and I both know: no. You've probably driven past the diner already and that's why the name's familiar." – Nelly looked over her shoulder and then turned in three pulls. Betty was probably right. She was Nelly's favourite person in the world, and yet sometimes it was creepy how well her sister knew her. Nelly tried to think something up that fit Betty and started smiling. "Have you taken the cake out of the oven?" – There was silence for a minute and then "Shit! – How did you know that?!" – Nelly waited patiently until her sister had returned from her rescue-mission, driving all the time and watching out for this Toretto's –place. Finally, her sister was at the phone again, slightly out of breath. – "I hope you could save it? Your cakes are really nice – if they don't burn to charcoal." – "It is all black on the outside, but maybe we can cut off the darkest bits." Betty sounded sad, but even before Nelly had thought something up to comfort her, she was bubbling again. "How did you even know I was going to bake a cake? – I wanted to surprise you." – Nelly just laughed. "Just like you knew I had already gone past the... aah, there it is! The Toretto's, finally. I'll see you in a bit!"

When Nelly got back into her car – some old Volkswagen she had finally been able to afford – she carried a piece of paper with directions with her. Betty had written everything down in a rather idiotic-sounding children's language. Nelly wasn't sure yet she could read and drive at the same time and she didn't really want to try it out either, as a matter of fact. But anyway, at least now she had eventually gotten used to driving on the right hand side of the road: when she and her family had moved to Los Angeles from England, the first few weeks she had been terrified every time when on the road. She had avoided driving pretty much since then, but now that her sister and herself were both studying and living in different parts of LA, she didn't really have a choice.

Nelly was quite proud of feeling almost American by now; the only thing she couldn't get rid of was her British accent. She had grown up pronouncing "t"s like "t"s (or just leaving them out completely, to save the trouble) and not like "d"s, and she couldn't get herself to changing her "a"s to "æ"s. But that was just her.

The Volkswagen was slowly rolling down the driveway while Nelly was trying to memorise the next two or three directions. She put a gear in and started driving in a determined manner, wondering where she could get a quick bite to eat before having to finish her essay back home. Not that Betty's cake hadn't been good... the few parts that had still been edible, that is. Nelly had planned on eating enough of the cake to last her until tonight, but given the circumstances she found herself unexpectedly hungry. She wouldn't have time to cook later: the essay she still had to finish was for Professor Hadley's class and Professor Hadley (a haggard looking, elderly woman with spectacles) claimed to notice when a student hadn't invested much time and effort into an essay. Meaning if one got too many grammatical mistakes, pointless sentences, gap fillers etc., she would simply refuse to grade the paper and have one do it again.

Almost like an answer to her dilemma, the Toretto's came into view. Betty'd said it was a diner, after all... It looked a little oriental and out of place in LA, but for some reason Nelly liked the style. She braked suddenly (fortunately, the road was still empty) and parked her car in one of the visitor's slots in front of the little diner. At first she thought it was closed, since there was no one inside and no one behind the counter, yet the sign on the door clearly said "open". Nelly went inside and sat on a bar stool, scanning the menu. It was mostly sandwiches – nothing special, really. Yet since Nelly was hungry, she decided to have a ham-and-cheese sandwich – provided, of course, someone would show up soon to take her orders. After a while, Nelly stood up and walked through the serving room, making her heels clack extra loudly on the wooden floor. It seemed to work: a young woman came running from a back room that looked a little bit like an office. She seemed a few years younger than Nelly, but Nelly had the distinct feeling to have seen her somewhere before. Miss Toretto, as Nelly supposed, had an apologetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting. How can I help you?" –"I'd like a ham-and-cheese sandwich, please." – The woman with the tan and beautiful black hair went to prepare the food, but before turning she threw a long glance at Nelly. Then she said: "Is it possible we're in the same lecture? Professor Morrison's Maths lecture?" – That was it. "Yes, I think you're right." Nelly smiled. "I thought you seemed familiar. I'm Nelly." – "Hey, I'm Mia." – Nelly had a further look around while Mia prepared the sandwich. "Is this your family's diner, then? – I really like it. It's got a... nostalgic air." At that, Mia laughed. "Just say old and shabby, I don't mind." – "No, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I like it." – Mia laughed again. "My mum set it all up. She always said she needed something to take her mind off when my father was racing." – Nelly hadn't expected that. "Was he a very good jockey?" – Mia put the sandwich on the counter, grinning widely. "You're really funny! My dad was racing cars, not horses. We're not doing horse-racing very much over here." – Nelly blushed slightly; of course her British accent had given her away once again. But Mia didn't seem to notice. "Sometimes I wish he had done horse racing. Or anything else..."

Nelly didn't want to dig any further so she took a bite of her sandwich. It wasn't the best she had tasted in her life, but it wasn't too bad either. Mia looked at her with a slight frown. "It's rubbish, I know. I was never good at making sandwiches." – "No it's fine, thanks. Are you always working here after uni?" – Mia leant to the counter. "Yeah, usually." After a while she continued: "How come you're in the same lecture as me? – You must be finishing your degree soon, I would have thought." – Nelly shrugged. "I have only started on Maths three semesters ago, in addition to English literature. Up to then I never really knew I could do Maths." She laughed. "And what about you? What's your main subject?" – Mia got herself a coke from a fridge beneath the counter. "I am doing Romance languages. I always loved Spanish at school, not sure I'll continue Maths as minor subject, though."

When Nelly left the Toretto's, it was later than she had expected it to be. Mia Toretto seemed to be really nice, just a normal person – which was hard enough to find in the crazy country of America. She seemed lonely, though, with all her family possibly dead and she alone holding up the little family business. Suddenly Nelly felt sick. That girl was probably all alone. Nelly herself couldn't imagine a life without Betty and their parents. She tried in vain to remember whether Mia was usually sitting with friends in Maths or all by herself. Anyway, Nelly decided next time when waiting in front of the lecture room she would go to Mia and talk to her.

"Hello?" – "Mia. It'sme." – "Dom! I've had twenty calls from Letty! What do youthink you're doing?! Where are you?" – "I can't tell you where I am. Don't giveLetty this number." – "Dom, what are you doing? What am I supposed to tell her?She was so heartbroken and I know exactly how she feels..." – "Hey, don't beupset, this is my trouble, okay? And forget O'Connor, it's already been almosta year and he is gone for good now. He'll never get close to you again, I won'tlet him." – Now how are you going to dothat, given the fact you're at the other end of the world? – "Forget him,okay?" – "Dom, I... I'll try. But still: what am I supposed to tell Letty?"Silence. Such a long silence that she thought the connection had broken down."Dom?" – "Yeah I'm still here. Tell her... Tell her she can't be in dangerbecause of me. Tell her I can't let that happen. I'll work things out first andthen we'll see." He sighed. "I'm doing this for her, I hope you see that?" –Mia felt stupid tears in her eyes; so many times she had wondered whether Brianhad blown his cover for her. For herand her family. "Dom, when are you coming back?" – "I don't know. When it'ssafe." – Now the tears were running down her face. "It might never be safe!" – Nothing for a while,then: "Before the end of the year, okay? June or July. Expect me when you seeme." – "I love you, Dom." – "I love you too, Mia. Keep your head up." – And he was gone.