CHAPTER TWO
they got no idea about me and you
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𝐓he area was already booming with people, music, and cars when she arrived. Josephine drove slowly through the increasing crowd as they rowdily gathered around her ride, recognizing the exterior and the sound of her modified engines that roared louder through the noise. They cheered, hollered, and shouted her name. Like the rest of them, Josephine had a reputation to uphold.
The Toretto girl didn't like losing.
Her tinted windows slowly rolled down, revealing the smirking girl inside the midnight blue Honda. She revved up the engine, earning a few whistles from a few men and women who checked out her and her ride from a distance. The neon blue underglow of her car lit up their feet as she parallel-parked into an open spot between a Mazda and another one who was playing with their hydraulics.
It seemed like she got there early. Josephine thought. She stepped out of her vehicle, a few people greeting her here and there with quick high-fives and grins. She quickly searched around her but her brother and their friends weren't there yet. That only made the grin on her face grow bigger, and then she noticed a certain blond who seemed to stand out the most in this racing crowd.
Subconsciously, her feet began leading her towards him. She pushed past the mob until she reached him but he didn't quite see her as she stopped beside the neon green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse parked behind him. Her face pulled with amusement, tapping a finger or two on the hood of the car as she made herself known to the man who looked a little lost in this crowd of racers.
"This yours?" Josephine raised an eyebrow as he completely turned around and looked at her. He was wearing whole black like last time. His usual watch on his wrist and that strange string of gray on the other.
Brian seemed a little surprised. Then he gathered himself and shrugged coolly, fighting off the urge to smile. "I don't know. What do you think?"
Josephine pretended to inspect his car, puckering her glossy lips ever so slightly. "Might have to take her for a drive for me to judge."
"Her?" He asked, amused. This time, he stepped forward. Almost like his body had inclined itself toward her. Like a magnet. Josephine leaned on his car, glancing up at his light azure eyes. The lights of the cars around them made them look like fireworks were exploding in them. "How do you know it's a her?"
"Why not?" Josephine taunted, stepping closer so that they were almost chest to chest. His eyes flickered to her lips and back to her face.
"Fair enough." A deep rumble echoed from the back of his throat as he chuckled at her. Even from the loudness of everybody else around them, nothing was going to stop them from talking to each other. He took a quick look at the cars around them. "I'm going to assume you brought your own girl?"
"Wanna meet her?"
"Lead the way, princess."
Brian was perplexed. Josephine had never seen him so thrilled at the sight of her car. He had this childlike wonder in his light-colored eyes as he inspected her Honda S2000 carefully, tracing his fingers on the details on the metallic midnight blue wrap. Eventually, Josephine had him check inside the hood to make him see the masterpiece she'd pieced together so she could brag about it.
And here Brian thought nothing could get more amazing about her. Josephine Toretto was something for sure.
Hell, Brian had already forgotten about all the other pretty girls around them. Not even their pretty dresses and short shorts that showed off their bodies could make him look away from this daring girl who constantly surprised him. Truthfully, he did surprise himself a little, too, for not being into the whole scene and soaking the scenery like before.
But how could he look at anyone else when Josephine Toretto was in front of him the whole time?
"Oh, man," Brian laughed as she pulled the hood of her car down. "I knew your friends were into cars, but I didn't know you knew this much."
"Yeah, well, I try not to expose a lot of myself out there," Josephine shrugged. She was being half-sarcastic, half-truthful, but there was a glint in her eyes that Brian knew she was being honest. "You never know what they're going to do with it."
His smile faltered for a second fat her words. He nodded ever so slightly, studying the freckles across her nose. For a moment, the two were just looking at each other, getting lost in one another's contrasting eyes. Before Brian could say something more━the sound of louder car engines began to get louder as the crowd rushed toward the new group of street racers that arrived.
Josephine sent him a tight-lipped smile and gave his chest a small pat. "I'll see you around, blondie."
Brian only pursed his lips as he watched her make her way to the familiar new arrivals, ones that he had been waiting for, and stopped in front of the red 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD. Her arms crossed as soon as Dominic Toretto stepped out of the vehicle, and when her older brother saw her, Josephine purposely and spitefully ignored him and went to greet the others who got out of their respective cars.
Mia smiled when she saw her approach, taking her into a side hug. "Hey, you."
"Hey, you," Josephine grinned.
Vince appeared and pulled her into another side hug, pressing a gentle kiss on her head. "You gon' race tonight, Jo?"
"Don't feel like it," She shrugged, moving over to stand beside her sister instead. She was still a little salty with him after he picked a fight with Brian. The man seemed to notice this and a slight scowl slipped on his face.
"One race. 2G buy-in. Winner takes all." Dominic told the guys, Hector and Edwin, who were running the scene. They began putting bundles of cash in his arms. "Hector, you're going to hold the cash."
"Why Hector?"
"'Cause he too slow to make away with the money, man."
The crowd burst into low 'oohs' at Edwin's remark, and Hector smiled sarcastically before he dropped it. Dominic patted the Hispanic guy's arm and chuckled under his breath. "Okay. Good luck, guys."
"Hey, wait. Hold up." All eyes turned to the owner of the voice. Josephine raised her eyebrows when she realized who it was. His tall height towered over Hector and Edwin as Dominic stared at him. "I don't have any cash. But I do have the pink slip to my car."
Josephine grinned. Beside her, Mia glanced at her and the blond guy with a certain look on her face. When the older girl noticed it, Mia gave her a toothy smile. This was going to be fun and Mia was all there for it.
"You just can't climb in the ring with Ali, 'cause you think you box," Jesse chimed in, and beside him, Vince leaned on his car, looking like he might spring up and attack Brian again. His words made Brian shift on his feet, but he wasn't going to give up so easily.
"He knows I can box." He sent a nod at an unhappy Vince. Josephine's hazel eyes glinted the slightest watching him. "So check it out. It's like this. I lose, the winner takes my car. Clean and clear. But if I win, I take the cash, and I take the respect."
"Respect," Dominic laughed. A bunch of others laughed with him, too. Even Josephine was a little amused but she didn't say anything.
His ocean eyes briefly flickered to Josephine. Then he looked at Dominic. "To some people, that's more important."
Their laughter faded. Dom looked serious this time as he nodded at the neon green Mitsubishi. "That your car?"
"I see a cool air intake. It's got a NOS fogger system and a T4 turbo, Dominic." Jesse listed out as he inspected the inside of Brian's car. The blond guy stood over him, observing their reactions intently. From the looks of it, they seemed pretty chill about it. "I see an AIC controller. It has direct port nitrous injection."
"Yeah." Dominic tilted his head, slightly approving. "And a stand-alone fuel management system. Not a bad way to spend ten thousand dollars."
"You see that shit?" Edwin cuts in, pointing at the main attraction of his engine. Josephine clicked her tongue at the amount of NOS he had. "He's got enough NOS in there to blow himself up. Period."
"So what do you say?" Brian questioned. He must want to race with Dominic so badly that he didn't seem to care about the dangerous amount of NOS he had in his car. "Am I worthy?"
"We don't know yet." Dominic grinned, earning a few chuckles. Then he pointed Brian's pink slip he held in his hand at the man himself. "But you're in. Let's go."
As the crowd dispersed and Josephine saw that her family had steered far away, she rushed toward Brian who was already looking at her. She touched his shoulder and made him slightly bend down at her height before she said: "Since I'm a nice person, I'll give you a tip. Try not to get yourself killed, yeah?"
Then she disappeared into the horde of racers before he could say anything.
The streets of LA were especially empty at this time of night and that meant━no bystanders, no cops. Josephine hated cops. They were a pain in the ass and a constant headache that keeps her from her hobbies. Different types of cars lined up the streets and pavements and blocked alleyways and crossings. Not only did they make a path for the race on the vacant streets but they could watch without anything unnecessary blocking their views.
Josephine regrouped with the others, cheering as the four cars who were going to race drove to the starting line on the asphalt road. Her eyes rolled when she noticed Vince following Brian's car like he was trying to intimidate him. He looked ridiculous. The sisters shared a look and shook their heads at their close friend's behavior.
As they stopped before the starting and finishing line, Brian managed to slightly go overhead and had to reverse a few steps back. It earned a few amused laughs and hollers from the spectators and Josephine grimaced to herself. Brian had to know how to drive. She almost wanted to start biting her nails from anxiousness as she stepped back to her Honda beside Mia.
"Can he actually drive?" Mia asked, a little worried since she knew how Dom drives. Not that he didn't like losing but the man barely loses a race.
Josephine shook her head. Hard gaze trained on the neon green car. "Well, he better."
Then the race began. A rocky start for Brian but he seemed to get ahold of his driving halfway through the race. Josephine crossed her fingers and just wished nobody was going to get hurt tonight. Winning was one thing, but getting in an accident was another thing that Josephine tried to avoid in the long run.
Dominic won. Of course, he did. Brian came in second.
While they were all cheering for Dom's victory, Josephine was patiently waiting, her eyes on the incoming smoking neon car driving directly toward her. Brian stopped the car just a few inches in front of her, making a small smirk slip on her lips but disappeared as soon as he stepped out of his vehicle. For some reason, he had a shit-eating grin on his face as he neared her.
"That was sloppy, blondie," Josephine scoffed as he towered over her.
"Yeah, totally." Brian raised his brows, playing along. "Might need a few driving lessons from you soon."
"Well, it ain't coming for free," Josephine smirked.
Then his eyes flickered to the winner of tonight's race. The grin on his face never disappeared. They only became more prominent when Dominic and the crew rushed over to his━well, Dominic's car now━and opened up the smoking hood of the vehicle. Josephine stepped back, blending into the crowd as she fell back beside Letty and Mia who watched.
Dominic furrowed his brows at Brian. "What are you smiling about?"
"Dude. I almost had you." He laughed, which made the crowd erupt into more laughter and shouts.
"You almost had me?" Dominic seemed amused. "You never had me. You never had your car." He walked around the blond, interacting with the people. "Granny-shifting. Not double-clutching, like you should."
"To be fair, he was granny-shifting," Mia whispered beside her, fighting the teasing smirk on her face.
Josephine rolled her eyes. "Somebody has to teach that guy how to drive."
"You're lucky that hundred-shot NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake. Almost had me?"
"You tell him, Dominic. Get outta here!"
"Now, me and the mad scientist got to rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried." This time, their brother's words made Mia and Josephine laugh along with the others. Dominic stopped before the car and closed the hood before looking at everyone. "Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning."
Before their celebration escalated, the moment somebody started yelling 'cops' everybody began to run. They raced to their cars, quickly driving off the area. Josephine shared one last look with Brian and a quick grin before she dashed toward the direction of her Honda. Mia followed close behind her. She jumped in the passenger seat as Josephine situated herself in front of the wheel.
Then there were sirens from cop cars. Josephine quickly pressed the pedal and Mia hastily buckled herself onto the seat. They knew the drill. Cops come, and they scatter. Usually, Josephine and her family always regroup at the same place. The Toretto household. She briefly drove past Brian's green Mitsubishi Eclipse as she drove the opposite way, the familiar streets of LA easier to navigate with her years of knowledge.
"Did you see Dom?" Mia asked worriedly as Josephine sped in the alleyways, running in shortcuts instead of the streets to not be seen by any cops. "I didn't see him."
"He's all right." Josephine tried to reassure her, briefly tearing her eyes off the road to glance at her sister. "I'm sure he got away."
Josephine hoped he had because that would be bad if he got caught. She shook her thoughts away and focused on where she was driving. But her mind drifted to a certain blond, something unrecognizable bubbling in her guts. Brian had to be fine. He might've not won against Dominic, but he should at least know how to evade the cops.
He would be stupid not to. Cops were their number one adversary in these streets. They always had been.