Just watched Fast and Furious 6 and while it was good, I still think Fast Five is my favorite.  But it made me want to write more for this story so here you go :)

Chapter Quote:
“Why do I smell baby oil?”
~Roman Pearce in Fast and Furious 7
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Chapter 4

With traffic, it took an hour for me and Jason to get to Santa Monica Pier.  It was pretty crowded today for some reason.  He and I got out of the car and started walking.  The sun was scorching so I decided to say, “Are you in the mood for ice cream?”

“Only if I get to pay for it,” Jason countered.

“Free ice cream for me.  Go right ahead.” He grinned as we headed to the first ice cream place we saw.  I got a large chocolate chip cookie dough with M&M’s and sprinkles.  Jason got mint chocolate chip with Oreo chunks.  Like he bargained with me, he paid for both of ours.  I felt bad because it was pretty expensive, but I let it slide.  He had wanted to pay for it.  The two of us walked leisurely down the pier.

“So I have a question for you,” I said.

“Shoot.”

“You know about my family, so may I know about yours?”

Jace hesitated. “There’s not much to tell.  I don’t speak to anyone from my family anymore and they don’t try and speak to me.”

“Well if you ever need to talk to someone, I’ve been told I’m a good listener,” I offered.

“Long story short, my father ditched me and my mother when he found out she was pregnant with me.  After I was born, mom got depressed, started drinking and never stopped.  It’s amazing I got through school let alone to college.  I applied for a lot of scholarships which is helping me out paying for UCLA.  I was that wimpy, smart kid who got picked on all the time.  But I went with it.  Funny thing is, now they’re into street-racing and I kick all their asses at it.”

“And I’m sure you’re better looking,” I remarked.

Jason laughed. “Puberty has apparently treated me very well.  Okay, now answer me this, why are you still working for your uncle when you have an awesome business degree?”

“It’s hard to find a job out here in LA and to be honest, I don’t want to leave my mom alone.  I’m all she has in the house.  Ever since my dad died, I’ve been really protective of her and I hate leaving her.  I know one day I’ll have to but today is not that day, nor is any day in the near future.”

“That I understand, especially the job part.  You would think with this place being such a big city and all, there’d be more jobs, but no!  It’s crazy!  I’d love a good job but I can’t find one, and no one wants to hire a kid living by himself with no previous work experience and no references.”

“Like my mom said, if you ever need a job, just ask Dom.  We need some more help, and you seem to know a lot about cars.”

“Do you really think Dom Toretto trusts me to be around you?” Something about his tone hinted to me there was a reason he’d said the statement in the first place.

“What did my uncle say to you?” I demanded, looking up at him.

“He said ‘be careful, Jason,’ and then walked away.  Then your Aunt Letty came up and told me if I broke your heart, he’d break my neck and then she and your mother would be right behind him.”

“It takes a lot to break me, let alone break my heart.  You’ll piss me off sooner than you’ll hurt me.  So don’t worry about it.”

“I’m pretty sure if I hurt you in any way, your uncle would kill me and make it look like an accident.  No offense.”

“None taken.  Another question, do you know those guys behind us?  They’ve been watching us the entire time.” I turned around briefly.  Sure enough, I saw the same three guys trailing behind us.  It didn’t seem like they were purposely following us, but it still was strange that they kept looking at us.  Jason turned around as well and took in the guys behind us.  A grin broke out on his face.

“Yeah, I know them; they’re friends from the races.  Probably didn’t recognize me with my hair chopped off.”

“You had long hair?” I mused, giving him a smirk.

“I like it much better short,” Jace quipped. “Much easier to take care of.  I wake up in the morning and I don’t have to do anything to it.  It’s perfect in the morning.”

“I hate you for that.”

“Don’t you look amazing twenty-four-seven?”

“You are one slick charmer, aren’t you?”

“I like to think so.  Come on, I’ll introduce them to you.” Jason took me by my hand and pulled my gently towards his friends. “Hey guys.”

“Hey yourself, man.  What’s been going on?” One of the guys exclaimed cheerfully, giving Jason a bro hug. “And who’s your lady friend?”

“I’ve been good.  And guys, this is Ember.  Ember, this is Steve, Bucky, and Sam. They help me out with my cars and give me places to crash if need be.”

“Hey gorgeous,” Bucky greeted, flashing me a flirtatious smile.

“Hi,” I replied sweetly.

“Why didn’t you tell us you had a girlfriend?” Sam inquired. “I’m offended.”

“Oh, I’m not his girlfriend.  We’re just friends,” I quickly explained.

“Seriously?  Just friends?” Bucky raised his eyebrows.

“Is that not legal or something?” I countered.

“No, it’s just when Jace typically hangs out with girls, it’s because they want to-”

“All right, all right,” Jason interrupted, waving his hand to stop his friend.  His cheeks were starting to redden. “You guys going to the races tonight?”

“Definitely!  Did you hear about who’s in town?” Steve questioned.

“No?” Jason scrunched his eyebrows together.

“Lynch’s crew.  They decided to show up.  Be careful.  You know how they like to recruit the good drivers,” Sam said.

“I might lay low if that’s the case, maybe just go and watch until they get out of town.”

“It’d be smart.  You’re making a name for yourself out there.  You need be careful,” Steve warned.

“I’m always careful.” The three boys snorted at this.

“Yeah, and I’m a billionaire,” Bucky joked. “Seriously though, stay out of trouble.”

“I will.”

“Well, it was good seeing you, but we have some girls we’re meeting up with.  And it’s obvious you want to be alone with Ember here, so we’ll leave you alone.  See you tonight.”

The three boys left.  Jason and I started walking down the pier again.  Curiosity was nagging me, so I asked, “Who’s Lynch?”

“A guy who runs this group of these phenomenal racers.  He recruits only the best of the best.  They’re like the top guns of the racing world.  But they’re a bad group of people to get involved with.  They pull heists and earn millions doing it.  They’re so clean though that no agency can pin anything on them.  They’re like ghosts.  One of his favorite places to scout is here in L.A. because of how big racing is here.  The guy is brilliant.  He has…” Jace looked up at the sky, mentally counting. “Five other racers.  Obviously he has more people working for him but he only has five racers.  These people are top notch.  His best driver is a guy named Jackson.  Even Lynch can’t beat him sometimes.”

“So what happens if they want to recruit you?”

“You don’t really get a choice.  It’s pretty much join or die.  It’s why I don’t really go race when they’re in town.  People know my name there, and I’m sure Lynch has heard of me, but he won’t contact you about joining outside of the racing area.” I guess I must’ve made a face because Jace nudged me playfully and said, “Worried about me, are you?”

I smiled. “Maybe.  Maybe I’m worried about a guy who seems genuinely nice and I don’t want him getting tangled up in the wrong things.”

“You won’t have to worry about that.  I’m a smart boy.”

“Right, which is why you have the guts to ask me out even when you know I can’t date racers.”

“This isn’t a date!  And you could’ve said no!” he pointed out, throwing away his ice cream cup.

“I could’ve said no but I would’ve felt bad for saying no to you again.”

“For the record, we’re just hanging out, as friends, okay?” Jace chuckled.

“Deal.  Want to go inside the arcade?”

“I challenge you to air hockey.”

“Oh it’s on.”

With that said, the two of us spent the next few hours at Santa Monica Pier.  He beat me at all the air hockey games although the majority of the games, we were tied most of the time.  I beat him at the driving game we played, much to my pleasure (and his amused annoyance).  Afterwards, we went on the roller coaster and Ferris wheel.  We got to see the sunset on that.  It was rather beautiful, and I’m not typically one to get all mushy-gushy about that type of stuff.

At seven, I drove us back to my house.  We got there at eight.  My mom sat on our front porch on our porch swing, reading a book.  She looked up when I pulled into the driveway.  I really hoped I wasn’t in trouble for being gone so long.

“Thanks for the ride, Ember,” Jason said, stepping out of the car.  I was just pulling the keys out of the ignition when he opened my door for me.  I wasn’t sure if he was naturally a gentleman or if he was being that way because my mom was there.  I stepped out and he shut it. “Hello Mrs. O’Connor.  How are you?”

My mother eyed him suspiciously but masked it with a friendly expression. “I’m good.  You?”

“I’m good, ma’am,” Jace responded politely.  Turning to me, he said, “Ember, thank you for a fun day, and tell your uncle I might contact him about a possible job.  I’d like to make money in a more legal way.  Good night!”

“Night!” I said, watching him walk towards his car.  My mom came to stand by me.  The two of us watched him disappear down the street.

“What’s going on between you and him?” She demanded.

“Nothing!  I swear.  He’s just a friend.  He wanted to hang out and I shot down his ego so many times I felt bad if I said no again.  It’s not like I’m going to date him.  Besides, he knows I can’t.  I’ve told him.”

“Have you now?” She followed me into the house. “And he respects that?”

“After I explained why, yes, he does.”

“You told him why?”

“It’s not like it’s a secret.  He was looking at some pictures down here while I went upstairs to grab some things before we went to the pier.  He asked me about it and I told him what happened.  That’s all.  Nothing is happening between us, nor will it ever.  I’m going to go shower.  Love you mom.” I gave her a big hug and dashed upstairs, wanting to get clean and put on comfy pajamas.  I pulled my phone out of my bag to see if I had any emails, but a piece of paper fluttering to the floor caught my attention.  Picking it up, I read it:

Street racing
Friday night
8:00 p.m.
If you can go, text me: 213-555-8492
(I’ll pick you up)
-Jason
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What do you think Ember is going to do?  I think most of you have an idea.  Review! :)