A/N #2* This is a revised version of the kinda pitiful original chapter I had up. It has been a year since I started writing CB and I have come a long way since then in both writing and myself. Thank you to the reviewers that told me how crappy it was and pushed me to get off my butt and fix what I knew was wrong. This one is for you.

Authors Note* This is my very first F&TF fan fic so please keep that in mind. All F&TF peeps belong not to me. I only own the peeps that you have no idea who they are! Many thanks to my WONDERFUL Beta, A Cullen Wannabe, who made the characters come to life with her suggestions! Thank you DeeDee for your help! Read and enjoy :)

Curve Balls

Chapter 1: Newbie

The once empty alley during the day was now tightly packed with tuned up cars, guys, and scantly clothed girls. Music blared from different cars, the bass thumping through the speakers and into the hot, humid air. Bodies walked around checking out the competitions' cars and making small talk with one another. One new car caught the eye of a shorter, skinny black man.

"Hey Hector," Edwin called out as he strutted up to his Hispanic friend.

Hector nodded up at Edwin in acknowledgement without taking his eyes off the clipboard in front of him. "Hey, Edwin. What's up?

Edwin cast a quick glance at the clipboard in Hector's hands before answering Hector's question. "Who's the newbie?"

Hector's head snapped up at Edwin's question. "What newbie?" He asked looking around for the new person that had escaped his notice.

"That newbie," Edwin said in his deep, raspy voice, pointing to the blue-black Mazda RX-8. The RX-8 had silver smoke painted on the hood and sides with white neon lights. The windows were tinted so dark that nobody could see.

"I don't know, but I am going to sure as hell find out." Hector replied in a miffed voice. No one came onto their racing turf without Hector knowing who they were first. Before he could walk to the car, a voice spoke up behind him.

"That's my homeboy," a chipper voice said.

"Well is your boy wanting to race?" asked Edwin, tugging his pants up as he turned around.

"Nah. They just came to see the pretty lights," The young Hispanic said sarcastically "Yeah, they want to race!"

"Well he'll have to wait for the big boys to show up," Edwin said, smirking as he turned back around officially blocking the younger man out.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of fine-tuned, high performance engines filled the air. Yells of excitement coursed through the crowd as the air in the alley began to pulse to life.

A sleek, red car pulled up right in front of the three men and a well-muscled man slowly stepped out of the car.

"Hey Dom, what's up?" Edwin asked giving Dom a "guy" hug.

"All good," Dom answered running his hand over his bald head as he took in the scene.

"So what we racin'?" asked Hector as he handed the clipboard to the tall, blonde woman standing next to him.

"One race, 2g buy in," Dom told him looking the woman who took the board Hector handed her, up and down. The woman boldly eyed Dom back, an invitation shining clearly in her own eyes.

The young Hispanic that was still behind the trio of men coughed to alert them of his presence. The sound caused the three men to turn around.

Dom raised one eyebrow at the young stranger. "Who are you?" Dom asked slightly amused at the man who had the balls to interrupt the King.

"I'm Marco and I'm repin' my boy," Marco proclaimed looking Dom straight in the eye. "And they want to race Letty."

Annoyance sprung into Dom's eyes at the brazenness of the man in front of him." What makes you think he can just walk in and think he can race?"

"Cause my boy is the champ of the streets back home," Marco said not backing down.

Letty had been standing off to the side talking to Mia when the conversation caught her attention. "And where would that be?" asked Letty as she walked up and stood next to Dom.

"That would be the great ATL," replied Marco with pride of his hometown obvious in his voice.

"So this chico thinks he can beat me 'cause he is from Atlanta?" Letty said with a deadly flash in her eyes. "Bring it. I accept."

Dom grabbed Letty by her upper arm and took her off to the side."Let, we don't know what this fool is running or who he is. I decide if you race or not."

"Dom, let me put this punk-ass in his place," Letty growled as she yanked her arm away from Dom.

"Fine," Dom said, giving in to Letty. He turned back around to the gang, anger radiating off his skin . "Its 2g buy in, can your boy handle that?" Dom asked irritated at the new turn of events.

"Yeah, they can handle that." Marco said easily as he handed Dom the money. Dom in turn handed it to Hector, smirking that the new kid didn't know how things were run yet.

Dom gave the crowd a once over and announced the news. "Aight, now we need two more people."

"Well I'm in," said Edwin slapping his money into Hector's waiting hand

"Me too," another one yelled from the crowd.

Letty grinned as everything fell into place. "Let's do it!" Letty yelled her face lighting up at the prospect of winning.

Everyone rushed to their cars to leave the meeting site and head to where the race was going to be held.

The racers drove up to the newly painted start line while the others parked their cars on the side of the road. The new racer and Letty were on the outside with Edwin and the other racer in between the two cars. Leon listened to his CB for a minute before giving the all clear to the waiting racers. Tires screeched on the concrete as the powerful cars jumped forward from the starting line. A haze of gray smoke from the burning tires filled the air as people strained to see what was going on. Letty and the other car took off quickly and soon left the other two racers behind them within seconds. As the finish line appeared ahead, Letty and the newbie pushed in the button to activate their NOS at the same time. Their cars kicked with new strength as the NOS hit their engines. At the last second, the new car pulled ahead and crossed the finish line by half a car length. The car pulled to a stop as it was swarmed by the people from the sidelines. People yelled and lightly smacked the car in celebration. It was not every day that someone beat a member of the DT crew...and never a newbie. The door opened after a few moments, and the mysterious racer stepped out of the car.

Leon was the first to spot the newcomer. "Holy shit! You're a fucking girl!" yelled Leon as he did a double take.

The woman smirked at the surprise in Leon's voice. "What gave it away?" the newbie said, looking down at her body. "The name is Clara."

Dom looked Clara up and down as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. She was wearing tight, black leather pants and a see-through, black, button-up, lacy shirt with black boots.

"Damn Bro! She's hot!" exclaimed Vince who was standing next to him.

"Yeah, if you like mousy brown hair, clammy pale skin, and watery blue eyes," said Letty with a snarl. She did not take to losing very kindly, and the annoyance at losing was being aimed at the person who had the luck to beat her.

At Letty's words, Dom looked over at Clara again. Clara's hair was brown, but a rich dark brown that fell in soft curls. Her bright blue eyes reminded him of someone, but he couldn't place who. Her pale skin was more like a very light caramel with a rosy tint that caused it to glow in the streetlights. Dom felt a stirring of lust in his gut and he pushed it away. Until he found out what the hell was going on, whatever he was feeling towards the new girl was going to be ignored.

Clara swayed over to Dom, Letty, Vince, and Leon, her hips swinging back and forth in a rhythmic, sensual dance "Here," said Clara pushing 2g into Letty's hand.

Letty's eyes popped open. "What the fuck?" asked Letty, shoving the money away. "You won punta."

Hurt flashed through Clara's eyes and was gone before anyone could get a better look. "Only because your NOS didn't kick in right," said Clara with a sigh.

Jesse had been under Letty's hood since the race ended and called out from under it, "She's right," said Jesse as he tried to figure out what went wrong.

"Well, Miss Smarty Pants. I could have told you that. But, it doesn't change the fact that you won," Letty spat out pissed that the whole racing community had just seen her lose, no matter what the reasons.

Clara crossed her arms so Letty couldn't have a chance to give the money back to her. "I didn't earn this money. It wasn't a fair race," Clara told them. "When I win, it will be because I'm better, not because your car wasn't working.

Letty finally stopped trying to give the money back. She balled her hands up by her side before she turned and walked to her car and got in. The crowd started to break up when they saw nothing else was going to happen and headed off to the after parties.

Dom had stayed quiet through the exchange, watching with interest. The new girl was intriguing him and he decided to indulge in it."There's a party at my house. You comin'?" Dom asked Clara. There was something about her that reminded him of someone, but he couldn't place who.

Clara looked up at the muscular man in front of her. "I'm always up for a party." Clara told him with a soft smile.

Dom grinned back and winked. "See ya there." Dom swaggered to his car and the team took off.

The three Hispanic guys and two black guys that had been watching from the background finally walked up to Clara as everyone took off.

"You're in," Marco told her as he bounced on his toes.

Clara ignored the simple statement and swallowed the lump in her throat. "When ya'll leavin'?" asked Clara as she slumped up against her car. The sassy woman had left and in her place was a young, vulnerable girl.

"Couple of days," answered Tony, one of the black men. His eyes held a mixture of sadness and pride.

Clara nodded. "You comin' to the party?" Clara asked not looking up, she didn't trust herself to look at one of her closest friends.

Marco replied quietly, taking her chin in his hand and bringing her face up to meet his. "Nah, we leavin' you on your own for this one."

"Aight," said Clara sadly with a hint of tears in her eyes that threatened to spill over at any given moment.

"Come on girl, it's gonna be ok." Kourt told Clara, bringing her in for a hug. "You didn't come all this way for nothing."

"I know, I know," said Clara with a sigh. "I just didn't think it would be so hard."

Marco's eyes held wisdom well beyond his years. He understood how hard all of this was on the young girl and his heart went out to her. "We won't leave till we see you," said Marco. "Now get your ass to that party!" Marco forced a laugh as he shooed Clara from her position on her car.

Clara let herself be scooted from her position against her car. "Ok, I'm goin'," Clara said defeated as she got in her car and took off.

The men all remained where they were and watched their leader take off for the unknown.

"Do you think we are doin' the right thin'?" asked Jose worriedly.

"If we don't, she'll never be on her own," replied Tony with an array of emotions going across his face.