The Team // A Formula One AU

Checo

Fernando and I sigh at exactly the same time.

"What're you doing?" He asks me quizzically.

"Trying to get my heart rate back to normal after my run."

"You're not normal, running on our afternoon off," Nico grins, digging in the sand across from us. We decided to join a few of the others on the beach by the lake, having seen enough of the watersports scene earlier in the week.

"Oh, the irony," I roll my eyes back to Nando, "Why, why are you sighing?"

"I just remembered I forgot my charcoal pencils in Spain."

"You could swim back and get them, it's only a few of thousand kilometres."

Nico laughs. "Are you stupid? This is a lake, Checo."

"I can barely swim a metre, anyway," Nando huffs and I raise my eyebrows, distracted from smacking Nico.

"You can't swim?" He asks and Nando shakes his head. "Well now's a perfect time to learn!"

We turn our faces to the water. The waves are as high as we are and the temperature is only a few degrees above zero.

"Maybe not," I say.

"We'll practise in the sand first," Nico says undeterred and lies belly first on the ground. He kicks his legs and moves his arms in what I assume is supposed to be breast stroke. "Copy me."

Nando giggles and to my surprise actually does lie down on the cold sand. I sort his hands into bowl shapes and laugh as I realise Seb is watching us from his deck chair, having finished napping. He starts to pack his things away and I check my watch. Time to go.

The only highlight of the journey back is Nico getting hit in the eye with a water bottle and when we get to the hostel at sunset we're still wide awake. A few of the others have returned as well and everyone is wondering what to do for the two hours before we're meant to have lights out.

"How about the pool?" Daniel suggests.

"There's a pool?"

"It's on the tenth floor for some reason. I overheard some of the weird guests talking about it."

I glance at Seb who's standing beside me. "Creepy pool?"

Most of the team follow Daniel up the stairs, having had a few too many strange encounters in the lifts since we got here. The tenth floor is wet with footprints and smells a bit of damp, but the small changing rooms are tidy and the pool is compact but big enough to hold us all, as long as we don't thrash about too much.

"Right, hold onto the edge, put your feet out behind you and kick like I showed you on the beach," I say once we've claimed a space in the grotty hostel pool. Nando does as he's told, kicking so hard he must send tsunamis to his family in Spain. 

"Okay, now let go of the side and use your arms."

He sinks like a stone. We dredge him up from the depths and he splutters while we hold him up.

"Was that good?" He coughs.

"Kind of... Maybe try a bit less splash and a bit more propulsion."

"How am I supposed to keep my head out of the water?"

"You don't."

Nando wrinkles his nose at me in confusion as I hear Nico's yell from beside the jacuzzi. I look round to see him fighting with Mick over a pair of baby's armbands. Mick gives up and lets go, sending Nico stumbling backwards into the shallow end of the pool. This really isn't his day.

He bobs over slowly and in pain with the armbands in his hands. He hands them to Nando and tries to rub the sting out of his back.

"Are you okay?" I ask. He nods and opens his mouth to reply.

"I need some for my feet as well," Nando interjects. I turn to look at him. He looks ridiculous in the tiny armbands that are almost the same yellow as his trunks and I splutter.

"Just try to swim," Sebastian says, pulling him away from the edge. Nando makes it across the corner of the pool with his head jutting out of the water and everyone in the room applauds. He grins and is about to try coming back when the door to the pool opens and someone comes in. We all turn to face him.

"What in the name of St Andrew are you doing in here!?" Weird Old Phil shouts.

"Swimming!" Lando laughs and cannonballs from the side, splashing water all over our Scottish trainer. His face darkens to its usual shade of red.

"Get out! All of you, go to bed it's nearly ten o'clock."

He grabs Carlos' arm and drags him towards the door before clapping his hands for us all to hurry up. Our only chance to go swimming and this is how it ends? I haul myself out of the water and turn to help Nando out as well.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Next time we try without the bands."

We file past Weird Old Phil like a disgraced football team and I hear him muttering under his foul breath.

"And with training tomorrow as well, how stupid. These boys are ridiculous..."