The Team // A Formula One AU

George

Peter makes us jog back to the hotel.

I feel like collapsing when I finally reach the front door of the strangely tall building and gulp down some water offered to me by Checo. He's always got water.

"Training hard I see," a passer-by comments. Why is everyone always eating green lollipops?

"Um... Yeah," Checo replies.

"Oh! You're not from here either. That's dedication!"

"... Yeah. Thanks."

The others soon arrive from their own slower paced jogs and then the bus rolls up, Charles and the other adults stepping out to laugh at us. We haven't changed out of our training clothes because of our surprise and it's definitely time to hit the showers. At least Charles' nose has stopped bleeding, I notice. I wonder how hard Esteban kicked the ball to give him a black eye, though.

"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Okay, does everyone have their bags from the bus?" Tom asks and we chorus yes. It's easier to count us outside because the hotel is still bustling with circus people. "Alright, you can go up to your rooms and relax for a while."

"For a while?" Alex pants as we turn towards the lift. "We deserve to rest all week after this torture."

"It wasn't that bad," I say, pressing the button. The lift doors open and inside stands a boy our age who is absolutely the spitting image of Charles, except he's wearing full black contact lenses to match his dark hair and clothes, making him looks like he's just crawled out of the underworld. He even has a bruise on his left cheek. The most concerning thing about this boy, however, is that he's soaking wet. A puddle has gathered beneath him on the lift floor.

The imposter pulls the lollipop out of his mouth and I recoil as I notice it's almost glowing green. He sneers at us. Did I miss something? Is it Halloween?

Charles and demon-boy just stare at each other.

"Grey!" Someone yells from behind us. Demon-boy pushes past us and I turn to see who yelled. The girl looks like she hasn't slept for weeks, but then I notice her eyes are bright red from contact lenses too.

"What the..."

"Come on." Alex grabs me and I follow him into the lift, trying to avoid the puddle as he presses the button for our floor a few times in agitation. I meet Max's eye, cramped up beside him, but he just looks as creeped out as I am.

"Did you see that guy?" I ask him.

It's clear that an idea for a scathing remark sweeps across his mind as he looks at me, but then it fades away and he answers normally. "I just hope he was wet from water and not..."

"Ew!" Daniel exclaims and hits the back of Max's head playfully. I laugh as the doors finally close, but then the shoving starts and I have to fight not to step in the water. With five of us in the lift it's a real challenge.

"This place is so weird..." Charles says, voice shaking.

"You can say that again."

"This pla-"

"Who's got the key?"

"I do," Daniel answers. We make it to our room and let ourselves in. At least our floor is quiet. As the door clunks shut behind us we sit down on our beds silently. This hotel has gotten into our heads. Lando looks excited, but Charles looks downright disturbed.

"... Did you see that boy in the lift?"

"He just was you!"

"Everyone here has dyed hair... Do you think there's some kind of parade?"

"And did you hear that scream last night?"

"It must be some kind of gathering."

"Yeah, everyone's dressed funny."

We speak in whispers. It's the quietest we've ever been in our own room.

"What if-"

Silence. There was a knock at the door and we all heard it. I stare at the handle for a couple of adrenaline-filled seconds, hardly daring to breathe.

"Hello?" It's Tom's voice. We all breathe out. Mick opens the door and he walks in and shuts it behind him. He also gasps as though he's trying to catch his breath. "I'm telling you, we chose the wrong hotel."

"What's wrong with it...?" Alex asks carefully from the safety of his top bunk.

"Are all these dressed up people making Weird Old Phil agitated?" Daniel jokes and the tense mood almost breaks. Tom laughs.

"They're making me agitated. But this floor is better than mine. Mine is covered in leaves from outside. I'll probably sit out in your corridor all night and sleep against the wall."

"Damn it, he'll hear our midnight feast," I joke.

"I always do anyway!"

We laugh again. By the time Tom leaves we're back to normal. Well, Lando has climbed into Alex's bunk with him and they're making a fort, so that's normal enough for me.

I catch Max's eye again as I move to climb past him to my bunk, but he actually smiles a little bit this time. Maybe things are better between us. I sit down and make a quick wish that nothing else goes wrong on track tomorrow.