The Team // A Formula One AU

Max

Oops, oops, oops... It was a joke, it wasn't meant to be... I don't know. Criminal damage? My friends are staring at me and Tom is going crazy as he storms my direction. I can't hear him though, I'm too busy noticing little things like Kimi off in the distance and Daniel hiding behind parked cars and the fact this could be my last day of being in this team. Could he really be kicking me out!?

I focus on Tom's words in time to hear his question. "Who's going to pay for the damages? I hope you've got significant savings because your parents are not going to be happy when they hear about this."

Oh no. He can't tell my parents, they'll practically disown me. I need to talk myself out of this. If ever there was a time to talk, now is it.

"Tom, I am so sorry. It was my fault the window got broken because I started it, but I didn't throw the rock that smashed it, only much smaller rocks and bits of gravel. Please, please don't tell my parents. I promise I'll pay the bill just please don't let them know."

He looks at me for what seems like forever then he nods sternly. He hasn't let me off yet. "Okay, I won't tell your parents. But you have to pay the whole bill within the next week, write a letter of apology to the bus company and you'll be missing practice. Is that clear?"

I say yes but inside I'm screaming no. Miss practice? This is the one week where every second of training counts. I rub my forehead as I turn back towards the broken glass on the ground and the two holes in our lime-green bus. I don't know how I'm going to pay for that. But I guess I'm getting off lightly. I turn and find my way back to the others inside the terminal.

"What's he going to do to you?" Mick whispers and I sigh. He hands me a bottle of water and I use it to splash my face, I'm sweaty from the sun and the stress.

"I'm missing practice and I have to write a letter of apology to the bus company. I didn't even realise there was a bus company! And he's making me pay for the damage."

"Don't worry, I'll pay some of it," Daniel says. "It wasn't all your fault."

I smile a little at him but wave away the offer. I should do this alone, I started it.

"Max, get away from them," an all too familiar voice barks from behind me. "Tom has asked me to keep you in solitary confinement until we get to Hawaii. You'll be sticking with me from now on."

I'm going to cry. Stuck with Captain St Andrew for seven hours, is there no god? I follow him dejectedly towards check-in and as we wait in line Tom re-joins us. He looks stressed out of his mind and my heart sinks thinking about what I did.

"Tom? I really am sorry," I say.

He looks at me and must see my sincerity. He sighs. "Just do your punishment."

I turn away to look at the floor. I've done something really stupid. Tom's phone rings and he answers it behind me. I listen to the conversation seeing as I can't hear Mick and Daniel's from here.

"Yeah? Oh wow. That's great news. Of course that... That's perfect. Thank you. I will. Yes. I'll pencil it in. Great. Thank you very much. Bye."

I'm about to ask what it was when I remember my talking ban. This is going to be difficult. Usually I can talk to Tom whenever I want.

We make it through security and into the departure lounge where the others go off to the duty free and I'm stuck trailing behind the adults. We buy Peter a new travel pillow and Erik spends fifteen minutes choosing a book for the flight. When we finally all gather again I'm put in between Weird Old Phil and a huge fake plant. Tom seems to have an announcement.

"Okay guys. I've had a call from one of my contacts and I've got a very exciting announcement. This season we haven't exactly been staying in the best quality hotels, or travelling in the..." He looks at me and I look away. He clears his throat. "Well... All that is going to change in Hawaii. I'm keeping my promise."

I wish I could high-five Kimi right now. A chatter breaks out but Tom raises his hands for quiet.

"Okay okay, calm down. We've secured a sponsor for this race weekend, so the best news is for Max, who doesn't have to pay the repair bill for the bus. You can all just blame him for us not going out to eat tomorrow night."

"Who's the sponsor?" I yell and get jabbed in the side by my chaperone.

"You'll have to wait until we get there to find out."

At least that's a weight off my shoulders. I have no idea what my dad would say if I ended up having to go to him for money and explain I need it because I threw some rocks through our bus windows. Eventually we're let onto the plane and I'm jammed into the middle seat, unable to use the window and unable to use the aisle. At least I've got a television. The plane takes off and the others are all chatting while I pull out my headphones and blast some distracting music into my ears for the next six hours. This is going to be a long week.