Lights Out

The British Grand Prix Pt. One

Wednesday 14th July.
"You've gotta fuckin' love it boys!" I said excitedly, jumping on the spot. It was the British Grand Prix weekend, it was fucking boiling hot, AND THERE WERE GOING TO BE FANS IN THE STANDS. There was a sprint quali instead of the normal one on Saturday, and I had a new helmet design. I was very excited. Dad was going to be here, and Jacob was going to be here, and Katie and Tom were going to be here with their little boy, Ayrton. Everything was 100% very exciting and I was loving it.
"Jessie," George chuckled, "calm down."
"Sorry. I had too much coffee, I think."
"You never get hyper off coffee," Lando said, raising an eyebrow.
"Valtteri made it for me." I gasped dramatically after I said it. "What if he poisoned me!"
"That's slightly illegal, Jess," Alex said.
"Meh." I shrugged. "The law is a guideline, no one can actually stop you from doing anything illegal. Sure, you probably shouldn't rob a bank but hey, you could if you really wanted to."
"Okay," George said, dragging out the 'ay'. "That's a bit disturbing that you think like that Jessie, but we're going to move on. Are you three all coming down to the pool later?"
"Why is this a thing? No. I'm not."
"Why not, Jess?"
I stared at Lando, who had posed the question to me.
"You have said this every time," Alex said. "But we still convince you."
"I don't want to go for reasons you're already aware of."
"Harry can come as well," George said, trying to persuade me.
"What," Lando scoffed, "so they can have sex in the hot tub?"
"Oh, you're an arse," I snapped back.
"Ignore him."
"Have you seen him since you got back from New York, Jess?" Alex asked.
"No. I haven't seen him since Austria. He's stopping by later today, though."
"Brilliant." George slapped his hands together. "He can come to the pool with you then."
"No! I'm not going!"
I opened the door to my hotel room.
"Jessie, we've seen your scars now," Lando said, tilting his head slightly.
"I still don't want to go."
"Or are there new ones?" Alex asked, silencing the three of us.
"I-, I'm not going, I don't have a swimsuit anyway, I'll see you later."

I closed the door, taking a moment to draw in a deep breath and let it out again before looking around my room. It was similar to the ones I'd stayed in the last times I was here, and as usual it was very fancy. I dragged my suitcase to the footboard of my bed, kneeling down and unzipping it, and then I started sorting my clothes into piles. I also shrugged off my backpack and sorted the various bits of clothing into the organised piles before packing them away, making sure everything was neat. Hearing a knock, I went and opened the door to find Nick.
"Enter," I said, my voice imitating an old wizard of some kind, or at least I liked to think that I was imitating an old wizard. I shut the door behind him.
"Unpacked already?" he asked.
"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'.
"Impressive. I almost think we should give you Valtteri's coffee more often."
"I think that's a great ide-"
"Oh no, absolutely not. Anyway, knowing that you guys have a tradition of going down to the pool, here, in the bag of mystery, I have one of your bikinis from God knows when, and, and I went out to buy this especially, a shirt that will cover your upper thighs and not go see-through in the water. So, now you can go enjoy yourself and have a good time without worrying." He dropped the clothes onto my bed, where I stared at them for a few seconds before bringing my eyes back to him. I rushed forwards, flinging my arms around him and squeezing tight.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"It's okay."

"Good afternoon, darling," Harry said, a smile on his face as he stepped inside my room. I rolled my eyes. He'd brought a bag of clothes with him as he was staying the night.
"You aren't dressed to go to the pool," he said, questioningly.
"I don't want to go."
"Why?"
"I know I have the shirt but what if it comes up? I-"
"Why don't you wear shorts instead of the bikini bottoms?"
"I don't have any."
"Ah, okay. Well, um, ah, I don't really know how to solve this problem."
"I just don't want people seeing my scars."
"Do you remember what I said to you? I said that you look gorgeous. They've seen your scars, you're not going to be the only girl there because I saw Katerina today and Carmen is here as well, the same with Charlotte. No one is going to see them, and if you want to leave at any point we can leave, but you should be able to enjoy yourself. So, how about we go down there, and see how it goes. Does that sound okay?"
"I guess."
"Okay. You go get changed and I'll be here."