CAPACITY FOR WONDER. | alex albon

xxiv. redbull removes your wings

                     Juniper always knew it was something she was allowed to say, without judgment, because she had to experience Monaco during the chaos of the Grand Prix weekend and she lived there most of the time. She saw people get hated for saying it, but it wasn't often she cared for what people said so she spoke her opinion on this matter freely.

Juniper Maddox hated the Monaco Grand Prix.

If somebody told her that the weekend doubled the population of the tiny fraction of the Earth she called her own, she would believe them. It seemed like everything was forced to be more than it was usually, asking a place already excessive to increase its grandeur is like asking the tallest man to grow some more. Frankly, she'd always thought it ludicrous -- and she would've left for the weeks either side of the race day to avoid this if Charlotte hadn't tempted her with a very particular incentive.

"Come on, J. Alex is gonna be there!"

The worst part of that exchange was arguably worse than their cycle to the paddock was. Charlotte had thrown a dress at her face mere moments after she had offered Alex as a reason to attend, which meant it was becoming more blatantly obvious to those around her just how much Alex's presence could persuade her into doing. To represent how bad this was, Juniper had been knocked off her bike by a crowd of fans trying to get to Charlotte, a darkening bruise forming now on her jaw.

Juniper never thought the paddock would be the place to bring her a new kind of solace or a smile to her face either. Granted, this smile didn't last very long. Assumably, it should've grown when Juniper saw Alex, Lando, and George walking in the direction of passing them -- but his indifference to her wave caused her face to falter and then drop.

"What happened to your face?" He asked, a certain sense of urgency in his voice that she hadn't heard before. She'd almost forgotten about the bruising on her jaw too until his hand made gentle contact with her skin and, despite his gentleness, she still flinched.

"Oh. I got knocked off my bike, which was a pain in the arse to ride here anyway in a dress." She said, and though her answer was a reply to Alex, it was also a blatant jab at Charlotte's outfit choice for her.

"Does it hurt?"

"No, I flinched for the fun of it." Her voice remained level. She had taken in their surroundings some more. People were looking at them, actually looking and it made her wish she were a snail so she could shrink back into herself. She had also noticed his attire, no branding of red fabric like she knew Charles would be wearing. "You're not here to support Charles, he drives for Ferrari."

She had almost phrased it like a question, but the way he looked at her showed he knew it was more of a statement.

"No, I'm not."

"Neither are they, you guys aren't even wearing shirts for the same team." She continued as she gestured towards Lando and George, though her eyes remained trained on his.

"When was the last time you watched F1, Juniper?" George dared.

If the values of respect weren't burnt into her brain at such a young age, she might have still been looking at Alex. Her gaze landed on George now as she gave excessive sigh and shrugged, "2018 maybe, a race Charles invited me to."

Lando laughed softly at this, but if her gaze was going to meet anyone's in that moment, it wasn't going to be Alex's which meant he earnt a stony glare from her instead. This softened, as it always did when she turned her head towards Charlotte where her eyes betrayed the begging her brain wouldn't allow her words display. "Don't let me look stupid for any longer, tell me what's going on, Charlotte."