A girl chasing her dream. A boy looking for the light.
When Florence Nyx started her internship at a Formula 1 paddock, she expected a lot. Fast cars. Exclusive impressions most people could only dream of. An entire array of skills she'd acquire...
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"Alright, Phoenix, are you ready to get pole position?" Chris spoke into the radio, his gaze fixed on the dozens of screens on the pit wall.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"Good." Chris's grin mimicked my own, and I watched how Phoenix sped past the pit lane and straight toward the finish line. "We'll give you extra power for this one. Williams and Nyx are just a few hundredths behind you, so don't get too cocky."
I could only imagine how hard Phoenix rolled his eyes at that comment. "Yeah. Stop talking. Let me drive." His warning rustled through the radio just as he crossed the start-and-finish line, starting his last attempt at a lap.
Currently, Phoenix was on pole. He'd set the best lap time, but we all knew both Connor and Rafi could still catch up with him.
Our red-and-blue car sped through the corners, looking faster than it's ever looked at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, famous host of the F1 season finale.
"Careful on the brakes, Phoenix..." I muttered, fiddling with my fingernails. He was so fast.
Way too fucking fast.
"How much power did you give him?" I narrowed my eyes at the board, studying the numbers and hoping they made sense to me.
"All we have," Chris retorted, focusing on Phoenix's car on the screen.
He perfectly hit each corner, driving the ideal line with every centimeter of the track. His car appeared and disappeared out of every turn he took, fast enough to make my head spin. He really was on a flier.
And then it happened.
It was the most terrifying déjà vu of my life, watching Phoenix run over the tiniest piece of debris on the track and spin around the corner, barrel-rolling into the walls. My heart literally stopped, and every inch of my body felt numb as I pushed the headphones onto my ears, waiting and waiting and waiting.
Time felt like it didn't exist — the moment lasted for a lifetime, until finally, I heard him.
"Holy fuck, that hurt." His groan vibrated through my headset, and I watched through the screens how he circled his neck until he rested his head on the back of the seat, a deep sigh sounding through the radio. "That would've been a brilliant lap. Fuck."
"Are you okay?" Chris asked, his voice muffled. I looked at him, wondering why he sounded so weird, but couldn't find a reason for the distortion.
"I'm good." Phoenix inhaled deeply. "Tell her I'm good, Chris."
"I will, but you have to go to the medical center. That was a 35G impact."
"Yeah, I fucking feel that, Jojo. Now tell her."
"Copy." Chris turned to me, but all I could do was watch Phoenix get out of his car, steady on his feet but still holding on to the car.
"He's okay, Flo," he said, but I only looked at him when he put his hand on my shoulder, the look in his eyes sympathetic. "You can go to the medical center. I'll take care of things here."
