Rêveries

Chapter 28.

I went to Spain and watched Arthur prepare for the rounds they were racing there. He hung out a lot with a driver that was a year younger than us, Esteban. He was nice and very funny. It wasn't the same action while watching F4 and I kind of liked it. There aren't cameras everywhere and we can do a bit of what we want around the circuit. Arthur and I don't cause the same chaos as Evie and I though, so I just kept finding opportunities that I didn't take because Evie wasn't there.

Some of the days that Arthur was training I went to the beach. I went for walks, I went swimming and I met this guy that offered to teach me to surf. I had seen him surf as I sat on the beach watching FP1 on my phone and I kept trying to glance at him without making it obvious. When he came up from the water he put his board down in the sand and looked over. I kept my eyes on my phone trying to ignore that he was sitting so close and looking at me.

"¿Qué estás viendo?" He asked and I had no idea what he was saying and he must've seen it on my face as I looked over. "¿No hablas español?" He asked and I actually know that he asked me if I don't speak spanish and I shook my head no in response.

"I'm from Monaco, I speak French and Italian, sadly no Spanish," I told him and watched as he shook the water out of his dark hair.

"Monaco? Wow," he chuckled, "So let me guess. Your parents dragged you on vacation and you don't find it entertaining so you're sitting on the beach, pissed, with your phone?"

I laugh at his assumption. Probably because he thinks I'm some stuck up rich kid who doesn't enjoy what I have and what I get.

"No, I'm here because my friend is training," I tell him, "I'm here with him for a competition."

"What does he do?" He asks. I look away as I debate lying to him. I feel like he'd just judge me more and think I'm even more of an entitled rich kid if I tell him I'm here with my friend for F4 which takes a lot of money to compete in.

"He races," I say after a moment of hesitation.

"Right, Formula 4 is here now, is that it?" he asks. I look over at him to see if he's judging me, but he doesn't. He just looks at me while waiting for my answer. His wet hair is now in a middle part and his eyes are a deep brown. I nod slowly and he nods at my response. "So what are you watching on your phone that's so important that you can't enjoy the beach?" He asks but he has a teasing smile on his face.

"Uh... Formula 1 practice," I tell him with a chuckle.

"Who for?"

"What?"

"You're here for your friend in Formula 4, you're watching Formula 1 for?"

"Oh..." I say and look down at my phone, deciding to just turn it off, "Charles Leclerc."

"The rookie, right? That a friend of yours too?" he asks me and laughs a little as if it was a joke. I press my lips into a line and look in front of me instead and he stops laughing as he watches me shrug.

"Well, kind of," I say. I'm not at all crushing on him big time. I'm not at all living with the guy. I kind of know him. I sigh and shake my head as I begin to laugh at how stupid it sounds to me, "I grew up with him, I live with him and his family and his brother is the friend I'm here for."

"Damn," he says and the casual tone he has, seeming clearly unimpressed makes my chest fill with hope. I was expecting him to act like some of the new people I met in Sweden reacted when I told them about either my brother or Charles. "Cool, but I think he has enough support to let you skip a practice or two."

I smile and nod, because I don't even think he expects me to be watching. I watch as the guy stands up from the sand, brushes some sand off of him before walking over to me. He holds his hand out to me and I look at it in front of me.