Fake It - OP

Chapter 13

I don't know how long I slept, but I guess it had been more than a few hours since the sunlight that was coming through the blinds when I went to bed, was now non-existent. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and wiped under them. I don't think I moved since I fell asleep. I looked to find Frank and he was gone, but there was a large Frank-sized indent in one of my pillows.

I rolled over to grab my phone which was face down on my nightstand. I pressed the side button to wake it and all the screen displayed was the "Plug-in please" symbol. I groaned and closed my eyes again, rolling onto my back. I had to think about how to tell my parents about Oscar. It was pretty safe to say they were very relaxed parents, letting me travel as much as I did with Ange. But it's one thing to travel with my best friend, it's another to travel all the time with a Formula One driver. Who, despite my dad knowing his name, was a stranger. Or a stranger to my parents. Could I call him a stranger anymore?

I don't exactly need my parent's permission to do anything. They were actually very encouraging when Ange offered up my move to Hawaii, but I respected them both too much to take their advice and deliberately go against it. And I wanted to do this, I wanted to go and travel with Oscar and find myself, but I also wanted to help him. Lando is right in saying he doesn't look stable at McLaren.

While connected to my plane's wifi yesterday I googled him. I blame boredom and wanting a distraction. I didn't want to call myself a stalker. But the news was bad. He looked like a flight risk not just with McLaren, but with every team after the contract drama with Alpine. Zak had faith Oscar was fast, sure. And Oscar is, anyone who watches racing can see it. But if things start going wrong, on the car side or the driver's side, he needs to present like he's committed. And I guess showing he can be committed to a relationship would help that presentation.

Most importantly though, I wanted to do this for myself. I don't know who I am. I don't know who I want to be in my life. What job do I want? Or even who I want to spend it with. Yes, I'll be travelling with Oscar, but in a way, I am travelling by myself for the first time. Ange is like an extension of me, and I of her. Having time and experiences as just me is how I find out who I am.

Well, at least that's what I hope will happen.

There was a light knock on my door and my mom's light auburn hair filled the doorway. I had my dad's hair colour, but I have my fair skin from her. I only tanned when I was in the sun for a long time.

"Hey B," she said. "I came to see if you were up and wanted anything to eat."

I smiled at my mom, "I think I'm okay for now, thank you though." She nodded and walked into my room coming to sit on my bed. I sat up to face her, pulling my blanket around my shoulders for warmth.

"So, your dad tells me you met some drivers?" Mom had always made fun of Dad and I for watching Formula One, but she eventually got into it and started enjoying the racing just as much as we do. But she makes sure to remind us how weird we are for liking the sport when there is a boring race or practice session. She was a big Lewis Hamilton fan though, he could never do any wrong in her eyes.

"Yeah," I paused, running my hands through my hair. "About that," my voice trailed off, how do I bring this up? The look my mom was giving me was just of encouragement as if saying go on. "Oscar and I kind of hit it off."

"What do you mean hit it off?" Mom laughed but was still questioning me. The palms of my hands were sweating, and I tried to keep myself still, knowing if I fidgeted my mom would notice.

"Well, we kind of became fast friends," I started, Mom just rearranged how she was sitting on the bed, listening attentively. "Ange and I got to hang out in the Mclaren hospitality on Saturday and Sunday, we even hung out in the Ferarri one on Friday with Isa, Carlos's girlfriend, and we had a lot of fun, I got really close with Oscar and some other people and,"