Sehnsucht | lando norris

- 1 -

2014

Gisela Aliz Schumacher had never been so close to anything in her life. She was always second. Ever since she stepped into that damned kart of hers, she would always end up second. If it was second to her brother, second to Lando Norris, or second to the expectations everybody had for her, it was all the same to her. It was second. Not first.

Though, for once, the 14 year old girl saw an opportunity. An opportunity to change her fate, become first, for once in her life. She fought, pushing her kart as hard as she could to get near the race leader and her lifelong rival, Lando Norris. Every corner, Gisela got closer and closer, and after 2 laps, the gap between the two was gone, giving her the opportunity she had been waiting for what felt like her entire life. To win a race. To be first. Not second.

As the pair forced their karts through the last corner, and drove onto the straight, they drove wheel to wheel. Gisela glanced at Norris from the corner of her eyes, seeing the determination in his eyes, but it didn't scare her. In fact, it made her even more hungry for her first win. She could already imagine his face.

The two neared the first corner, neither showed signs of backing down. They weren't supposed to. If they would, they would give up their chance of winning, and accept the fact that they would be scolded for backing down for the next year.

Their wheels touched lightly, startling both drivers. The only thing Gisela had to do at that point, was get a good exit out of the first corner, and she would take the lead. She knew it. She put her foot down even harder on the throttle, turning her steering wheel so she wouldn't turn in on Norris and risk a collision.

Zoned in, she had a perfect exit, switching from the brakes back to the throttle. She saw herself pulling away from her rival. She had to refrain herself from cheering right then and there, she still had a couple of laps to go before she had actually won the race.

That little moment of happiness was quickly turned around. Within a millisecond, her kart was flipped around, facing the wrong direction and heading for the wall. Gisela had felt the shock go through her kart as she saw a flash of neon yellow race past her.

"Arschloch! Du hast mich geschubst!" (Asshole! You pushed me!) Gisela yelled as she flew into the barrier.

So, she just sat there, screaming into her helmet as the rest of the grid drove past her. Jumping up out of her kart and sprinting off the track, dismissing anyone who asked her if she was alright, she made her way over to her brother, who had found the time to come and watch her race.

"Hast du gesehen was er getan hat?" (Did you see what he did?) Gisela fumingly pulled her helmet off her head, taking the balaclava off and throwing them both onto the floor.

"Gigi, beruhige dich bitte." (Please calm down) Mick put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a hug, which was exactly what Gisela didn't want.

"Micky, wegen ihm bin ich gecrasht!" (I crashed because of him!) Gisela pulled away from the hug, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her eyes glanced back at the track with fury.

"Ich hätte gewinnen können!" (I could have won!) she said, turning to look back at her brother, who returned her look with sympathy.

The brother and sister just stood on the sidelines, both fuming, but Gisela looked like steam was about to come out of her ears. Within a couple of laps, the race was finished, and lo and behold, Lando Norris had taken first place.

With furrowed brows and anger in her eyes, she watched the podium ceremony. She saw Norris step onto the top step and get handed his trophy. That was the step she was supposed to be standing on. That was supposed to be her trophy.

Huffing, she walked away, back to her kart that had been taken off the track in the meantime. However, before she could reach her kart, a reporter had jumped in front of her with a camera and a microphone already pushed in her face.

"What happened with you and Lando Norris in the first corner?" the reported questioned, getting way too close for Gisela's liking.

"He drove into me, because he couldn't handle me winning from him," Gisela told him, her slight German accent slipping through out of anger.

"Oh, don't be sour, you just can't accept that I'll always be better than you," a familiar voice from behind her said. The one and only, Lando Norris.

"I passed you, and you drove into me," she hissed. "You should get a penalty."

"Go cry about it," he whispered so that the reporter wouldn't pick up on it.

"Fick dich ins Knie," (go fuck yourself) she said under her breath, before walking past him and deliberately bumping into his shoulder. Taking big steps over to the spot where Mick was waiting for her, she unzipped her race suit and let the sleeves fall down to her hips.

"I'm going home," Gisela muttered to her brother as she picked up her bag.

"Mutti isn't here yet." Mick followed her off the terrain.

"Then I'll wait in the parking lot, I don't care. I just want to get out of here," Gisela stated, leaning against a fence. Just as she thought she had a little time to calm down from the race, he popped up, again.

"Leaving already?" Norris' annoyingly high pitched voice broke Gisela out of her daydream.

"Yes," she simply responded, staring off into the distance and clenching her jaw.

"What, can't cope with a loss?" he taunted, tilting his head to the side a little.

"Are you obsessed with following me around or something? Fuck off to somewhere else." Gisela rolled her eyes at him, and received a scoff from the boy. Lucky for the girl, he did indeed fuck off.

At that moment, her mother's car pulled up into the parking lot, driving over to her two children who were waiting on the curb.

"Did you win?" Was the only thing her mother said when the pair entered the car.

"No, someone pushed me off the track," Gisela murmured as she fastened her seatbelt and dropped her bag at her feet.

"You can't keep blaming other people for your failure, Gisela," her mother told her, glancing at her from the rearview mirror.

"Wegen Norris ist sie gecrasht," (She crashed because of Norris.) Mick defended her little sister. Gisela gave him a little smile.

After that, the car stayed silent, all the way to their hotel. Even when they arrived, it stayed quiet. Gisela could feel her mother's disappointment. She could see it in the looks she sent her way. She could hear it in the way she talked to her. And from that moment, the little 14 year old girl knew, that whatever she did, would never be enough. She would never be first.