behind cameras- c.l

five

"Alicia!" Someone calls out to me, and I whip my head around to see who. Naturally, it's none other than George Russell, waving to me from the sand. "Come, we need an extra player for volleyball!"

Him, Lewis, and Lando are stood by a net, George holding an inflated beach ball that looks rather small in his hands. I shoot him a smile and a thumbs up, and make my way over to their game.

George is in white and green Hawaiian shorts with an unbuttoned white shirt, whilst Lewis and Lando have ditched their tops and are in yellow and hot pink swim trunks respectively. Lando grins as I approach, and Lewis gives me a warm nod.

George grabs my arm and yanks me towards his side of the net. "Okay, me and Ally against you two." He says bossily, raising the ball to serve. When it immediately hits the sand on the other side, I jump up to give him a high five.

"Damn, Georgie, you might actually win at something for once." I marvel, as Lewis lines up to serve next.

Our very brief moment of victory is cut embarrassingly short by Lewis absolutely demolishing us, almost single handedly. Lando barely has to lift a finger, and the next think I know, we're 27 points behind. I mean, come on, that's just embarrassing. Who knew Sir Lewis Hamilton was a volleyball prodigy?

George leans over, panting and out of breath, his hair messed up and sweaty. He raises a hand, asking for a pause. Lewis drops the ball and drops down to sit on the sand, cricking his neck as he does so, looking completely and utterly unbothered.

"I don't wanna play anymore," George sulks, once he regains control of his breathing. "It's not fun when you're always losing."

"Yeah, you would know all about that." I reply, and Lando laughs, while George shoves me.

"I've known you for literally a day and you've already become my biggest hater." He complains, joining Lewis on the floor. "I don't like Alicia anymore."

"Is that in the same way you like crashing, because-"

George lets out a war cry and launches the ball, which has rolled to his feet, right at my face. I duck and it soars over my head, hitting Charles, who's standing behind me, right in the back. All four of us start laughing as he turns around, looking less than pleased.

He says something indiscernible, they leans down to pick the ball up, sending it flying right back to us at full force. He looks straight at me and gives me the finger, before turning back to his conversation with Carlos.

"He didn't look happy." Lewis remarks, as Lando whistles lowly. I shake my head.

"Yeah, he's a bitter old fart." I say, loud enough for him to hopefully hear. As insults go, that's one of my favourites.

"Christ, that's something my grandma would say." Lando says, leaning back on his elbows, soaking up the sun.

"You're not wrong, though," George adds. "He's been acting weird all week."

"Something to do with his ex," I offer, and the others murmur in agreement. "Alexandra?"

"Shit, yeah." Lando says. "That was messy, man."

Against my better judgement, I'm curious. "What happened?"

The three of them exchange looks, but it's Lewis who speaks up. "They had...a complicated relationship." He explains. "She wasn't very nice, he could have been a better boyfriend...you know how it is."

"They fought a lot." Lando chimes in. I must admit, I'm rather enjoying this gossip session. "Like, a lot. And very publicly as well. Wasn't good for either of their images. Then they broke up, and got back together, and broke up, and got back together..." He looks at me meaningfully. "You get the gist. Anyway, she ended up running off with another guy."