Roommates Mismatched: Lando Norris

Twenty

Crouching down to same height as Archie, our hug lasted for a while before he pulls away. "Tell Lando I said thank you", he says. I smiled, nodding my head. Standing up to hug my parents, promising them I'll see them soon, I waved them goodbye as they walked away to their car. The summer air in UK hits me after going out of the airport, finding Max with a "welcome home" sign. Running up to him, I hugged him, the feeling of missing him shown.

After Max's playful remark of how heavy my luggage was, we set out back to Woking. Catching up with each other, we talked and talked for the rest of the drive.

"How's Lando holding up?", Max asked. My heart skipped at his name, remembering back to this morning's goodbye I had with Lando. After snuggling up to him at the McLaren hospitality unit, something inside me bubbled up. His smile was infectious and his caring eyes making me feel so protected. I couldn't stop thinking of him.

"Hello? Dear Audrie?", Max distracting my deep thoughts. I blush, my cheeks bright red that Max caught me daydreaming. "He's beating himself up after the race but he's fine." Max scoffed, knowing full well how his friend is. Pulling up to our house, my energy finally draining after the long weekends of the the flight and the race. I just wanted to bury myself in my bed.

Before we could go in, the door swung open with Niran, Aarav and Ria coming out. Scrapping my plan of hiding in my room, I stayed in the living room with everyone after changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants. We passed around some snacks and drinks, watching the race highlights together. Cheers and groans filled the room and a few gasps when an epic overtake maneuver played on the screen.

As the sun started to set, we were still in the living room but now battling it out with a Formula 1 simulation game. Ria hyped me up when it was my turn, seated with a controller in my hand and chose McLaren as my team. I couldn't help but grin when I saw Lando's digital avatar on the screen.

"You're going down, Niran!", I teased. The room erupted into cheers and playful banter as we navigated the virtual track, attempting overtakes and defending positions. Neck-and-neck between the two, cheers and applause followed after I beat Niran within a few seconds. Jumping from the win, I shrieked in satisfaction. Max laughed beside me, amused by the competition.

"Rematch?", Niran asked but we all bursted into fits of laughters. Sitting beside Max, we all watch Niran fight with Ria now, the fight starting of intense. I screamed for Ria but unconsciously leaned against Max. Dramatically closing my eyes when Niran beats Ria, I could feel Max's hand on my shoulder pulling me closer but he lets go when I look up to him. He smiled, our gaze deepened while the boys cheered over Ria's disappointment. What's going on?