VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 6

"...Lando?" The boy called, rather shyly.

"Hey, uhm, what's the deal with Charles and— uhm...?" Oscar said, of rather half-said, gesturing over at where Andi was stood a few moments ago.

Lando, who'd already long surpassed his sensible drinking range, took a while to understand what Oscar was insinuating. When he did, he opened his mouth and let out a long "Ohhhh!" before explaining:
"Right, you're new. Yeah so, basically, they're like super-duper-duper close. Like, best best friends. Since forever. As in, always together, every second of the day, always. Like— You'll probably hear it around the place, that wherever Andi is Charles is, and wherever Charles is Andi is, and—"

Oscar, who'd quite frankly heard enough, had to intervene before Lando continued to come up with more ways to tell him how close Andi and Charles were. "I see, right. I get it—" he said, not quite stopping his friend.

"And..." Lando got closer, covering his mouth as if the information about to be relayed shouldn't be heard. "...just between you and me; Andi has a major thing for him." He giggled as if he was three, covering his mouth and immediately shushing Oscar even though the boy made no noise at all.

"A... 'thing'?" Oscar repeated, to which Lando rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Oscar. A 'thing'. Do you really—" He sighed, hanging his head low. "She's had this huge crush on him since, like, forever."

"Oh, okay." The boy replied bluntly, fully understanding the situation. Well, almost.

"Yeah, and I'm really not supposed to talk about it. At all." Lando chuckled nervously. "She made that very clear when she found out I told Carlos—"

It seemed his teammate had not been listening, since he was cut off by another question, again about Andi and Charles.
"So he rejected her, then?" Oscar asked.

"What?"

"I mean, he has a girlfriend... right? Or is that not—"

"No! No, yeah, he has a girlfriend." Lando stood quietly for a moment, furrowing his brows as if he was deep in thought. "But, uhm, no. He didn't reject her. I don't think—" He paused again raising a finger to his lips. Oscar watched on as his friend clearly wasn't sure in himself. "Actually, now that I think of it, I haven't actually spoken to her about it. She took off once the dating rumours were confirmed. So, I mean, he could've rejected her, but maybe not. Did she ever tell him? I can't remember—"

"But she was planning to?" Oscar queried, watching his friend's expressions closely, hoping his next answer would be more direct.

"Oh yeah, big time." Lando took a gulp of his drink, answering as if it was obvious.
"Speaking of..." He continued, looking around.

"Speaking of... what?" Oscar followed Lando's eyes, majorly confused.

"We really need to get you set up with someone around here. Hey, Carlos! Come help me set up Oscar! He—"

"Hey, no—" Oscar tried to interfere before Lando got carried away. But, once Carlos was beside him, there was no stopping him. The two of them started whispering to each other; pointing at various women around the room and looking back at Oscar every now and then, who'd awkwardly rub his neck or pretend he wasn't with them. After a while, Oscar decided there was only one thing to do. Get away from these two trouble makers. He coughed, getting their attention. "I've gotta... uh.. fix my... hair?"

What?! He thought, immediately.

Carlos looked at him funny while Lando merely laughed and said, "Yeah, you do that, pretty-boy! You make sure you look extra pretty for the date we find you!" before Oscar speedily walked off. Despite how embarrassing his exit was, he was glad to have done it.