VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 22

[POV: Narrator]

"That's on Friday...?" Andi said, staring at Oscar intensely as if it was his fault he was born on the same day a bike meet would occur twenty-two years later.

"Yeah." Is all he replied with - bluntly and calmly. He then took a huge bite of his food, which did not amuse - the still very hungry - Andi.

"I'm not here Friday." She informed him, just as bluntly and calmly as he was.

When Oscar nodded politely, smiled at her and said, "That's fine." Andi scoffed.

"What?" She exclaimed, "No it's not."

"Yes it is." He smiled again. His eyes were switching between Andi and her dad every so often, as he was growing concerned of three glaring problems: 1. That Andi was clearly too hungry for her own good, 2. That Andi's dad was about to bear witness to, what Oscar assumed would be, quite a loud explosion of a one-sided argument, especially since 3. Andi seemed to have forgotten that a part of dating someone means being nice to them.

Oscar wasn't sure she knew what the word 'nice' meant anymore.

"You could've told me—" The girl began, before she seemed to snap back into reality. She looked over at her dad, who had both elbows up on the table and was watching the pair of them eagerly. He was grinning. Andi didn't know what that meant. Nonetheless, she cleared her throat, wore a small smile and changed her wording. "You should've reminded me, silly!" She chuckled slightly.

"Why aren't you here?" Her dad chimed in.

"Oh, uhm. I'm going to a bike meet. Already bought the entry ticket, so..." She said, hoping her dad wouldn't force her to stay local if she told him she'd already paid.

"Andi, didn't we agree that—"

"Yeah, I know." She stopped him before he could finish the sentence she already knew the ending of. "I know." She awkwardly started picking at her nails, avoiding eye contact with both her dad and Oscar.

"Are you sure you should go?" He asked, lowering his voice.

Andi didn't answer him.

"I just don't want to undo everything you've—"

"I want to go." She forced the words out, tucking loose hairs behind her ears and checking to see if Oscar was paying attention at all. He wasn't, it seemed. Only, it seemed that way because he pretended to be focused on eating, when really he was paying absolute attention to what was happening.

She continued twiddling her thumbs and bouncing her leg, looking up every so often at her dad. She could tell he didn't like the idea of her going to a bike meet after... everything. But, she also knew that he was happier a few minutes ago, when he was talking about Oscar. So, without stopping to think, she impulsively said:

"Oscar can come with me."

The statement made the boy stop eating. "Huh?" he mumbled, stunned, literally.

Andi stared at him, only to be met with another stare.

"Huh?!" Oscar repeated, still not eating.

"I suppose..." Andi's dad began, retaining a lack of emotion.

Andi widened her eyes at Oscar, as if to signal something. But when all he did was continue to stare blankly at her, she shook her head and exhaled loudly.

Andi's dad then slightly nodded and leaned back in his chair. "In that case..." he said, "I'm sure it won't hurt. You can go."

Immediately, Andi's countenance changed. Her shoulders relaxed, she stopped picking at her nails and twiddling her thumbs, and her leg became still - so did her breathing. She exhaled, happy. She hadn't noticed the boy next to her, who was still staring at her with gaping eyes and a full mouth.

"As long as Oscar goes too." He added.

Andi didn't face the boy, and instead waved over a waiter, ready to order.

(She chose the deluxe fish & chips)

*

Oscar Piastri contributed very little to the rest of the dinner conversation. Once Andi's meal had arrived and her and her dad got to talking about upcoming family plans, recent media debates and more, Oscar was basically silent. Except for the occasional question from Andi's dad - "What about you, Oscar?" - he barely said a word.

When Andi had finished her deluxe fish & chips (with an extra side of fries) she declared that her and Oscar 'should get going since it was late.' When Oscar heard this, he snapped himself awake and tried not to close his eyes for a while since there was a good chance that if he did, they wouldn't open again. He stumbled out of his seat and stretched discreetly, not wanting it to be obvious that he was on the verge of sleep.

He watched as Andi said goodnight to her dad, who gave him a small wave and a nod before he left.

Then, silence.

Andi began walking towards the restaurant's exit, letting Oscar follow her without saying anything at all. It was a challenge to keep up with her, too. She was not waiting around for anyone or anything.

Someone's eager to sleep, he thought. Me too.

With the elevator in view, Andi rushed to reach it before the doors shut, only to be beaten by (a suddenly very awake) Oscar, who lunged forwards to stop it himself before she could. When the doors began opening again, Andi went ahead and entered the elevator without batting a single eyelash at the boy.

That's when he figured she wasn't rushing because she was sleepy.

"You're mad?" he said in a way that conveyed genuine confusion, since he wasn't sure that she actually was mad.

"I'm not mad." She replied, unconvincingly, since her aggressive arm-fold told Oscar the opposite.

Right. So she's mad. He nodded to himself.

Why?

He was about to ask that very question, but Andi answered it for him before he spoke.

"Why didn't you say no?!" She looked up at him with two angry eyes, arms tensing.

"Why didn't I— What?! Say no to what—"

"To coming with me to the bike thing! You could've made up an excuse, a lie, anything!" She huffed, saying it like it was obvious.

Oscar scoffed, too tired to be reasonable. "Oh, so that's what that look meant." He shook his head, thinking back to Andi's terrible try at telepathy. He copied her stance as he too folded his arms, but it didn't last long. "You know," he suddenly added, standing up straight and facing her. "You're always getting pissed off at me for doing things wrong when you're the one who suggested this whole thing! How am I supposed to know what you want me to agree and disagree to? We barely know each other! And — for the record, you were the one who invited me to come with you." He rambled on. Andi was now wide-eyed, stunned as she watched Oscar express actual emotion. "You act like I'm the one messing up, when all you've done so far is act like you hate me! Even in front of your own dad!"

The elevator door opened; they'd reached their floor.

"You could really do with being a lot nicer to me." He stated, walking out of the elevator and turning his back to Andi. He then yawned, turned around, pointed and tried to say "A lot nicer", but it didn't sound much like any words Andi knew as he was still mid-yawn. She stood there blinking absentmindedly for a few seconds before realizing she had to leave the elevator before the doors closed again. She then watched as Oscar - who just had the biggest outburst of his life (probably) - stretched and yawned once more, before entering his hotel room and turning in for the night.

"Holy shit." She whispered to herself, still a bit bewildered.

"Did I just break Oscar Piastri?"

              ____________________

It was my birthday yesterday hehehehe