Cropped out - an Oscar Piastri x OC fic

Chapter 10- Haunted

Oscar:
Holy shit mother of balls. I liked her instagram. I am so unbelievably dumb. What the fuck. I woke up to a message from lando, simply saying 'smooth'. I was confused as fuck in all honesty. That was until I actually unlocked my phone and it took me straight to Eli's page. Eliana, not Eli. Specifically a post I liked. And hence am now in this situation. Sat on my bed, still half asleep, and in a state of shock. This is worse than DNFing my debut race. Okay maybe it's not but it's just as bad. I can't unlike it, I have to firm it. She's probably already seen it, so I have no choice but to ignore it unless she brings it up, which I'm begging she doesn't.

I sit in bed for another few minutes, just contemplating whether I should vanish from society. I'm supposed to be going to the gym today, but it's already 11am and I haven't even gotten up, so it will have to be a midday work out, which is fine by me. I'm also meeting Logan today, having a little catch up and debrief over a game of pádel, his choice, since I am abismal at it. But I'm looking forward to it. I haven't really spoken to Logan since last year, so it's about time.

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When I eventually get up I get changed into my black castore workout top and some black shorts, paired with some comfy trainers. I don't plan on going hard today, just enough to make my trainer happy. I have a small yogurt and oats pot before I leave, then finally make my way downstairs towards the gym. It's hot today, and even though the gym is air conditioned I can already feel the warmth from the sun radiating through the windows.

I'm about 40 minutes into my workout, doing some relaxed bicep curls when I look outside and notice someone that makes me nearly drop the weight on my foot. What the fuck, I literally hate her. Eliana is on the other side of the glass, just getting out of the pool, water droplets beading down her tanned body in rivulets. My eyes glide over her, very exposed, body and I take her all in. I can't help but grin when I see she's in orange, my colour. No, stop it. I try to pull my eyes away from her, but find I can't, especially when she looks up and our eyes connect. I suddenly become so sensitive to everything around me: the feel of my clothes; the weight of the dumbbell; the sweat dripping down my neck; the location of my tongue. The spell is broken when she walks away, eyes in a different direction, and I take it as my sign to leave. I put the weight back and make my way back up to my room to cool off. I hate the way she looked at me, but mostly I hate the way I looked at her.

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She's still in my mind when I get in my car to drive to the pádel court, and she was still in my mind when I sat down to eat my lunch, attempting to use anything (even a very loud show on the tv) to drown her out, to leave my head. But to no avail. So she, and her orange bikini, are coming with me to play pádel, apparently. Maybe I can actually score some points if I picture aiming at her face rather than Logan.

When I turn up, Logan is already there, face in his phone, so I slowly walk up to him, scaring him from behind.

"What the hell, man!" He whirls, pointing his racket at me, "scared the heck out of me." He drops the racket, grins at me and we hug. It's nice, I haven't had a hug in a while, and so revel in it as much as I can.

"I've missed you, Logie" I smile at him.

He punches my arm, grinning at me "didn't know you were the soppy type, Oscar."

"I'm not." I say, dropping my face.

He stares at me and laughs, "yeah yeah, I've missed you too, don't worry."

"Okay, let's get this party started so I can lose quicker." I say, walking towards the court and twirling my racket.

"You're so on." Logan responds, practically running to his side of the court.