VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 26

[POV: Andreanna Saunterre]

You know, for a second there I thought I being a little overdramatic about the whole... boy plus hygiene thing.

I was not dramatic.

Not in the slightest.

"Oscar, please keep to your side of the room!" I said, again, kicking another item of clothing from my side onto his. Though we had divided the room evenly, somehow Oscar still managed to traipse his stuff over onto my side. Why does he need to take everything out of his suitcase? It's one night, I thought, shaking my head and preparing for the next sock, shirt or shoe that would inevitably land on my half of the room.

It was bordering 11pm and I wasn't feeling tired at all. The opposite, actually; I was far too awake. Up until this point, Oscar and I had had things to occupy us. First, it was the bike meet - which was everything I wanted and more, by the way - then, it was the (slight) argument, then it was trying to find a place to have dinner. But now, it was just the matter of... you know, going to sleep, and all that.

Which, normally, would've been the highlight of my night if it wasn't for the glaring presence of a boy.

The hyperawareness that I was sharing my space with a boy was biting at me. It's literally Oscar, I kept telling myself. Oscar, who is not on drugs. Oscar, who's middle name is Jack. I almost laughed, but managed to keep it in.

If he's not a morning person, I gather he's definitely a night person then? That's normally how it goes, right? Love going to sleep, hate waking up. I rambled on in my head, trying to make as much noise mentally as I could to distract myself from how awkwardly quiet the room was. Except for Oscar's loud rummaging, of course. Hold on...

"What're you even looking for, Oscar?" I asked, realizing that he'd been searching around in his suitcase for several minutes.

"I can't find..." He said, struggling, "I think I've forgotten my sleeping mask."

"You... use a sleeping mask?"

"Yes, Andi." He turned to face me, "I use a sleeping mask."

"Hey, I wasn't making fun! I use one too, sometimes. When hotels don't have dark enough curtains. Don't you hate that? When they barely darken the place? It's basically like leaving a light on— what's the point?!" I kept going until I saw that Oscar was staring at me with raised eyebrows and was nodding along to what I was saying, not amused. I wondered why, and gathered that I was just listing all the reasons he brought a sleeping mask. Or, was supposed to bring a sleeping mask...

I laughed awkwardly, "You can use mine." I said quickly. "If you want." I got up from my bed and retrieved it, handing it to him. At first, he gladly accepted it, before he saw what it looked like. He stared at the mask in his hands for a good while before looking back up at me.

"Really?" He said, turning it around and showing me my own mask. I looked at it, with it's two closed cartoon eyes that had thick lashes and sparkly eyeshadow on them.

"You don't want it? Fine. I think these curtains are at least 75% blacked out, so—"

"Yes, fine, it's fine—" He sighed, "Thank you."

Then, it was quiet again. Once we'd both gotten settled into bed it was even quieter. I felt awkward; like I had to say something.