Loving Them was Red White & Blue

Chapter 12: Sarahs POV

It's race day. Sunday. My favorite day of the week.
Yesterday felt like the longest day ever but it's okay because I qualified in fourth place!! My debut race and I qualified fourth!! It's hard to be happy since Logan qualified in twelfth place. He says it's fine to be happy but I feel bad about gloating. Especially when his performance yesterday might cost him his seat. It's almost unfair. Season just started and they're already threatening him about his seat. I get it that they have to think quick but they should give him some time to recover before they threaten him.

Trying to get my mind off of Logan's situation, I decide to go for a walk around the paddock. As I'm walking, I get stopped a bunch of times by fans but I don't mind at all. I love meeting fans, especially the fans that are little girls in karting that say they look up to me. I even meet one little girl who looks like a mini me. For a turn of events, I asked her to take a photo. I wanted to post it so bad so I asked her parents for permission since she was only 9. Luckily they said yes so I quickly post it on instagram and I made sure to tag them.

Turns out me and my mini me have so much in common. We both started karting at 7. We're both from Texas. Her dad was the reason she started and he is so supportive of her. I even find out that her name is Sasha, which kind of sounds similar to mine. Sasha and her family instantly become my favorite fans so I offered to give them passes to be in the garage during the race and they gladly accepted.

I spent so much time talking with Sasha and her family that I lose track of time. I look at my phone and see Carmen blowing up my phone. And then Logan's name pops up on my screen.

"Hello?", I say, answering the call.

"Babe, everyone is going crazy. Where ever you are, hurry back", he says in a whisper so no one hears him.

"Yea I know I'm heading over but the race doesn't start for another hour and we already did interviews. There's no reason for them to panic", I say.

"Yea I know. Just please hurry back", he says before he hangs up.

We all hurry to the garage and right before we reach the doors. A certain Ferrari driver gets in my way.

"Hello there. Where are you off to, Alvarado?", Charles asks with a smug look on his face.

"I'm trying to go to my garage so I can get ready for this race but a certain French driver decided to get in my way", I say while smiling. Everyone knows Charles hates it when people call him French.

"I'm not French. I'm Monegasque", he says, with a sharpness to his voice.

"Yea whatever, you're still in my way so move out of the way and watch me walk away so you can get used to seeing me ahead of you, Leclerc", I say and walk away, with Sasha and her parents close behind me.

"Do you guys like each other?", Sasha ask.

"What? Me? No, I could never like Leclerc. He's not a nice person", I say to her.

"Well it seems to me that you guys like each other. And that says a lot since I'm only 9", she says with a smirk. Yup, she definitely is a mini me.
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Finally, it's time for us to line up. Since I'm in the front, I have to wait for the other 16 cars to line up. My anxiety is going crazy and it feels like I've been waiting for hours. Once those lights go out, that familiar rush flows through my body. I'm front of me is Leclerc so I spend the entire first lap trying to pass him. Surprisingly, he's good at defending. But it's only a matter of time before his tires start to degrade.

And I was right.

About 2 laps later, he starts struggling and I get the perfect opportunity to pass him up. As I past by him, I give him a little wave and blow him a kiss. I wanted to flip him off too but I'm in podium position and I don't want to get fined or points deducted. But the fans are gonna love this. It might sound conceited, but I love watching by all the fan edits. It's kind of cool just seeing people take snippets from my interviews and vlogs and turning them into this whole thirst trap. But that's beside the point. I'm in the middle of a race don't distract me.

I fight to get second place for the rest of the race and I even get DRS but I just couldn't catch up enough. But no need to be upset because I still got third place. Me! A rookie! My debut race and I got podium! This weekend has been great to me and it's an awesome start to the season.

After the cooldown lap, I park the car in the "3rd place" slot and jump out onto the front of the car to celebrate. I throw my hands in the air and dance around on the front of the car. Right as I jump off, I see Sasha running towards me. Once she reaches me, she jumps into my arms. And there is no way to describe this feeling of the high of placing podium on my debut race mixed with this warm feeling I'm getting with Sasha hugging me. Is this what it's like to be a mom? NO!SARAH! STOP! You are too young! Snap out of it.

"You were great Sarah", Sasha says while squeezing me tighter.

"Thank you Sasha", I say, not wanting to let her go.

"Alright go, go. I don't want you to be late to the podium celebration", she says as she lets go. She evens starts to push me. Like actually push me. She may be small but she sure has strength. Just like Carmen.

I head over to the garage to get weighed when I get stopped again.

"Hello again", Charles says with that same smirk on his face.

"You're in my way. Again. Please move so I can go get weighed and get something to drink", I say, already feeling a headache.

"I'm sorry. I just want to say that that's was a good race and congratulations", he says, with a softer smile. Wait, he's actually attractive

"Thanks", I say while looking down so he doesn't see me blush.

"Hey babe", Logan says as he puts his arm around me.

"Oh hey", I say, confused. Why is he doing this? He's exposing us. Why would he sabotage this?

"Wait you're with him?", Charles says, with a sharpness to his voice.

"Yea she is. And she has been for a month now", Logan says, stepping in front of me to get closer to Charles.

"Logan, hey. Let's go. Come on. Let's go get weighed", I say. Trying to avoid conflict.

"No, no. Charles wants to start something. I'll just have to finish it", Logan says, still having his eyes locked on Charles.

"Hey, Sarah. Are you okay? You don't look too well", Charles says, moving in front of Logan so he can get close to me.

"Hey, leave her alone. She's fine", Logan says, pulling Charles shoulder back, causing him to stumble.

"I- I-", is all I manage to say, before I collapse to the floor.

"I told you she wasn't fine", says a voice that I can't tell whose it is. "Sarah! Someone help! Please!", says the same voice. Last thing I feel is someone's arms, probably a man's, wrapped around me, holding me.