i love you • formula one

06

third person

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2016-2018

Everyone's worse fears were confirmed when the doctor diagnosed Lyra's anterior cruciate ligament tear. The pain in the young dancers heart at the thought of never dancing again was worse than the pain in her knee. All she had known was dance and it felt as if her future was slipping through her fingers like sand. She wasn't going to give up - she had no other option than to keep pushing. Despite the recommendations from her doctor after surgery, Lyra's immediate focus was to work towards a level and standard that could get her into the dance school she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl. Lando tried to be as supportive of his best friend as he could, but it hurt to see her continuously go over the limit for something that might not now be achievable.

Lyra felt a lot of guilt during her rehabilitation. If the injury she sustained couldn't heal, the money her parents had spent on expensive dance lessons would be for nothing. Sure, they save money on the dance school's tuition fee, but she wouldn't ever be able to pay them back. It ate her alive during the first few months until she occupied herself with her studies.

If she were never to reach the level of dance she aspired to, Lyra knew she needed a backup plan. Unfortunately, she wasn't the smartest person in her school. She had to work hard for a grade, unlike those who it came naturally to, and she spent many sleepless nights with Lando's help revising for the exams. He wanted her to succeed more than anything in the world so often gave up valuable prep time (for his upcoming races) on his best friend.

When the dreaded results day in August came, Lyra found herself feeling disappointed yet again. She had worked so hard towards the exams so only receiving Cs across the board (apart from the A* in dance, and A in PE) felt like a punch in the gut. To make matters worse, it was around that time that Lando introduced Lyra to his new girlfriend, Gem. Neither of the girls particularly liked each other, both experiencing feelings of jealousy when Lando would spend time with the other. For the sake of him, they refused to say anything and kept the feud on the down low. Seeing Lando becoming infatuated with another girl broke Lyra's heart again, as if she hadn't been through enough pain as it was.

Because dance school was having to take the back foot, Lyra was forced to think about for the education. A-levels were the clear option for her to do until her knee heals enough so that she can re-audition for the English National Ballet School. She chose three: Dance, PE, and Biology. Although she was still in recovery, she still chose to pursue dance as a qualification because it didn't require her knee to be in top shape. It wasn't as demanding as ballet, and Lyra's physiotherapist also considering it to be a potential stepping stone to dance school.

With Lando jetting off to race all around the world whilst Lyra was stuck in the UK, she couldn't help but feel left out. She wanted to travel the world with her best friend instead of worrying about how her knee is healing. Up until then, they had always done everything together and it scared Lyra that things could be changing. Gem's constant presence whenever Lyra just wanted to hang out with Lando grew ever infuriating as her A-levels progressed into second year. She couldn't understand Lando's reasoning for staying with her.

Over a year and a half had passed since Lyra's injury and she still wasn't up to the standard required from the ballet schools. Viviana even offered Lyra a position on the course, but the young girl, woman, knew deep down that she would be chasing a doomed dream. Her focus needed to change in order to become the best version of herself and make her parents proud.

Lando's ties to the F1 McLaren team seemed to get stronger with each year. Lyra was by his side to celebrate when he received the position of test driver, as well as when he was offered the drive for Carlin in F2, although it wasn't always in person. These achievements solidified in Lyra's mind the idea of finding a career that would allow her to work with her best friend and so the university applications began.