ɪᴛ's ʟɪɢʜᴛs ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ᴡᴇ ɢᴏ || ʟɴ ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭

Everybody thought of the girl as soft. While Harlow passed people in the paddock, she would always hear whispers like: 'How is she a driver?' 'She will be kicked out in..' 'I'll give her 3 months.. tops'. They thought she didn't deserve her F2 spot.

She learned to ignore it. Sooner or later they would see what she could do.

One thing that did in fact broke her: because of her succes that one day, her mother also kicked her out. She couldn't handle it. Her father however, would pay if she needed anything. Yes, her own father went behind her mothers back to help her.

Until the real racing would begin, she would always stay at Viv's house. She always loved it there. Vivienne's parents welcomed Harlow with open arms, and took care of her like she was their own daughter. But that also came to an end.

Well, not entirely. She flew across the world, over continents. And in between, she would stay there. Vivienne would come to races nearby. But one race her father, brother and Vivienne's family always visited: Silverstone. Her home grand prix.

The two years after she was contracted, she got the news. Also, one week after her 17th birthday.

She was just about to attack her salad, when her phone rang: 'Harlow Flores, who am I speaking?', she said politely. 'Goodmorning Harlow, Christian Horner', she heard a lower voice say. She cleared her throat, and shifted uneasy. Almost chocking on the salad.

'Hi? Goodmorning, to what do I owe this pleasure?', she asked hesitantly. She heard him laugh lightly, before saying: 'Well then, let's get straight to the point. What do you think of joining us at the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend?' he asked.

She nodded, but then realised he couldn't see: 'Yea of course.. Why not?' she said hesitantly. Another laugh was heard from the other side of the phone: 'Not like that Harlow. But racing with Toro Rosso'.

She was quiet the first 5 seconds, before asking softly: 'W-What do you mean?'. Christian explained to her she would replace Kvyat for the rest of the season. 'But what about Kvyat?' she asked. 'He is going to be our test driver from now on. But what do you think'.

And that's when it hit her: 'I- Yeah of course', she said happily. Christian instantly knew she wanted this. 'Sorry for the last minute notice, but we'll arrange everything. We can get you a plane tonight to Belgium' he said. 'That would be great!' she said.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with packing, and making sure she had everything. Her phone on the charger the entire afternoon. And when she checked it, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Instagram notifications, and more and more and more. All new followers, and when she checked the F1's instagram account, she knew why. They announced she would be replacing Kvyat for the remaining part of the season. When she saw it was almost time to go, she packed the last few things, before heading of to the airport.

When she arrived at the airport, it was absolute MADNESS. People everywhere. Luckily, she knew where to go. She wasn't exited for the long flight, but she loved the view.

Christian had told her all the team were already there for a day, so she would come in late. But she didn't mind, she would make it work.

—

As soon as her feet touched the ground again, more chaos around her. Someone had to drive her, and take her luggage, which was nowhere to be found. But after 30 minutes of looking everywhere, they found it again.

But when the track came into view, she breathed out. All her hard work payed of. This was her moment. After her first half season in F2 this year, she was first. Last year, she ended up forth place with 5 points less then de Vries.