Hopelessly Devoted ☆ Pierre Gasly

XXII

THE PAST

Pierre collected his stuff and made sure he was ready to go when he got asked to. He had a quick glance at his phone and got disappointed when there were no messages. A sigh rolled over his lips, and he bounced with his right leg; he was nervous for this race. The race was near his hometown, so he knew many friends and family would be there to watch him race.

"Salut," Anthoine said and walked over to Pierre.

"Have you heard something from Jules yet?" Pierre asked.

Anthoine looked down and shook his head. "No..."

"She would text me when she left home, but I haven't heard anything from her yet. And she doesn't pick up her phone," Pierre mumbled.

"Weird," Anthoine softly mentioned and checked his phone as well; no reaction on his texts to Juliette.

"I know something is going on with her," Pierre continued and shared his thoughts. "She barely shows up at school, only when there is an exam, but she always passes them with a perfect score. Jules suddenly smokes a lot, is quite often high - but not when she's with me. I don't know about you, but when she's with me, she is the Juliette we met almost a year ago."

It was difficult for Anthoine to keep his mouth shut; he knew more about this situation than Pierre did. "She's just herself when she's with me."

Pierre groaned, annoyed. "Something is wrong with her, I can see and feel it. She doesn't want to say it, but this isn't her. Jules would call me if she wouldn't make it, she always does, even if she's two minutes later."

"Don't worry about it. There's probably a good reason for it."

Sara raised her eyebrows and walked towards her two best friends. "I would like to say I'm disappointed she isn't here, but I am not surprised," Sara bitchy said.

"Don't even try it," Anthoine shot to Sara and squeezed his eyebrows together. "Not before his race."

"What? It's the truth," she shrugged. "Did you really think she would show up? Come on, guys... It's Juliette, what do you expect from her? She doesn't care about anything."

"Sara, mind your own business, please," Pierre sneered, annoyed. "Jules promised me to be here, so she will be here."

Sara sighed. "I don't want her to break your heart." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "She isn't the person you think she is... I'm sorry to crush those thoughts."

"Sara, let it go," Anthoine said. "When Lulu is spending time with us, nothing is wrong-"

"Look, you see Jules as a bad person because she looks at life differently than you do, but she is my friend, and I know she is not a bad person," Pierre interrupted Anthoine. "You don't like her, fine. But don't be this bad person to judge other people's friendships," he made clear.

Sara nodded. "Of course... You do not see the bad things in here because you're in love with her," she confronted him. "I'm sorry," she apologised directly.

"Can we not be in a fight before a race?" Anthoine was shaking his head. "I will call Lulu, just focus on your race, okay? Lulu will be a worry for later, how harsh it sounds." He padded Pierre's shoulder. "Good luck."

"Focus on your own race, Pi," Sara smiled. "The rest will come later."

Pierre ran his hand through his hair and nodded, he had to agree with them. "I will see you after the race," he forced himself to say those words.

☐

"Where are you going to?" Claire asked Juliette in a disapproving tone when Juliette was sneaking around the house to get to the front door.