lights out › charles leclerc.

prologue

It was a very sunny day, each ray felt much more intense than the last. My skin was burning, and I instantly regretted not putting any SPF lotion on, even though my mom told me a hundred times before I went out. I hear muffled noises surrounding me, and a rush of adrenaline that bursts through my veins. The crowd goes wild, and I cover my face from the sun in order to clarify my vision field, letting my pupils adapt to the intense lightning. A speeding sound makes its way to my ears, and I'm left astonished and full of chills on my skin when I see the formula one cars taking upon a curve at maximum speed; or at least, the maximum I know. Without even knowing I cheer along with the audience, lifting myself from my seat, feeling joy travel up and down my entire body for the first time in the last days.

—Come on!—. A heavy voice echoes beside me, and I chuckle. I turn around to see my best friend, Olivia, turning red because of the sun and the anger she felt. —How is it possible that Mercedes always makes it to the top?—. She grins, and I just shrug my shoulders.

—They're that good—. I just add, and irritated, she blows a strand of her ebony hair from her face. I sit down and make sure I have a sip of liquid, even if that means drinking enough beers to keep me alive. I laugh at the thought and continue to watch mesmerized at the track.

—Let's bet—. She spats, giggling. I roll my eyes at her, and she elbows me. —I'm serious.

—What do you want to bet?—. I say in a monotonous tone, trying to hide my excitement. I'm feeling overwhelmed in joy, given the fact that this is the first time I attend a Formula One Grand Prix, even though they've been going on for quite a while now in my city. What can I say, I just recently grew fond of this sport, all because the raven-haired girl on my left hasn't gone a day without dragging me into this world. Olivia and I have been inseparable since we were kids, and she has always had this love for sports that for me was admirable, and quite a bit unbelievable for someone to love that many activities; but here she is. She convinced me to start watching the races together, she would usually send me some memes and I started to catch them up with time. She's fiercely passionate, and completely relentless when it comes to this kind of stuff, but I'm really glad she found a way to drag me into this.

—What about... Oh, I know... A big, and when I say big, I mean huge Michelada!—. She cheered, cracking me up. Of course, she would ask for a michelada (for those who don't have the enormous pleasure, a michelada is a beverage that contains beer, chamoy, lime, and different sauces) her favorite drink in the world; and to be honest, it doesn't sound bad to me.

—Deal—. I accept, shaking her hand.

—I say, Sainz, will make it to the podium—. She states, very confident. I furrow my eyebrows and shake my head.

—I love him, but he doesn't stand a chance today Liv. I say, Checo will make it, he has to—. I say, shrugging once again my shoulders, and I send her a smile, excited.

—God, you are so Mexican, bring it on—. She laughs and I elbow her.

—Don't forget you are very much Mexican yourself, Olivia Ramirez—. I tease and we join our laughs together, and it blends perfectly with the roar of the engines.

---

—How in the world did Perez made it to the podium, come on!—. Olivia pouts and pretends to throw a tantrum, and I just laugh as we make our way through the crowd, the autodrome is huge and the cold breeze of November brushes my skin. We try to find the guy who sells those amazing micheladas and get the hell out of here before it gets impossible to take out the car because of all the traffic.

—He's in his country, he had to!—. I reply, nonchalantly. —I'm so having my Michelada—. She sends me a death glare and I raise my hands in surrender.

—Oh alright, you stay right here, I'll go get them, if we keep waiting for this guy to show up, we'll never get out of here—. She scolds me like a mom would with his kids. —And be really heedful okay? Look—. She pointed to my left, and I see a crowd of people, and behind them was a big entrance filled with security people and turnstiles at the entrance; it leads directly to the paddocks and the pits area where the drivers reside. —There is where the magic happens, maybe you get to see one of them.

I breathe heavily and my heart pumps in buzz.

—Like really see one of them?—. I stutter a little bit, my eyes widen and she giggles a bit at my clumsiness.

—Yeah, I saw Vettel once, Ferrari is the first in the hallway—. She winks and walks away from me.

—Hey! How did I not know you saw him?—. I yell at her and she starts to strut and laugh.—Olivia, you owe me an explanation!—. I laugh and she gets lost in the crowd.

She leaves and I stand alone in the chilly afternoon, my mind wandering to the last thoughts I wanted to have right now; how I pretty messed up my future, or at least the near future, I try brushing it off and keeping my eyes wide open to see if I could watch any of the drivers. At least half an hour passes by, while I'm staring cautiously into the big entrance. The crowd starts to dissipate slowly until there are few people left there. I look at my phone, and the black screen indicates to me that I'm doomed. I turn around and walk a little bit closer to that curious entrance, and I see someone walking pretty fast, I can hear a heavy groan, and suddenly the tall man with dark black curled hair falls to the ground.

Everything seems to move absolutely fast, and I'm unable to unglue my eyes from the scene, feeling my blood freeze and an urge to help, but I can't move, and I deeply trust somebody knows what to do. A guy kneels beside him as he yells unintelligible things, and my mouth articulates something that I cannot quite understand. My feet come alive and drag me near the entrance.

—Are you a doctor? We need a doctor!—. the guy howls.

—Yes, I'm a doctor—. I respond, jumping over the turnstiles and kneeling beside him.

A/N: Hi guys! I'm so happy if you made it here, I had the craziest idea of a story while I was in the shower and I decided to hop on and write it. I really hope you guys like it, of course, every situation is made up, including the results of the races, the order of countries and much more. Enjoy, vote and comment!

Ly,

Gigi.