𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, charles leclerc

chapter six

juliet and lola ran inside and threw down their backpacks, resulting in laughs from ms. gasly. they had just finished their last day of the third grade, and were finally on summer break.

the young gasly led her friend towards her brother's playroom, excited to tell him she was finally a big girl. "pierre, pierre!" she shouted as she approached and opened the door. "guess what?! i graduated grade three!"

the door swung open and juliet's smile grew, only to be interrupted with the fact that pierre wasn't alone. he was with another boy.

"great job, julie," her brother turned around to face her and smiled. the other boy turned around and the girl was frozen. "this is charles, from karting."

"hi," juliet squeaked nervously, "i'm juliet."

"bonjour," he said and she blushed uncontrollably. charles from karting.

lola pulled juliet's arm and they walked out of the playroom, running to her bedroom.

juliet was snapped out of her daydream memory of the first time she met charles when she heard a very loud knock on the hotel room door. she sprung up from the window seat and walked towards it, twisting the gold door knob to reveal victoria and george russell. pierre exited the bathroom just as the twins arrived.

"hey...ready to go?" victoria asked the gasly siblings. juliet grabbed her bag and pierre grabbed his wallet, shutting the door as the two pairs of siblings left. they walked down the streets of london for about an hour before arriving at a restaurant for a late lunch.

"what a thrilling practice! i cannot wait for the quali tomorrow!" victoria turned to pierre after the quartet ordered food. pierre had the fastest lap of all the free practices at silverstone—it was safe to say he was buzzing. juliet smiled at her brother in pride.

"yes, i hope we do well tomorrow," pierre grinned in response, "we need to have a good weekend—and you too george."

"thanks mate, but i don't think that's very likely..." george frowned. everyone in f1 knew that george was going to be the next big great...but his current contract with williams hadn't exactly given him the car to show the world.

"hey! never say never, george," juliet exclaimed at her friend. over many years of karting, formula 2, and other championships, the gasly's and russell's had become a close knit group of friends. victoria and juliet got along well first, and then pierre and george became more friendly—which led to the creation of the quartet. they tried to see each other as a group whenever all four were in town, which had been difficult over the past few years. silverstone offered this opportunity; everyone was in town for george's first home race.

the siblings ate their food and caught up on random topics before collecting and paying the bill and walking back down the streets of london. victoria and juliet drifted back behind their brothers as they turned down the corner towards the hotel.

juliet scanned the people that passed by, smiling at her surroundings. a blonde head slowly approached her and she recognized her immediately. "lola? lola humphrey?" she asked the woman, gaining her attention.

"juliet?" the girl exclaimed as she ran towards the young gasly. the girls hadn't seen one another since they graduated high school. "how have you been? what're you doing in london?"

"i could ask you the same thing," juliet chuckled, "we're here for the silverstone race..." she began, not knowing if lola knew pierre had made it into f1. "this is my friend victoria," she also added and the two exchanged a greeting.

"just a spectator?" lola asked. so she hadn't known. "um, yeah...pierre's racing. i don't know if you knew he made it to f1. he races for red bull."

lola's eyes widened at the news. "oh that's incredible! is that him up there? i noticed a red bull jacket." juliet nodded and tried to spot her brother and george up the street, but they had already arrived at the hotel.

"yup, that was pierre and victoria's brother, george," juliet explained. "they just finished their free practice before qualifications tomorrow."

lola smiled and the pair continued their conversation for a few minutes before victoria felt a vibration on her phone. she noticed a notification from pierre in the group chat consisting of the russell and gasly siblings. "psst...pierre's looking for us."

"oh," juliet muttered, "sorry lola, we've got to go. but we should hang out back in rouen, to catch up? i have no idea what's happened over the last few years."

"for sure...here, add your number into this," lola handed the gasly her phone. juliet entered her number and said goodbye to her friend. victoria and juliet walked back to the hotel and up to their floor. they heard loud voices coming from a hotel room, and juliet soon realized it was from the room she and pierre were staying in.

"putain! what are they doing?" juliet rolled her eyes at the noise. she and victoria approached the door and juliet twisted it open, revealing five guys spread all over the room and a video game on the screen. how had they already set this up?

she scanned the room and recognized the people: pierre and george, of course, lando norris, alex albon, and charles. the two girls stood silently and waited for any of them to notice they were there.

the five drivers looked like a group of teenage boys gathered around a small TV playing mario kart. the two girls couldn't help but laugh at them, finally gaining the attention of one of the guys. "victoria and juliet!" lando exclaimed as he and the group turned their heads.

"what are you guys doing? and do you have to do it in here?" juliet ignored lando's greeting. pierre looked at his sister. "sorry julie...just go into victoria's room for like an hour. we just promised to finish our competition from last weekend."

"fine," Juliet sighed. "but i hate all of you." she added sarcastically, getting chuckles from the guys. she and victoria walked out and into the russell's room.

— notes!
i'm currently writing
chapters 12-14 and let
me just say...🥹🥹🥹