𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, charles leclerc

chapter seventeen

       

the next day rolled around and juliet was yet to face charles after their second almost kiss. she had only been at the paddock for three hours, and she hadn't even seen him yet. she stood in the toro rosso garage with julie, watching as Q2 came to an end. and pierre hadn't even made it that far. two red flags stopped the session, and he hadn't even had the chance to try for another lap. charles currently held provisional pole, but that could all change in the next 12 minutes.

chatter flowed through the garage as neither of the toro rosso drivers had made it through. just max and his red bull. she watched as all the crew sat down, watching the large monitor. pierre soon emerged from his driver room back in his street clothes, and approached the two girls. "hey, you did great," julie held her arm out and patted his back as he stood next to her.

"meh, it was okay. that red flag fucked us all up. hope to make up places tomorrow," he sighed and leaned against the desk. the clock started for Q3 and cars started going out to the track. out laps finished and the mercedes were the first two to set lap times, with lewis occupying p1 and valtteri p2 with six minutes left in the session. juliet smiled as the two red cars exited the pit lane and start their first lap. they zoomed around the track and set their laps. and charles got provisional pole, once again, with over six hundreths of a second higher than lewis. juliet jumped in excitement as she saw his name travel to the top of the leaderboard.

the session continued and time was ticking down to the last minute. most of the cars were on their final last laps, and new lap times were slowly showing up on the screen. time ran out and the ferraris were finishing their laps. julie grabbed on to pierre's arm as charles ran through the last few corners, and crossed the line. p1. she clenched as sebastian vettel wasn't far behind, but he crossed the line and he hadn't passed charles. pole position!

"and charles leclerc has his third pole of the season!" david croft, the session qualifier, said.

juliet watched the monitor as the top three cars parked and the drivers got out, ready for their interviews. lewis and sebastian did theirs first, and the monégasque made his way up to jenson button.

she smiled as the boy spoke about his lap and how excited he was for the race. her cheeks turned red as he spoke, and she wasn't sure why. she clutched her chest and held on to her necklace, so proud of him.

———

        julie and juliet had finished up at the toro rosso garage and were now in their grandstand seats above the garage, waiting for the f2 feature race to start. anthoine was so excited to have his friends watching him race this weekend.

"so, have you gotten your results yet?" julie asked, deep into their conversation about juliet's time in university.

"nope, still in pain waiting for it. i mean i'm definitely hopeful, but this waiting game isn't helping me feel any better."

"i'm sure you'll get them within the next week, and i know it's gonna be a big green checkmark saying you passed," julie replied, grinning at the gasly.

juliet sighed, i hope so. the two girls continued talking for a few minutes before they heard a familiar voice approach them. "wow, we finally found her!" pierre walked up behind them. juliet turned her head quickly back, watching as he and charles walked up and sat beside them.

juliet quickly glanced at charles and saw the look on his face. a look of...pity. of pain. he tried to shoot a small smile at julie, but even juliet knew it was fake. had she really hurt him that bad?

it hadn't even been an hour since she saw his genuine grin and excitement as he was interviewed for his pole position, and it was already gone.

the boys sat down beside them, pierre taking the seat directly to the right of his sister. charles joined beside pierre, and the anthem began roaring through the speakers. the drivers got into their cars and the formation lap began.

"oh, charles, félicitations on your pole! c'est magnifique!" julie leaned forward in her seat and said to charles.

"ah, merci, i love this track. should be a fun race tomorrow," he mumbled, sending another one of his fake smiles.

"yeah, bien joué," she muttered and sent him a smile.

the cars lined up on the grid and the red lights went off. the race began and anthoine was in the middle of the pack going into the first turn.

"go, go, go!" pierre cheered quietly, charles doing the same but in french. the group's eyes stayed on the track as no cars were in sight. they looked at the monitor and saw that they had reached turn seven, and anthoine was getting ready to overtake.

all four of them cheered as he inched closer and closer, finally overtaking to secure p12. the cars zoomed past the paddock and julie waved as she saw the chassis with number 19 on it drive by.

their heads turned towards the monitor again and the cars made their way to the raidillon corner. they heard shouts and gasps and looked to see a car in the barrier. juliet covered her mouth as another car hit it, and then another flipped over it. that last car ran across the tarmac; and was broken in half.

the next few minutes were a blur. julie stared at the monitor and saw anthoine's name move down the standings.

"oh my...dieu...that....that's anthoine," she hit juliet's shoulder and mumbled deeply. tears were already streaming down her face.

"what?" juliet did a double-take and turned around to face her. "that's anthoine!" she sobbed and pointed at the screen.

pierre and charles turned to the two girls and their eyes widened. it really was anthoine.

— notes!
sobbing