The World's Potential- f1/Gymnastics

environment

C.L
It's day 2 of our trip in Italy and Angie decided that we should explore the area a little, and head to the beach afterwards. I stand in the en-suite of Pierre and I's room, as the girls are sharing their room together, fixing my hair in the mirror. I ruffle my hair with my hands and give myself a 'it'll do' look. I pick up my phone from the bed and head out into the corridor. The door to the girls room was slightly adjacent. No noise came from the room, so i headed down the wooden stairs to get some breakfast.

Angie and Pierre were making toast with avacado for our breakfast, the smell of heavily burnt toast drifted towards me

"I thought you hated avacado"

"I do, but we have no other food. and i cant have plain dry toast. we must food shop today" Pierre replied, his french accent made him sound like a very annoyed food critic.

"charles, will you please go and get kera? she said she'd be down here 5 minutes ago" angie asked with eyes like a puppy, clearly being too busy to get her herself. I nodded and headed back up the stairs and placed a gentle knock on the bedroom door before slowly entering.

"kera?" i called out to the empty room.

"in here! you can come in" a calming voice called from the bathroom. I entered cautiously. She was stood, tying her hair into a ponytail in the bathroom mirror, my eyes met her blue peaceful eyes in the mirror.

"uh, yes. Angelina says that we're getting ready to leave soon and to come get breakfast" i say, breaking the eye contact.

"oh okay, thank you" she says. she glances at herself in the mirror one more time before leaving the en-suite bathroom, me following behind her. The smell of her sweet perfume still lingers in the air.

"about time" Pierre calls to Kera as she appears to them downstairs. She laughs as Angie impatiently ties the laces on her shoes and begins to open the front door.

"you ready?" she says to the group. One by one we all make our way out and into the hot breeze of Italy.
I'm no stranger to Italy, driving for ferrari for however long it is now. But this part of Italy was completely new. A whole new place to explore. A place that wasn't an f1 track.

We made our way around the desolate village we were staying in, exploring in and out of the occasional shop we would see. Angelina spotted a bookshop in a red painted building and insisted we went inside. The tall brunette girl spent ages picking up books, reading the blurb and putting it back and constantly saying 'no i can't buy anymore books i have enough' before picking up yet another one. She did this for atleast 15 minutes before I had to practically drag her out of the store. We continued walking down the cobbled streets and stumbled upon a small truck, parked at the side of the road. An old vintage style icecream truck caught Kera's eyes. They widened and glistened in the complimentary sunlight after seeing the traditional icecream sign. She looked at back at us, being a few steps infront, like a child in a toy shop.

"please?" is all the asked before getting Pierre's approval and almost skipping to the icecream truck.
She bought herself a vanilla icecream, he smile grew across her face, almost making me feel like smiling along with her. Apparently she loves icecream. The four of us continued our adventure around the small village, talking about all sorts. Slowly, we made our way to a small beach that had been emptied as the sun was beginning to set.
The sun was falling but slowly. Slow enough for us to enjoy its presence while it was with us still. The orange and pink façade painted the previously blue sky and the clouds drifted by in an idyllic fashion. A slight wind blew past us, causing our hair to sway back and forth. Calm: for once, the silence was good.
We made our way onto the beach, Pierre and I set up a place for our towels and belongings while the girls ran to the public bathrooms to change into their swimsuits. Not long after, we hear them running and shouting random things across the beach, making their way back to us. By this time, Pierre and I had changed into our shorts and began to run with them into the sea.
As the water hit our legs we all let out squeals and screams of the shock of the cold water. Pierre, without hesitation, dunked his shoulders under the water and began to breathe in and out frantically, causing is all to laugh. The girls stood together holding onto eachother, making their way out further very...very slowly.
We all warmed up eventually and began to relax in the gently swaying of the sea, letting it take us where it wanted to. We got somewhat far out from the beach, but close enough to sea our set up.
A sudden shriek pierced the air around us, causing us all to turn to see Angie splashing the water frantically. We stood, awaiting to see what startled her. Silence fell upon us, expect for the splashing of the waves she created. A burst of laughter erupted from Kera, breaking our silence. She swung her head back in a series of laughter, Angelina looked at her with the eyes of tigers.

"you're scared of the seaweed. oh my gosh. sorry i don't mean to laugh" she said through her laughter.

"oh you just wait miss hughes, you just wait"
Angelina waded her way through the water towards Kera and grabbed her by the waist and dunked her underneath. Pierre and I both had the same expression of pure shock. She emerged back to the surface, laughing while wiping the water off her eyes. Instantly, she splashed back at Angelina, causing a fit of screams and giggles from the pair to erupt.

"that wasn't fair!" Pierre exclaimed while swimming towards the pair and splashing a tsunami of water at Angelina. I took Pierre's hint and also began to join in into the fight. I swam over to Kera, who instinctively backed away knowing what was coming. I soon caught up to her and dunked her and myself under the water, continuing the playful fight.
When we surfaced, I close my eyes to get the water out and felt a hand on my shoulder. Before I could stop her, Kera jumped onto my back, wrapping her legs around my torso and her hands around my neck, leaning backwards and sent us both falling backwards into the water. Subconsciously, I turned to her and grabbed her waist to pull her up from beneath the water, letting go as soon as we both realise. She laughed it off, going slightly red.

"battles?" Pierre questioned to me, referring to the games we used to play when we were just young karters. I raised my eyebrows up and down at him, challenging him once again to our old game. Angelina looked at me, pulling a face that suggested she was confused. Pierre offered his hand to Angie and sunk himself under the water, allowing her to sit onto his shoulders. I turned to Kera and did the same. Hesitantly she accepted and followed what her best friend had done previous.

"trois, deux, un... aller!" Pierre exclamied. Both of us start circling around eachother, wading through the water. Our hands both rested on the girls legs, holding them to ensure they don't fall.

"allez!" ("come on!") i shouted to Kera, causing her to chuckle for a second before turning serious. She leant forward, trying to grab her best friends arms and knock her down. Angelina reciprocated and pushed her back, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards into the water.

Cheers from Pierre and Angelina erupted, solidifying their victory in a high five between the two. Smiles peered across their faces as Kera stood jokingly with her arms folded and a pout on her face. Me too, I joined in on her playful petiness. We realised that the sun had now slipped behind the horizon, leaving us isolated and alone in the water and the beach. The sky now black and grey, the water too. We all decided to swim back to the shore and call it a day.
We got to the beach and climbed out of the water. We were naïve to just how cold it had gotten, as all of us let off a shudder, a chill running down my spine. We quickly ran to our things and began packing up. Angelina went straight to her bag and rummaged to find her phone. I grabbed a towel and began to dry my hair, it soon went back to it's normal fluffy self- thankfully.
Kera picked up her small beach bag, still shivering from the lack of heat in the air. Thankfully for her Pierre engulfed her into a large bear hug, wrapping her into a large towel he had bought. A wierd feeling sunk into my stomach as I saw him lift her slightly off the group, just as he had done after his race. I shrugged it off, maybe I was getting hungry?

We made our way back to the holiday house and each grabbed a hot chocolate after getting into some warm clothes. I wore one of the ferrari team hoodies I had and collapsed onto the sofa, next to Angelina and Pierre. The outside sliding door opened, my head turns to see Kera walking outside with her hot chocolate and a book. I smile unknowingly, before turning back and looking at my phone.
I hear the sliding door open once again, but instead of Kera, I see Pierre walking outside and sitting on the swinging chair across from Kera. I cant hear what they're talking about, but I hear Kera's laughter from the living room.

The same pit in my stomach forms, what is this?
I get up to go to the kitchen, a voice follows my actions.

"everything okay, charles?" Angelina asks,

"oui, merci." i reply.