𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 , charles leclerc

⇢ 01. coffee dates

TWO GHOSTS.
01. ❛ coffee dates. ❜

THE PAIR GREW EXCEPTIONALLY close during the rest of the school year. Both of them were now sixteen, and it was the last week of November. Winter was approaching, meaning the weather in Monaco was getting colder with each passing day.

But the cold wasn't bothering Charles at the moment since he was too trapped in his head to think about it; he was freaking out. It was Friday, and all week, he had been planning on asking Sofia on a date. I mean, it shouldn't have been that hard since they did have quite a flirtatious friendship and always acted like they were a bit more than friends, but Charles was still freaking out.

The good news? The worst thing Sofia could say is no. The bad news? She could say no.

So Charles went through internal distress as he walked the school's corridors, making his way to his history class. The entire class was torture; he sat staring at nothing and anxiously fiddling around, not even paying attention to half the things the teacher was saying (not like he ever did).

Charles had never been so terrified yet so relieved when the school bell rang, signaling the end of the stressful class.

Clutching his books tightly, he stood up and turned around to face Sofia, who was packing her stuff up. "Laissez-moi le porter pour vous. (Let me carry it for you.)" Charles smiled softly at the blonde and grabbed hold of her school bag as they made their way out of the class and into the freezing corridor.

"Oh, je suis tellement content que la journée soit finie! (Oh, I am so glad the day is over!)" Sofia sighed as she walked beside Charles, dropping her head on his shoulder to further exaggerate her complaint, "Je suis tellement fatiguée et j'ai vraiment envie d'un chocolat chaud. (I am so tired, and I really want a hot chocolate.)"

"Je dois être d'accord. (I've got to agree.)" Charles chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "La journée a été longue et j'ai hâte que ma tête touche l'oreiller. (It's been a long day, and I can't wait till my head hits the pillow.)"

"Connerie. (Bullshit.)" Sofia rolled her eyes with a laugh, "Tu sais très bien que tu vas regarder les entraînements de F1. (You know damn well that you're going to watch the Formula 1 practice sessions when you get home.)"

"Shush, Sof," Charles silenced her with a smile, nudging her shoulder lightly, "Ne dis pas mes secrets au monde. (Don't tell my secrets to the world.)"

"Secrets?" Sofia burst out into a fit of giggles, "Tout le monde sait que tu aimes la F1 et que tu es entrain d'en devenir un. (Everyone knows you love Formula 1 and that you're on your way to become one of the greats.)"

"Tu ne fais qu'alimenter mon ego à ce stade, tu le sais? (You're just fueling my ego at this point, you know that?)" Charles raised an eyebrow and watched as she just laughed. The way he looked at her was absolutely adorable. He looked at her as if her smile was the only thing that could possibly matter. And, well, it was the only thing that could matter to him.

After a couple of minutes of walking in silence, Charles thought it was his time to ask her out on a date. So, with a deep breath, just after they stepped out of the school, he pulled her to the side. "Hé, alors, uh, j'ai une question. (Hey, so, uh, I've got a question.)" he said, his voice a little shaky while trying to sound casual.

Sofia furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head at him; her warm smile sent his heart soaring. "Qu'est-ce que c'est? (What is it?)" she asked, her eyes sparkling with genuine interest.

"Eh bien, nous sommes amis depuis longtemps, et uh, tu sais, (Well, we've been friends for a long time, and uh, you know,)" Charles babbled on, dancing around the subject, "Nous sommes très proches et nous passons beaucoup de temps ensemble. (We're really close, and we spend a lot of time together.)"

As he talked on, Sofia nodded slowly; she knew exactly where this was going but let the boy ramble, finding it absolutely adorable.

"Um, so, uh, you want to, uh, I don't know..." Charles drawled out and scratched behind his neck nervously as he switched to the English language, thinking it'd be easier. "Um..."

"Want to what?" Sofia rose an eyebrow, her voice soft and sweet.

"I don't know." Charles sighed, "Just, uh..." The poor boy couldn't even form a proper sentence as he got caught in the girl's alluring gaze, "Um..."

"Charles?" Sofia let out a little chuckle, trying to get the boy to say what he wanted to say.

"I don't know, we could- I don't know, we could, uh..." Charles looked away for a moment, then back at Sofia, "Or we could do something else, or we could... if you don't feel like— we could—"

"Yeah," Sofia cut him off, biting her lip to prevent her giggles from escaping.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, either one." She hummed with a nod, loving how the boy struggled to ask her out on a simple date.

Charles stared at her for a long while, green eyes filled with puppy love, "Really?"

"Sure."

"Okay. All right, good." He nodded slowly, still unaware that he hadn't even asked the question, "Sounds good."

"Okay." Sofia nodded, her giggles finally escaping, but she quickly covered her mouth to muffle them.

"Okay, so, uh, maybe, uh..." Charles let out a laugh and dropped his head back, hoping he would now actually say something coherent as he switched back to speaking in his native tongue. "Je pensais qu'on pourrait peut-être aller faire du shopping et passer du temps au café. Peut-être demain vers 15h? (I was thinking maybe we could go book shopping and then we could spend some time in a café. Maybe tomorrow around 3?)"

"Vous avez enfin formé une vraie phrase! Félicitations, je vous donnerais bien une médaille ou quelque chose comme ça, mais je n'en ai pas avec moi. (You finally formed an actual sentence! Congratulations, I would give you a medal or something, but I don't have one with me.)" Sofia chuckled more with a shake of her head before her face lit up with excitement. "Oh, j'aime les librairies, cependant! (Oh, I do love bookstores, though!)"

Charles felt a glimmer of relief wash over him as he realized she didn't reject the idea outright, a boyish, dimpled smile making its way on his face. "Je sais que vous le faites! Et il y a ce nouveau que j'ai trouvé l'autre jour, j'allais y aller seul mais ce serait une trahison. Alors, euh, samedi? (I know you do! And there's this new one I found the other day; I was going to go alone, but that would be a betrayal. So, uh, Saturday?)"

"Ouais, ça sonne parfait (Yeah, that sounds perfect,)" Sofia replied, a hint of enthusiasm in her voice as she wrapped her sweater tighter around her body when a gust of wind blew in her direction. "Je ne peux pas attendre! (I can't wait!)"

Charles' heart soared with joy as a blush made its way on his cheeks, "Je passerai te chercher demain alors. (I'll pick you up tomorrow then.)"

Sofia nodded and turned her head when she heard a car horn; it came from her father's car as he approached the two, passing a wave to Charles, "Je te verrai demain alors, Charles—Au revoir. (I'll see you tomorrow then, Charles. Goodbye.)" She placed a kiss on his reddened cheek with a smile before leaving with her father.