Love and Rivalry {Female F1 driver}

Who is this?

I was sitting quietly in my room, just listening to some music and trying to collect my thoughts. My mother really had the absolute worst timing for coming back and ruining my mind. I couldn't afford to lose the race this weekend, especially not when it's my home race. She never understood racing, she was always against it, even now, when I'm actually good at it. Hell, even back when I crashed, all because she showed her dumb face right before a race, she said she was glad it happened, cause maybe then I'd 'finally see how dumb of a sport it was'.

How can one be so narcissistic, that when their own daughter is lying in the hospital, they make it all about themselves and their wishes? I always hated that woman, even more, every time I saw or spoke to her. If it hadn't been for her, who knows how far I'd be right now? I might have already been reserved for a spot in F1. I was definitely going to get there, with or without her support. This little surprise visit wasn't going to stop me. Not a chance.

When I was laying there, deep in thought, suddenly a message popped up on my phone. It was Isack, he wanted to know how I was. I smiled a bit to myself, replying that I was going to be alright, and ready for the practice race on Friday. I put down my phone, but within a second, another message popped up, but this time it wasn't Isack. It came from an unknown number. 

'Hello, is this YN Carter?' I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to look up the number online, but it was a private one. 'Who is this?' I simply responded, not wanting to answer the question to a stranger. 'It's Charles. I got your number from my brother.' My eyes widened. Charles LECLERC?

I didn't know how to respond, but after a minute, he sent me another text. 'I just wanted to see how you were, you seemed a little off when you left. Everything okay?' It WAS him. No one else could have known about that, besides the drivers. But why was he texting me? He went out of his way to get my number from his brother just to see how I was.

'Oh, hi Charles. All good, thank you for checking :)' I sent, hoping it would be enough to keep clear of the subject. 'I don't really buy that, but if you don't want to tell me, that's ok.' He replied back, and suddenly I felt a little bad that I lied. I took a deep breath and mustered up the courage. 'I do actually have a lot on my mind, but I don't want to bother you with it. I will be okay, thank you sm for checking in, it's very sweet of you.'

Without even noticing it, I had a small smile on my face, and my mind was taken off the problem for a little bit. The fact that he cared enough to check in on me warmed my heart and made me feel special. Something I wasn't exactly used to. 'Of course YN. Lmk if you need anything x' 

With that, my mind was feeling a bit more at ease, and I could fall asleep and be ready for practice the next day...

Arriving at the paddock, almost everyone was already there. I had woken up a bit late, and my dad had already left home. I did have my own apartment, however, I couldn't find the strength to go back home yesterday, so I stayed at my dad's. 

It had been a horrible morning, I hadn't had time to eat yet, and my head was buzzing from all the thoughts running through my head since yesterday. I probably looked completely off, but I didn't have a care in the world today. I knew there was only one thing to do, and that was to focus on the race. Today was 'only' a practice, but it still was important to me. I had to show everyone that I was at home here, had to prove to them that I wasn't just good. I was great.

Since our practice was only a little while after the F1 practice, the place was still overfilled with different crews and drivers. I didn't pay much attention to it tho, as this was how it usually was. I had my headphones in and was listening to some music, completely in my own world, when suddenly I bumped into someone.