VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 10 (REWRITTEN)

[ DISCLAIMER: This chapter has been rewritten! I realised (much too late, I apologize) that the way the plot was going would be FAR too complicated. So I've changed the ending of this chapter for the story to move along smoother, and without as much confusion. Plus, I like the plot better this way (and I think you will too ;)) ]

[POV: Andreanna Saunterre]

"Why couldn't the big screen have been broadcasting someone else?" I said aloud, frantically chucking anything and everything into my suitcase. "Why on god's green earth did it have to be the one driver I don't know? Yes, I 'know' him. In a... conventional, 'that one's Oscar' sort of way - but not in a way that gives me any right to... well— Do what I've done!" I ranted, hair a mess from all the panic.

"I was defending myself!" I said, agreeing with the frazzled lady in the bathroom mirror. "Yes! I was! Screw you, Leclerc! Screw you for not believing I was in a relationship!" I nodded over and over, packing my toiletries. I then stood straight up, dead-pan. "But I'm not!" I whined, worry evident in my pointed brows. "I'm not in a relationship! I lied! I'm a liar!" I sank onto the bed I'd just freshly made, covering my face the best I could. "Stupid, stupid liar! ...Oh god..." I sat up. "I lied! Oh god— What's he going to think of me now?! I lied to him because I wanted him to think I was— Oh, for god's sake Andi!" I buried my face into the pillow.

I'd vowed to myself once the summer ended that I'd work to get over Charles. Whatever that meant. It didn't enter my mind that faking my relationship status would be the way to get over him. I was prepared to act calmly, seamlessly in order to forget him and hopefully get rid of my feelings; It's safe to say that plan failed. I acted irrationally, and frankly I've begun to go insane because of it.

Embarrassment set in deep. I could feel it on my cheeks and in my chest. I imagined what Charles would say when he found out I lied to him about such a thing. Then, I imagined Oscar's reaction. Then the embarrassment got a whole lot worse.

But, after a good panic-break, I sat up once more. Composed. "No." I said, "This won't do," having realised I had only been imaging scenarios with the worst possible outcomes, wherein I am outed as a desperate liar.

I darted across the room, somehow finding a pen in the clutter I'd been piling atop the room's desk. I began scribbling endlessly into my notebook as I tried (unsuccessfully, for a while) to come up with a way around the situation I'd flung myself into.

After pages upon pages upon even more pages, I had come up with (what I thought) was the best option I had.

Written on the page, in big capital letters, was as follows:

HOW TO CONVINCE OSCAR TO BE MY FAKE BOYFRIEND

PHASE ONE: CHARM
1. Be very nice to him all the time.
2. Be friendly, compliment him.
3. NO BACK-HANDED COMMENTS

PHASE TWO: APPEAL
1. Demonstrate my hopeless position
with Charles.
2. Sympathize with his bad dating experience.

PHASE THREE: SOLUTION
1. Explain the benefits:
a) It would help me make Charles jealous.
b) It would keep Lando quiet about Oscar dating.

I had begun to list the disadvantages, but quickly decided that I didn't need to bother writing them down, since there were far too many.

By the time I'd come up with my 3 phase plan, I'd already received several texts from my dad telling me to 'shift it' since our flight was leaving in mere hours.

It only occurred to me once I'd gotten onto the plane where exactly we were headed.

Oscar Piastri's home. Australia; Where his home race would be held, arguably the most important one for him. Secretly, I hoped it wasn't such a big deal to him, and that he wouldn't mind being offered a fake relationship by me. Me.

I held my face in my hands for what felt like hours, running through the different outcomes I thought at all possible. To my dismay, nearly all of them ended badly. My hands became increasingly sweatier, making me all the more uncomfortable.

'I'm convincing!' I thought to myself, 'I am! I was good at drama at school!' I lied. Then, remembering the absolute horror that was sprawled across my drama teacher's face when I began singing my very own rendition of Defying Gravity, I slid further down in my seat.

Just as I contemplated caving my nails into my eye sockets, I received a notification from my phone. It was Lando. 'Weird', I thought. 'He only texts me when he wants something.'

I opened his message nonetheless, stared at it for a long while, and tried to register what I was seeing.

The picture he'd sent me was blurry, for starters, so I couldn't make out for the longest time what was actually going on. One thing I knew for sure was that the person beside Lando was Carlos; the both of them laughing as Lando pointed to something, or someone behind him.

It wasn't until Lando sent a second message that I caught on.

'Sent Oscar on a blind date last night! This guy has absolutely no game.'

...

'A blind date, hah! I can't imagine him going on a—'

...

"Oh, for f—!" I said a bit too loudly, my jaw clenching in an attempt to stop myself from swearing further. I couldn't, however, stop it from continuing on in my head.

'Lando, you idiot! You idiot! You—' I gripped my phone tightly, finally making sense of the blurry objects behind Lando and Carlos; It was Oscar, sat with a girl, on a date!

'Well this is just great.' I sighed, head back.
'How am I supposed to get around this?!There is no way in hell that I can possibly tell him now that he's seeing someone! The poor girl!' I rubbed my forehead, genuinely feeling the stress set in. 'I know I can be cruel, but I can't be this cruel! What would I even say?! Oh, hi Oscar! I know you've just started dating this very nice girl and everything, but I already told Charles that you and I were in a relationship! The rules of 'you snooze you lose' are binding, my friend. So, you must dump her and pretend to be with me! Got it? Great!'

My lips pouted and chapped as I aggressively shoved the complementary sleeping mask around my head.

Nice going, Andreanna.

You've officially reserved a cozy spot in hell.

           _____________________