Raging Bulls || Max Verstappen MV

07. It's Nice to Have a Friend

"Twenty questions, we tell the truth,

You've been stressed out lately, yeah, me too."

⁂

'Well let's just say, she would be more inspiring talking about the makeup she wears rather than racing.'

I had tried to be nice. I smiled, and tried to laugh with my teammate but Max Verstappen had made one thing abundantly clear, he hated me. His hatred was something I could get used to, an unfortunate result of this highly competitive environment. But, what I couldn't tolerate was my reputation being dragged through the mud. My already fragile standing in the sport was being put in jeopardy by a boy, a tale as old as time.

"Mati...Mati you there?" Oscar was standing in front of me waving a hand in my face. "We have to go meet everyone at the gate." Logan was finishing up with security.

"Sorry yeah, Mick just texted me and said both him and George are already there."

"So are Lando, Esteban and Alex," we both smiled at the amount of drivers on our flight to Jeddah.

"I'm gonna assume you are the only Red Bull driver on our flight?" Oscar shot me a lopsided grin.

"You assumed correctly." Logan just joined us as we began walking to the gate. He rambles about the movies he decided to download when we turn the corner and spot the rest of the drivers huddled in a corner. Although the airport opened an hour early to let us check in without the crowds, they still are wearing hats and undistinguishable clothes.

"There they are!" Lando stuck his head out and yelled. Oscar grinned at the attention from his teammate as he and Logan head over to shake hands. Mick spotted me and hustled over.

"Hey Till!" My brother pulled me in for a hug and over his shoulder I watch Alex hand George a certain amount of money. Seeing my confusion, Mick decided to clarify, "they had a bet going on whether you three would be the last one's to show up or if Charles and Pierre would."

"George bet on us?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I told him that no matter how late you tend to run sometimes, Pierre and Charles will always be later."

"Bonjour!" A loud french accent boomed through the empty terminal. I watched as Esteban Ocon shook his head laughing at his own tardy teammate.

Both Pierre and Charles made their way over to our little group. Esteban joined Mick and I, offering some words of encouragement and a listening ear to the brief summary of my first race weekend. An announcement was made and the ten of us all started shuffling towards the gate.

I felt someone tap my shoulder and turned to find a cheeky Monegasque smiling at me.

"Little miss Mati Schumacher."

Charles Leclerc's glasses were perched on his nose as his hood covered the mop of disheveled brown hair on his head.

"The other Leclerc." I turned back around to hand my ticket to the gate agent.

"Ow, it's been a while since I was called that." The grin was evident in his voice.

"Well, your brother did break my heart when we were ten. So, he's always been number one in my head."

"And Arthur is still torn up about that I promise." Suddenly we were standing shoulder to shoulder. "My little brother made a mistake, he regrets it every day."

"Wow, I've always been hung up on him so I'll make sure to give him a call." I made sure to add the right amount of sarcasm. As we boarded the plane I searched the seats for Oscar and Logan. When I found them, I deflated at the sight of my best friends laughing with their teammates.