Game On || C.L.16

0.8

"We don't need to talk. There's nothing to talk about." I tell my brother, throwing my towel into the laundry basket situated in the corner of the room. 

"Lie." Pierre says sternly. "There's plenty to talk about." 

"Fine. I don't need to talk to you about this." I mutter. I know I am right. If there's anyone I should talk to, it is Charles. But he's far from willing to talk to me, so for now I'm leaving it be. 

"You're hurting, everyone can see that." 

"And whose fault is that? You decided to keep giving hints to Esteban about this whole shit show. Making it inevitable during this time. Even if it was already inevitable, because you forced me to come with. On a trip you knew I'd be incredibly uncomfortable with." 

"This is why we need to talk." Pierre points out. "You're angry with me, got all the right to be angry with me. But the anger is not because of me. It's because of what you did to Arthur, and apparently Charles." 

"I don't want to talk about it, P." 

"Well let's talk about us then." He says, patting the bed signalling for me to sit down next to him. "I am so sorry that you're feeling like this, Lie. I wish there was something I could do about it." Sincerity visible on his face. 

"It's okay, I know you're trying. But maybe stop bringing it up." I say quietly. 

"I just- I thought that it would help the both of you, if I got you in the same room. Force you two to interact. I thought it'd make things better. But apparently I was wrong and it's doing the complete opposite." Pierre says guiltily. 

I put my head on his shoulder as a sign of comfort, knowing my brother needs it right now. He wraps one of his arms around my shoulders, giving me a sideways hug in the process. "It's okay P. Just let me and Charles figure things out ourselves, okay?" Pierre immediately nods, eager to accept the offer I just made. "Now tell me, what's the plan for the rest of today." 

A bright smile appears on Pierre's face. "You'll have to wait. But we do have to go soon, and you might want to wear your snowboarding gear." A small smile forms on my face, whatever there's planned for this afternoon is in the snow, and clearly I can't know about it. 

"Do I have time to call Lila? Or is there a rush to this?" I ask, after the last 24 hours I'm craving a chat with my best friend. 

"No that's fine, we can go in half an hour if that's okay?" Pierre suggests and I quickly agree. I can very well FaceTime Lila while getting ready. 

I press Lila's contact, the phone ringing for a while and just as I'm about to end the ringing Lila picks up. I explain everything to her. The small arguments Pierre and I keep having, which is nothing new for us. I care about him deeply, and it's the other way around too, which results in us sometimes caring too much. I tell her about the snarky comment from Charles, and how we can barely be in the same room without the tension getting too much. Lila does her job in calming me down, setting my mind straight again. 

Once Pierre knocks on my door to signal it's time to leave, I am ready to end the call. I love being able to vent to Lila. It makes her such a great friend. I finish my braid, grab my skiing coat and go to the living room. 

The three boys waiting eagerly for my arrival. 

All three of them.

"Ready to go?" Charles asks, it's the first proper thing he said to me. 

"Yeah, are you going to tell me where we're going though?" I ask to all three of them. 

"Nope." Esteban pops, while handing me a blindfold. 

"Seriously?" I ask in disbelief, they want me to be blindfolded? 

"Seriously, little sis." Pierre says, taking the blindfold from me and putting it over my eyes. "I'll guide you to the car. But the destination is a surprise." 

And so he does, Pierre guides me to the car safely. Making sure I don't hit my head in the process of sitting down. I manage to put my seatbelt on, while the boys choose their seats. I have no idea who's the one sitting next to me in the back, or whose in the front. It could be either Esteban or Charles, since I know Pierre is driving. 

It's funny how terrible Formula One drivers can be at being passengers, especially when they're in a car with fellow Formula One drivers. Just listening to their frightened and commanding voices, rather than seeing their expressions alongside it is very entertaining. Which is the main reason that I hadn't noticed we had stopped. 

"Alright Amelie, it's time to get out of the car." Esteban says, and I can feel the door next to me opening. 

"Can I remove the stupid blindfold already?" I ask, getting very annoyed by the fact that I can't see anything. 

"Almost." Charles says, the two of them positioning me somewhere. I can feel snow below me, which is what I had expected when I had to change into my snowboarding gear. 

"Alright take it off." Pierre says once I'm standing steady. I slowly take the blindfold off, my eyes adjusting to the bright white snow, before I can actually take in the surroundings. 

I notice different kind of slopes carved out, people sliding down them in different coloured tubes. 

Snow tubing. 

"We're going snow tubing?" I ask with a bright grin on my face. Pierre just slowly nods, and when he does I launch myself at him. "You're the best big brother ever!" I cheer, before releasing him from my tight hug. 

"Hey, what about me?" Esteban chuckles. "It was me who proposed we should do something snow related to cheer you up." 

"After Pierre told you about the time they went snow tubing and Pierre broke someones leg." Charles counters, all of us laughing. It was a memory Pierre and I brought up while in the car driving here. 

"No matter who came up with this, I'm already loving it." I say, while dragging Pierre with me to the cash register where we can buy our tickets for the slopes. "Now let's go slide in some giant tubes." 

It must've been an unusual sight, a professional football player and three Formula One drivers wanting to go snow tubing. But in all honesty, I didn't care. I love the snow, I love going down a hill on a high speed. It's the closest thing I can get to snowboarding right now, and I'm planning to enjoy every single moment of this. 

3 Formula One drivers and a Football player: Who's the odd one here?

As we told you previously, we had spotted Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Gasly's younger sister together in Val-d'Isere for their winter training camp. At the time there were rumours that Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc was also with them, and as of today we've got confirmation. The four were spotted at a snow tubing arena today. They did different slopes, Amelie clearly enjoying it the most. Although that can't really be seen as a surprise, as she was amongst the best snowboarders of the country when she was 16. 

However, now that we have a complete group, we can't help but wonder what brought them together. There's a lot of drama around the four, and we're here to point somethings out for you. 

First of all, it is no secret that Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have been in multiple fights before this season. Although, they were mostly non-violent, it is no secret the two do not get along. But the two of them have probably set their differences aside, as they will be teammates at Alpine next year. 

And then there is Amelie and Charles, where we're still uncertain of what has really gone down between the two of them. What we do know is that Amelie used to date Leclerc's younger brother Arthur and that they went through a rough break up. Did something happen between her and Charles at that time too? 

Although it's all speculation, we're thinking this training camp is in for some drama. Bystanders said that there was clearly some tension within the group already. Amelie and Charles are said to barely speak to each other, while Pierre and Esteban are clearly uncomfortable around each other too. They will have to choose sides eventually, and things might get dirty when they do.