𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗕 | C.L. [ON HOLD]

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻.

༛༺ AVA LAURENT ༻༛

September 7th, 2022

As much fun as I had in Monaco, I would be lying if I said I didn't miss this life a little. However, I didn't realise that until I was back in Paris. Most of all, it was the city I had missed. Not the stress that came with one of the best art schools in Europe. This school year was only in its second week, but I was already more stressed than during my final exam week last year. Senior year meant bigger and tougher assignments, and I wasn't sure I would be able to handle all this stress for the whole year.

Fortunately, Charles was there every night to cheer me up. In the past three weeks, there was not a day without a FaceTime conversation between us. These lasted at least an hour since that was the time I needed to tell all my frustrations and fears to Charles. He would then try to reassure me by reminding me how talented he thought I was and how my grandmother did the same so that I could do it because of that. I had no idea what I would do without him.

Then, once I had finished my rattle, Charles could vent about racing. He had already completed two race weekends, Spa and Zandvoort, since the last time we saw each other. The first weekend immediately went wrong for him at the end of the race when his team called him in for a pit stop, after which he ended up right behind Spanish driver Fernando Alonso. Fortunately, Zandvoort went better for Charles, where he finished third on the podium. But there was still a lot of unrest within the team, especially with the most important Grand Prix for the team coming up.

The only advantage of both of us being so incredibly busy right now was that the time flew by. Before I knew it, today was the moment I would leave for Italy. In a few hours, I would catch a plane to Milan, where Charles would be waiting for me. From there, we would drive to Monza. What else Charles had planned was a surprise for me.

The advantage of being in your final year of university is that you didn't have to be at school very often. You got a lot of time for self-study, which you did need for these complicated assignments. But I decided not to focus on that this weekend to enjoy my first F1 weekend fully.

All day, I had been pacing impatiently around my apartment. All my stuff was already packed, but I still had to wait several hours before a taxi would pick me up and take me to the airport. My roommate Julie was slowly going crazy with me. "Can you please sit still for one second?" She has already asked me several times today.

Julie was one of the few good friends I had made in Paris. We met on the first day of college when we had the same class. We clicked immediately, and after a few weeks, we could call each other good friends. Last year, Julie was looking for a new place to live. Since I had a room left in my apartment, I offered it to her, and we have been roommates ever since.

In terms of looks, Julie and I were quite similar. We both had blonde hair and summer freckles spread across our cheeks. Instead of my blue eyes, Julie had green eyes. She dressed her curves in floral dresses in the summer and oversized jumpers in the winter. Like me, she hated the cold of the winter, so she cared less about how she looked in the winter than in the summer.

In terms of character, we were less similar. Julie was more of an extrovert and earlier to be found at parties than me. Although, she could enjoy reading a good book in the only comfortable chair on our tiny balcony like me. Besides being very good at drawing, Julie also had a passion for piano. She tried to teach me several times, but I didn't seem to have the same musical talents as her.