Lights Out • 1 • Formula One ✔️

Chapter 7

"Someone's happy," Kudzai noted as I entered the Force India building. I spotted her immediately because of her bright yellow bandana that wrapped around the many braids in her hair. She raised her eyebrows slightly and wore a cheeky grin. I watched her dark brown eyes look me up and down, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Out of habit, I wrapped my arms around my stomach. There were a few people lingering in the room, all of whom were wearing Force India branded polo shirts. 

"What?" I asked, an awkward chuckle rippling though my body. I wasn't aware that I looked any different from normal, let alone happier. Was it how I walked? Was I smiling too much?. "I'm perfectly normal." My fingers fell to the hem of my shirt, twisting the soft fabric between them.

"Sure," Kudzai walked around the table she had been working at to pat me on the shoulder, "but we all know you spent the night with Max."

"W-what?" I exclaimed, scoffing slightly. I was even more shocked when the people around us, some of which I didn't even know, nodded their heads in agreement. My jaw dropped slightly as I tried to wrap my head around this. "Who told you that?"

"Well, first off you're wearing his shirt," she stated, her hands reaching out move my arms out of the way. A smirk of satisfaction was evident, and I knew that she wasn't going to stop there. 

"It might not be his."

Kudzai rolled her eyes. "I've known you for long enough to know that the only shirts you own that aren't cropped are team shirts, and that's Max's number. Who else could it have been?"

I pulled my lips to the side. There was no getting past Kudzai. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I spent the night." 

"Au contraire mon ami," she said as she twisted a strand of my hair between her fingers. I bit my lips together into a tight line. "You didn't return to your room last night." I opened my mouth to ask her how she knew that, but she quickly continued, seemingly knowing what I was about to say. "I kept watch, so sue me. Finally, you're wearing very little makeup, which means you used your emergency supply. You only use that if you sleep over at someones." She smirked in victory, knowing full well that she had caught me. 

There was no point in me denying it when she already knew what happened. She's my best friend, anyway, and would've been able to detect a lie from a mile away. "Fine, I spent the night. It's not illegal, Kudz."

"I know, I know," she put her hands up, however her smirk told me the conversation topic wasn't going to change. "So, have you fucked?"

"Kudzai!" I slapped her arm, feeling my face growing warmer. My eyes flicked to the amused people who were listening in. "No! Who do you take me for?"

"Well, Esteban and I did it one we-"

"I do not need to know!" I clamped my hands over my ears and frowned. The last thing I want to hear is her sex life. She may be my best friend, and I can tolerate Esteban, but it always made me uncomfortable when she talked about it. I wasn't against their relationship - I'm all for it. I think they're cute together, however I prefer to think that without the mental images of them canoodling.

Before she could reply, Emanuel, my race engineer, placed a hand on my shoulder and grabbed my attention. I spun around to face him, glad that I didn't have to listen to Kudzai any longer. My hands dropped back down to wrap around my waist and try and conceal the large '33' on my chest. "Bob's looking for you - he's in his room."  Robert 'Bob' Fernley is Deputy Chief Principal and, surprisingly with his level of importance, very down to Earth and kind. He was the one to convince Otmar Szafnauer to give me a shot in the Formula One seat. He also discovered me during a karting event at Silverstone and managed to link me with ART Grand Prix in F2 - I really owe most of my career to that man. "There's a strategy meeting." There wasn't a strategy meeting, this was a tactic to ensure people don't get suspicious.