It was Monday, a few minutes before half-past ten, time to go. Jane was walking off the stairs, making her way to the street. She just received a message that Marcus was waiting for her outside. She checked her bag for the last time; Marcus said she had to dress casual and bring an extra pair of clothes in case of.
Jane was as good as recovered from the hangover, there was just a small bit of pain left, but that felt more like a slight pressure. She couldn't handle the alcohol really well. After a few drinks, she started to feel it, and the hangovers were the worst, but she had fun. You have to compromise stuff to have fun.
The brown door closed, and Jane looked around her to spot Marcus' car. Someone in another car waved at Jane; it was someone unfamiliar, but it seemed like he waved at Jane. She waved back and walked towards the car.
"Buon giorno," Marcus greeted Jane when she opened the backseat door. He was sitting in the backseat and moved to the middle seat. The car was filled with more people; carpooling.
"Hey, hey," she greeted back and sat down next to him. She looked around, only to see one familiar face, and that was Callum - he was driving. "Hi, I'm Jane," she introduced herself to the guy who was sitting next to Marcus on the backseat.
"I'm Robert, nice to meet you," the guy named Robert smiled.
"Hey, Jane," Callum said and looked at her via the mirror.
The girl who sat in front of Jane, next to Callum, turned around. "Hello, I'm Cate," the woman introduced herself. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Nice to meet you both too," Jane friendly smiled and fastened the seatbelt. "And hi, Callum."
Callum drove away.
Marcus looked at Jane. "I like your hair like this," he complimented her. The brown hair of Jane was put back in two, loose Dutch braids and was connected to each other with a low bun.
"Thank you," she replied, and a shy smile curved on her lips. "How was your weekend?"
"It was good, didn't do much," Marcus replied. "You?"
"Apart from a visit of mister Hangover, my weekend was good," Jane nodded.
"Partied too hard?" Marcus smirked.
Jane took a deep breath. "Yeah, you could say that... But the party was fun, just not the day after that." She pressed a smile on her face.
"Everybody hates mister hangover," he smirked. "But, are you looking forward to today?"
"Yes?" She carefully and softly said.
Cate began to laugh. "What did you tell that poor girl?" She looked behind her at Marcus. "It is like she's scared to kart."
Marcus straightened his face and looked slightly unsatisfied at Cate.
"Well, I mean, we have to race against professionals..." Jane worriedly said and also looked at Cate with round eyes.
"Charles Leclerc will be there. And Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel," Cate said in the same tone.
Jane her lips parted for a few seconds, and she blinked a few times. "That's what I mean," she panicked.
"Might just quit right away," Cate dramatically said.
A laugh rolled over Jane's lips, and she nodded. "Exactly!"
"Great spirit," Robert sarcastically said.
"Are there any more girlfriends?" Jane curiously asked. "Or friends? Non-racers?" Yes, she was in the same group chat as everybody who would be there, but she didn't know everyone, and not everyone send messages in the chat.
"Eh..." Marcus said questionably. "Charlotte, Charles' girlfriend, Carla, Arthur's - little brother of Charles - girlfriend, Eva, Nyck de Vries' girlfriend..."
"Not gonna lie, that is a lot of people," Callum said and squeezed his eyebrows together. "How many people will be there? Thirty?"
"Twenty-five, just enough to have the whole track to ourselves," Robert shared.
Marcus and Jane sighed impressed at the same time. They quickly looked at each other, both starting to laugh. It was like they both timed it.
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"This is the first time a race suit actually fits me," Charlotte said, satisfied and pulled the sip up. "Usually, they're sized too big."
Cate looked at her. "It really fits your body, damn, girl," she excitedly said and put her hair up in a bun.
Jane was putting on the special race shoes. The boys brought their own race suit, their own helmet and other equipment. The girlfriends were giving suits and other equipment from the track to borrow for the race: a fireproof layer, a suit, shoes, gloves and a helmet. Jane got up and let the sleeves hanging next to her legs. She looked at the group of women; they all knew each other and talked about stuff Jane didn't know about.
"We need to take a picture!" Carla said and grabbed her phone. "Now, the boys won't interrupt us." The girls were changing in a different room.
"Yes!" Eva said and fixed her hair.
Charlotte looked at Jane. "You belong to..?" She curiously looked at Jane, she was introduced to the group, but she didn't say to who she belonged.
"I'm a friend of Marcus," Jane politely said, but shyly smiled.
Cate nodded. "The almost-girlfriend friend," she smirked. "Come, Jane." She pulled out her arm and smiled at her.
"Awh, cute," Charlotte said and warmly smiled. "Welcome to the crew." She walked over to a mirror.
"The WAG crew," Eva said and stood next to Charlotte.
A small line appeared between Jane's eyebrows when she didn't understand the term. She looked around with round eyes.
"Wife and Girlfriend," Justine, Mick's girlfriend, clarified when she could see the confusion on Jane's face.
"Ah, okay. Makes sense."
The girls all got in the right pose, and Carla made a picture of the group via the mirror. Everyone happily smiled; they all looked good. Jane looked at the other girls in the mirror; for some reason, it gave her the feeling like she had made it. But in what? It made her realise her life was slowly changing.
She met new people in the last few months of her exchange year and started to make even more memories. If you had told Jane she would get into the motorsport world a year ago, she would have laughed. But that is just one of the many things.
The group got their stuff and walked towards the track. It was an outdoor track, a track the boys knew well.
When Jane locked her eyes with Marcus' eyes, he began to smile. When he first met Jane, she didn't know anything about motorsport, but she slowly started to understand things more. Jane wasn't scared to ask something when she didn't understand it. Marcus could see she was putting effort into getting to know the motorsport. And now she was walking around in a race suit at the kart track.
"You look good," Jane complimented Marcus when she was standing next to him.
"Thanks," he softly replied. "Does it fit you?" He scanned the suit.
She nodded and placed her bag next to his bag. "It does; it feels like a pyjama."
"Yeah," he smirked.
"I like how everyone is wearing their own suit," she shared and looked at everyone else. "It does feel very real now."
"Did you bring your shells?" Marcus amusingly asked.
Jane looked back at him. "I'm not gonna share that," she said thoughtfully. "Otherwise, there will be no fun." The corners of her mouth curled up when Marcus laughed. "Is this your suit for the new season?"
"Well, as good as my new suit. I believe we're still waiting for a few more sponsors or something like that."
"I like it."
A shy smile curved on his lips. "Thank you." And he began to share a few tips and tricks about the track and the kart. It was a friendly competition, but everybody still wanted to be the best. Marcus tried to explain everything in an easy way, but it was still rocket science to Jane. "Just explore and try out things. Just try not to get off the track or hit people. Everything else is fine," he closed his story.
"Alright," Jane mumbled and nodded while looking at the track. "I will do my best." She gasped for air, knowing what was gonna come next. She turned around and sneezed in her elbow. "Oh, gosh," she sniffed.
"Bless you," he said.
"Thanks." Jane stepped back. "Anyway, it will be fine, I think. We will see." An itchy feeling entered her nose, and she sneezed again.
A guy on the track started to explain the house rules. Almost everyone knew them already, but just for the security, and it was a procedure. The group and man got slightly annoyed when one person couldn't stop sneezing. Jane apologised and walked away.
Marcus looked at Jane, who was standing behind the group now. Her hands were placed on her hips, and she looked up in the sky, waiting for another sneeze. It must be hay fever, but Marcus wasn't sure about it.
"What's her name?" Daniel Ricciardo suddenly asked.
"Jane," Charles answered and also looked at the girl.
"Jane!" Daniel shouted. The girl turned around. "Hay fever?" She nodded. "Need a pill?"
She walked back to the group. "Bloody hell," she sniffed and dried her eyes. "It will not stop."
Daniel opened his bag and grabbed a white box. "Are you allergic to something else? I don't think there will be a difference in the medicines, but just to be sure."
"Nope."
"Good." He gave her a small pill.
Marcus opened a bottle of water and gave it also to Jane. "Is the hay fever starting already?"
"Well, it wasn't supposed to come for another two weeks," Jane managed to say and took in the pill that she swallowed away with the water. "I haven't ordered my medicines yet." She looked at Daniel. "Thank you," she politely said.
Daniel gave her a nod. "No problem. I hope for you it will get less; otherwise, you will have a big problem in the kart," he smirked.
"It honestly feels like we are dealing," she chuckled and took another sip, sneezing once again.
"Speed drugs," Daniel joked.
"I will race you all out now," she confidently said, but started to giggle because it was a lie.
"You wanna see some real speed, bitch?" Marcus amusingly said.
"I am speed," she added and proudly said. "You all could never."
Daniel and Marcus began to laugh. "Just you wait..."