Jules
I was talking to Lance and George by the bar. Bianca was already dancing and Sophia was sitting at the table talking to some others.
"Did testing go well?" Lance asked me. "It went well, the F1 car is so different from the ones in F2 though. I had to get used to that." I answered. "Right, I remember my first time in a F1 car." George said laughing. "I think it's nice that there's a new girl on the grid. People will have to admit that women can drive too." he said. I smiled at his comment, I already loved him. "Yeah, Bianca is always a threat on the track. I'm scared when my engineer tells me she's behind me." Stroll said and we all laughed. Everyone was so nice. Well, exept him.
Behind George I could see Max talking with Charles. They were laughing. Max didn't have that careless expression on his face anymore. He almost seemed nice, almost.
"Who are you staring at?" George asked me curious while looking behind him. He turned back around and raised his eyebrows. "Oh." was all he said. "Oh?" I asked confused. Both Lance and George looked at me in pity. They knew
"Right, I bumped into him. Should he really be that mad about it though?" I pointed out. "He's just really stubborn." Lance answered. "Yeah, he doesn't like saying sorry and admitting he's wrong. He always makes it up in different ways." George followed. "Whatever, I don't want to talk to him untill he exuses himself for his behavior." I insisted. Lance laughed a little. "You sound like my mom." he said.
...
Max
I caught Juliette staring at me. Not in a nice way, she looked quite mad, still. I was going to apologies, but she kept walking away from me and talking to others. So I grabbed Daniels arm and went around a corner.
"Apologized yet?" he asked me. I shook my head and looked down. "You're mad at someone who didn't say sorry quick enough and now you're doing it yourself." he told me while pointing a finger at me. "Stop acting like my dad." I said while grabbing his finger.
"I didn't have the chance yet, we need to switch my nameplate with a person close to her. So I can talk to her." I whispered to him. "You're so dramatic. You're making this a bigger deal than it is." he pointed out. "I'm dramatic? What's your idea?" I asked him with raised eyebrows.
He put on a thinking face while tapping his foot on the ground. "Yeah, your idea is great let's do this." he eventually said. I laughed. "Mission 'Switching Nameplates' has started." Daniel said with a deep voice. And he said I was dramatic.
I looked at the table and saw some people sitting there. How was I going to casually switch nameplates without them noticing. I looked at Daniel and he had mischievous grin on his face.
"I'll distract them while you switch the nameplates. Don't put yourself too close, it would be weird if they seated you guys next to eachother or something." he told me. He traded his grin for a very serious look. Maybe this plan was a little dramatic. But Daniel was already on his way to the people and started telling a story. He was moving his arms alot and definitely had their attention.
I walked by the table reading all the nameplates. 'Alex Albon, Bianca Bustamante, Juliette Lavigne.' I read. I took the card of the person diagonally opposite of her. It said; 'Fernando Alonso'. At the very end of the table I saw my name. I put Fernando's card there and took mine. I walked back to the middle of the table. The mission was completed.
I raised my thumbs to Daniel, but he looked quite concerned. What was wrong?
...
Jules
I noticed Max slipping around the table.
Strange.
So I went closer to see what he was doing. From a little distance I saw him picking up Fernando's nameplate and then he walked away with it. I went even closer, confused why he was doing it. He put the card at the end of the table and took another card with him to replace Fernando's. I was getting closer and closer untill I was behind him.
Suddenly he turned around and he looked at me in suprise. "Are you alright?" I asked him. "I'm fine." he answered, clearly trying to look like he was fine. He wasn't. "What are you doing?" I asked him. His mask almost fell. For a small second I could see the fear in his eyes.
His blue eyes.
They were really blue.
"Just looking were I need to sit." he answered while pointing at the table. "Oh look, there it is." he said while sitting down at the place he had just put his nameplate. It was next to Sophia's. 'Does he want to sit next to her?' While that thought flew through my head I started to walk away.
"Wait Juliette." Max said turning me around by grabbing my arm. I looked down at his hand on my arm. "So you do remember my name." I said, taking my chance to get back at him about the 'Who are you' situation.
"You're not very easy to forget." he immediately replied, face blank. He always had an answer ready. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I asked him raising my eyebrows. "No." he answered.
I scoffed, I wasn't suprised. "But please, don't call me Juliette." I said to him. He let go of my arm and a cold feeling washed over my body. He looked at me confused. "Friends call me Jules." I explained to him. A smirk appeared on his lips. I wish I could hit it off his face.
"Are we friends?" he asked, looking at me teasingly. "No." I answered as dry as he did before. "So, what should I call you?" he asked me. I sighed while fidgeting with a bracelet I was wearing. "Just don't. Don't talk to me." I suggested while putting on a sarcastic smile. He returned it and tapped his fingers on the table.
"I don't want the media to think I'm a bad guy." he explained. I looked at him confused. "But you are." I told him as I watch his expression getting darker and darker. "Let's just pretend to be friends, Lavigne." he suggested. I hated the way he said my last name. It gave me goosebumps.
"Why would that be interesting for me?" I asked while looking anywhere but his eyes.
They were so blue.
"If you want a good reputation then you shouldn't make enemies off the track." he told me. It was convincing. It was my rookie year, I couldn't mess up. "Fine." I gave in. "Let's pretend to be friends." I said emphasizing the word 'pretend'. He offered his hand and I hesitantly shook it. The cold feeling, I've been getting the entire night, washed over me once again.
...
Max
"Pretending to be friends?" Daniel asked me. I nodded and looked at Juliette behind him. Or Jules? Because we were friends? I wasn't going to call her Jules. I liked the way Lavigne sounded and the way she looked annoyed when called her that.
"Isn't the whole point of pretending to not telling anyone that it's pretend?" he pointed out. "You're my best friend, ofcourse I had to tell you." I said to him. He gave me a smile and grabbed my hands. "And you're my best friend." he said in a way too excited, high-pitched voice.
"Seriously Daniel, do you think this is a good idea?" I asked him. "It's better than hating eachother and getting front page in every single gossip magazine." he admitted. "You're probably right." I said while letting his hands go. "Ofcourse I am." he answered.
We heard a noise coming from the table and turned around. It was Lewis standing on a chair and ticking his knife against a glass to get our attention. "It's time to eat!" he yelled at everyone. I looked back at Daniel and we both walked towards the table.
...
Jules
"So you're friends with him now?" Sophia asked me. "Yeah, it would be stupid to make an enemie off the track." I answerd. Trying to smile in a way people would do when they told the truth. Max was my friend. Ew.
She looked at me, still deciding if she believed me or not. "How are you doing girls?" we heard Bianca say while running towards us. We both laughed at the sight of it. She was already a bit sweaty from the dancing. "I need to refresh, can you guys come with me to the toilet?" she asked us with puppy eyes. "Ofcourse, let's go." Sophia answered.
When we got into the bathroom I turned my head towards Sophia. "Max switched his nameplate with Fernando's." I told her. "Why would he do that?" she asked me confused. "I don't know. It was really weird." I answered. Because I still didn't get why he would do that. She shrugged. "He's a weird guy sometimes, I think i'ts Daniel's influence on him." she said while laughing silently.
Bianca tried to swipe the sweat off her face without ruining her make-up. Which was difficult.
"It's great that he's not mad at you anymore." she said while reaplying eyeliner. "How did you know that they made up?" Sophia asked. "I didn't know that." Bianca answered. "I did see Max staring at Jules the whole evening." she finsihed while spraying parfume. I looked at her with a lost expression. "I assume he was waiting for the right moment to say sorry." I shrugged.
It probably wasn't true. He wasn't staring, but glaring. Still mad about what had happened two days ago. But we were friends now. Even though that was the last thing I wished for at that moment.
When we got out of the bathroom everyone was walking towards the tables and looking were they were seated. Without suprise I saw Max sitting at the spot he had put his card. Bianca sat next to me and Sophia was in front of me. When I looked to my left I saw a smiling Lewis.
"I'm really happy that you came. It's fun to meet the new rookies." he said. "I'm really glad that I came too." I answered while hanging my purse on the chair. "At the end of the dinner we always take a picture. It's nice when everyone is on it." he told me as he was looking at the menu. "Yeah, that's a great memory to have." I answered while smiling.
Lewis gave me a very trusting feeling. Like I could tell him anything. He wouldn't judge and he wouldn't tell anyone else. Atleast, that was my first impression.
I read the menu silently and smiled when I heard Bianca reading it out loud. There were so many things that I liked that it was hard to choose. I wanted to ask Sophia what she was getting but when I looked back up I just saw-
blue.
...
A longer chapter than usual.
But I will try to make the chapters longer from now on.
Next chapter will still be about the dinner.
There is still a lot that needs to happend :))
Thank you for reading xxx