Ella:
'Slag.'
'Bitch.'
'Whale.'
'Oh wait sorry, your name
is Emilie. My bad.'
'Go kys. Nobody wants you here.'
I turn my phone off, placing it face down on the bed beside me and lean my head against the soft headboard taking a deep breath. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
"You ok, kid?" Charles asks as he walks out of the bathroom, looking at me and furrowing his eyebrows. I nod my head slightly.
"No you're not, what's wrong?" He adds, rummaging through the suitcase and pulling out a Ferrari tshirt. I pick my phone up and unlock it, handing it to him and showing him the messages.
He reads them before passing my phone back to me and sitting on the bottom end of my bed, next to my feet.
"I just want her to leave me alone. Why doesn't she understand that?" I whisper, tears forming in my eyes as I look down at my legs and scratch the back of my hand. He reaches his hand forward, gently grabbing mine and pulling it away from my other, silently telling me to stop.
"I know you do, darling." Charles says, rubbing my leg comfortingly. A few tears slip from my eyes as I try to hide them by wiping them away. He stands up and walks over to my bedside, holding his arms out, inviting me in for a hug.
I stand up off the bed and wrap my arms around his torso, sobbing into his chest. He takes a deep breath.
"It's going to be ok." He whispers, rubbing my back as I lean the side of my face against his chest, feeling safe in his hold.
"I just want it to stop." I mutter, tears streaming down my face.
"Do you want me to speak to the headteacher about it? I can try to get it fixed." He offers, his voice soft and quiet as he attempts to calm me down.
"No. That will make things worse. It's happened before." I mutter into his chest, trying to stop myself from crying.
"Ok. Just tell me if you ever want me to talk to someone at school." He says, gently squeezing me before releasing me from his hug. He smells nice, like a comforting sort of nice.
"I'll tell you what, how do you fancy a waffle for breakfast?" He asks, a small smile on his face as I nod my head eagerly. I love waffles.
"Me too. I'm feeling like a waffle." He nods his head, laughing slightly before sliding his shoes on and tying the laces. I put my shoes on and decide to leave my rain jacket on the chair. It didn't rain yesterday, so it probably won't rain today.
"Are you not taking that?" He asks, pointing to my jacket. I shake my head at him. "Ok, but if it rains, you aren't using mine." He states, a joking look on his face. I smile at him.
"Are you guys ready?" Alex asks, coming in through the hotel room door, letting it close behind her. She has been downstairs for breakfast with Arthur, Lorenzo and their mama while me and Charles were getting ready.
"Yep. Let's go." Charles says enthusiastically, placing his hand on my back and guiding me out of the room. My phone buzzes and I look at the notification. It's Ella again.
Ella:
'Don't leave me on read
you bitch.'
'No one likes you.'
'Jump off a bridge.'
I look down at my phone and my face gives everything away as Charles looks down at me.
"Give it here." He states, holding his hand out. I look at him slightly confused before placing my phone in his hand. He gets his phone out of his pocket, typing a number into his phone before calling it and putting it to his ear as we walk down the corridor.
We reach the elevator and I press the button to go down and the doors open. I step in, being immediately blocked by Charles so I can't press all the buttons again. He looks down at me and smiles as I look up at him.
He presses the button for the ground floor and stays stood in front of the panel so I can't reach it. I guess he doesn't want a long twenty three story walk down to the cars outside.
"Hi, I'm sorry to be calling you on a Sunday but this is important regarding Emilie Barlow. There is another student, Ella Roberts, who has been harassing Emilie for quite some time now." Charles says into his phone as the person on the other end answers.
"Ella has been sending Emilie some very horrible text messages calling her insulting names such as slag, bitch and whale, and repeatedly telling Emilie to kill herself." He adds, reading the messages on my phone.
"Charles." I almost plead, wanting him to stop. He's telling my headteacher. Everything is just going to get worse. He puts his finger up to his lips, telling me to be quiet.
"Yes, I do want Ella punished. It is completely unacceptable and if nothing changes I will be coming into school and having a meeting with Ella's father and the staff members in charge of running this school." Charles states, sounding slightly pissed off.
"Thank you. Have a good day. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience." He concludes before hanging up the phone and sliding it back into his trouser pocket.
He gives me my phone back and I put it into my pocket, taking a deep breath and trying to steady my emotions before speaking.
"It's all sorted." He smiles at me. I look up at him and take a breath.
"You need to tell me if Ella messages you again." He adds, raising his eyebrows slightly and looking down at me. I nod my head and the elevator doors open. I follow Alex out of the hotel and we get into one of the cars parked outside. After a short drive to the circuit, we arrive.
We walk through the paddock, the grey clouds are beginning to roll in, just in time for the race.
"What waffle do you want?" He asks, getting his wallet out of his pocket and looking down at me while we walk towards the waffle cart.
"Chocolate and banana." I say excitedly, skipping slightly as I walk. He laughs at me.
"You two seriously aren't having waffles for breakfast." Alex laughs, as we stop in front of the waffle cart.
"It's a waffle kind of day." Charles says, shrugging his shoulders slightly and getting £20 cash out of his wallet.
"What are you having?" I ask him as we join the back of the line. There is only one person in front of us though, so it's not really a line.
"I don't know." He says indecisively, looking at the menu board.
"You better pick quickly because we're next." I state, a small smile on my face as I look up at him. He looks at me and scrunches his nose up slightly while furrowing his eyebrows. I laugh at him.
We get to the front of the queue and Charles looks at the person in the window. It's the same woman from last Grand Prix.
"Hi, please can I have two chocolate and banana waffles." He says, leaning his elbows on the counter.
"That will be £19.98." The woman says, pushing the card reader towards us. "Card only." She adds before turning round and telling the guy behind her our order.
Charles sighs dramatically before fumbling around in his wallet and pulling out his credit card.
"Charles Leclerc?" She asks, looking at him and raising her eyebrows slightly as the transaction goes through.
"You're the girl who used his card to get a waffle two weeks ago." She adds, looking down at me and squinting her eyes slightly.
"Yeah I am, and as you can see, I do know Charles." I state, smiling at her slightly as a sour look appears across her face.
"Two waffles." She states, placing them down in front of us. Charles picks them up and thanks her before walking away. Me and Alex follow him as we walk into the Ferrari garage.
"Waffle for sale!" He shouts, holding my waffle in the air. Lots of the mechanics and engineers quickly walk over after hear Charles' announcement.
I try to grab my waffle out of his hand but I'm too short. He smiles as I jump to reach it. I can't jump very high, so that doesn't work.
"Why don't you share your own?" I say, standing on my tiptoes and reaching up.
"This one's bigger anyway." He says, handing me his. I furrow my eyebrows at him and take a slight step back before taking his waffle out of his hand and looking at it.
Charles quickly eats half of his, offering the rest to Alex who refuses, before handing it to a mechanic to share with the rest of the garage. They all gather round, getting a piece each. I sit down in Charles' chair and begin eating mine.
Carlos sits down next to me, tapping the side of my upper arm with the back of his hand. I look at him and he gestures towards my waffle. I sigh slightly before cutting a small bit off and giving it to him.
"Is that it? Give me some more." He complains, taking the knife and fork out of my hands and cutting a bigger chunk off. I look at him in slight shock at the amount of waffle he just stole from me.
"I never get to eat these things. You should feel bad for me." He says, leaning back in his chair and smiling at me slightly.
"I should feel bad for this waffle." I state, laughing while finishing the rest of it. "Where's the bin?" I ask, standing up off the chair and holding the empty cardboard bowl in my hand.
"Just give it to Charles." Carlos shrugs, smirking slightly and nodding his head in Charles' direction. I walk over to him and hand him my rubbish without saying a word. He just has pure confusion spread across his face as I look at him when I get back to the chair. I smile at him and he laughs slightly before throwing it into the bin next to him.
"Can I watch the race from the grandstand?" I ask Carlos, looking at him. I don't sit down, waiting for my answer.
"I don't know why you're asking me. You should ask Charles." He says, looking at the race strategy on his computer. I sigh slightly before walking back over to Charles who is speaking to Alessandro.
"Charles." I drag out, looking up at him and smiling slightly.
"Yes?" He mimics me, looking at me and raising his eyebrows slightly.
"Can I please watch the race from the grandstand?" I ask, giving him a hopeful look. He thinks about it for a second.
"You can for me. But you'll have to ask Max, and you will have to take someone with you. You aren't going by yourself." He replies, sighing slightly and look around the garage.
"Why do I have to ask Max? He's not in charge. You are." I whine, holding my arms out to the side and letting them slap onto my thighs to make a point.
"You know when dads say you have to ask your mum, well this is the same thing. Go and ask Max." He says, smiling at me slightly. I sigh before walking out of the Ferrari garage and making my way down the pit lane.
"Woah kid!" A RedBull engineer shouts, placing his hand in front of me to stop me walking into the garage. Checo's car pulls out of the garage for a quick pit stop practice.
I walk in after his car is in the pit lane, and I see Max tying his race boots. I walk over to him and lean against the table next to him.
"Hey kid, you ok?" He asks, looking up at me and then standing up off the chair he was sat on.
"Yeah, I'm good. I asked Charles and he told me to ask you. Can I watch the race from the grandstand?" I ask him, a small smile on my face.
"No." He states quickly, not even considering my question and pulling his race suit up to rest on his hips as it was falling down slightly.
"It's not like I'm going to get kidnapped or die or anything." I add, throwing my head back and clenching my eyes shut.
"You can see the race perfectly fine from in the pit lane, you don't need to go up to the grandstand." He states, sighing slightly and looking at me.
"I can't see shit from in here. I can't even see the fucking track because I'm in the garages, and I don't want to watch it on the screen either. Just let me go to the grandstand." I say, my voice getting slightly louder by the second.
"You are not going. End of." He raises his voice, luckily the garage is full of noise, so no one stares at us.
"Why?" I ask him while sighing slightly and holding my arms out to the side.
"Because I said so." He replies, his voice bland and impatient. I groan.
"It pisses me off when adults say that. Like I know what you just fucking said, I just want an explanation." I state angrily, staring at him and sighing.
"Mate." He sighs, quietly telling me off for my language, without drawing any attention to us.
"I'm going to the grandstand anyway. Charles said he was ok with it, so I'm going." I state before walking out of the RedBull garage and making my way back towards the Ferrari garage.
"Emilie." Max calls after me, and I ignore him, walking into the Ferrari garage with him following me.
"You're a fucking tosser!" I shout at Max, barging through the crowd of mechanics and engineers, and pushing the door open at the back of the garage.
"What's a tosser?" Charles asks, furrowing his eyebrows. Max shrugs his shoulders, stopping in front of Charles, leaving me to walk off.
"I'll follow her." Arthur offers, before quickly walking out of the garage. I feel the presence of someone walking behind me, and I look over my shoulder to see Arthur.
"Are you ok?" He asks, walking next to me. I nod my head and look up at him.
"Max is just being a dick. He doesn't let me do anything. Even Charles lets me have more freedom than Max does, and Charles is my legal guardian." I complain quietly, as we weave our way through the sea of people filling the paddock.
"I'm sure he's just worried about you. It's a dangerous world, you know. Especially for a teenage girl." He says, as we walk up the stairs to get to the grandstand. It's so busy.
"Tickets please." A guy stood at the bottom of the stairs says, holding a phone in his hand which I assume is to scan the tickets with.
"We're related to Charles Leclerc." Arthur says, quickly thinking of an excuse as to why we haven't got tickets. The guy nods his head before opening the barrier and letting us go up the stairs. I'm really starting to hate stairs.
Once we reach the top of the staircase, I look in the direction of the pits and see Charles and Pierre looking through the gate at us. I wave and they wave back, me and Arthur start laughing slightly.
"How long until the race starts?" I ask Arthur, sitting on the bottom step and looking up at him as he stays stood up, leaning his arms on the railing in front.
"About twenty minutes." He says, looking down at me and letting his sunglasses drop from perched on his head, to land on his nose. I smile at him as I move my head slightly so his body is blocking the sun from shining in my face.
"I need the toilet." I say, standing up and squinting my eyes slightly. Arthur laughs at me.
"Do you want my sunglasses?" He asks, a smile on his face. I nod my head and he hands them to me. They are way too big for my face, and they fall down slightly.
"Come on then." He says, gesturing towards himself, beckoning me to follow him. I furrow my eyebrows slightly. "Toilets." He adds after seeing the confusion on my face.
"I can go by myself." I say, raising my eyebrows slightly and looking at him while pushing the sunglasses further up my nose.
"It's busy and it's dangerous. Especially for a thirteen year old girl." He says, looking down at me and raising his eyebrows. The sun is shining through his fluffy brown hair, giving it a golden tint.
"Fine, whatever." I sigh before walking down the stairs we just walked up. I look at the guy scanning the tickets and he just stares back at me, not a single thought behind his eyes.
"Can I get through?" I ask him, pointing towards the barrier. He shakes his head and continues scanning people's tickets. "Mate I need a piss, let me through." I state loudly, managing to push my way through the barrier.
He moves out of my way, as I walk past him. Arthur follows me and I try to find the toilets. They're in a little moveable shack thing, it's not the most appealing place ever.
"I'll wait here." He says, standing outside of the toilets and looking at the food and souvenir stalls. There are lots of different team clothes and stuff. It's actually quite cool.
I walk into the toilets, and they are so manky. There is some mould on the ceiling and water is all over the floor. Some people are disgusting. Once I'm done in the toilets, I walk outside and I'm instantly met with rain. Arthur quickly walks over to me, his hair now dripping wet.
"It was sunny a minute ago." I complain, holding my arms out to the side. He gently takes his sunglasses off my face and puts them into his pocket for safe keeping.
"Yeah tell me about it." He says blandly before beginning to walk back over to the grandstand, with me following him.