BEND THE RULES, 018.

REAL LIFE

DIANA WAS OFFICIALLY CLEARED to race in montréal. she left the doctor in such a happy mood, not even oscar could manage to make her smile falter. as soon as she was cleared, she went straight to the paddock to begin training her body again. she hadn't done any sort of working out since the injury. 

"someone looks happy." a familiar voice called out to her as she walked ahead.. diana could recognize him anywhere. she turned around with a sound that nearly sounded like a squeal as she ran into brayden's arms. 

"oh my god, brayden!" she exclaimed. brayden laughed as he stumbled backwards a bit. 

"i missed you too, ana." he grinned at her. brayden was one of diana's childhood best friends. when diana lived in new york, her, cassidy, and brayden were sort of a trio. they were practically inseperable. diana even used to have a major crush on him until she moved away and the crush faded as she stopped seeing him as much. now, she and brayden were simply best friends. 

"how are you?" she pulled away from the hug. "walk with me. i'm heading to the haas unit." she noticed brayden's v.i.p. paddock pass and smiled. 

"i'm good! how are you doing? i can't imagine how a rib fracture would feel."

"it wasn't anything that hasn't happened before." diana shrugged. "this one was a bit more painful, but i've had my fair share of rib fractures, so i was used to the healing process. i was scared i wouldn't be clear to race today."

"oh, so that is why you're so smiley. you're allowed to race again! not sure why i thought oscar was the reason."

"oscar?" diana stopped walking. "what do you mean 'oscar was the reason?'"

"nothing, really." brayden shrugged. "other than the fact that you talk about him all the time and you hang out with him all the time now."

"i do not hang out with him all the time." diana narrowed her eyes. "and why are you saying it like that?"

"god, ana." brayden rolled his eyes. "you can't possibly still stand there and say that you don't have feelings for oscar."

"i don't have feelings for oscar." diana deadpanned. "you're crazy."

"if i'm crazy, then the whole world is crazy. everyone can see it, ana. and it's even more obvious that oscar's in love with you."

"i wouldn't say he's 'in love' with me." diana rolled her eyes. "but i have heard rumors that he likes me."

"you really don't see it?" brayden asked. "ana, why the hell do you think he annoys you all the time? he craves your attention and if making you mad was the only way he would be able to talk to you, then obviously he's going to take that chance. oscar's a boy, ana. and believe me, i know how guys think."

"i hate how right you sound." diana sighed. "and i don't, like, have a crush on him, per se..." 

"but...?"

"but i can't lie and say that he hasn't been starting to make me smile more than he makes me mad." diana admitted. brayden smiled and his expression became one of triumph. 

"a win is a win!" he exclaimed. "let's go get you back in shape."

REAL LIFE

THE DAY PRETTY MUCH flew by for diana. before she knew it, it was already the qualifying session for the canadian grand prix. surprisingly, she hadn't seen or talked to oscar at all since they left monaco together on thursday.

"nervous?" nico asked her as the two waited for the session to begin.

"a bit." diana admitted. "it still hurts a little when i move, but the doctor said that i'm fine to race since the rib itself is mostly healed."

"that's good." nico nodded. "you'll do great today, i know it."

"good luck to you too, nico." diana smiled at him as they retreated to their opposite sides of the garage. 

"okay, ana, are we ready?" diana's race engineer, theo, asked over the radio as diana settled herself into her car. "the light will be green any minute now."

"ready as i'll ever be, theo." diana responded. "can you play 'king of everything?'"

"due to copyright reasons, i can't. but i can sing for you." he offered. diana let out a laugh. somehow, the lighthearted joke had made her feel a lot better. she wasn't as nervous anymore. 

"take it away, theo." diana told him as she was given the signal to exit her garage. as she lined up in the pit lane, she noticed that there was an orange mclaren in front of her. she didn't know for sure, but she had a feeling that it was oscar. as soon as the light turned green, the cars began to move out of the pit lane. 

as soon as diana drove onto the track, she felt confident. she accelerated, letting her car take control of her. she drove effortlessly around the track, each lap faster than the last. 

"diana, that is p10. you're through." theo exclaimed over the radio as the first session ended. diana let out a cheer. 

"yes!" she pumped her fist. "let's see if we can do just as good the next round."

"your friend also made it through, by the way." theo told her. diana gasped as she saw a blue car drive past her, the driver waving enthusiastically. 

"logan made it?" she asked. theo affirmed it and diana let out another cheer. "today's a good day." she said, satisfactorily. as she made her way back to the pit lane, she passed an orange mclaren. catching sight of the helmet, diana knew it was oscar this time. the boy gave her a small wave before driving ahead. 

"make your way back now. we have some things to discuss before q2." 

the second round of qualifying wasn't nearly as good as the first for diana. she dropped down and finished the session in fourteenth, knocking her out of the qualifying session. howevr, diana didn't think much of it. she drove the best that she could and on top of that, one of her best friends finished close to her. 

"you did absolutely amazing today." diana gave logan a hug in the paddock after qualifying was done. there weren't much events scheduled for the rest of the day and judging by the clouds, it was due to rain pretty soon. 

"um, hello, so did you!" logan responded. "you're still healing from a broken rib and you still managed to outqualify your teammate and checo in the red bull." he looked up at the clouds. "i heard it's supposed to rain tomorrow as well."

"i heard," diana nodded. "wet races always stress me out." she said with a sigh. logan shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"they're also the races you perform the best at. you'll do amazing, i know it."

"so will you." diana nodded. she noticed the rain beginning to fall lightly. "hey, i'm just gonna go for a walk. you know i get when there's rain." logan nodded understandingly. 

"yeah, of course." he gave her a soft smile. "i'll text you tonight."

diana waved at her friend before turning around and making her way back to the pit lane. the rain was not going to stop any time soon and after a few minutes, diana found herself back in her garage. the pit lane was nearly empty, with some engineers working on cars in other garages, but that was it. diana sat down outside, her back against the wall of her garage. after some time of diana silently looking out at the track, she heard footsteps approach her from the pit lane.

"you always did love the rain."

maha speaks :)

i'm so excited.