New story for you guys, if you're wondering about Missing Pieces then there's a note at the bottom, I hope you enjoy and this is All Human because it has been requested I do an AH story previously. Feel free to review and let me know what you think. =)
Sasha XxxX
Every Life Needs A Few Pit Stops
Chapter 1
Isabella Button, sound familiar? Well is should do, I'm sister of Emmet Button, Formula 1 driving champion. Our father, Jenson Button, had always been proud of both of us, of course he had educated both of us in the art of driving, and I did enjoy it very much but Emmet was the one with the passion. At first he hated it, because I was better, but as soon as I stepped back and went into university two years early to do my phycology, computing, martial arts and mechanical engineering degrees Emmet thrived on the extra attention, thus leading to his current state. Well not exactly because right now Emmet is in hospital…with a broken leg.
You see, Sebastian Vettle had kids too and they went into racing, hating us. It was a shame to be honest; most of the drivers get along, even if in competition, no one would purposely hurt another driver, until last week. Emmet had been pounded into the concrete dividers and had his leg caught and crushed.
Michael Schumacher was our dad's best friend, there was an age difference but it didn't matter, they were both single parents and used each other for advice. I mean how were two men meant to bring up their daughter and son, on their own? Michael had a daughter called Jane and a son called Alec, both were great and lovely people and were very protective of the people they cared about. Jane was my best friend and we did everything together, we even studied the same degrees, we're just so uncannily alike. Jane was still in uni though, she had 6 months left.
"Bells?" my head snapped back to Emmet, who was lying in the bed, TV remote in hand.
"Sorry, zoned out there for a minute" I gave him a sheepish look,
"Day dreaming about Alec are we?" I glared at him,
"Those feelings are totally one sided" I reminded him, Emmet barked a laugh.
"It doesn't help with dads persuasion" I rolled my eyes, but it was true. Dad and Michael had been trying to get me and Alec together for years, Alec was my age, as he and Jane were twins but Emmet was three years older than any of us. It didn't stop him hanging with us though; high school had been amusing I'll tell you that.
"There was something I needed to tell you Bells" Emmet said, scratching the back of his neck,
"Emmet spit it out" I said to him bluntly,
"Um you know I don't have a driver? You know to replace me?" I nodded, giving him the how-the-fuck-does-this-involve-me look.
"I was sorta wondering-"
"Oh good you've told her then? Great, now I've got your newly printed overall here, and the guys are being dealt with. Your car with be readjusted to your, small, size and then we're all set" Dad gave me a big grin, my mouth hang open,
"Actually dad, I was just getting to that" Emmet said through clenched teeth, dad gave a sheepish look,
"Oops" and back slowly towards the door as I was nearly exploding,
"YOU FUKCING WANT ME TO BLOODY CRAP MYSELF FRICKIN' SPEEDING ROUND A FUCKING RACE TRACK, YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME!"
"Language" A nurse said in a raised voice calmly as she past with a clipboard, they had got used to me and Emmet and gave up on the lectures, or even looking up from their work.
"Bella-"
"No! I just go out of uni!"
"You had so much promise"
"No dad"
"Bells it would mean a lot to me"
"No Emmet"
"Bella, I'll call of the arranged marriage"
"There was an arranged marriage?" Emmet glared at dad, he knew all this time and didn't frickin' tell me?
"Um yeah, to Alec, we wanted to ease you into the idea but I'll call the whole thing off" I contemplated,
"Promise?" I was fuming but didn't want to wreck a perfect opportunity to get out of a horrid fate that had hung over my head unnoticed for years.
"I really Promise Bella, I won't make you marry Alec"
"What about other guys how do I know you won't be all stalkersish and hook me up with some other random dude?" Everyone said I was just like Emmet, I found it offensive; Emmet found it sweet, his words, not mine.
"I promise not to arrange any more marriages concerning you"
"Does that mean you'll set me up?" Emmet said hopeful, dad rolled his eyes I groaned into my hands.
"Deal"
The roaring of revving engines was all around, you could barely think, let alone talk or communicate. I slipped on a pair of headphone,
"Are we ready?" I asked,
"Yeah, nearly, get over here as soon as you can" I slipped them back off, ignoring the arrogant tone to the guy's voice. I was the new driver and it didn't help I was a girl, in their minds I wasn't meant to do this but they couldn't say no, not in the modern day society without a bloody prison sentence.
I held my helmet under my arm and stayed in the shadows as I made my way to our designated pit. I wasn't to tell anyone of my participance in the race, everyone knew Emmet had someone filling in for him but they had no idea who, I was to be revealed after the race.
Emmet, and now I, were still racing for McLaren, just like dad had. We lived permanently in Hungry, Dad liked it there because it was where he won his first race in 2006 but we moved as needed. As I contemplated Dads word I knew that you could just get rid of an arranged marriage and that scared the shit out of me because I was soon to be married to Alec, and really he's a great friend but I do not think of him that way. Its cringe-able thinking about sleeping in the same room as him, let alone to same bed. So no, marriage would not work.
"Bella? We're ready" I took a deep breath, removed the wheel hopped in and put the wheel back on, I put the head set on and my helmet, tucking my hair into it.
"Bells?" I heard almost automatically,
"Emmet!" I said in surprise, I heard the team laugh; I didn't like them, always expecting the worst in me.
"Hey Bells, you didn't think I'd let you drive one your own did you?" I had had two rides in the car, it wasn't like I hadn't drove one before but I needed to familiarise myself with one again.
"Sorta, I don't know if I can do this" I heard another snort from behind me but ignored it. They can think what they want; I was talking to my brother.
"Sure you can Bells, you were always better than me and you know it. You'll be wiping the floor with their asses trust me" I laughed,
"See now I remember why I like with you! I knew I put up with your shit for a reason"
"Gee thank Bells, I feel the love"
"Who said anything about love? I didn't say love, I said like" I teased,
"Now shut up and drive" Emmet said,
"Drive, Drive, Drive" I sang to annoy him,
"Bella!"
"Right seriousness" I smirked,
"Don't mess with me Bella, you need to keep my rep up"
"Sure, sure"
"Bella, don't get hurt ok? The Vettle brat can be vicious"
"Well he's James, what do you expect? He's a nasty piece of cu-"
"Get ready!" one member of the pit team called, cutting off my nasty swear.
"See ya on the other side" I said to Emmet,
"Bella don't joke about this, and dads trying to steal the mic off me so behave before you get the sex talk again" I rolled my eyes, when dad didn't know how to deal with us, or anything that could cause problem he used the one tactic he had perfected. A lecture about safe sex. When I went to prom, sex talk, driving first normal car (not a F1 vehicle) and crashing it into the garage, sex talk, my first day at uni, sex talk, you get the idea. Oh and let's not forget not forget my first date, that lead to a full-fledged sex talk about safety in all four bases, as well as some helpful hand-outs and "necessities" A.K.A a pack of condoms for me and my date.
I waited and revved my engine smiling at the sound I'm back my old friend and I'm gunna give you one hell of a ride.
And then, I was off whizzing ahead of the rest, Emmet had crashed in qualifying which meant he ended up in 15th with his other results, he'd called pole on all of the qualifiers apart form the last, which ended in a broken leg.
I looked intently at the corner, judging by the blue-prints I stole off the mechanics desk the car should be able to take the turn wide, just, but I need to work out my angle. I did that in a flash in my head, it had come reflexively for the past five years. I neatly and quickly made the turn; I focused back on the stretch of road in from of me,
"Where the fuck is everyone?" I exclaimed and hit my hand on the steering wheel, had I really taken that long?
I looked up at the crowd; they were on their feet, cheering and pumping their fits in the air. I furrowed my brow,
"Bella! You're 1st! Emmet yelled into the mic,
"What?" I said in surprise, blinking as took a fleeting look behind me, they were there, way back there.
"Hell yeah!" I yelled, grinning,
"That's ma girl, now hold strong ok, tell me if anything doesn't feel right. I don't' trust the guys skills, their good enough for me but I'm not going to trust them with my lil sis" I laughed and awed at him comment,
"That's sweet Emmet but I already check the car over, it should run for at least 2 more laps than the other cars before needing to pit" Emmet was silent but then chuckled,
"I should have known, and that's really clever Bells, it's nice to know all those years in uni paid off"
"It was only 5 years" I reminded him,
"Yeah but I though you wasted your whole life" Emmet said, I neatly turned the next corner and the next before replying.
"Hey I'm only 19" I said to him,
"I know, but you were away for so long"
"I came back every night Emmet"
"I suppose you did apart from that one time-"
"Shut up, this turn's giving the hebijebees" I said and shivered, the turn was tight, and a U-turn. I couldn't possible make that.
"Eeep" I squealed and shut my eyes as I turned the car,
"Can I open my eyes now?" I whispered to Emmet,
"You did that with your eyes shut?" Emmet said, his voice awed and it seemed he was choking on something,
"I wouldn't' know, my eyes are shut"
"OPEN YOUR FRICKIN' EYES!" Emmet yelled, I did instantly and found myself at 180mph on a straight, I saw the line, I had done one lap, only 69 left, this was a short circuit and so I had more laps, great more for me to mess up on and more for you to correct yourself on I added optimistically.
The crowd roared as I completely my first lap,
"We aren't experiencing any damage are we?" Emmet asked, I shook my head and then realized he couldn't see me, I mentally slapped my forehead.
"Nope, non-whatsoever"
"I guess being a maths genius did come in handy in the end" Emmet mused,
"I'm not a genius"
"Nah you've just been asked to join the world's top scientist multiple times because they like your hair"
"My hair?" I said, amusement in my voice,
"Yeah, 'cause it's the closest they can get to mine, the gay guys just want a piece of my hair I tell you! I'll be mobbed!" I rolled my eyes,
"Why are you talking about hair? My baby's out there on a race track and you're talking about hair!" dad yelled frantically at the other end, I laughed,
"I'll let you deal with him" I said,
"I dealt with him last time!" Emmet whined,
"How's that fair?" he enquired,
"I'm sorry that I'm driving at 190mph on a wet track right now, I'll just have him on speaker" I rolled my eyes,
"SO you know, he doesn't kill my eardrums with all the shouting"
"See you had it all planned out! Why can't you deal with him?" I was silent in disbelief for a moment,
"I was being sarcastic Em, I'm too busy trying not the a pretzel around another car right now" I said,
"Fine" Emmet grumbled.
I didn't' hear from him for ages, not until the 58th lap,
"Have you pitted yet?" He asked,
"No, should I?" Emmet paused,
"Not if the crew hasn't said anything about the engine or mechanics but how do the tires feel?"
"A little warn actually, I think they need changing but they're going good. I don't want to risk losing places because I'm breaking in new tires"
"Bells Vettle's 2nd and he's 8 laps behind you, you'll be ok"
"But it'll wreck my flow and lower my lap time, and my sector time! Ugh!" Emmet chuckled,
"You think this is a breeze don't you?" Emmet said, his voice holding all the held back laughter that wanted to break free.
"No! of course not"
"You were singing a while ago" I blushed,
"Ok, I find it fun?"
"No, you find it easy, it's ok Bells to be good" I nodded and pushed the car faster,
"Ok, but I have no clue where the pit lane is" I said to him,
"Right now!" I frantically looked around and found a small lane to my left I sighed in relief and dipped in, smoothly slid into the pit stop and let the crew do their work.
"About time" I heard one mutter, I let it slide; this was not the time to have an argument with the pit crew especially…when they could tamper with your car.
They withdrew the lift and my car was back on the ground, once the crew member had removed the sign in front of my car I sped off out of the pit lane.
"Emmet, how many places have I lost?" I asked,
"None, but Vettle's now 7 laps behind you"
"Damn it!" I hit the steering wheel,
"Easy Bells you can bring it back" I nodded and took deep breaths, I neatly turned the first corner and then the second,
"Are there more challenging tracks?" I asked Emmet, I was getting a tad bored, I wonder if you're allowed to play music, or if they have an iPod dock…
"Yeah, the next grand prix, after this one will be in Monaco, the slowest and hardest of the championship tracks"
"Why's it so hard?" I asked,
"One small mistake on the streets and you're practically dead…or extremely mangled" Emmet laughed nervously,
"Cool" Emmet coughed,
"Seriously?"
"Seriously" I smirked; I was on my 64th lap and going strong, Emmet had told me that if this was recorded we would be in trouble, because you weren't really meant to talk unless necessary or related to the race. Oops.
"Final lap Bells" the 70 laps had gone so fast and I had the thrill now, how the hell could I find this boring? My insides were buzzing! I was bouncing in my seat, which probably wasn't the best idea. I saw the line, and the flag, I was waved gracefully in the air, welcoming me. I past the line,
"YES!" I pumped my fist in the air and drifted round the first corner.
"HELL YEAH!" Emmet yelled into the mic,
"Easy on the ear drums Emmet" I told him,
"That'll show the team"
"What'll show the team?" I said sternly,
"Well they sorta, kinda betted that I girl couldn't take my place…let alone a geek like my sister, dad wouldn't let me kill them though, but I did break Arney's wrist, he started all this"
"So that's why he isn't working?"
"Yep" I laughed,
"Well I'm going to sort this out"
"Bella that might not be such a good idea"
"OF course it is, I thought of it" I made sure my hair was tucked in, and that you couldn't really tell I was a girl and removed the steering wheel and hopped out. The crowd roared and cheered, horns and streamers were going everywhere, I smiled and waved at the crowd, they cheered even louder.
I marched over to the pits, hopped over the divider with one hand and walked into our pit area. I pulled across the curtain so I could bit their heads off without an audience. I ripped my helmet off and let rip,
"What the fucking hell!" I shouted at them,
"You didn't think I could do that!" I growled, they all backed away apart from one,
"You guys owe me 50 quid each" I glared at him; he had blond hair and striking blue eyes, and seemed to carry around a thick air of calm.
"Why? You also bet that I would come and throw a fit? Because that's what I'm doing" he shook his head,
"I said you'd win" my face softened,
"See, that is a rare example of a man actually being a gentleman and not demeaning women because they have two X chromosomes" I said, folding my arms. They apologized and I had a smug smile on my face.
"If we're going to work together than we better start treating each other like equals"
"You don't have to you know, you are the driver after all" the blond dude said, I nodded,
"I know but seeing as the crew weren't big enough to take the first step I guess it's down to the woman to lead them by example…again" the guy chuckled,
"Jasper Whitlock" I smiled,
"Bella Button" he grinned.
"Can all drivers please make their way onto the track" I smiled and waved a goodbye, shoved my helmet on and hair in before hopping back over the divider.
I walked onto the field at a normal pace, Emmet's team mate, (well I guess now he's my team mate to) Jacob came onto the field as well,
"Good race" I smiled,
"You too" he blanched at my voice, you see even my team mate didn't know who I was.
"Where'd you finish?" he smiled,
"3rd, Vettle was really vicious this race"
"Emmet said" Jacob nodded.
"Well I look forward to working with you"
"You too" I smiled and shook his outstretched hand.
Before long I was on the podium with Jacob and Vettle. I had a trophy in one hand and a bottle of Champaign in the other.
"Now, to reveal our new racer who had graciously filled in for Emmet Button" the commentator Murray Walker announced. I removed my helmet and let my hair fall out around me, I smiled softly as the crowd broke into a gasp. Then one woman stood up and clapped loudly, and slowly. Soon, many followed and the crowd was in one loud applause, even the small children were clapping and waving flags. I left my helmet on the floor and tied the top part of my overalls around my race and handed Jacob the bottle,
"What-" I smiled,
"I couldn't be where I am without the help of others" I looked up into the stands and found Emmet, I waved him down, he shook his head.
"C'mon Emmet!" I yelled,
"Come down for your lil sis" the crowd looked from me to Emmet, he held his hands up in defeat and the crowd broke into yells of encouragement to Emmet. He made in down here on his crutches and Jacob gave him the Champaign he sprays it out to the crowd and at me, we were messing about and having fun, and I thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
We went back to the pits to get our stuff, Emmet came with us,
"You know I can see the resemblance" Jasper said from where he was leaning on the wall,
"Jasper!" Emmet said and gave him a one armed hug,
"Missing me yet?" Emmet asked, Jasper just rolled him eyes,
"Corse Emmet" he knew how to deal with him, they must have known each other for a long time,
"Hey were you the guy who always crashed the house with Emmet when dad was out? We were in high school I think" Jasper smiled but shook his head,
"That was Edward, my fiancés brother, I was the one in the corner making sure Emmet didn't spike your drink" I smiled,
"I remember now, I don't remember Alice though"
"You wouldn't have, she was home school and she and Edward didn't get along then. I can take you to meet her if you like?"
"Yes please, I'm intrigued now"
"And Edward been asking about you for donkeys years" a pit crew member added, I would learn their names. Emmet laughed,
"Yeah he quit asking me about you when I teased him, and started asking my crew. Got really sulky when he found out you were studying in Spain" I laughed,
"Well I want to meet Alice" I said to Jasper,
"Any warnings?"
"Don't mention shopping" Everyone, including the pit crew said in an urgent monotone, all in unison. I nodded,
"Thanks for the heads up"
"Oh it doesn't matter; she'll dress you up anyway"
So what do you think? Let me know, oh and for everyone who's reading Missing Pieces I have the other chapters up to chapter 14, that's about 15,000 more words for you guys, and I'll post the next one when I get up to 110 reviews, until then I'll wait it out and try to get some inspiration for my other stories.
Happy reading,
Sasha XxxX