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"Do you want me to make you a sticker for your helmet?" The eight-year-old asked, holding out his sketchbook with a slightly forced smile.
Lando had pages and pages of super cool drawings and designs and really really wanted to use his brand new sticker maker in the back of the van.
The other boys didn't normally come up to him to talk so Lando was excited to offer something in exchange for a chat. The other boy looked pretty friendly, he had nice green eyes and a swoopy fringe that covered most of his eyes.
"Stickers?" The boy scrunched his nose and Lando felt a bit jealous of the freckles he could see, or maybe they were specks of dirt from playing with the other boys. Lando never got dirty because he was never asked to play in the fields with them. "I'm not a baby."
At the boy's words Lando slowly lowered his sketchbook back onto his lap. The weird sinking feeling in his stomach was back, just like when the older boys teased him about his size or his teeth or his face.
"No, I know you're not a baby. I was just wondering if-"
"Like c'mon we're cadets now, we're basically grownups and grownups don't have silly stickers on their helmets."
"Oh." Lando whispered softly.
He held his book closer to his body and looked down at the ground where the other boy was kicking his boots to make dust. The dust was getting on his white overalls and he hoped his mum wouldn't be too mad when she was washing them later.
"You have a phone?"
Lando smiled and nodded quickly. He leant down and pulled his bag out from under one of the foldable, plastic worktops his dad always brought to races.
Maybe Lando could show him some of his photos from his holiday last year, he took loads of this huge crab he and Ollie found at the beach, or maybe he might even give him his number so they could text each other.
After rummaging through random papers, an embarrassing amount of empty sweet wrappers that made Lando blush deep red, and his textbooks from school, he found his slightly battered phone and held it up.
"Is that a Blackberry?" The boy asked with astonishment in his voice. Lando felt proud to have made a friend so quickly.
Lando hastily unlocked it and moved over when the boy pushed himself down next to him. He hoped the boy wouldn't judge the scratches on the screen, he had tried to be careful with it but it was hard no matter what his dad said.
The boy pulled the phone from his hands and began clicking away.
"This is so cool!" He said excitedly.
Lando smiled at his new friend.
"My dad says only posh boys have these." He commented loud enough for Lando to hear.
The sinking feeling was back again but it didn't really matter because he finally had a friend. He couldn't wait to tell his mum, she would be so super proud of him! Having a friend meant being normal just like Ollie and the other boys. Even if his new friend called him a posh boy.
He hoped they were friends anyway. Lando wasn't really used to speaking with anyone except his family so he wasn't sure.
"Are we friends now?" He asked quietly, shyly looking at his freckles again as the boy clicked away some more.
"Friends?" He repeated without looking up from the screen. He was playing the game Lando had just downloaded and hadn't even started himself yet. But that was ok, friends were supposed to share. "I guess… if I can keep this then yeah."
What a deal! Of course he could keep the phone if he wanted to be friends. Ollie let his friends borrow some things sometimes so that was normal.
"Ok. Great! Yes."
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"Why don't you go and talk with them?"
Lando looked over to where Jon had pointed and frowned.
Why didn't he go over there? Well he didn't want to be laughed at for one and secondly Lando was perfectly fine next to Jon under the canopy sheltered from the rain. He didn't like getting his race suit wet and he was pretty sure the boys in that group were speaking Italian not English anyway.
"C'mon." Jon nudged him lightly. "Don't want you getting lonely."
His trainer was nicer than a lot of others but he could still be annoying. Why couldn't he understand that Lando couldn't just go talk to the others? He was weirder and smaller than them and he was still a little embarrassed about the phone incident which he was pretty sure his dad was still annoyed about.
It had been crazy embarrassing when Lando had gone back to tell his dad about his new friend just for him to get marched back over to get his phone back. He had been overwhelmed and confused, and a little sad about losing his first friend, so had silently cried on the journey home.
His dad told Ollie off when he laughed at him though which made him feel a bit better. And he'd come fourth in his heat so he had a little rosette to hold as he cried.
When they'd arrived back his mum had tried to explain to him that some people might just want his things and not to be his friend. She said it slowly and calmly but Lando felt sick by the end. They only wanted to talk with him because he had stuff they didn't have, not because they liked him.
"Oi, Land!" Ollie shouted from under his umbrella, startling Lando out of his thoughts. The two other boys, George and Cameron he recognised, sniggered at his surprise which made Lando's face feel flushed.
He stood up and fist bumped Jon as a goodbye, the trainer nodding at his brother in greeting. Ollie probably wanted him to go get their ball again, Lando was the only one small enough to fit through the fencing on the edge of the course.
"Hurry up!" Ollie moaned as Lando zipped his coat up over his suit. The three older boys were sharing one huge umbrella but there wasn't enough space for Lando. "Quick, before Dad gets back."
They all rushed towards the back of the sheds, sneaking under canopies and trying not to get spotted by the adults. Lando didn't really know what was happening, he was just pleased to waste a bit more time before his race later on.
"Finally, mate," a boy even older than Ollie, and with even worse hair, whined as they arrived. There were a lot more people back there than Lando imagined, it made his chest hurt a little already. "Thought you'd bailed."
Ollie just rolled his eyes and joined the group on the ground. He fist-bumped them all and said something that made them laugh.
Lando side-eyed the spider webs as he carefully sat down a little behind the others. He could recognise Callum, Giovanni, and he was pretty sure Dan was in there somewhere.
"Right, lads," A boy with a dark green race suit hidden behind a puffer jacket announced with a clap of his hands. He had really long legs and splotches of paint on his hands. He didn't look that friendly because he was chewing gum like a horse and had too much confidence for Lando to understand. "Remember the rules. No telling the adults, no telling those French snitches, blah, blah."
Lando didn't know the rules but he had a feeling he wouldn't be telling anyone about this. And he couldn't even speak French, they hadn't got to that class in school yet.
He was vaguely scared, not that he would admit that in front of these people, and he really just wanted to go back and sit quietly with Jon.
"Holy shit, Kyle!" Someone shouted in the group. A chorus of 'shhh's followed and Lando knelt up a little higher to look over their shoulders.
In the middle of the circle was some strange magazine with a lady in her underwear on it. It was black and red and the cover was really poorly designed, Lando could have definitely done a better job. Not that he wanted to design anything like that though, his drawings never had half naked ladies on and his bubble writing was a lot neater.
"Jesus, where'd you even get it this time?" A voice that sounded like Dan asked. "Please don't tell me you stole it again."
The main boy laughed and Lando saw him shrug cockily as he leant forward to open the first page.
The boys all quietly reacted with 'woah's as Lando squeezed his eyes shut. Whatever that was on the page it made him feel sick. That lady definitely had no underwear on. He wished he hadn't looked.
He sat back down so the other boys shielded his view from whatever the hell was in that magazine. Lando could hear their shocked reactions, even his brother was commenting on something, but no one seemed to be freaking out like him.
"This is crazy, man." He heard someone say. That was a comment Lando wholeheartedly agreed with. This was too crazy.
He didn't really know what was going on but he knew it would get them in trouble and that they probably shouldn't be looking at that magazine, especially if it was stolen. Stealing things was bad and they could all go to jail or something. And Lando couldn't go to jail, he'd only just started competitive karting and his granny's birthday was next week.
Lando started weighing up his options. He either had to sit there for god-knows how long and listen as the boys looked at grownup ladies (and maybe go to prison) or he was going to get laughed at if he asked Ollie to leave.
He sighed quietly and scratched nervously at his arms. At least there was some shelter behind the sheds so he wasn't getting completely soaked. He could probably distract himself by counting the blades of grass or something until they were done.
The other boys were leaning closer together now and crowding around the pictures. As the huddle moved slightly Lando noticed another boy he'd never seen before.
He looked about his age and had lovely, soft-looking hair. His race suit and boots matched pleasingly and he looked about as frightened and confused as Lando did.
Feeling someone's eyes on him the boy turned to look over at Lando.
Lando instantly blushed and buried his face into his knees as he hugged them to his chest. God, he wasn't allowed to just stare at people, the other boys were right about him being a little freak.
Behind the background noise of weird comments and strange words, Lando heard the rustling of grass. He peaked out through his knees and watched as the boy shuffled himself closer to Lando.
Lando held his breath as he sat down next to him. He prayed the boy was nice and didn't laugh at him or call him a posh boy or try and steal his phone.
"Hi," the boy whispered.
"Hello." Lando responded quietly as he looked up at the new person.
"Um…" The boy started and stuttered, almost as if he was nervous. No one had ever been nervous talking to Lando before. "I don't really know what's happening here to be honest. Dan dragged me along 'cos he was too scared to come alone."
"I know Dan too!" Lando responded excitedly. He was trying to stay cool. Maybe if he was good at chatting this boy wouldn't want to take his things to be friends. "Him and Sophie sometimes talk with my brother."
"Dan's an idiot." The boy said through a quiet laugh. Even though the words seemed harsh Lando could hear the jokiness in his voice. Well, he hoped he was just kidding, Dan was alright really. "He's a right numpty sometimes."
"I once saw him try and juggle some wheels and one landed on his foot." Lando whispered and nervously giggled. Hoping the story wouldn't make the boy mad.
The boy's sudden laugh was amazing but a bit too loud. Some of the others turned to look at them confused but quickly went back to the magazine.
The smile on Lando's face made his cheeks ache. He'd made someone laugh.
"And another time Dan was trying to show off to Sophie," Lando continued on a high from making this boy laugh. "He, like, tried to do this handstand thing and fell on his face and his nose started bleeding and Sophie thought it was gross."
He laughed his wonderful laugh again and no one turned to see them this time. Lando's tummy felt fluttery and light for once, it was unusual to not feel that sinking feeling when talking with strangers.
This boy must be pretty special.
"I'm Max by the way," the boy, Max, said quietly once he'd calmed down from his giggles. "Max Fewtrell."
Lando smiled. He felt a bit like he was on fire, but in, like, a good way?
"Hi, Max." He responded with a matching smile. The other boys didn't matter when he had Max looking at him with his amazing hair and lovely smile. "I'm Lando."
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"What's that?"
Lando quickly slammed the book shut and pushed it under his legs. He had only just made a friend he wasn't going to make the mistake of showing off his stupid drawings to him.
"Nothing," Lando replied. He smiled as convincingly as he could and shifted his body as Max looked at him.
"C'mon," Max whined and reached out for Lando's legs. He wiggled his fingers under Lando's thighs and pushed at the sketchbook urgently. Lando tried to move his hands away but it was useless, he knew Max was stronger than him. "Show me."
Max dislodged the book and grabbed it quickly, too fast for Lando to snatch it back.
Even before Max opened it, Lando felt like crying. His second ever friend, or maybe first (he wasn't sure if the first one counted), didn't need to see his stupid designs. Even though his mum always said they were good, he knew it wasn't cool to make silly stickers for his helmet when he was in the cadets. He was basically a grownup.
"Wow!" Max gasped as he opened the book.
Lando moved forward and saw Max flicking through some of his early designs. They weren't even that good, he thought, as Max traced his fingers against the lines.
He felt a bit like Max was looking at him naked. Not that Lando was thinking about him and Max being naked! Just that he felt sort of stripped? Sort of showing too much of himself?
"It's nothing." Lando said dismissively as Max turned another page.
"No, these are so cool, mate. What the hell? You're like an artist!"
Lando breathed in deeply and shook his head.
"What?" He asked quietly as Max moved onto yet another page. This one had some designs he'd done late a few weeks ago in his bed before school. His mum was pretty annoyed when she found him drawing and not sleeping but she said she liked the neon colours.
"Yeah, like, these helmets look sick!"
Max didn't look like he was joking. Lando had gotten better at knowing his friend's facial expressions over the last few weeks and he hoped he wasn't wrong now.
"These aren't that good," Lando replied with a little frown. Max saying nice things about him made his chest ache in a weird way but he didn't know if he really liked the feeling yet. "I still need to practice getting the visor bit right…"
"I wish my helmets looked like this."
Suddenly Lando felt nervous. Normally with Max he felt pretty comfortable and not too sick but now he was scared again.
It was like his last wet race when turn four was still slippery but Lando didn't know so went flat out and had a huge moment. He'd managed to save it after the spin but he'd finished midpack.
Maybe Max had heard about Lando making his silly helmet stickers and was going to laugh at him or was just pretending to like the designs or something.
But with the blind faith he'd had on full throttle in turn four in the wet, Lando plucked up the courage.
"Well maybe…" Lando offered anxiously. He scratched at his arm and chewed on his bottom lip. "Maybe I could make you some stickers?"
The heartbeats that followed echoed behind Lando's eyes. Just like during that spin.
He was shaking almost as much as after he'd stepped out of the kart so he sat on his hands to hide them from Max.
But also like that incident, the result wasn't terrible.
"Really? Oh my god, yes please!" Max almost shouted. He looked genuinely excited by the idea which made Lando let out a sigh of disbelief. "These are epic, mate."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Only if you want though. How do you make these into stickers?"
Lando spent three days designing and redesigning three stickers, two for the sides and one for the back, and tried really really hard to make them as neat as possible.
The next race weekend in Italy was Lando's favourite so far. He got to cheer from the sidelines as his best friend got the victory with a helmet covered in the stickers Lando made for him.
He would ask his dad to take a picture of them on his Blackberry with their helmets held high and two trophies in their hands. He'd transfer it to the PC and print it off on the expensive paper only his mum usually got to use.
Lando's sticker maker would get used to exhaustion for the rest of the championship and that picture would take pride of place on the wall above his bed so he could see it every night.
Who cares if stickers are for babies? Lando got a real friend and real friends wear the stickers with pride.
Max was Lando bestest friend ever.
Maybe his stickers weren't so silly afterall.