“Hey, guys!” I barely get out my greeting.
“Hey, Jessica! Please let us out of our misery. What’s the verdict?” they ask immediately. Patience isn’t their strongest suit.
“Drum roll, please.” I can hear them tapping on the table at the other end of the call before I announce my news.
“I made the Formula 1 spot!” Cheerserupt on their side of the line, making me smile wider.
“Oh, that’s fantastic, honey! We knew you would make it!” my mom exclaims over the phone. Their confidence in me truly warms my heart.
“Yeah, and Sarah made the NHL, so we both got our first choices.” Growing up together, we spent so much time at each other’s houses that Sarah feels like extended family to both me and my parents. We would always be at each other’s homes, driving our parents’ crazy with our antics.
We continue talking, planning for me to move some things back home before I hit the road in about two weeks to join the Formula 1 circus.
It’s strange to think that my time at the dorm is about to come to an end, but it feels good to embrace this new adventure. The dorm has been my home away from home for the last 2.5 years in Chicago.
Some students have decided to keep their dorms, despite the internships requiring extensive travel. Those covering American sports will remain on campus, while I will travel around the world.
It was a gamble to terminate my apartment lease, but thankfully, my parents don’t live too far from the University of Chicago, where I’m studying.
Wefigured it was worth the risk, and now everything is falling into place perfectly.
Next, I call Sarah on FaceTime, and she picks up immediately.
“Hey girl! Can you believe it? Well, I can, we’re the two brightest stars in sports journalism right now. The world just needs to catch up, and this is our first step.” I can’t help but chuckle at my best friend.
She beams with her biggest, brightest smile, illuminating her entire face with warmth.
My hair, a deep, luscious dark brown, is intricately woven with glimmers of golden highlights, perfectly contrasting Sarah’s striking, sun-kissed blonde locks that cascade effortlessly around her shoulders.
From our childhood days to the present, Sarah has been my steadfast ally and a constant presence of support.
“I mean, yeah, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, but I’m also sad we’ll see less of each other,” I say. Sarah rolls her eyes.
“Come on, that’s why we have FaceTime! Plus, don’t worry; I’ll visit you somewhere tropical, like Brazil, where the toy cars drive around.” Sarah often jokes that Formula 1 carsresemble toy cars.
She isn’t completely wrong, but I think toy cars take inspiration from Formula 1, not the other way around.
“You bet! I have a meeting scheduled with Star News this Thursday to go over the finer details of my role. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to work with the team all season long, from February to December, with a break during the summer. Once we sync up our schedules, we can start planning trips to cover various games and races.” I explain with excitement.
“How are you feeling about the NHL?” I ask, watching her face light up with uncontainable enthusiasm.
“It honestly feels like a dream come true. My dad couldn’t be happier; he’s so proud of me for making it on my own, especially considering the nature of this industry.”
Her expression loses some of its gleam as I tell her about the comments from Seth.
“He made it sound like me landing the F1 spot was undeserving, before he casually threw in that he’d run into me in the paddock since his dad has all the connections to make things happen for him,” I say, and Sarah huffs on the other end.
“I can’t believe he would say that. Honestly, I hope someone more influential puts himin his place if he makes it into the paddock.” Sarah replies, rolling her eyes.
We shift to lighter topics, excited about our plans for our next coffee date, and discuss the logistics of when we’ll be heading out for our internships. Sarah will be working directly with the Chicago Coyotes, which means she’ll stay here in the city but will travel with the team for all their away games.
When we finish our call, we’re all up to date on our plans and have planned some much-needed shopping sprees before the internships start.
We plan to take over the world of sports journalism with stylish outfits and killer heels.
???
I lie back in bed and search for the latest news in F1. I’ve been following the pre-season’ silly season’, reading about all the rumoured transfers and driver line-up changes.
