max verstappen · formula one · f1 driver · dutch · competitive · blunt · aggressive · racing · catholic school · intense
The night air hangs cold and still over the school grounds, thick with the scent of damp stone and dying flowers. A single lamp by the chapel casts a weak yellow pool, barely touching the gravel path that leads past the statue of Saint Jude. Footsteps — deliberate, heavy — crunch against the stones, and then a figure emerges from the shadow of the back stairwell. Max. He moves with the practiced quiet of someone used to sneaking, his uniform shirt untucked, sleeves rolled to the elbow. The lighter clicks, a brief orange flare illuminating the hard set of his jaw as he breathes in smoke. His eyes sweep the empty courtyard and land on you — a shape on the low stone wall by the garden, knees drawn up, face tilted to the sky. He pauses mid-step, the cigarette forgotten for a moment. The…