Max Verstappen

The interviewer had approached you after the race because apparently your cheering had caught their attention. You had been standing near the crowd barriers, completely caught up in the excitement. Every time something happened during the race, you were yelling. Cheering. Reacting dramatically enough that eventually someone with a camera came over. “So,” the interviewer said, holding the microphone toward you, “you seem pretty excited.” You laughed. “Just a little.” “Who's your favorite driver?” You answered. The interviewer smiled. “And what would you say is your biggest flex?” You didn't even think about it. “My biggest flex?” The interviewer nodded. You shrugged casually. “I dated Max Verstappen.” Silence. The interviewer slowly turned toward you. “You dated Max Verstappen?” You immediately started laughing. “When we were younger!” The interviewer stared at you. “What do you mean when you were younger?” You shrugged. “We went to the same K–12 school.” The interviewer looked completely shocked. “You went to school with Max Verstappen?” “Yeah.” “And you dated him?” You smiled. “For a little while.” The camera operator started laughing. “You can't just casually say that!” “I mean, we were literally kids.” The interviewer stared at you for another second. “So your biggest flex is that you dated Max Verstappen?” You nodded. “Probably.” The interview ended shortly afterward. And honestly? You completely forgot about it. Later that night— Max was livestreaming. He sat comfortably at his desk while several of his friends joined him. Thousands of comments flew across the screen. They talked about racing. Gaming. Random things. Everything was normal. Until one of his friends suddenly looked down at his phone. “Oh my God.” Max barely looked up. “What?” “Did you see that interview?” Max frowned. “What interview?” “This girl at the race today.” “What girl?” His friend started laughing. “She said she dated you.” Max immediately looked up. “What?” His friend held up the phone. “She said you two went to the same K–12 school.” Max stared. “That doesn't narrow anything down.” “Watch.” His friend turned the phone toward him. The video started playing. Max leaned closer. He watched you standing there at the race, laughing as the interviewer asked about your biggest flex. Then— “My biggest flex? I dated Max Verstappen.” Max froze. Completely. His friends immediately noticed. “Wait.” Max leaned closer toward the screen. “Wait.” The video continued. “We went to the same K–12 school. We dated when we were younger.” Max's eyes widened. “Wait, wait, wait.” Everyone in the room turned toward him. His friend immediately started laughing. “What?” Max stared at the screen. Then suddenly covered his mouth. “Oh my God.” Everyone exploded. “What?!” Max pointed toward the screen. “That's actually her.” Silence. Then everyone started yelling. “NO WAY!” “MAX!” “You actually know her?!” Max leaned closer again. “Oh my God.” His friends were laughing uncontrollably now. One of them leaned toward him. “Who is she?” Max didn't answer immediately. He just stared at the screen. Then suddenly said— “She was my first kiss.” The entire livestream erupted. “WHAT?!” “No way!” “MAX HAD A GIRLFRIEND?” “Shut up!” His friends were laughing so hard they could barely breathe. Max dragged his hands down his face. “We were kids!” “Your first kiss was this random girl at the race?” “She isn't random!” The second the words came out, everyone went quiet. Max immediately realized what he'd said. His friends slowly turned toward him. “Oh?” Max sighed. “Shut up.” One of them leaned closer. “You still remember her?” “Obviously.” “What's her name?” Max paused. He frowned. “I know her first name.” “And her last name?” Silence. Max stared at his computer. “I don't remember.” Everyone started laughing again. “You've been talking about her like she's the love of your life and you don't remember her last name?” “We were young!” His friend suddenly looked toward the computer. “Do you have pictures?” Max looked offended. “No.” Then he paused. “Actually.” Everyone immediately became quiet. “Oh my God.” Max started clicking through old folders on his computer. “You have pictures.” “It's not weird.” “It is incredibly weird.” “Shut up.” Max continued scrolling. Then suddenly stopped. “There.” He turned the computer slightly. An old picture filled the screen. It was from a school dance. The two of you stood awkwardly next to each other. Young. Smiling. Clearly trying to look cool. Max had one arm around you. You were both dressed up in the way kids thought looked incredibly fancy. For one second— Everyone was silent. Then the room exploded again. “OH MY GOD.” “LOOK AT MAX.” “You two are actually adorable!” Max groaned. “We were kids!” His friend leaned closer to the screen. “You look like you were genuinely in love.” Max immediately looked away. “I was not.” “Sure.” “I wasn't.” His friend grinned. “Would you date her again?” The question was clearly supposed to be a joke. Everyone expected Max to laugh. Or roll his eyes. Instead— Max stared at the old photograph. The room slowly became quiet. Then Max said— “I've actually been trying to find her on social media forever.” Silence. Everyone turned toward him. “What?” Max continued looking at the photo. “I just couldn't remember her last name.” His friends stared. “You've been trying to find her?” Max shrugged. “Yeah.” “For how long?” Max paused. “A while.” “A WHILE?” Max sighed. “I was curious what happened to her.” One of his friends laughed. “Sure you were.” “I was!” “You have been searching for your childhood girlfriend?” “We went to school together for years!” “And?” “And I wanted to know what happened to her.” His friend pointed toward the interview still open on the computer. “Well, now you found her.” Max immediately looked back toward the video. Your interview was still paused on the screen. You were laughing. Completely unaware that thousands of miles away, Max had just realized exactly who you were. One of his friends leaned back in his chair. “So why didn't you just look her up?” Max looked annoyed. “Because I don't remember her last name.” Everyone started laughing again. “You went to the same K–12 school!” “I know!” “Ask someone!” “I did!” His friend stopped laughing. “You did?” Max looked away. “No one remembers.” “You asked people from school?” “Maybe.” Everyone immediately started yelling again. “Oh my God!” “HE'S BEEN LOOKING FOR HER!” Max covered his face. “I hate all of you.” But when he looked back at the old school dance picture— The smallest smile appeared on his face. One of his friends noticed. “Max.” “What?” “You would date her again.” Max looked at him. His friend waited. Everyone waited. Max glanced back at your interview. Then at the old photograph. And finally— He leaned back in his chair. “I don't know.” His friend smiled. “That means yes.” Max didn't answer. He just looked at the screen again. At you. The girl from his K–12 school. The girl he'd somehow lost contact with. The girl whose last name he couldn't remember. And apparently— The girl he'd been trying to find for much longer than anyone realized. The livestream continued. His friends kept talking. Kept teasing him. But Max barely listened anymore. Because for the first time in years— He finally had something to go off of. And somewhere out there— You had absolutely no idea Max Verstappen had just found out you were looking for him too. At least... Not yet.