Formula 1: The GOAT

Tuesday.

“Fatih, Fatih, Fatih.”

“Five more minutes,” Fatih groaned as he turned to the other side and covered himself with a blanket.

“If you wake up now, we have enough time for breakfast. If you want to sleep more, you will have to miss it…”

Before she could even finish articulating her threat, Fatih complained, “Fine, I’m up. But do you think threatening your grandson is good?” He got up, sitting with his eyes only partially open in the hope that he would be allowed to sleep more. But he knew the moment his grandmother threatened him with food that the chance of that was nearly nil.

After all, she knew very well that he enjoyed eating and trying different foods, things he had little of in his previous life due to needing to keep his weight in check to avoid complications. So to him, that threat carried more weight than usual.

“It is your first day of school, and you seem intent on arriving late. What image are you going to create for yourself, having already missed the first day of school yesterday?”

“I’m up,” Fatih said, his eyes fully opening as any remaining drowsiness disappeared.

They had arrived very late yesterday after their plane was delayed for a few hours at the Milan airport. Thanks to his sponge body, he was very well rested, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to sleep more. After all, people usually eat more than what is needed just to fill themselves.

He stayed like that for a few seconds before getting off his bed and heading to the bathroom to start his preparations, while his grandmother went to continue preparing breakfast, confident that Fatih knew how to get himself ready.

After completing his preparations, he had breakfast before they left, heading to school for his first day of Year 6.

……

Donning his neatly tailored white shirt, a red blazer with a large school crest on the pocket, a school tie, and dark trousers, he looked out the window as the scenery passed, waiting to arrive at school.

It was not his first time visiting the school, as he had already been there twice: once for the application process and a second time to tour the school with his mother.

His school was Royal Alexandra and Albert School (RAAS), a state boarding and day school that guaranteed he could remain studying there until he left for university, as it was a large school both in size and prestige.

Founded in 1758, it was situated on a 260-acre parkland in Surrey that had everything anyone would dream of in a school, from a fully equipped gym and a climate-controlled swimming pool to all-weather pitches.

Although its size and quality were among the reasons they chose the school, the main one was its sports program. It allowed flexibility for students who participate in sports, such as tailoring their studies around their events and giving permission to attend competitions without it negatively affecting their academic progress.

After a fifteen-minute drive, they finally arrived at the school. His grandmother took him to the teachers’ office, something she was required to do on a student’s first day, so that a teacher could be responsible for escorting him where he needed to go.

“See you at the end of the school day, and don’t cause trouble for your teacher,” Güldane said, bidding Fatih farewell after the handover before leaving to return home.

“Okay, let’s go and get you acquainted with your fellow students,” Rose said, holding Fatih’s hand as she walked with him to his building.

As they walked, she asked, “How did your race go?”

“It went well. I won,” Fatih said, answering respectfully, as she was his homeroom teacher and he wanted to make as positive an impression as possible.

“Oooh, congratulations! But why don’t you look like someone who won a race? Did something happen?” Rose asked, stopping for a moment.

“No, I just didn’t get enough sleep,” Fatih answered, unknowingly opening a dam of questions, as his answer was interpreted by the teacher as him not being allowed to get enough sleep.

He had to spend the rest of the walk explaining that it was the opposite and that he hadn’t slept enough because of traveling from Italy back to England and arriving home late before they finally arrived at the front of the Year 6 classroom, which sounded exactly how a classroom full of ten-year-olds without a teacher should: chaotic.

When Rose opened the door, the room instantly returned to silence as kids started walking back to their desks.

“Looks like I don’t have to say anything. Evan, that is not your assigned table. Go back before I make you stand for the rest of the class,” she said as she tapped the teacher’s desk, directing all attention to her.

“Today, we have a new student. Can you introduce yourself to your new friends?” she said, turning to Fatih as she walked him to the center of the room.

“Yes, I can,” Fatih said as he turned to finally look at the students in the class, who were all looking at him.

“My name is…” Fatih said, taking a marker from the board as he wrote his name, “…Fatih, spelled F-A-T-I-H, and not FAITH. For easier pronunciation, you can say ’FAT’ and ’IH.’ If you say it fast enough, then you’ve pronounced it correctly.” He wanted to make sure he didn’t face the same problem he had faced before of being called Faith instead of Fatih. But, having said it in a class full of kids, the moment the word “FAT” was heard, they started laughing.

“I just gave myself a nickname, didn’t I?” Fatih asked Apollo, who was also laughing.

Not wanting to remain in front of the class for longer than needed, he moved on with his introduction. “I am ten years old. I come from Turkey, and my dream is to become a Formula 1 driver. Thank you.”

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

They clapped for him before Rose said, “Okay, good introduction. You can go and sit with Seraphina,” pointing him to the only empty table in the room, all the way at the rear of the class.

……..

“Hi,” Fatih waved to Seraphina before taking his seat, but was met with silence in response.

“Okay, that’s new,” Fatih said when he realized she was too shy to answer him. It made him instantly connect the dots as to why no one else sat beside her, despite the position being one of the most sought-after ones, as it placed anyone sitting there the farthest from the teacher.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, not showing any negative reaction to the silence. After all, he was going to be her deskmate for the rest of the academic year, if not until he graduated secondary school.

This school had all of those levels, removing the need to switch schools after primary school, which was one of the reasons his mother chose it. It provided the long-needed stability for someone who would be traveling to different places constantly, allowing him to form and maintain friendships with people his age and not have to repeat the situation of leaving friends behind as he did in Turkey.

“Okay, we are starting the class, so I don’t want to hear anyone talking to another, understood?”

“YEEEEEEES!” the students answered in unison as Fatih finally moved his attention from Seraphina back to the board, planning to solve the problem with her later.