10. Lucas
Lucas
“You almost ready? We’re gonna be late!” I called out to Ty. “What are you doing in there? Braiding your hair?”
“Cool your jets, bro. You don’t understand. There are so many cameras there. Gotta look my best.”
“You look fine.”
“Ouch. If I look ‘just fine’ to a gay dude, I need some more work.” He went to head back into the bathroom.
“No, no, no. What I meant to say was ‘You look babelicious. I can’t help myself. I’m about to jump your bones’.”
“Fine, we can go. You’re right. I don’t want to make you late to your first OC.”
“Yeah, you’re such a veteran with the whole one you’ve been to.”
“Still more than you, rookie. We picking up Cam?”
“Nah, he’s meeting us with the team, and we’ll all head over together.”
The elevator was taking forever, so we ended up taking the stairs down.
As we exited the building, it was going to be harder to find them than I thought.
It was chaos. I had never seen the village busier, but I guess, thinking about it now, it made sense.
Almost every athlete at the games would go tonight.
And we were all heading in the same direction.
“Uh, maybe we should text the team,” Tyler suggested.
“Already on it.”
Luke: Hey, where we meetin? This is insane.
Cam: I found Erika. She’s texting her team now.
Graham: Where are you guys?
Grant: Why didn’t they allow coaches to march in this again? We need a leader!
Tyler: I was summoned?
Grant: Not you!
Luke: How about by the cute tennis player?
Graham: I prefer the sexy almost naked diver.
Tyler: We’re close to the diver, that’ll work.
Cam: See you there.
There were a few small lakes in the village with sculptures of athletes around them. We headed to the diver. Cam smiled at me when we walked up.
“Hey, it’s the fourth wheel!” Erika said to Tyler.
“That makes you the third?” Tyler asked.
“Unless you can come up with a better name for us.”
“How about you don’t need a name and you’re just our best friends?” Cam suggested.
“Nah, that’s boring. I’ll think of something better.”
“Don’t hurt yourself,” I said, and turned to Erika. “Your team on the way?”
“Yeah, they should be here soon,” she said.
“Cool, I think I see Graham and Grant.”
Sure enough, they walked up, and we waited a few more minutes and the rest of the women’s team arrived as well.
“So, does anyone actually know what we’re supposed to do?” Hannah, one of Erika’s teammates, asked.
“Did none of you read the booklet they gave us?”
Of course Cam would’ve read it.
“Oh, our resident intellectual Camden Kane will now escort us to our destination,” Ty quipped.
“Well, you may have done this before, but not here,” Cam replied. “We have to go over there to the warm-up arena.”
Everyone looked where he was pointing
Ashley, the oldest on the team, and the only girl from the previous Olympics, chimed in, “That’s where all the countries line up before we enter the Olympic Stadium. I also may have read the booklet,” she said, sheepishly.
"We could also just follow literally everyone else,” Graham said.
“God, you guys are so dumb!” Ty joked. “Vamanos!”
“Uh, you didn’t know where to go either, Tyler,” said Hannah.
Ty shrugged, and we all headed towards the arena.
“Once we’re inside, we have to find the ‘U’ section,” Erika said.
“‘U’ for unbeatable!” said Ty.
“In our case. For you, it’s ‘U’ for ugly.”
“Whoa, Hannah with the burn!” said Graham, shoving Ty. After that, Ty calmed down, and the group settled, taking in our surroundings as we neared the arena.
“We can also follow that large group of athletes wearing the same Ralph Lauren outfits as us,” suggested Grant.
“Makes sense,” I said. “Let’s go.”
We jogged a little to catch up to the bigger group and followed them inside. It was loud and even more chaotic than the village, but we kept up with the other American athletes, and soon found our place between the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
“You guys sure this is smart? Standing here for hours before tomorrow?” Cam asked.
“Bro, if your back gets sore, you can ask Luke for a massage,” said Ty.
I shot him a look and noticed Erika did, too.
He looked at me, shrugged, and mouthed ‘What?’
“Dude, if you’re handing them out like candy, I’ll take one later,” Grant said.
“Me too,” Graham responded.
“Fine, I’ll just do the entire team,” I said.
“There’s no way I can have that much alcohol tonight and still perform tomorrow, so doing me will have to wait, hot stuff,” Ty said.
“Are you guys always this...carefree?” Hannah asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. We are not very mature,” Cam replied.
“It’s kind of nice to relax. To get away from our parents and the coaches for a bit,” Emily, another of the girls, said.
The other sixteen-year-old, Alexis, chimed in, “So, 'hot stuff,' I gotta ask, are you really dating Jake Anderson?”
I had been looking around at the other US athletes, seeing if I recognized anyone, but that brought me back to my present situation. All the girls and Cam were looking at me.
“No, I am not dating Jake.”
“Aw,” Alexis sighed, “you guys made a cute couple.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint. He’s a nice guy, but we’re not together.”
“Are you dating anybody?” Ashley asked.
It took every fiber in my being to not look at Cam. I knew he was looking at me, but I knew if I looked at him, everyone would know.
Ty saved me. “Hey, how come no one cares about my relationship status?”
“Well, Ty, it’s because you’re not America’s Hot It Gay Gymnast.”
“Maybe I am?”
“Maybe you’re a gymnast?” Cam asked.
“Maybe you’re hot?” I asked.
“Maybe you’re American?” Hannah teased.
“Okay, okay. I give up. I surrender,” Ty said. Then added, under his breath, “All ganging up on me. Just like my brothers.”
Feeling sorry for him, I walked over, grabbed his face and said, “You’re hot, it’s just so easy to give you shit. Calm down. Do you need a kiss to feel better?”
“Hmmm,” he replied, thinking about it. “Ow,” he yelled.
We both turned. Cam had punched him in the shoulder.
“What was that for?”
“Bug.” He smiled. “Don’t worry, I got it.”.
I couldn’t help but laugh as Ty rubbed his shoulder. My pocket vibrated.
Cam: Your kisses are reserved.
Cam: Tyler doesn’t need them. I do.
Luke: Very sorry. I will make it up to you later.
Cam: <3
“It’s like they knew,” Emily said, holding her phone up. “My parents are asking if I’m okay.”
“I had to mute my phone,” Alexis said. “They wouldn’t stop texting. I told them I was with the entire men’s team, and that shut them up for a few minutes.”
“I mean, it is our first Olympics, but we’ve been to other countries. The village is like a fortress. I keep trying to tell them it’s fine,” Emily said.
My parents hadn’t called or texted with an update about their arrival. I almost wanted to say something to the girls, but I kept my mouth shut.
“My mom flew in today, and she was excited about our teams, too. I think there’s always been a lot of pressure on all of us because of past Olympics,” Cam said, speaking to the girls.
“But to be fair, the rest of the world has caught up to the men in gymnastics a lot faster than other sports, making it a lot more competitive.”
“We think that’s why Coach has relaxed a little this year,” Graham said.
Grant added, “We kind of caved under the pressure last time, so he’s eased up on us these past few weeks, and it seems to be working so far. I feel great about our chances.”
“Especially with the Prince of the Vault here,” Ty said, grabbing Cam. “If that doesn’t work, he should try boxing,” he suggested, rubbing his shoulder. The girls laughed.
“Just a Prince?” Cam asked.
“Win a medal and then you can be the King,” Ty joked.
“Shhh...it’s starting,” Erika said as the lights dimmed. The large screens on each side of the arena projected the ceremony from the next door stadium, so we could watch the theatrics before we all filed out for the Parade of Nations.
The ceremony was amazing. It was like a Broadway production merged with the Super Bowl halftime show, but lasted for an hour.
I liked that they highlighted the animals of Australia in one segment.
I had been leaning more towards that sphere of biology lately.
Even though the rainforest vegetation had been beautiful at the retreat, I really enjoyed trying to spot the hidden wildlife, and I was hoping to see a platypus while I was here.
From what Adam and Peter said, they were very rare.
It wasn’t long before I could feel the energy in the arena change.
Greece had left the building. We would have to wait awhile, but we could still watch the other countries march before our turn.
Being a U country, we were close to the end.
But since the host nation was always the last to go, Australia was waiting behind us.
I glimpsed Jake Anderson across the arena.
He was hard to miss with the enormous flag he was carrying.
They had chosen him to carry the flag for Australia.
It was a tremendous honor, and I was insanely jealous.
Nicolas Holden, the swimmer, was our flag-bearer at this Olympics.
He deserved to be, considering he’d be dragged to the ground by the weight of all his medals if he had worn them around his neck.
Eventually, it was time for the US to move, and we all started jostling forward in the dark, shoulder to shoulder. I felt a bump to my right, and then someone grabbed my hand. I turned in surprise and found Cam smiling at me.
“This okay?” he asked.
Ay dios mio, yes. “Works for me,” I smiled back. Is he really going to out himself like this?
“UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.”
“Here we go! We’re next!” Ty cheered.
As we got closer to the end of the tunnel, it started getting lighter, and then Cam’s hand was gone. I looked over, and he was looking at me.
“Sorry,” he said. “Not quite ready for that. I hope you’re not mad.”
My heart melted.
“Of course, I’m not mad. I totally understand,” I said. Then I leaned in and whispered, “But I’m not gonna lie, I liked it, and I’m glad this sportcoat covers my crotch.”