14. Camden
Camden
“Jesus Christ, this is happening! This is happening!” Ezra screamed, grabbing onto Miles to hold himself up. “Should I go live? I should go live, right? I’m going live, boys!”
Ezra was having the time of his life. It was as if he had an intravenous caffeine drip and was in one of those inflatable bounce houses people get for their kid’s birthday.
“Say hi to the world, Cam.” Ezra smooshed next to me in the crowd.
“Hi to the world, Cam.”
“Ugh, that joke is so old - he is so old, everybody”—Ezra performed for the camera—“but we love him! Of course everyone knows Orion Ellis. Where’s your boyfriend?”
“With his team. Thanks for bringing it up. Where’s yours?”
Ezra pouted for only a second before harassing Miles for his followers. We were jammed together in a series of tents outside of the Olympic Stadium, waiting for the Parade of Nations to end with us, the host nation.
I didn’t think Ezra was supposed to be filming anything backstage, but I didn’t care enough to stop him and his good time.
I texted Luke.
Cam: Wish we were together.
Luke: At least it’s still one of us.
Luke: You’re going to crush it tomorrow.
Cam: *blush*
Luke: They’re on Uruguay. Almost time!
Cam: Thank God. Ezra’s about to pop.
Luke: We can see that!
I glanced over and he and Miles were jumping up and down to the music pumping in from the loudspeakers above.
Cam: Kids these days. ;-)
Projection screens and loudspeakers gave us the opportunity to follow along with the ceremony, including the national anthem earlier - Beyoncé did an amazing job.
There were several speeches, of course, including the Vice President.
I had heard the President was supposed to be here, but it was rumored she had to respond to a last-minute crisis either in the Caribbean or Africa, depending on who you asked.
The Olympics hadn’t been in the United States in decades, so this was a big deal.
I’m sure there’d be a formal announcement at some point, but I hoped she’d show up later for something.
She was a huge advocate for gay rights, and not just because her son was gay - he had only recently come out publicly.
It was because of her entire career that Luke and I had volunteered after London to help her get elected.
Florida finally turned blue - for her. She was up for re-election this fall and we were already planning on helping again.
“Hey, guys!”
“Austin!” Ezra practically screamed. “Austin’s here!”
I turned to see Austin approach, a sheepish look on his face.
“You came,” Orion said.
“Yeah, I thought the team would want me with them, but Keion and some of the others told me I was a fool for not being with the man I love.”
Orion leapt into his arms and I decided to let them have their moment.
“Damn, that’s hot.”
“Ezra, you’re still live,” Miles reminded him.
“Oh shit.” Ezra fumbled with his phone, presumably ending the feed.
“Did someone give Ezra extra sugar today?” Austin asked, after breaking off his kiss with Orion.
“ZIMBABWE.”
“Almost our turn,” Orion said.
Between the athletes talking to each other and the din of the stadium, I could barely hear the guys standing next to me.
Finally, it was our turn and we were on our way through a dimly-lit tunnel.
It looked like a maintenance corridor honestly, though it was tall enough for large equipment to move through.
I imagined it was how they brought trucks or cranes in for large projects…
like, perhaps setting up an opening ceremony.
It sucked that Luke couldn’t be with me, but we were never going to be together for this anyway. I had offered to watch with him from the stands, but he had insisted I stay with the team. I hadn’t seen Preston, so it was just me, Ezra, Miles, Orion, and now Austin.
I wouldn’t have thought the crowd could get any louder, but when the announcer said, ‘UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,’ it was truly deafening.
I glanced over at Ezra and Miles. Ezra had calmed down, but his eyes were wide open, giving him an almost terrified look.
Miles was less emotive, but still looked eager.
I flinched as the tell-tale sound of fireworks exploding in the distance became a regular cadence, getting louder as we approached the end of the tunnel.
When we finally emerged, it was sensory overload.
Not only was a remix of America the Beautiful with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way blaring, but we were surrounded by swirls of red, white, and blue lights that created intricate patterns at each level of the stadium in a coordinated visual symphony.
The producers of the ceremony had somehow found a way to give a tiny lightbulb to every spectator.
Miles was staring at all of it, like I was.
Orion and Austin had entered holding hands and were still shoulder to shoulder right behind me, but that was it.
“Where’s Ezra?”
We stopped, letting the other athletes find their way past us. I looked back, because I hadn’t noticed him randomly sprinting ahead of us. It took me a minute, but I found him.
“I’ll be right back. Wait here,” I told the other three, then shouldered my way against the flow of American athletes pouring into the stadium.
“Hey!” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. His eyes immediately found mine. “You okay?”
“Oh. Cam. Hi.”
It looked like he was just figuring out where we were.
“You need to take a few breaths? Or do you want to join the team and keep walking?”
“Uhhh…both?”
“Hey, everything okay?” Miles asked. The other three had come back for us.
I shrugged. “I think he’s overwhelmed.”
I watched as Miles grabbed Ezra’s hand, linking their finger’s together.
The contact seemed to work, so I grabbed Ezra’s other hand and held my right hand out to Orion, which he grabbed without hesitation.
Since he was already glued to Austin, it meant that the five of us were linked. One chain. One team.
Well, Austin wasn’t a gymnast, but that didn’t matter. With what he and Orion had been through, he needed all the strength we could spare.
It didn’t surprise me that the cameras ate us up.
One followed us almost the entire length of the field.
The story of Luke’s withdrawl and my selection as the alternate was certainly a headline.
It had cast doubt on whether or not the men could win gold, as had been predicted before Luke’s untimely injury.
I didn’t take offense to it. I was the alternate. I was always one for a challenge. But mostly, I was just happy that the focus was back on the sport and not our sexuality. We’d come a long way in four years, and I was hopeful.
At this point, a gay athlete wasn’t a big deal anymore. Numerous athletes were out, including trans and non-binary Olympians. I had heard the old record of out LGBT athletes competing at the games was blown out of the water by this year’s number. That was the way it should be.
Although, a marriage proposal might get some attention.
I was still trying to figure that out. I now had the added bonus of competing before doing so.
The American athletes filled in the last empty section. It was right in front of the main stage, where the dignitaries were seated, including the Vice President.
We were the final piece in the enormous puzzle of the opening ceremony. I still wasn’t a fan of the speeches, which I knew were coming. This year would’ve been the one I paid attention to, but the President wasn’t here. I’d have to bide my time until the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
“I’m so thankful we drew the last group,” Miles said, interrupting my daydream of doing something inappropriate to Luke’s asshole. “More time to sleep in. I’m already exhausted.”
“Totally,” Ezra agreed. “I wasn’t sure I should come, but Zane encouraged me too.”
Ezra glanced over at me, as if to see if I was offended, but I had quickly gotten used to the idea that this Zane was very different from the one I hated.
“There’s no way that was random,” Orion piped up. “That guarantees that we - the United States men’s gymnastic team - get the prime time slot. It was because of the TV schedule. They want the ratings.”
The boys seemed to ponder that for a second, so I took the opportunity to ask Austin, “When do your matches start?”
“I’m pretty sure wrestling starts on the last day of gymnastics.
But there are, like, six weight classes for men, which means I’m only competing for a maximum of two days.
Because I can only wrestle in one class.
The only wrestlers that can do more than one event are the ones that do both styles. Unfortunately, that’s not me.”
“Freestyle, right?” I asked.
Austin nodded.
The crowd grew quiet and the music flared. My eyes were drawn to one of the screens broadcasting the ceremony. The torch had arrived.
I stood in front of the row of lockers, wearing nothing but Luke’s lucky purple jockstrap, and grabbed my competition suit out of the locker.
Unfortunately, Preston was here with his coach, Dmitry, but on the bright side, they were keeping to themselves.
Since training was over and this was it - we had to enter the arena as a team or the divide would be obvious.
Woodward wasn’t about to go public with the drama just as competition was about to start.
I wasn’t sure Preston was as anti-gay as advertised though, because I caught him looking my way a few times, and he wasn’t looking at my face. I glanced around at the others, but they were each in their own world. It seemed no one else was concerned with my bare ass.
I’ll admit, having Preston here probably put a damper on things, but the quiet made it obvious the guys were nervous. Only Orion and I had any Olympic experience. I was surprised Ezra hadn’t already run out the door in a panic, and Miles was so pale, he looked like he was about to vomit.
For a moment, I missed flirting with Luke in the locker room and joking with Ty about dicks, until I thought about that morning.