Page 36 of Let the Games Begin
As he entered the stadium, the energy of the crowd was on a whole other level. Because while the athletes channeled the intensity of the occasion into their performance, the audience did it by filling the stadium with the excitement and energy of a festival. There were adults with flags painted on their cheeks and kids sporting brightly colored wigs. Families who’d traveled across the world in matching DIY shirts and groups of friends singing and chanting the words to unofficial national anthems. There was music pouring out of the speakers and a wave rippling across the stadium. But when the 100m sprint was announced, a hush descended on the spectators.
Zeke shook hands with each of his competitors, reminded himself that the most important sprinter was the one in his lane, and got ready to run.
When the starting gun blew, Zeke got off to a clean, confident start. As he felt the wind in his face, distractions melted away and all he could think about was the sound of his shoes as they hit the track. He was doing what he’d been put on this earth to do, and he was doing an excellent job of it. But then, as he approached the end, his foot slid. It was only for a fraction of a second but enough to skew his balance. Before he knew it, he was falling. Everything after that happened in slow motion. He threw his hands out to brace for impact. The colors and lights in the stadium began to blur and the world turned sideways as he fell. When his hands landed on the hard red ground of the running track, everything went silent for a second.
Zeke felt an overwhelming sense of terror at the realization that he’d fallen in the middle of his race. His immediate worry should have been about whether he was injured, the possibility of not qualifying for the semifinals, or the real threat of missing out on his chance to win gold. But, instead, he thought about his father. What if this summer was his last chance to become the great athlete they’d dreamed he could become? What if this was actually a career-ending moment?
Zeke opened his eyes and pushed himself up from the ground as the other runners thundered past and reunited with their coaches. The race was over. He could feel himself beginning to panic.
But then the whole stadium began cheering for him. His heart sank; he’d heard cheers like this before:It’s okay, you tried your bestcheers. His face fell. Then he was surrounded by his Team GB teammates. Anwar and Frankie jumped on him, and the rest of the team ran to hug him, pounding his back and yelling until their voices were hoarse.
“You did it!” shouted Anwar, who’d decided to stay in Athens until the Games ended.
“What?” said Zeke, still confused.
“Got into the semifinals!” said Frankie. Zeke looked around in disbelief. His teammates and the crowd were still going wild. He looked up at the big screen to watch the replay and finally connected the dots. Yes, he’d lost his balance while he was still on the track, but he’d been in the lead for the whole race. He’d fallen just a fraction of a second after both of his feet had passed the finish line. If he’d fallen just half a second earlier, he would have gone home empty-handed. But now he was through to thesemifinals. It was such a breathtaking near loss that it felt even more spectacular.
Zeke gaped in astonishment. Coach Adam hugged him and shook his head in shock.
“You werethis close,” said Coach Adam.
“This close,” said Zeke, his eyes widening with an equal amount of terror and relief as the gravity of it all began to settle in. He could feel his knees stinging and, when he looked down, he could see blood in the places he’d scraped them on the ground. But besides a few cuts and bruises that would heal in a matter of days, he had escaped the fall without an injury or any serious pain.
“There’s got to be someone up there looking out for you,” said Coach Adam. Zeke believed there was.
The older he got, the more he tried to treat each win as cause for celebration. And he immediately knew how he was going to celebrate his skin-of-the-teeth victory.
But first, he had to find Olivia.
31Zeke
DAY FIVE OF THE 2024 OLYMPICS
Zeke’s phone had been burning a hole in his pocket ever since he’d given Olivia his number. He’d been agonizing over what to text her and trying to come up with something cool and witty to make her laugh. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn’t want to text Olivia, he wanted to see her. Face-to-face. So, he found an excuse to go to the Hub.
“I already know what you’re going to say,” Zeke said, throwing his hands up in defense.
“It’s giving stalker,” Olivia said as she tilted her head. Zeke tried to ignore the effect that her head-tilt had on him. It was the same way she’d tilted her head right before she’d kissed him. All he wanted to do was walk over to the other side of the desk, lift her up onto the counter, and kiss her again. Feel her soft, perfect lips against his and wrap his arms around her. But despite everything last night, and the fact that he knew without a doubt that he liked her, he didn’t want to scare her off by coming on too strong.
“You work at the Athletes’ Hub, and I am an athlete, it’s inevitable that we’re going to keep crossing paths,” he said.
“This isn’t the only Athletes’ Hub in the Village, though, is it?”
“It’s the closest one to my apartment,” he said.
“I think you were just looking for an opportunity to see me,” she said, her gaze unwavering.
“You’re right,” he said, “I wasn’t satisfied with yesterday.” Olivia’s eyes widened for a moment. He knew she thought he was talking about the kiss. And if he was honest, he kind of was. He’d spent the whole night wondering what would have happened if her phone hadn’t rung. If they’d gone straight from the lift to his apartment and let the night take the lead.
It had felt like a game of sorts, the two of them going back and forth. Taking and exchanging power. Kissing like it was both a duel and a dance. But, this time, they were on the same team.
“What… what weren’t you satisfied with?” Olivia said, looking vulnerable for the first time since Zeke had met her. She ran her fingers through her hair. Zeke looked at her in pleasant surprise; he hadn’t realized he was capable of making her nervous.
“The song game we played in the lift where we had to guess the song? I wasn’t satisfied with how it ended,” said Zeke. “It ended in a draw, and I’m an athlete. A draw is the same as losing.” He watched in amusement as relief flooded her face.
“Zeke, I’ve got to deliver five thousand biodegradable paper planes to the production team in ten minutes. So do you actually need help with something or are you just here to flirt?” Olivia asked, her head to one side. They both knew the real answer tothat question. Which madehisnext question tilt the room off- balance for a moment.
“So, one of my friends is competing in the gymnastics competition tonight.”
