Page 61 of Let the Games Begin
“Zeke, I kind of liked Olivia, but that’s not the real issue here.” He looked Zeke in the eye. “You’re my friend, my best friend. But you don’t tell meanything.You don’t talk to me about your anxiety even though I know you feel it all the time. You don’t talk to me about your feelings. I’m pretty sure you would have dated Olivia for six months before even dropping a hint that you were seeing someone. Bro, you’re a great friend to me, one of the best people I know, but you don’t let me be a good friend to you.”
Haruki was right. Everyone had been so worried about Zeke when his dad died that they’d started treating him with kid gloves. And Zeke resented it. He loved being the center of attention when it came to races and competitions. But he’d hated the well-intentioned but suffocating attention he’d received the moment his identity became that of a boy who’d lost his dad too young. So, Zeke did his very best to act like none of it affected him. But somewhere along the line, that desire for people not to worry about him had shifted into not letting people in. And in doing so, he’d shut his best friend out.
“I’m…” Zeke thought about it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize,” he said honestly. Thinking of all the things he hadn’t told Haruki.
“It’s all right, I get it. The insides of our heads are complicated. Just let me in sometimes, okay?” said Haruki, patting his shoulder.
“I’ll try,” said Zeke, nodding. He knew it would take him a while to readjust, but the weight that lifted from his shoulders each time he talked to Olivia was enough for him to understand that he’d feel better if he didn’t force himself to carry it all alone.
“We’re good, Zeke,” Haruki said. Then, with a look of pure annoyance, added, “But you do know that I’mnevergoing to forgive you for leaving me to sneak off to the kitchen to make out with a girl you knew I liked.”
Zeke’s eyes widened. He couldn’t even defend himself.
“While I was playing Uno.You’re a bit of an asshole, you know that?”
“I am, aren’t I?” said Zeke.
Haruki laughed at the guilty, embarrassed look on Zeke’s face. “You really do like her, don’t you?” he said, after studying him for a moment.
“I… I do,” Zeke admitted.
“She likes you too. I could tell as soon as I saw you together. So… you have my blessing, I guess,” said Haruki with an exaggerated sigh.
Zeke felt a wave of relief; he was so glad to have his best friend back.
But, he still had to fix things with Olivia. And before he could fix things with her, he would have to face himself.
49Olivia
DAY EIGHT OF THE 2024 OLYMPICS
When Olivia called Aditi with tears in her voice, Aditi immediately caught a taxi, picked her up, and dragged her out of the Village. Olivia protested, but her best friend insisted that spending the rest of her lunch break drinking an iced pistachio latte far away from the Village was exactly what she needed to process it all. And she was right. Olivia hadn’t stopped talking since they’d driven out of the gates past the Olympic rings. But she didn’t want to talk about Zeke. It was too complicated, and it hurt too much. So, instead, she focused her energy on the much simpler act of trash-talking Lars.
“Imagine what my summer would have been like if he hadn’t just called his daddy for a favor,” Olivia said, shaking her head.
“I hate him as much as you do,” Aditi said, as they found a table in the café.
“I see Lars Lindbergs everywhere,” Olivia said. “These silver-spoon-fed boys who just glide through life and collect shiny friends to make themselves look good.”
“And by ‘shiny friends’ do you mean Zeke?” asked Aditi,who’d been listening patiently as Olivia talked about everything except for the person she was really thinking about.
“Yeah, because the fact that he’s pally with Lars Lindberg makes me question what kind of person he is. Like, who willingly hangs out withthatspoiled nepo baby? Lars doesn’t even have a real personality. What does that say about Zeke?Probablythat I had him all wrong from the start,” said Olivia, taking a furious sip of her iced latte.
“Liv,” said Aditi in a gentle voice, “do you think that maybe you’re focusing on how much you hate Lars to distract yourself from the fact that Zeke hurt your feelings?”
“No,” Olivia said unconvincingly. She twirled her straw and stared at her glass, hoping she’d find answers in the pistachio-flavored froth. But none appeared.
Aditi was right. Olivia had spent the past ten minutes picking Lars apart because it was easier than facing what was actually upsetting her. At least she knew how to deal withthatpart of her life. She’d just work harder and keep doing everything she needed to do to get a seat at the table. Her future would be filled with rooms of people who made her feel invisible and dream jobs that left her disillusioned. That she could handle, but the way she felt about Zeke was a lot more complicated.
“The photos aren’t even the worst thing,” she said—even though the photos felt like a rough punch to the gut. “It’s the fact that he didn’t run after me.” Now that she’d stopped channeling her emotions into being annoyed at Lars, she could no longer avoid how hurt she was.
“Liv,” said Aditi, handing her a tissue. Olivia hadn’t even noticed that she was crying.
“Part of me is devastated because I still really like him,” Oliviasaid, the present tense not lost on her. “But this other twisted part of me is almost relieved because the photos gave me a quick, easy out before I fell in way over my head.”
“Was it starting to feel a bit too—” started Aditi.
“Real? Yeah.”
