Chapter 2
After seven grueling days of waking up at 5 am, training hard, eating healthy, and going to bed at 8 pm, it was finally time for the Opening Ceremony.
To say Beca was excited would be an understatement. Her chance to make history and her country proud was finally here, and she was literally buzzing with joy. She was a little bummed that she wouldn't get to see the Opening Ceremony performances, but she was glad for the opportunity to mingle with the other athletes.
She'd seen a lot of them during training, but they kept to themselves, and she was too awkward to start a conversation. Jesse spent a lot of his time stalking the Canadians and keeping Beca informed despite her insistence that she didn't care. Beca had yet to see either Chloe or Aubrey in person though.
Right now, she was on the bus, squished between Jesse and Stacie, on her way to the ceremony.
One of the coaches went over what they were expected to do once they entered the stadium. They were going to be the 70th country in, between the Federated States of Micronesia and Estonia. When they reached the center, they'd have to plant a seed representing the reforestation of Brazil, and then after that, they could just take it all in.
The whole bus was practically buzzing by the time they came to a stop. Everyone got off, all of them dressed in Ralph Lauren jackets in the colors of the American flag.
Jesse waved his tiny flag enthusiastically in Beca's face. Stacie grabbed both of her cheeks and kissed the tip of her nose, "This is it!"
Beca's face heated up, the diver was known for her overtly sexual attitude. It didn't bother the other team members, but Beca wasn't exactly big on being touched, especially not in public. She thanked the night sky for preventing anyone from seeing the deep scarlet she was no doubt turning a shade of.
Beca didn't remember much of the waiting in line part. It was all just a blur of too many selfies, snapchats, and loud music coming from the arena. It got louder the closer they got to entering the building.
The team screeched with joy when Phelps was given the huge American flag. Beca clasped him on the shoulder, well she tried to, but he was a giant compared to her, so it ended up just hitting his mid-back. They laughed and then they were entering the stadium.
The whole arena cheered and Beca was pretty sure her eardrums burst with the sheer volume of it. Jesse and Stacie were going wild jumping up and down and screaming at the tops of their lungs. They pushed Beca in front of a camera and she couldn't help but laugh. It was all being projected onto a huge screen, and it was a little weird seeing herself up there knowing the whole world was watching.
It was so loud Beca felt the vibrations shaking her bones. Louder than all of it, was her heart thudding in her chest with adrenaline and pride. This was really happening.
Jesse was saying something to her, but she couldn't hear it and couldn't read his lips, so she just pointed to her ear and shook her head. He shook his head back at her which she assumed meant never mind.
Before she knew it, they were in the seeding area. Someone pressed a seed into the palm of Beca's hand. She put it in one of the little holes and winked at the camera recording her.
Then they were being herded over to stand with all the different countries. Except Beca didn't make it to where the rest of her team was going because Jesse was pulling both her and Stacie over to where 300 or so Canadians were standing. They were all in red coats with white maple leaves on them.
"Jesse, what're we doing here?" Beca yelled at the other runner.
Jesse pointed and Beca followed the direction of his finger to Chloe Beale and Aubrey Posen.
They were at a good enough distance away from the beach-volleyball players, but Beca could still see just how electric Chloe's eyes were, the red of her outfit only making them stand out that much more.
"Well, come on," Beca said, nodding her head towards them. "Let's just say hi and leave. I promised Simone a selfie."
"No way, I'm too nervous. You say hi."
Beca rolled her eyes, "Fine. Stacie want to co—where'd Stacie go?"
Jesse looked around the loud stadium and shrugged, "I don't know."
Then he shoved her, and she stumbled in Chloe's general direction. She couldn't catch her footing and almost fell, but hands gripped her waist and helped keep her steady on her feet before she could.
"Careful there, clumsy," The voice easily cut through the screaming crowd but still managed to maintain a soft warmth that made Beca shiver.
Realizing she was standing only an inch away from the Canadian, her mouth fell open. She couldn't concentrate because, in all the commotion, Chloe's fingers slipped under her shirt and were grazing the skin just above her hip.
Beca took a step back making Chloe's hand drop. She rubbed her own hand up and down the front of her body. Letting out a nervous breath, she leaned forward and said, "Thanks for keeping me from cracking my head open. I'm Beca."
"Chloe," She stuck out her hand for Beca to shake with an amused but pleasantly surprised smile on her lips.
Beca shook it, "Uh my friend over there," She pointed to Jesse over her shoulder with her free hand, "Has a huge crush on you and your partner."
Chloe dropped Beca's hand, her smile dying a little on her lips, "Me and Tom?"
"Uh, no. You and..." Beca scratched her head, Jesse never mentioned a Tom. "–The other beach-volleyball player."
"Oh, you mean Aubrey?" Beca nodded. Chloe turned around then back with a confused look on her face. "She was here a second ago."
Beca shrugged. She gestured with her head to the general direction of the Americans, "I should..."
"Okay, yeah," Chloe smiled still not quite as bright as it was before. "See you around, maybe."
Beca turned back to where Jesse was waiting for her with a huge smile on his face, "You guys seemed to have hit it off. How'd it go?”
"She was nice enough," Beca shook her head. "It doesn't matter though, 'cause we're not here to make friends and fangirl over Canadians. We're here to win."
Jesse frowned, "What about Aubrey?"
"No idea, she wasn't there."
Jesse's frown deepened, "Well there goes that."
She playfully punched Jesse's shoulder, trying to cheer him up. "Race you to the Americans."
"You're on."
They jetted off towards their team with Beca hitting the finish line a second before Jesse did.
The ceremony ended later than most athletes had stayed up all week, so there wasn't a huge celebration afterward. By 1:30 all the athletes in the American building were fast asleep, including Stacie, who Beca was rooming with. She resurfaced at some point during the walk back to the bus, neither Jesse or Beca questioned her about her whereabouts.
"Stacie," Beca whispered. The diver didn't acknowledge her. Beca got off her bed and crouched next to Stacie's, "Stacie."
Still nothing.
Beca sighed, putting on her jacket and shoes before reaching for the doorknob. Technically, the coaches told them to stay indoors during the night, and normally that wasn't an issue because everyone wanted to rest up before their competition, but Beca had a ton of time before hers, and besides, she was young and healthier than she'd ever been. She'd be fine. It was only one night anyway.
"Beca."
Beca turned around just in time to see a bottle of bug spray hurtling towards her head. Her hands went up reflexively to block her face from impact, but she ended up catching the bottle instead.
Stacie smiled tiredly at her, "You'll need that."
"Thanks." That's two times already that I've almost damaged my head, Beca thinks.
She sprayed her exposed skin in the room but still took the bottle out with her just in case. When she exited the building, she saw a security guard standing there with a gun holstered to his hip. He nodded at her. Her eyes widened a little as she nodded back.
She decided to jog over to the Olympic Rings. There were a few tourists still out exploring, but it was mostly empty when she got there. She sat inside one of the rings, her legs dangling. She looked at the night sky, Rio was beautiful. Beca never got to travel when she was younger, so this was such an awesome opportunity.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
Beca whipped her head around to see Chloe strolling over with a bright smile on her face. It must have returned at some point in the night. Beca was glad, it looked way better than the half-hearted one.
"Shouldn't you?" Beca asked. Something about the night gave her the confidence that she needed when they had first met earlier in the evening.
"I wanted to see more of Rio, can you blame me?" Chloe asked.
Beca glanced around, recaptured by the beauty of this place. "No, but Aubrey might if you're too tired to bump and volley when the time comes."
"I won't be," Chloe said, confidently. "I've answered your question, now you have to answer mine."
"I couldn't sleep," Beca shrugged.
"Nerves?"
"No, I just always have too much energy and it's hard to it shut off after something big happens."
"Like the Olympic opening?"
"Mhmm," Beca nodded, glancing up at the stars. They were brighter here than they'd ever been in LA. "Sometimes it's a good thing, but right now it's just annoying."
Chloe sat down next to Beca in the ring. The circular shape of the structure, forcing their sides to be pressed against each other in the middle.
Beca didn't turn her head to look at Chloe because if she did, she'd end up smashing their faces together in an awkward cheek kiss.
"Will your coach be mad at you?" Chloe asked.
Beca shrugged, he probably would be, but she didn't care. Her coach could yell at her all he wanted, Beca was confident she'd get gold. "It's not really my fault I'm hard-wired this way. I can't force myself to sleep 'cause I'm not tired."
They stayed quiet for a long time until Chloe whispered, her voice wavering ever so slightly, "So how can we tire you out?"
Beca turned to face Chloe and was taken aback by how close their faces were. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped noticing how flushed Chloe's face had gotten. She looked scared. Like, full out terrified.
Chloe visibly swallowed, "I'll race you. Let's do it from the American Building all the way to the Canadian Building and then back here."
"What?" Beca jerked back, surprised. "You'll race me?"
"Is that hesitance I hear?" Chloe said, smiling teasingly. "What's the matter? Don't think you can beat me?"
"Beat you? Beale, I held literally every record you can think of at one point in time."
"That sounds like a bunch of big-talk coming from a person who's stalling," She grinned. She got off the ring and stood in front of Beca with her hands on her hip.
"I'm not sure you can handle this," Beca said, cockily flexing her arms. "I mean I never even heard of you until I got on the plane to Rio. You can't be that good."
A flash of hurt crossed Chloe's face and Beca flinched. Idiot, she should know better than to degrade somebody about their sport. This was Chloe's life's pride just like running was hers, and she had just made it seem like it was nothing.
"Chloe," Beca said, apologetically. She got off the ring and touched Chloe's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have–"
Chloe took off running, and Beca was confused until she realized the direction she was running to; the American Building.
"Hey!" She called. "That's a false start! You'd be disqualified immediately!"
Chloe didn't stop, "Come on, slowpoke." She threw the words over her shoulder with a laugh that echoed. "Prove me wrong!"