Assignment:Capture the energy behind the scenes of tonight’s opening ceremony celebrations. Put a special emphasis on photos of first-time Olympians.
Drew had never witnessed a moment as jubilant or wholesome as the sight of the athletes leaving the stadium at the end of the opening ceremony. There was something magical about watching Olympians clothed in uniforms from all around the world taking photos, celebrating, and forming friendships under a firework-lit sky.
But the Olympians weren’t the only people on the cusp of the two most important weeks of their lives. A few yards away, a group of journalists and photographers were hunched over theirchairs with laptops and external hard drives, uploading photos, sending them to their editors, and posting them online. Drew knew they were working fast to ensure that the photos they’d taken would be on newspaper front covers in the morning and in website headlines before the end of the night. Because soon he would be doing the same. But first he needed to run across the stadium and take photos of all the Zeus-sponsored athletes.
He showed the security guard his press credentials, left the press pit, and weaved his way through the crowd.
The team at Zeus had sent him a long list of athletes to photograph over the course of the Games. In the few days he’d been in the Village, Drew had already begun to notice the difference between the various people on his list. They could broadly be split into two groups. First, there were the world-famous athletes who politely declined to do anything beyond their contractually obligated photo ops. And second, there were the new and upcoming athletes who would answer all of Drew’s questions and let him take his time behind the camera because of how excited they were to be there. Once Drew snapped shots of the top stars on the list, he went into the crowd to find the newbies he could get quotes from. He knew the easy option would be to find his sister and talk to her team, but he wanted to push himself. So, he photographed a Slovenian snowboarder who told him about the childhood sledding that inspired him to learn how to snowboard. And then he talked to a speed skater on the Refugee Olympic Team who told him the advice her childhood sports teacher gave her to become completely fearless on the ice.
By the time he’d tallied up enough athletes to complete his assignment, the crowd was thinning out. But then he spotted his sister, running toward him in her Team USA uniform. He immediately pulled her into a hug.
“You made it!” he said, immensely proud of all the work she’d done to get to this moment.
“Can you believe it? We’re heading to a postceremony after-party to celebrate. Do you want to come?”
A part of him did. He was sure he’d probably get some good behind-the-scenes shots at a party. But he had a bunch of photos to edit and send to Zeus before the morning. So, he waved her away, promising to join her at the closing ceremony parties, then began to make his way home.
He was walking out of the stadium when he spotted a crowd of red-and-blue uniforms that didn’t belong to Team USA. He did a double take when he saw the person standing at the center of it.
It couldn’t be her, right?he thought to himself as he cast his eyes back to the face that had caught his attention.
He looked closer and realized that, no, he wasn’t seeing things. Because right there in the middle of a crowd of British athletes was a face that had been coming back to him in flashes ever since New Year’s Day. Among the striped hats and woolly scarves was a girl with big, bouncy curls, a world-stopping smile, and eyes Drew would have recognized in any crowd.
She was way too deep into the conversations she was having to notice him, but Drew didn’t need to hear her voice to know it would sound just like the girl he’d spent that honest, magical, firework-framed New Year’s Eve with.
Ari.
13Ari
AFTER THE OPENING CEREMONY
Ari’s teammates started running around and making plans as soon as confetti began falling to the ground. It was the most exciting night of the year and they wanted to hit the after-parties and late-night dinner spots. They were in the middle of discussing a Team Switzerland cabin party invite when Ari’s phone rang. She walked to a quiet spot at the side of the stadium to answer the FaceTime call. It was her mom, sitting in the living room with the TV on. Telling her that she’d already started replaying the live broadcast of the opening ceremony so she could watch Ari walk into the stadium again.
“I’m so proud of you!” Ari’s mom cried, wiping away tears as she gushed about how good Ari looked in her uniform, how well she’d carried the flag, and how happy she and her teammates looked on her TV screen.
“I wouldn’t be here without you,” Ari said, meaning every word. Her mom had pretty much raised Ari and her sister alone.She’d been the one to pack their lunches, attend parents’ evenings, and do hockey practice drop-offs. Ari owed her everything.
“And we can’t wait to come and see you on the ice. I’ve already packed my outfits.” She began detailing every dress, sweater, hat, and scarf she was planning to wear in St. Moritz. Her mom was glowing.
“Not until the quarterfinals, remember,” Ari said. She loved her family, but they stressed her out. She knew that if they came to watch all her games, they would eventually say or do something that would throw her off. It was never intentional; they just carried their drama with them wherever they went. No matter how hard they tried to be supportive, she always found herself having to defuse arguments and smooth emotions when they were around. So, she’d effectively banned them from traveling to St. Moritz unless she and her team made it to the quarterfinals.
“You’ve always been so suspicious,” her mom said, shaking her head. “It’s the one negative thing you got from your father.”
Ari sighed. She could tell that while her mom was calling to congratulate her, she had something else on her mind.
“Did you and Anesu figure things out?” Ari asked as she watched the other athletes walking up and down the hallways in excitement, chatting about after-parties and group dinner plans, with a carefree kind of happiness. She wanted to join them, but her mother’s response to her question made it pretty clear that her tears weren’t just those of a proud parent.
“I still can’t believe she would do something like this,” her mom said, tearing up again. Even though weeks had passed, her mom and Anesu were still stuck on their Christmas Day argument. The wedding was just a few weeks away, and Anesu hadn’t changed her mind about going.
“I moved to another country, raised you girls all by myself,sacrificed everything, and what does she do to thank me for it? Side with a man who did nothing but throw money at her.”
“He’s still her dad,” Ari sighed. “You can understand why she’d want to have a relationship with him.” She was trying to get her mom to see it from her sister’s side.
“I could understand if he’d actually made an effort to be present. But he just wants to reap the fruits of my labor now that the two of you are grown up and he doesn’t have to take care of— Actually, none of that matters because he’ll always know that I… we did this by ourselves.” Her mom smiled from the other end of the phone. “My baby, the Olympian. I’ve already cleared a space on the fireplace to frame your medal.”
Ari laughed. Her mom was adamant that her team would be going home with something. She possessed unflinching belief when it came to her daughters’ abilities.
“Remember, you’ve done hard things before; you can do hard things again. They wouldn’t have given you this responsibility if you weren’t capable. I know you can do it,” her mom said. Ari tried her best to believe it. “Well, I know you’re busy, so go and enjoy yourself. Don’t forget to send me photos,” her mom said before finally letting her go.
