Page 71 of The Forever Vault

“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 injury 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 for number 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.”