Golden Girl (Nathan Adrian FanFic!!!!! <3)

Chapter 7 Cover Girl

Well, I did it. I made the relationship public. By the next morning, the news channels swarmed with headlines like:

KAYLI REINER HITS THE JACKPOT and NEW HOT OLYMPIC COUPLE.

OH! and don't forget the TEAM KATHANS or the banners that read NAYLI FOREVER <3.

I enjoyed the sudden spotlight.

The next morning, I went over to the gymnastics table at the caf. Their faces lit up and they were greeting me and hugging me tightly.

"I should've known!" one of them cried. "It was Nathan Adrian! He was the guy you were after!"

"We can't believe you followed my advice about the ass thing!"

I smiled. These girls circled around me and I decided to sit with them. We talked about girls stuff:

you know, stuff girls talk about at slumber parties or when carpooling with a friend and then they'd shut up after the grown-up looks at them through the rear-view mirror.

Suddenly a woman burst into the caf with a cameraman. She power-walked over to me and shook my hand vigorously.

"Nelly Smith, NBC channel 4 news... do you mind if we talk?"

I was taken by surprise. Okay, no not really.

"Sure."

They took me outside and set up the cameras for an interview. The lady gave the cameraman he queue and started to talk.

"Nelly Smith here at the Aquatics Center with our Cover Girl, Kayli Reiner! Kayli, do you realize that you are the top story all over the world?!"

I waved at the camera. "Um... hey everyone!"

"Now tell me, Kayli, how does it feel to be the shortest and the skinniest Olympic swimmer in history?"

Now THIS took me by surprise.

"Well," I laughed. "I don't know."

The lady, desperate for me to answer questions and not wanting for her to look bad in front of national TV asked: 

"Okay, well, how does it feel to be the first Asian to participate in the Women's Freestyle?"

I shrugged. Surely I wasn't the FIRST one. So I smiled and said,

"I'm still trying to take it all in. This is all new to me."

The lady laughed and held my shoulder with her long manicured nails.

"And your relationship with THE Nathan Adrian, can you tell us something about that?"

I turned at the camera and gave it my most patronizing look.

"Nathan is the SWEETEST!" I gushed. "He always-"

Someone grabbed my arm. It was that girl who gave me attitude at the pool. Darn I keep forgetting her name. I'm pretty sure her last name was Ledecky.

"Kayli, shouldn't you be practicing for your heat?" she growled.

"Oh of course," I said, fake-smiling at the camera to make it look superficial. "I'll be right with you-"

But Ledecky pulled me sharply and pushed the camera away.

"What was that?" I asked her.

"Lovin' the spotlight huh? Seriously, get your head out of the clouds and practice! Your heat's TONIGHT!"

Oh shit I forgot about that. I turned to the locker rooms and took off my baggy sweat pants and the pink massaging Adidas sandals I wore.

I already had my suit on. so all I had to take care of were my cap and goggles. When I rounded the corner, Nathan came and surprised me.

"Hey babe," he smirked.

"Hey." He kissed me quickly and then held my elbows.

"Good luck tonight," he whispered.

"I'll try my best," I smiled. "Good luck with your race too."

"If I win gold, you gotta give me another kiss," he laughed.

"And if I win gold?" I asked him, tracing my pink nails across his pecks.

He winked. "I'll surprise you."

I kissed him and headed for the pool. I got in my lane when the girl next to me turned to me.

"Where the hell were YOU?" she asked, chewing gum. It was Ledecky.

"Getting ready," I said slowly.

"Well listen here, cover girl. You're new to this Olympic business. Fall too hard and you'll drown."

But I ignored her. Instead, I swam ahead, leaving her to eat her words AND my bubbles.