After the restaurant fiasco, all six of us go back to the Olympic Village. Violet goes to the room as soon as we get there because she's going to start training a little earlier than the rest of the team tomorrow. She seems really nervous for our race. After a few minutes of hanging out and talking in one of the common rooms, Brittany's mom walks in.
"Hey Mom!" Brittany's mom is kind of a smother. She comes to all the races and yells louder than anyone else in the crowd. But the energy in the room shifts when Ms. Taylor walked in. Shaun, who has previously been quiet and checked out of the conversation, stands up quickly and strides over to greet her.
"Hello, I'm Shaun," he says this while extending his hand to Ms. Taylor.
She shakes his hand and says, "Nice to meet you Shaun, I'm Bethany."
"Why don't we get out of here to give the kids some space, want to grab coffee?"
"That sounds delightful. Bye Brittany, I'll see you tomorrow after training, we'll get lunch."
The two walk arm and arm out of the room and head towards the elevator. That seems odd because there isn't a coffee shop in this building. Maybe they're going to Shaun's room so he can get his wallet.
While Brittany and Janessa are distracted by Ms. Taylor, I take my chance and grab Red's hand and lead him into a different common room.
"Hey Red, I feel like we haven't gotten to talk much, is it okay if we chill in here?"
"Hahah, sure. How are you liking your first trip out of the US?"
His eyes glimmer in the low lighting of the room, and since, I'm this close to him, I can see all the various natural highlights in his strawberry blonde hair. Even though we're just sitting on bean bags in a poorly lit room, it feels so romantic. This is the perfect time for me to kiss him.
I let our conversation continue for a little longer before I say, "we should play twenty questions!"
"Sounds like a great idea. Ask me anything."
"Have you ever kissed someone?"
"I know this is going to make me sound really young, but no, I haven't," he admitted, blushing slightly.
"Yeah I haven't either, it's like we said earlier: I think I'm just waiting for the right person," I respond. I wonder if my subtle hints are working. Is he gonna kiss me? Or am I going to have to do all the heavy lifting in our relationship.
As I am thinking about how to kiss him, Brittany walks in, "Hey Red, can I steal you for a second?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll talk to you later Jennifer," Red says glancing back at me as Brittany drags him away. I follow the two of them, but I make sure to stay a few paces behind. That snake!! Brittany grabs his hand and leads him into the elevator. I can't stand idly by, I have to follow them! I take the next elevator up and get off on our floor. On the way to Brittany and Janessa's room I pass Shaun and Red's room. Something strange seems to be going on in there. Maybe the air conditioning is broken and making all those noises? Anyway that's not what I need to focus on right now. Brittany is about to steal Red from me. I make a beeline to my room and press my ear against the door. I can't hear anything at all. All of a sudden Brittany opens the door and I almost fall into the room.
"Jennifer, I was just going to look for you and Janessa. Would it be okay if she rooms with you and Violet tonight? That'd be great thaaaanksss," Brittany said, quickly shutting the door behind her. What I saw was unmistakable: Red was lying on her bed! What does she think she's doing?! This day has been so crazy, but I clearly know where I stand with my teammates. What Violet said about us staying a team and not getting at each other's throats is total crap. If Brittany is gonna play dirty, I'm gonna have to show her who Red really belongs to.
