Chapter Forty-Five

 

Before arriving in Oslo, Trixie was excited about competing in the Olympics. It wasn’t until she arrived that she realized what a monumental event this was going to be in her life.

To start, she thought Oslo was a cool city. It was one of the largest capital cities in the world, but most of it was forest, so the actual city center was compact. There was a ton of public transportation, and they were selling Olympic Passes for the entire month of July, so it was easy for them to get around. They rented bicycles and rode through the forests, took boats to the islands in the fjord to sunbathe, and went freshwater swimming at Frysja. They saw the Botanical Garden, the National Gallery, and the Holocaust Center. The Romanian government continued to deny there were Holocaust events in their country, and it was powerful for Trixie to see a place where the atrocities were acknowledged and the sacrifices honored.

They walked the Karl Johan to see the Royal Palace and the Holmenkoken. They toured the communities of wooden houses, took the ferry to Copenhagen, and did everything except sample the local hotdogs. Maybe after the competition, when they could stop counting calories for a while. The city was crazy expensive, but Trixie decided she wouldn’t focus on money for the time being. She was trying to enjoy her experience, and Galya was picking up a lot of the tickets. He told the girls not to worry about it, and Trixie took his advice.

Ileana would have loved it.

After a few days, Simone, Zarya Prokhor, and Sarah Grogan arrived in Norway. None of them had ever met Sarah and were wary of agents in general, but Simone told them she was a lifesaver. After Abby’s phone call, she agreed to take Shaye as a client and immediately went into damage control. Simone said Sarah squashed the story about her father before it got on its feet and made it very clear that the topic was off-limits to the press for both Simone and Shaye.

The girls were sharing a room in the Olympic Village, and the rest reserved rooms a full two years ahead of time, so with Sarah staying with Simone, they were comfortable. The city was packed with people, and the Sentrum felt more like a sold-out concert arena than a pedestrian friendly downtown district. Thousands of people moved into the campgrounds surrounding the main district, cruise ships were parked in the fjord to offer thousands of extra rooms, and still people had to go as far as Lillehammer to find accommodations. It was amazing.

In addition to the sightseeing, she, Shaye, and Galya spent time signing autographs for little Norwegian girls and tourists alike. She was shocked by how many people knew who she was but absolutely floored by the response Shaye received. She admired her friend—not so much the attention, because Trixie was shy, but her unflappable confidence. Shaye looked people in the eye and took the time to talk with them. She could see why the good folks at ESPN voted her one of the fifty fan-friendliest athletes in America.

Despite all the fun she was having, Trixie was growing more and more nervous about the competition. She’d been watching Shaye train for the past few weeks, so she was used to feeling inadequate compared to her, but going to the gym and seeing Brandy Kessler, the entire Chinese team, especially Bian Tongtong and Shi Xiaqun, and Olga Kovalev with the rest of the Russian team…it was easy to forgive herself for not being as good as Shaye because she was so exceptionally talented, but somehow she’d forgotten there were many others in the world who weren’t far behind. She was even beginning to question if she was still the best gymnast on the Romanian squad. She knew she couldn’t be successful during a crisis of confidence, but she was having a hard time staving off the self-doubt.

The day of the Opening Ceremony, Trixie’s parents arrived in Norway with Abby. Cruz was not with her. She said he wasn’t coming back. Shaye couldn’t believe it. “I could have sworn he would come back.”

“Now you no longer have to carry the burden of always being right,” Abby said dryly.

“What about the other guy?” Trixie asked. “The one who financed your trip who you said was a complete jerk?”

“He’s my friend, I guess,” Abby replied. “But let’s not worry about any of that while we’re here.”

The gymnastics competition began on the second day. The men went on day one. The night before the meet began, Abby came to the room they were sharing.

“How are you girls doing?”

They paused the movie they were watching and sat up in bed. “Good,” Shaye said brightly.

Trixie would have replied, but she felt like she was going to throw up. Shaye said she didn’t have bad nerves, that any nervousness she felt about meets only made her more focused. She called it excitement. Trixie was the opposite. She had to fight away the adrenaline and anxiety in order to keep from flying off the equipment.

“I brought you something.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a small patch. In black cursive with a white border was the word Ileana.

“What’s this?” Trixie asked.

“A patch for the shoulder of your leotard. Everyone on the Romanian team will be wearing one. So will everyone on the U.S. team. Men and women. She’s still with you, honey. You don’t have to feel like she’s completely gone.”

“That’s…amazing,” Trixie said, feeling the tears rise. “Thank you, Abby.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m just the messenger. It was Shaye’s idea.”

“You promised you wouldn’t tell her.” Trixie looked at her friend in surprise, and she turned away. “It’s no big deal.”

“Still . . .”

The first day of competition was the qualifying round. Both Romania and the United States, along with Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Australia, Germany, and France advanced to the team finals. Shaye was the number one individual all-around qualifier without really trying, followed closely by Trixie, Shi Xiaqun, Olga Kovalev, Brandy Kessler, and Bian Tongtong, in that order, in addition to fourteen others. Shaye qualified for each of the event finals except for vault, which she didn’t attempt, and Trixie qualified for everything except uneven bars, which was her weakest event.

Trixie was glad the first day was over, but she was worried. Shaye didn’t need to put in her more difficult tricks to be the runaway leader. The difference between second and sixth place was less than half a point.

If Shaye hadn’t come to Romania and made her work, she wouldn’t have qualified for the individual all-around final. How could she possibly stack up?

There was one positive thing that came out of the whole experience. Her mind was too preoccupied to miss Ileana.