this fire

 

chapter four

 

Over the next few days Laney saw Brooke a little, Ian even less, and Aaron the least of all.  And to her utmost surprise, Amanda turned out to be not so bad.  Not so great, either, but at least she wasn’t, like previously speculated, off shagging some athlete every night.  Though she certainly had a lot of guys hanging around her all day.  Laney spent a lot of time with her eyes rolled, and she was afraid they were going to get stuck like that.

 

Between her roommate flirting with everything in sight with a penis, and her cousin flirting with her best friend, she felt left out.  She wasn’t used to having no guys to talk to, pathological flirt that she was.

 

As she got ready to walk out for the two hundred meter freestyle final, she was nervous.  It was her first big meet final.  And there wasn’t much else that was a bigger deal than the Olympics.  She’d been so busy training that she hadn’t even had a chance to go anywhere around Athens yet.  She rolled her head and shoulders as she waited for them to start walking to the blocks.  She wasn’t really sure how she felt about being in lane two for her first Olympic race, but really she was just utterly thrilled to be there in the first place.

 

Finally they walked out.  As she was introduced she could hear in her head, the commentators discussing how she was a new member of the US team and how swimming ran in her family.  She sighed as she stretched her arms over her head.  She took off her jacket and sweats and tossed them in the basket.  Adjusting her goggles and swim cap, she climbed onto the blocks and got ready for the gun.

 

When it went off, she jumped in and the race went by in a blur.  When she finished, she was completely shocked to see that she’d come in third.  Her first Olympic medal.  She raised a fist in the air, but she was wiped out.  Climbing out of the pool, she waved at the crowd and headed over toward the media booths so she could leave.  She was caught by a reporter.

 

“I’m here with Madelaine Thorpe.  This is your first Olympics?”

 

“Yeah,” she said, panting a little.  “I lived in England for a while and really got into it, so when I moved back to the States I really worked hard.”

 

“Looks like that hard work paid off.  Your first Olympic final and you get a bronze medal.”

 

Laney grinned.  “Oh yes.  It’s very exciting.  I can’t even tell you how thrilled I am to even just make the final, and then to get the bronze medal; it’s so fantastic.”

 

“And swimming runs in your family, is that right?  Cousin to the great Ian Thorpe?”

 

“Yes, Ian is my cousin.  When I was little I thought he was a fish.  Apparently I take after him.”

 

The reporter chuckled.  “Well, congratulations.”

 

“Thank you,” she said, walking off to the back area.  She was stopped short by a pair of arms that wrapped around her from behind, and yelped.

 

“Congratulations!” Ian said loudly in her ear.

 

“Thank you, and now I can’t hear.”  She grinned and turned around to hug him.

 

“Nice to see you don’t suck at something,” Ian said.

 

“I love when you’re nice to me.”

 

“I’m always nice to you.”

 

“You’re never nice to me, but I love you anyway.”

 

“That’s certainly good news.  Is this your last swim today?

 

She nodded as Ian took her arm and dragged her off.

 

Twenty minutes later, she stood nervously behind the medal stand, waiting to receive her bronze medal.  When she stepped up onto the podium, she could hear Ian and Brooke – and someone else who’s voice she didn’t recognize – yelling “GO LANEY!” from the sidelines.  She knew it was them because she was known to the rest of the swimming world as Madelaine.  Grinning, she raised her arms to the cheering of the crowd and then graciously accepted her medal.  She listened to the national anthem of the winner and then stood for pictures with the gold and silver medalists.

 

After it was over she went to meet Ian and Brooke and was surprised to see that Aaron was with them.  He grinned at her.  “Congratulations,” he said.

 

“Thanks,” she replied, and then began to bounce on the balls of her feet.  “I wanna go do something,” she announced.

 

Ian and Aaron exchanged glances.  “I have a swim tomorrow,” Aaron said.  “So do I,” Ian chimed in.

 

Laney pouted.  “I don’t have a swim tomorrow.”

 

“Me either; I’ll come with you,” Brooke said.

 

Ian poked Brooke in the side.  “You don’t swim.”

 

“Yes?  And?”

 

“Right, well, I better get some sleep.  Nice job today, Laney,” Aaron said before walking off in the other direction.

 

“I have to get some sleep too,” Ian said.  “I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked, looking at Brooke.  She nodded, and Laney rolled her eyes.

 

“Come on,” Laney said, grabbing Brooke’s arm and dragging her friend away from her ever-charming cousin.  “You like him,” Laney sing-songed once they were far away from Ian.

 

“Maybe he’s your cousin, but he’s still Ian Thorpe.  And he’s so hot in person.”

 

“Gross, thanks.”

 

“Oh shut up.  Anyway, I think Aaron has a thing for you,” Brooke said matter-of-factly.

 

“Nah,” Laney said.  “He’s just a pain.  Anyway, what is there to do in Athens after one wins a medal?”

 

“Parties,” came a voice from behind them, causing both girls to nearly fall over.  A smiling Michael Phelps walked around them.  “There are always a ton of parties.  Also, we’re having a Madden tournament in my room.  Though I’m sure you don’t play video games.”  He stopped at the look on Laney’s face.  “You do play video games?”

 

She grinned.  “I do.  I’m Laney Thorpe.”

 

Michael tilted his head to the side.  “Ian’s cousin?”

 

“That’s me.  And you are Michael Phelps.  This is my friend Brooke.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Michael said, shaking their hands.  “That was sweet today, by the way, Laney.”

 

“Thanks.  So are we going to play some Madden or what?”

 

“Yeah, come on.”

 

A little less than ten minutes later, Laney found herself wrapped in a bear hug as she walked into the room Michael was sharing with Lenny Krayzelburg.  “Oof,” she said.

 

“I haven’t seen you in a very long time,” said a very bald Grant Hackett.

 

“Oh, hello Hackett,” she said, returning the hug once she knew who it was.  “It certainly has been a while, hasn’t it?” she said with a smile.

 

Grant let her go.  “So.  Swimming for the enemy, are you?”

 

“I suppose so,” she laughed.  “But frankly I’d prefer to be on the US team than with people like you and my stupid cousin on the Aussie team.  Plus otherwise I’d be swimming for England.”

 

“Whatever.  You ready to get your ass kicked, little girl?” Grant asked.

 

“You are too cocky, I think, Hackett.  Watch and learn.”  She made her way through the rather crowded room and raised an eyebrow at the sight she saw sitting on the bed with a controller.  “Is this what you call getting some sleep?” she asked, sitting next to Aaron on the bed.  He started and glanced up, allowing Lenny to score.

 

“Damn it!  Hi, Laney.  I was heading to bed and then got sidetracked.”

 

Laney just laughed and watched as Aaron tried to catch up with Lenny.