Losing the Light [h.s.]

21

The alarm clock Harry set goes off a few seconds after his phone does. Four-thirty in the afternoon; 1 am in Vancouver. "Wake up, beautiful women," Harry squeals, jumping on Marlee's bed. "Wake up, Gem! Marlee! Today's the day!"

Gemma tugs her pillow over her face. "Yeah, no. Have fun, you two."

Marlee forces her heavy eyes open. The sun wasn't even up yet. Harry has a big grin on his face. "Happy Opening Ceremony day," he whispers.

"Why can't we just skip that?" Marlee questions.

Harry shakes his head. "We're all about winning, remember? We have to get up!" He goes over to his suitcase to get the clothes he'd laid out the night before. A gray hoodie and a loose pair of men's yoga pants. He tugs the hoodie over his head after a blue t-shirt--"Always have layers," was one of his many tips.

"The ceremony's not for a few hours, by the way," Harry says, turning around.

Marlee shoots him an angry look. "Then why are we getting up right now?"

He holds up his hands in defense. "What? We have to go to the preparatory thingy before. It's kinda like a meet-up where you get to see all the other teams from your country... or, nation. Plus, we have to get our team jackets and the black pants we have to wear." Harry pulls on a pair of tennis shoes, looking at Marlee. "You should get ready."

Marlee rolls her eyes. "Fine. Give me a few minutes."

Harry taps his feet on the floor excitedly, waiting for Marlee to come out of the bathroom so they can leave. He's never been to an Opening Ceremony, and ditching one was not very hard, surprisingly. He's already planned it out, and this time through he's not going to do anything stupid and mess up his chances. No ditching ceremonies, no changing up the music.

No. Falling.

When the two of them find the rest of Team Canada, they immediately notice Matthew talking with his team, sneaking glances at Harry and Marlee. Matthew's team looks quite young and scared, they realize. Like Harry had just a few years before. Harry can't help but feel sorry for them, having Matthew as their coach.

"Look," Marlee says, nudging Harry to see Brett waving at them from across the big room. "He knows what to do."

Marlee takes off toward Brett at a brisk pace, and Harry has to jog a little to catch up to her. Brett is holding two heavy-looking red coats and black pants for each of them. In a bag at his side are two pairs of black shoes. They change into their required clothing, laughing at the sight of the Canada hats on their heads.

"They can't be serious," Marlee says, pointing to her hat. "We really have to wear these?"

Brett nods, laughing a little also. "From the looks of it, yes."

Harry shrugs. "At least the rest of our team will look bad with us."

Harry and Marlee stand in the middle of the pack, trying to make jokes about tripping in the middle of the parade.

Harry notices that he's standing next to one of Matthew's kids. Harry gives them a smile and says, "It'll be okay, dude. I've done this before, and no one trips. No one falls."

The short boy mumbles his thanks under his breath, looking down at the ground. He glares up at him a moment later.

"You okay?" Marlee asks, tugging on Harry's sleeve. "You look a little sick, babe."

"I'm--" he starts. His words are cut off by the leader of the group's voice. Oh, god.

"Here we go, guys," she yells, waving the big flag a little. Harry shuts his mouth, swallowing hard. They open the doors, following the other nations outside into the arena. The roar of the crowd strengthens when they see Harry and Marlee together. "What's happening?" Harry mumbles, staring straight forward.

Harry scans the vast crowd for his family, but finding them is futile--everyone looks the same. What was he going to do if he found them anyway? Wave?

The passing seconds feel like hours, when Harry finally spots Gemma's white-blond hair. She's standing up with Anne and Des on either side of her, cheering louder than anyone else.

Marlee smiles at him, pumping her fist in the air with everyone else. She happily waves at a few crowd-members, picking up Harry's tense hand and waving it with hers. "This isn't so bad," Marlee says in his ear.

Harry nods. A smile breaks across his face, finally setting him at ease. His heart is still beating a hundred miles per hour, but at least the feeling is good, not dreadful like it was before. Harry glances down at the boy on his right, who is looking greener by the minute.

"So it's begun," Harry says to himself.

Here we go.