It's on
We have been gifted a bus from one of our sponsors.
I find it crazy to have my face on the side of a coach bus.
We are only driving about half an hour to the track.
And Joey's surprise was that...
Nike Canada made us tracksuits.
Amarion's team is repping Adidas.
That's no surprise.
He has a deal with them.
We arrive and do an entrance. Both teams walk alongside each other out of respect for the competition and sport.
We get started very quickly.
My team has a coordinated warmup.
We are on the fun side. We aren't taking this seriously.
We have a couple of special events after all of the heptathlon events.
Both men and women will be taking part in the woman's heptathlon.
Ashton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton will be hosting this two-day event.
After a bunch of representatives speaking, Amarion and I talk a bit about our chosen charities.
I go first.
"Hey everyone, on behalf of Team Jozzy, our selected charity is WE, also known as Me to WE. They are a group that helps families and communities, locally and globally. They have five pillars of which their work is divided up in. They are education, water, health, food, and opportunity. We have personally selected water. If our team wins at the end of this all, there is an estimated ten thousand dollars and counting that will be donated towards building water pumps in Ecuador. So to my competition, I have one thing to say. It's on!"
And our audience applauds.
Next, Amarion speaks about how he wanted to help close to home because he spent a lot of time at SickKids when he was younger spending time with his older brother before his time was up.
"... And to Team Jozzy, it's on!"
First up, the men are competing in the 100-metre hurdles.
There are eighth lanes. We made a roster for each event. And for this event on my team Kezie, Tom, Olu, and Andre are up against Amarion, Carlos, Paul and Remus.
Afi comes over. She is late! But it's okay. She's done a lot, and I'm happy with the way everything is.
The boys line up, and Team Mari looks mean. I told my team to have fun.
And Kezie comes out on top. Amarion was a close second and Andre third.
We decided to not know our points until the end of everything.
The team with the most accumulated points wins for their charity.
Next up are the girls.
Myself, Nia , Bev and Jen take our places. And, of course, I'm in lane three. The same number I am repping.
We are up against Katarina, Lisa, Mel and Hillary.
I already know Mel has this in the bag. But Nia specializes in hurdles.
And what do you know Melissa won and second place were apart from two seconds. But at least Nia and I got on her tail. We both tripped our last hurdle but didn't make it fall.
We all take some time to cool down before the next event. The crowd loves the show.
The next event was the one I dreaded.
High jump.
But I'm not competing in this, and I'm very happy about that decision.
First up is Joey. There's no doubt in my mind that he's got this.
He cleared 1.88 with ease.
So did Olu and Tom. Kezie got it on his second attempt.
All of Amarion's men got over with no issues.
Then all of my men clear 1.92 metres.
Carlos and Francisco don't get it till their third attempt. They are a bit on the shorter side of things.
My team overall is better at high jump. My women did an amazing job.
If I was out there, I wouldn't have gotten over the bar after the third raise.
The next event is; shot put.
Amarion is a heavyweight. This event has his name written all over it.
For this event, the men do have a heavier ball.
Mari takes his place in the circle and gives off a million-dollar smile before raising the ball at neck level.
It was a clean throw.
It was also dangerously far for a first throw.
The crowd cheers as his first attempt landed on the 23-meter mark.
It's a personal best.
Next up is Tom, who got around the 21-meter mark.
My guys didn't do as well as I thought they would've.
Mari's team is mostly bulky men, so I'm not surprised.
Yet I know my ladies can bring it.
I start with a 17.7 it's not bad.
But Bev blows everyone away by getting a 19.3 on her first. She quickly made it up to the top of the scoreboard. Yet the rest of my ladies didn't do as well as I thought either.
The last event of the day is the 200-metre dash.
I personally pull Joey aside before he walks to his lane. And the camera most definitely followed.
They weren't close enough to hear me, thank God.
I would probably cause a rage if the people heard me. We lift our singlets over our mouths as we talk.
But Joey looks at me like I'm crazy when I'm finished talking.
"Izzy, I love you but, I'm not throwing the 200." He says.
"Joey, if you go out there and leave him in the dust, what's the point of the bonus 100 metres? Take third. Let De Grasse handle this. Let Mari take second. Keep it close but, not enough to make him think otherwise."
"Okay, I get it." He nods in understatement.
"Now go, they're waiting," I speak normally and gesture to all the other contenders.
Joey still has a minute before the race starts without him.
"You know what they're all waiting for." He's talking about the audience.
I specifically told Joey no PDA today for a reason.
I'm not creating this sports love story the people want.
I push Joey, "I'm not kissing you. Get away from me."
Yet he gets a hold of my waist and his lips find mine.
He laughs, pulling away, and I roll my eyes, walking away.
"What did you tell him?" Afi scares the crap out of me.
"To come in third," I whisper, and all my ladies heard me and immediately question me.
I explain myself in a low voice.
"Andre has the best shot at winning the 200. I think Joey would make a good second, but I can't have him beat Mari just yet. We need a build for the 100 metres specifically for both of them."
They get me.
And everything I said comes true.
Joey comes back to me and flicks me. "If I couldn't win, you can't either." He narrows his eyes at me.
I gape at him like he's crazy.
"If I lose to her, they'll think something is up," I say.
"Keep it close." And he pushes me towards the track.
I beat Katarina by two-tenths of a second.
And that was day one.
I won't lie. This is going to be a close competition.
...
For the fun of it, we rented out a floor out of a hotel for both teams.
Yet, in the last-minute decision, my team chose a penthouse suite.
Yesterday was exhausting after the 200-metre sprint.
We took time to take pictures and autographs with fans, which drained all of us.
When we got to the hotel, we all took showers, ate and went to bed.
I wake up early, feeling refreshed.
I yawn and lift my head off of Joey's chest.
"Easterbrook?" I poke his face.
And he shakes it off, still in a deep slumber.
Joey is a heavier sleeper than me. I know he'll get up eventually, so I walk into the en-suite and brush my teeth.
I get dressed in the second style Nike made for us, and I head to the main area.
Everyone is already up.
"Wow, I thought I was the first one up." I laugh.
Able practically jumps me.
I grab her legs, so neither of us falls.
"Izzy, you were. You are just weird. Who brushes their teeth for ten minutes?" She says as I walk us to the couch.
I drop her onto it and glare, "do you know how much I went through to have my teeth looking like this? Do you want to see what I looked like as a 14-year-old!"
"Yes!" I hear from the top of the stairs.
I turn around and lock eyes with Joey.
"I wasn't talking to you," I say. Out of all people, I don't want Joey to see.
Joey walks down the stairs, and Able picks my phone out of my pocket.
"Able. you don't know my password."
She just laughs and types away.
Joey pulls me against his chest, trapping me in his arms.
"Izzy. You are too easy. Make a more difficult password. And you honestly don't look that bad." She says, and all eight of my team members surround her to see.
I groan.
"Able send that to my contact please, and thank you," Joey says.
Able looks at me, and I'm giving her pleading eyes.
She smirks, and Joey's phone pings.
I let out a huff when Joey let's go of me, "I'm eating breakfast with Team Amarion."
I slip out of the door.
I take the elevator down, and his whole team and Elijah look at me confused.
"Yes, I know my team's breakfast room is two doors down. Yet my team is against me this morning, so I'm joining you for breakfast." I sigh.
All eyes go to their leader.
Amarion's phone pings.
And he looks up at me, "they are against you because they all have a picture of you when you were 14?" He laughs.
I pull at my hair, "Mari, it's not funny! Who sent that to you?"
"Who do you think? It was Joey. You are always welcomed to hang with the winning team Iz." He chuckles.
I can't with these people.
I walk out of the room and head towards the lobby, after small talk.
I see Liv, Lo, Afi and Stell. I pull them back outside.
"Let's go out for breakfast," I say. And they don't oppose.
We eat at a Denny's. They gave us a meal on the house. They are Team Jozzy supporters.
"So why are we eating out?" Stella asks.
"Everyone in that damn hotel is against me," I grumble.
"Izzy, how are you going to say the person you're sleeping with is against you?" Liv laughs.
I get so flustered, "the first day I met you, I told you I'm not sleeping with him. It's been over a year, and let me tell you, I am not sleeping with him!"
Afi joins the conversation, "you two are always with each other. What do you do?"
I hate girl talk. Especially when my sister and my boyfriend's sister are here and act like this is a normal thing! "We watch a lot of movies, workout. We kinda just hangout. Joey really likes doing my hair, experimenting with different styles. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen actually... and I sound like the most boring person ever, don't I?"
"Actually, I've never seen you more relaxed. And you watching a movie sounds almost impossible, just like you in the kitchen." Stella laughs at me.
Lola jumps in the conversation, "you and Joey are good together. Don't listen to what other people say you should do in your relationship."
"Lola, are you dating anyone?"
She scoffs, "Please, I'd rather be single. The day I date someone is the day I lose my mind."
The girls and I have a great time until we decide to go back.
I feel bad about this free meal and leave cash on the counter when we left.
When we get back to the hotel, both teams are in the lobby and look stressed.
"Uh, you guys, we have a bus to get on. Go change!" I order.
Joey, Andre and Nia walk up to me, "Izzy, you need to stop disappearing."
"I was with Afi, Lola, Liv and Stella. If you were worried, why didn't you call any of them?"
"Because if you were actually missing, Afi would skin all of us alive!" Joey raises his voice.
So he kept it from her? Afi would be the person actually capable of finding me if I was ever missing, forget it. We don't have time for this.
"You people have my phone. The last person I saw was Team Mari. Who told me my manager was in the building. Now we really need to leave."
We get down to the track late.
The crowd didn't seem to mind as they cheered louder than yesterday when both teams entered alongside each other.
The first event is the javelin throw.
Carlos goes second last.
Everyone before him has done well but, he is the one everyone is waiting for.
I mumble nonsense as he walks up to his starting place.
He starts really far back, building up his momentum, and when he releases the javelin. I know we are in trouble.
He lands on his stomach with a yell. I know it was a clean throw.
83.95 I hate to admit it, but that is a beautiful first attempt. He makes it to the top of the board.
Joey is last and growls when Carlos walks by him.
He says something, and Carlos laughs.
His laughter was strong and confident. But anyone who pays attention to detail knows it was fake. It's full of fear and regret.
I don't know what Joey said, but Carlos specializes in javelin.
Joey always has an eye-catching form with everything he does. He's studied the books. He is nearly textbook perfect when it comes down to these things.
But when he releases the javelin he is so far back.
He should've gone closer to the line.
I scrunch up my face, and Joey catches my gaze and smiles.
Why is h- everyone gasps?
I look up at the screen.
88.86
I bite my tongue.
Joey walks up to me, smirking, "so I basically heard your thoughts screaming and judging me. Are you done doubting me, Princess?"
He has an idiotic smile on his face.
"Fine, you're right, but what did you tell Carlos?" I ask him.
"Just some stuff along the lines of, anything he can do, I can do better." He smirks, then his face drops, becoming serious, his dark eyes somehow get darker. Joey leans towards my ear and whispers, "and that I'll make him regret laying his hands on you."
Chills.
When it's Carlos' next turn, he has his game face on. Joey must have gotten in his head a little bit.
His throw is stellar. It looks almost too perfect. When it lands, it looks like it's exactly where Joey's first attempt was.
It's going to be close.
We look up to the screen and 88.98
Carlos' personal best.
Joey shakes it off, but his throw didn't make it far enough. 78.93
We are only doing three attempts of the javelin throw.
Joey kicks the ground walking back to the bench.
I glare at him, and he freezes, catching my gaze.
I turn to look at Afi beside me, "we'll be back." Afi and I have established a new level of trust.
I take him away from the track. He has a good 20 minutes before he has his final attempt.
"Joey, we are supposed to be having fun. You are showing bad sportsmanship."
"He doesn't deserve to be here."
I know that Joey's annoyed by his presence but he needs to learn that you are always going to run into people you don't want to be near.
When he cools off, we head back, just in time for Carlos' last throw.
He crosses the line.
Carlos fouled his last throw.
I know that Joey's personal best is 89.90, I know he can do it.
"EASTERBROOK!" I yell before he steps up to the lane.
All attention goes to me, and I don't care right now. If Joey loses to Carlos, he won't forgive himself.
I've watched him, and what I'm about to say will either ruin his chances or let him surpass his limits.
I lift my right leg and nod, giving him a look that tells him to trust me.
He balls his hand up in a fist and taps over his heart twice, then showing me the number three with his fingers.
I silently chuckle and repeat his motion, yet instead of a three, I put up a four.
The crowd awes. I guess I fed into the storyline after all.
Joey takes a deep breath.
Everyone is silent.
He runs and lets out a battle cry as he launches the javelin off his right foot.
Joey is right-handed, but he is left-footed.
Joey doesn't even look as the pole flies through the air.
As javelin drops the crowd roars.
My jaw drops. I- he...
Joey looks at me and doesn't know if it's a good or bad look.
"Look, you idiot!" I point towards the field.
Joey's new personal best, 92.72 metres.
He runs up to me like a child and pulls me into his arms.
"I knew you could do it," I tell him and he thanks me repeatedly.
"Joey!"
We hear from the other bench.
Carlos.
"Nice throw." He says.
Joey bares his teeth. I snap him out of it. "Breathe. Pretend he's not here if it bothers you that much."
He nods and heads to the boys.
I know my girls got this in the bag.
Who do y'all think is gonna win the charity event?