Chapter 29 – Opening Ceremony

Connie knocked on the hotel door and turned back to Regan and Marie. When the door opened, the girl's stood still and started to laugh. Rob stood in front of them wearing the USA Opening Ceremony clothes. A white cowboy hat, a brown leather jacket, with fur around the collar and sleeves, a shirt that was white, but had the same color of the jacket on it with two blue strips above and below it. Marie wiped her eyes because she laughed so hard.

"Oh, wait the best part is that the gloves match the coat," Rob told them taking the cowboy hat off. "Whoever thought this outfit was a good idea, needs to be kicked in the ass."

"They sure do," Silk said coming up.

"Oh my God," Marie breathed before cracking up again at the image of her boyfriend. Marie took out her camera and took a picture. "I got some blackmail. I need to get everybody's picture in this outfit."

Silk just shook his head, took a hold of her hand, led her over to his room. After they gave a hello kiss, Silk placed the white cowboy hat on her head. Marie laughed and struck a pose. She took the hat off and placed it on the bed. "My mom and dad loved you last night. Jill thinks you're great."

"I'm hoping to see Jill in order to invite her to sit with us. I want to hang out with her," Marie stated.

"She said you invited her to join you guys," he replied. "I'm thrilled that you want to hang out with her."

Marie wrapped her arms around Silk and smiled up at him. "I want to get to know her. She's your sister and she's really important to you."

Silk smiled back at her and gave her a kiss. "Just hearing that makes me love you even more."

Marie smiled, unhooked herself in his arms, went over and sat down on one of the beds. "Are you nervous about marching out there?"

"No. There are a billion others with us. It's exciting, the opening ceremony for the Olympics. It just seems like yesterday we were trying out," Silk told her, sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders.

Marie snuck an arm around his waist and placed her head on his shoulders. "It seems longer than seven months." Marie looked up at him and smiled even more.

They started to kiss and eventually Marie's back hit the bed. They didn't hear the door open until a few whistles were heard. Their eyes opened, Silk quickly took his hand out from under her shirt, she untangled her leg from his, and they sat up. Bah, Christian, Pav, and Christoff weren't the only ones standing in the doorway. Pav's parents were with them. Marie put a hand over her mouth, but was smiling and blushing. "Silky!"

"Hi," both said before standing up. They were introduced to Pav's parents and right after that they left to go over to Rob's room, chuckling along the way.

"Where is Rizzo?" Marie asked sitting down on one of the beds in the room.

"He went to get his parents, his sisters, and brother. He called when we got here to tell us they were running late," Regan replied. "What were you guys doing the last ten minutes?"

"Just talking," Marie answered.

Regan gave her a look. "Yeah. Sure."

Marie lightly slapped her shoulder. "What did she do now?" A voice asked opening the door. She turned toward Rizzo, leaned forward, and whispered something in his ear. "Oh really? She said that?" He looked over at Regan, who had a questioning look on her face. "Bah wouldn't be able to handle her."

"What?" Regan gasped. "Marie, I can't believe you would say that."

Marie smiled and shook her head. "Rizzo is just playing with you." She watched as Regan nervously was introduced to Rizzo's parents and siblings. After two minutes, Regan calmed down and started to relax. One of Rizzo's sisters came with them, and when Marie saw the girl, she looked taken aback at seeing Rizzo being all affectionate with her friend. "I think someone is jealous," she remarked to Connie.

Silk leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Marcy has always liked Rizzo."

"Have they ever done anything?"

"She's nineteen. She's always been his kid sister's friend," he replied. "He can't stand her."

"Why is she here, then?" Marie asked.

"Terry thinks of her like family. They're like twins, like Connie and you," he told her. "They're really close."

Marie nodded. "Ah."

The Eruizone's met Connie, Rob, and Marie, in which for Marie she found out that they were all nice. After, the girls and the family left for the stadium. The girls walked behind the family and Marie watched as Marcy kept taking quick glances at Regan. Should I be worried? she thought. When they got to the section, Marie saw Jill and noticed that there were quite a few seats around her that still hadn't been taken.

"Hey there, Jill. Are those seats free?" Marie asked her scooting toward her in the row.

Jill smiled and nodded. "I just got here, but mom and ad are over there." She pointed behind the group to the all the moms and dads. "I was watching for you guys."

Marie turned back to the group and waved them over. Mr. and Mrs. Eruzione waved bye to her and went over and sat with the adults. When Terry, Marcy, Sophie (Rizzo's other sister), and Vincent (Rizzo's brother) got over there, they gave Jill a hug. Marie started to wave her American flag around, but stopped after a bit because she felt weird.

"Who is Doctor Charles Morgan Keen?" Connie asked about the guy who was going to lit the Olympic flame.

"I know he's a doctor," Regan replied.

Marie looked over at Jill and rolled her eyes. Jill chuckled. "How long have you all known each other?"

"I've known Connie since freshmen year, Regan since half-way through our second year. Connie and I met at orientation, Regan was in one of her classes," Marie told her.

"Oh please, she pays me to be her friend," Regan remarked.

"Oh yeah that reminds me, did you get the latest check?" Marie joked.

"Not yet," Regan replied.

Connie leaned forward to look at Jill and caught the amused look on her face. "Once in a while they're like this. You'll get use to it. Regan and I sat by one another through the whole semester, and we talked. I invited her out to hang out with us."

Jill nodded. "I like your friendship."

"Are your friends nice?" Marie asked.

Jill tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear. "Michele, Brittany, Amanda, and Helen are the greatest friends I could ever ask for. I couldn't imagine them not being in my life."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Marie inquired.

Jill shook her head. "But there is a guy in one of my classes."

"Is he cute?"

"I think he is. He doesn't play any sports. He's one of those guys who is there to get a degree and become a successful guy one day," Jill replied.

Connie and Regan switched seats so Regan can talk to Rizzo's sisters and brother. Marie saw Marcy give Regan a look and just sighed. Jill looked over and understood.

"Marcy has had a crush on Rizzo since she discovered boys," Jill whispered. "She's tried getting his attention."

"Dave told me. Do you think she'd do something?"

"No, she wouldn't dare. She may be jealous, but she wouldn't dare do that to a happy Rizzo," Jill told her. "She didn't do anything when he dated his last girlfriend."

Marie nodded. "What class is the guy in? What is his name?" she asked after her worry disappeared for her friend.

Jill shyly smiled. "Peter. It's Ancient World. We're learning about the Pharaohs in Egypt, the Athenians and Spartans, and the Roman Empire."

"Is it a fun class?" Connie asked.

"It's interesting. Some of the stuff the teacher mentions is really interesting. The Pharaohs married their family members when they became King or Queen. I guess it was to keep the crown in the family," Jill said.

"Like the Count of Monte Cristo," Marie replied. "I mean, Mercedes was in love with Edmund, but he got arrested and she married her cousin. Does that make any sense?"

"What Marie is trying to say is that back then it wasn't strange to marry cousins," Connie confirmed.

"Yeah."

"Actually for the Pharaohs they married their sisters. Some of them did have kids with one another," Jill stated. "Gross to us, but to them that was normal. I love history. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm going to be a history teacher."

"That's cool," Marie replied. "History was one of my best subjects in school."

"I would love to go to Greece one day to just look at the architectures and sculptures," Jill told them. "To see where the first Olympic Games were played."

"That would be fun," Marie and Connie agreed.

"Some people only learn about the Athenians, but the Spartans were really interesting, too. At the age of seven, the boys would enter the army. They were raised to be apart of it. When they entered, they had their funerals then. It was like they were already dead."

"I wonder how the mothers felt," Marie wondered.

"The mothers were use to that."

"If I remember correctly, the Spartans were the ones that fought against the Persians right?" Connie stated.

"The Trojan war."

"That was the war where one side built a horse as a peace symbol or something, but they used it to kill their enemy when they were sleeping," Connie said.

Jill nodded. "Yeah. The other thing that's really interesting about them is that they slept with their mentors. Back then for them, it wasn't considered weird to sleep with their same gender."

"That is not strange. Alexander the Great had a love affair with his best friend," Marie stated.

"I'm assuming you are a reader," Jill said.

Marie nodded. "Yeah. I love to read. That's apart of history you won't hear in class in high school. I took a history class a few years ago, but it wasn't what you are studying right now. I just finished The Hobbit this morning. Your brother gave it to me for Christmas."

Jill smiled because of the look on Marie's face when she mentioned that. "You really love him, don't you?"

Marie nodded. "Like I said, he's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"What do you like about him?"

"His heart. He's such an amazing man. He listens to me rant about stupid things. Never makes me feel stupid," Marie gushed. "Never makes me feel worthless."

"Did someone tell you that?"

"I had two terrible, bad relationships. When I met my second boyfriend in freshmen year, I wasn't really self-confident. He took that and mentally abused me. My third boyfriend just made my life exciting for a bit, but turned it upside down." She lowered her voice. "He used me for sex. Never date someone who acts like an asshole," Marie answered.

"What about the guy you dated before my brother?" she asked.

Marie explained, "Simon helped me through a rough time. I swore off guys after Will. He broke my heart. I was miserable, bitchy, life just seemed to suck. I knew him from high school, but hadn't seen him since then. We met again at a wedding. He asked for my phone number, we went on a date. I hadn't expected anything to come of it."

"When did you realize you were falling for my brother?"

"Well, to be honest, not until after we broke up. Simon had said something about maybe me finding the right guy already. He didn't break it off because of Dave. It's a whole entirely different story, which I won't get into. So anyway, after he said that, I realized I had fallen for one of my closest guy friends. I had talked to other people so much about him. I noticed before how cute he was."

"So… when you were dating this Simon guy?"

"Yes. It hit me like a ton of bricks, but I wasn't sure. I kept having dreams about him, every time I was around him I couldn't help thinking he was cute and how much I really wanted to be with him. I wanted to know what it was like to kiss him. Do you have those same feelings when around Peter?"

Jill nodded and swiped a piece of her hair away from her face. "You told him two days before he left to come home for Christmas?"

Marie nodded. "I bit the bullet." She wouldn't have dared to tell her what really happened. "I was worried that he wouldn't feel the same way, but it turned out he did."

"I'm happy for you two. I am so glad you came into his life. His ex broke his heart when they went off to college."

"He mentioned that."

"Nearly tore him in two."

Marie hesitated for a minute because lately she has been concerned about the long distance, but deep down she knew nothing would end what the two have. "We discussed the future after all of this. We told you guys last night what the plan was if he went straight to New York. I had a major concern over it because I'm finishing up. I thought what ifs, but I know we'll last through it. I mean the next three months will go by. I'm trying to go day by day, instead of next week, two months, or a year from now."

"I was scared about that," Jill confessed. "I just didn't want to see him get hurt again. Now that we've met and talked, I have a good feeling."

The rest of the time before the opening ceremony started, they talked. When the music started, the group cheered with the crowd. The Olympic committee did a good job with putting on a show. When the U.S. teams came in after all of the other countries, the crowd stood up and cheered for them. When the Olympic flame came in, cameras were going off like crazy. During that time, Marie had used three rolls of film.