Page 2 of Crashing into Love

“How are you feeling?” the reporter still pressed, trying to push the microphone between her parents, who moved together to block the woman’s path to Drew.

“Come on… After. Please. You know how I’m feeling,” Drew told her. “I’m devastated. But my girlfriend is about to race, so I need to be here to support her. Just give me a few minutes, okay? Go interview Italy and Poland, who are moving on or something.”

Drew didn’t even care that she was being rude. She knew this woman had a job to do, but she herself hadn’t even processed yet what it meant for her to be out of the competition. She was still holding her helmet in her hand as if she’d be racing later that day. Instead, she’d have the option to go home much earlier than she’d expected. She supposed that would depend on how well Andy did because Drew wasn’t going to go home if her girlfriend was still racing, so she angled her eyes up to the big screen that the people down at the bottom watched in order to see the whole race.

Drew looked over, noticing the Canadian racer, who had ended her dream of medaling at these Games, and saw her hugging a guy who looked to be about her age, so not her father; maybe a brother or a significant other. While Drew saw most of these racers throughout the season and knew their names, she usually didn’t know much else about them unless they were friends as well. She had no idea if that woman had a brother, a boyfriend, or a husband, and at this point, she didn’t care. She returned her attention to the screen and watched the racers, including her girlfriend, line up. The horn sounded, and Andy took off, along with the Swiss boarder, who was ranked number one in the world, a German racer, and a British one. The German was seventh in the world, and the Brit was thirteenth, so if Andy ran the race well, she could make it through, but it would be tough. So far, Andy had landed everything well in the top half, and Drew watched her slide into second place behind the Swiss.

“Come on, babe,” Drew said to herself as her mom took her hand in solidarity, and her dad nodded along as if the nods would help Andy win her race.

When the final big air jump came, Andy was in third, but she landed well, so it would come down to her and the German.

“Come on. Come on, Andy!” Drew yelled this time.

Andy lowered herself just a little more than the German and took the right line. She made it through microseconds before the other racer. Drew raised her hands in the air and moved back to the other side of the rope. She’d lost her board before Andy’s race, so she ran to her and pulled the woman in for a hug.

“Congrats, babe!”

“Thanks,” Andy said. “Drew, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. What–”

“It’s okay,” she lied. “You’re through. You’re through,” she said twice for some reason.

Then, Drew looked over Andy’s shoulder and saw the racer who had taken her out of the Olympic Games looking back at her. She looked sad and disappointed, but Drew wasn’t sure if that was because her own Olympics was over or because she’d ended Drew’s, too. After a second of staring, the woman turned and walked off.

CHAPTER 2

Selma Driscoll wasn’t ranked in the top five, but she’d been in the top ten throughout the entire season, moving up and down based on her performance. She’d been surprised at herself this year, too. Finally, things were starting to come together for her. She’d made the Canadian snowboard cross team and was the top-ranked Canadian there amongst the women. She’d been expected to make it at least through the first round of preliminaries and into the second round. Since only four racers would be in the final, she hadn’t been sure she’d make it that far, but she’d tried to have that confidence they told all athletes they needed to have.

In the great year she’d had leading up to the Games, she’d ranked as high as six, which meant that it was entirely possible she’d make it to the semis. Then, if she raced well there, she could be in the final, and in the final, three of the four boarders would get medals. That was how she talked about it when she was at home and staring into her mirror.

“You’re number eight in the world. You can take anyone in the first heat. You just have to show up. Then, in the next heat, you show up again. You’re in the semis then, and you can kick ass there, too. After that, when you’re in the final, you’re more likely to get a medal than not. So, tight lines, good air, stay low, and don’t mess up,” she told herself. “Then, you’re in, and you’re coming home with a medal around your neck.”

She’d repeated that mantra just that morning, and now, here she was, walking back to her room in Olympic Village housing, wishing she were at home already because she’d not only screwed it up for herself but for someone else, too. And not just anyone else – she’d screwed it up for Drew Oakes, who was a combination hero and crush for Selma, who had discovered she was bisexual by watching videos of Drew boarding years ago. Nine years Drew’s junior, Selma had gotten into snowboarding and skiing as a kid, but it was watching Drew that had her interested in boardercross.

She’d never actually been in the same preliminary heat with Drew before, but she’d been in a few semis and finals with her. They’d exchanged pleasantries, but that was about it. Drew wasn’t the type of boarder who was there to make friends with anyone. Still, the woman had always been polite to her and everyone else. Selma figured that she was there to race and win, but if she made friends along the way, that would be good, too. Not Drew, of course, who was one of the most focused people Selma had ever come across. It was one of the things she found most interesting about Drew, but it also meant that Selma hadn’t ever really introduced herself.

She’d only been boarding professionally for four years, starting on the pro circuit at age twenty after trying out the half-pipe and doing okay there but not liking it as much as she thought she would. She’d never gotten anywhere on the circuit there. After watching Drew race on video, though, she’d decided to race an empty boardercross course with a friend during a competition, and that was when she knew that was what she’d wanted to do. Selma had been rising in the ranks for Team Canada and in the world rankings ever since.

Now, she was a disappointment to her family, friends, her country, and herself. She walked into the room she shared with another snowboarder and flopped down on the twin bed that reminded her of her old childhood bed. She held the stuffed panda that she’d brought with her to her chest and stared up at the ceiling. Her only reason for being here was done, so she would be going home soon with no other reason to stick around. Selma certainly didn’t want to be at the closing ceremony now, even though it was just in a few days.

She wondered if Drew would be going home or if she’d stick around for it. Selma knew that because of an injury, Drew hadn’t been on the team previously, and while half-pipe and other snowboard events often had very young competitors, snowboard cross tended to have athletes that were a little older. All of the women in the heat today had been older than Selma. In fact, the youngest female racer overall was twenty-one years old. Drew was thirty-three, if Selma remembered correctly, which she did. Drew had had a chance four years ago but had missed out. At twenty-five, she’d been an alternate to the team because the USA had had the top three ranked boarders at the time, and Drew had been number five back then. Yes, Selma was pathetic for knowing all those details about someone she hardly knew, but Drew was the whole reason she was here, and on top of that, Selma was supposed to know her competition.

“You’re not sulking in here,” Miranda said when she walked into the room and saw Selma lying there clutching her panda.

“What else am I supposed to be doing? Booking my flight?”

“No. You need to eat. Come on. Let’s grab food downstairs and maybe walk around. I bet you could use some fresh air. It’s stale as fuck in here.”

“I was outside all day today.”

“Just a walk around the building.” Miranda sat on her own bed. “Come on, Selma. It happens to all of us.”

“You got through today.”

“I did, yeah, but the Czech and Austrian crashed in my heat and didn’t make it.”

“I’m done. In less than a minute, it’s all over, but not just for me – I’m responsible for Drew Oakes not medaling in the Olympics. She was supposed to win at least a silver. And she’s beaten Magda twice this season already, so she had a chance at gold. Now, because of me, she doesn’t anymore.”

“That’s the sport. There’s contact even when we don’t want it, Selma,” Miranda said with a heavy shrug of her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s eat. Then, if you want to book that flight, I’ll help however, but you should stay for the closing ceremony. You know there’s no guarantee any of us will get back here in four years. It might be the only one you get.”

---