For Real(38)
My sister looks surprised, though I can’t imagine why—she’s always picked early for things. “Oh,” she says. “Okay.”
“Miranda, Steve arrived forty-five minutes before you, so he’s given you a significant lead,” Isis says. “That’s very flattering.”
Miranda beams at Steve. “Wow, thank you. I’m happy to be your partner.” She moves to stand next to him and touches his arm lightly as she says something in a voice too low for me to hear. He blushes, and the camera guys jostle each other to get a good reaction shot. She barely knows him, but somehow my sister’s already managing to make Steve feel like a rock star. I wish I knew how to do that.
When it’s Vanessa’s turn, she chooses Blake, who’s currently standing arm in arm with Philadelphia. “Bitch,” I hear Philadelphia mutter. Before she relinquishes her big blond prize, she stands on her toes and kisses him possessively on the cheek, leaving behind a smudge of sparkly lip gloss.
It’s Troy’s turn now. He looks around at the remaining girls, sizing us up like he’s at one of those restaurants where you get to pick your lobster live from the tank. “Okay, I’m not gonna lie,” he says. “If I’m gonna end up carrying my partner around again, I’m gonna need someone a hellllllll of a lot smaller than Janine. Girl, you are smokin’, but you are freakin’ tall. These guns have their limits.” He pats his biceps, then flexes for the cameras. I feel sorry for whoever gets him.
The moment I think it, he points straight at me. “Claire, right? You’re tiny. I’ll take you.”
Oh crap. Somehow it hadn’t even occurred to me that this could happen. I’m not the kind of person who tends to get singled out by strippers, especially when there are girls like Philadelphia in the mix. As I stand there with my mouth hanging open, Isis prompts, “Claire, please stand with your new partner.”
Before I do, I glance back at Will, and he gives me a sad little wave. “Bye, Dominique, I’ll miss you,” he whispers, and I know he definitely would’ve picked me if he’d had a chance. The cameras follow me as I walk over to stand next to Troy. “Thanks for choosing me,” I manage to say, but it comes out sounding pretty unenthused.
Troy doesn’t seem to notice. He wraps one of his giant arms around my shoulders and says, “Fasten your seat belt, baby. You’re gonna have some funnnnn with Troy.” With his free hand, he high-fives Blake, whose other arm is tucked snugly around Vanessa. Why couldn’t Steve have picked me instead of Miranda? I could have handled a nice gentle nerd.
Janine’s up next, and when she requests Aidan, Samir’s eyes widen with outrage. “What the hell?” he sputters.
“Sorry, dude,” Janine says. “Aidan’s faster.” Miranda smirks, and when Samir glances at her, she innocently picks at something on the front of her shirt, drawing his attention to the Team Revenge logo. I should be loving this whole exchange, but it’s hard to concentrate when there are so many other things weighing on me. Like Troy’s fifty-pound arm, for instance.
It’s Will’s turn now, and he says, “I’d like to race with the lovely Philly, please.”
Philly? Seriously? Since when are they on a nickname basis? Doesn’t Will remember that she’s the one who spilled our tray of water on purpose? Then again, maybe that’s why he picked her—if you know for a fact someone plays dirty, it’s best to have her as an ally. It’s good strategic thinking. But it still makes my stomach twist when she goes to stand next to him and takes his hand, twining their fingers together. At least Samir is last in place with Tawny, who looks extremely annoyed.
“I hope you’re all pleased with your new partners,” Isis says with a custard-sweet smile, though it’s very obvious some of us aren’t. “I’ll see you next time for another episode of Around the World in Eighty Dates. Where in the world will you find your soul mate?” She says the tagline a couple more times in case the producers don’t like the first take, and then the crew starts packing up their equipment.
“All right, everybody,” Isis says. “There are two vans here to take you to the hotel. When we arrive, the producers will be doing interviews with you, so please don’t jump in the shower or go to sleep right away. After that, we need to give our wonderful crew some time off to rest, and you must stay in your rooms alone until the cameras are up and running again. We wouldn’t want our viewers to miss out on a single moment of your bonding time with your new dates! In the morning, transportation will be available from the hotel to the starting line every twenty minutes. You will depart twelve hours after the faster person on your team arrived at the Cupid’s Nest. Anyone have questions?” Nobody does. We’re all too tired to think straight.
I try to maneuver myself into the same van as Miranda, but she disappears into the rear one before I can reach her, and I’m herded into the one in front. I lean my head against the window, too tired to hold it up myself, and pain shoots through my neck—I must have twisted funny while I was sleeping on my pack earlier. I knead the knotted muscles with my fingers, trying to work out the kinks.
“You okay?” asks Troy, who has just slid onto the seat next to me. For a second, he seems more like a human than a caricature—his voice sounds gentler, and he’s not drawing out all his vowels in that ridiculous way. But then he destroys the illusion by reaching behind me and touching the base of my neck with his giant hand. “Does your neck hurt? I can work on that for you, if you want.”