Chapter Nine Noah
Chapter Nine
Noah
Noah blinked back at Celine. Here they were, not even ten minutes into their conversation. And somehow, not only did he already
know who his crusher was, but she expected him to cuff with her now.
He hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to the other girls yet. Wasn’t this supposed to be speed dating?
In an ideal world, Noah would have been able to tell Celine, “Hey, I think you’re cool. But I need to get to know other people
first before I commit.” But this wasn’t an ideal world. This was The Cuffing Game, where, by telling the girl in front of him “not yet,” he would automatically cause her to be eliminated.
Who came up with these stupid rules? Noah thought. But of course, he knew exactly who.
He shot Mia a glare before turning his attention back to Celine.
The girl’s eyes were wide with terror, like she’d belatedly realized what she’d just done.
Noah wanted to sigh or shake his head, something to help alleviate the pressure that was building up inside of him. But he couldn’t. He’d watched enough Love Is Blind and other reality TV shows to know that the camera was often unforgiving. Any sort of negative body language could reflect
badly on either himself or Celine.
He had no idea how popular The Cuffing Game was going to be. But he had to be careful, just in case. Anything could be misconstrued or made into a viral video by people
online.
He briefly closed his eyes and then gave Celine what he knew was a charming smile.
“Sure,” he told her. “I’ll cuff with you. I’d be an idiot to say no.”
It wasn’t a total lie. Sure, he still wished he could get to know the other girls. But Celine had not only nominated him to
be on this show but also quite literally risked it all for him. The least he could do was give her a shot.
Celine threw her arms around Noah.
He stiffened and put up his hands, too caught off guard to control his reaction.
“Oops, sorry,” Celine replied, backing away. “I got too excited there.”
He forced out a laugh, turning away so neither she nor the camera could see the discomfort in his eyes. “No worries. You just
surprised me.”
And it’s been several years since anyone’s hugged me like that, he added in his thoughts.
Of course, he couldn’t say that part aloud, since people would probably think there was something wrong with him.
But it was true. Growing up, the only people who really hugged him were his mom and his brother.
And it’d been three years since he had seen either of them in person.
Most people in school gave Noah a wide berth, like his social media fame created some kind of invisible force field around
him. Besides the occasional, brief bro hugs with his fraternity brothers, no one touched Noah, period. And he was perfectly
fine with that. In fact, it now startled him whenever someone did touch him.
“Um, Noah? Are you okay?” asked Mia.
Noah sharply looked up to see that all three girls were now staring at him. The camera was off, safely pointed down toward
the ground. Had they wrapped for the day? He hadn’t heard anything, but maybe he’d been too lost in his thoughts.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m still tired from the drive. I had an early start to my day, since I had a lot of posts to schedule
before I left.”
“Aww, I totally get it,” Celine replied. “Because same!”
But behind her, Mia narrowed her eyes, as if she could tell he’d told a half-truth.
He let out a quick breath, only now realizing how lightheaded he was.
“I’m done for today, right?” he asked Mia. “I’m gonna get some water. I think I might be getting altitude sickness.”
Mia’s face shifted to an unknowable expression, and it took Noah a few seconds to realize she was worried about him. Grumpy Mia, actually concerned about his well-being. Hell was about to freeze over.
“If you and Celine are both sure about your decision to cuff with each other, then yes, you’re done for now,” she said. “But
we need you to come back later tonight to film the cuffing reveals. Kallie and I are going to film another pair, but in the
meantime, go drink water and eat something. You really don’t look good. Celine, you should grab something, too. Help yourselves to anything that’s in the fridge, since we bought
those supplies for y’all.”
“Wow, thanks!” Celine exclaimed. “Come on, Noah! Let’s go eat dinner.”
Noah had been planning to chill in his room, but he said, “Sure.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten anything.
They wandered into the kitchen, where Noah drank some water and zeroed in on a box of Uncrustables, his favorite American
invention. He grabbed a sandwich while Celine grabbed a ready-made chicken Caesar salad.
He’d hoped to have a break from talking, and maybe even a chance to listen in on the other contestants, but that proved to
be impossible. While they ate their food at the kitchen table, Celine talked to him about everything, from her favorite foods
to all the makeup she put on today. It was like they were still on their date.
At first, Noah tried his best to engage in conversation, nodding and responding at appropriate times. But when he stopped
to chew, he had a horrifying realization.
It didn’t matter whether or not he responded. Celine kept talking anyway, sometimes even with her mouth full. There was a small camera right above their heads. Fortunately for Celine, she happened to be sitting with her back turned
toward it. The camera couldn’t see the salad in her mouth. But Noah could.
He snuck glances up at the kitchen clock and was relieved when, thirty minutes after they’d sat down to eat, Mia’s voice came
from the speakers: “Contestants! Please regather around the firepit.”
Noah let out a quiet sigh of relief. For the first time in his life, he was glad to hear Mia’s voice.
“Ooh,” Celine said. “I wonder who cuffed with who!”
They threw away their trash and headed back outside.
“Hi, all,” Mia said when everyone was settled around the firepit. “I hope you enjoyed getting to know each other. It’s time
to announce the cuffles. When it’s your turn, please stand up and link arms with your chosen match. Does anyone want to go
first?”
Celine jumped to her feet and loudly declared, “Noah and I have decided to cuff with each other!”
It took all of Noah’s self-control not to wince. If he told Celine the truth and said he was having second thoughts, he’d
embarrass her in front of everyone and get her eliminated. It was far better to let her down gently tomorrow, when they could hopefully each cuff with someone else.
Noah stood up and linked arms with Celine, giving everyone his best fake smile. “Haha, yeah, we have.”
Ever so slightly, Mia bit her lip. But before he could think much of it, she turned around and said, “Okay. We have our first cuffle of Day One. Anyone else want to go next?”
Matías and Shirin exchanged glances, then both stood up.
“We’ve decided to cuff with each other,” Shirin announced.
They also linked their arms and stood next to Noah and Celine.
“We both made it through the first round,” whispered Noah, raising his hand to give Matías a fist bump.
“Huh? Oh, y-yeah.”
Matías half-heartedly bumped his hand. Noah frowned. Granted, he had known Matías for only an hour or two, but his roommate,
who’d been loud and outgoing before, was now sweaty and quiet. He was even shaking a little. Noah made a mental note to check
in on Matías when they were back in their room.
Tiana cuffed with Jack, and Caleb with Bethany, leaving Carlos sitting by himself on the bench. They all turned to look at
him.
“Carlos,” Mia said. “I’m sorry but as the last remaining uncuffed individual, you are now eliminated from The Cuffing Game. Would you like to say any parting words before you leave?”
“Um, sure.” Carlos looked around at the other contestants. “Well, that was fun . . . I guess? I’m still not sure why I’m here,
to be honest. One of you had a crush on me, but no one fessed up. Which I understand, since it’s only Day One. If you’re my crusher and still want to chat at the end of this, DM me when you have your phone back, okay? Have fun, do crime, et cetera!”
“Except, maybe don’t actually do crime,” Mia said, leaping in front of the cameras. “Carlos, thank you so much for your time and for the . . .
very interesting goodbye. Everyone, thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed the first day of The Cuffing Game. You’re now free to go back to your rooms.”
The camera crew wrapped up for the night, and the contestants got up from the firepit.
“Good night, Noah!” Celine said, giving his arm a playful squeeze before she left.
Every muscle of Noah’s body tensed up. But he made himself relax. He wished she’d stop touching him.
“’Night,” he replied with the best fake smile he could manage.
Before he went back upstairs, Noah glanced over at Matías, who seemed to be in deep conversation with Shirin. Well, at least
that cuffle seemed to be a good match. Rather than stand around and accidentally third wheel, Noah decided to scout for the
overhead cameras before returning to bed.
It’d only been Day One of The Cuffing Game and already Noah wanted to sleep a thousand years.