Chapter Fourteen Mia
Chapter Fourteen
Mia
Kissing on the second date? On camera?
Mia was glad the viewers wouldn’t see the disgusted look on her face. She was baffled by how fast the scene had escalated.
One moment, Noah and Celine were talking about Noah not having any hobbies besides work—which Mia related so hard with, she
couldn’t not laugh—and the next, the cuffle was kissing!
Mia knew from her sisters’ recaps of Love Island and other dating shows that kissing on the second date wasn’t too bad. Apparently some people even made out in the first episode. But it just wasn’t for her. She’d kissed only one other person
in her entire life, and it was Lacie Donovan during their junior year homecoming dance, when it’d felt like the stars had
aligned and they were destined to be together. And then Lacie had dumped her not even a month after, anyway. Because that
was usually how Mia’s luck in love went.
As grossed out as she was by Noah and Celine’s kiss, Mia had to admit that, in the context of the show, it’d seemed right. And, curled up together by the firepit, they looked super cute together, too. The viewers back at home were going to
eat this moment up.
As the showrunner, Mia was satisfied. This, after all, was exactly what she’d wanted. Her very own show. An amazing crew to
help her produce it. And talent like Noah and Celine, who were interesting enough to hook audiences so people would want to
tune in to the show every day. They were perfect, even better than she thought they could be.
But then why did Mia feel so . . . off? A sick feeling nestled into the pit of her stomach. If she hadn’t been too caught
up with the viewers’ reactions to the first episode to eat anything all day, she’d have thought it was because she had food
poisoning.
I’m probably just hungry, Mia thought, even when a part of her knew that wasn’t the real reason.
She shook her head at herself. This was only the second day of filming, and there was still a lot of work to do. Something
could go wrong at any moment. She didn’t have time to get distracted by her complicated feelings about Noah.
Before she could dwell on them for long, though, Alex came running back outside.
“Mia! Come quick! Damien told me to come get you.”
Kallie swung the camera toward Mia and Alex.
“Sorry!” Mia shouted at Celine and Noah. They jerked apart. “Y’all are done for the day! You were great!”
Heart pounding, Mia ran back into the house with Alex and Kallie. As her eyes took a few milliseconds to adjust to the bright light of the dining room, Mia hoped and prayed that no one was hurt.
Bethany stood at the table with a chair fallen behind her, while Jack had his hands outstretched like he was trying—unsuccessfully—to
calm her down. The other contestants stood in a circle around the two, while Damien was recording everything from a corner
of the room.
Mia didn’t know much about Bethany, other than that she was also from Texas, albeit a whole different part of the state than
Mia herself. With her sharp green eyes and her long blond hair tied into a high ponytail, Bethany reminded Mia of one of the
cheerleaders at her high school.
“Well, then I don’t know why we’re wasting our time,” Bethany was saying, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Good luck with
whoever you end up with. I’m leaving!”
She stomped away, leaving Jack alone in her figurative dust.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Alex whispered before they ran after Bethany.
This could not be happening. “Cut?” Mia said in a shaky voice. She let out a quick breath and yelled, “Cut!”
After Damien and Kallie stopped recording, Mia asked Jack, “What happened?”
“Well, she confessed that I’m her crush,” he replied, looking at her with wide eyes. “And I said I didn’t feel the same way.
She didn’t take it very well.”
“Ah,” said Mia. Her heart still felt like it was about to leap out of her chest.
“And I got it all on camera,” Damien said. “I’m actually glad she’s eliminated now, because sheesh! There’s a fine line between good drama and too much.”
Mia took a few breaths, trying to calm down. Everything was going to be fine. And no one was hurt. This was just a brief bump
in their shooting day. She had to keep reminding herself of that.
At that moment, Bethany and Alex returned to the living room. Noah and Celine also came back inside the house, looking very
confused.
“Did everyone get a chance to talk to whoever they wanted today?” Mia asked all the contestants. Luckily, her voice, at least,
was steady. “Raise your hand if you need more time to decide who you want to cuff with today.”
Everyone stayed still.
“Okay then,” Mia said to her crew. “Let’s resume filming. Kallie and Damien, please direct your cameras toward me.”
When they began rolling again, she called out, “Contestants, please come stand in the living room with your arms linked with
your cuffed partner from the previous night. It’s time to determine the cuffles for Day Two.”
She waited for everyone to get into their cuffles before continuing, “Noah and Celine, since you two were the most popular
cuffle, you get to decide first. Would you like to stay together for Day Three? Or would you like to cuff with someone else?”
“We’d like to stay,” Celine said. “Or at least I would.”
“Me too,” said Noah.
If they were at school, Mia would have commented on the weird look on Noah’s face. But since they weren’t, she cleared her
throat and moved on.
“Tiana and Jack,” she said. “You guys were the second cuffle. Would you like to stay together or cuff with someone else?”
Tiana and Jack looked at each other. Jack shrugged.
“I’m honestly okay with whatever Tiana wants to do,” he said.
“Let’s stay,” Tiana replied.
Jack nodded, and the two remained standing with their arms linked.
“Great,” Mia replied. “The third cuffle in terms of audience votes was Bethany and Caleb. But Bethany, you confessed to Jack,
your original crush, and he said no. I’m sorry to say that you are now eliminated from The Cuffing Game.”
Bethany sighed. “Whatever.”
She walked off before Mia could ask her if she had any parting words.
Mia turned to Caleb. “Um, so with Bethany gone, is there anyone else you’d like to cuff with?”
Caleb looked at the other contestants. The other contestants stared back at him.
“Matías?” he said at last.
Matías’s eyes widened. He looked back and forth between Caleb and Shirin before saying, “Sorry, I’m not interested.”
Caleb shrugged. “Fair enough. Let me guess, you’re straight?”
Matías winced and shook his head. “No, you’re just not my type. Sorry!”
Beside him, Shirin covered her mouth with her hands, like she was trying hard not to make any noise.
Caleb barked out a laugh. “Amazing. Just my luck.”
“Sorry, Caleb,” Mia said. “You’ve been eliminated. Is there anything you’d like to say before you leave?”
Caleb turned to the other contestants. Placing his palms against each other, he said, “Well, it’s been fun, folks. Both my
crush and my backup are gone now, so sucks for me. See ya on the other side.”
“He’s making it sound like he’s dying,” Mia heard Matías whisper to Noah. A small quirk appeared on the other boy’s lips.
Mia tried her best not to smile.
“All right,” she said when Caleb had left. “That means both Bethany and Caleb are now eliminated from The Cuffing Game.”
Mia turned to face the final cuffle.
“Matías and Shirin, I’m sorry, but you two were the least popular cuffle, probably because you admitted on camera last night
that you’re really friends who just cuffed together to survive.”
Everyone laughed.
“Yeah . . .” Matías said sheepishly. “No surprise there.”
“The good news is,” Mia said, “since you guys still have each other, you are safe from elimination for today.”
The cuffle cheered, and Mia finally let herself smile.
“And that’s it! Everyone, thank you so much for yet another . . . eventful day of The Cuffing Game! Y’all are now free for the rest of the night. Just a heads-up, we will have an early start tomorrow morning, so please get some rest!”
When they finally stopped filming, Mia exchanged glances with her crew. Alex’s eyes were wide, while Damien and Kallie looked
exhausted. Somehow, today had been even more chaotic than the previous day. And now they had to go upstairs and edit all the footage.
Mia could only wonder what tomorrow would bring.