Chapter Sixteen Mia
Chapter Sixteen
Mia
After interviewing Matías early in the morning, Mia, still groggy eyed and exhausted from her late night with Noah, stumbled
back into her room. Kallie wasn’t in her bed, probably getting breakfast with the other crew members downstairs.
Mia knew she should eat something, too, but she wasn’t hungry. If anything, she wanted to go back to sleep. But she couldn’t.
Not today, when they had an early-morning start to the shooting day. She chugged a few gulps from the water bottle she’d left
by her bedside and plopped down in front of the intercom that linked to the speakers around the house.
“Attention, contestants,” she said. “Please report to the front of the lodge. We will start the random event for today in
twenty minutes.”
She looked at herself in the mirror before heading downstairs. Her hair was messy, and there were big dark circles underneath
her eyes, making her look like a raccoon. She splashed icy cold water onto her face and shuddered.
It had been even more freezing last night, and yet she’d barely felt the cold while she and Noah sat outside, talking for who knew how long.
Granted, they’d had the firepit, but if it hadn’t been for the snow dusting her hair and coat at the end of the night, she’d have forgotten she was outside at all.
Idiot, she thought to herself. Why did you spend so long talking to Noah? He literally kissed Celine yesterday.
There was a sharp rap on the door. Mia looked up to see Damien standing in the doorway.
“What happened to you?” he asked. “You look like a hot mess.”
Mia groaned. “I know I do.”
“Did you not sleep after we finished uploading the episode last night?”
“I did, but clearly not enough,” Mia replied, suddenly glad that she and her friends had never figured out how to set up cameras
around the firepit.
She would have told Damien and her friends about what happened last night, but she wasn’t sure what had happened. And she
didn’t want to create unnecessary drama, especially if the weird tension she’d felt between herself and Noah was all in her
head.
“Do you want me to ask Alex if they can be the host today?” Damien asked. “So you can relax behind the camera?”
A surge of gratitude filled Mia. Damien was always looking out for her.
They all were, since every member of the crew tried their best to take care of the others.
But Kallie and Damien, as the two upperclassmen, especially took their roles seriously.
They were the mom and dad of their little queer film production family.
Mia splashed another handful of water onto her face.
“No, I’m okay,” she replied. “I got this. Thanks, though.”
Damien frowned, looking unconvinced. “If you’re sure.”
Mia dried her face and took a big breath.
It was time for the third day of The Cuffing Game.
Mia stood behind a pile of shovels as she waited for the contestants to gather around her in the front yard. The snow had
picked up after she’d gone to bed last night, providing the perfect amount between the house and their cars for today’s random
event. Mia couldn’t have planned it better herself.
When Noah arrived, she did a double take. He somehow looked even more exhausted than Mia felt, with even darker circles than the ones he had the previous day. Somehow, his fatigue gave him a brooding quality that made him hotter, reminding
Mia of the tortured Byronic heroes of her favorite shows. As she watched, he pinched the bridge of his nose and briefly closed
his eyes, like he had a headache.
Mia started to feel bad about keeping him up late, but then stopped herself.
He was already out and about before we started talking, she thought. And I warned him and everyone else we had an early start today.
Mia didn’t realize she’d been noticeably staring at Noah until he met her gaze. “Just for the record,” he said, “no, I will
not help you bury a body in the snow.”
“Huh?”
“The shovels. The ones suspiciously in front of you right now?”
Most of the contestants laughed, although some, like Matías, sounded nervous.
Mia’s cheeks burned as she turned away.
“This isn’t some sick and twisted game where you’re going to kill off whoever is eliminated, right?” asked Matías. “Like in
Squid Game?”
“No, of course not!” Mia replied, making a face. “You guys are so morbid.”
The two boys grinned and bumped their fists together.
Are they friends now? Mia wondered. It wasn’t something she’d expected to happen, but she had to admit it was kind of cute.
She waited until Alex finished getting all the contestants miked up before saying, “Hi, everyone. I’ll explain the rules for
today’s random event once we start filming. But for now, please grab a shovel. Guys, please stay where you are, and girls,
please take your shovel and follow me. The snow is deep in some places, so watch your step!”
Mia led Celine, Tiana, and Shirin to the halfway point between the lodge and their cars. The snow was fresh and soft, and much deeper than she’d ever experienced in Texas. She was glad she’d decided to wear her knee-high boots.
Once they started filming, Mia said, “Contestants, welcome to Day Three of The Cuffing Game. For today’s random event, y’all will be participating in a snow shoveling race. The guys of each cuffle will shovel to the
girls, who will then shovel the rest of the way to the road. The order that you reach the road will determine the order that
you pick for the next cuffings.”
“And you’re sure you’re not just using us for manual labor?” Noah asked.
If it were anyone else, Mia would have danced around it. But since it was Noah, Mia said, point-blank, “We are, but it’s for
your own benefit, too. We need a path cleared up so we can safely leave the lodge for the second part of the day, a fun surprise
that we’ll reveal later.”
“It better be fun,” grumbled Celine. “All the sweat is going to mess with my makeup.”
Mia was about to tell everyone to get ready when Noah cut in: “Wait. One of us—no offense, Miller—is a star athlete. How is
this fair?”
“I can give myself a handicap if you want,” Jack volunteered.
Tiana cupped her mouth with her hands. “Boo! Just let him be himself!”
Shirin laughed, giving her a playful shove. “You just want to take advantage of the fact that he’s more athletic than all of us.”
Tiana grinned. “And I see nothing wrong with that.”
Jack scratched his chin. “Maybe I can just use one hand?”
“Never mind,” Noah replied. “Forget I said anything, because that’s plain insulting.”
Matías nervously looked from Jack to Noah. “May the best man win? Or I guess person, including the girls.”
“Sure.” Noah sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”
When her crew signaled that they were ready to go, Mia went to stand by the guys.
“Thanks, y’all,” she said. “We really do appreciate your help. All right. On your mark . . . get set . . . go!”
The boys sprung to action, snow flying every which way in their wake, as the girls cheered them on. Like everyone expected
him to be, Jack was amazingly fast. He easily took the lead, arms blurring as he swung the shovel up and down.
“Wow, those muscles,” Alex commented, before groaning. “Note to self, delete that in post.”
Mia laughed. “You’re literally giving yourself more work!”
Alex gave her a sheepish grin, putting a finger up to their lips.
“Whoa, Matías!” Tiana cried out.
Mia jerked back to attention just in time to see Matías pulling ahead of Jack, who’d started off strong but was now faltering. And Noah . . .
Mia bit her lip so she wouldn’t burst out laughing. Noah wasn’t even close to the other two boys, wobbling and staggering
from side to side as he attempted to shovel the snow.
He clearly has never done any sort of actual hard work in his life, Mia thought. Typical rich boy.
Matías high-fived Shirin and passed over the shovel. She whooped and took off, clearing snow down toward the road.
“Why are you guys trying so hard?” Celine complained, folding her arms across her chest. “You don’t even like each other that
way!”
She looked like she was about to cry. And Mia couldn’t blame her. She never expected Noah to be an athlete, but because of
all his muscles, she thought he’d at least be decent. It was downright embarrassing how bad he was at shoveling snow.
“Yeah!” Jack high-fived Tiana, who also took off.
Noah hadn’t even gotten to Celine when Shirin reached the road and threw down the shovel.
“Yes!” she yelled. “We did it, Matías!”
Matías ran to Shirin and grabbed her hands. They jumped up and down as they spun in a circle. From behind his camera, Damien
smiled, and so did Mia.
You can definitely tell they’re best friends, she thought.
Tiana reached the finish line shortly after, and Celine threw her shovel down with a growl of frustration.
Mia stepped forward so the cameras could get a good view of her as she said, “Congratulations, Matías and Shirin! You two
are the winners of today’s random event. You have earned yourselves the first pick of who you want to cuff with for the next
round. Everyone, please come back inside the lodge, where we’ll do the cuffings.”
As they all headed back, Mia heard Noah say, “Sorry, this was my first time shoveling snow. I lived on the twentieth floor
of our apartment building in Seoul for most of my life, so it’s not something I ever had to do.”
Celine sighed. “It’s okay, I have cousins like that in Shanghai, so I get it.”
At least that’s resolved okay, Mia thought.
In the living room, Mia directed all the contestants to stand in a single-file line facing the cameras.
“It is now time to pick your cuffles for today,” she said. “Shirin and Matías will go first, then Tiana and Jack, and then
finally, Celine and Noah. Choose wisely, because you will be spending the rest of today skiing or snowboarding with this person.”
“Skiing!” Shirin exclaimed, pumping her arms in the air.
“Yup,” Mia said. “That’s our fun surprise! We had some money left over from our budget, so we thought we’d treat you guys,