Chapter Seventeen Noah
Chapter Seventeen
Noah
Mia was smiling at Noah, and he didn’t know why. He could only assume they were both happy about Matías and Jack. He himself
was ecstatic for his roommate. But why was Mia staring at him for so long? And smiling?
He narrowed his eyes in confusion, and Mia immediately scowled and looked away. Well, that was strange.
“Okay!” Mia exclaimed, addressing everyone. “That’s the first cuffle for Day Three. Congrats, Matías and Jack!”
The other contestants burst into cheers.
“Now, let’s cuff the rest of you,” Mia continued after the applause died down. “Shirin, since Matías went with Jack, you can
go next.”
Shirin looked out at the rest of the contestants, glancing at first Tiana, then Noah, and then Celine, only to look at Tiana
again.
“No offense,” she said. “But if I had to choose, I’d choose Tiana any day. Because besides Matías, she’s my bestie. And I’m sure Celine wouldn’t want me to steal her man.”
“Definitely not,” Celine said. “Thank you so much, Shirin!”
“And, of course, I’m going to say yes to my girl, Shirin!” Tiana exclaimed.
Everyone laughed as the two friends linked their arms together.
“All right,” Mia said. “That leaves Celine and Noah. Are you two going to cuff with each other?”
“Yup,” Noah said. He drew his lips into a tight smile as he linked arms with Celine.
Celine also looked a bit tense, but she smiled back at him.
“Fantastic!” Mia exclaimed. “Well, thank you, everyone. I wish you the best with your new cuffles. We’ll break for lunch and
then head to the slopes at two. Please take some time to relax a bit before we go. We want y’all to be alert and energized
so no one gets hurt this afternoon.”
She raised her eyebrows at Noah, as if saying, Especially you.
When they finally stopped recording, Noah let out a sigh of relief and stared down at his newly blistered hands. Celine had
looked so disappointed in him when he came in dead last. Now none of that mattered.
The truth was, he probably would have done a lot better if he hadn’t already been so sleep-deprived.
But mentioning what happened between him and Mia last night on camera seemed like a recipe for disaster.
Especially when he himself was still trying to figure out what it all meant.
For now, it was easier to just pretend that nothing had happened.
Noah’s stomach growled. He was starving, but more than that, he was exhausted. After grabbing an Uncrustable from the kitchen,
he went back to the room, only to find Matías hiding under the covers of his bed.
“Wow, Jack was right,” Noah remarked. “You’re fast. I didn’t even see you go back upstairs.”
“I bolted as soon as we stopped recording,” Matías replied, his voice muffled by the sheets.
Noah sat on the edge of his own bed. “Why?” he asked before opening the plastic wrapper and taking a big bite out of his sandwich.
Matías let out a big, loud sigh but didn’t say anything.
“You okay?” Noah asked when he’d finished chewing.
Matías pulled his covers down so Noah could see his face. “I don’t know. What if asking Jack out was a mistake? What if the
date goes horribly, and I embarrass myself in front of the thousands of people who tune in to the show?”
Noah frowned. After he’d eaten another bite of the sandwich, he asked, “Why would you? Jack said he was interested in you.
Just have fun. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Matías said with a nervous laugh. “I could embarrass myself so badly that I start crying loud enough to cause an avalanche?”
Noah made a face. “Is that . . . something that has actually happened to you before? Wait, is that even scientifically possible?”
Matías groaned. “Probably not but who knows? I’m a loud crier, Noah. A really loud crier. And what if Jack only said yes because he didn’t want to embarrass me in front of the cameras?”
Noah winced. Well, that sounded familiar.
“Nah,” he said. “Jack doesn’t seem like the type. He already rejected Bethany and sent her packing, remember?”
And he definitely seems like a more honest person than me, he added to himself.
When Matías didn’t respond, Noah went on, “The guy literally came out on TV to say he was interested in you, too. You should
give him more credit.”
Matías’s eyes widened.
“Wait,” he said. “No, you’re absolutely right. I’ve been out since before I can remember, so coming out doesn’t seem like
that big of a deal to me, but it’s huge for Jack. Thanks for reminding me.”
“No problem.” Noah finished his snack, rolled the wrapper into a ball, and tossed it. The ball of trash flew into the garbage
can with a satisfying whoosh.
“Nice,” Matías said. “Kobe would be proud.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna take a nap.”
“Yeah, you look pretty tired.” Matías reached down to get out his book from underneath the bed. “You go ahead. I’m too nervous to sleep right now.”
Noah didn’t need to be told twice. The second he lay back in bed, Noah fell into a blissful sleep.