Chapter Twenty-Three Noah
Chapter Twenty-Three
Noah
“Everyone, please bundle up in your coats and come out to the front yard,” announced Mia.
That was it. That was the entire message. Compared to how verbose and friendly her previous announcements had been, this one
was jarringly short.
Wondering if there was something wrong, Noah got ready as quickly as he could.
Downstairs, Alex met him and the other contestants to mike them up before they all went outside. In the front yard, Damien
and Kallie were already recording, while Mia stood behind them, quietly observing everyone.
Three newcomers stood in front of the lodge. Noah froze.
“Yay, new people!” Tiana exclaimed.
Celine also cheered, but Noah stayed silent as he scanned the new faces.
The first person was Carlos, who Noah recognized from Day One, while the second was a brunette white girl he’d never seen
before. The last newcomer was, unfortunately, not a stranger to Noah.
Kyle Yoshida stared back at him with a wide, toothy grin. A shudder ran through Noah’s body at the sight of Thad’s Little. Or, ex-Little, as Noah now knew him as.
Things between Noah and Kyle had started out normal enough. Since Kyle was Thad’s Little—and thus Noah’s “Grand-Little”—the
three of them had hung out a few times throughout the semester. But then Noah noticed little things. Like how Kyle started
styling his hair like Noah’s. Or how he quoted specific lines Noah had said in his videos. It’d initially seemed like harmless
imitation, so Noah never said anything. But then the lies started. Like when Kyle falsely told Thad that Noah had said certain
things.
When Thad informed Noah last week that Kyle had gotten himself kicked out of Alpha Tau for lying and stealing, Noah hadn’t
been surprised. He’d hoped he’d never have to see his Grand-Little again.
But, unfortunately, here Kyle was. Right in front of him. On Mia’s show, out of all places.
Kyle enthusiastically waved at Noah like they were close friends. A wave of disgust hit Noah, but he forced a smile onto his
face for the cameras.
“Noah!” Kyle exclaimed. “I’m so happy you’re still here!”
Kyle’s expulsion from Alpha Tau was fraternity business, and it’d happened during finals week, so there was a good chance
the Cuffing Game crew had no idea what kind of guy he was.
Noah had to warn Mia. He glanced over at her, hoping to catch her attention. But when their eyes met, Mia immediately stared down at her feet. He frowned, trying to puzzle out why she was ignoring him.
“Hi, everyone,” Mia said. Apparently Noah didn’t count as “everyone” because she looked around and made eye contact with everyone
but him. “Y’all already know Carlos. Please welcome him back, along with our other newcomers, Kyle Yoshida and Violet Russo!”
Everyone politely cheered and clapped, and the newcomers went around to individually introduce themselves—or reintroduce themselves, in the case of Carlos—to the original cast.
Unfortunately, Kyle made a beeline for Noah. “Noah! What’s up, brother?”
The younger boy held up a hand. Although Kyle wasn’t a “brother” to him anymore, Noah gave him a high five to avoid causing
a scene.
He had to find a way to warn Mia. If only she’d look up at him . . .
“Hey, nice to see you,” Noah lied, masking his own disgust. “What brings you to the show?”
He’d asked the question to probe Kyle’s intentions, but was wholly unprepared when Kyle replied with, “Well, you know. I wanted
to meet some hot ladies. I have my eye on Celine, especially. I’ve been following her for years.”
The word “following” in a social media context was innocuous enough, but the way Kyle said it made Noah cringe.
Kyle looked over his shoulder, and Noah followed his gaze to see that the other boy was checking to see if any of the cameras were recording them.
They weren’t. Kallie’s camera was filming Shirin and Tiana, while Damien’s was with Carlos and Celine.
Noah didn’t notice Kyle leaning into him until it was too late. Noah jerked back, but not before Kyle grabbed onto his arm.
Panic shot down Noah’s spine as Kyle whispered into his left ear. His tone was friendly, chill even, but there was nothing
amicable about the words coming out of his mouth. Or the tight grip on Noah’s arm. “I know she’s cuffed with you now,” Kyle
said, “but come on, man, you can’t have everything, you know? You have the frat . . . you’re famous . . . let me have a win
for once.”
Noah’s head spun, and he broke out into a cold sweat. He glanced over at Celine, who was still talking to Carlos by the edge
of the road. Yet another girl Noah had to warn about Kyle. The list was growing by the minute.
Thankfully, Carlos spotted Noah looking in their direction and nodded at him. It took all of Noah’s strength to casually hold
out a fist in greeting and call out, “Welcome back!”
“Thanks, man!” Carlos replied.
Damien’s camera turned in their direction, and Kyle finally let go. Noah’s heart was pounding in his chest, but he briefly closed his eyes and forced himself to smile as Carlos and Damien headed their way.
Carlos bumped fists with Noah, and Kyle went to talk to Celine. And Noah was too rattled to stop him.
“Hoping to last for more than one round this time,” Carlos joked.
Noah laughed, but it came out strangled. “Yeah, best of luck.”
Carlos blinked as he fully took in Noah’s current state. “Hey, are you all right—”
“Okay, everyone,” Mia said from where she now stood in the middle of the yard. “Today’s random event is these new people right
here: the Gamechangers.”
Noah gave Carlos a quick, grateful nod. “I am,” he whispered. “Thanks.” And he was going to be okay, now that Kyle was no longer death-gripping his arm. With every new breath, he felt more himself.
“Gamechangers,” continued Mia, “you’re here because you have a crush on one of these original contestants. Well, everyone
except Carlos. Carlos, you’re here—”
“Because I was already in the area,” Carlos said. “I know. It’s cool.”
Everyone laughed except Noah, who managed an amused grin.
“We’re glad to have you back, though!” Mia said. “Seriously. Thanks for making the drive up here again. You were the first
person to respond when we asked for help.”
And the only person to notice I’m not okay, Noah thought. He clapped, and everyone else joined in. Carlos bowed with a flourish, an amused grin on his face.
“Today, the Gamechangers will go first in choosing who to cuff with, which means they will each ‘steal’ someone else’s already-cuffed
partner,” Mia announced. “Since we have an odd number of people, one person will be left uncuffed. This person will be in
danger of being eliminated tonight, unless they can somehow take their original partner back by the end of the day.”
Celine gasped. “Ooh, drama!”
Carlos and Violet looked nervous, but Kyle appeared way too excited at the prospect of stealing someone’s partner. From where
he now stood by Celine, Kyle shot Noah the world’s most obnoxious grin. Noah clenched his hands into fists.
“Today, in your new cuffles, you will all go on cute winter wonderland–themed dates in the woods,” Mia continued. “We have
snowshoes by the door if you want them. But there are also paved trails available if you want to just wear boots. You can
make snowmen, take walks, whatever you want to do. Please be sure to stay within the view of the crew and not wander off on
your own, for safety reasons.”
She paused to gesture at Kallie and Damien, who nodded back at her.
“At the end of the day, each person who has cuffed with a Gamechanger will have a choice. Switch back to the person you were with before or stay in your new cuffle. Whoever fails to cuff with someone by the end of the day will be eliminated, and the final three cuffles will move on to the finale.”
Noah braced himself. There was no doubt Kyle was going to steal Celine from him. Which was fine in and of itself. But not
when Kyle was . . . well, Kyle. Hopefully Noah could warn everyone about Kyle before getting eliminated himself. Or somehow
get Celine back so Kyle would be automatically eliminated.
“Okay,” Mia said, recapturing his attention. She was still avoiding him, looking at everyone else as she continued, “Is there a Gamechanger who would like to pick first?”
Kyle’s arm shot in the air. Because of course it did.
“Me!” he yelled. “I pick Celine, my crush!”
Celine’s jaw dropped, and a low murmur arose from the rest of the contestants. A pressure built up inside Noah as he felt
several pairs of eyes on him. Some people even gave him looks of pity.
Noah kept his face blank. If he spoke out about Kyle now, everyone would just think he was being jealous. The only thing he
could do now was watch.
“I’m your crush?” Celine asked. A small, hesitant smile appeared on her lips.
“Yes, ma’am.” Kyle held out his hand in a flourish.
Celine squealed and ran to him, linking arms with him without even a second glance at Noah.
Noah suppressed a groan.
Yeah, he thought. I’m not getting her back.
After yesterday, he had a feeling something like this would happen. Celine just didn’t seem that interested in him anymore.
Plan A it was. He had to warn Celine as soon as possible, since Mia wasn’t even looking at him today. For whatever reason.
Violet raised her hand. “I’d like to go next. If that’s okay?”
Mia nodded, and Violet pointed right at Noah.
“I choose Noah,” she said. “Hi!”
Noah blinked. Violet shyly waved at him, and a million thoughts flew around in his head like a swarm of bees. But he still
managed a friendly smile back. The last thing he wanted was for Violet to be collateral damage. “Hi.”
He linked arms with the new girl. Violet was shorter than both Mia and Celine, so the height difference was a bit of an adjustment.
But with her long brown curls and button nose, she was cute. All the girls were. And now, Noah had to somehow go on a date
with one girl while trying to keep the other two safe from a guy who was essentially a ticking time bomb.