Chapter Thirty-Two Mia
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mia
Two hours into their drive out of Big Bear, Mia was deep in her thoughts about her conversation with Noah when Alex said,
“Hey, so, you know how everyone else left before us?”
Something about their tone made her sit up from where she’d been moping in the passenger seat.
“Yeah?” she asked. “What about it?”
“Some people did have things to do. But it was also because of another reason,” they said, shooting her a nervous glance. “A surprise. And
normally, I wouldn’t say anything. But Damien said we should give you a heads-up, because, well, you’re you.”
Mia bit her lip. After growing up in a household with four sisters, where a “surprise” could mean anything from a disastrous
makeover to a completely inedible but well-intentioned homemade birthday cake, Mia had grown to hate surprises. In fact, most
surprises—and other unexpected occurrences—gave her a lot of anxiety.
“But it’s a fun surprise!” Alex continued. “I promise. Just a little something the rest of the crew and I prepared for you. You know, to congratulate you on being almost done with the show.”
They sounded so excited that Mia pulled her lips up into a smile.
“Aw thanks!” she said, doing her best to force her voice to be bright and cheery. “I’m looking forward to seeing what it is.”
By then, they’d arrived at the beach house, a white, modernly designed cubic building with two stories and floor-to-ceiling
windows. It was somehow even bigger and more grandiose than it looked in the photos, a stark contrast from the nice yet understated
exterior of the lodge they’d stayed in at Big Bear.
Alex parked their car in the driveway and got out the boom mic from the back of the car. As she stepped outside, Mia let out
a quiet breath of relief. It wasn’t warm, not by LA standards, at least. But after spending the last several days in Big Bear,
even fifty degrees seemed nice and pleasant.
She’d just shut the car door behind her when Damien and Kallie came out of the house. Damien was empty-handed, but Kallie
had her camera pointed right at her. Before Mia knew what was happening, Alex moved to stand behind Kallie’s camera with the
boom mic.
“Since today is our fun travel day episode,” Damien said, joining Mia in front of the camera, “I thought it’d be nice if we filmed some moments with the crew, too. You know, since it’s the last recorded episode before the live streamed finale tomorrow.”
Mia nodded. Filming cute behind-the-scenes footage of the cast and crew was something they’d discussed before, although they
never figured out when to do it. She guessed that time was now. “That’s totally fine,” she said. “But why are we recording
now?”
Damien exchanged glances with Alex, who nodded.
“I gave her the heads-up about the surprise,” they said.
Mia smiled. Out loud, it sounded so ridiculous that she needed a heads-up before a surprise. But after months of working on The Cuffing Game together, her crew accepted her as that type of person. It felt nice to be known.
“Excellent,” Damien said. “And Mia, just trust us on this, okay?”
She nodded and bit her lip.
“Mia,” Damien said again, but in his formal “producer” voice. “You’ve been the driving force behind the show. And I speak
for the contestants as well as the rest of the crew when I say that we appreciate all that you’ve done for everyone.”
He got out a blindfold from his pocket. Mia froze but let her friend cover her eyes with the piece of fabric.
“Y’all are literally the only people in the world I trust enough to do this with,” Mia remarked. “You know that, right?”
“I know,” Damien replied in a singsong voice. “Thank you for trusting us.”
He securely tied the blindfold around her head and led her up the steps to the house. Mia heard the door open and close behind them, and after they’d gone a few feet inside, Damien said, “Okay, loosening the blindfold.”
The fabric fell away, and it took a few seconds for Mia’s eyes to adjust to the lights. And when they did, she blinked rapidly
to avoid bursting into tears.
“Surprise!” Kallie exclaimed. “We’re having a beach house party!”
“Not everyone could make it of course,” Damien amended. “Since it’s three days before Christmas. But this is still a decent
turnout. We know you hate surprises, but hopefully you’ll like this one.”
Streamers and balloons decorated the dining room of the house. All the finalists except Celine and Kyle were there, along
with Jack and Matías. They all stood around the kitchen island, where a large white cake sat on the counter.
Back home, Mia was always the one throwing parties for her sisters, since, although she was the oldest, Jeannette had good
ideas but wasn’t very good at executing them. This was the first time Mia had never had a party thrown for her. Her heart swelled with gratitude as more tears fell from her eyes.
“Wow” was all she could say out loud. “Thanks, y’all.”
She looked around for Celine and Kyle but remembered what Damien had said. I guess they have some things to take care of before we start recording again, she thought.
Closely followed by Kallie and Alex, Mia approached the kitchen island and peered closer at the decoration on the cake.
Thanks, Mia! it said in gold and black frosting. From The Cuffing Game Family.
Gold and black were Marlon’s school colors. After a whole semester of feeling lost and out of place, seeing her name in those
colors made her chest squeeze.
It was like she finally belonged.
Damien filled small champagne flutes with sparkling apple cider and Mia passed them around. When everyone had their drinks,
Kallie exclaimed, “We love you, Mia!”
The others joined in, cheering as they raised their glasses. Tears fell from Mia’s eyes. She smiled so widely that her cheeks ached.
When she first came to Marlon, “friends” were the last thing on Mia’s mind. She was laser focused on her own dreams and ambitions,
and that was it. But somehow, her crush on a particularly annoying frat boy, and the show she’d created to avoid her feelings
for him, had led her to a whole group of people that had become her second family, thousands of miles away from her biological
one.
As people mingled, Matías and Jack approached her.
“Mia!” Matías exclaimed. He squeezed her so tightly that her feet lifted off from the ground.
“Hey!” she said when she could breathe again. “How are things?”
“Amazing,” Matías replied with a big smile.
“We’re still really grateful,” Jack added.
Mia beamed, even more than before. “Any fun plans for the holidays?”
“Jack is flying home to Atlanta tomorrow, while I’m going back to New York. Sadly it was too late to make Christmas plans
together.”
“You could always hop on a plane and surprise Jack’s parents,” she joked. “They probably already know you from the show.”
Matías’s eyes went wide. “I know you’re kidding, but you’re absolutely right. They do already know me, thanks to the show. Apparently they want to meet me soon . . . just not at Christmas. Which I understand.
Plus, I can’t abandon my family last minute! Christmas is a big deal in my household.”
Mia laughed. “I totally get it, because same!”
She mingled some more, checking in to make sure everyone was okay. She was enjoying herself, but some part of her couldn’t
help but wish Noah were there. And that they hadn’t had their horrible fight.
When the sun had almost set, Mia wandered over to where Damien was chatting with Alex and Kallie, who’d put down their equipment
to enjoy the party.
“So when are Celine and Kyle coming to the beach house?” she asked her crew. “It’s getting kind of late.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open. Their eyes widened with panic as they looked from Mia to Damien and then to Mia again.
Mia’s heart thudded in her chest. “What?” she asked. “What is it?”
Damien put a hand on Alex’s shoulder, as if to reassure them. “I’d already left by then, but Alex told me that since Kyle
was the last crusher to be interviewed, they pulled him into the production room before he and Celine left.”
“Kyle and Celine were the last contestants to leave the lodge,” Alex explained. “You were in your room, I think.”
Mia groaned. After the hot tub fiasco with Noah, she’d gone back upstairs to take a hot shower and change into new clothes.
She’d had to unpack and repack her bag. It’d been super annoying, and she’d had no one to blame but herself.
“I haven’t edited it yet, since it’s supposed to air before the finale tomorrow,” Alex continued. “But Kyle told me he and
Celine are dropping out of the show. And he said you approved it and told them they could go to Vegas.”
“I definitely didn’t say that.” An uneasy feeling settled in Mia’s stomach. “And Celine already has plans to visit her family
in China over the break. She said so during her interview on Day One.”
Granted, Mia had only met Celine four months ago, but her roommate didn’t seem like the kind of person to change plans so
drastically.
“Sorry, Mia!” Alex moaned. “I should have asked you about it directly. You seemed to have a lot on your mind already, so I
only told Damien.”
“And I thought it was strange,” Damien replied. “But I figured you had a conversation about it with Celine in private since she’s your roommate.”
“What can they even do in Vegas?” Shirin asked. She and the other contestants had drifted over at some point into the conversation.
“They’re not even twenty-one yet, right? They can’t gamble, drink, or even get a hotel room by themselves in most places.”
“But they can elope,” whispered Matías.
Everyone gasped, turning to look at him.
“But it’s only been a couple of days!” Tiana said. “They’re not actually going to get married . . . right?”
Alex scrunched up their face. “Yeah, I don’t know,” they said quietly. “I hope not. Kyle said a lot of weird stuff, like how
they’re more compatible than he thought they’d be and how he wants to do what Noah couldn’t, whatever that means.”
Deciding enough was enough, Mia called Celine. The line went straight to voicemail.
Celine was probably fine, but the not knowing was what killed Mia. She called her roommate again. Voicemail.
Everyone was watching Mia, waiting for her to decide what to do. For the first time since they’d started this show, even Damien
seemed at a loss.
Tears of frustration sprung into her eyes as she stared down at her phone. She wanted to scream, but of course, she couldn’t.
Not now, anyway.
“Crew,” she finally said. “Emergency production meeting, now.”