Chapter Fifteen
The afternoon Bunk Shuffle pairs me with Giovanni. I stumble through Laundry Duty with him, half listening as he ponders how many babies Valeria would be willing to “pop out,” but my mind is still on my conversation with Kei.
We lose horribly at a tug-of-war challenge—which Giovanni is unreasonably pissed about—so when Tyler announces we have a couple of hours of free time, I’m relieved to get some space from him.
I have a leisurely swim, and on my way back to the Bunkhouse I come across Gabby. She’s alone, with an air of aimlessness, and I try my best to dodge her with a quick smile and wave, but she’s oblivious.
“Cleo! How are things going?” She ratchets up the sweetness in her voice.
“Good, thanks.” I try to skirt around her but she blocks me.
“So you’re slowing things down with Isa, huh?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“You don’t sound very sure about that.”
“No, I am. Just worried it’s not the right thing.”
“Listen to your heart, that’s what I always say,” she says, with zero trace of irony. “But I wouldn’t worry about it. Between us—” she leans in and lowers her voice “—the audience is loving you.”
“They are?”
“Absolutely. You’re a fan favourite.”
My instinct is to not believe her, but to my own credit, I’ve been impeccable on screen. “Really?”
“Yup. And you know who else they’re loving?” She glances around. “Kei.” She leans back, a conspiratorial smile spreading across her face. “So why don’t you put some energy into getting to know him.”
I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t know how to respond. Gabby is smiling, and her chipmunk voice is as sweet and sugary as ever, but there’s a tension in her body that makes me feel uneasy.
She places a hand on my arm and gently pushes me. “Go find Kei.”
Kei is playing horseshoes with Damian and Valeria. I drift over, trying to look casual. This is essentially my and Kei’s on-camera debut, so we have to get it right.
“Cleopatra Jones!” Damian says, as I approach.
I wave. “Kei, can I pull you for a chat? Maybe at the lounge?”
He grins, dropping his horseshoes. “Sure, let’s go.”
We share a beanbag, our bodies sinking together. I’m acutely aware of every point that my skin touches his.
“So,” I say, my nerves jangling. “I guess I was, um, surprised the other night at the campfire, and I just wanted to talk to you about it.”
“What were you surprised by?” His smile is so warm, and I feel myself soften.
“When you said I was your secret crush, and then when you, um—”
“When I kissed you?”
I squirm. “Yeah. I just didn’t expect it.”
“I guess that’s why they call it a secret.” Rosy circles appear on his cheeks, which makes my stomach feel funny. Must be the hangover. “Why were you so surprised?”
Because the only times I’d ever spoken to you before I was either lying to you or pooping in my pants, not exactly the stuff of romance. “You hadn’t really shown much interest up until that point.”
He brushes a mosquito off my shoulder, the brief contact leaving a warm imprint on my skin. “I’m not as forward as some other guys here. But I’ve been intrigued by you since the first moment I saw you, at the—” he catches himself, his eyes momentarily flashing wide “—in the first Bunk Shuffle.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You remind me of my little sister.”
“Creepy,” I say, screwing up my face.
Kei laughs. “In the way that you’re scrappy, like you’ve been through some stuff, but you won’t go down without a fight.”
I swallow, vulnerable under his gaze. “I guess maybe I’m a bit like that.
” Kei nods, his eyes gazing into mine like he’s trying to stare into my soul.
The air between us feels heavy, and I shift.
“So what’s this illustrious sister of yours doing now?
” I say with an awkward laugh, trying to break the tension.
Kei picks at the hem of his jean shorts—oh god, he’s wearing jorts, which in the real world would be an unignorable Ick—and then he leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, his eyes dropping to the ground. He coughs but doesn’t say anything. I put my hand on his shoulder. “Kei?”
He turns his chin slightly toward me, but he keeps his gaze down. “She died when I was twelve. She was ten. Leukemia.”
My heart clangs in my chest, like it’s trying to escape. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
Kei shakes his head. “It’s okay. I like talking about her. Her name was Kimiko. Kimi.”
“Kimi,” I repeat.
He leans back, our shoulders touching. “I used to call her Kimchi, which drove her crazy.”
“Obviously! No girl wants to be compared to fermented cabbage.”
“That’s exactly what she used to say,” he says, laughing. “You two would have gotten along.”
I don’t know what to say to this, so I just say, “Thanks.”
“Yeah,” he says. Our hands are side by side, so close that it would only take the slightest nudge for me to loop my fingers between his and squeeze.
The viewers would love it. But that feels too intimate, so I do nothing.
Kei is the one who moves, tracing his finger between a constellation of freckles on my forearm.
“Betcha no one has ever said they have a crush on you because you remind them of their dead sister.”
My laughter bursts out, like I’d been holding it in. “It’s a first.”
He smiles. “How are things with you and Isa?”
I shift, and my sweaty thigh sticking to the vinyl of the beanbag makes a burping noise, which we both pretend not to hear. “It’s early days, so we’re both still open to getting to know other people.”
“So, he wouldn’t mind if we’re spending some time together now?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll talk to him.”
He nods. “And we’ll be bunkmates tomorrow, so we’ll have some time to get to know one another before the Couple-Up Ceremony.”
“Great.”
We sit there, grinning at one another like a couple of fools. It takes me a moment to realize that I’m not even faking this smile. Is he?
“Should we go get ready for the party?” he says, hoisting himself up.
“I guess so,” I say, taking his hand and letting him pull me up. “But I’m going to take it easy after last night.”
“Right? What was in that punch?”
Kei and I banter as we make our way back to the Bunkhouse, and it feels right.
He’s so much more consistent than Isa, and it will be easier to manage our relationship if we have the same goal.
Yes, if I’m being honest with myself, I have a small, pesky crush on Kei, but that’s no big deal.
A crush is just a lack of information. Once I get to know him better, I’m sure he’ll do something to turn me off—something even worse than wearing jorts—and it will be even easier to focus on winning.
A little crush isn’t cause to burn it all down. There’s just too much on the line.