Chapter 46 Superfans
Superfans
Hand in hand, Yumi and I stroll toward the mat, and there’s a weird amount of power in not rushing up to JSP for once.
His eyes track our feet, right up to the moment we stop and jump onto the mat in sync. He looks up then, crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes.
“Yumi, Noelle…” He looks between us for an uncomfortably long time. I can’t believe it: our last dramatic-pause-for-effect moment. “You are, unfortunately, the last team to check in here in Singapore.”
I know he’s not going to tell us that it’s a non-elimination round.
I know that. They have never done a non-elimination leg at the final four.
It wouldn’t make sense. It would undercut the whole season, and it would immediately be clear when you looked at the episode count, as any superfan would.
But the hope is there in my body. I wrap an arm around Yumi and tug her closer, my fingers digging into the soft skin above her hip.
She rests her head against my shoulder, both of our breaths coming in shallow, measured lengths.
“And I am very sorry to tell you that your adventure has come to an end.”
All the air goes out of my body. It’s not good news, but it’s a relief. Yumi presses a kiss against my upper arm, squeezing me for just a second.
“I know you two were our superfans of the season. I’m sorry to let you go right before the final three, but you should be proud of yourselves for coming this far. What’s going through your minds right now?” JSP looks between us expectantly.
Yumi answers before I can. “Obviously, this isn’t the ending we envisioned for ourselves.
We were hoping for a more ‘Here’s two million dollars’-type goodbye.
” She pauses as JSP laughs. He’s so good at a prompted laugh.
I genuinely can’t tell if it’s real or fake.
“But we’re lucky that we got to be on the show at all. ”
“Do you feel like the show strengthened or tested your relationship to each other in any way?”
It’s weird to have Jonathan do this interview, like he knows us.
I recognize that it’s my turn to answer, but I want to hear what Yumi has to say.
After a beat, she goes again. “I think Noelle and I started this show in a weird place.” She pauses, chewing on her lip.
I trust her, but my stomach still tightens at the possibility that she might blow our cover.
As if she senses this, she circles a thumb, massaging my shoulder to comfort me.
“We were the youngest couple this season, and a lot of people we were competing against had, you know, marriages or had been dating for six or seven years. And…and right before we began filming, Noelle and I weren’t sure… ”
Jonathan leans in at the edge of the gossip, sensing blood in the water. Apex predator behavior.
Yumi clears her throat. I want to help her, but I need to hear the rest of this. “We were going to different colleges; we thought we wanted different things from our futures, and those differences felt unbridgeable.”
“And now?”
“I’m not…” Yumi darts a glance at me, her expression unsure.
I understand. She needs to hear my answer as much as I need to hear hers. “Now, Jonathan,” I say, rolling my shoulders back. “Yumi has been there for me through the most stressful moments of my life. And I—” I choke on the words. Shit.
“Noelle,” Yumi cuts in, “is a different person than she used to be, Jonathan. We’ve watched each other grow, and maybe at some points in our past she ran when things got difficult.
But I think we both know now that, after all of this, a single measly state border isn’t going to end our relationship. ”
Smiling, I reach up to spin my necklace, but it’s not there. I panic, running my hand over my chest, my shirt, my pants, my pockets. It’s gone.
“What’s—oh my God. Your necklace?”
“Yeah, I…” I spin around, a dog chasing its tail. “It must’ve fallen off somewhere.” My fingers follow the path the delicate chain used to take.
Yumi drops her pack, leaving JSP on the mat as she retraces our steps. “Well, let’s find it, then. It’s not like we have anywhere to be.” She glares at JSP, daring him to tell her to come back.
I look between them—Jonathan, confused, and Yumi, determined—and I hear my dad’s voice say, It’s basically her toenail. I burst into laughter.
“Are you okay, Noe?” She runs back my way, is by my side in a heartbeat, hand on my arm. She thinks I’m crying, and that only makes me laugh even harder. Kind, thoughtful, fiery Yumi. My best friend. My person.
She and I have always been crossing a bridge together.
On one side was everything we had: the comfortable friendship we’d spent our whole lives building. And on the other side? I was never sure.
Some days, we’d walk halfway and Yumi would point out the koi swimming in the river below and we’d follow the fish right up to the end of the wooden planks, her tugging me along. Other days, it was me who led us to the edge, talking of landmarks and mountains.
We stand now, balanced on the threshold of uncharted territory with a decision to make.
I love the bridge. I love the memories we built on it, hours spent with our feet dangling over the rushing water. But when I drop my hand from my neck to reach up to tuck a stray lock of Yumi’s hair behind her ear, I happily set the wood of the past aflame and finally get out there.