Chapter Thirteen
Barra wasn’t surprised when the next reward challenge involved endurance. Or when Vivian promised a reward that would make them forget just how horribly it hurt. In Outlast Her, big suffering ended with big rewards, and everything about this challenge was created to torture.
Each pair stood on opposite sides of a relatively short wooden A-frame.
Three narrow wooden footholds jutted out at different heights.
One was wide enough to start, the others progressively thinner, the last barely more than a strip.
Between them, they had to hold a long bamboo pole horizontally at shoulder height, each gripping one end.
If either dropped the pole, lost balance, or stepped off their foothold, they were out.
Ten minutes had passed, and Barra’s feet were already throbbing.
Her toes gripped the edge of the plank like they were trying to cling to a cliff face, and her arms burned white-hot from holding the bamboo pole steady.
Every time she or Hazel moved, a ripple shot straight through her shoulders, and the grimace on her face deepened until she was sure her face would remain that way permanently.
“My sister asked me why I entered this competition,” Hazel said, her breath raspy, her forehead beaded with sweat.
It was a gazillion degrees outside, and the air felt like a wet tongue against Barra’s skin, so no wonder Hazel was sweating.
Everyone was sweating. Even Vivian, who stood off to the side in a fitted khaki pantsuit, had a dark patch blooming down the middle of her back.
“I can honestly say I’m starting to question my answer. ”
Barra would’ve laughed if her body weren’t in so much pain. “At least you came here not knowing any better. I knew what pain was waiting for me, and I still decided to do this again.”
Next to them, Allie wobbled.
Out of the corner of her eye, Barra caught the slight dip in Allie’s posture and the way her mouth opened but nothing came out. And then she could see the scowl already forming on Sutton’s face as she yanked her end of the pole higher to compensate for Allie.
“Keep it level,” Sutton snapped. “Your side’s dropping.”
“I know,” Allie shot back. Her voice was tight enough to snap and strained enough to twist Barra’s stomach.
“Then fix it,” Sutton spat.
“I’m trying.”
Barra suddenly had a deeply irrational urge to step off her own ledge, walk over, and shove Sutton clean off the A-frame. No one should ever speak to another person like that. She then considered shouting something in Sutton’s direction, but didn’t get the chance.
Allie’s foot slid again. But this time, instead of recovering from it, her heel skidded, and her body pitched backward.
Allie let the pole go just as Sutton over-corrected, jerking her side up.
Then everything went down in slow motion.
Allie managed to throw herself back in a way that kept her upright.
She landed like Spider-Man. Sutton, on the other hand, did not.
The pole clattered to the ground at the same time Sutton landed on her back.
The whole thing happened so fast Barra barely processed it. She realized only that Allie was down, and Sutton was swearing, and it wasn’t even under her breath. “For fuck’s sake, Allie.”
“Hold steady,” Hazel said just as Barra’s arms jerked.
The pole dipped hard enough that Hazel made some sort of sucking motion with her mouth.
If it hadn’t been for Hazel, she would’ve dropped the pole and given Sutton a piece of her mind.
A very large piece, actually, that included a neat little right hook she’d picked up from a self-defense class she’d signed up for after one too many late-night news articles. A woman always had to be prepared.
“Are you okay?” Hazel asked at the same time Vivian called out, “ALLIE AND SUTTON ARE OUT OF THE CHALLENGE.”
“I’m fine,” Barra muttered. Even though it didn’t feel all that fine. But no matter, Allie and Sutton didn’t need to be at the reward for Barra to carry out her plan. She did, however, need Toph and Tilly, who were next to Elodie and Anna.
“CONNIE AND MARGARET ARE OUT!” Vivian called again.
Barra hadn’t seen either of them go until they were on the ground, brushing dirt off their backsides.
Barra swallowed and caught Elodie and Anna beside them, both looking as cool as ice.
Barra, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling cool at all.
Quite the opposite. Her feet had gone from throbbing to something far more concerning.
They were numb at the edges and terribly sharp in the center.
Was that normal? Or would the damage be permanent? Should she just give up?
It seemed Hazel had read her mind and was intent on convincing her otherwise. “Think of how amazing it’s going to be when a massage therapist gets their hands on your feet,” she muttered through her teeth.
Barra had to admit, the thought was borderline intoxicating, someone pressing into the exact knots that were currently making her scream for mercy.
“I don’t think one massage will be enough,” Barra said, her head dipping forward for a second before she forced it back up. Why was everything feeling a million times harder?
“Maybe not,” Hazel said, biting down on her bottom lip. “But surely the Aperol Spritzes will be. And the food. Remember what Vivian said.”
Barra did. Vividly.
A full spread of grilled beef sliders with crispy fries dusted in salt and something about lemon tart for dessert. All of it served aboard a superyacht cruising along the coastline. Barra’s mouth watered. Of course she could last longer.
And she did.
They all did. At Vivian’s instruction, they made the shift onto the narrower foothold, which felt like balancing on the edge of a ruler.
Barra had been so sure Tilly was going to stumble and drop to the ground, but she hadn’t.
None of them did, not even when the wind had picked up.
It was only when Vivian had announced the final transfer and Barra had glanced down at the last foothold, realizing her toes would barely even fit on it, that she heard Elodie yelp.
The pink-haired woman’s foot had slipped mid-transfer, and although Anna had tried to compensate, it was too late. They both went down.
“ELODIE AND ANNA ARE OUT,” Vivian called. “Which means Barra and Hazel. Tilly and Toph, you four are our reward challenge winners.”
“Massages, here we come,” Hazel said, jumping off the A-frame as if her feet hadn’t endured thirty minutes of torture.
Barra, on the other hand, climbed down like a newborn giraffe.
Everything hurt. In fact, she felt steps away from collapsing and probably would’ve if Allie hadn’t stepped in beside her.
“Well done,” Allie said softly, somewhat dejectedly. “That was impressive.”
Barra was about to say thank you, but the disappointed expression on Allie’s face was enough for Barra’s heart to twist. She would spend the next few hours on a superyacht getting treated deliciously while Allie was back at camp getting berated by Sutton, who would no doubt blame her for the loss.
Before she could think better of it, Barra winked, if only to make her feel better, to reassure her. They had a plan, and Barra was going to use the reward to put it in motion.
Except Sutton was standing there, looking straight at her.
So were Toph and Tilly. And Connie. And Margaret.
Shit. Barra immediately brought a hand to her face and rubbed at her eye like something had flown into it.
But nope. They’d seen it. A wink that could mean anything.
Or more dangerously... something. Before she could spiral into all the ways she’d fucked up, Vivian gestured toward the ocean where a sleek white superyacht bobbed just beyond the shoreline. “Winners, your reward awaits.”
BARRA TRIED TO RELAX.
She let her head sink deeper into the cushion rest, let the faint hum of the yacht’s engine blur into the background, let the woman who currently had Barra’s right foot in her hands do what she did best: press out any and all knots that Barra had accumulated not just in the reward challenge but since stepping into the game.
She smoothed her palm against the plush robe tied at her waist and sniffed the citrusy scent from the shampoo she’d used in the shower earlier.
On the small table beside her sat an Aperol Spritz, glowing bright orange in the afternoon light.
Barra would sip on it in a minute. First, she let her body go limp and exhaled any stress that might impact her future decision-making.
The more relaxed she felt, the clearer her head would be for the plan.
“What’s going on between you and Allie?” Toph asked abruptly.
Barra was too shocked to answer immediately. Instead, she reached up, peeled the slice of cucumber from her eye, and popped it straight into her mouth. Which she immediately regretted. She sat up and spat it out into her hand. “Why does it taste so bad?”
“There’s hyaluronic serum on there,” the massage therapist said as she pressed her thumb straight into Barra’s arch again. “Best not to eat it.”
Barra let out a small, embarrassed chuckle. Clearly, she didn’t get massages often enough. She placed the cucumber on a small dish beside her drink. She considered not answering, but Toph was watching her so expectantly that she had no choice.
“We’re friends,” Barra said, leaning back again. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. They were friends. Or something along those lines.
“Friends,” Toph repeated, as if she were turning the word over in her mouth and pondering a very difficult calculation.
This was Barra’s first time alone with Toph. Hazel and Tilly had opted to eat first and were somewhere on the deck enjoying the spread. If Barra was being honest, she was profoundly intimidated.
Toph was quiet, deeply observant. She wouldn’t eat a slice of cucumber off her eyelid without studying it first. And every time she said anything, it sounded thoroughly thought through.
If there was one person at camp who Barra feared would discover the truth about Barra and Allie being more than just competitors, it was Toph.
“Are you sure that’s all you are?” Toph asked. “Because I don’t think I believe you.”
“You don’t?” Barra said, panicked. Had Toph actually figured it out?
Toph smiled. “I’ll present my findings, and you can argue my conclusion.”
Barra’s ears went hot.
“You’ve spent more time with Allie than with Hazel during this game,” she said, her voice as even as though she were talking about the weather. “And from what I can remember watching Season Five and all the interviews, that’s unusual.”
Barra opened her mouth to argue, but thought it best to keep quiet.
Toph tilted her head slightly. Her auburn hair was still damp from the shower.
“I overheard Sutton mentioning that you and Allie were both at Dominique and Kiara’s wedding and apparently didn’t see each other,” she said.
“Which is possible. But the probability is low. Given a shared environment, timing, and social clustering.”
There was a beat.
“So, either you’re misinterpreting Sutton’s earlier question, or there’s something you’ve been keeping from all of us.”
Barra picked up her drink and took a long swallow.
Was she going to tell Toph the truth? Did she have any other choice?
Yes and no. It’s possible she would be committing Outlast Her suicide and in that case would probably be voted out next.
And yet, before she could stop herself, it all came spilling out.
Big Sur. The venue bathroom. The airport.
That first kiss in the jungle. The way it kept happening again and again, as if neither of them knew how to stop.
Barra’s secrets poured out in one long, humiliating stream.
Landon, standing behind the camera in the far corner of the room, looked like he’d just been handed production gold.
He was grinning as if he couldn’t believe his luck.
Even the massage therapists stopped kneading their fingers mid-pressure point and were openly listening, like Outlast Her viewers hungry for all the tea Barra was spilling.
When Barra finally stopped talking, she didn’t feel ashamed. On the contrary, she felt lighter than she had in weeks. Months, even. Like she’d shed an extra few pounds.
Toph didn’t look surprised. Not even a little. She just nodded as if she suspected it all along, as if she’d summed Barra up within minutes of meeting her.
“Now that we’ve got that behind us,” Toph said, reaching for her drink. “How about we talk next vote?”
Barra nodded, her eyes suddenly stinging. Good god, she was about to cry. Or maybe it was just the release of the myofascial trigger points in the soles of her feet. She had once read somewhere that a massage could trigger some kind of emotional purge.
“I have a plan,” Barra said, blinking the tears away. “But it will require some risk.”
Toph raised an eyebrow as a slow smile formed on her face. “I’m intrigued.”