Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Hannah snaps her fingers. “Ralavia. It’s like saliva but with an R.”
It’s not. It’s not in any way, but I ignore her and I ignore the fact that Ashley F is defending herself to Tiara Kate over possibly lining up a new gig even before she’s eliminated from the old one.
“I believe in it a hell of a lot more than you do,” Katy assures me. “You’re here because production wants you here.”
“Hey, she’s been trying,” Riley says. “She put on makeup and everything.”
“Well, she doesn’t share her room,” Katy points out. “She’s the only one of us with a private room. I wonder why that is.”
I hope I’m not blushing because I know why I have a private room. Because Luca wants me in one. “The two women I was supposed to bunk with got eliminated the first night. It was just luck.”
“Then why won’t they let any of us move in?” Katy asks.
Hannah shifts on the couch, looking up at us. “I was told you have a sleep disorder.”
“You asked to move into my room?” I hadn’t been told. She’d said a couple of things a few days into shooting, but then I thought she’d let it go because I didn’t hear anything else.
“Well, yes, because it was me and Riley and Ashley W packed into a room smaller than yours,” Hannah explains. “But Patrick said you have sleep issues and I would be better off sleeping in the bathtub.”
What the hell does Patrick have against me? He’s rude.
“You don’t want to move now, right?” Riley looks over at her closest friend in the house.
Hannah gives her a gentle smile. They’ve really connected, and I’m happy Hannah’s found some friends. She’s come alive in the last couple of weeks, and I pray she doesn’t lose that light when Luca inevitably lets her go. “No. I’m happy right where I am, but it was tight for a little while.”
“Anika is a diva,” Katy interjects. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She simply doesn’t want to share. She heard her numbers were great the first night, and now she’s better than the rest of us. I know I’ve heard she offered to be eliminated that first night, but boy, she’s been playing it up ever since.”
I’m confused. “Am I evil because I’m trying too hard or not enough? It can’t be both.”
Harper nods my way like I’ve scored a solid point.
“I think Katy is looking for drama.” Ashley F seems satisfied with whatever she’s told Tiara Kate and is back to the job of defending me. “If you trust the process so much, why are you constantly looking for ways to get other contestants kicked off? You think I don’t know that you complained to production about my meds?”
“We’re supposed to have only the things we brought in on the first night,” Katy insists.
Oh, Shelby has made her look good in comparison, but she’s kind of a cartoon villain. “She ran out of her inhaler. It wasn’t like she smuggled in a pushup bra, Karen.”
Harper snorts, but she’s back to working that wrench in a way that doesn’t have the potential to maim.
She’s comfortable that I can handle this.
“How about we do this,” I begin. “I’m not going to go to the king about any of you. He can figure it out on his own since that’s the process. Katy, you can’t get rid of your competition by creating drama around them. That will get you eliminated because this is not a dramatic man. If you can’t tell that by now, you’re in trouble.”
“I’ll admit he’s too calm for me,” Emily says. “But then my last two boyfriends were both pro wrestlers. I thought I would miss chair throwing less than I do.”
“He’s fine. He’s who he’s supposed to be.” Katy’s long blonde hair waves as she runs her hands over it. It’s something she does all the time, and I wonder how all that hair fares against twenty kindergarteners on a daily basis. “He has to look like he’s always in control. He’s the king. I mean the poor man can’t even kiss us, and it’s obvious he wants to.”
“Obvious?” I hate that the word came out of my mouth when I should have stayed so quiet.
“Maybe not to you since you’re here because he’s being forced to keep you,” Katy shoots back. “But he’s come close to kissing me.”
“Me, too,” Tiara adds. “So close, but then he had to pull away, and I could tell how much he wanted me.”
“He kissed my hand,” Hannah says. “But that’s all. He’s a gentleman.”
“He’s a man, and I’m sure he wants more than one of us, but he’s constrained. That’s my point. We have to make this show work, and Anika isn’t helping.” Katy shrugs. “That’s all I’m saying. If she’s not here for the king and she’s not here to make the show better, and by that I mean more watchable, then why is she here? Do you guys want to be known as the most boring cast in all of reality TV or do you want to be talked about?”