Part Three- Sydney's POV

Oh, God. Out of all the missions I've been on this was by far the most degrading.

I was seated in an oversized pink armchair shaped like a heart. A crimson curtain separated the bachelors from me and me from them. As I looked around, I began desperately fiddling with the long, heavy sapphire earrings and smoothing out the shocking green summer dress SD-6 had supplied me with. I look like a lime. Seriously. And to top it off, a wavy shoulder length black wig. What guy would be happy to win a date with me looking like this was beyond me.

Suddenly, a blinding light hit my face and I blinked furiously to regain sight. Applause rang out through the studio. We were recording.

"Syd? Sydney? If you can hear me tuck your hair behind your ear," came Dixon's voice through the earring. I scanned the audience for him and saw him all the way in the back row. I could barely make him out.

I smiled at the crowd and moved my hand up to place a few loose strands of shiny black wig hair behind my ear.

"Good."

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to 'Strike a Match,' California's most popular dating game!" the host called out. "I'm your host, Max Dowd!"

More applause.

"Let's meet today's contestants! First, our lovely bacheloret is a freshman at Los Angeles University grad school and a major in marine biology. Please give a round of applause for Lizzie Cohen!"

Jeez, he made marine biology sound like a cure for cancer or something. And where did SD-6 come up with a cover like that anyway? Did I strike them as the kind of person who wanted to spend her life with fish? No offense to those people, of course.

But I hid my discomfort, smiled brilliantly, and gave the cheering audience a small wave.

Max continued. "Now, as you know, we like to keep the bachelors' identities a secret from the bachlorett until the end of the show, so as usual we've supplied them with nick names based on a characteristic we found most recognizable. So, please welcome bachelor #1, 'Pearly Whites!'"

Whistles from the audience. He must be very cute. And he has nice teeth. Always a good sign.

Vaughn had nice teeth.

Oh, no. Don't start again, I warned myself.

"Bachelor # 2, 'Sun Streaked!'"

Hmm. So he has sun streaked hair. Nice. Vaughn had sun streaked hair.

Shut up. Focus on the mission.

"And, Bachelor #3, 'Emerald Eyes!'" Max exclaimed.

Oh, he must be really cute, too. The whistles from the audience screamed in my ears.

Vaughn had green eyes.

Sydney, you're hopeless.

While Max explained the rules, I heard a crackling from my earrings. "Sydney, we've pinpointed our guy. You need...pick...bachelor..." It cut off. "O...ay? And... careful. Bachelor... is...ar."

Huh?

I reached up and twisted the earring, trying to get the signal back. Instead, the earphone went completely dead. Great. Now I'd have to figure out which one was Angel Nunzeo myself.

I should've guessed. This had disaster written all over it from the start.

"Alright, Lizzie! You may begin with question one!"

I grinned forcedly and picked up the opal heart shaped note cards my questions were written on. "Alright, Suitor 1, three how would you describe the ideal woman?" Man, this was lame.

"Hmm... smart, brave, and honest."

Honest. Oh, yeah. That's me. I never lie.

Weird though. His speech sounded strained, as though he was trying to cover a stutter or a lisp. Hmm.

"Thank you. Suitor 2, same question."

"I'd have to say funny and nice. And pretty. But pretty on the inside as well as out Beauty is only skin deep, after all."

Oh, gag me. What kind of answer is that?

I forced a small smile. "Ok. Thanks. Suitor 3, if we fell in love and got married, where would our honeymoon be?"

He waited a beat before answering. "Rome."

That caught my attention. "Why is that?"

"It's beautiful there. Everything's gorgeous," he explained. "And the restaurants aren't half bad either."

The audience laughed. My heart skipped a beat. Vaughn had wanted to take me to a restaurant in Rome. After the Vatican... but he never did. And now he never will.

I had to pull myself together.

"Um, ok. Suitor 1, the same question?"

"London. It's an amazing place to be. There's a variety of fascinating aspects to admire there."

I nodded, tucking the answer away in my head with the rest to go over later.

"Suitor 2, what's your favorite hobby?"

"I enjoy art dealing."

Art dealing... artifacts...

Hmm. Suitor 2 was the only one who'd said anything suspicious so far. I made a mental note of that.

"Suitor 3, same question."

"Hockey," he answered quickly.

Damn. Emerald Eyes was trying to torture me, wasn't he? He was doing a better job than the Asian dentist ever had.

"We'll be right back to 'Strike a Match' after this brief word from our sponsors!" Max announced.

Yes, commercial.

God, between fiancées, old boyfriends, and potential new boyfriends being killed, my mom coming back, lying to my friends, my friends being tortured, and participating in a local game show, ever since that man approached me at UCLA my life has become a living hell.