It hadn't taken long for the cliques to start forming, which Alexa noticed as the hours passed. Some seemed to have been established right off the bat between the ones who already knew each other, like those two sisters and the girl in purple-probably a cousin or something-and the tough-looking blonde and redhead pair.
She surveyed the room from her spot near the corner, sipping from her red wine cooler as she watched more girls come in one by one through the door. "Studying the competition," she liked to call it.
Alexa wasn't stupid. She knew her introduction to Hiro could have gone better, and it'd been obvious he'd only been polite to her, nothing else. She'd put her best face forward-although maybe her grin had been a bit forced, now that she thought about it-and that evidently hadn't been enough. But she wasn't surprised, it was never enough on shows like this.
This whole thing wasn't really about Hiro, anyway. Oh, he was good-looking, no doubt about it. Much better than the stereotypical engineer nerd. She was definitely way more interested than him than she'd ever been in her ex-boyfriends. But the game of reality television was to win, and if there was one thing Alexa was sure of beyond a doubt, it was that she'd never lose. Winning over a guy against twenty-four other girls was a piece of cake compared to all the other grueling humiliations of reality shows she'd seen.
Said twenty-four other girls were still just arriving and mingling with each other, a steady hum of chatter in the air over the noise of clinking glasses and bottles. Alexa had to admit that none of them really looked like the catty type out to scratch each other's eyes out, as she'd come to expect on this kind of show, but the key word was looked. Further time spent in a mansion with cameras watching all the time and romantic entanglements involved would definitely bring out the claws over the weeks.
She took another long, slightly heady sip from her wineglass. A girl in a red gown who had recently come in, she noticed, was sitting by herself on a loveseat. She was toying with her glass rather than actually drinking from it, sometimes tucking back her hair.
Alexa looked again. The girl seemed familiar, somehow. Hadn't she seen that face before somewhere? The feeling was odd, since she was sure she'd know if she'd spoken to someone before and she'd never said a word to this one, but-
Wait. That couldn't be Forrester, could it? Penny Forrester? The star of that dog show she'd seen once in reruns as a kid. She'd made appearances since in other works and movies, miraculously dodging the usual cards of drug abuse and rehab that were dealt to child actors. What was she doing here?
The brunette frowned to herself. She hadn't been counting on a celebrity-a minor one, but still-possibly mucking up her chances. This made the playing field a little harder than she'd been expecting it to be. Women like her who'd signed up and tried for the show at the appropriate places were one thing, but one with pre-established fame was entirely another.
Curious, she sipped once more from her wineglass and sidled over towards the loveseat. The celebrity in question-Forrester-gave a noticeable start and looked up, clearly surprised.
Alexa put forward her sweetest smile. "Hi. Can I sit here?"
Forrester looked briefly to be at a loss for words before recovering. "Oh-um, sure. I mean, sure, I don't mind."
She put her glass on the coffee table before shifting over on the loveseat. Alexa smoothly sat down, crossing one leg over the other and cradling her wineglass in her hand as she did.
"So." She kept her tone perfectly neutral, polite but not overly friendly so as to seem superficial. "You're Penny Forrester, right?"
She pretended to be interested in her wineglass, but she watched Forrester intently out of the corner of her eye. She had to wait to gauge the exact reactions she expected.
Forrester smiled slightly, although it was clearly stiff. "Ah-uh, yeah, that's me. What's your name?"
Alexa took a small, slow sip from her wine before answering. "Alexa. Alexa Barton. I'm majoring in history."
"Oh, really?" There didn't seem to be any sarcasm or maliciousness in her tone- none that Alexa could detect, anyway. She was an actress, after all. "That sounds cool. Never really got into history, but…"
"Yes, I'm aware." Alexa absently paused for another sip, glancing over at Forrester. She seemed rather nonplussed-almost surprised at the response, and Alexa wanted to roll her eyes. The actress couldn't possibly be hoping to keep up her "wholesome good girl" appearance for that long, she wasn't that good at acting. "You're still in acting, right? I saw your show. 'Bolt', right?"
"Oh-yeah, that." Now she looked slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, that was the show. It was a really long time ago, though-and lately I've been trying to get more into-well, making my own scripts. Acting is fine and all, but sometimes you gotta try something new, y'know?"
"Mhm." Alexa wasn't quite sure what to think. Either Forrester was trying to embarrass herself by keeping up an act of being a complete innocent when it came to reality TV, or she really was that stupid. Honestly, she wasn't sure which one would be funnier. Or more pathetic, really. If it was the latter, she almost felt sorry for her.
Either way, it was clear this was getting dull. There wasn't much to do while introductions were still going and the actual game had yet to start, and she wasn't getting anything done here.
She finished off her glass and stood up abruptly. "I'm getting another drink."
Forrester blinked. "Uh...okay."
Alexa headed over to the miniature fridge resting against the wall, pulling open the door to take out another wine cooler. She poured it into her glass and sipped it, reveling in the sharp edge to the chilled sweetness of the drink. At least the alcohol here was good. Now, if only Hiro would finish introductions…
Penny wasn't sure what to think. When she'd first been approached as a potential contestant for the show, she'd balked. The whole idea sounded like an exercise in secondhand embarrassment, seeing women fall all over themselves to get a man to look at them twice. From what she'd seen of it whenever her mom watched reruns (usually resulting in Bolt watching along with her and barking at certain names), it didn't look particularly tempting.
But, of course, her mom had to be the one to encourage her to have second thoughts. It was a chance to try something new, something out of her comfort zone-and even if that didn't mean getting the guy, so what? She'd at least have an experience to talk about. She was used to cameras being on her all the time from when she was a kid, but not all the time into her personal life like reality TV required-and this, unlike her past experiences as a kid, would be temporary. It'd be almost like acting again, but in a different setting and around people who'd be doing the same thing as she was.
The main difference was that Penny had acted before and everyone else presumably hadn't, but in a setting like this, she wasn't sure if she could really act like she did when she knew she was playing an entirely fictional character.
It hadn't been too bad, though. Hiro seemed sweet, and the fanboying moment he'd had about her show was...endearing, in its own weird way. Normally, she'd gotten used to people bringing up the TV show she'd done as a kid when first meeting her to the point of getting a little annoyed about it, but it felt different with Hiro. It felt sincere, and he'd clearly felt bad for freaking out on her like that. It felt like he really did care about her opinion and didn't see her as just another of the many women chasing after him as required by the rules-not that she'd been expecting him to do the latter, but it was nice to see that he clearly wasn't.
On the other hand, however, the glances and stares Penny was getting from the other contestants were a bit unsettling. As a former TV star, she was used to getting odd looks-but this felt different, somehow, as if they were sizing her up and finding her wanting. One of them-Alexa, she'd said her name was-had gone so far as to sit next to her and strike up an awkward conversation. Penny still had no clue what to make of that. Had she been trying to intimidate her? Mess with her?
Or maybe she was just being paranoid. She sighed and picked up her glass again, absently tapping at the stem with her fingers. Six weeks, she reminded herself. Only six weeks, and even then, there was no guarantee she'd stay for them all. For all she knew, she'd be out after the first week.
Something about the way Hiro had reacted to her told her that probably wouldn't be the case, though, and it wasn't just the fanboying. There seemed to have been something in the way he apologized after it, and she found herself thinking about how it'd seemed like he really cared about her opinion again.
It was only because she was from the show he'd liked, Penny told herself. Once he actually got to know her, all bets were off. She just had to hope for the best, and that her mother had made the right call when encouraging her to jump into this thing.
She already missed Bolt, though. At least she'd be able to call home to hear his barks over the phone, even if that wasn't the same thing. But he was getting on in years and the vet had instructed her just last month to give him daily doses of medicine for a cough he was getting-he'd also told her it was nothing to worry about, and Bolt was perfectly healthy for a dog his age, and her mom had promised to administer the medicine for her while she was gone, but…
Focus. Right. She had to focus. Bolt was going to be fine. When her mom wasn't looking after him, Mittens was, and she had nothing to worry about in either case. Penny decided then and there that when she got home, whether from being eliminated or with Hiro in tow, she'd play with Bolt and spoil him as much as possible.
The first thing she had to make sure of when on a date with Hiro, she added on as an afterthought, was whether or not he liked dogs. If he didn't, well...Penny couldn't exactly call it an immediate deal breaker, but he'd have to have a lot in the personality department to make her stay after that.
"Oh-uh, hey. Is it okay if I sit here?"
Penny gave a start and looked up to see a girl in purple, her black hair loose and a glass in her hand. Said girl smiled a little ruefully, adding, "It's, uh, a bit crowded over there."
She gestured offhandedly with her free hand towards the other side of the room, where the other contestants were clearly congregated together and chattering away. Someone else who wasn't cut out for crowds, Penny noted. At least she wasn't alone in that department.
She gave a nod. "Sure, go ahead."
The other girl's face broke into a relieved smile before she sat down. "Thanks."
There was a pause, during which Penny took a sip from her drink and almost spat it out from how unexpectedly sour it was, before the other girl spoke. "I'm Violet, by the way. What's your name?"
Penny stilled, briefly wondering whether or not to give out her full name on the off chance this was someone who genuinely didn't recognize her. "I'm, um-Penny."
Violet was definitely staring at her now. "Are you…? I mean-sorry, for a second I thought-"
"Penny Forrester?" Penny found herself blurting out. "Yeah."
There was another pause, this one much more awkward and with the addition of Penny being overwhelmed with the urge to run off and hide in a bathroom somewhere for a few hours. Why had she said that? Great job, Penny, not even an hour in and already you're messing things up.
"You were, uh…" There was a distinct sipping noise before Violet continued. "You were on that show, right? I mean-like, the one with the dog. Bolt, right?"
When Penny didn't respond, she continued hurriedly, "Not that-not that's a bad thing or anything! My brother loved that show a lot, I mean like a lot when we were kids and I didn't really watch it but I thought it was-"
"It's fine, it's fine," Penny cut her off, and she couldn't help laughing, just a little, at the panicky look on Violet's face. "Seriously, don't worry about it. It's just-you're not the first one to talk about that. But it sort of gets old, y'know?"
Violet laughed a bit in return, even if more awkwardly. "Yeah, I get that. I mean, not that I get get that, but-you know what I mean."
Well, at least that was out of the way. Penny exhaled, something lighter in her already. Maybe she didn't really have anything to worry about, after all.
"If it's okay for me to ask, though…" Violet brushed some hair away from her face as she spoke, her voice tentative. "What was it like? Being on a show, I mean. With all the...cameras, and all."
Penny inclined her head. "It was...kind of scary, at first, but you get used to that sort of thing the more you're in it. Pretty big stuff for me as a kid, but I liked the chance to pretend to be someone I wasn't for a while."
She paused. "Of course, that's different here."
Violet shrugged. "Hey, it's reality TV. Stuff happens, right?"
Penny had to grin at that. "True. But I'd like if it wasn't that kind of stuff."
"Tell me about it." Violet huffed, rolling her eyes and blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "My mom watches reruns of this show sometimes, and geez, it gets weird on here, I'll tell you that much."
"Yours too?" Something about that made Penny feel a bit better, as if it was a reminder that she wasn't as alone in this as she assumed she would be. "Tell me about it…"
Hiro could already hear the noise of indistinct chatter as he made his way back towards the mansion, in no small part due to the windows being left open earlier to the warm summer air. He stopped before the door, steeled himself, and opened it.
The effect was instantaneous. All of the girls in the room fell silent and looked at him, the air of anticipation almost overpowering. Hiro forced himself to calm down, his mind completely blanking at what to do or say until his eyes landed on Penny, who was near another girl-Violet, he was pretty sure-with a drink in her hand and staring at him like everyone else.
He walked up to her. "I-uh-can I see you for a minute?"
It came out almost as a ridiculous squeak in his ears. Penny smiled at him, however, and something in him-probably his inner ten-year-old-did a flip. "Um, sure."
He awkwardly led her out towards the pool area, feeling the stares burning into his back as he did. There was a red loveseat on the patio, which he quickly sat down on and she followed suit.
Hiro took a deep breath. "Okay, so I know I kind of freaked out on you back there. Can we just-is it okay if we try and forget the whole thing and start over?"
"If you really want to, sure." Penny smiled slightly and sipped a little at her drink before continuing. "But seriously, it's no big deal. You just surprised me, that's all."
"I mean-" Hiro found himself running his hand through his hair. "I'm really sorry about that, though, I honestly thought you were working on a movie or something. Weren't you going to be in that one reboot thing of, uh, Joanna Indiana?"
He was pretty sure that'd been what it was called. It'd been about a singer doubling as a superhero, and he'd only watched a few episodes as a kid because Penny was in it before dropping it because of how "girly" it was.
"Oh yeah, that?" Penny gave a small laugh. "That was-oh, wow, that was-I should really tell you the whole story sometime, but basically that got canned because the writers couldn't agree on how it should've ended. Probably for the best, since the original plot involved aliens."
"Aliens?" Hiro laughed. "You're kidding."
"Sadly, no," Penny deadpanned in between sips. "But you get the idea. That was a few months back, so I haven't really been acting a lot. And I figured Bolt is probably going to be the biggest thing I'll ever be in anyway."
"Ah, okay." Hiro wasn't sure what else to say, but the ensuing silence didn't feel as awkward as he expected it to be. It almost felt comfortable. "For what it's worth, though, I definitely would've been first in line to see that movie if it had aliens."
Penny made a near choking noise on her drink. "Seriously?"
"Hey, what can I say?" Hiro shot her a lazy grin. "Aliens are cool. Like you."
He regretted the last part the moment it came out. Dammit, Hiro, when will you learn cheesy pickup lines are not the way to go? "I mean, uh-not that you're like-a martian, or gray with a big head or anyth-shit, can we just forget that? Oh, god, I'm bad at this."
"No, no, it's fine!" Penny laughed. "I mean, if it helps, I'll take that as a compliment. Aliens are pretty neat."
"Right?" Maybe he wouldn't screw up this first night as badly as he'd assumed he would. Hiro glanced back at the mansion.
"We should, uh-probably be getting back soon," he added a little dryly. "They're probably thinking we're…"
He was not going to finish that sentence. And he was definitely not looking at Penny's mouth. Nope.
Penny ducked her head, and in the low lighting, he could have sworn her face hadn't been that red a minute ago. "Y-yeah. Right. I'll see you later, Hiro."
She got up, now empty glass in hand, and started walking ahead without a look back towards the mansion. Hiro followed closely behind, trying to steel himself to focus again.
There was a wave of whispers and grumbles among the other ladies when Hiro had taken Penny out of the room, and Tip was no exception. Granted, she didn't really know what was supposed to happen on this show, but for him to single one girl out right off the bat like that? It was a bit odd.
Tip was hearing the others say something about this specific girl...what was her name? Penny? Apparently, she was some kind of celebrity, but Tip sure as heck had never seen or heard of her before. But if this gave Penny an unfair advantage over the rest of them, then Tip could definitely understand why they were so upset. And to be honest, Tip was feeling a little bit jealous herself.
When she'd agreed to do the show, Tip wasn't so much in it for the guy but more for the adventure. Despite always having been a bold girl, she'd never done much with her life ever since she'd moved here from Barbados when she was 12. She'd jumped at the chance to be on TV, even if it was weird romance-oriented reality TV, but she never thought she'd actually care for the guy.
And well...she wasn't that into him yet, of course. She'd only just met him. But if she was being honest with herself, she hadn't gotten the jitters like that over seeing a guy in a really long time. If her chances were going to be ruined because some girl had an unfair advantage, Tip wouldn't be happy.
She stopped, taking a few deep breaths to calm down, as she'd gotten used to doing over the years. There was no use getting mad about it. She'd just have to step up her game to show Hiro that she was just as good as this celebrity he was so apparently fond of.
And as if on cue, Penny appeared in the room, followed closely by Hiro. Despite the looks being thrown her way, Penny seemed to be grinning, and that just put Tip even more on edge.
As Hiro walked nervously toward the crowd of women though, they all seemed to forget about Penny and turned their excited expressions toward him instead.
"Uh...hey everyone," he greeted, with that cute lopsided smile again. "How are you doing?"
"Great!" a few of them chirped, while some others giggled. "How are you, Hiro?"
Hiro gave a shrug and tried to walk toward one of the couches, careful not to bump into any of them along the way. He seemed so tense, Tip noticed.
"I mean, I'm alright…" Hiro was saying as he made his way through. "It's just been a long day is all. Pretty tiring."
"God, I know, right?" Anna replied, making room for him to sit between herself and Elsa. "I can't believe they made you stand out there that whole time."
"It's fine, really. Anyway, have you ladies gotten the chance to look around? Pretty big place, isn't it?"
He was only about ten feet away from Tip, but somehow there were several other women between them. Something in her kinda wanted to push them out of the way so she could get closer, but for now she just sat down to observe, to see what she could get by listening to him talk with the others.
After a moment, though, Tip's gaze began to drift. She started looking some of the other girls up and down, seeing if she could figure out something about them. One of them, a tiny girl in a mint teal dress, was holding something while she spoke and kept looking at it while she was talking. Upon closer inspection Tip noticed that it was a...Nintendo DS? This girl had actually brought video games with her?
...what a great idea. Tip cursed herself for not thinking of that one. That would have been a great distraction whenever she was bored around here.
There was also a red-head with a sketchpad, looking like she was doodling something, and a black-haired girl who almost looked more interested in the mansion than she did in Hiro.
Eventually, Tip's gaze moved to the girl furthest from Hiro, who surprisingly enough was actually Penny. Of course it was. She'd already gotten the chance to talk with him in private, she could afford to sit back smugly while the rest of them tripped over themselves...Tip immediately stopped herself in her thoughts and took another deep breath. Jealousy won't do anything to help her. So instead she decided to study to competition.
Penny didn't seem to notice her staring and was instead looking straight ahead with a tiny smile. She was a fairly petite girl, pale and thin, and the red dress she was wearing draped around her body nicely. Her hair was short, and had an interesting brownish-red color that matched those huge brown eyes of hers perfectly. She was certainly pretty, Tip thought with a flush, and she was famous on top of that.
The jitters were coming back. Suddenly Tip wasn't so sure she could beat this girl for Hiro's affections, but she wasn't about to give up that easily. She quickly tore her gaze away from Penny and turned back to Hiro. He was actually kind of quiet for the moment, allowing the girls to do some talking, probably so he could get to know them better.
As he scanned through the crowd in front of him, his eyes landed on Tip. To her surprise, he smiled a bit and waved at her. Tip felt like her heart was about to fly out of her chest, but instead she somehow managed to smile and wave back. Her eyes were still glued to him long after he had looked away.
Sheesh. She couldn't take this much pressure on her nerves, especially on the first night. Between Hiro giving her butterflies and Penny giving her jitters, she wasn't sure if she would be able to survive this thing.
"I could already see Anna tense up and get nervous when he went and took Penny aside," Elsa confessed to the camera. "Actually, not just her, a lot of people were freaking out. I tried not to let it get to me, but I admit I'm nervous. It's like he already knows her, and that's a bit...uhhhh…"
"I swear to God, if Penny Forrester wins this thing, I'm going to...shit, I don't even know," Alexa snapped at the confessional. "What I'm saying is, she'd better not win."
Vanellope watched the conversation unfold with a sigh. She'd been hoping to get a few more words in with Hiro, but the way he was being surrounded right now, it was obvious she'd have to wait until later. For now, she retreated to a separate area of the room, where she pulled out her DS and started playing a few rounds of Sugar Rush.
She had no idea how long she'd been playing, when she suddenly sensed that people were watching. Vanellope blinked a bit and looked up, to see a couple of ladies staring in her direction, and to her surprise, Hiro had somehow made his way over and was staring over her shoulder at the game. Vanellope felt her heart skip a beat, but she tried not to let him see how nervous she was.
Hiro grinned sheepishly at being caught, and he slowly sat down next to her (followed closely by some other girls of course). "Hey," he greeted with a smile. "Uh, what are you playing?"
"Oh, just something I brought along," Vanellope shrugged, gripping her DS tightly. "You know, just in case I get bored."
"Ah, I see," he replied. "Planning ahead, huh?"
"Well, even in a mansion, there's only so long I can go without my video games, Hiro."
Hiro chuckled, and Vanellope considered that an achievement considering how tired he seemed otherwise.
But of course, the moment had to be ruined by another girl sitting nearby. A short young woman with purple-streaked hair leaned over and studied Vanellope's game for a moment. "What game is that?" she asked.
Vanellope hesitated for a second, then shrugged. "It's uh...Sugar Rush. You know, like Mario Kart, but with candy."
The other woman nodded. "Racing game?"
"Yeah."
A third girl, one with blond hair and pink glasses, giggled at this. "GoGo's addicted to racing games," she said, nodding to her friend. "Whenever she sees one, she has to play it."
"I do not," GoGo rolled her eyes.
Vanellope smiled slightly and held up the DS. "You can play a round if you want," she told GoGo. "Just don't break it. Or, you know, beat my high score."
GoGo seemed surprised, but smirked and accepted it. "No promises."
With that, Vanellope turned back to Hiro, who was watching this whole exchange go down. She grinned at him. "So."
He turned to her. "So."
"You managed to get away from the horde, huh?"
He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Hey, they're not that bad," he paused, as some other girls got curious and headed over, starting to surround him slowly again. One of them-named Kay, probably-plopped herself down at his other side.
Hiro kept his attention on Vanellope for now. "But anyway. How are you doing…?"
He sounded as if he had no idea what to say or what he was doing, and that really made Vanellope feel a bit more relaxed. She giggled. "Well, you know, I got to ride in a limo all day, and now I'm in a sweet mansion with you, so I'd say I'm pretty good."
Hiro was smiling, but Vanellope noticed some frowns coming from the others, so she took the opportunity to flash them a sweet smile and add, "Oh, and you guys too. You're great too."
Some of the girls laughed, but more of them sent scoffs and eyerolls her way, and oddly enough that made her feel satisfied. She turned back to Hiro, but he was busy listening to something Kay was saying.
Vanellope frowned slightly. "Ahem?"
Kay looked up and flashed a sweet smile her way. "Oh? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's...fine."
At that point, GoGo gave an audible sigh and handed the DS back to Vanellope. Vanellope waited for her to say something, but instead she just popped her bubble gum and leaned on the couch. So Vanellope just shrugged and started up a new race.
Hiro's attention had been dragged away by some of the others, but his gaze kept drifting back to Vanellope and her game. Vanellope grinned, and took the oppurtunity hand it over to him. "You wanna play a round?"
Hiro looked surprised and seemed to completely drop his conversations with the others. "Can I?"
"Yeah. Same rules as before, though, don't beat my high score."
He nodded and took the DS from her hands, prompting literally everyone to scuttle in closer and watch, Vanellope being the closest of all. Racing games didn't seem to be Hiro's forte, but Vanellope and GoGo were giving him tips as he went, and he looked like he was concentrating really hard.
...They probably looked really ridiculous, Vanellope realized. A bunch of adults in formal wear crowding around a video game like schoolchildren. And it was kinda her fault. Oops (she didn't actually feel bad about it though).
When Hiro was done, he handed the console back to her with a smile, and it seemed like he was having an easier time talking to the girls after that. Who knew a video game was all it took to break the ice?
Vanellope would have tried to get another word in, but she was satisfied for now. She'd done her part for the night, and now it was time to see how the rest of the week would unfold.
"I was hoping there wouldn't be too much competition on the first night," Anna sighed to the camera. "But I guess that was wishful thinking. Between Penny, and Vanellope, I don't know who to be worried about most."
She paused. "Well, at least it will be easier when the dates start. I think. I hope..."
"I think all of us were pretty pissed with ourselves for not being as clever as Vanellope," Astrid snickered to the camera. "But whatever, I like that these girls are bringing it on during the first night. Makes it more of a challenge, you know what I mean?"
Tip wasn't really paying attention to where she was going as she rounded the corner, barreling right into a taller young lady and knocking her over.
At the sudden contact, Tip stopped and gave a slight gasp. "Oh, geez, sorry!" she said. "I didn't see you…"
The other woman stood back up with a smile, and Tip felt a slight surge of nervousness when she realized it was Penny. The redhead didn't look mad, however and sent a warm smile in Tip's direction. "That's ok," she told her. "Don't worry about it."
Tip nodded, but as Penny walked away she called out to her again. "Hey, hold on...can I ask you something?"
Penny stopped. "Um, sure?"
Tip paused, hesitating (though she wasn't sure why), then asked, "So...a lot of people here seem to know you? They said you were famous or something."
A wave of...was it fear?...passed through Penny's expression and she shrugged. "Sort of? They just know me from a TV show I did when I was young."
"You were on TV?"
"I-it was a long time ago…" Penny sighed. "You know the show Bolt?"
Tip blinked.
"The one about the super-powered dog? With the spy girl?"
Tip shook her head. "Never heard of it, sorry."
Penny slowly nodded her head and her shoulders seemed to sag with relief. "That's ok. It was just a show for kids, anyway. I was only a kid myself."
"Ah, that explains it," Tip replied. "I spent most of my childhood in Barbados, I don't know about many American kids' shows."
"Oh. Okay." Penny giggled. "Well, at least not everyone around here sees me as the ultimate enemy." She looked over at Tip as she said this, as if for confirmation.
Tip had to admit she felt bad for her. Penny was probably feeling just as nervous as everybody else around here, and her recognizable face probably wasn't helping. Heck, even the people who didn't recognize her seemed to be antagonizing the poor girl, that even Tip had felt nervous about her. But...well, maybe that just wasn't fair. Tip sighed. "Yeah, of course. You're just another contestant, that's all."
Penny nodded. "Yeah. Exactly. Anyway, I'll see you around, um…?"
"Tip."
"See you later, Tip."
"See ya, Penny."
GoGo popped her bubblegum again as she leaned on a couch behind Honey Lemon, surveying the scene without a word. She'd guessed that the first night would be awkward and hectic, and she'd been right. Half the girls were trying to talk to him all at once, while the other half were waiting their turn or were just too shy to approach him in front of the others. Hiro seemed like an okay guy, sure, but GoGo sure didn't want to be a part of that mess.
"Aren't you going to try to talk to him?" Honey whispered from where she was sitting.
"I don't think I could if I tried," GoGo gestured to the crowd. Hiro had somehow found himself sitting between Elsa and Anna once more, and that was probably the only reason he wasn't being overrun by the others. The sisters seemed to form a protective bubble around him, with Elsa's authoritative demeanor and Anna's loud, commanding presence.
"Still," Honey Lemon whispered back. "I think you could get his attention if you tried. I think you guys have a lot in common."
GoGo smirked down at her. "I think I'll save that for the dates-and besides, why are you trying to help me? Aren't we rivals?"
Honey Lemon giggled and nodded, but she let it go after that.
So instead of trying to butt her way in, GoGo took the opportunity to study the competition. There were a few loud and bubbly ones, like Anna, and then there were others that seemed quieter, like herself. That Vanellope girl with the video game seemed pretty cool, and for GoGo, she probably seemed like the one to be most worried about. There was Penny too, of course, but at the moment she was seated quietly in the back. To be honest, GoGo wasn't all that worried about Penny, at least not as much as everyone else seemed to be. But then again, GoGo was a big fan of Bolt when she was young, and that made it hard to hate the girl.
The vocal ones were probably the other worries she had. Some of them were willing to get excited over anything, and then there were people like Merida, who only seemed to want to talk about sports (specifically archery for some reason). GoGo wouldn't really classify them as annoying, though that could change after she had to live with them for six weeks.
There was one, however, that she could definitely call annoying right off the bat. The one named Cat. Good Lord, that girl knew how to lay it on thick.
"Oh Hiro, you're soooo smart," she would say, over and over whenever he said something remotely smart. And when the poor guy tripped over his words in his nervousness, she'd follow it up with "Hiro, you're sooooo funny!"
More than once, GoGo found herself exchanging glances with Elsa, Astrid and even Kay whenever Cat made a comment like that. She was a real kiss-up, but who knows? Maybe Hiro was into that.
As for Hiro, though...there was something that was bugging GoGo about him. Slowly, she leaned down to Honey Lemon and whispered, "Does he seem kinda familiar to you? I feel like I've met him before."
Honey looked surprised. "Well, he's famous, GoGo, you've probably seen has face all over the place."
"No, I mean, like...he looks like someone I know, I think. But I don't know who."
Honey Lemon frowned as she stared up at her friend. "Hmmmm, no...I don't think so."
"I'm probably just tired, then." GoGo sighed and leaned forward on the couch once more, popping her gum louder than before.
"Some of these girls have no class," Kay sighed to the camera. "I mean, they only just met him and they're all over him. That's not exactly a good first impression." She laughed slightly and pushed her hair out of the way. "Oh well. Hiro's probably smart enough to see through that. I'm sure he'll easily figure out who the best girls are around here."
After another hour or two, Hiro felt himself winding down. A brief glance over the crowd informed him that several of the ladies were feeling the same way, though there were several others who looked as lively as ever.
As for him, though, he decided that maybe this was enough. Anna's soft hand on his shoulder and the concerned looks in his direction indicated that he looked just as tired as he felt.
Hiro gave them all a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry, everyone, it's just...been a long day, you know. I'm thinking I might turn in early."
"Aww!" Mavis pouted slightly. "But the night's just barely getting started..."
"Leave him alone, let the man rest," Elsa replied softly.
Hiro nodded gratefully in her direction. "Don't worry, though, we'll see each other again soon." He got up and stretched, a little wary of their eyes still on him. "So, uh...good night guys."
"Good night, Hiro!" Honey replied.
"Sleep well!" Rapunzel added.
There were a few more goodbyes, along with some disappointed groans, as Hiro finally broke off from the group and headed up to his room.
The room he'd been given was definitely larger than what he was used to, but still had an oddly cosy feel to it. A king-size bed on the left side, a table and chair on the right, and some stuff in between that Hiro was too tired to really look at. He took off his shoes and flopped himself down on the (ridiculously comfy-seriously, it was like laying on a cloud) bed, allowing himself to finally relax.
God, what a day. Maybe it was from standing around all day in dress shoes, or maybe from the mental stress of juggling all those girls' attention, but he felt bone tired. And it was only night one! Hiro let out another sigh as he slowly relaxed into the bed. He should probably get changed out of his clothes, but honestly, he was too lazy. He's get clean clothes tomorrow morning, no big deal.
He was feeling himself starting to fall asleep, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Hiro?" Fred's voice could be heard from outside. "You in there, buddy?"
Hiro groaned, but forced himself out of bed and open the door. Wasabi and Fred were standing outside, grinning until they saw Hiro's disheveled state.
"Oh," Wasabi said. "Did we wake you?"
"No, uh...I wasn't asleep yet," Hiro replied, running a hand through his hair.
"We just came to check on you," said Fred. "How'd it go with the girls?"
"It was good..."
"Who'd you give the rose to?"
Hiro blinked. "Rose?"
"Yeah," Fred continued. "First Impression rose. You give it to the one who...made the best first impression."
"Oh crap...I forgot."
"If you're tired, we can deliver it for you," Wasabi suggested. "But just this once, you'll have to give out the rest on your own."
"Thanks," Hiro replied groggily. He excused himself for a moment to pick up the flower that he'd been given, then paused. Who was he even going to give it to?
The young man tried to think through the sleepiness clouding his mind. Let's see...some of them are more quiet than others. People like Honey and Anna were really sweet, and then there were girls like Astrid or GoGo, whose faces you could barely read, and they were always blunt. They were all so different from each other. And then of course there was Penny, but...hmmm...
Hiro sighed and walked back out to the door.
"So?" Fred asked curiously. "Who's the lucky recipient?"
Hiro blinked slowly. "Um...how about...Vanellope?"
Wasabi frowned slightly at his unsure tone. "Why her?"
Hiro shrugged. "She let me play her video game and that's cool."
Fred laughed, and Wasabi rolled his eyes. "Hiro...you're 22 years old…" Then he sighed. "Ok, fine, it's your choice. She's still downstairs, so we'll leave this in her room for you."
Hiro's heart skipped a beat. How would Vanellope react when she found it in her room? Heck, how would any of these girls react when he gave them roses? It was too much for his tired brain to think about right now. "Right, thanks…" he murmured. "See you tomorrow…"
"Good night, Hiro."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah, look! Look what I found!" Vanellope could barely contain her excitement as she waved the rose up to the camera. She was clearly tired, but extremely excited nonetheless. "I mean, it would have been nice if he delivered it in person, but...oh, well! God, I was so surprised, I thought he'd already given it to someone else, and then I get to my room and find this-"
She paused, realizing how loud she was, then giggled. "I mean, I don't want to get my hopes up too early or anything, but...I think I've got a pretty good chance."
A/N: Important! We're really thankful for the feedback we've gotten so far, but please remember that we want to know who you're rooting for! We've set up a poll on our profile, so if you have time, please go vote for your favorite girl! Thanks for reading, and we'll see you in chapter 4!
