Elle fiddled with the edge of her bedspread, staring up at the ceiling. She'd been awake for twenty, maybe thirty minutes already. When she woke, she half expected to be back in her apartment, the events of the last week having been a long fever dream, but that wasn't the case. She was still in the crazy house. Harper slept soundly in the bed beside hers.
And she was still competing for Seth
Charming, handsome, carved from stone Seth. The man who knew about her boyfriend and flat out told her that he didn't care.
She pressed her fingertips over her eyes, wiping away the image of his sly smile.
For the first and probably last time, Elle was the first girl awake in the house. It was eerily silent, not even a cameraman tailing her yet. Embracing the peace and quiet, she tip toed down the stairs and made a mimosa before heading back upstairs and taking a long, hot shower.
Once she was dressed, she set off in search of Daisy. They had a lot to talk about.
She searched all over the house but couldn't find her friend anywhere. The only producer that she could locate was her absolute least favorite. She rolled her eyes dramatically, figuring if she did it before she talked to him then maybe she wouldn't do it in his face.
"Jim," she crossed her arms, reluctantly walking to him. "I need Daisy."
"Good morning to you too Elle," he smiled. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"You can tell me where to find Daisy."
"She's around," he shrugged. "I'm not sure where. If you need something, I'm sure I can take care of it."
"I doubt that," Elle responded quickly. Daisy warned her about Jim's tendency to try and poach other producers' girls. "Can you radio her?"
"If you insist," Jim sighed, calling for her on his headset.
A few uncomfortable moments later, Daisy rushed into the kitchen, "Sorry, I'm late. Getting set up for the next challenge."
Elle stood impatiently as Jim pulled Daisy aside to ask her who knows what. She tapped her fingers against her bottom lip, raising her eyebrows until she finally caught her friend's eye.
"You need me?" she questioned.
Elle nodded, "Sure do."
"We need to get your mic on for the day," Jim pointed. "They're already starting on the other girls."
"Then finish the other girls first," Daisy shot him a stern look. "We'll be right back."
Elle followed behind the woman who got her into this madness, resisting the urge to turn and stick her tongue out at Jim.
"Thank you so much for agreeing to stay," Daisy took off her headphones. "Seriously, you are doing me such a big favor. And I talked to Poppy and-"
"Seth knows," Elle cut her off. She didn't want to talk about Poppy. "About Ethan."
"How did you find that out?" Daisy stared.
"Excuse me?" Elle stared back. That was not the question she expected. She smacked her in the arm, "You knew? And you didn't think to give me a warning?"
"I just found out this morning," Daisy explained. "He pulled me aside at our meeting and told me. I tried to deny it but that didn't work very well since someone didn't make their Instagram private."
"Okay, I'm sorry but I did not think I needed to do that," Elle pointed. "I was only supposed to be here for a couple days."
"I made it private after he told me," Daisy informed her. "We don't need his fans finding out as easy as he did."
That was probably a good idea.
"You didn't answer me, how did you find out that Seth knows? He just told me this morning."
"He was here last night," Elle admitted. "After elimination. I couldn't sleep. I walked down by the pool and he was there and he told me."
"You guys are not supposed to talk when we aren't filming," Daisy scolded.
"Well what was I supposed to do? Pretend I didn't see him?"
"Did he tell you why he kept you anyway?"
Elle laughed, "Because apparently he's not at all threatened by my having a boyfriend. He said he thinks he can change it."
Daisy's eyes widened, "Wow…That's actually sort of hot."
"What the hell Daisy?" Elle smacked her on the arm again. "It's not hot, you weirdo. It's…I have no idea what it is. It's very confusing."
"You don't think he may be right?" Daisy smirked.
"Are you kidding me?" Elle stared at her friend.
"We watched the footage from the carnival date this morning. The chemistry between you two is electric. The other producers are shitting bricks."
Elle didn't like the competitive glint in Daisy's eyes as she spoke.
"Well tell them not to worry too much about me," Elle advised. "My days are numbered, remember?"
"Well if it isn't the man of the hour."
Seth cringed at the sound of Charlotte's voice ringing out across catering. The casting special and the first episode of the show had officially aired on the network and now Seth couldn't seem to take five steps through the arena without someone stopping him. He had no idea his coworkers would be so fascinated by a reality show. He wondered if this was how the girls on Total Divas felt. Charlotte was seated with Sasha and they were both frantically waving him over. Seth sighed, resigned to his fate. He'd had to answer questions from people he didn't even like. He wasn't going to be able to avoid talking to his friends. They would have to give him a minute to grab some food. Then they could grill him all they wanted. He found Roman making himself a plate and recruited his friend to join him. Once he had a plate full of food and Roman in tow, he headed toward the firing squad.
Sasha stood up with a devious smile. She'd clearly been waiting all day for this.
"Roses are red," she recited. "Violets are blue. I'm here for-"
"That's enough," Seth stopped her. He never needed to hear that poem again. Dean had already done a dramatic reading of it on his voicemail.
"How on Earth did you get through that without laughing?" Charlotte questioned.
"Honestly, I just stopped listening," Seth admitted. "I didn't want to laugh at her."
"Look at you being a nice person," Roman patted him on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you."
"So I take it you're enjoying the show so far?" Seth asked.
"Enjoying isn't the word," Sasha said. "I am living for it. If I were single, I would ask Stephanie for my own show. I'd call it Battling for the Boss and the guys would all get a 'Boss' ring and it would be fabulous."
"Mine would be Courting the Queen," Charlotte beamed. "It would be a ratings powerhouse."
The girls looked expectantly at Roman and he stopped eating his food, shooting a questioning gaze of his own their way. He sighed when he realized that they were waiting for him to participate, "I don't know…Romancing Roman?"
"Too predictable," Charlotte shook her head in disgust.
"Taming the Big Dog," Sasha grinned. "There it is."
"Yes!" Charlotte gave her a high five. "You are a marketing genius."
"In another life, that would be my career," Sasha shrugged. "I told Stephanie she needs to get the merchandise people on Team Mia and Team Elle shirts right away."
"Oh I am totally Team Mia," Charlotte announced proudly.
"What?" Sasha stared. "What kind of monster would be Team Mia? The only correct choice is Team Elle."
Seth felt the corner of his mouth ticking upward. He was hoping Sasha would like Elle. When he called her for advice, he'd considered telling her the whole story; that he knew about Elle having a boyfriend but was immensely attracted to her and planning to take the risk. He chickened out, though, scared of being called crazy or stupid or both. Sasha didn't exactly pull her punches when it came to her opinion. Instead, he told her a watered down version of the story; that there was speculation in the house that she was hiding something but that he trusted that she was telling the truth. He didn't want Sasha's view of her to be colored by their less than conventional situation. When he told her the story, Sasha encouraged him to go with his gut. If he thought she was a liar then cut her. If he didn't, keep her. His gut told him that if Elle was serious about her boyfriend, she wouldn't have come on the show. It also told him that if he was going to continue with this ridiculous reality show, he wanted to do it with her around.
"I don't see it," Charlotte shook her head. "Elle seems like kind of an asshole to me."
"Why?" Sasha asked. "All she did was stand her ground and defend her friends when Mia and her little lap dog were the ones being assholes."
Seth wasn't sure what his friends were talking about since he hadn't watched the show himself but it was interesting to hear their thoughts.
"What about when she said Mia and Emily were boring Seth right to their faces?" Charlotte countered. "Was that just standing her ground?"
"Well that was just funny," Sasha smirked. She pointed at Seth, "He went with her so obviously she wasn't wrong."
This time Seth knew exactly what they were talking about. The day of the pool party. Sasha was right, he couldn't even recall what Emily and Mia were talking to him about but he could remember just about every second that he spent with Elle. He had a vivid memory of that bikini she was wearing.
"You're quiet over there," Seth looked at Roman. "Which team are you on?"
"I don't know if I like either one of them," Roman admitted. "Mia seems rude and I don't know about Elle and the whole cell phone/boyfriend thing."
"Those other girls are just being haters," Sasha waved. "They see that she's a threat and so they're attacking her and trying to turn him against her. That's how these shows work."
"They didn't make her break the rules," Charlotte chimed in. "You can't say that's not suspicious. Seth, I was so surprised you kept her."
"The boyfriend rumor is nothing to worry about," Seth assured her. "Elle and I cleared it up."
"See?" Sasha smiled. She patted Seth on the head, "He's not nearly as dumb as he looks."
"I don't know about all that," Roman laughed.
One of the PA's came over, informing Sasha and Charlotte that one of the agents wanted to talk to them. Both women were put out at having to end their conversation but they got up, gathering up their plates.
"Duty calls kids," Charlotte sighed. "You better do the right thing at the next elimination Seth."
"She means get rid of Mia," Sasha smiled, giving him a quick hug before she followed Charlotte away.
Seth smiled, shaking his head at his friends. That was easier than he expected. They didn't even ask him anything.
Tuesday morning…
Elle lined up highball glasses and popped the cork on a bottle of Prosecco. Once again, she was on cocktail duty for the morning as Abigail made breakfast. Someone was always volunteering Elle to make cocktails. She wasn't the only girl in the house who'd worked behind a bar in the past so she assumed they picked her because she was heavy handed with the alcohol. She didn't mind at all. It was an easy job. The producers kept the house well stocked with booze and she liked tapping into her reserves of cocktail knowledge. She was just glad no one asked her to cook. Abigail was a master in the kitchen. She'd gotten up early that morning and made biscuits from scratch, now she was putting the finishing touches on gravy and crepes.
"When all of this is over, will you come live with me?" Elle asked the Texan as she dropped one scoop each of lemon and blood orange sorbet into each glass.
"Of course I will honey," Abigail chuckled. "Me and Seth. We'll be one big happy polygamist family."
"I could be okay with that," Elle shrugged, pouring in the Prosecco. She used almost two bottles for the drinks and then shrugged, deciding to finish off the last bottle. There was no sense in putting it back in the refrigerator, it would just go flat. She helped Abigail set out plates and then took a seat at the kitchen island, tossing the bottle back and taking a sip.
"I'm starting to think you have a drinking problem Elle," Mia breezed into the kitchen with Emily in tow as usual.
Elle fixed her gaze on the other woman, setting the bottle down, "I don't yet but living with you may cause me to develop one."
"That's an incredibly insensitive thing to say," Mia scolded her. "You do understand that alcoholism is a real disease, don't you?"
Elle stared at her, thoroughly confused, "You literally just came in here and accused me of being an alcoholic and I'm insensitive?"
"I've never seen you without a drink in your hand," Mia shrugged. "It was a genuine concern."
Elle sighed deeply. It was too early for this nonsense.
"Mia, I'm bored," she rested her chin on her hand. "Why don't you go back upstairs, come up with something better, and then we can fight this out later?"
She smiled at the pinched look that took over Mia's face. The ones who acted big and bad were always the easiest to rattle.
Daisy strolled into the kitchen, speaking into her headset. She looked back and forth between Mia and Elle and put her hand over her microphone, "Girls. Keep the claws away today please."
"Won't be a problem for me," Elle shrugged, happy to see her friend.
Mia rolled her eyes as she made herself a plate of food, cutting everything in half. Elle envied her self-control though she could stand to gain a few pounds.
Daisy had a quick talk with Abigail and then pulled Elle outside by the pool to talk. Elle hoped it was important because her breakfast was getting cold.
"I'm starting to think Seth is keeping me here in a house with her as punishment," Elle sat at the pool's edge, dipping her feet in.
"The fans are loving the beef between you two already," Daisy informed her. "At this rate, we may never let you leave."
"That is not funny," Elle splashed water at her. "What'd you want to talk to me about?"
"A couple things. First, you need to be careful of what you say. I heard Jim telling his girls to try and say things to make the rest of the girls look bad. He's hoping the editors will piece things together the way he wants."
"That explains a lot about the conversation I had this morning," Elle nodded, thinking back to the random accusation of alcoholism.
"Also, I stopped by your house to get some things you might need since you'll be here a little longer," Daisy explained. "And I talked to Ethan."
"What did he say?"
"Not much honestly," Daisy looked annoyed. "I told him you would be gone a little longer than we thought and he said okay. He knows you don't have access to your phone anymore. He said okay and asked me for my Hulu login."
"That's it?" Elle stared. She hadn't seen him in almost two weeks and he was thinking about streaming some TV show? Asshole.
"Maybe he's just processing," Daisy suggested halfheartedly.
Elle glared at her.
"Look, I'm trying to be nice here," Daisy shrugged. She wasn't Ethan's biggest supporter. "Don't worry too much about it."
Elle was about to tell her friend to change her Hulu password when something must have come through on the headset because Daisy had clearly stopped listening
"We've got to head back inside to start shooting," Daisy explained. "Let's go around the front."
As they walked, Elle questioned Daisy on what the challenge would be for the day but the producer wouldn't give up even the tiniest detail. What good was having a friend on the inside if she couldn't get any scoop?
Daisy hung back as she walked through the front door, noticing the rest of the girls had gathered in the living room. When Harper saw her she rushed over, sliding on the marble floor in her socks, and pulled her, stumbling, into the living room. She was stronger than she looked.
"There's another video message," Jules beamed excitedly.
"I gathered that," Elle nodded, turning her eyes to the TV. At least it would be something to do. She was starting to get stir crazy.
Seth's image appeared on the screen and that collective squealing that Elle loved so much reared its ugly head. She cringed at the sound.
"Ladies," Seth smiled. "It's time for all of you to get to enjoy one of my favorite things to do at home and on the road. Today, you'll be meeting me and a few of my friends for a special tournament. There is a catch though…Only half of you will be coming to see me. Who gets to go will be determined by a mini challenge. And if you're wondering who my friends are..there's a special hint for you in the kitchen."
The girls took off like runners out of the block and Elle felt a painful pop as someone stomped right on her bare foot.
"Son of a bitch!" she yelled, hopping on one foot. She was almost knocked over by another blonde blur and she hobbled out of the path until the rest of the girls were gone. Sharp pains shot through her foot and she looked over at the cameraman a few feet away from her with a camera trained on her, offering no help whatsoever. This was not one of the guys from the first day. One of them would have helped her.
Realizing no one seemed to know or care that she'd been injured in the stampede, Elle hopped into the kitchen, stopping when she reached the doorway. It was absolute pandemonium. The girls were all shrieking and yelling unintelligible noises. There were cereal boxes everywhere. Jules was kneeling on the counter actually throwing handfuls of the breakfast food at everyone. Even stranger, no one seemed upset about it. The initial pain in her foot subsided enough for her to limp into the kitchen, She picked up one of the boxes, trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. People didn't normally lose their shit over Lucky Charms.
"What the hell are Booty-O's?" she asked aloud as she looked at the colorful box.
"Ladies, ladies," Corey walked into the room, laughing as the cereal whizzed past his face. He caught some, popping it into his mouth before continuing, "I take it some of you figured out the hint."
"New. Day. Rocks," Jules started chanting and clapping. A few of the other girls joined in and Elle met Abigail's gaze, smiling when she saw an expression that reflected her own confusion. She was beginning to feel like she'd joined a cult.
"That's right," Corey laughed. "And the cereal that you see is not just a hint at the guests some of you will meet later today…It's your mini challenge."
"What does that mean?" Kai questioned, picking bits of cereal from her thick, dark hair.
"We're gonna have ourselves a cereal eating contest," Corey explained. "You'll be split into two teams and each of you will have to eat a heaping bowl of Booty-O's, one at a time. The team that finishes first will go on to meet Seth and The New Day for the main challenge. The losing team won't see Seth until the cocktail party before elimination."
Corey led them all outside and Elle limped at the rear of the pack. Jim split them into teams. Elle, Abigail, Harper, and Mia were teamed with Kayla, Emma, and Brittany. Team 2 consisted of Jules, Emily, Kai, Katie, Alice, Crystal, and Isabelle.
On the back patio, there were two long tables with seven gigantic bowls of cereal.
"Oh that is not happening," Elle shook her head. She had a thing about eating contests. They grossed her out. The idea of eating herself sick with sugary cereal was incredibly unappealing. Plus she had Mia on her team so it was a win-win; if she lost, Mia lost too.
"Okay everybody get together," Harper gathered the team. "This is gonna be great. There's no way we can lose this."
"I don't know why you think that," Elle crossed her arms.
"Emily told me she has a hyper reactive gag reflex," Mia blurted.
"What?" Elle stared at the blonde. "Why would she tell you that?"
"I'll go first," Harper volunteered. "I won a wing eating contest last year. I can crush this cereal."
"Are we just going to ignore that weird gag reflex thing?" Elle questioned.
"It came up in conversation," Mia shrugged. "Can you just focus?"
"Well it didn't take you long to sell her out, did it?" Elle asked.
"That's not important right now," Mia rolled her eyes. "She's not on our team."
A surprisingly assertive Harper assigned them an order, putting Elle at the end.
"You'll bring it home for us," Harper smiled.
Like hell.
The producers had the girls line up behind the bowls and Elle frowned apprehensively down at the bowl of cereal. If that wasn't bad enough, Mia was standing beside her and Emily directly across from her.
Corey blew a whistle and Jules and Harper started off for their respective teams. Elle made a face but couldn't seem to look away. Harper wasn't kidding when she said she could crush this challenge. She flew through her bowl like it was nothing and got the team off to a great start. When she was done, she encouraged each and every member of the team, cheering them on, even holding back hair when she needed to. Brittany slowed them down and Mia made it even worse. When Mia finally managed to finish the bowl, Emily was already starting. Elle considered dramatically knocking her bowl over and telling everyone how gross this was but then she heard Harper and Abigail behind her, cheering her on. She looked over her shoulder to see Abigail looking anxious. Harper looked excited and confident. She didn't have a doubt in the world that Elle would come through.
"God damn it," she grumbled, snatching up a spoon. She took a deep breath and hovered over the bowl. Against her better judgment, she shoveled cereal into her mouth at a breakneck pace while her teammates screamed behind her.
"You should have seen them," Corey chuckled. "I never realized eating cereal could be such a turn off."
Seth wasn't upset to have missed the Booty-O eating contest. He liked a girl with a good appetite but from what Corey said, it was an ugly sight. He tried to convince the producers to just let him decide which seven girls got to participate in the tournament without the silly mini challenge but Jim explained that without the challenges, they wouldn't have much of a show.
"I don't get why you can't just tell me who won," Seth leaned back in his chair. He asked Corey when he arrived but the host kept mum, claiming the producers said he couldn't divulge.
"Seems to me like there's someone you're hoping made the cut," Kofi observed with a sly smile.
"I'm just hoping nobody got sick from having to scarf down that shitty cereal," Seth teased.
"How dare you?" Xavier feigned offense. "That's hurtful."
"There's one that he's definitely hoping will be here," Corey informed the former tag champs.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Seth lied through his teeth. Of course he was hoping that Elle made the cut. She was the first thing he thought about when he got up that morning, a slightly embarrassing item that he wasn't about to admit to anyone. He'd only known the girl for two weeks but she was steadily occupying more of his thoughts. He wondered what she was thinking after their conversation by the pool. She looked stunned when he revealed that he knew about her boyfriend. He couldn't decipher all of the emotions that crossed her face when he told her why he kept her anyway. There was confusion, surprise, and maybe even a little amusement. He thought about staying and talking to her more but he couldn't resist leaving her in suspense. He wasn't upset about her having a boyfriend but he got a little chuckle out of the idea of letting what he told her drive her a little crazy.
"Come on, man," Kofi sighed. "You're not supposed to be hung up on one girl yet. How many do you have left?"
"14," Seth answered. "And I'm not hung up on anyone. Corey doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."
"I think it's beautiful if you've found yourself a lady friend," Big E gave Seth a heavy pat on the shoulder. "As long as you know that there's no chance at you getting a real relationship out of this."
"I don't want a relationship, trust me," Seth laughed. That much was true. He went into the show absolutely certain that he wouldn't be finding love like the commercials promised and that hadn't changed. That didn't mean he couldn't have some fun.
The door opened and Seth looked up expectantly, disappointed when Jim walked in alone.
"Okay guys, the girls are just outside," Jim explained. "Corey and Seth I'd like for you to stand over here. We need a good clear shot of Seth when the girls come in. Seth, you congratulate them on making it to the challenge. Then you'll intro the challenge, explain all of the rules. Then we'll break while we change the setup. Any questions?"
"Are we getting paid for this?" Xavier joked.
"Any other questions?" Jim asked.
"We got it," Seth assured him. Jim opened the door and two cameramen came in, followed by Daisy and Amy. The tag champs positioned themselves in front of the comically huge cereal box in the corner and Amy checked all of their microphones. Once they were set and the cameras were rolling, the girls filed into the room with Harper leading the way. He was happy to see her there. She seemed so easygoing and she was pretty in an understated way. She was followed by Mia, Abigail, and a few girls whose names Seth regretfully couldn't remember. He was pretty sure one started with a K. He only counted six and he watched the door, hopefully. Elle made her way into the room and his lips spread into a wide smile. Then he realized she was limping. He stepped forward, offering her his arm, "What happened to you?"
She seemed surprised when she looked up at him.. The slightest hint of blush touched her cheeks as she allowed him to help her into line, "Nothing crazy. Just a stampede of adult women running to throw cereal at each other."
He raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled, "I'm okay. The medics checked it out. There's nothing broken."
"Do you know who did it?" he asked.
"Believe me, there was no way I could tell," she smirked. "It may have been more than one person. Whoever did it has to live with herself. That's enough for me."
"That's very mature of you," he laughed. "You struck me more as the type to hit back."
"I usually am," she shrugged. "They caught me on a good day."
"Is that because you get to see me?" he winked.
She tilted her head, eyes alight with laughter and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to stop her smile. He wondered how long it would take him to get her to stop trying to act so cool. If he had his way, and he usually did, it wouldn't be long.
She cleared her throat, casting her eyes from side to side and he realized that everyone was staring at them. He bet they would edit out their small exchange. He stepped back, allowing Corey to get the explanation started.
"Ladies," Corey spoke. "Congratulations on winning your mini challenge. It looks like most of you made it out unscathed."
Elle gave a sheepish smile as he continued.
"Please welcome, joining us for the challenge today, your longest reigning WWE World Tag Team Champions…The New Day."
A 'New Day Rocks' chant broke out complete with Xavier playing his trombone.
Seth spoke, "So I told you that today you'd get to do one of my favorite things and that is…Video games. I'm sure some of you are familiar with Xavier's YouTube show, UpUpDownDown. Today, you'll be participating in a tournament. The winner of the tournament will get to play against me on an episode of UpUpDownDown."
"More importantly," Corey interjected. "The winner will get to choose 2 teammates to go on a group date with Seth and receive Immunity from this week's elimination"
There was lots of cheering and talking amongst the women.
"You'll also win a lifetime supply of Booooooooootyyyyy-OOOOOs," Kofi yelled. And the other two joined in, "They make sure you ain't booty."
"And that's not all," E grinned. "You'll also receive every single piece of New Day merchandise on the market."
"And for those who don't know, that is a lot of merch," Corey laughed.
"Before we can get started, you all need gamer tags," Xavier explained. "And we are going to pick them for you."
Kofi named Mia 'Ice Queen' and Big E dubbed Elle 'Lil E'. Seth chuckled as they went through naming the rest of the girls. Harper smiled excitedly when Big E stood in front of her.
"And I shall call you…Red Rocket," he announced.
"Nope," Xavier shook his head quickly. "Not okay."
"E…you can't call her that, man," Kofi shook his head.
"What's wrong with Red Rocket?" E asked with the fakest innocent expression Seth had ever seen. "She's got red hair. She seems enthusiastic. It makes perfect sense. Red Rocket!"
"Stop saying Red Rocket!" Xavier demanded.
Kofi put his arm around E's shoulders and whispered to him.
He nodded, "Ohh…okay, yeah, that makes sense. I see it now."
Seth chuckled as they regrouped. Harper blushed furiously but gave a good-natured laugh.
"How about…" E put up a finger and Kofi and Xavier looked apprehensive. "Red Rover?"
"That works for me," Harper giggled.
"Okay, now that that's done, let's get started," Corey clapped his hands together.
Jim stepped in to stop filming, patting Seth on the shoulder, "Great job."
Seth thanked him and then took the opportunity to make his way over to Elle who was chatting quietly with Harper and the girl with the K name. Harper spotted him first and offered an eager smile and a wave. The nameless brunette blatantly stepped in front of Harper, flirtily tossing her hair over her shoulder. Elle's smile was more relaxed as she slipped her hands into her pockets, patiently waiting. He had a feeling she was used to men coming to her.
"Can I borrow you for just a minute?" he asked her, feeling guilty when the other girls looked slightly disappointed. He would make sure to talk to them during the challenge. He knew he wouldn't have much time for the un-monitored conversation he was hoping to have with Elle. She agreed and they were able to slip out past the cameramen who were testing out angles for the gaming stations. They both turned off their microphones as they walked. He didn't make her go far with her bum foot, stopping just around the corner, "You sure you're okay?"
"Trust me I'm fine. The worst thing about it is that I can't wear heels for a few days," she assured him. She reached out, her hand grazing his arm, "Thank you for asking though."
His skin tingled where she touched him and he bit his lip, his eyes scanning over her. She somehow managed to look impossibly sexy in a Tapout t-shirt and shorts.
"You wanted to talk to me?" she interrupted his ogling and drew his eyes back up to her face.
"I do," he nodded. "I thought you might want to continue that conversation we started."
Her cheeks flushed and her head dipped down momentarily, "Yeah. That might be a good idea."
"Do you want to go first?" he smirked, curious to see how she would handle things now that she'd had a little time to get her thoughts together.
"It's your show," she looked him in the eye. "Whatever you want."
"Okay, I'll go," he shrugged. "Knowing what I know, I have to ask…Why are you here?"
"Daisy," she answered, twisting the hem of her shirt around her index finger. "She's a really good friend and she wanted me to come after I met some of the other producers at the restaurant I work at. I said no at first but then I ended up with some time off and so she got me in. She said I wouldn't be here very long. The producers just wanted someone to stir up some drama for the first few episodes. They obviously didn't know the gems they have in Mia and Emily."
He considered her answer, "So you're here to be a troublemaker for a few shows? And that's why you didn't bother hiding your boyfriend?"
She nodded, "Pretty much. That sounds pretty awful doesn't it? I swear I'm not a total asshole. I didn't even mean to create as much drama as I have. I'm just bad at hiding cell phones."
He laughed, "My cell phone is gotten me into trouble a time or two."
"Do you hate me for lying to you?" she peered up at him, batting her long, dark lashes.
"If I hated you, I wouldn't have asked you to stay," he shrugged easily.
"I am really confused about that," she admitted. She tucked her hair behind her ears with both hands, "Why aren't you mad about my having a boyfriend?"
"I told you last night, I don't see that as much of a problem," he answered. The relationship couldn't be that serious. Either she'd snuck off to date another guy on a reality show or the boyfriend willingly let her go. Neither spoke positively of their union.
"Even after what I just told you?" she asked. "You still don't think it's…I don't know…kind of a big deal?"
"Not really," he smirked, amused by her increasing confusion.
"Why not?"
"Because you took the necklace," he answered simply. "If you really wanted to get back to your life, you would have told me no."
Elle stared after Seth's back as he walked back to the conference room they were filming in, reaching back to turn his microphone back on. For the second time, he'd thrown her for a loop, flashing her that cocky little smirk and walking away.
What the hell?
"Eleanor," Jim strutted around the corner, looking annoyed. She frowned at the use of her full name. "We're ready to get started. What are you doing out here?"
"Just…clearing my head," she shrugged, surprised that he didn't make the connection that Seth had also been missing for a few minutes.
"Well get it together, gorgeous, it's time for the challenge," he waved for her to lead the way back. "Why is your mic off?"
She'd learned quickly that production got very pissy about the microphones being turned off. Daisy explained that they didn't want to miss anything and if a big moment happened and the microphones were off, it wouldn't be usable.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "It just went off."
"Really? The knob just turned itself?"
"Maybe it did Jim," she shrugged, rolling her eyes and walking away. She didn't have patience for his nonsense. She headed back inside, finding Harper and Abigail. Amy filled them in on the tournament rules. Since there were seven of them, one bracket had 3 participants and one winner. Of course, Elle was put in that bracket with the two girls she was close to. If there was any motivator to tank the challenge, that was it. She needed either Harper or Abigail to be the one to win immunity. She was actually pretty good at video games but it couldn't be too hard to tank it, especially for her new friends.
Unfortunately for her, both of them were dreadfully bad. Abigail somehow couldn't figure out how to get out of the corner and Harper kept dropping her controller. Elle would have won even if she had her back to the TV. She beat them both without even trying and Seth shot her that damn cocky smirk.
With her friends out, she really didn't care who won. As long as it wasn't Mia. She wouldn't want to subject Seth to a date with that asshole. She played Kayla next and it was actually pretty competitive and a lot more fun. They were playing Mortal Kombat and Big E had apparently taken her on as his personal favorite, dancing behind her and cheering her on with Harper's help. Elle was having way more fun than she expected and then she took a bad hit and her competitive nature kicked in before she could do anything to stop it. She recovered and won, jumping up as Big E ran a lap around the room.
Before she knew it, she was in the finals for a challenge that she'd intended to lose. How the hell did she let that happen?
To make matters worse, somehow Mia had managed to pull the stick out of her ass long enough to make it as well.
"Lil' E versus The Ice Queen is going to be a battle of epic proportions," Corey announced, standing between them. He gave them a short speech reminding them of the stakes and to play fair.
Seth was standing over Elle's left shoulder with between Xavier and Harper and when she looked up at them he smiled at her and winked, mouthing Good Luck.
He had a way of looking at her that made her feel like she'd suddenly lost all of her clothes. She could feel warmth creeping up her neck and she turned forward quickly, focusing on the screen in front of her. She could not win this game. Winning meant guaranteed extension of her stay in the house and more time close to Seth which was guaranteed to be nothing but trouble. She was just going to have to swallow her pride and lose…to her nemesis. That wouldn't be hard at all.
They selected their characters and Xavier explained that they would have three rounds. That made Elle feel better. At least she could allow herself the satisfaction of beating Mia once before she took a loss.
Mia looked over at Seth, a confident smile on her glossy pink lips, "Can't wait to go on that date tonight."
Elle took advantage of Mia looking away from the screen and got the jump on her opponent and never let up, easily winning the first round.
"Might want to stop counting your chickens before they hatch," she grinned when Mia glared angrily at her. Elle shrugged innocently. It wasn't her fault the girl wasn't paying attention. Blame Seth.
"That's okay," Mia tried to shake it off with some encouragement from Xavier. "Real winners always rise to the top."
Elle almost threw herself off her chair. Did she have to make it so hard to lose to her?
The second round started and Elle took it easy but made sure to look like she was trying. She could hear the voices of just about everyone in the room cheering for one woman or the other. Seth was the only quiet one. She wondered what outcome he was hoping for.
Mia was insufferable when she won the second round. She got up and danced, terribly. The bitch even mimed making it rain over Elle's head. Elle took a slow, deep breath. Big E slapped his giant hands on her shoulders, "You got this, girl."
"It's 1 to 1," Xavier reminded them. "Whoever wins this round, wins the date with Seth."
"Do you want to just concede now and save yourself the embarrassment?" Mia suggested. "There's no shame in admitting that you aren't good enough."
"Oh you better take her down," Big E said, his tone stern. "Take her down!"
Letting him down was going to make her sad but immunity was a no go. The third and final round started and Elle made sure to put a little hurt on Mia before she started to back off. As Mia got the upper hand, she started getting loud again.
"Ohh, did that hurt?" Mia laughed when she dazed her. "Looks like you're gonna be sitting at home tonight with the rest of your pack of losers."
Fuck it.
Elle was suddenly blind to all consequences and could think of nothing but the proper strategy to use to beat Mia's character senseless. She was laser focused, scooting to the edge of her seat. Mia fought hard but she was clearly outmatched once the gloves were off. When Elle executed the Kiss of Death, burning Mia's chosen character alive, Elle jumped up, "I guess you'll be spending your night with nothing but your feathers to keep you warm."
Big E jumped between them, grabbing Elle's controller and dropping it like a microphone. He waved for her to jump on his back and she did, laughing uproariously as he galloped around. Xavier played his trombone during the victory lap. When Big E finally put her down, the three brightly dressed men danced with her and Kofi started tossing cereal into the air. They had to be three of the most delightful people she'd ever met. This made gorging herself on cereal that morning well worth it. As they began slowing down, Elle's eyes found Seth's and he smiled, clapping for her. He looked impressed.
"Okay, we're just going to take a quick break."
Elle heard Daisy's voice but she couldn't break her gaze away from Seth. She felt hypnotized.
"Elle, come out in the hall with me for a quick moment," Daisy touched her arm and broke her trance.
Grateful for the break in tension, Elle followed her friend into the hall.
"What the hell did I just do?" she whispered harshly once they were alone.
"You guaranteed us another week," Daisy smiled gleefully. "That was fantastic. I didn't think any of my girls had a chance at this challenge."
"Thanks?" she gave her friend an offended look. "Daisy, I didn't mean to win."
"Well it sure as shit looked like you did," the producer laughed. "And now that you won, we need to talk about who you're bringing with you on the date. We only have a few minutes."
"Well obviously bringing Harper and Abby," Elle declared. "That's not even a question."
"You can't," Daisy shook her head. "You've gotta bring Mia."
"Say what?" Elle stared. "The only reason I won this was so she wouldn't. I'm not volunteering to spend time with that harpy."
"If you pick Texas and Kentucky, it's just going to be some annoying love fest that no one wants to watch," Daisy explained. "Picking Mia, that's where the drama is. You come across like the more mature person, which you are, and knowing Mia she'll be totally ungrateful and cement herself as the villain. You pick whoever you like more and spend your night trying to make them look good to Seth. It's perfect."
Elle hated the idea of picking Mia but she saw Daisy's point. Harper would look like an angel sent from heaven around that woman and as much as she liked Abigail, she wanted Harper to be the one to win it all.
"Okay, just let me break it to Abigail first."
Daisy tried to argue the idea but Elle wasn't having it. She went back into the conference room and pulled Abigail aside to tell her she wouldn't be coming along on the date. She blamed it all on Daisy because she couldn't think of any other excuse and Abigail nodded her understanding. She was clearly disappointed and Elle felt like a complete jerk. Even The New Day covering her in their merchandise couldn't completely cheer her up, though they did get her to smile when they put a unicorn horn on her head. They surrounded her as filming started again.
"Congratulations Lil' E," Corey laughed. "You have won immunity and will be safe from elimination this week. I'd have Seth give you your necklace now but I don't think you have any room for it."
"You did a great job, Elle," Seth added, giving her a smile that sent a tickle up her spine. "You really showed me how much you want to be here."
"You and Seth will be back here tomorrow morning to tape your episode of UpUpDownDown," Corey explained. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. You've got a date tonight and now that you've had some time to think about it, I need you to pick two friends to bring along with you."
Adorably, Harper actually looked a little anxious. She had her hands clasped, her chin resting on her knuckles.
"Come on, you dork," Elle waved her forward and she rushed over, hugging the life out of her with ridiculous country girl strength.
"Congratulations Harper," Seth laughed as the redhead peppered Elle with 'thank you's. "And who's our third lucky lady?
"Well…in the interest of creating peace in the house, I'm going to go with Mia," Elle forced a smile. The words felt gross coming out of her mouth. "Maybe that can help us bury the hatchet."
Everyone except Abigail looked surprised and Elle sighed Mia came over and gave her the most unwelcome hug of all time.
"I'll bury the hatchet in your back," she said loudly as she squeezed Elle. "Just kidding!"
Elle wondered if her unicorn horn could double as a weapon but Mia scampered away quickly, walking over and hugging Seth, telling him how excited she was for the date.
She didn't even offer a half-assed thank you in Elle's direction. This was going to be the worst date Elle had ever been on.