officially off to a shitty start.
Not only was douchey Brodie
from The World Races here, but he was my partner and we had no room this
week.
The only way it could get worse would be if
someone came up and slapped me in the face.
Considering Brodie Short was my partner, I
wasn’t ruling it out as a possibility.
~~ * ~~
The bathrooms, I was happy to see, had been
converted into something slightly more modern. The bathroom tiles
were a blood red, and the walls were a deep, ugly purple. The
fixtures on the sinks were black, and there were two booths nearby
for toilets and two booths for showers. The toilet booths had solid
doors to allow for some privacy, but I noticed that both showers
had doors that only covered the occupant from mid-calf to
shoulder.
I guessed they’d be filming in the bathroom
after all. Fun.
I hadn’t been the first back to the
bathrooms, so I was forced to sit and wait for a shower to open up.
I grabbed one of the dark towels and joined the others sitting atop
one of the counters, waiting as Mickey and Casper showered, washing
the red gunk off. Katy and Liam had disappeared as soon as the
challenge was over, no doubt to check out Liam’s private room. I
was guessing he had a nice shower up there.
Which left me down here with Brodie.
I curled my sticky legs under me and rolled
my eyes, thinking about my partner. I’d last seen him a few minutes
ago, wiping splatters off of Sunnie’s face and flirting with her
like she was his partner. Tool. I hated that I’d been paired up
with him. Hated it. But there was nothing I could do except try to
make the best of things and lay low.
Someone hopped up on the counter next to me.
I looked over and smiled as Jendan sat next to me.
“Hey,” said Jendan. “Think they’ll use up all
the hot water?”
I raised one of my sticky hands, eyeing it
with distaste. “I don’t even care at this point. I think my fingers
are glued together.”
He laughed and leaned in, his voice dropping.
“So who’s your partner?”
“Brodie,” I whispered. “I’m screwed.”
His eyes widened, and then
he gave me a sympathetic look. “Oh man. You are screwed.”
“I know,” I said unhappily. “He was the last
person I’d have chosen.”
“You know the rest of the house is going to
be gunning for him and Katy and Liam,” he whispered back. “They
already won money on another show.”
Brodie didn’t win, I wanted to point out, but
Brodie was, well, Brodie. No one wanted him around for long. So I
nodded.
“Don’t worry,” Jendan said, nudging my
shoulder. “I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks.” I nudged him back, and grimaced
when my clothing stuck to his. “Man, we are really gross.”
“We are,” he agreed. “But I’m used to getting
dirty in my line of work.”
“Oh?” I smiled politely as the older woman
with the crazy hair came and sat down next to us, eavesdropping on
our conversation. “What do you do outside of the house,
Jendan?”
“I’m a stuntman,” he said proudly, and he
nodded at the newcomer as way of greeting. “You need someone lit on
fire for a scene or someone to jump out of a burning building?
That’s me.”
“Wow.” I was impressed.
“That’s such a cool job. What are you doing here on a reality TV
show?” Jimmy’s words before the show rang through my
head— superfans, mactors, or broke-ass
bitches . Jendan didn’t seem giddy with
excitement about being on the show, unlike Jayme or Mickey. That
meant Jendan was a broke-ass bitch or a mactor. I studied him. He
was good looking. Mactor?
“Same thing as you,” Jendan said. “I want the
money. You can’t be a stuntman forever.” He turned to the new woman
and extended his red-splattered hand. “I’m Jendan, by the way.”
“I’m Lenore.” She took his hand and gave him
a smile, revealing a gap between her front teeth
Broke-ass
bitch , I categorized automatically and then
felt a twinge of guilt. “What do you do, Lenore?”
“I’m a
Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner