Always My Home (The Aster Lake Series Book 2)

by Alora Kate

  “Everyone follow us,” Cole instructed and we all started walking towards the red zones that were behind them and off limits.

  Chapter 3

  “This industrial building houses twelve work stations, a kitchen, bathrooms, and the judging area,” Cole informed us. We were all standing in front of a mammoth of a building with steel sides. The large metal doors started to slide open while the cameras rolled. “Your container is colored to match, six on each side so there’s one across from you. The tops are open for air flow, with a door you’ll come and go from. The opposite end of your container is where you’ll place your creations at the end of each challenge. Someone will gather your items and take them to the judging area for you after you’ve left.” The doors stopped after they were fully opened and a few members of the camera crew ran inside and set up their stuff. My pink container, which looked like half the size of a semi-tractor trailer, was the last one on the right, furthest away from us.

  Across from mine was Isaac’s black one.

  Nicole took over and I cringed before she spoke her first word, “All the supplies are inside your containers. Each container is set up the same way, and you all have the same exact supplies. If you’re missing something, hit your call button which will ring to us and request it. If approved, everyone will get the item you requested. Each challenge is different, some will last for days and some will last just a few hours. This challenge will last a day and a half. Your creations must be placed in front of your back door by one p.m. tomorrow.”

  A few seconds after she stopped, Matt yelled, “CUT!”

  My body relaxed and I heard a few of the contestants whispering to each other. I tried to stay focused because I really wanted to run in and check out my container.

  “And now our containers are across from each other,” Isaac whispered to me and I pretended that I didn’t hear him. “Ironic, isn’t it.”

  Smug bastard.

  “Alright people, listen up.” Matt moved so he was standing in front of us. “When the bell dings, it means lunch is ready and waiting for you in the cafeteria. You can stay in there or bring it back to your containers; it’s up to you. There are some vending machines for your convenience or you can bring your own snacks. You can come and go as you please, especially if you smoke, but please make sure you shut your door. Remember, you’re allowed to chat and talk amongst yourself, but you can’t discuss what you’re making or show your creation to anyone else. You can visit your neighbor; you just can’t go inside anyone’s container. If you do,” he paused for dramatic effect even though the camera weren’t on, “you’re out.”

  “Any questions?” Cole asked and I noticed Nicole walk inside, disappearing around the corner. “Nicole and I will come around and check on you from time to time. The vans will be back to pick you up at seven p.m. Tomorrow’s pick up is on your schedule, which will be in the van tonight when you leave. There will be no more reminders via text, you are on your own to get to the vans each time.”

  Our individual cameramen all walked inside, went to their assigned containers, and disappeared inside. Being separated made sense so we can’t see what other people were making. It was something new. Something different from the first season and other shows I’ve seen on TV. The cameras started rolling and Matt continued, “Everyone go stand in front of your containers so we can start the challenge.”

  We all walked in and I noticed the other woman stopped first, standing in front of the lavender container, the first one on the right. I walked fast, leaving people behind me since mine was the furthest away.

  But I didn’t walk fast enough because Isaac was right by my side. “Your feet hurt yet?” he asked and I glanced up at him.

  “My mom says I was born with heels on, so no. They’re comfortable.”

  We pulled our wagons up to our doors and waited a few seconds.

  “Your individual camera man will come and go; they know what they’re doing so the cameras won’t be on the whole time you’re working. Again, just pretend they aren’t there. Things will get easier, and you’ll get used to the schedule and how things are done around here,” Matt said, then gave a nod to Cole before he walked off and stood behind two other camera guys.

  “Everyone face your doors, let’s get started!” Cole yelled and walked to the front of the camera that was close to me. I turned so I was facing my door. It was just a metal door that was painted pink, and had three springs on the side instead of metal latches. Nothing special. I smiled though. I was looking forward to all of our tools inside. I was hoping they were at least new.

  I heard them count down and we waited for Cole to speak. I had no clue where Nicole went, but I didn’t care either.

  “Contestants, this is your first challenge and we thought we’d make it memorable.” There was a tone in his voice, a bit sarcastic and it made my stomach churn. “Turn around and switch wagons with the person across from you.”

  I cursed to myself while I heard other people muttering a string of curses under their breath.

  Isaac was right.

  As soon as I turned around, he was grinning ear to ear. I gripped my wagon’s handle, not wanting to let it go. I looked hard for these stupid pieces of junk and I wanted to keep them. Isaac didn’t pay much attention to what he tossed in his wagon. He barely even looked at them!

  Everyone started moving, and we all walked to the middle and switched the wagons out. No one said anything as we went and stood back at our doors, it wasn’t like we could voice our opinion.

  “Alright,” Cole started again. “Good luck. Your time starts… now!”

  I yanked the door open and pulled the wagon inside. The tight springs on the door had it snapping shut before I could even turn around, the sound of metallic bangs reverberating through the large space. I looked up through the topless container, which was triple my height, and saw the main building’s ceiling. Supplies lined one side of the container: hammers screwdrivers, drills, tape measurers, staple and nail guns, various power tools, baskets of screws, nails, and staples, and a bunch of other things that could come in handy. Our main table sat right in the middle. It was at least four feet long and three feet wide. A table saw was across from my cameraman, who was in one corner by the back door. He sat on a small metal stool and most of his head was hidden behind the camera, though it was on a tripod.

  That can’t be comfortable.

  I was relieved that the inside wasn’t the same pink as my door, but the original shiny silver metal, which looked fairly new. I was a girly girl but didn’t need to stare at pink walls all day. Making a mental note of where the outlets were, I grabbed the hammer off the wall behind me and pulled the wagon to my side. I started piling the junk on the table so I could try to figure out a game plan. I didn’t have one to begin with so I couldn’t be too upset. I noticed that Isaac had grabbed a lot of old records that had their stickers either removed or stained.

  He had also found some CDs. I found some long skinny pieces of metal, a round heavy thing that looked like a car part, and a few small pieces of red leather. So far, most of his items were all circular, leading me to believe that he had an idea on what he would be making.

  I looked up and right into the camera.

  Shit.

  “Hey,” I said softly, moving to the other side of the table to prevent that from happening again. He popped his head above the camera.

  “Hey, you got a question?” His black hair was short and had too much gel in it. It looked like it would break off if something touched it.

  I didn’t have a question but at the moment something did come to mind. “Do we have a notebook and pencil?” I finally pulled my gloves off and set them aside.

  “There’s a drawer under the table you can pull out. If not, you’ll probably have to call and ask for it.”

  I reached under the table and found the drawer, which did contain a notebook, pencil, pen, eraser, and a sharpener. I opened a page up and drew a circle. Then drew a circle inside of it. Then dr
ew another one, and another one until I ran out of room. I flipped to another clean page.

  With my chin resting on my hand and the other one tapping the pencil against a blank page, I was slowly getting upset. The camera was on and I was just standing here doing nothing. Thank God we weren’t judged on anything but what we created.

  I wrote, Four Picture Frames, on the new piece of paper and then started staring at the items again. I counted eight records and eight CDs. I wonder if he was going to mix them up or have four of each item. Four of each item would give him four frames. I set the pencil down and separate them into piles of four.

  “Do I have cleaning supplies?” I asked staring at my dirty hands, and then the dirty junk on my table. “Like wipes or a rag or something?”

  “Um, not sure. You could-”

  “Call and ask for some,” I teased. “Thanks.”

  I looked around and saw the red phone hanging up on the wall next to the door. I picked it up and it started ringing. Within a few seconds, Nicole’s piercing voice rang in my ears. “Hello, Madi. Can I help you?”

  “Aren’t we supposed to do like interviews or something? Like one on one?” I’m not sure why I just now thought of that.

  “Oh yes, and that’s happening soon, but did you need some supplies?”

  “Right. I need rags and water, or some kind of cleaning supplies. We are using things we found in a junk yard.”

  “Of course!” she said like it was the most important thing in the world. “Everyone will have some in the next thirty minutes and don’t forget you can use the restroom at any time to wash your hands.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I hung up even though she had already hung up on me.

  I went back to my table, picked up the car part, and inspected it. There were some bolts holding the two pieces together so I set at taking them apart. There was dirt and grime on the inside that would need to be cleaned. By the time they were apart, I set them on the counter and it was like looking at an upside down bowl, again circular. I set a CD on top of it and the CD hung over the sides. They were heavy but maybe I could mount something on the back so it could hang on the wall. A picture could fit inside of it if it were a circle one.

  There was a knock at the door and then it opened. A man I don’t recall seeing had a bottle of Lysol, cleaning towels, and some dry rags.

  “Thanks.” I smiled, taking them from him. He barely made eye contact and left right away.

  I went back to the table and cleaned every piece I had with the wet towel and dried it off. I placed them all in a row and when I ran out of room, I started a second one.

  “What’s your name?” I asked while tossing the wet towels in the trash, which was on the other side of the container from him. It was just too quiet in here and I was going crazy since I didn’t have any ideas yet.

  “Cody.”

  “I’d tell you my name but you already know that.”

  After a few seconds he asked, “No ideas?”

  “Not really. I’m sure you knew they were going to switch our wagons.”

  “Yeah, we heard about it right before the vans pulled up.”

  I leaned my hip against the table and looked at him, not the camera but him. I focused hard on ignoring the camera that was pointed right at me. He had moved his chair over so the camera wasn’t blocking his face.

  “They said we weren’t allowed to talk.”

  He nodded his reply.

  “Aren’t you bored? Because I’m bored.”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “I guess. You’re stuck in this container all day with me and there’s no radio or TV so…”

  “It’s boring,” I stated and looked up at the clock. It was almost noon. “This isn’t good,” I said to myself aloud.

  I picked up one of the records and wiggled it in the air. “How the hell am I supposed to make a picture frame from this?”

  He just shrugged his shoulders. I’d say he was in his early twenties like me, maybe a year or two younger. He was wearing a black t-shirt like the rest of the camera crew, the word CREW written on the right breast side.

  I tossed the record on the table. “Maybe after I eat something it will come to me.”

  I felt like a complete failure stepping outside of my container. I was going to use the bathroom and hoped the lunch bell rang by then so I could have a much needed break. Isaac was already outside his door, leaning against it waiting for me. I knew this because as soon as he saw me, he pushed off and walked towards me. Our containers were the closest to the lunchroom and the bathrooms.

  Isaac made sure to hold the door open for me. “Thanks,” I said and couldn’t help smile.

  Rocco always held the door open for me, even if it was just his door or mine, he did it every time.

  The lunchroom was empty but the bell hadn’t rung yet so I excused myself to use the restroom and then joined Isaac again.

  “So how’s it going?” Isaac asked.

  “Not good.”

  A few people started bringing out food and piling it on the tables. The bell rang, from where I had no clue, but it reminded me of the ones they used in school.

  Isaac motioned to the table, letting me go first.

  “Your wagon sucks,” I told him while picking up a chicken salad and inspecting its contents. I hated onions. Not seeing any, I put it on my plate.

  “So does yours.” He laughed. “What were you thinking about while picking out that crap?”

  “It’s junk. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Nothing else looked good so I waited for him to finish grabbing his food and asked, “Were you waiting for me?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Why? So you could bash the contents of my wagon.”

  “I’m not bashing them, they just weren’t that great. Besides, I can’t miss an opportunity to stare at your ass.”

  Ignoring his comment, I grabbed a bottle of water, some ranch dressing, and a fork and headed towards a small table in the corner.

  “This is perfect,” Isaac said sitting across from me. “Now no one else can sit with us.” He tossed his sandwich and water down and got comfortable. “We can strategize.”

  “We aren’t partners, we can’t strategize about anything.”

  “Like I said, there’s more to come. I know we’re not supposed to chat much about it, but there are no cameras in here and I trust you.” He took a drink of his water while I opened my salad. “It might not be today, but I think another time the seat thing will come into play. I already bet you on that one.”

  “You did mention something but we didn’t actually agree on anything.”

  “You were preoccupied at the moment, but you agreed.”

  I rolled my eyes and watched the other contestants pile in the room along with the camera crew, minus their cameras. I didn’t see the hosts or Matt, which was fine with me. They all mingled together and chatter started to fill the room. The two guys who sat in the middle seat of our van nodded to us and I waved while Isaac gave them a chin jerk.

  During lunch, I found out Isaac was from Idaho, single with no kids, and lived at home with his mom. I laughed at that, but then immediately felt bad when he glared at me then left our table and walked out. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong and felt bad that I had upset him.

  I bought my food back to my container with me because I didn’t feel like chatting with anyone else. I picked at my food for a few minutes and stared at my stupid junk.

  I still had no idea what I was going to do.

  Rocco

  Rocco swung his ax down as hard as he could and watched the piece break in two with small pieces flying off onto the ground. It was his second time coming out to help Rudd with his chores. Rocco was the only one who was able to come out and help him. He was still behind and a lot of people counted on Rudd to bring them their wood for the winter. Rudd had been shot in the shoulder a few months back and he reinjured it last week chasing after someone who robbed a store. He was supposed to be on desk duty but Rudd wasn’t good
at listening.

  “You okay, Rocco?” He lifted his head up and saw Adalyn walking towards him, waving a bottle of water at him. “You seem to be mad at the wood today.”

  Rocco smiled at her and tossed his ax down. It was early but because of the time change, the sun had already set even though it was only six p.m. Which meant it was eight in New York and he hoped to hear from Madi anytime now.

  “I’m fine.” He reached for the bottle. He gulped half of it down and asked, “You hear from Madi?” He knew no one was aware that they were fuck buddies because of Madi and her damn rules, but Adalyn knew that Rocco and Madi were friends. Kind of.

  “No, but she promised she would call and tell me about her day.” She tilted her head then asked, “Why?”

  Rocco shrugged his shoulders and drank the rest of the water. “Just wondering.”

  It took a few seconds before she pointed out the obvious. “Oh my God! You like her.”

  “We’re friends,” he said trying not to cringe. He hated that word.

  She pulled her coat tighter. “But you want to be more than friends. I know you tease her, but I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I knew it!”

  He said nothing, picked the ax up, and stuck it back into the log. He noticed Adalyn picked up some of the wood so he did the same.

  “Sucks that she’s gone right now,” Adalyn commented and Rocco tried to change the subject.

  “I’ve got this,” he told her, but she ignored him and carried the wood over to the shed. Rocco picked up some as well and followed her. “Does Rudd know you’re out here?”

  “He’s in the shower and the kids are watching TV.”

  “So he doesn’t know.” He locked up the shed and turned to leave. Adalyn’s voice stopped him from going further.

  “It’s not that cold out here, and don’t change the subject. I want to know about this crush.”

  He wasn’t sure why but he started talking. He’s always liked Adalyn; she was sweet, honest, down to earth, and absolutely perfect for Rudd.

  “I’ve never lied or hid my feelings from her.”