With more hugs and congratulations from our parents and an impromptu family dinner, I am finally allowed to leave and go home. Tomorrow I will be meeting with the person who called me to sign the contract, fill out paperwork, get fitted, and whatever else I need to do for the show.
I can’t believe that I really am doing this.
TWO
Ari
“I will do whatever it takes to win. Play hard, make lots of friends, scheme, even vote for my allies. Whatever it takes.”
Ryder Holt
Pregame Interview
Day One
Walking beside someone while blindfolded is impossible. I have tripped more times than I can count. I have no idea where they are taking me or anything. I wish I knew. I was blindfolded before I left my hotel this morning at six o’clock. I was told to keep the blindfold on until I was instructed to take it off. Which sucks if you ask me. How can they expect me to walk without tripping? Whoever is walking with me keeps sighing and is giving off angry vibes each time I trip and almost fall. Almost like they don’t want to be walking with me.
I mean, walking without a blindfold, I often trip on my own. Which I hate. But what can I do? So, it’s not shocking that I keep tripping as I am being led to Lord knows where.
I am being told to walk this way, pulled that way. Told to watch my step because I can so do that with a blindfold on. Step over this, pause here, walk this way. I am being led through lord knows what, and my feet and ankles hurt because I keep tripping.
I don’t know what is going on. I can hear a people talking all around me. I can’t concentrate on what they are saying because I am being led around like a lost puppy.
I hate that I can’t see where I am going. Where I am being led to. I hate that I can’t ask questions. We don’t want to risk someone recognizing my voice. Of course, no one would recognize my voice, I am a kindergarten teacher. The only person who would know my voice is Caleb, and only because he is my brother.
Only for Caleb would I do this. Only for Caleb, would I allow myself to be blindfolded and taken to God knows where, to do God knows what. But here I am, pasting on a smile, that is faker than fake, because of Caleb.
I don’t go outside much. I don’t talk to people I don’t know. Not because I don’t like people, but because I am super shy. People, outside my classroom, make me nervous. I don’t know how to explain it, being around a group of strangers makes me feel like I am back in high school. The odd one out. The one no one ever wants to talk to. The geek who always hid behind books. Only here, I can’t hide behind my books. Only here, I can’t hide anywhere, there will be cameras in my face. That makes me more nervous and I can only hope that I don’t make a fool of myself.
My thoughts stop when I am stopped and turned to face a different direction. I am helped to sit down, feels like a log and I feel my guides hands leave my arm. I instantly feel my palms start to sweat. I feel myself biting my lip. I want to play with my hair, but I fight the urge and keep my hands in my lap.
“In a few minutes, I will call action. No one say anything unless spoken to. Do you understand?” I jump as I hear a booming voice beside me.
All I can do is nod, after all he said not to say anything. I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. This is going to be okay. I am here with Caleb, he won’t let anything bad happen to me, right?
I jump when I feel something brush my thigh. It felt like a hand. Is someone sitting next to me? Is it another player? I try to focus on what I felt. Was it a man’s hand? A woman’s? Was its Caleb’s or someone else’s? Is it an assistant swiping something off my leg? If so, why didn’t they announce themselves?
“Three, two, one.” I hear that same booming voice.
“Hello and welcome to the fourth season of Survival Instincts!” Calls a different male voice, one that sounds familiar yet not at the same time. “I am Chris Tyler, your host. Behind me are the twelve players that are here to fight for the one million-dollar prize.”
I feel my jaw drop. One million dollars? I could use that money. Who couldn’t use a million dollars? I am just shocked because I never imagined that I would be playing for one million dollars.
“One of the twelve men and women will win the million-dollar prize. I am excited to see who will make it to the end.” Chris, the host says. “This season is different than any season before. This season players will be playing against someone from their lives at home. Could be a sibling, a lover, a friend, really anyone.”
I have to admit I am shocked. I thought it was just coincidence that Caleb was chosen for this season. I didn’t really think that the whole group of players would be connected somehow. I mean, I don’t know what to think about this.
Can I really play against Caleb? He is more competitive than I am. He is stronger than I am. He was a boy scout, and I didn’t participate in anything like that. He is more than capable of beating me in this game.
I have nothing to offer. I am not strong, like not at all. I can’t do a single push-up. I can’t run. Well I can, but not for long. I mean maybe ten twenty seconds before I am out of breath. I have no endurance. It would be amazing if I wasn’t voted off the first day.
Knowing that Caleb can probably beat me in anything that is sure to come our way, makes me feel like I am just going to make a fool of myself. I don’t want to do that, of course. But it is bound to happen. What if Caleb takes this whole playing against each other to heart and somehow eliminates me first? What if he tells the other people how bad I am at thing?
Do I think that Caleb would do that? I would like to think that he wouldn’t, but the fact is, Caleb is competitive and would do anything to beat me at anything. It’s always been like this. I know to expect him to want to play harder than I can play. I know to expect him to trip me up somehow. But I would like to think that in this setting, where he asked me to apply with him, that he would want to take it a little easier on me.
“When I say three, I want you all to remove your blindfolds. Once you do, just drop them on the ground, we won’t be needing them anymore.” Chris says. “Everyone ready?”
Silence. No one says anything because we were instructed not to do or say anything.
“Cut!” Booms a voice in my ear. “When he says everyone ready, be enthusiastic and cheer. Make a fool of yourselves. Act like you want to be here.”
I take a deep breath. I don’t want to be here. Not really. I mean I could use the money, who couldn’t. But I don’t really want to be here. Because I don’t like disappointing anyone, especially Caleb.
“Everyone ready?” I hear Chris ask.
I cheer and cup my hands around my mouth. I try to make it look like I am excited to be here. I keep a fake smile plastered to my face.
“Three… Two… One” Chris calls.
I quickly peel off my blindfold and drop it at my feet. We are in the woods. There are trees everywhere. There are camera men everywhere, moving in and out of trees, coming close and then backing away. There are teams of people standing off in the distance. Across the clearing, I can see six colored mats. That must mean there will be six teams. I look beside me and want to wilt in relief that Caleb is sitting next to me. He is wearing a purple t-shirt and matching purple jacket. He is also wearing black shorts. I frown, seeing what he is wearing makes me curious to know what I am wearing. I look down and frown. I am wearing a green shirt, green jacket, and black Bermuda shorts. Why is his outfit different than mine?
As I look down the line, I see others wearing different colors. There seems to be a pattern. No more than two players are wearing a color. There are two blue, two red, two purple, two yellow, and so on. It makes me frown, what is this? What is with the two players wearing virtually the same uniform? Is it because they want us all to stand out among the crowd? Wouldn’t Caleb and I be wearing the same colors?
I am sure my face is one of confusion. I don’t care enough to try and relax my face. I really don’t.
“For the next thirty-three days, you will
be fighting to stay in this game. For some of you, your stay will be short, for others it will be longer.” Chris says. “This year things are going to be different. For the first time ever, every person eliminated from the beginning to the final elimination will be a part of our jury. The jury decides who makes it to the finale, and America votes to choose the winner.”
America gets to choose who wins the game? I find that hard to believe, what if someone rigs the results to win? What if someone told everyone they knew that they made it to the final two and to vote for them. I find that really irresponsible of them.
“Also new this year, instead of two teams, we will be having six teams. Split up at random.” Chris announces. “All the women, please stand.”
With hesitation, I stand up. I instantly feel dread. If I am wearing green and Caleb is wearing purple, this means just what I feared, we are not on the same team. This means I have no control of what happens to him.
Chris smiles at us, “Now, walk toward the mat that matches the color on your outfit.”
I take a deep breath and walk forward toward the green mat. My hands are shaking, and I suddenly feel sick. I don’t like this at all. I can see a camera pointed right at me. I can see that he is zooming in on my face. I don’t like the attention on me. I force myself to look past him to the men on the other side of the clearing. I look at Caleb. He looks excited and happy. He smiles at me; I can’t help but smile back. How I wish we were wearing the same color.
I force myself to scan the line of men to find my partner. When my eyes find the second player wearing green, my heart skips a beat. I know him. He is the man who came up to me and spoke to me at the audition. He is the nicely dressed, hazel eyed man that made my body react in strange ways.
Why him? Why not someone else?
THREE
Ryder
“Why him? Why did he have to be my partner?”
Ari Harper
Day one interview
When I agreed to be on the fourth season of Survival Instincts, I expected to be on a team with multiple other people. Not one. I expected to be playing beside my sister, not against her. Even though I already know that there can only be one winner of the million-dollar prize. I had hoped that we would be on the same team. But instead, I am sitting on a wooden stump, in a clearing, and am surrounded by camera crews, production people and other players.
All of us dressed in colors of the rainbow. All of us dressed to match our partners. Rachel is dressed in purple, as for me, I am dressed in green.
Rachel stands on her purple mat, looking at me with an excited glow about her. She loves this show. She has watched every single season. She is the reason I started watching this show. She raved and raved about it and told me I had to watch a season with her. But when I did watch, I fell in love with the show. And here I am one season later, waiting for my cue to join my partner on the green mat.
The thought makes me realize I haven’t looked at the green mat to see who my partner is. I look now. I don’t know what I expected to see, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to see the woman I talked to at auditions.
Her long brown hair is braided over her shoulder, and she looks paler than I remember, probably nerves. I can’t see her eyes, but I know they are brown. She is a tad thicker than all the other women standing across the clearing from me. But I don’t mind that. She looks good anyways. Just as good as I remember her looking.
I spoke to her at the auditions because she looked so lonely. I had watched her come in with the man sitting beside her. I still don’t know his relationship with her, but I know that she looked uncomfortable when he started talking to the woman beside him. Almost like he was hitting on her. I couldn’t stand to watch her look so lonely and uncomfortable, so I did the only think I could think of, and that was talking to her. I just walked right up to her and started talking.
Seeing her there, on the green mat, knowing that she is my partner, I can’t help but smile. I see her eyes shift toward mine. Surprise floods her face. I smile bigger at her. Not what I expected at all. But definitely better. I can use this time as her partner to get to know her.
Chris steps forward holding a cloth sack, effectively pulling me from my thoughts.
“I will come around to the women. When I reach you, reach inside this bag and pull out a disc. Do not look until I tell you.” Chris announces, before walking forward and down the line of women.
I watch my partner as she carefully pulls out a disc and holds it in her fist. She looks a little green, like she is about to be sick. I give her a reassuring smile, even if I don’t know her and haven’t spoken to her since the audition. She is still my partner and I want to make her feel comfortable, even if its from a distance.
“Now, men stand up.” Us men do as they are told. “Join your partners. Ladies, do not reveal what is on that disc.”
I walk carefully forward and join my partner, who, if I am remembering right, is named Ari. I stand beside her and then turn my eyes toward Chris. Behind him, I see production assistants lining up different sized boxes. Each with a number on it. One through six. Once they are all lined up, I watch as camera men get different angles of each of the boxes.
“One by one, starting with team Red. Reveal the number on your disc. The number corresponds with one of these boxes. Each box holds something different. From tarps and rope, to flint, and other things.” He smiles at the camera. “Reveal your number, Red.”
They reveal their number, three. I watch as they look at their box. A medium sized box. Orange reveals number one. They have the smallest box. I feel sorry for them. Whatever that holds, it can’t be much. Yellow reveals, five, a larger box, second largest box of them all. Next is my team. I look down at my partner reveals our number. Four. I look up to find our box. It is another medium sized box. Not the smallest but not the biggest either. Blue is next and they reveal number two. Still not the biggest box. I watch as Rachel reveals her disk and the number six. She has gotten the biggest box.
I can’t help but smile. I know I should be jealous right now, but I am not. I am happy that Rachel received the biggest box. I would feel guilty if she didn’t get a better box than mine. Why? Because she is my little sister, even if I am only two minutes older. It’s how I was raised, to put women first. Make sure their needs are met and make sure they are taken care of. My mother drilled that into my head, and I have lived by all my life.
“Inside the boxes are various supplies, along with your canteens. Taped to the top are maps to your camps. Follow the map to your camps and get set up. I will see you all tomorrow for your first reward challenge.” Chris announces.
We all rush forward for our boxes. I quickly grab ours and move out of the way of the others, to a less populated area to take the map off the box. I open it up and examine it. I show Ari, and we both head off toward our camp.
****
After what feels like forever, we finally arrive at our small clearing in the trees. Our walk was hard, because there wasn’t really a clear path through the trees, and we kept tripping over roots and rocks. But we finally make it.
In the center of the clearing, is a green flag. Beside the flag is nothing. Not a pot, or machete. There is nothing. Which makes me frown. Where is our pot? Where is our machete? They always provide the camps with these things. Where could they be?
“Suppose we should open the box to see what is inside.” Ari says from beside me, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I look down at her, she is a bit shorter than I am, but not by much. Her lush deep pink lip is between her teeth. The sight of it makes me lick my lips. How would it taste to have that lip in my mouth?
I frown at the thoughts. What is wrong with me? I have only just officially met her, and we are on TV. How can I be thinking about tasting her lip? What am I? A horny teenager?
I shake my head and say, “Yeah.”
I don’t let on that I think we have to pry it open and have nothing to pry it open with. I kneel down beside her and st
art pulling at the top of the box. I fall back suddenly, as the lid comes off easier than I anticipated. I fall flat on my ass. Ari chuckles beside me, and, for some reason, I don’t feel embarrassed about it.
I sit up again and look down inside the box. Inside is a pot, machete, bowls and silverware, a tarp and a bit of rope, a bag of rice and a bag of beans. Not too bad for our little box of supplies. It could have been worse. We could have gotten the smallest box, that probably only had a pot and machete in it.
I can’t help but wonder what was in the biggest box. What could be better than what we received? Did they get blankets and pillows? Extra clothes? What could have been in that box?
“We can use the tarp for a roof on some sort of shelter, or a blanket. What do you think?” Ari asks me.
“Roof for the shelter. As much as it would be nice to use as a blanket, we need a waterproof roof. We don’t want to get wet. You know, just in case, it rains or something.” I say. “I can look around for some logs and stuff to help build a shelter.”
“I can gather sticks and leaves for a fire, though I have to admit I know nothing about starting a fire.” She says.
“I can do that too.” I say. “I am, Ryder.”
“Ari.” She says.
“I know.” I wink, “Let’s get to work.”
I smile as I take the machete with me into the trees. I may need to cut down a few branches. I spend some time gathering fallen limbs and cutting down smaller trees to get the pieces I think we need for the shelter.
I have to make multiple trips in and out of the woods to get all the logs and things I have gathered for the shelter. When I walk back into our clearing, for the last time, I am shocked to see that Ari not only gathered leaves and sticks, she used rocks to make a fire pit, she fetched water, and cleared a space for a shelter. I hadn’t realized that I was gone that long, or that she had been that busy. But I am happy to know that she thought about those things.
“Can you hold these two sticks together, so I can tie them with a bit of rope?” I ask her.
Playing For Keeps (Romancing The Games Book 1) Page 2