She nods and comes forward. She has this look of nervousness about her. I don’t like that I put that nervousness into her. Maybe it isn’t me. Maybe it’s the game. The situation, the environment.
The forest is a first for this show. They usually are on a beach somewhere tropical. It is refreshing to know that they are doing this somewhere different, but I don’t like that I am on the season where they are doing things differently.
Ari helps me finish off the shelter. She doesn’t complain when her arms are above her head for too long. She doesn’t complain if something gets heavy. In fact, she doesn’t really say much. She just works and when we are finished, she moves onto another task.
I can already tell that Ari and I will get along fine. She is a hard worker. She isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and doesn’t complain when asked to help with a task. She hasn’t stopped moving since we got to camp. I think that will be a good thing.
FOUR
Ari
“I like Ari. She has no issue helping around camp… Well, of course, I think she is smoking hot. Why wouldn’t I?”
Ryder Holt
Day two interview
Day Two
Our first night was terrible. I can officially say that I do not like sleeping on the ground, with bugs crawling over me. I barely slept. This I should have expected. Well, at least I would have, if I had any idea of what it would be like out here. Though, since I am not an outdoorsy person, I have never camped a day in my life. Well, not outside and definitely not in a tent. A camper, yes. But nothing remotely like this.
My partner on the other hand had no issue sleeping. He slept pretty well, well as best as he could on the ground. But he slept more than I had. He seemed like he had done this before. Well, maybe not this exact thing, but similar. He seemed to not mind one bit that he was sleeping on the ground and having bugs crawling over him. It made me jealous of him. I wanted to be okay with it, just like him.
I helped build the shelter. I boiled the water and made the rice we ate for dinner. I gathered the kindling. I did little things that I would think of. Who knew that being outside in the middle of the woods would be somewhat boring? I couldn’t help but think of different stuff to do. Like gather leaves to attempt to make the ground softer. Hint, it didn’t work. But it was worth a try.
This morning, its cooler than yesterday. I wear my jacket as I go to get more water to boil, because we drank what I boiled yesterday. I also wander over to the mailbox, a small poorly made wooden box that is supposed to deliver us our mail. At least that is what Ryder told me.
I still can’t believe that I am partnered with him. I mean, never in a million years had I expected to see him again after the conversation we had at the auditions. Never had I expected to see him on this show, let alone as my partner. Part of me wonders why he is here, who he came with, and what his game plan is, but because I am so shy and seem to be nervous around him, I can’t bring myself to ask him these things.
Could he be married? I didn’t see a wedding ring on his finger, not that I was actually looking for one. Maybe a girlfriend, maybe a friend. Who knows?
I am pulled from my thoughts when I see that there is something in our box. I was so lost in thought, that I hadn’t been paying attention. I grab it and head back to camp. I will grab water after I show Ryder what I have.
I arrive back at camp and see that Ryder is awake and sitting at the fire. I smile as I walk closer to him. Something about him makes it easy to smile at him. Makes me feel comfortable enough to smile, even if I am still super nervous and weird around him.
“We have mail.” I say as I show him what I have.
A camera man surprises me when he jumps out of the trees. I jump at his arrival, because as much as I try to ignore that they are there, it’s hard. Especially if they jump out right beside you.
We were to ignore the cameras as much as possible. But if you ask me, they clearly didn’t have to live with them jumping out of nowhere beside them or following them around. It’s not like they have to deal with every minute of their life filmed.
Ryder holds out his hand, I hand him the envelope and watch as his strong callused hands open it.
“Slide to the left, slide to the right, three teams will win this fight.” He reads before he chuckles, “Couldn’t have splurged on better writers this season, could they?”
“Guess not.” I say. “Are the clues usually that… Um… bad?”
He full out laughs at that. A masculine barrel of a laugh, that sounds like it came from his stomach. It’s nice to see that he is enjoying my ignorance.
“Yes. Sadly. At least last season the clues were poorly written.” He says.
“How many seasons have you watched?” I ask him.
“Just one. But my sister has seen every single episode. She has told me a lot about the show. Made me watch last season, before I agreed to apply to the show with her.” He tells me.
I make a mental note of the fact that he came here with his sister. No girlfriend or wife.
“I am sorry if I sound stupid when I ask questions like that. It’s just that....” I take a deep breath. “I don’t know anything about the show.”
He looks shocked. “Have you never watched it before? What were you doing auditioning anyways?”
I look down at my hands and think of what to say. How can I explain to him that I don’t like this type of show? He seems to be judging me. Just what I wanted to avoid.
“I have never watched the show. But just like you, my brother asked me to audition with him.” I say.
He smiles at me. “It’s nice to know that at least someone doesn’t know the show.”
I shrug, as I feel heat creep into my cheeks. He thinks it’s nice not knowing anything about the show, then he should try being in my shoes. I hate it. I don’t know what to expect each day. I don’t know what the game looks like further down the road. I don’t know a single thing. He should really put himself in my shoes before he starts judging me.
A production assistant flags me over to her, it’s time for our daily interviews, which the show calls confessionals. I don’t know how to feel about these impromptu visits to the production assistant, to talk about my partner, the game, and my feelings. I would much rather keep it all bottled up.
I am told to sit on a small stump and the assistant along with a camera man sit across from me. I have to take a deep breath because my heart is racing. My palms are growing sweaty and I can’t help but chew on my lip. Being in front of these two make me nervous.
****
We walk into the same clearing from yesterday, only this time there are six painted tables with cloths draped over the top. Chris is standing beside a podium with something on it, also covered with a cloth as well. I follow Ryder onto our colored mat to wait for the other teams to arrive.
The show staggers the arrival of the teams because they want to get decent footage of our arrivals and don’t want other camera men to potentially get caught on screen. Which I understand.
As teams file in from all directions, I see camera men run here and there, I see Chris getting his makeup touched up. I make sure to find Caleb in the crowd. He is looking at me. He looks tired but over all good. I give him a smile, just to let him know that I am fine. Which is true, even if I feel out of my comfort zone.
“Welcome to today’s reward challenge. I assume your first day with your partner was a good one.” Chris says, I feel myself giving him a thumbs up.
Why I do that, I have no clue. It just felt like the thing to do, I guess. What a way to embarrass myself, on tv no less. I look up to see that there are cameras pointed right at me. I give a small smile and lower my hand. I mentally shake my head and tell myself to get it together.
“Today, three teams will receive a reward. First place will get…” Chris removes the cloth from a bowl beside him. “A flint to make fire, and an advantage in tomorrow’s elimination challenge. Second and third place will get flint. Ready to know what you will be
doing to win this reward?”
We all cheer. We learned our lesson yesterday. We all clap and holler. When we are motioned to quiet down, we stop and turn our full attention to Chris. He isn’t saying anything, probably to keep us on our toes or make the suspense dreadful. But I don’t take my eyes off of him. I don’t want to miss anything.
“Today, you will choose one of you to complete a slide puzzle. Just one of you can play in this challenge.” Chris announces. “The person you choose will have to solve the puzzle to reveal the logo for this season. First three teams to complete their puzzles will get the rewards I mentioned earlier.” He motions for us to move, “Talk amongst yourselves and strategize.”
I turn toward Ryder, but I don’t expect him to be so close, and I wrap my forehead against his chin. I hiss out a breath and instantly clutch my head. I feel strong hands on my shoulders as I feel myself sway.
“Ari, are you alright? Do you need medical?” I hear Chris call from across the clearing.
“I… I am fine.” I tell him.
I give him a smile, just to prove my point. My head throbs and I want to just lay down and curl into a ball, but I won’t. Ryder and Caleb need me. I blink a few times to clear the fuzziness out of my eyes. I need to be able to see what I am doing on this puzzle.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t expect you to turn around so fast.” I hear Ryder whisper to me.
“It’s alright.” I whisper back. “Are you good at puzzles?”
He frowns and shakes his head, “No, not at all. Are you?”
I smile at him. Because, this time, I know something he doesn’t.
“Puzzles are my thing. I love doing puzzles.”
Before he can respond, Chris steps back up to the podium and we are motioned to face him again. This time I have to focus on not swaying in place, because my head really does ache.
“Are decisions made?” Again, I give a thumbs up. What is wrong with me? “Take your places. Those of you who are not playing remain in place. On my count, remove your covers and get to work. Remember first three to complete the puzzle win reward.”
I move behind the table and place my hand on a corner. I wait with my eyes on the table. Please don’t let this headache stop me from winning this. I am good at puzzles. I haven’t really done slide puzzles, but I am sure I can figure this out.
“Go! This challenge is on.” Chris calls out.
I throw the cloth over my shoulder and study the puzzle in front of me. A collage of colors and letters. I look up and look around to get a visual reference for the logo. I find it on the podium at the front beside Chris. I use it as reference as I start sliding pieces around. Constantly checking to see if I am making headway.
I don’t pay attention to the voices around me. The voices of fellow players cheering on their teammates. I don’t look up at Ryder or look toward Caleb, who I hope isn’t trying to solve the puzzle, he sucks at them. I just focus on the puzzle and sliding the pieces around. I look up one more time to check for reference and smile when I realize I am doing very well. I smile because I am getting so close.
“Red team thinks they have it.” I hear Chris call.
I don’t look up. I don’t want to lose precious seconds by doing so.
“They do not!” I hear him call.
My heart picks up the pace as I slide the last pieces into place. I hold up my hands. “Chris!”
He comes jogging over to me, “Green thinks they have it.” He looks down at the table and smiles up at me. “Green takes first place. Who will be second and third?”
I don’t hear anything else as I jump up and down in celebration. I can’t believe that I won us flint and an advantage in tomorrow’s elimination challenge. This is an amazing feeling. I never in a million years would have thought I would win a challenge.
Ryder comes around the table and hugs me. He spins me around and I cling to him. I can’t stop the smile that forms on my face. I can’t stop the tears from falling. I did it. I proved to myself that I can do this. That I can actually have a shot in this game. I can’t help but be proud of myself. I put myself in a position of attention and I like that I actually won.
When Ryder finally lets me go, we go stand on our mat and wait for the other two teams to finish. Second is the Red team. They were able to make a comeback and get second place. Now it’s just a waiting game to see who will take third place.
I am secretly hoping that it is Caleb and his partner. I really hope that he wins. I would feel so guilty to win and he lose the challenge. I have my fingers crossed behind my back as I wait for the challenge to finish around me.
“Third place winner is Blue.” Chris calls out. “Green, come forward and collect your prize.”
Ryder does and the other two teams are called. I can’t help myself. I have to look over at Caleb and give him a small but weak smile.
I mouth, “I’m sorry.”
He just nods and turns his attention back to Chris. That stings a little.
“I will see you all for tomorrows elimination challenge. Bring your A game. You don’t want to be the first to go home.” Chris says as we start filing out of the clearing.
FIVE
Ryder
“That win was something unexpected. I can’t believe I did that.”
Ari Harper
Day three interview
Day Three
Yesterday’s win was amazing. I couldn’t believe that Ari pulled out first place. I was skeptical at first when she said that puzzles were her thing, because I mean who is good at slide puzzles anyways? But then I saw her working and she wasn’t getting distracted and she wasn’t letting the other teams or even Chris for that matter stop her from working on this puzzle. I was amazed with her. She did it and just barely got first. Had red team gotten theirs done first the right way, she would have gotten second, and I still would have been impressed.
Returning to Camp was a little different than I expected. Last season the rewards were most often food, so I hoped that we would have won food, but we just won flint and an advantage in today’s challenge. Which has me curious. They never give out advantages. I mean never. They like to make the players work at the same speed and no play be ahead of anyone, well until the merge that is. But still, you know what I mean. So, it’s curious because it isn’t in their normal MO for the show. It’s different, and at this point I don’t know if I like different.
But today is an elimination challenge, and I have to say I am nervous. Yesterday they only had one of each team working on the puzzle, this has me concerned about today’s challenge. What could it be? Could they make only one of us work in this challenge, like yesterday? I don’t really want that on my back. I don’t want to put Ari’s future in this game on my back. I don’t want to be the reason either of us get eliminated. Because I just got here, and I don’t want my game to end right now.
“Are you alright?” I hear Ari ask me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I say.
When I look at Ari, I feel something. My heart starts picking up its beat. My palms sweat and my mind goes blank. Like when I am looking at her, nothing matters. Like I don’t need to think about anything, and I don’t need to worry about anything. Just looking at her fires me up but also calms me down at the same time.
I can’t complain about how her performance is, though. She is a hard worker. She is always off gathering wood, getting water, and boiling it, making rice or beans, she is also working on finding herbs and things we can eat, from the forest around us. Her latest discovery. Dandelions. Turns out the leaves make a great raw salad. Great in the sense of when you have nothing else but rice and beans, you can eat that. It helps us ration the rice out in smaller portions to make sure we are not over doing it.
“You seem like you are in a different place.” She says. “Are you thinking about the person you came here with?”
“Kind of. My sister, Rachel. We are twins. I just keep thinking about her and wondering how she’s doing.” I say.
It
’s not a total lie, but its partially the truth, because I have wondered about how Rachel is doing. Ari looks at me with an understanding in her eyes. I know she came here with her brother; we have talked about that. But she must be thinking about his as well.
“What team is she on?” She asks me.
“Purple.” I tell her.
Her face lights up, “How weird is it that our siblings are on the same team?”
I frown for a second before smiling, “Seriously?”
“Yes, Caleb is on the purple team.” She tells me. “Should we look at the advantage and see what it is?”
“Yes.” I say to her.
She pulls it out of her pocket and unrolls the little piece of paper. She silently reads it for what feels like forever and I find myself getting anxious. I don’t know what it is, and she isn’t reading it out loud. So, naturally I am starting to feel anxious and wondering if it is as bad as my mind is telling me it is.
“It’s a fire making challenge.” Ari finally announces.
I let out the breath, I didn’t know I was holding. A fire making challenge, I am great at that. I can easily make a fire. But is it timed or something? Just how do they intend to do a fire making challenge this early in the game? They usually save those for later in the season, usually after the merge.
In previous seasons, when they had fire making challenges, they were not allowed to use flint or matches. You had to do it the old-fashioned way. The elbow grease way. Which, I know I can do, I am just not confident in being able to do it fast enough. I practiced making fire both ways at home and wasn’t really fast at the elbow grease and sticks way, but I could do it. If I have to do it today, I can do it, I just hope we don’t come in last.
“Well, Caleb has her covered. He was a boy scout and can make fire with his eyes closed. I promise you.” She tells me as we get our signal to leave camp.
****
The clearing, the same as the last two meetings, is set up similar to yesterday’s challenge. Colored squares with a fire pit in the center are carefully placed. Colored mats are placed down the center of the clearing. Chris and his podium are at one end of the clearing. Camera crews race around to get each of the teams arriving and lining up. Then comes the production assistants arranging us just so, to make it look uniform for the cameras. I look over at the closest square. Its blue, so not our square, but there is nothing but a pit in the center of the square. No kindling, no sticks, no wood, nothing. Just a pit.
Playing For Keeps (Romancing The Games Book 1) Page 3