Mimi sniffs and shakes her head. ‘No. I don’t know.’
‘You are surrounded by badass women who care about you. No matter what happens with the guys, we have each other, right?’
Mimi is looking at me as though I have two heads.
Lois’s goodbye words come flooding back to me. ‘We have each other’s backs. Life is all about friendship and family, is what I’msaying. My sister told me to come in here and forget about the pressure to be popular, just be yourself and have fun getting to know people.’
Then Mimi lunges at me, scooping me into a hug. She is squeezing the life out of me and all I can see is a camera lens, hidden in a plant pot, reflecting the sun.
‘So, no more bottling things up. You have friends here,’ I say, keen to end the conversation. ‘Friends who will listen and help.’
Mimi sniffs up the last of her tears. ‘I’m just so terrified of being rejected.’
There goes the voice of our generation.
I hold her at arm’s length and look her straight in the eye. ‘Why? I mean, I know it’s unpleasant. I have been rejected so many times from jobs, from guys, from social media. I have like NO followers but, Mimi, that’s just life. What makes it feel so terrifying for you?’
She stops to think. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘Look, the way I see it is that every rejection is a lesson learned. I tell my class to look at it as an experiment to be a better person. We can’t all get into the football team. We can’t all be Head Girl. We can’t all go through life winning all the time. That would be weird.’
The camera lens is still winking at me, making me conscious that all of this is potentially broadcastable.
‘Erm, life is full of surprises. We just need to embrace it and be as resilient as we can. If you never try, you’ll never know. And at the end of the day. You. Are. Worth. It.’
I sound like a shameful rip-off of Chris Martin if he was doing a TikTok hair commercial.
Mimi agrees. ‘Libby, you are so right. No more trying to be someone I’m not. It’s not a popularity contest. I am enough. No more trying to get their attention.’
It’s precious moments like these that make teaching so worthwhile. Then her phone trills making us both jump.
‘I GOT A TEXT!’ she screams at the top of her lungs. She leaps up waving her arms in the air and runs off round the garden, bellowing for everyone to join in. I see her running into the villa screaming, ‘I GOT A TEXT! I GOT A TEXT! WE WON THE CHALLENGE! WE WON IT, CARLTON!’
Well, at least I tried.
Everyone pours out of the villa with their hands over their ears. Mimi clearly did not listen to a bloody word I said. She’s still waving her arms in the air even as we all stand around waiting for her to stop screaming. Thankfully she runs out of steam, and breathlessly tells us that her prize is a round of mocktails for everyone tonight.
It’s immensely underwhelming. I flop down on a giant beanbag. I must go and get ready for this evening. My hair is still wet and hanging down my shoulders. It will dry naturally if I’m not careful. And I have no make-up on yet.
‘Can I grab you for a quick chat?’
I look up into the earnest face of Carlton who plonks himself down next to me. For a committed loner, I haven’t been pulled for a chat so much in my life, and I have to admit, it feels nice. It feels nice to be confided in and considered a confidante. It feels especially nice to be desirous and to be desired. I am experiencing a whole plethora of emotions I haven’t felt in a long, long time.
‘Help me,’ he pleads. ‘I can’t take any more of her.’ He points to Mimi.
‘It’s okay. She’ll probably settle down once the twenty kilos of sugar in her system dissolves. She’s just excited over the text.’
He looks unconvinced. ‘She lay staring at me for over an hour this morning. Just lay there. Staring.’
‘And you’re sure it wasn’t an absence seizure or just sleeping with her eyes open? Or meditating very deeply perhaps?’
‘I wish,’ he says, grinning. ‘She kept sticking her tongue out at me and winking. And because we’ve won the challenge, they’re sending us on a date.’ He tuts. ‘But I’d rather be with you. I think we have a good vibe. And you’re naturally beautiful and funny.’
Do not get sidetracked by this charming man and his wonderful comments.
‘But I bet you have a great time with Mimi. And Amber is very nice. Have you thought about getting to know her? In fact, they’re all really nice.’
He ignores my advice and shuffles closer. ‘You have stunning eyes.’
