A little presumptuous of you to assume that.
You can’t blame me. The last time I saw him, we talked aboutLove? Check!and now he’s here.
Mr. Vuk is really here.
Nova… the ungroomed daisies.
Kill me. Kill me now.
You know what? No. I don’t want to die. I don’t deserve to die either. He’s the A-hole who said all that bad stuff behind my back. I am Nova Rivera, nothing gets under my skin.
Unless you’re my family, then that’s… self-explanatory.
“Nova?”
Hina squeezes my knee. “You okay?”
Nervously smiling, “Yeah. Of course, just thinking.”
Another brush of his arm against mine.
I’m not sure if the tingles are growing from anger or because I haven’t peed since I got here. Either way, I hate it and I don’t want to think too deeply about it.
Even though it could be more?
There’s two camera people in the room with us now. Headphones on, listening in, and focusing on the angles. I’m vaguely aware of the lens on me and on Hina but refuse to acknowledge them. They’re like thick bugs, waiting for movement to strike.
“Let’s stop there for a second,” Austin follows behind Irene. She’s changed out of her earlier clothes and is strutting towards the middle of the room in a navy pantsuit. I’m never getting over her.
The camera people step away from the cameras, one of them completely leaves the room. I admire their work, I might not like it, but I truly appreciate how they stand up for hours at a time and are going to film us for eight weeks to capture whatever story they want to tell.
“It’s lovely to see all of you in one room,” Irene clasps her handsin front of her. “Austin and I have spent a long-time planning season three ofLove? Check!and for us to be filming it in Lucerne is a dream come true.” She eyes each of us one by one, not a hint of judgement or maliciousness in them.
It’s the same look I get when I open a new package of books.
Unhinged. 110%.
“For the next eight weeks, you’ll be spending time with each other. You’re bound to like some people and dislike others, which is okay. This is meant to be about the human experience and how we interact with each other romantically and platonically.” Her hands are now animated, skin flushing with excitement. Austin leans back against the wall on his phone.
“However, like I’ve spoken to each of you before… If there is a pairing the world is rooting for, we might pull you aside and direct some stories for viewership. This doesn’t mean you can’t spend time with the person you actually feel chemistry with, it just means we won’t air it.” She lets out a final breath. “Are there any questions?”
Katarina surprises me by asking, “Do the cameras ever turn off?”
Irene knocks one ankle over the other, a tongue pushing against her cheek. “Great question…” She peers at Austin who gives her a nod, then turns back to us. “Cameras will turn off at exactly 1:30 AM every night. This is a reality dating show, but that doesn’t mean we want you to feel uncomfortable all the time. The cameras are on an automatic setting so by 7 AM they’ll turn on again.”
“How do we know they’re off?” I noticed earlier that they didn’t. Maybe they’re not on right now, but that’s doubtful. “Because they don’t have the red blinking lights.”
“You’ll have to trust us, sweetheart.” Austin peers over at me and the back of my neck bursts with sudden sweat. His English accent might be swoon worthy, but there’s something about him I don’t like.
Because tell me why he’s talking to me like I’m sixteen and not twenty-four?
“We don’t know you,” Dean grumbles beside me. “There’s no trust.”
Dean doesn’t trust anyone. He probably looks in the mirror every morning and flinches because he doesn’t trust himself either.
Austin looks taken aback by that but quickly transforms his expression.
“Our job is to make sure you’re safe in this environment, Dean.” Irene answers for him. She’s gentle, soothing, and I trust her. “If I say the cameras will be off at a specified time, then I promise everyone in this room that they will be off. And I am a woman of my word,” she ends it with a joking lift to her tone.
