“Well then, Mr. Lennox, you can just take a seat there on the couch and we’ll be just about ready in five or so minutes to start filming. Make yourself comfortable right over there and just remember to look surprised when the names are called. Okay? Got it? Great!” Amelia exclaimed loudly without waiting for me to actually reply to her. She walked quickly away from me in the opposite direction, flagging down another pair of contestants with that wide, ever-present, and creepy white smile plastered on her face.
I let out a long breath when she left, shaking my head at her ridiculous demeanor. How could someone’s attitude be so energetic at every single moment of the day, I wondered in disbelief. I took a seat on the couch, watching as they set up the teleprompter across from the contestants. I heard the main doors opened again but didn’t turn to see which contestant was currently being harassed by Amelia’s bright smiles and talkative demeanor. There were quick footsteps across the floor and then suddenly someone plopped down on the couch next to me, squished between my body and the armrest. I spun around to see Sadie with her soft-looking auburn hair tucked beneath a warm, cozy scarf and the apples of her cheeks pink from the cold. She was wearing a thick sweater that looked much too big for her, which I found oddly endearing, and her hazel eyes were bright in the palette of her heart-shaped face. She was extremely attractive, but I steadfastly ignored it, clearing my throat to try and clear my thoughts. Sadie pulled something from her bag and unfolded it haphazardly, pushing it into my lap. I grabbed it hesitantly and she perked up.
“Okay, so we don’t like each other, right? I know that we don’t. I don’t like you and you don’t really like me, and that’s fine. We didn’t exactly have the greatest meet-cute and we haven’t had time to make up for it yet. Your dad is kind of a jerk and I want to win this thing, and you don’t care either way. We’re not friends but—” Sadie said to me quickly and breathlessly. “I actually really think we might have a chance at winning this thing and I know you don’t care, but if you could just go with it for me, we’ll win and then never speak again.”
“Uh, I mean I don’t really—” I started hesitantly, ready to either defend myself or agree with her, I wasn’t exactly sure which.
“I made this for us last night as a guide—I was drunk but it still counts I think,” she told me sheepishly, pointing at the crumpled paper that she had taken from her bag.
“What is it?” I asked her, squinting at the curving handwriting on the paper. There were bullet points and numbers and things that had been entirely scratched out. She had drawn lines and grids, arrows pointing to random scribbles.
“It’s a list of what we need to accomplish. I came up with dates and things, you can look them over and see if it works for you,” Sadie said, twirling a piece of her dark hair around her finger quickly as if she were nervous for some reason. “We have to have a cohesive story to tell everyone, right? Or it’s—nevermind we’ll just—” she crumpled the paper and stuffed it into her bag before I could say anything else, shaking her head.
“We do need a good story,” I nodded slowly, impressed at the lengthy list and still a little confused about how I was supposed to read it when she had squished back into her bag so quickly. I guess we would just wing it? “Can I ask what your field of study is right now? Are you going to be a doctor by any chance?”
She looked surprised at that, blinking bright eyes at me. Her plump, rosy lips curled up in a small smile and she nodded. “Something like that, yeah. How did you know?”
I remembered her scrawled handwriting once more and then looked at her again. “Just a guess.”
“Anyway,” Sadie continued quickly. “I think we should think this over and figure it out together. Dinner tonight? I’m buying. There’s a diner close by.”
Dinner? Like a date or something? I had no idea how to approach the awkward subject and I felt ridiculous for thinking it at all. She just wanted to talk about the show and that was it. I didn’t know why I felt my heart pick up the pace or why I suddenly felt as if this was much more serious than it actually was. I shook off the strange feeling and then shrugged. “Yeah, dinner works. I’m buying, though. No arguments.”
“I don’t expect people to pay for me,” Sadie shook her head vigorously. “I don’t care who it is.”