Last Girl Standing

Abelia swallowed nervously, standing beside Jenna as they waited to find out the challenge for the day. The boys were standing on the other side and she couldn’t keep her eyes from flickering to Zayn every few moments and flushed when he caught her, a massive smirk spreading over his face. Finally Tanisha’s voice drew everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone, it’s time for our next challenge!” Jenna reassuringly held Abelia’s hand and she smiled sheepishly at the blonde girl, embarrassed she was so terrified over one little challenge. She looked back over at Tanisha and wished she hadn’t worn a cardigan in this heat and decided to take it off the minute the cameras stopped rolling. “Now boys, first things first, I need you to pick a girl. And I would suggest going for a small girl if I were you.”

Abelia’s eyes got huge. At barely five feet four inches tall she was easily the smallest girl, her shortness accentuated even further by her oxfords while most girls opted for heels. Tanisha started talking again as Abelia started shivering despite the heat. “Now Harry, since you’re still the Alpha Male until after this challenge, you get first pick.” The curly haired boy scanned over the line of girls, biting his lip. Abelia tried to keep her head down so he wouldn’t notice, but then she heard his voice.

“Cardigan, you’re with me.” She looked up so see the green eyed boy pointing right at her. Her eyes grew huge as she gripped Jenna’s hand for dear life. Everyone was looking at her and it was terrifying. Finally the boy, Harry walked over, grabbing her other hand and gently leading her away from Jenna. She felt like an idiot as she stood on the other side next to him. She was cursing herself for being so awkward when she felt a hand on her back. Her eyes snapped up to be met with the honey brown ones of a raven haired boy. Her eyes somehow grew even wider when she realized that this must be Zayn, the one who was asking about her. She thought for sure she would be kicked off now, but he only smiled.

“It’s alright, I won’t let him do anything too bad.” He promised, nodding his head to the curly haired boy beside her. She flushed as Zayn refused to take his eyes off her, but still facing forward so he wouldn’t be scolded by Tanisha later. “I don’t think we’ve officially met.” He said finally. “I’m Zayn.”

“Abelia.” She said quietly, looking at the ground. She could still feel his warm eyes on her, but couldn’t look up to meet them. Finally his name was called and he looked at the crowd of girls, picking a beautiful woman with fiery red hair and a small smirk on her lips. She heard her introduce herself to him as Kassandra and looked back over to the boy that had picked her. He was handsome, she wouldn’t argue that, but he seemed to be focused on everything else except for her. Not that she really minded all that much. After all the boys had picked Tanisha smiled at them.

“Alright, the rest of you lovely ladies can go back to your rooms, the rest of you can follow me.” Abelia looked desperately to Jenna, who just gave her a reassuring wave before making her way back into the house. She swallowed nervously as all the boys filed off and she had to all but jog to keep up with Harry and his long legs. She couldn’t help but notice that all the other boys were holding hands with their girl, but he was just looking forward, following Tanisha as they were all led into dirt soaked Jeeps. Harry quickly climbed in and moved over to his seat. She sighed, knowing this was going to be completely dreadful.

First off, with her whole vertically challenged thing going on, she was having a bit of trouble trying to just get into the Jeep. She was about to just jump when she felt a pair of hands on her waist that picked her up and set her inside. She turned bright red and turned once again to be met with those warm, honey eyes of Zayn’s. He just smiled at her before climbing into the driver’s seat. She couldn’t stop blushing as she sat down next to Harry, sliding off her cardigan that was making her so warm she felt like she was going to pass out.

That was when a grin spread over Harry’s face. Abelia blushed as she realized the near see through tank top she’d been wearing under her cardigan and turned even redder, reaching back for the discarded fabric. But a large hand quickly snagged it out from under her hands and held it away from her. “Looking for this?” Harry asked, a massive smile on his face.

“P-please give that back.” She asked. He couldn’t stop smirking at her, taking in the supple hourglass figure Abelia had been hiding under her giant sweaters and cardigans. He bit his lip, holding it so it was almost dangling out of the Jeep.

“Alright I will, if you give me a kiss love.” Her eyes grew huge as she tried to decide if he was serious. She felt her heart start pounding when she realized he was. She simply sighed, sitting back in her seat as Harry pouted. She heard laughter from the front of the Jeep and looked up to see Zayn and Kassandra in stitches. She turned bright red, her and Harry both staying silent for the rest of the ride until they reached a stretch of beach.

She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and all but ran out of the car, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. As she saw what was spread out on the beach her jaw dropped. There were dunes and a massive wall. Nets and wooden planks were strewn everywhere as Abelia finally realized it was an obstacle course. She remembered Tanisha’s advice of picking a small girl and felt her heart sink. She was one of the least athletic people she knew and in oxfords, skinny jeans, and a tank top she knew this was not a good idea. She reluctantly followed Harry who was a good three feet in front of her. Kassandra was talking with him as Abelia drug her feet towards the course.

“I think you’ve offended him.” She turned to see that when she had been lost in her thoughts Zayn had caught up and was now walking beside her. She blushed, looking down at the sand.

“Sorry.” She muttered. She thought he was scolding her, but his lovely voice made her stop in her tracks as she turned to see him looking into her eyes. He simply smiled, making her stomach tie itself into knots.

“Its fine, I was kidding. Besides, he needs a good ego check every now and again. Don’t be so worried.” He smiled again, giving her a small, one armed hug before the two hurried to catch up to the rest of the group.

Once they were down on the sand Tanisha smiled, looking at Zayn and Abelia as they finally caught up. “Nice of you two to join us.” She teased. A blue eyes boy with caramel colored hair let out a low wolf whistle and both Abelia and Zayn flushed. She felt an arm around her waist as Harry tugged her over to his side, giving Zayn a look she couldn’t quite decipher. Harry then quickly laced their fingers together, making her blush even more as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, wishing she’d put it up in a bun. “Now, as I’m sure all of you can see, we have quite the obstacle course for you. As you remember, I advised you to pick a small girl, well boys that’s because this is a strength challenge. You will be carrying your partner on your back through the obstacle course; first one to the end is the Alpha Male for the week!”

She saw Harry smirk beside her as she realized that their height difference meant he easily had the best advantage. He quickly got down onto his knees, reaching his hands back for Abelia. “Come on then.” He said. She blushed before hopping onto his muscled back and he bounced her into the air, getting a better grip on her thighs. She turned bright red when she caught the devilish grin on his face. “What’s your name again?” He asked.

“Abelia.”

“Well Abelia, I’ll make you a deal. You give me that kiss and I’ll switch so you can be partners with Zayn.” She turned bright red when she saw his green eyes locked on hers. She shook her head, burying it in Harry’s thick curls as he let out a long sigh. “Suit yourself.”

What Abelia didn’t realize was that Zayn had overheard the conversation, feeling his heart sink at the way she’d so quickly said no. He sighed, hoisting Kassandra higher up on his back. He had really thought he and Abelia could have something, but she obviously didn’t feel the same way. He no longer wanted to be on this stupid show. It had only been a week and he was already feeling his heartstrings being tugged at painfully. That’s when he smiled, turning to Kassandra. “How keen are you on doing anything to win?”

As the boys all stood at the starting line Abelia kept her head buried in Harry’s thick curls. He figured that would make the two of them more aerodynamic as he leaned over, grinning wickedly at the rest of the lads. Finally a starting gun fired and Harry took off. Abelia just tried to keep her head down, gripping tightly to Harry a she felt him climbing, running, and swinging. She got a good visual of the race by Tanisha’s commentary. She knew that she and Harry were in the lead, followed closely by Zayn and Kassandra, and that they were almost to the finish line. She then heard a male voice call out her name and looked over to see Zayn. He smiled at her before mouthing ‘I love you.’ Her eyes grew huge as she shot up just in time for her head to connect with a tree branch, knocking her and Harry off the wall he’d been climbing. She hit the ground only feel Harry slam on top of her, knocking the air out of her lungs before everything went dark.

As Zayn stood cheering at the finish line he wondered where Tanisha was to crown him as Alpha Male. Having already won, he ran back to the other side of the wall to see Harry slowly getting up as everyone was in a circle around something. He shoved his way through to see Abelia on the ground. She had a nasty cut above her eyebrow and didn’t appear to be conscious. Zayn bit his lip. He’d wanted to distract her and throw Harry off, but letting her get hurt wasn’t what he’d had in mind. He felt awful as he watched her eyelids twitch before opening, a paramedic having to help her up and escort her over to a small tent. Everyone turned and glared at him before Tanisha finally spoke.

“Zayn, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to disqualify you. That means Harry is the Alpha Male for the second week.” With that they all walked away, even Kassandra, leaving him alone in as he stared guiltily at the few drops of blood on the sand. He looked over to the tent where she was being checked over, hoping that she wouldn’t have to be sent home or something. He felt awful. The first girl he’d really liked and he’d just possibly led her to getting a concussion.

This was going to be a long few months.