Flavor of the Week

Georgia let out a small sigh as she followed Zayn, Hannah, and Juliette towards a field where the date challenge was supposed to be held. Clad in yet another sweater that the producers had stuffed her wardrobe full of she was already feeling a bit warm. As they approached the rest of the group she saw Louis with his hand wrapped around Ava’s and wanted to scream. But she was stuck in this damn doppelganger that was nothing like the real her. So she just watched her white sneakers as they trampled their way through the grass.

Finally they caught up and she heard Jay’s chuckle. “Well ladies, glad to see Zayn finally let you out of the bedroom.” The rest of the groups chuckled, but Georgia didn’t even crack a smile as she kept her gaze focused on the ground, arms folded tightly across her chest. “Well our challenge today is going to be a bit physical, if you catch my drift.” Georgia rolled her eyes as everyone chuckled again, feeling to furious at this stupid character she had to play to smile, let alone laugh.

“Hey.” She looked up to see Hannah giving her a soft smile. “You alright?”

“Yeah.” Georgia lied, her eyes moving over to Louis again, who still had his fingers knotted together with Ava’s. “Perfectly fine.”

“We’re going to have an obstacle course!” Jay cheered, grinning wickedly. “The girl with the fastest time will win a date with their boy.” Georgia sighed again, knowing this was just another date she wasn’t going to win. Besides, Zayn had a thing for Hannah, and both she and Juliette knew it. The two had come back from their date laughing like they’d known each other their whole lives. Georgia knew that even if she did win, none of these guys wanted the meek, quiet girl she was forced to pretend to be.

As Jay explained the rules she felt a pair of eyes on her and looked over to see the blonde boy she’d run in to. He smiled, giving her a small wave, which she returned by simply blushing and looking at her shoes. When she glanced back up she saw that a stunning brunette had his attention, her hand sliding over his shoulder, and Georgia just wanted to give up. She wanted to pack her bags and go home because this was awful and she hated every second of it. How the hell did the producers expect her to make any sort of a connection with these boys if she couldn’t even have a halfway normal conversation with them?

As Hannah volunteered to go first for their group Georgia didn’t even pretend to pay attention. She just hoped that she could hurry up and get this over with so that she could go back and draw in silence. She heard Jay announce the times, and Hannah had come in almost dead last for the group of five girls that had ran, Diana being behind her. Jay then told the next girls to line up. Georgia was hoping Juliette would go, but the girl looked like she was on the edge of another fake breakdown, so Georgia approached the starting line.

Jay blew a whistle and she tried her best to at least look like she was trying as she followed the other girls. She was a little upset that she hadn’t listened to what the course actually was as the girls approached a large wall with five ropes dangling down. Georgia had never been a physical person and let out a small groan as she grabbed the rope, following the other girls as they slowly made their way up. She just happened to glance over and saw that Ava was beside her and felt a fire light in her stomach.

She felt like a spurt of adrenaline had smacked her across the face as she whipped her ass into gear, climbing the wall and getting over before any of the other girls. As she grabbed the first rock on the way down she looked at the rest of the course, trying to figure out where to go next. She didn’t care if she got the date with Zayn; she just wanted to beat Ava, even if it didn’t mean a thing.

Speaking of Ava, she was quickly catching up. Georgia let go of the wall, thinking she’d just land on her feet and keep going, but the moment she hit the grass she heard a loud pop and screamed out in agony. Just as her luck would have it, Ava was the first one down and dropped to her knees, calling over for help. At the sound of her voice, as well as the scream, the group came rushing over to the other side of the wall as Ava helped Georgia up. She felt like her leg had snapped as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What happened?” She looked up when she heard an Irish accent to see Niall’s bright blue eyes. “Are ya alright?” Georgia shook her head and Niall sighed. Without another word he scooped her up into his arms, much like Liam had done for Claire the other day, even though Georgia wasn’t on his team. She flushed, but for real, as he just looked at her. “Where does it hurt?”

“My leg.” She whimpered. I landed and I heard this really loud popping noise.”

“Here Niall, I’ve got her.” Zayn offered, but Niall shook his head.

“It’s alright, I’ll take her back to your cabin, and you tell me who wins alright?” Zayn simply nodded as Niall made his way towards the cabins, Georgia cradled in his arms. “I’ll have one of the medical people check on you after I get ya set up.” She nodded, but something was bugging her.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked, knowing that since there wasn’t a camera in her face she could speak in a normal voice.

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking at her as they made their way across the grass.

“I’m not even on your team.” She whispered. “So why are you so eager to help me?” He blushed the slightest bit, looking back in front of him.

“Well, ever since I saw ya crying I’ve wanted to find out why.” He admitted. “I talked to Lou and he told me what happened and…” He pressed his lips together, his face turning near scarlet. “I guess I just wanted to get to know you more, and maybe you can draw a picture of me.” He smiled at her and she felt her face get warm. “The one you did of Lou was amazing.”

“Thank you.” She whispered.

“Don’t thank me for your talent love.” He said as he opened the door to Zayn’s cabin and walked her inside. “So I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.” He said. “I’m Niall.”

“Georgia.” She said, smiling softly.

“Georgia.” He whispered. “That’s a lovely name.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, setting her down on the couch. He was about to prop her foot up, but she winced and he immedietly stopped, looking at her with concern.

“Where exactly does it hurt?” He asked.

“My knee.” She said, looking at it as it started swelling, already almost twice it’s normal size. Niall nodded and hopped up, soon returning with an ice pack. But before he set it on top of her knee he stopped, smiling at her with pink cheeks. He quickly leaned down, giving her knee a small kiss before setting the ice on top of it. Her face flushed a bright red to rival his as they looked at each other for a moment.

But all too soon the door opened to Zayn, Hannah, Juliette, and three medical personnel and Niall shot up. “So.” He choked out, running a hand through his hair. “Who won?”

“Me!” Juliette cheered, grinning. Niall smiled.

“And on my team?” He asked.

“Rory.” Zayn said simply. Georgia felt her heart fall the slightest bit at the memory of the beautiful girl grabbing Niall’s shoulder. But before she could fret for too long she felt a pair of lips on her forehead. She looked up with wide eyes to see Niall smiling, his face still red.

“Um, I’ll try to come back and check on you, yeah?” He muttered. She pressed her lips together, checking for cameras before giving a small nod.

“Okay.” He grinned, giving her a tight hug before the medical people shooed him away. And as Niall walked out the door Georgia couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.