Flavor of the Week

Every morning when Claire woke up, her first thought was some variation of the phrase I have to make them fall in love with me. All day long, all she could think about was trying to figure out how to make the boys like her. She constantly worried about the producers yelling at her, Lucas being disappointed in her, and everyone else watching while she failed. She just wanted to impress everyone. She just wanted to be the dream Claire that she was pretending to be.

Stars lit up the sky while Claire sat on the back porch of Liam’s cabin, attempting to get a moment to herself. They didn’t have much time to think, so moments like this were rare and she was thankful for it, no matter how long it would end up lasting. It would have been much wiser to spend the down time with the boys so she could secure her spot, but she wouldn’t have the energy for that until she got a good night’s rest.

“Claire,” Liam said, as he bounded around the corner. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

Claire smiled at him, watching as he stepped up onto the porch. His eyes twinkled in the moonlight and Claire couldn’t help but feel like there was something so dreamy about him.

“Well, I hope you weren’t looking for too long,” she chuckled, as she smiled at the ground. Her cheeks turned red at the sound of her own voice, hardly believing that she was the one who was able to speak to someone who was so perfect so easily.

“I was, actually.” He smiled at her, as he moved to take the small seat next to hers. “But I’m glad I finally found you.”

Claire smiled. “Was there something you needed?”

“Not exactly,” he chuckled, folding his hands in his lap. He looked down at the ground while giving a soft shake of his head. “Just wanted to see you is all.”

“Oh,” she said, biting her lip. She looked over at him just as he lifted his head up, his dark eyes meeting hers. He grinned again and she could have sworn she was his eyes twinkle.

The two paused for several moments, with both of them looking out into the forest behind the cabin. It was such a magical place that they were in, and the fact that each boy had their own cabin only made it better. The girls had to do a lot of moving around, but Claire imagined that it saved them a lot of drama.

“Tomorrow’s another group challenge,” Liam said, as he clicked his tongue to his teeth.

“It is.” Claire nodded. “Do you think we’ll win?”

“I hope so,” Liam responded, before looking over at her. His eyes met hers in a look that caused her heart to race. “I’d hate to lose and have you go to another team.”

Claire’s face lit up, and she tried to look away. She didn’t want Liam to see how badly she was blushing, but when she heard him chuckle, she knew that he had.

“So,” she said, chuckling as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“So,” he responded with a nod of his head. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but shut it quickly with a shake of his head. Pressing his hands on the sides of his chair, he stood up and looked down at Claire with a half-smile. “So, um, I guess I better get to bed.” He scratched the back of his head, before taking a step back towards the door. “You better get to bed too. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Claire nodded, standing up from her seat as well. “I should. Can’t have another loss riding on my back.”
Liam chuckled and pressed his hand to the glass door, sliding it open. Claire was going to follow in a few moments, but she just wanted a little bit more time to herself, so she could think about things more clearly.

She watched as he stepped through the door, before turning back to her with a smile. He bit his bottom lip, while his cheeks began to turn red.

“And Claire,” he said when her eyes met his. “I really hope you get to stay with me.”