Flavor of the Week

No matter how many elimination challenges they had, Claire got nervous every time. She just couldn’t help it. She hoped she knew enough about Liam to know that he wouldn’t send her home, but they never knew what kind of wrenches the producers were going to throw at them, and that made every challenge terrifying.

Standing next to Liam and Tessa, knees practically shaking, Claire tried to take calming breaths without making it obvious how scared she was. She didn’t want Liam to know that she was a complete shaking mess.

“Alright everyone,” Jay said from the front of the room, smiling out at them. “It’s time for our elimination challenge, at the end of which one girl will be sent home. Our teams are even right now, with each boy having two girls each, but the end of this challenge will leave one boy at a severe disadvantage and with only one girl left. That boy will be allowed to switch his girl, should the lead boy next week choose to let him, but he will only have one while the rest of two. So, without further ado, let’s get this challenge started.”

Liam nudged over to Claire, giving her a warm smile, and she wondered if she had unintentionally let him in on how nervous she was. He held her gaze for a few moments before looking back out at Jay when he spoke again.

“This challenge has a simple name,” he said, his smile growing more wicked as he spoke. “I like to call it the kissing challenge.” He paused for effect, his smirk causing a dimple to form on his left cheek. “It’s simple, really. Each of the boys will be blindfolded with one of our fancy Love Direction blindfolds, which can be purchased online at lovedirection.com.”

Jay winked at the camera as he said his product placement then looked back to the group as he continued. “After they’ve been blindfolded, the two girls in their group will give them a kiss. They have a 50/50 shot at guessing who it is, and if they’re wrong, they move onto the next round while the winners get to stay in the safe zone. If only one person misses, than we’re done. If everyone gets it right, the person who took the longest loses. Are you ready, kids?”

Everyone nodded, but Claire could feel her stomach tying up in knots. She’d never kissed Liam before and she honestly couldn’t believe that she was about to do it on camera for part of a challenge. It just seemed so forced and everything she didn’t want it to be, but she didn’t really have a choice.

When the blindfold had been slipped over the boys’ eyes, Jay motioned for the girls to move forward. Everyone else just looked so much more ready than Claire, and she could feel her palms getting sweatier by the second.

Tessa seemed just as confident as ever, marching right up to Liam and placing a perfect kiss on his lips. It didn’t seem fair that Tessa could just be so good and so confident, and she didn’t look like she even tried. Claire was a shaking mess and her kiss wasn’t going to be half that good.

When Tessa finished, she turned back to Claire, a gentle smile on her face. She whispered in Claire’s ear while holding tightly onto her shoulder. “Just a simple kiss. Nothing fancy. Touch lips and you’re done.”

Claire nodded her head, but Tessa’s reassuring words weren’t doing much to make her feel better. All she could do was try to calm her breathing as she walked up to Liam, her legs feeling like cement at that point.

Every step she took closer to him just made her more nervous and she honestly didn’t know if she was going to be able to do it. She wanted to turn around and told Jay that she gave up and she just couldn’t keep playing these games anymore, but she pushed through, taking several deep breaths.

With every bit of courage she had, she leaned forward, pressing her lips against Liam’s. She could feel his body relax at her touch, and his lips began moving gently against hers. It was soft, sweet, and simple, and it lasted for a few seconds before Claire pulled away, nearly out of breath.

She looked between Liam and Jay, who gave her a small wink, and she felt her cheeks growing redder by the second.

Once everyone had finished up their kisses, the boys were able to pull off their blindfolds and they went one by one as they said their answers. Everyone in the line had gotten their girls right, which wasn’t a surprise since they had a 50/50 shot. It wasn’t until they got to Louis that a boy finally missed, and Claire couldn’t help but be a little excited by that.

She wasn’t out of the water, though, because Liam still hadn’t guessed, and if he guessed wrong they’d have to go up against Louis’s team in another challenge.

“Alright, Liam,” Jay said, looking over at him. “Which girl did you kiss first?”

Claire could feel her heart racing off in a thousand different directions for so many different reasons. She wanted to win the challenge, but not just that, she wanted to know if Liam actually knew. The kiss had felt so special to her, and she just had to know if he thought it was her or Tessa.

“It was Tessa,” Liam said, nodding his head. “And second was Claire.”

A smile fell to Claire’s face immediately and she had to stop herself from jumping up and down in joy. For once, she felt like one of their challenges might not have been completely pointless.