Flavor of the Week

Hannah sat down next to Zayn on the couch in the middle of the living room portion of their cabin. The main challenge was only a few hours away, and Hannah still felt uneasy about their rocky situation. Since the reality broke about her fear of horses, which she’d lied to Zayn about without a second thought, the two had barely spoken. He’d even gone so far as to flirting with a couple of the other girls when he knew she was watching, but she was smart enough to pick up on the fact that his heart wasn’t into it.

Tension only increased after the last elimination challenge, where they were forced to kiss. It hadn’t escaped her attention how much chemistry the two had between them, and she wanted more than anything for him to forgive her so they could go back to the comfortable budding relationship they had before.

“Zayn, I’m sorry,” she burst out, trying not to get emotional because class clowns didn’t cry. “I shouldn’t have lied to you, but I’m just not used to letting people in, okay?”

He gave her a sideways glance and sighed. “I know. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I understand where you’re coming from. You’re the funny girl, and nobody expects you to have any richness underneath all the goofiness. But I know you do, and you don’t have to pretend with me. Not everything has to be a joke. I care about you. And I mean you, not just your jokes and humor.” He smiled and reached out a hand, brushing his thumb softly along her cheekbone.

Hannah forced a smile and a nod. But he was so wrong. Everything did have to be a joke, or she was going to get forced off the show for breaching her contract. She had to fulfill the role she was assigned or everything was going to get shot to hell.

Without another word, Zayn leaned forward and pressed his lips against Hannah’s. It was short and sweet, since both teenagers were very aware of the camera focused on their conversation, and Hannah quickly leaned back.

Zayn’s eyes looked serious as he opened his mouth to say something, his lips almost moving in slow motion to form words that Hannah might not have been ready to hear. So instead of braving the possibility, she grinned and said, “Let’s get ready for the main challenge!”

And then she was gone.



“There are so few of you!” Jay exclaimed as the remaining girls and their boys walked to the site of the main challenge. “And that means that the competition is getting steeper and steeper.”

Hannah swallowed and looked at the screen set up next to the all-too-familiar host. She hated challenges that required screens, so her stomach immediately locked in anticipation.

“Throughout the competition, as everyone knows, we’ve been pulling you aside after certain events and asking you questions about how you feel about certain things and people. And while you always thought they’d remain top-secret, that’s all about to change.”

Hannah thought she was going to puke, so she grasped at the hem of her shorts and struggled to breathe. She could think of a few instances right off the bat where she said some mean things about the other girls in the name of humor. Not to mention about some of the boys. And while everyone thought of her as sweet and friendly, easy to get along with, they were soon going to get their wakeup call.

“We’re going to show some of those confessional videos on the screen with the faces of the girls blurred out and the voices altered, similarly to how they were done in the first challenge of the competition with the audition tapes. The first boy with five correct guesses wins. Everybody ready?”

The boys broke away from their groups and stood behind the podiums, their pens ready to jot down names. And all the girls stopped breathing as they watched the screens, even though they knew it was all about the drama and all about their characters. But the boys didn’t know that.

“Sometimes, I just look around at all these girls,” an inhumanly deep voice was saying on the screen as the shadow flipped her hair, a signature Tessa move, “and I just wonder how it’s possible they could all be so *beep* ugly. Honestly. Their parents must be so disappointed.”

The girls all flushed with embarrassment while the boys jotted down their answers, and they all successfully guessed Tessa. When the boys looked at her with disdain, she just shrugged and flipped her hair behind her shoulder, like her bitchiness was no big deal.

“It sucks, really, because Ava and I were pretty close friends at the beginning of the competition. We haven’t been on the same team since, but it hasn’t exactly bothered me. I mean, she’s a sweet girl, and outside of the competition, I’m sure we’d get along great and go to clubs and pick out guys together. But, honestly, she’s such a whore. Her legs spread more easily than melted butter. Ava, just get the *beep* out.”

Hannah reddened as she heard her words repeated back to her. Although her tone had been light and joking, she was still mortified, knowing that Ava would take the words seriously. Hannah had just been threatened by her at the time, thinking that all the guys were going to fall for her beauty and charm, and so she said the first thing that came to her mind. She didn’t actually think that about Ava. But it didn’t matter because she had still said it, and now everyone knew it.

Thankfully, only Harry was able to pick up on the fact that the confessional belonged to Hannah, and he gave her the worst death glare she’d ever received when he said her name. She almost wished he had actually stabbed her, since it would have hurt a whole lot less.

As the next video started playing, Hannah desperately tried to catch Ava’s eyes, but the other girl refused to respond, out of anger or out of forgiveness. There was just a cold front that Hannah couldn’t manage to break through.

“Hannah’s such a fake,” the voice was saying. “She pretends like she’s happy all the time in front of the boys, always cracking jokes and being her witty self, but behind the scenes, she’s always bitching at us and shouting as us to pick up our things or stop talking when she’s trying to sleep. Talk about being wound up too tight. I don’t even know why she’s here in the first place. Go back to China where you belong, bitch.”

Hannah just wanted to die, especially when she felt Zayn’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t freak out there. The producers wanted one of them to start a fight, she was sure, but Hannah certainly wasn’t the one to do it.

The score stood with Harry having three points, while the rest had scattered one or two. And when the next video started to play, Hannah recognized the source immediately and tried with all her might not to look over at Juliette, who was full-out sobbing.

“The only decent guy here is Niall. Really, all the rest of the guys are stuck-up douchebags who don’t care about anything but their hair products and their next meal. These girls are in for a rude awakening when they realize no one really loves them.” The sound of a short sob gave away the source, and all the boys guessed correctly, though they very pointedly avoided Juliette’s sorrowful gaze.

A few mortifying confessions later, Harry won with five points, and everyone was steaming at one another.