Flavor of the Week

To say Claire was nervous for this elimination challenge was an understatement. There was so much on the line, and the last thing she wanted was to be in the running to go home, because that would mean that Tessa would be too. They’d grown close after the last few weeks, and if one of them was up, the other one was up, and that meant they’d be going home.

Claire was so thankful that she had Liam standing next to her, because he somehow made her feel less nervous. Maybe it was because he was so strong and tall, or maybe it was because she felt like he’d fight as hard as he could to keep them both there.

Ever since Claire had to kiss Liam for the challenge, she felt more tension between him and her, but in a good way. It was like they had this constant pull towards one another and that was something that she didn’t want to lose, even though she knew the end of the game would most definitely take it away from her, and she hated knowing that it would make Liam hate her in the end. It would make all of them hate the girls.

“We have a surprise today,” Jay said from the front of the room, a large smile on his face. Every time he said something like that, nothing good ever followed. “Since there are only nine girls left, we’re going to move onto the next phase of the competition.”

Next phase of the competition? Why hadn’t the producers warned Claire about this? Had they warned everyone else and forgot to tell her? She was terrified to find out what this next phase was, because she knew it was just one step closer to telling the boys the truth.

“From now on, there will be no more challenges. In fact, in just a few short days, the boys will be picking the girls they’d like to end the game with, which is where this next phase comes in. Each boy picks a girl that they will take out on a special date. You can use this to solidify your feelings for someone you’ve been getting close to, or you can use it to explore new options. The choice is yours. But the catch is… You’ve only got a minute to choose.”

Claire could see the look of panic set over the boy’s faces, because it was obvious they knew how important this date was. This was a game changer, and they didn’t want to mess it up by picking the wrong girl.

Claire hoped more than anything that Liam would pick her, but considering there were eight other girls to choose from, she wasn’t getting her hopes up. Sure, they’d shared a kiss, but it was only because they were forced to. It was a part of challenge and not through any choice of their own. Claire was sure that that was going to hurt her chances of getting picked for a date.

Only a few seconds had ticked away on Jay’s counter when Liam looked over at Claire, a nervous smile on his face. He was fidgeting slightly, and Claire couldn’t figure out why he was the one that was so nervous.

“Claire,” Liam said, his voice cracking a bit at the end. He cleared his throat, blinking his eyes quickly, before he spoke again. “Would you like to be my date this evening?”

Claire thought that she might explode at that moment, or at least crumble into a million tiny pieces. She felt like she was going to melt, and though she knew what her answer was, she was having much too hard of a time saying it.

All she could do was nod her head eagerly and give him the brightest smile she could without fainting right there. Liam smiled wider at that and nodded his head back.

“I think it’ll be perfect.”