A row ahead of me, Jenny sighs dramatically as she rests her chin in her hands.
“Is it possible for seventeen people to feel like a third wheel at one time?” I hear someone ask.
Sara Claire’s perfect breasts brush the back of Henry’s legs, and then voilà! They hit their planking pose for just a few seconds before Sara Claire balances on one arm and touches the bottom of Henry’s foot with the other.
Henry kicks wildly, and they both tumble to the ground in a fit of laughter.
“No tickling allowed!” Henry cries.
My stomach flip-flops as I notice the crew eating it all up, pulling in closer to the two of them.
Corbin lets out a stilted laugh—this is definitely breaking the rules of yoga. He leads us through one last breathing exercise. “With your eyes closed, I want you to remember that we are all connected and everything happens for a reason. The universe is a series of reactions. Will you be the re or the action?”
“I think I’m having a reaction to this bullshit,” Stacy whispers behind me.
I snort with laughter and my face turns a deep shade of red. When I open my eyes, the only other person who sees me is Henry. He watches me with one eye open and a faint smile.
“Namaste,” says Corbin.
Everyone else opens their eyes, and Henry’s gaze stays steady on me.
Warmth sinks from my chest all the way down to my belly, and I almost have to force myself to look away.
“Namaste,” we repeat.
Back at the house, we all take turns showering post-yoga and slowly congregate downstairs in the expansive living room. Exploring the château over the last few days has been almost otherworldly. The furniture is ornate and lush, but nothing is actually comfortable. The house is clean, but every room only looks good from certain angles, because there are cords and lights left out for night shooting, or rooms with bad lighting. With no library, television, or internet to keep us busy, we’ve been left to our own devices when it comes to entertainment. Last night, our attempts devolved into a contest of Chubby Bunny, which resulted in us getting in trouble with Mallory, who had stashed the marshmallows for later so they could get some B-roll of us all making s’mores.
“The first solo date is tonight,” Chloe says as she methodically scrunches her wet curls in her hands. “I’d bet money on it.”
“Unless your money can buy me five minutes on Twitter, it’s no good here,” Stacy says.
“Am I right?” Chloe asks Mallory, who is sitting perched on the arm of the sofa alongside one lone camera guy and a sound tech in case we do something interesting, but Mallory just shrugs and continues to type into her phone.
Drew sighs. “Sara Claire is a shoo-in for the solo date.”
Jenny’s whole body flops in agreement.
Anna studies her hand. “Does anyone know how to read palms? I feel like this one line is really short, and what if that’s, like, my life line? I was staring at it last night, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Honestly, it took me, like, three hours to fall asleep, and I forgot to pack my melatonin, so I just really wish I could get an answer.”
Stacy takes her wrist and looks over the lines of Anna’s palm. “If I had a stupid phone, I’d be able to look this up and tell you, but until then, all I can say is it’s either your life line or your love line. But it does shoot off into a—”
The doorbell rings, a deep chime and then a high one.
“I’ll get it!” Drew says before tearing off for the door.
Mallory thumps the camera guy on the leg, and he jolts to attention as Sara Claire joins the rest of us with freshly dried hair.
Drew comes racing back, waving a gold envelope in the air. “Gather round, ladies!”
We all pile up on the couches, and even Addison seems to be eager.
“Well, open it!” Allison demands.
Drew steps onto the coffee table and clears her throat. “‘Ladies,’” she reads, “‘thank you for spending the afternoon with me. You’re all the GOAT.’”
“We’re the goat?” Anna asks. “What does that even mean?”
“G-O-A-T,” Drew spells out. “The greatest of all time.”
Stacy shakes her head and looks to Mallory. “Please tell me one of you people is writing these corny-ass messages and not this man we’re supposed to be finding attractive.”
A few other girls giggle, and Mallory just says, “It’s a pun! Puns can be sexy.”
“Sure, Jan,” Stacy says.
I turn to her. “I think I love you.”
“Keep reading!” Addison shouts.
“From the top, please,” Mallory says. “I’d like to get one clean take.”
“Okay, okay,” says Drew. “‘Ladies,’” she reads, “‘thank you for spending the afternoon with me. You’re all the GOAT. Tomorrow night I hope you’ll all join me for the ball, but tonight I’d like to get a little alone time with a girl who really stood out for me today. Sara Claire, please meet me outside the château at seven o’clock, and wear your dancing shoes.’”
Disappointment weighs me down as all the other girls squeal and pretend to be happy for Sara Claire. I know she got the most one-on-one time with him during yoga, so this makes sense, but I held on to some kind of hope that he might choose me after that look we shared.
Sara Claire bounces a little at my side.
“You’re going to have so much fun,” I tell her, the words burning on my tongue.
While Sara Claire is getting ready in the bathroom and both Stacy and Addison are out by the pool, I take the walkie-talkie out to make sure it still has some battery. I flip through a few channels.
“I need a second camera on the car outside the château in thirty minutes. Will Ben be back from—”
I flip again.
Static.
And again.
More static.
“Is anyone else on this channel?” a voice that sounds like it might belong to Wes asks.
“Hello out there?” Beck’s voice calls.
I turn down the volume dial and hold the speaker to my ear.
“Have you hopped on email in the last hour?” asks Wes. “Erica says the network likes my pick for wifey.”
Beck is silent for a minute.
“You there?” Wes asks again.
“Yes,” Beck says. “I heard you. Look, let’s talk about this later. We haven’t even cleared it with Henry yet.”
“Like he—”
“Wes, I gotta run.”
The channel goes silent, so I flip over to the next, expecting to find more sta—
“Hello?” a voice asks softly.
I know that voice. That voice is his voice.
I press down on the button on the side to respond. “Henry?”
Behind me the door swings opens. In a hurry, I flip the power switch as fast as I can.
“Hey,” Sara Claire says as I’m stuffing the radio in my shoe with my back to her. “Were you talking to someone?”
I turn around, trying my best not to look guilty. It’s not easy. “Oh, uh, maybe just to myself. Sorry, I guess I was thinking out loud.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “My daddy does that all the time. It’s like his thoughts are too big to just live in his head.”