Of course, that wasn’t going to be my strategy at all. I was going to lay low and coast, hopefully hang out somewhere in the middle for the first while. Suss people out, see how things were falling, and then make my move.
The buzzer sounded.
We flew into action. I stepped off the platform and sunk my hands into the blood, looking for the hula hoop. Sure enough, the liquid was thick and sticky, and I could hear a few disgusted squeals down the row as other people figured this out. I grasped the hula hoop and hitched it around my hips. My fingers ran along it and I felt a few widely-spaced holes that were even now dribbling the liquid. Once we started ‘hula-ing,’ it’d fling out of the hoop and hopefully into the vampire’s mouth.
And since I was a Zumba instructor? I could totally rock this challenge. I could win the Power Play, get myself a sweet room to sleep in, and decide who to vote out the first week.
Annnnd that would paint a huge target on my back from day one. Not my goal. So I pretended to fumble with my hula hoop, and then I began to hula slowly, swinging the hoop around my hips. Sticky ‘blood’ spattered and dribbled down my clothing, and I realized there was a trick—if I hooped slow, the blood didn’t sling out far enough. If you slung the hoop around fast a few times, it would spray the blood far, which I realized when Liam reached one tattooed arm out, slung his hoop around his waist quickly, and then let it drop back to the ground.
Good, I thought. Let him win. I sure didn’t want to.
Minutes ticked past, and I continued to mock-fumble with my hula hoop, pretending I was having more trouble than I actually was. Blood was spattered all over my clothing and every ounce of skin, and my hair was now sticking to my head in a nasty mess. I wasn’t the only one suffering—Katy’s stand was closer to Liam’s than mine, and she looked like she’d been dipped in blood. Nobody had won yet, either. I bent over, peering at the bag in my now-gore-splattered vampire’s mouth, but it was less than half full. Jeez, this was a long competition. Someone needed to just win already so we could head to the showers.
Grimly, I picked up my hoop again and continued to soldier on, ignoring the sticky gunk on my hands and continuing to hoop faster. I stole a peek down the line to see how everyone else was doing. The woman I’d pegged for a soccer mom was holding a hand on her side and breathing heavy. The woman with the crazy gray hair? Wasn’t even trying. The guys were trying harder than most of the girls, with Liam in the lead and Brodie and two others close on his heels. I looked back down at my hoop and got back to it again, so no one noticed that I was watching the rest of the contestants so closely.
Five minutes later, I heard the buzzer sound. I looked up, wiping red gunk off of my face (I was pretty sure it was in my nose and ears at this point) and looked at my vampire’s bag. Still only half full. I glanced down the line and noticed Liam’s stand had lit up underneath. He dropped his hoop with a whoop and pumped a fist in the air. He’d won.
I clapped politely, letting my hoop fall to the ground as I stepped off my stand. Katy flew past, throwing herself into Liam’s arms. He grabbed her and swung her around, laughing, and they shared a sticky kiss of excitement.
Yeah, I could guess who Liam’s partner was going to be.
“Congratulations, Liam,” Becky Bradley’s voice piped in over the intercom. “You have won the first Power Play of the summer!”
We all clapped again and then waited for instructions, studying each other warily.
“As the player with Power this week,” Becky said, “you may now choose your partner.”
“I choose Katy,” he called out and let her back down on the ground. She hugged his side, grinning, her smile bright white in her red-stained face.
“There’s a shock,” Brodie called out, and I laughed despite myself. Glad I wasn’t the only one thinking it. Brodie glanced my way and winked, and my goodwill toward him went right out the door again. Ugh. He was so cocky.
“Now that the first pair has been selected, the rest of you must be partnered up. Liam, please proceed to the far end of the challenge area. There, you will find a case. In that case, you will find the key to the Power Room. That room is yours and Katy’s for the week.”
Katy clapped her hands as Liam detangled himself from her side and headed for the case. He pulled out the key and looped it over his neck.
“Also in the case,” Becky intoned, “are five other keys and five locks. The men will each select a lock, and the women a key. If your lock matches someone’s key, that person will be your partner until you are instructed otherwise. You will room with your partner, receive rewards with your partner, and compete with your partner at your side. If your partner is nominated for eviction, you will be nominated as well. Liam, please pick up the box of locks and keys and have everyone select one.”
Liam grabbed the case, popped it open, and went to the nearest stand—mine. I grabbed one without really looking at it and watched as Liam held the box out to each person.
Once they were all distributed, Becky’s voice sounded through the speakers again. “Make your matches, contestants. Oh, and you might notice that each lock has a room name on it. That’s where you’ll be staying tonight with your partner. If your lock has no room name on it, you’ll be sleeping on the couches. Have fun, House Guests, and I’ll talk with you soon.”
“Bye, Becky,” we chorused automatically.
The challenge area went silent for a long moment, and we all stared at each other.
“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news,” Brodie said, stepping forward and breaking the silence. He held up his lock in one bright red, goop-smeared hand. “The good news is that if your key matches my lock, you get me as a partner.”
How is that good news? I wanted to retort, but I bit it back. Honestly, Brodie was the last person I wanted to pair up with. Ugh.
“And the bad news?” someone called.
“The bad news is that I didn’t get a room, so we’ll be couches,” Brodie said with a grimace.
Bad news all around if you asked me.
That broke the weird tension, though, and people began to move around, greeting each other. I automatically headed for my friend with the great smile. He made a beeline for me, too, and raked a hand through his dark, gooey hair. “Sorry you didn’t win,” he said, holding his lock out to me. “My name’s Jendan.”
“I’m Kandis,” I told him with a smile. “And that’s cool. You can’t win them all. I’ll just have to win the next one. Now cross your fingers and hope this works,” I told him and tried my key in his lock.
It wouldn’t go in.
I gave Jendan a disappointed look. “No go.”
“Shoot. I was hoping it was you.”
He sure was cute. I gave him a flirty smile. “I was hoping it was you, too. Doesn’t mean we can’t work together anyhow.”
“I like the way you think,” he said with a chuckle. “We’ll talk later.”
I nodded and glanced around for someone else. The elderly man was standing nearby, so I held my key up gamely and approached him. “Do you have a partner yet?”
“Not yet,” he told me. “Name’s Casper.”
I introduced myself again and tried my key. No go. “I am just not having much luck today,” I joked, and I headed for someone else.
When the next key didn’t work, I began to get nervous. Oh no. Surely I wouldn’t be Brodie’s partner. Surely not. Surely I wasn’t that unlucky. Anyone that had watched The World Races would know that Brodie was a total first class jerk, and they’d be gunning to get him out of the house. Heck, I wanted him gone already myself.
I turned around and saw Brodie standing nearby. He waved his lock at me, that cocky smirk on his face. “Wanna give me a shot, beautiful?”
Ugh. He really was obvious. Might as well get it over with, though. I headed his way, a tight smile on my face. “Does that ever work?”
“Does what ever work?” he asked.
“That smarmy schtick of yours? Hitting on anything with a pair of tits and hoping you’ll get a response?” I held my key up, indicating that he should hand me his lock so I could try it.
“You tell me,” Brodie said, still grinning despite my acerbic words. “You interested?”
“Only in booting you,” I said sweetly, unable to hold my tongue when it came to him. It didn’t matter if I made an enemy of Brodie; he wouldn’t be around long enough for me to care if I needed his help or not.
To my horror, my key slid into his lock with a perfect little snick.
“Looky there,” Brodie said, a drawl evident in his words. “We’re a match made in heaven.” His arm went around my shoulders and he hugged me against him, ignoring my stiff body and shocked face. “Guess you can’t boot me unless you have a deathwish, huh, beautiful?” he whispered in my ear.
House Guests was officially off to a shitty start.
Not only was douchey Brodie from The World Races here, but he was my partner and we had no room this week.
The only way it could get worse would be if someone came up and slapped me in the face.
Considering Brodie Short was my partner, I wasn’t ruling it out as a possibility.
~~ * ~~
The bathrooms, I was happy to see, had been converted into something slightly more modern. The bathroom tiles were a blood red, and the walls were a deep, ugly purple. The fixtures on the sinks were black, and there were two booths nearby for toilets and two booths for showers. The toilet booths had solid doors to allow for some privacy, but I noticed that both showers had doors that only covered the occupant from mid-calf to shoulder.
I guessed they’d be filming in the bathroom after all. Fun.
I hadn’t been the first back to the bathrooms, so I was forced to sit and wait for a shower to open up. I grabbed one of the dark towels and joined the others sitting atop one of the counters, waiting as Mickey and Casper showered, washing the red gunk off. Katy and Liam had disappeared as soon as the challenge was over, no doubt to check out Liam’s private room. I was guessing he had a nice shower up there.
Which left me down here with Brodie.
I curled my sticky legs under me and rolled my eyes, thinking about my partner. I’d last seen him a few minutes ago, wiping splatters off of Sunnie’s face and flirting with her like she was his partner. Tool. I hated that I’d been paired up with him. Hated it. But there was nothing I could do except try to make the best of things and lay low.
Someone hopped up on the counter next to me. I looked over and smiled as Jendan sat next to me.
“Hey,” said Jendan. “Think they’ll use up all the hot water?”
I raised one of my sticky hands, eyeing it with distaste. “I don’t even care at this point. I think my fingers are glued together.”
He laughed and leaned in, his voice dropping. “So who’s your partner?”
“Brodie,” I whispered. “I’m screwed.”
His eyes widened, and then he gave me a sympathetic look. “Oh man. You are screwed.”