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Queen of Hearts

Page 271

by Valentina Iania

“And that little performance on stage? Vulgar. Absolutely vulgar. Sloane has always needed attention. In high school she was the cheerleader, and now she’s… what… a tactical stripper.”

(Elbows Brent hard.)

“Say something, Brent!”

BRENT(startled):

“Uh? Oh—yeah. Very… very intense. What time does the breakfast buffet open?”

(From the control room, Aunt Tina cackles: “Sweetheart, the only vulgar thing here is your jealousy. And that synthetic fur.”)

?? CHAD & KIKI

Kiki adjusts her neon-pink top in the camera monitor. Chad is doing bicep curls with a water bottle.

KIKI(rapid-fire):

“So, followers! The challenge was super intense cardio-wise, but honestly? Chad and I operate on completely different performance levels. Our love is fit, not… hormonal.”

CHAD(kissing his bicep):

“Exactly, babe. Becker gets high peaks, sure—but does he have endurance? I can hold a plank for eight minutes. Love is endurance.”

KIKI(whispering):

“We need more views tomorrow. Put on body oil before breakfast.”

?? SILAS & DAISY

Daisy is vibrating with leftover glitter and adrenaline. Silas sits beside her with his head in his hands.

DAISY(bouncing in her seat):

“That was amazing! Did you see? One-twenty-five BPM! And I didn’t even have to take my clothes off! I just touched his beard!”

(She reaches over and touches Silas’s beard again. He closes his eyes—resigned, but he doesn’t move.)

SILAS(deep, exhausted):

“It wasn’t the beard. It was… arithmetic. I was doing complex calculations to stay calm.”

DAISY(laughing):

“Liar! You like me. You like me a lot!”

(Silas looks at her, and for a second the hardened expression softens.)

SILAS:

“You’re a disaster, Daisy. A glitter-covered disaster. And stop bouncing or you’re going to fall off the chair.”

?? JOE & SARAH

The air is icy. Sarah is pouting with her arms crossed. Joe wears a plastic smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, staring at a point just beyond the camera.

SARAH(snippy):

“This isn’t fair. We actually tried. There was connection. There was passion. She just… rubbed herself on him.”