Chapter 1
MISSY
“Missy Jones, let me be the first to congratulate you. You have been selected as a contestant on the upcoming season ofSunsets and Sabotage.”
Tingles travel down my spine, like I’ve just listened to the most glorious ASMR of my life. Except this time, no one is whispering in my ear or tapping their long nails against an empty jar. This spine-tingling elation is created by none other than Shannon Pierce herself, showrunner of the popular reality game showSunsets and Sabotage.
Shannon’s bright smile lights up the laptop on my kitchen table as I sit directly across from it. We’ve been on this video call for less than ninety seconds, and already she’s told me the newsI’ve been hoping to hear since I found out I was nominated to be a contestant on the show a month ago.
“What do you think? Are you ready to take on this challenge?” Shannon asks as the tropical palms of Sabotage Island sway gently behind her.
Am I ready? I’ve been a superfan of the show since I moved to our small town of Pine Lakes, Colorado, my freshman year of high school. One of my best friends, Paige, introduced me to the show, and ever since, it’s been my favorite source of drama.
A smile bursts from my face like I’m auditioning to be on a Colgate commercial. “Yes, ma’am,” I say, sliding deeper into my Southern accent, the way I always do when I get too excited about something.
Just outside the screen’s view, I see Ji-soo, my radiant Korean American housemate, mouth a silent yet victorious “Yes!”
She, along with three of my other best friends, sits across from me at our kitchen table. Next to Ji, Paige and Jordan, who have been married for a year now, are doing a silent dance with all the shimmies and shakes. Paige’s little baby bump even joins in on the bouncing. I thank my lucky stars that Jordan and Paige are visiting from San Francisco this summer to help expand Jordan’s business. This victorious moment wouldn’t be complete without them or their ongoing energy. And then there’s Miles, who’s taken to pumping his muscled arm in the air as if he were rooting for the Broncos at the Super Bowl.
Sweethearts. Every last one of them.
The only person missing from our high school friend group is Colton, and when I say missing, I mean it in the absent form of the word, since missing someone emotionally would require you to care a shred for said being. Fortunately, Colton Downing had something come up tonight, keeping him from raining on my parade. What a loss.
Paige lets out a small squeal, but it’s swiftly silenced by Ji, who wraps a hand around her mouth, muffling her excitement. I try desperately to keep my composure on this video chat because I know it will be shared online just before the show airs, but my friends are making it really difficult to keep my giddy laugh from bubbling out.
I’m pretty sure the show doesn’t want me to have an audience for this video call, but Ji is my housemate, and I can’t help the fact that Paige, Jordan, and Miles just happened to stop by right before Shannon called. It was a seriously crazy coincidence—one I definitely did not plan out last week.
Shannon grins, her porcelain skin matte and flawless even in the US Virgin Islands’ relentless heat. The same heat I will be in as I compete against other contestants to be theSunsets and Sabotagewinner. “We can’t wait to have you on the show, Missy. The moment the casting team and I saw you among our stack of nominees, we knew you would be the perfect fit for the show. And we’re certain you and your new partner are going to make a team everyone will be eager to watch.”
I tuck my long blonde curls behind my ear and brush my hands across my lap, smoothing down a bump of fabric in my denim column midi dress (it may or may not have been the ninth outfit I tried on in preparation for this call).
My nerves make a grizzly appearance in my stomach. I’ve known for a month that if the show chose me, they would partner me with someone. After all,Sunsets and Sabotageis played in pairs—which is why I suddenly find myself with a big ole case of the jitters. Any second now, I expect Shannon will reveal who my mystery partner is.
Sometimes the show likes to have siblings that have been nominated play together or minor celebrities or even complete strangers, depending on the season’s theme. And from what the show has hinted through social media, the theme of this seasonhas to do with American representatives. You can bet I’ve been daydreaming about who my partner will be. An actor? A hockey player? Mmm, that’s my vote. Or maybe another pageant girl like myself.
I have a suspicion that a large reason the show wants me as a contestant is that I was the former Miss Teen Colorado State and, later in my college years, Miss Tennessee State. And let’s be honest, if reality TV chooses a pageant girl for their show, they know exactly what they’re doing. They want the dumb blonde. The one that will be immortalized in a meme for saying something like “the sun is a planet” or “the perfect date would be April 25th.” So, I wouldn’t put it past the casting directors to team up some pageant girls just to see if they can rub their two brain cells together to start a fire.
But I am not dumb. And I’m not going onSunsets and Sabotageto feed social media. I am going on it to win. I want to show boys and girls all over the nation what it looks like to believe in themselves. I may be the poor girl raised in a run-down trailer park in Tennessee, but I want to prove to every kid that they can reach their full potential no matter their beginnings. Just like the great Dolly Parton did. Just like I will do.
And that’s just the start. When I winSunsets and Sabotage, I’m going to use the $500,000 prize money to buy my dream building and finally create a nonprofit for kids needing a place to feel valued. A place where they can come and learn to be confident in who they are. A place where they can be heard. A place called Something to Glow About.
That thought alone disintegrates my nervous energy into a thousand shimmering sparkles. I’m ready for this. Whoever they pair me with, we are going to be the world’s best team because wecannotlose. I won’t let it happen.
I straighten and let my smile grow. “I can’t wait. I have no doubt that my new partner and I will make a winning team.”
“So optimistic—I love it,” Shannon says. “Well, we won’t make you wait any longer. We’ve already talked with him, and he’s in the video chat room waiting to see you.”
Him? Little bubbles perk up inside me like a crisp Coke that’s just been opened. It’s a hockey player. I know it. I was manifesting a hockey player earlier today, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
I look above the screen just long enough to spot Paige’s long brown curls bouncing up and down, her mouth wide open, frozen with excitement.
Shannon pushes a button on her screen, and the bloops and bleeps of someone joining the video call heighten my anticipation. For a brief moment, I close my eyes and manifest—single, attractive, hockey player—hockey player, hockey player, hockey player.
When a new face appears on the screen, the bubbles inside me explode with atomic force.
No. No. No.
It can’t be.
