“You said you’re from Portland, right?”
“Born and raised.”
“Do you like it there?”
“Love it. Fingers crossed I get to stay in the area for college.”
He rolls to face me unexpectedly. I turn my head, blinking until my eyes can distinguish his darkened silhouette from the rest of the shadows. I swallow a gasp when I realize how close he’s settled. Only inches separate our noses. The gentle heat radiating from his body, nearly touching mine, feels like sitting in the sun on a bright day. Has it always been so hot in here?
“What school?” he says.
“University of Oregon. They have the best track team, plus in-state tuition is cheaper. Why do you ask?”
“I have a scholarship to Reed College,” he says. “If I win, I’m going to move out there with my sister. Was wondering if it’s a nice place to live.”
I laugh through an exhale. “It’s great. Tell you what—whenIwin, I’ll fly you and your sister out to come visit and see for yourself.”
I can hear Dean shake his head rather than see it. He rolls away to face the wall, and I’m suddenly ten degrees colder. “Cocky.”
“I think you mean confident.”
“Go to sleep, Seyoon.”
16
THIS COULD RUIN MY REPUTATION. IF I HAD ONE, I MEAN
DEAN
Seyoon has mentioned a myriad of things in the few days I’ve known her. It’d be impossible to try and remember them all. One crucial detail I wish I had stored in the memory palace, though?
She said she moves a lot in her sleep.
The sun in my face wakes me up. It’s a searing pain even behind my closed lids, so overwhelming I can’t focus on the input from my other senses. But then, slowly, I become more aware. The sound of birds chittering. A heavy weight over my chest, constricting my movement. Why is the sun so bright? Where’s the tarp?
I realize then that it’s not birds I’m hearing. It’s muffled snickers and giggles. I crack an eyelid open, and instead of the underside of the tarp greeting me, there are at least five people, three cameras, two boom mics, and one Garrett standing above me. All but the partridge in the pear tree.
“What?” I try to sit up but am held down by the weight on my chest.
The weight is Seyoon, who’s currently passed out on me like a snoring koala bear. I swallow thickly, and the movement makes my Adam’s apple bob and brush against her lips. Oh God. She grumblesand tucks her head farther into the crook of my neck. All of the atoms in my body are going to dissolve.
“How embarrassing. I wish I had a camera,” Carter says around a smirk.
Garrett rifles in his back pocket. “I got my phone on me. Here.”
The flash disturbs Seyoon. With her whole body curled up around mine, I can feel exactly when she wakes up and her breathing pattern changes. Her fingers curl in the fabric at my shoulder before she tries to wipe her eyes, accidentally hitting me in the jaw.
“What’s…” Her eyelashes flutter against my skin as she wakes up. “Oh my fucking God.” Seyoon shoots up, the fallen tarp sliding off her legs. She must have kicked the central beam in the middle of the night while she was tossing. Sure, that’s possible—but we alsonailed downthe tarp. How hard can one girl thrash?
With her off, I sit up and scramble away, but the damage is already done.
“Totally called it,” Adin says to Siddharth. “I told you they’d hook up before the third challenge. You owe me your dessert for the rest of the week.”
“Ugh. Couldn’t you guys have kept it in your pants for another challenge?”
Vendredi peeks her head over. “I didn’t know it was likethatbetween you two.”
“It’s not!” both of us respond at the same time. We whip our heads around to glare at each other, and I can’t help but wince. Seyoon’s hair looks like the pile of kindling from last night. I’m sure I don’t look much better. Despite the early-morning chill in the air, I’m hot and sweaty from sleeping under a weighted human blanket. This does not look good.
