He’s really doing this. I can’t believe it. I knew Dean was a good actor, a great strategist. It’s me who was the idiot for believing he wasn’t acting theentiretime.
To my horror, heat pricks my eyes. The camera operator behind Dean steps forward to get a close-up shot of me, and I drop my head before anyone can see me crying. The pitying looks from Vendredi and the crew members are like knives dragging across my skin. I turn away from Dean, clenching my jaw so hard that my teeth squeak against each other. He doesn’t deserve another word from me.
It’s my fault for thinking I could make a real friend in a place like this. It’s my fault for letting him see me, all of me, the weak and the ugly bits.
I’m not making that mistake again. And I’m not holding back.
Garrett clears his throat. “Alright then. Dean and Seyoon will not be splitting points this round. Got that, Blake?”
Blake, to the side, nods and scribbles on her clipboard, her expression carefully neutral, as usual. “Noted.”
“Okay. Let’sdiveright in, campers.”
A few paces down the shore, the speedboat’s engine roars to life. Waves lick at the four inflatable tubes bobbing unsteadily in the water, attached by ropes to the stern. Vendredi squeezes my hand before she jogs over. We all wade into the water and each grab an inner tube. Dean and I end up in the middle, with Carter and Vendredi on either side of us. The others wriggle inside, wearing their tubes around their waists. I decide to hold on to mine like a floaty rather than climb inside; it’ll make it easier to jump off and onto the dock. I have a feeling the boat won’t be slowing down to give us time to climb out.
I hope Dean likes losingis my last thought before Garrett blows a whistle.
The boat takes off, yanking the ropes so abruptly that all of us scream.
Whoever is driving this boat doesnotlet their foot off the gas pedal. I grip my tube so tightly, I fear the plastic will pop. The boat hits a current and sends us flying a foot and a half into the air. To my horror, Dean is flung off. His yell fills my ear as he tumbles and lands in the water with a huge splash.
“Dean!” I call out of reflex, only for a wave of icy water to wash over me, flooding my nose and mouth.
Through his megaphone, barely audible above the monstrous roaring of the speedboat and the wind whizzing in my ears, Garrett calls out:
If you fall off, swim! You’re not out of the game until you give up!
I look back as the boat speeds away, spotting the blip in the water that is Dean, swimming desperately to catch up. My stomach knots in worry—until I push the fear away. Not my problem anymore. He wanted this.
The floating dock gets closer and closer, and as I thought, the boat shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, it begins speeding up, if that’s even possible. At the very last second, a few feet away from the dock, the boat dips left so hard, I swear it’ll tip over and capsize. Our ropes snap around like a whip. Carter and Vendredi struggle toescape their inner tubes—but not me. I let go of my inflatable lifeline and…
CONFESSION TAPE—Seyoon Shin, Contestant
What was going through my head? You mean when I was flying through the air, soaring clear over the dock I had strategically envisioned myself landing on? Yeah, just one thing.
“Fuck!” I scream.
My strangled, panicked yell dies when my back slaps the water and the air punches from my lungs. It stings, sure, but not worse than my ego does as I imagine the “Ooh!”sound effect the producers will lay over this moment in the final cut.
I bob back up and gasp for air, finding the dock only a few feet away. Okay, not bad, actually.
I swim over and heave myself up on the platform. I’m the first one here; everyone else was flung much farther than I was, having struggled to get out of their tubes in time. Exhilaration floods through my veins, warming me even as the lake water drips from my hair and swimsuit.
From shore half a mile away, Garrett’s voice bellows.
Seyoon is the first one on the dock! Better catch up to her if you want to make it to the finale!
There’s no time to strategize the best way to tackle the obstacle course. Between me and the next dock are five giant beach balls and a long, inflatable mat floating on the water. I get a running start and leap onto the first beach ball, so huge my outstretched arms don’t even wrap halfway around it. The soaked fabric of my swimsuithelps me grip onto the plastic, and I scooch carefully up to the top, find my balance on wobbly legs, and jump onto the next ball, and then the next. Iknewthis wasn’t as hard as they make it look on one of the few game shows I’m actually aware of,WipeAway.
I land on the fifth ball less than gracefully, but without falling off. A leap away is a large, Styrofoam mat floating on top of the water. It doesn’t look even a foot thick. How is that supposed to support my weight? Whatever—guess I’ll find out.
I hop onto the mat, and water pulls up fast, licking at my ankles. “Shit shit shit,” I mutter. There’s no good way to get across this before the whole thing sinks, so I put those years of track practice to use and sprint as one side curls up and the water pools up to my shins.
Eight quick strides later and I’m lunging for the other dock. I catch it with just my upper body, my sternum hitting the wood and punching the air from my lungs. I scramble up and check out the scene behind me.
I look just in time to see Carter flailing as he misses the last bouncy ball and falls into the water with a terrific splash. Vendredi quickly takes his spot, agile on the beach balls, not even stopping to catch her balance and instead hopping from each one with ease. Dean is nowhere to be found. I hope he’s—
No.Quit that. I need to stop wasting time worrying about him, because Vendredi is catching up.
