‘What did I say?’ Romeo-Dylan asked me.
‘Um… you said you shouldn’t talk about pissing your pants in front of me, because you were supposed to make me like you.’
‘Ah. Yes. I was being charming.’
I laughed again.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
I nodded.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t say stuff like that in front of you. I’m trying to make you like me.’
‘Well, you’re doing a great job,’ I said, patting him on the arm again. ‘I like you fine.’
‘You like me fine? Wow. That’s some high praise right there. I might never recover.’
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘It’s a start.’
‘It is, isn’t it?’
He looked outside, where there was still a gaggle of people standing around the pool. ‘Since everyone else seems to be otherwise occupied, can I turn the tables and stealyoufor a second?’
‘Are you sure?’ I said. ‘There’s big drama going on outside. You don’t want to go sort that out?’
‘Hmmm, let me think,’ Romeo-Dylan said. ‘I could go outside and wade into what sounds like a screaming match and probably make it worse, or—’ he gestured to the couch, ‘I could sit here on this couch and talk to a pretty girl. What a tough decision.’
‘Really?’
‘Really,’ he said. ‘Sit down, Amanda. I want to hear more about this mechanic thing. What made you want to go into that field?’
By the time the Necklace Ceremony rolled around, I was sure of three things:
1) Romeo-Dylan was a very nice man and I liked him a lot.
2) I had a good shot at getting a necklace.
3) Being Cece’s show mum was going to be a full-time job.
The poor woman was shaking in her boots – well, heels – beside me. When she’d re-emerged (dry) into the cocktail party, she’d tried to confront Lily about pushing her into the pool. I’d tried to have her back, but she’d looked like a house-cat trying to confront a lion. Then, to add insult to injury, Z had come in and announced that the First Night Party was over. Poor Cece hadn’t had a chance to say a single word to Romeo-Dylan.
I felt a bit bad about that, to be honest. If Romeo-Dylan had gone to sort out the Lily/Dylan screaming match instead of talking to me, surely he’d have managed a moment with the innocent victim of their feud.
I glanced at Dylan, standing a few people away from me, between a tall Persian woman in red and the Mandie Clone. She’d apologised profusely to Cece, but I knew she still felt awful. ‘If she gets eliminated because of this, I’m going to pitch a fit,’ she’d growled to me as they herded us into the ceremony room.
‘If she does get eliminated, it won’t be your fault,’ I’d whispered back.
She’d arched one of her knife-edge eyebrows at me, and my breath had caught in my throat.
‘But she won’t,’ I said, summoning Full Mum. ‘He’s a nice guy, right? Cece’ll get a pity necklace, if nothing else.’
Dylan had looked off into the distance. ‘I hope so,’ she’d murmured.
I’d wanted to pat her arm, but I was too scared to touch her, because there was a fourth thing I was much too far on the way to becoming sure of.
‘Good evening, Juliets,’ Z announced. ‘Welcome to your first Necklace Ceremony.’
I forced myself to look away from Dylan and back to the front of the room.Focus, Mandie,I ordered myself.Get your head in the game.
