‘This is an important part of theMarry Me, Julietprocess,’ Z said. ‘If our Romeo feels like you have a connection and he could see a future with you, he’ll give you one of these broken heart necklaces, in recognition of the fact that your heart might be the other half of his. If he doesn’t, you’ll leave the Villa tonight.’
Romeo-Dylan walked into the room. Next to me, Cece let out a long, shaky breath.
‘Hi, everyone,’ he said.
‘You’ve got to call them Juliets,’ the director said, a note of exasperation in his voice. ‘Go again.’
‘Hi Juliets.’
We’d had to stop at three different points in our conversation because Romeo-Dylan had accidentally tripped over another of the many things you weren’t supposed to say. ‘Shit, sorry,’ he’d said every time, and then had to apologise again for swearing. I was proud of him for managing not to do it this time.
I tried to focus on that feeling. Nice man. Handsome man. Man who I liked a lot.
Don’t think about her eyes.
‘I just wanted to tell you what an honour it was to meet you all,’ Romeo-Dylan said. ‘It’s really hard for me to believe that so many beautiful women came out here just to meet me,when the world is in this state. So thank you. So much. From the bottom of my heart.’
Definitelydon’t think about her eyebrows.
‘Unfortunately, there are fifteen of you,’ Z said. ‘Dylan only has twelve necklaces to give out, which means, I’m sorry, but three of you are going to have to leave the Juliet Villa tonight.’
Cece let out another shaking breath. ‘Good luck,’ I whispered to her.
‘You too,’ she replied. We’d all had make-up touch-ups before the Necklace Ceremony, but even so, I could tell that her lips were white.
She really was shaking quite badly. Was she going to faint? We were standing on bleachers like we were in a choir, and we were both on the top row. If she went down, would I be able to catch her before she hit the ground?
‘Amanda.’
It took me a second to realise what was happening.
Then, just for a moment, my mind went blank, and I was absolutely, perfectly, radiantly happy.
‘You rely too much on validation from other people,’ Jac had told me once. ‘You need to take pride in things for your own sake.’
She probably wasn’t wrong. But as I walked up to get my necklace from Romeo-Dylan, it felt like walking out of the shade into the sun.
Not just any necklace, either. Thefirstnecklace, the one that meant you’d made the best impression.
‘Thank you so much,’ I said, beaming up at him. ‘I can’t believe this.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ Romeo-Dylan replied, smiling back, a smile that went all the way to his kind eyes. ‘Amanda, I want to know if your heart is the other half of mine. Will you take this necklace and commit to finding out with me?’
‘I will,’ I said, and meant it. ‘Of course.’
He was perfect, this lovely man. He was everything I could have hoped for. He was exactly what I needed – and God, watching him give me this necklace was going to make Jacgreen.
I held my hair out of the way so he could put the necklace around my neck. His fingers were warm against my skin as he tried to fasten the catch. ‘This will take forever if I’m this bad at putting these on,’ he said. ‘Sorry, Amanda.’
‘You’re fine,’ I said. ‘Take your time.’
Ultimately, someone from wardrobe had to fix the clasp for me, but I didn’t care. I floated back up to my spot next to Cece. ‘Congratulations,’ she whispered.
‘Thanks,’ I replied, only half-listening.
This might work. This might actually work. Romeo-Dylan was lovely and sweet and handsome, and he had those kind eyes, and he would never say shit likeyou rely too much on validation from other peopleto me, and Jac would hate itso muchif we ended up together, and—
‘Dylan,’ he said.
