The bedroom Suzette led us to was nowhere near big enough for all the furniture it held. It was crammed full with three sets of bunk beds, so close together that if you were lying in one, you could reach out and touch thebunk next to you. Each bed had an identical dark green bedspread and beige pillow. Our luggage was lined up against the far wall, under the window. None of us had brought much – we were only allowed two bags each, and had been given very strict guidelines about what to pack – but considering the room was already stuffed to the gills, it meant that to move anywhere you had to walk sideways, like a crab.
‘Right,’ Suzette said. ‘Listen up, ladies!’
Dylan hadn’t let go of my hand. I could feel a racing heart in our clasped palms, and I genuinely couldn’t tell if it was hers or mine.
‘I’m not going to keep you long,’ Suzette said. ‘This isn’t boarding school, and I’m not your mum. That said, there are still some ground rules we expect you to follow.’
It was probably my heart that was racing.What are you doing, Mandie?!the one sensible part of my brain screamed at me.Stop! Think!
But that part of my brain had never been very big. There was a reason thatI am way too impulsiveappeared so high on my Worst Features list.
‘One, get enough sleep!’ Suzette said. ‘Our filming days are long, and our make-up artists are good, but if you wind up with giant dark circles under your eyes from not sleeping, there’s only so much they can do.’
The make-up artists were going to hate me. I was exhausted, but there was no way I was getting to sleep anytime soon. Holding Dylan’s hand felt like holding onto a jumper cable.
‘Two, leave the crew alone!’ Suzette went on, ticking them off on her fingers. ‘We’re working with a skeleton crew this season. A skeleton with half its bones missing, if we’re being honest. We’re all very busy all of the time and we don’t have time to be your friends. Be your own friends.’
I had just enough restraint not to look at Dylan. Any look I gave her right now would probably be a bit too, ahem,friendly.
I glanced over at Lily Fireball instead. There might not have been much space in our bedroom, but she’d still somehow managed to carve out a place for herself. She was leaning artistically against the bathroom doorway, the train of her enormous yellow dress looped up over her arm. I might be good with people, but the thought of trying to be friends with her terrified me.
Or it would have terrified me, if I had room for any thoughts in my brain other thanoh my God oh my God oh my God you can’t feel like this Mandie oh my God she’s holding my hand oh my God oh my God.
‘Three, no wandering the grounds at night,’ Suzette said. ‘There’s a lake on the property, and I don’t want to have to fish anyone out of it. Let’s hope Cece’s dunk in the pool is the only drowning we have this season.’
‘Is she all right?’ Dylan asked. Her voice was raspy.
‘She’ll be fine,’ Suzette said. ‘Four!’
‘Not “she’ll be fine”,’ Dylan said. ‘I want specific information. Is she all right?’
‘The medic’s with her.’
‘That’s not an answer!’
Suzette sighed and touched her earpiece. ‘Murray, status check on Cece,’ she said. ‘How’s she doing?’
There was a moment of silence, then, ‘All right, thanks,’ she said.
‘Well?’ Dylan asked.
‘She’s fine,’ Suzette said. ‘The medic checked her out, and there’s no harm done. Just low blood sugar and stress. Dylan JM looked after her.’
‘The fainter’s getting more time with the Romeo than the rest of us put together,’ someone muttered under their breath.
‘All right?’ Suzette asked Dylan. ‘Satisfied?’
Dylan nodded. She squeezed my fingers even tighter.
Get it together, Mandie,I ordered myself.She is your friend. She is holding your hand because she is upset and she needs support. Stop fantasising.
I couldn’t stop myself from squeezing back.
‘Finally, four!’ Suzette said. ‘Don’t complain about the bathroom space. I know there’s not enough, but there’s nothing I can do, so don’t come crying to me about it. Any questions?’
‘Yes,’ one of the other women – Jess K, I thought – said. ‘You said the rejects are taking over the Romeo Residence, right? So where does the Romeo sleep? Is he moving into the Villa too?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Suzette said. ‘And even if I did know where we were going to put him, I wouldn’t tell you. I know Juliets have snuck into the Romeo Residence for alone time in some previous seasons, but our Romeo this year hasbeen very clear that he doesn’t want that to happen. Any other questions?’
