‘So I’m going to leave you with this—’ Z grabbed at the back of his pants.
‘Cut!’ the director called. ‘Let’s go again.’
Someone rushed over to fiddle with the back of Z’s pants. He turned slightly, and I couldn’t help but smile. Whenever I watchedMarry Me, Juliet, I’d always wondered how Z produced the date cards seemingly out of nowhere. The answer, it seemed, was that they were literally stuck to the arse of his pants.
Dylan elbowed me.Oh my God,she mouthed.
I know, right?I mouthed back. Z’s apparent ability to pull date cards straight out of other dimensions had been one of the very first things we’d ever texted about.
Which was a very normal friend thing to text about.
Deep breaths. Fake it ’til you make it, Mandie. Make good choices.
‘Go again,’ the director said.
‘So I’m going to leave you with this—’ This time, Z succeeded in pulling the date card off his arse. It made a ripping sound, but none of the production team reacted at all. They could probably edit it out later. ‘– so you can find outwhich lucky Juliets will be spending time with the Romeo today. Remember: nothing’s more important than time in this game, so if you get time with Dylan JM, make sure you don’t waste it!’
We had to sit around for about twenty more minutes while they filmed other angles and some other stuff with Z before they actually let us do anything with the date card. ‘Parisa,’ Carrie called, ‘you read it.’
Parisa jumped up from the end of the couch on the left. ‘All right,’ she said, pulling the card out of the envelope. ‘It says—’
‘Cut,’ the director said. ‘Go again. This time, take the card out slowly. This is a big moment.’
Parisa had to take the card out of the envelope seven more times before they were satisfied. ‘Roses are red, seagulls are birds,’ she was eventually allowed to read. ‘A picture’s worth a thousand words.’
‘It’s a photo shoot!’ Kanda exclaimed.
‘Of course it’s a photo shoot,’ Lily said. ‘The first group date’s always a photo shoot. Haven’t you watched this show before?’
Dylan rolled her eyes. Lily caught her doing it, and the terrifying expression that crossed her face made me want to shrink back into the couch.
‘Do you want to know who’s on the date?’ Parisa said, thankfully interrupting whatever it was Lily was about to do.
Everyone murmured their agreement.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘First of all: Kumiko!’
Everyone cheered as Kumiko beamed.
‘Kanda!’
Everyone cheered again.
‘Naya!’
And again.
‘Marija!’
Carrie stopped us so we could shoot that cheer again. ‘You’ve got to keep the energy high, ladies!’ she said. ‘No one watching will believe you actually want to spend time with the Romeo if that’s all you can muster. Go again, Parisa.’
‘Marija!’
This time we went too big and it looked like we were more excited for Marija to go on the date than anyone else.
Just like Goldilocks, though, the third time was the charm, and Parisa was allowed to move on. ‘Amanda!’
‘Oh!’ I exclaimed, surprised. ‘That’s me!’
