Page 29 of Unscripted

And then Gemma was opening her mouth and calling out a name, making it a reality I wouldn’t be able to avoid.

All I could do was stand there, waiting for what now seemed inevitable, as she said: “Callum!”

***

My eyes locked onto Callum’s, and for a moment, everything stopped. The other contestants, Gemma, the cameramen off to the sides, all disappeared.

It was just me and Callum and his green eyes.

The sound of everyone clapping quickly snapped me back into reality. Spurred by instinct—or perhaps some sort of parasocial muscle memory that came with binge watching so many episodes of the show—I stepped forward and walked toward him.

We gave each other an awkward, one-armed side hug before taking our seats. I wondered if everyone else could feel the uncomfortable tension or if it was just me.

The rest of the Matching Ceremony flew by in a blur. Ella was paired with Liam and Chiara with Adam.

Gemma was speaking into the camera, saying something about dates and votes and romance, but all I could think about, the one thing holding my attention, was Callum’s arm draped across the back of the bench behind me. The closeness of him, after our previously tense encounters, threw me completely off kilter.

I would have preferred to be seated next to anyone else, to have been matched with any of the other guys, and yet the warmth of his body pressed up against mine was melting something in my brain. I suddenly felt rooted to the spot, as though moving away from him would have been impossible.

Finally, Gemma finished whatever it was she had been saying, and as the cameras went down, I snapped back into reality. It didn’t matter how warm or comforting Callum felt next to me. I didn’t have time to deal with someone so cold and confusing. I needed to settle in and find a nice guy I didn’t mind being matched with for the next few weeks.

Another producer’s voice called out, this time from speakers hidden in the bushes behind us. “Boys and girls will now split up for a debrief. Girls can stay at the fire pit. Boys, please go to the pool loungers.”

Callum immediately pulled his arm away from me. I turned to him to say something, determined to keep things friendly at the very least, but he was up and moving away before I could even open my mouth.

Fine, I thought. If he wants to be a dickhead, I can ignore him until the next matching.

That would be my strategy: I would simply ignore Callum, continue to pretend we had never seen each other before, get to know someone else, and then pick a new match the first chance I got.

“So, ladies,” Jess asked once the guys had all left, a gleam in her eye. “What do you think of the boys?”

“Proper fit, every one of them,” Chiara cooed, eyebrows wiggling.

Olivia and Ella followed suit, each fawning over their partners with “He’s so great” and “I love his tats.”

There was silence then, and it took me a beat to realize the girls were turned to me expectantly, waiting for me to chime in to the conversation. My mind had been too busy moving a million miles a minute, trying to come up with a plan to avoid Callum at all costs.

“Callum is super hot. I’m so happy I’m with him,” I let out, trying to keep my voice high and light, as though I actually was excited about my match. I knew how this was supposed to go, knew what the viewers at home wanted; I at least had to feign interest in Callum before I could move on.

“I wonder what we’ll do next,” Chiara mused, and I let out a breath. I’d gotten away with my sorry excuse for enthusiasm.

“I’d love a tour of the villa!” Jess exclaimed.

The rest of the girls nodded in agreement, and the conversation moved along to what everyone was planning on wearing that evening. Taking advantage of the crisscrossing chatter around me, I surreptitiously glanced across the pool to the daybeds where the guys were grouped.

My eyes immediately caught on Callum’s. Intense eye contact seemed to be a trend with us. So were his looks of indifference; the one he was sporting now came as no surprise to me. At least I was prepared for it.

Refusing to give him any more attention than necessary, I rolled my eyes and turned back on the group around me, letting myself get swept up in girl talk and trying to keep one very annoying boy out of my mind for as long as possible.

CHATTERBOX

@BellaAmoreOfficial: BELLA AMORE IS BACK! YOUR VOTES HAVE BEEN TALLIED, AND OUR BELLAS HAVE BEEN MATCHED! WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITES?!

@bellabellabella: OBSESSED WITH CHIARA ALREADY!!!

@trixiemattel123: TG BA IS BACK!!!!! CALLUM IS BY FAR THE HOTTESTTTTTTT

@fancygirl342: LOVE LOVE LOVE ELLA! #teamella