Page 60 of The Wrong Bachelor

“What if I do?”

“I’m sure you can handle a couple of dates without me there to hold your hand.”

I let out a sigh. She didn’t get it. Either that or she didn’t feel the same. She just wanted to be friends and nothing more.

“You really don’t want to be a part of the competition anymore?” I asked.

She nodded, and I sighed again. It was hard to hide my disappointment. “Okay, if the audience doesn’t vote for you, I’ll eliminate you tonight if that’s what you want.”

“It’s what I want,” she said.

I slowly stood to leave but paused. “Just so you know, I think you’re making the wrong decision. People are always going to find someone to talk about, but what they say are just their opinions, not fact. We both know those things that were written on your locker weren’t true. You can’t keep allowing other people’s opinions to influence how you feel about yourself.”

I took a deep breath before I continued. “You’re beautiful inside and out, Madi. I just wish you could see it for yourself.”

She wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were on her canvas, and it was impossible to know what she was thinking. She let out a breath and faced me, but her eyes still didn’t meet mine.

“It’s easier to believe the bad stuff than the good,” she murmured. She turned back to her canvas once more, and I knew that was my cue to leave.

It broke my heart to see her so sad though. I wanted to fix things for her so badly. The problem was, I couldn’t miraculously make her feel better. She needed to be the one to realize that she was worth so much more than the nasty things that people said. She needed to start believing in herself, but she was the only one who could do that. I just wondered if there was something I could do to help kick start it.

17

Madison

Ididn’t want to dress up for the selection ceremony on Monday night like I had for the last one. I still wore a nice enough dress, but I couldn’t bring myself to wear anything that could be seen as even remotely slutty.

It was kind of sad to arrive at Cole’s house knowing that I would be eliminated tonight. It was what I wanted, but a part of me felt like I was giving up; that I was surrendering to the people who wanted me to fail. It was for the best though. At least, I hoped it was.

I barely listened as Angus reeled off his introduction for the camera. I must’ve looked pretty miserable because Skye kept shooting me concerned glances and trying to get me to smile. All the other contestants were watching Cole with hopeful eyes. I knew that mine were filled with resignation though.

When I glanced at Cole, I found that he was watching me too. He tried to give me a reassuring smile, but his lips remained tense and the smile lacked any warmth. He obviously wasn’t happy, but he wanted to do the right thing by me. I had to be grateful to him for that.

Angus handed him the first heart for the night, and the room started to buzz with nervous excitement. The contestants became still at my side, and all eyes were narrowed on that one heart-shaped piece of paper. The audience’s pick.

I had a feeling that Willow would be the one to be selected. She’d seemed so much more comfortable in front of the camera during her single date with Cole last week. I already knew how sweet she was, and I got the feeling that the audience would have discovered it during the episode too. I’d even overheard multiple people at school today talking about how cute the date had been and how they’d voted for her.

The moment Cole looked down at the heart his eyes snapped up to meet mine, and my stomach dropped.

“Madi.” He whispered my name. There was dread in his eyes, and I could see how sorry he was to have to call on me. I wanted to be angry with him, but it wasn’t his fault. The audience had voted for me to stay, so he didn’t have a choice.

I slowly walked up and stood before him.

“Madi, will you take a piece of my heart?” he asked. He looked so nervous and sad as he said it, like he was just as upset as I was.

I nodded and took the piece of paper he offered out to me. I couldn’t pretend to be excited in the way I knew Angus wanted, and he was practically glaring at me as I walked past him to take my place.

Once I was in position, I turned to face the cameras and tried to make my face a mask. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the audience votes. Cole caught my eye and gave a subtle nod toward the paper in my hand.

I glanced down at it and was surprised to find he’d written me another note.

“Madi, I’m not sure if you’ll get this tonight,” the note started. “But I prepared this card just in case the audience picked you again. If you are holding it now, then know that I understand why you don’t want to be in this competition. I would willingly let you go if that would make you happy. But you also need to know that you’re always going to miss the shot you never take. I haven’t given up on taking my shot with you.”

I smiled up at him, and his eyes brightened as a smile slowly started forming on his lips in return. We only shared a brief moment before he had to continue announcing the other contestants, but it left me feeling better about being selected. His reassurance made me feel like I could face another week of whispers in the school corridors because I wasn’t in this alone. I felt a flicker of hope for the first time that day, and I knew it had everything to do with the boy standing before me.

Watching him hand hearts to the others brought me a little more down to Earth though. Cole would still essentially be dating five other people after tonight. Yes, he’d written me a sweet note, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing things equally as sweet for everyone else.

As I watched the way his face lit up as he gave a heart to Teagan, I found myself feeling very confused. I couldn’t deny the sparks I’d begun to feel whenever I was close to him. But there was every chance he was feeling those sparks with other girls as well.

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