Page 54 of The Compound

We brought the beanbags out, and it was surprisingly perfect: the beers, the sun, Andrew making everyone laugh. He erased the tension so easily, so artfully, that everyone was loose and relaxed within minutes. Everyone except Tom, who kept twitching and surreptitiously looking around, as though waiting for his punishment to present itself.

As we told each other about our first kisses, I thought about how much I loved it here, and how proud I was of the life we had built together. We didn’t even go in to get our reward or check the big screen until it got dark. That’s how nice it was.

When we did go back inside, the screen read:

Task: Banish a couple from the compound

Reward: Hottub

I tried to keep my face blank to hide my excitement. Tom and Becca. It would solve all of my problems. With the two of them gone, I could live peacefully here. I wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder for Tom, and Sam wouldn’t have to check on Becca all the time.

Andrew said, “I don’t know about this one, guys. It’s late; we could just go to bed, and there’ll be a new task in the morning. We’ve had a nice evening. Why ruin it. Right?”

Candice nodded thoughtfully and said, “I mean, the more people there are, the longer we all get to stay here.”

“How great would it be to have a hot tub though?” I said, and laughed. The others looked at me, considering.

“Lily,” Sam said quietly. I ignored his look and continued.

“When it’s hot during the day we could cool off in the pool, and then at night when it’s cold, we could unwind in the hot tub…” I trailed off. Candice and Andrew shared a brief look.

“All right,” Candice said. “Let’s go to our voting spot.”

“We don’t need to vote,” Jacintha said. “Carlos and I will leave.”

We stared at her, mute with shock. “No,” I said.

“It’s okay,” she said. “He and I have discussed this already. We’ve been looking for a time to go. This makes sense.”

“We’ve had a nice time,” Carlos said, “but it’s time to go now.”

“Now, hold on,” Andrew said, looking alarmed. “Let’s talk this through.”

“Jacintha,” I said. “You can’t go. What are you talking about?” I was crying. Not a couple of tears glistening down my cheeks, but an ugly cry—my face involuntarily scrunching, gasping noises coming from the back of my throat. Panicked, I said, “We don’t need to do the task! We don’t need a hot tub!” She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. We stayed that way for a few heartbeats, and I cried into her shoulder.

“Please,” I said. “We started together. Don’t go.” Although Jacintha and I had only been together for minutes before we found the other girls, I had always felt that we had been closer because we had woken together.

“I’ll miss you,” she said, and her eyes were wet but she wasn’t crying. “I’ll find you after, on the outside, all right? I promise.”

Before I knew what was happening, the others said their goodbyes, and Sam held me as I continued to weep.

Carlos said, “If it’s okay, we don’t want to be walked to the perimeter. We’ll let ourselves out.”

It was by far the hardest farewell of the compound—not just for me, but for everyone. Sam and Jacintha had been friends too, and he hugged her tightly while she told him how to keep the pests away from the roses, and when to change the soil in the basil plant. Andrew and Carlos had been close, and though Andrew tried to be businesslike, I thought that his eyes were wet when Jacintha and Carlos walked off. I saw Becca watching Andrew’s discomposure with interest.

I went to the living room and sat on the couch. Sam sat beside me and held my hand. When the screen turned green, I sobbed anew. Soon we heard a scraping and grunting from outside and knew that Tom and Andrew were moving the hot tub around to the front of the house. I stayed on the couch with Sam while he rubbed my back. I told him about Jacintha before he had arrived, how she had fixed the sheet to the doorframe, and how she had helped me remove my makeup the first night. I talked about her for a long time, and he listened quietly. When I was done, he said, “We could leave too, if you wanted?”

I shook my head and cried harder. “What good would that do?”

After a long time, I heard the sound of water bubbling, and male voices. Sam got up and opened the window blind. Andrew and Tom were sitting in the hot tub, arms around the rim, looking pleased with themselves.

“Those two think they’re personally responsible for every reward,” Sam observed. Andrew saw Sam at the window and waved. Sam opened the window and called out, “Having a nice time?”

“Join us,” Andrew called. He spotted me behind Sam and said, “Come on, Lil, you too!”

I shook my head, and Andrew looked slightly chastened. He stood and said, “I suppose it’s time for bed anyway. It’s been a long day.” When he stepped out he was pink all over. He grabbed his monogrammed toweland headed back into the house. Tom stayed where he was. The hot tub had purple lights, and he was cast in their glow.

Sam closed the blind. “Let’s go to bed,” I said. He nodded, and kissed me lightly, but I pulled him down for a longer, deeper kiss. He kissed me again, and asked if I wanted a glass of water first.

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