Page 16 of The Compound

“Who’s his bedmate?” I asked.

“Sarah,” Jacintha said.

“She’s boring, too,” Candice said. “They should stick together.”

“It’s hard to keep track of everyone,” Jacintha said.

“Oh, I have nicknames for everyone,” Mia said. “It’s the only way to remember all of the names.”

“Go on,” Candice said.

“ ‘Sleepy Seb.’ Because he’s a boring prick.”

We nodded our agreement.

“Vanessa’s ‘Big-Tits,’ obviously.”

“Come on,” Candice said. “You’re objectifying her.”

“If she had a personality, I wouldn’t have to objectify her.”

There was something almost comforting about Mia’s meanness. Most people kept the ugly part of them hidden, and worked hard to never have it be seen. Probably everyone who came on a show like this was a shitty person in some way or another. I almost admired that she was up front aboutit.

“What about Evan?” Susie asked, smiling with equal parts nervousness and girlish excitement.

“ ‘Man-child,’ ” Mia said. Susie’s face fell. “Sorry. He’s always doing fucking cannonballs into the pool, though.”

“What about me?” Candice asked.

“Oh,” Mia said, after a pull from her bottle of water. “I don’t have one for any of you girls. I know you well enough.”

We smiled and pretended that we believed her. She got to her feet and said that she wanted to apply more sunscreen. Candice watched her go, her lovely face pulled into an expression of disdain.

“I’m going to talk to Marcus tonight,” Jacintha said. “Carlos is nice, a bit too shy, maybe, but I want to see if there’s something there with Marcus. He’s sharing a bed with Mia at the minute. Do you think she’ll mind?”

“She’ll mind,” Candice said. “But don’t let that stop you.”

Evan stepped out of the house and called that dinner would be ready in twenty minutes. We went inside to change for the evening.

I noticed that the girls were buzzing around their screens a lot, and that there were a few products on the table that I hadn’t seen before: Mia had a scrunchie, and Candice had a makeup brush. I had been vaguely embarrassed of having the comb, but when I saw the other new products I placed it on the table, not caring who sawit.

It was difficult to discern what was an instruction—a means to get some Personal Reward—and what was just normal getting-to-know-you carrying-on. Sometimes it was obvious, like when I was coming down the stairs, and Evan stopped me to tell me that my tits looked great in my dress. He had flushed red from his hairline to his neck, and then moved on without another word. But when Carlos lifted me onto his shoulders and gave me a piggyback to the dining area, was that a task? Or when Sam picked up one of my braids and smiled at me—was that real? Either way, I had blushed, as though it had meant something more.

When we finished dinner—a halfhearted effort at chili con carne, and an even more lethargic attempt at a vegetarian option for Mia—Gav suggested that we explore more of the compound. We wandered and found a set of swings in a dusty expanse close to the southern perimeter. I pushed Jacintha for a while and enjoyed watching the elegant arc of her flight through the air, her pointed feet reaching higher with each push.

“All right,” I heard a voice say, and then arms were wrapped around me, depositing me on the empty swing beside Jacintha. I turned myhead and saw Ryan. He drew my seat far back, until I could kick my feet and not touch the ground. Then he let go, and I was sailing through the air, in tandem with Jacintha. Marcus was behind Jacintha now, giving her gentle nudges in the back. I felt a small thrill every time Ryan’s hand pressed against my back, and I let my hair fly around me and stretched my legs out. Jacintha swung next to me, arcing upward as I was falling down. We reached out and brushed hands every time we swung past each other. The boys behind us were silent as they pushed us, but Jacintha and I giggled and exclaimed, the night filling with the sounds of our glee. When I felt brave enough, I jumped off. I landed on my feet, more or less steady, and looked over my shoulder at Ryan, who was watching me and smiling. He came to my side, and took my hand, and we walked off together, my empty swing still traveling through the air, up and down.

We walked to the west until we reached a pond. It was beautiful: willow trees with swaying vines, and sweet-smelling flowers growing toward the water. There were ducks in the pond, swimming idly back and forth, and there were fish too; glints of orange and gold flashing beneath the water. We sat down on the bank.

“Today was fun,” he said lightly. He was so easy to talk to—he never seemed to think too deeply about anything.

“The underwater task was a bit intense,” I said. I hesitated, and then said, “I know you weren’t there, but Tom got a bit…forceful at the end.”

“Oh, Tom? He’s a good guy, really. He’s forceful for sure, and he’s got a temper, but he’s just trying to keep things running smoothly.”

“I don’t know why he feels he should be the one to take charge,” I said.

Ryan shrugged. “We kind of sorted it out in the desert. More or less.” I was curious to know the particulars, but I felt instinctively that now wasn’t the time to ask.

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