Page 12 of The Cuffing Game
Noah blinked at her. His eyes met hers briefly before darting away. This was the first time she’d ever seen Noah look so nervous around her.
Anxiety had already been building up inside Mia’s chest, but now it rushed in. It felt like the world was spinning.
“What is it?”Mia’s voice came out sharper than she intended it to be.
Noah slowly took a sip of his coffee. “You need to rebrand the entire show, maybe even tear it apart and rework it from the ground up.”
“What?”
Mia stood up, and then immediately sat back down again when the people around them glanced her way. So much for not being the center of attention.
“Think about it,” Noah said. “There has to be a reason—maybe multiple—why not enough students signed up to be on your show, why you even needmeto help out in the first place. I saw the email blast for it, and while the idea seemed interesting, it was also confusing. A cross between a reality TV show and a documentary? What even is that?”
“LikeTerrace House,” Mia explained, using the comparison that she and her friends had thought of during one of their meetings. “You watch four people go about their lives and hopefully confess to their crushes. But since it’s unscripted, the outcome is unknown, so it’s more like a documentary where you observe what happens.”
“Ah. See, that’d be nice for an art film for older people,” Noah replied, so matter-of-factly that Mia wasn’t even offended. “Or maybe even an audience in another country. Take it from someone whose fanbase is mostly American college students. They lovedrama.All my flashy videos with fast music and lots of movement do well. The quieter slice-of-life ones? Not so much. You need to grab a viewer’sattention. Maybe even make it into a straight-up dating show with challenges and contrived scenarios likeLove Islandinstead.”
Mia’s head spun. “You want to make my showLove Islandfor college students?”
Mia didn’t even watchLove Island,or any reality TV shows at that. The only exposure she’d had was through Jeannette and Cara, who showed her clips of the UKLove Islandand gave play-by-plays of all the drama, badly executed British accents and all.
“Not exactly.” Noah sat back in his beanbag chair. “For one, it’ll be winter. Whichcanget cold in LA. Maybe we could rent out one of those luxury cabins in Big Bear. Oh! And since it’ll be cuffing season, we could call itThe Cuffing Game!”
Even in all his many different types of videos, Mia had never seen Noah like this. His breathing was uneven. His eyes wide in a way that reminded Mia of her friends’ during their late-night production meetings at Carlisle, Marlon’s twenty-four-hour library. The passion in his voice. His slightly flushed face.
Noah, she realized, was excited abouthershow. Or his version of it, at least. And unfortunately, seeing him like this was having an effect onher. It was intoxicating, and her skin buzzed. Mia was in deep trouble.
She coughed. “This is a lot. You’re asking us to make so many changes. I’m going to have to check in with everyone and see what they think.”
“Sure, of course.”
Technically, she could text the group chat right then and there. But Mia’s hands were shaking too hard to write up a proper message. She balled them into fists and looked up to see that the lavender-haired girl had finished performing. A skinny blond boy was now screaming into the mic, singing—or trying to sing—a punk rock song that Mia didn’t recognize.
Mia felt like screaming too.
“Also, the cabin in Big Bear,” she managed to say. “How do you expect us to be able to afford that? The SPC will only help us with equipment and permits.”
He shrugged. “We can crowdfund on social media. I can take care of that part, don’t worry.”
He was just so confident, making everything sound easy. Out of sheer pettiness, Mia hoped her friends would say no, or at least give him a lot of trouble. That’d show him.
“Thanks for your time.” She stretched out her hand in her best attempt to remain professional. “We’ll be in touch.”
Noah glanced down at her hand but made no move to shake it.
Of course he wouldn’t,Mia thought bitterly, reminded of his extreme reaction to the last time they touched.
She let her hand drop.
Noah gave her a tight grin. “Looking forward to it.”
Mia tossed out her milkshake and made her quick escape.
Chapter Five
Noah
When the words “Grumpy Mia” flashed on his watch, Noah almost fell off his electric longboard.
