Page 20 of The Cuffing Game
Noah relaxed his shoulders, gathered up his things, and headed into the lodge.
The interior of the house was surprisingly cozy. Brown leather couches and a set of incredibly comfortable-looking turquoise lounge chairs faced a brick fireplace that alreadyhad a warm, welcoming fire in full swing. Large windows looked out onto the wooden patio outside and the snowy trees that surrounded the house in all directions.
Everything was perfect, until Noah turned the corner and saw a big grizzly.
He jumped, an embarrassingly high-pitched yelp escaping from his mouth, before he realized the bear was a statue.
Heart still pounding, Noah had placed a hand on his chest when he heard a barely restrained giggle. He turned around.
Three girls stared at him with great amusement by the foot of the winding staircase.
Before they’d left for Big Bear, Mia had sent them all an email with the address of the cabin, the names and basic information of all the chosen cast members, and the contact information of the crew, in case of emergencies. So technically, Noah knew the names of these girls. He just didn’t know who was who.
The one who’d giggled, an East Asian girl bundled up in a white Fendi down jacket and pink skirt, still had her hand over her mouth. She looked familiar, although Noah couldn’t remember how he knew her. The other two girls, clearly friends from the way they stood together, also smiled at him in recognition. The first was Black and had on red wintry athleisure gear while the other was Middle Eastern and wore an elegant green coat that accentuated her hazel eyes.
“Don’t worry,” said the third girl. “Grizzlies were eradicated from the area a hundred years ago. You’ll still find black bears around, though. I looked it up.”
“Or worry, because poaching sucks,” her friend added. “It’s a matter of perspective.”
“Truly,” Noah agreed.
Running a hand through his hair, he gave them what he liked to call his “social media smile.” It was more of a mischievous, Flynn Rider smirk, but “social media smile” had a better ring to it. He’d learned through trial and error that most people liked this smile more than his real one.
The first two girls’ faces lit up, while the third narrowed her eyes.
“Hi, Noah!” said the first girl. “I’m Celine. It’s so nice to finally meet you in person!”
Her words and tone implied they’d interacted with each other online before, but Noah wasn’t sure when or how.
Maybe we DMed each other?he wondered.Exchanged a few words in the comments section?
Admittedly, he interacted with a lot of people online. You had to, to boost reach for the algorithms. The girls he’d learned to flirt with, while with the guys, he tended to spam the fire emoji or send short, encouraging phrases like “Let’s go!!!” Many of these interactions blurred together at the end of the day, even more so when people used random, anonymous usernames like they often did on social media.
“Hey,” he said breezily. “Nice to finally meet you in person, too.”
“I love your content!” said the second girl. “I’m Tiana. Nice to meet you!”
“And I’m Shirin,” the third one said. “She always sends me your videos. They’re okay.”
“Haha, thanks. Nice to meet you ladies, too.”
Noah waved goodbye at them as they went up the stairs to their rooms. When they were out of sight, he replayed the brief interactions he had with each of them in his head. Shirin didn’t seem to like him very much, so she was probably not the girl who had a crush on him. But maybe Celine or Tiana.
Before he headed upstairs himself, Noah looked up and found two small cameras attached to the ceiling. One was pointed directly at him and the staircase, while the other looked toward the adjacent kitchen area.
Along with the address to the cabin, Mia had included in her informational emails a consent form that gave the crew permission to film the contestants all week. They were going to be recorded doing everything from going on dates to doing completely mundane things like getting up from bed or eating breakfast. Mia had also mentioned that there would be cameras throughout the house.
We probably won’t use most of the footage from these other cameras,her email had said.In fact, our editor is going to wipe them whenever they finish editing an episode since theyhave limited storage. Since our crew only has two main cameras, and we can’t always catch everything that happens in a single moment, we’ll have the smaller ones around the house in case we miss something.
Noah waved at the camera overhead before going up the stairs.
There were seven bedrooms, all labeled according to the first seven letters of the alphabet. Noah had been assigned to Bedroom D with Matías Cisneros, a second year. The door to the room was closed, but when Noah turned the knob, it swung open easily.
“Wait!” a voice yelled when he entered the room. Noah froze. “Oh, wow. It’s really you! You’re Noah Jang, right?”
A long-limbed, brown-skinned boy with curly black hair and glasses was reading a thick fantasy book in one of the beds. His suitcase lay haphazardly unpacked in the middle of the room, with clothes and toiletries taking up nearly the entire floor.
Noah raised his eyebrows at the mess. He hadn’t shared a bedroom with anyone since he was a first year living in an on-campus dorm. This was going to be interesting.
