Page 108 of Alice Chen's Reality Check

Daniel looks over at me, his expression carefully blank.

“I’m sure it was a strategic move,” he says, going for upbeat but coming across stiff.

I grimace and try to mouth “sorry” at him, but he’s no longer looking at me.

“Okay, Daniel, this is it. One more wrong answer, and you’re taking the plunge. True or false? In one of her confessionals, Alice told us that she secretly thinks you’re an egotistical know-it-all.”

“True,” Daniel says instantly.

“Are you sure, Daniel? You don’t want to think about it?” DawnTaylor says.

“She’s practically said as much to my face,” Daniel says, shrugging. “Trash talk is her love language.”

“I’msosorry, Daniel,” Dawn Taylor says. She rests her hand on his chest and then shoves.

Daniel teeters for a moment, and then he’s gone, plummeting away into the distance.

“Daniel!” I can’t look away from the sight of his disappearing figure. But just as it looks like he’s going to smash into the ground, the bungee cord snaps back, sending him rocketing up. Our eyes lock for just a moment as he comes almost level to the bridge, and I can’t read his expression.

“Zero points for Alice and Daniel,” Dawn Taylor says, moving on to Selena and Chase. “Chase, true or false? Selena still sleeps with a night-light.”

Chase fails that question—it was true—and his second one—that Selena secretly hates Mexican food (which, come on, even I knew that was false). I suspect getting both questions wrong secretly delights him, because I can tell by the way he’s looking over the edge of the bridge that he actually really wants to go bungee jumping.

When Dawn Taylor pushes him over, he screams “Cowabungaaaaa!” into the void like he doesn’t have a care in the world. She waits for Chase to get reeled up before she begins her pitch for the second half.

“Okay, round two, babes!” Dawn says, fanning herself with the question cards.

Like Noah, Ava crushes hers, although she’s miffed at finding out Noah lied about the number of girlfriends he’d had before her. They end up with a grand total of six points.

Then Daniel and I are up again.

“Ready, Alice? Daniel admitted in confessionals that you aren’t as good of a kisser as Selena is. True or false?”

“False,” I say. “Not that I think I’m a better kisser than Selena, but Daniel would never say something like that about his girlfriend oncamera.”

Dawn claps her hands. “Correct! You’re on the board with one point!”

Finally. I try not to think about the fact that the choice I made during the Greed Challenge may be ultimately what sends me out of the competition. I have to focus.

“Next question. True or false? Daniel had a crush on you in high school.”

I laugh so hard I snort. “False!” I say confidently. “We were always at each other’s throats. There’s no way.”

“Sorry, babe, that’s actually true!”

What? How? When? This must be something Daniel lied about in an interview to make our fake relationship seem more plausible, right? But I don’t have any time to process this, because Dawn’s already asking me the next question.

“True or false? Daniel let Selena win during the Violence Challenge.”

“I realize it might’ve been hard for Daniel to take Selena on, especially given their recent breakup, but I also know that he’s very competitive and he always plays to win,” I say, glancing sidelong at Daniel while I talk. He looks miserable, and my gut twists. “So I think that’s a lie.”

“Locking that in?” Dawn drawls.

“Locking it in,” I say. I’m not entirely sure, but even if I’m wrong, at least I can be fast, which might benefit us in a tie.

Behind Dawn, the projector clicks on.

We see Daniel and Selena square off. He raises his staff, about to go after her with the padded end, but I can tell something is wrong. Selena isn’t looking like she’s in any condition to fight. Instead, she looks tense and unhappy, and when she lifts her staff, she nearly fumbles it. When Daniel sees the look in her eyes, he freezes and lowers his staff. Then Chase comes barreling in, and Daniel whips around to knock him out with a single swing. By then, Selena’s recovered herself and knocks Daniel out in turn.

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