Page 21 of The Cuffing Game
He stepped around the boy’s stuff to shake hands with his new roommate. “Hey, nice to meet you. Matías, right?”
“Yup, nice to meet you too! It’s wild how we’re here, isn’t it?”
At first, Noah had thought Matías was yelling, albeit in a cheerful, not angry way. But now he realized the boywas just naturally loud, perpetually speaking like his statements all ended with exclamation marks. Noah’s lips twitched. It took some getting used to, but it was quite fun.
“Yeah,” Noah replied. “Who knows what’ll happen this week...”
Noah gingerly maneuvered his bag to his side of the room and was about to lie down on his bed when he got a feeling that he was being watched. He looked around.
“The camera’s on the dresser across the room,” Matías said, before reopening his book.
“Ah,” Noah said. Sure enough, on the dresser, with the red recording light on, was a small camera.
Matías kept his eyes on his book as he replied, “Luckily, we can just cover it up with something if we need privacy. I think they did that intentionally. I’m more worried about the overhead ones, but thankfully those are only in the hallways.”
Noah made a mental note to do a full sweep of the house later. But for now, the adrenaline that had built up inside him during the drive was dissipating, and all he wanted to do was sleep.
“Contestants, please gather around the firepit in the backyard,” Mia’s voice rang loud and clear all around the room. “And don’t forget to bring your phones and any other telecommunication devices you brought with you today.”
“What in the Big Brother nonsense was that?” Matías grumbled.
It took Noah a second to realize that thiswasn’tone of his nightmares and that Mia’s voice had really come from the ceiling. He opened his eyes to see his roommate unhappily peering up at an intercom speaker overhead.
Great,he thought.Just what I need. PA messages from Mia.
“Maybe we can spray some water onto it with the showerhead,” Noah said wryly as he got up from bed.
“Ha, I wish,” replied Matías. “I don’t know if you heard but it sounds like they want us to gather in the yard. Apparently there’s a firepit? I guess everyone’s finally here.”
“Nice.Do you think they’ll actually take away our devices?” Noah asked as he picked up his phone from the bedside table.
Matías shrugged as he also grabbed his phone. “It said so on the email, right? I’ve seen a lot of reality TV shows that don’t let contestants use their phones, so it’s not that unusual. It’ll be like a social media detox, I guess.”
Noah winced. Before he’d moved to LA and started content creation, he wouldn’t have even thought twice about the term “social media detox.” But now, after years of being entirely dependent on his phone and smartwatch to not only make a living but also communicate with his family in South Korea, Noah’s hands grew clammy.
The two boys put on their coats and went downstairs.
Frigid winter air instantly hit them the moment theystepped outside. They shivered violently, and Noah gritted his teeth, hoping they wouldn’t have to stay outside for long.
Seven other contestants sat around the thankfully already-lit firepit behind the lodge. Besides the three girls from before, the only person Noah recognized was Jack Miller, the star athlete who had led their school to victory this past college football season. The other three, a tall blonde wearing a pink tracksuit, a Southeast Asian boy with a shaggy shock of hair, and a lanky, long-haired redhead, were total strangers to him.
In total, there were four girls and five guys.
Uh-oh,Noah thought. Things were already starting off on a dramatic foot.
Before he and Matías could join the firepit circle, Mia stepped in front of them with a small, portable safe box.
“Phones and other telecommunication devices, please,” she said.
Matías went first, gladly tossing his phone into the box before sitting next to Shirin. Noah slowly handed in his phone and smartwatch.
“It’s like we’re going to jail,” he quipped.
Mia rolled her eyes. “It’s only going to be for six days. Even less than that, if you get eliminated before then.”
“Oh, believe me when I say you won’t be getting rid of me that easily.”
“You don’t even know what the show is going to be like.”
