Page 23 of The Cuffing Game
“Sound, speeding,” added Alex as they held up the boom mic.
Noah braced himself, fighting the thundering of his heart.
“Action!” Mia said. “Hi, everyone. I’m Mia Yoon, your showrunner and host. Welcome to the very first night ofThe Cuffing Game!”
Chapter Eight
Mia
A thrill ran down Mia’s spine as she looked at all the contestants one by one. She and her crew had memorized names, faces, and crushes before they’d left for Big Bear, but none of that compared to seeing everyone in the flesh. Everything was just so real now. This whole day, despite Noah’s presence, was a dream come true.
The back of her neck prickled from the gaze of both cameras, but she tried her best to ignore them, focusing on the people in front of her instead.
“Thank you all for coming,” she said. “The Cuffing Gameis a dating show run entirely by Marlon students, for Marlon students. You have been chosen to be a contestant because you are either a crusher—someone who has a crush—or you are someone’s crush. If you’re a crusher, you can win the game by cuffing with your original crushandlasting all six days of the game. If you’re a crush, you win if you last that long and cuff with someone who likes you back. Hopefully this is the crusher who anonymously nominated you to be on the show, but it doesn’t have to be.”
Caleb, a long-haired redhead, raised his hand.
“Yes, Caleb?” Mia asked.
“What if you’re a crusher but end up liking someone else in the show?”
Everyone laughed, and Jack exclaimed, “This man, right here!”
Mia winced. “Well, I’d hope your crush is strong enough to last more than a week if you nominated them to go on this show with you.”
Some people said, “Ooh,” and Mia continued, “Y’allaregiving up some of your winter break for this, after all.Butif you do end up developing feelings for someone else, you are more than welcome to try dating that other person later! Just not on the show, out of respect for your original crush. The only exception is if, for some reason, your crush gets eliminated before you.Then,you can cuff with someone else and still be eligible to win the game, as long as the new cuffing is mutual.”
Bethany tossed her ponytail to one side and raised her hand. “If you’re a crusher, it’s probably best to confess and cuff with your crush as soon as possible, right? So no one steals your crush from you?”
“Not necessarily,” Mia replied. “I mean, you can. How you want to approach things is entirely up to you. But every crush has the right to refuse. And if a crush says no, then that’ll be an automatic elimination from the game for the crusher.”
Nervous murmurs erupted from around the firepit. Most of the crushers, like Shirin and Matías, looked terrified, while the crushes, like Noah, seemed intrigued but otherwise nonchalant.
“Oof,” said Bethany. “Understood. So, basically, we need things to be mutual.”
“Yup, the last thing we want is for someone to end up in a cuffle that they don’t want to be in.”
“Cuffle?” Shirin repeated. She frowned, as if the very word offended her. “What does that mean?”
“A cuffed couple,” Mia explained, trying her best not to blush. When she and her friends had made up their own words for the show, it’d seemed cute and clever. But now, under the scrutiny of all nine contestants and the two cameras, Mia wasn’t so sure. Maybe they’d overdone it a little.
But then, from behind her camera, Kallie grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.
Mia relaxed her shoulders and smiled. Right. In the end, this wastheirshow. They could do whatever they wanted with it.
She waited to see if anyone else had any questions. When nine pairs of eyes silently stared back at her, she went on, “For the next four days, including today, there will be a random event, like online viewer voting or a competition. These events will determine your fate in the game, because how you do in them will determine the order you choose your cuffing partner. Whoever fails to cuff with someone else atthe end of each day will be eliminated until we have the final three cuffles, of which the winning pair will be determined via audience vote during our live streamed finale on the twenty-third and receive five thousand dollars.”
Caleb let out a low whistle. “Five thousand dollars in less than a week? Nice!”
Noah, Jack, and Bethany kept somewhat neutral expressions, while Matías and Shirin still looked frightened. Carlos and Tiana frowned, as if they were still trying to piece out why they were even here in the first place, while Caleb smiled like it was the best day of his life. And Celine? Celine looked so hopeful that Mia’s own heart beat a little faster.
Mia was about to go on when Noah raised his hand.
She braced herself. “Yes, Noah?”
“So, what is the random event for today?”
Mia gritted her teeth, hoping Noah wouldn’t go back and forth with her like he did in class. This was definitely not the time or place.
