Body Games (Games #5)(6)
Author: Jessica Clare

I cringed at that.

“—to good ol’ boys, everyone coming to the island has one mission – beat everyone else. They’ll be here for six weeks, through rain and sun, living on the beaches and foraging for food and shelter between competitions. They’ll have to keep on their toes if they want to keep one step ahead of the other contestants, because this year’s Endurance Island is full of twists…and we’re starting with two big ones.” Chip raised two big fingers into the air, gesturing for the camera.

Across from me, the girl with the Miley Cyrus hair fidgeted so hard she was about to shake the boat. The guy at her side squeezed her hand again and she calmed a little. I knew how she felt. If my hair wasn’t tucked into a bun atop my head, I’d be chewing on the ends nervously. As it was, my fingers twitched with the need to grab my hair as an outlet. What were the two big twists? Now I was leaning forward, because I didn’t want to miss a word.

No one breathed. No one talked. Everyone was on edge, waiting.

The dramatic pause continued. Chip gazed at us, and then nodded to the cameras. “Let’s go to the beach for this next shot, I think. It’ll be better for the show.”

“Sounds good,” one of the cameramen said, and somewhere on our boat, a motor started. We headed to shore, puttering along over the choppy waves. I swallowed the annoyed groan in my throat. This was all part of the show. Chip knew how to keep an audience hanging, damn the man. Even if the audience was us.

By the time we hit the shore, we were all jittery with anticipation. Production instructed us to line up on the beach, and I found myself standing next to Kip again. Ugh. The producers sure were going to play up our prior connections, weren’t they? I crossed my arms over my chest protectively and kept my gaze fixed on the host.

Cameramen swarmed the beach like flies, seemingly everywhere. Chip had makeup fix his hair one more time, and then approached a long line of multicolored boxes nestled in the sand on the beach. From here, I could see names written on each one. Sure enough, there was a yellow box with ‘Annabelle’ written on it.

Well, that answered the ‘gear’ question that had been looming in my mind.

“As you know,” Chip boomed, his voice cutting across the beach and catching the attention of everyone. “On previous seasons of Endurance Island, contestants were given an option to pick one luxury item from the supplies provided. This, in addition to their standardized bag of gear, was all that our players were allowed to bring for their six weeks on the island. This time, however, we’re doing things a little differently.” His smile grew, as if he had a secret he was sharing with the imaginary audience. “All you can have for this round on the island is what is in this box.” He patted the one closest to him.

I studied the row of boxes. Each one was a different color with each contestant’s name. Each one was about a foot high and a foot wide, and all were of a uniform size. I tried to imagine what was inside. Rice? A tarp? Would we all have the same thing or would they be random items?

Chip stepped away from the boxes. “But we’re not getting to those just yet. First, I’m going to tell you a bit more about how the game will be run this time.”

Here we go. I tensed, straining to listen.

“We have sixteen players and eight camps. You’ll be divided into teams of two and will be partnered up on individual beaches.”

My heart sank. Last season they’d done two big teams, but I remembered a prior season where things had been boy-girl and there had been a lot of boy-girl hooking up. This wouldn’t work well for my girls’ alliance plan.

“Every three days, we will go to Judgment. The two teams that are in last place in the competition will be nominated for Judgment by their peers. Teams will vote for one pair of contestants to go home. Except this year…there’s a twist. The losing team of two will then compete against each other to see who stays and who goes home.”

Now…that was interesting. So if my partner and I lost, I still had a chance to stay in the game by beating him at the Judgment challenge.

“In addition to the Judgment twist, we also have something called Pandora’s Box.” Chip paused dramatically to let that sink in. “Somewhere on the island, Pandora’s Box will be hidden. It might be in a tree, underwater, or buried. You’ll just have to look for it. As for what’s in it…who knows? It might be something good or something bad. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

With that said, Chip sliced his hand across his neck in a ‘cut film’ motion. “Let’s pause for now and move everyone into their teams.”

Obediently, cameras went down and a production assistant stepped forward with a clipboard. “Okay! We’re going to call out names and when we do, I need you to go stand next to your partner over there.” She pointed at the beach just as another assistant drew an X in the sand. “Teams are not negotiable. We ready?” Without waiting for an answer, she flipped a page on her clipboard and put her glasses on. “Team one — Kandis and Brodie from House Guests.”

Someone clapped awkwardly, and others followed suit. I did the same, feeling a little stupid. I mean, it wasn’t a reward to get a teammate, right? But acknowledging it felt better than standing there and doing nothing.

The couple that had been holding hands on the boat moved forward, beaming up at each other. They were sickeningly cute together, and I hoped that they’d be crappy players so they’d get the boot faster. The problem with lovey-dovey couples was that they were intensely loyal right until the end. There was no maneuvering for their votes. After all, everyone had tried to get me to turn on Kip and I’d been dickmatized up until the very end.

“Team two – Jendan and Sunnie from House Guests!”

I clapped politely again as tall, dark and sexy that had been standing next to me strode forward and gave a comfortable hug to the pretty redhead. It figured that the hottest guy on the island would be paired up with the prettiest girl. I sighed inwardly. The good ones were always taken.

I was a little concerned as they fist-bumped and stood in place next to each other. They didn’t look surprised to be teaming together. Had they been warned ahead of time that they would be teamed up? Did everyone have a pre-set team but me because I was a late arrival? I glanced awkwardly down the line, wondering who I’d be paired up with.

At my side, Kip wiggled his eyebrows in my direction.

I delicately turned away, feigning interest as the production assistant flipped another page on her clipboard. “Team Three – our girls team, Summer and Polly, from The World Races.”