AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yield! I yield and promise not to take your stupid thing.” Quinn laughed, pushing Stella off her.
Stella changed the subject, swiping her hair out of her eyes. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
Quinn ran her hand along the seam of the covers. “Yup. That’s why I’m here. I can’t sleep, and I’m not sure I can decide who to send home. There are a few people I haven’t spent much time with, so what if I eliminate them and it turns out they would be a better match than someone else? People don’t talk about the anxiety of choosing during these shows. It’s hard.” She whispered the last part.
“Hey, it’s hard because you’re taking your decision seriously. And don’t think about the what ifs, okay? By default, if you eliminate them, it was meant to be because you chose to eliminate them. So, get out of your head and follow your instincts. This is your show right now, darlin’. Did you overthink all the shots you took when playing basketball?”
“No, you’re right. All I needed was a good old pep talk from my favorite host. So, who do you think I should eliminate? I know you pay attention to the contestants.” Quinn lost her look of indecisiveness and instead leaned forward with interest.
Stella threw up her hands. “Oh no. I’m not going to intervene. That would be all kinds of wrong. I can’t be caught intervening in any way and wouldn’t want to. Go with your gut.” She ran her fingers across her lips and mimed tossing a key.
“What’s the point of having someone who knows the contestants, and not bounce ideas off of them? It’s not like you’re pulling for someone to win,” Quinn huffed jokingly.
Except she was wrong. She was invested in one person. “I’m a vault. You will get no intel from me.”
“On that note, party pooper, I’m going to bed.” Quinn untwisted her legs and hopped off the bed. “Sleep well, Stella.” She waved over her shoulder.
Stella tried to relax after her whirlwind visit with Quinn but found the task difficult. She pulled her huggin’ pillow to her stomach and tried to relax individual parts of her body. Her mind wouldn’t turn off, her brain on a continuous loop of everything tomorrow would bring. Except her mind was running faster than her head could catch. Dreams of messing up and getting booted off the show chased her sleep.
“I’m here with the contestants on Love or Money: Sapphic Edition. They’ve just gotten through their first two weeks of living together. Denver, let’s start with you. What is your favorite thing about the show so far?” Stella turned the mic to Denver, who talked in circles. Editing would help smooth out her answer, but all the contestants were clearly nervous.
“…My favorite thing besides getting to know Quinn is that damn gym. It’s got everything. My friends back home aren’t going to recognize me.” She flexed her arm for the camera.
The lightheartedness was needed to break the ice. Stella reached over to squeeze her arm, adding to the playfulness of the moment. “Very nice. I’m sure Quinn will take notice. Now, let’s turn to Elizabeth. You won the first challenge; how did your date go?”
Elizabeth rolled a marble along her thigh, rocking back and forth in the chair. “Oh, yes. Quinn and I had an excellent first date. She has met several celebrities, and I have a special interest in them myself. We talked about some memorabilia I’ve collected. Plus, it’s always good to be first. That first impression before she gets to know any of these other people matters.” She waved her hand at the other women around her, almost poking Riley in the eye.
Stella nodded, seeing an opportunity. “What do you have in your hand there?” She indicated to the object now between her thumb and pointer finger.
“Oh, this.” Elizabeth held up a large marble with blue and green swirled in the center. “I’m autistic. Quinn knows. We talked about it on our date. This is my marble. It helps ground me. A lot of the fidget devices aren’t tactilely pleasing. This one has a good finger feel and weight. I’ve tried a few things over the years, and this helps manage my stimming when I’m overwhelmed.”
A few ‘oohhhs’ came from the women around the room.
“It’s nice to have something that works for you,” Stella said with a smile.
Not everyone would get screen time, but they needed footage of everyone’s answers. The long night was catching up to Stella when she finally got to Avery, who only provided a few short-worded responses.
“Now, Quinn. Is anyone safe tonight?” Stella asked, turning to Quinn. They would slowly whittle down people until the two final women were on the chopping block. Stella held in a sigh at how long the process took, even though when it aired, it was only a few minutes, thanks to the magic of editing.
“I had a great time getting to know everyone but felt a strong connection with Elizabeth and Ocean.” Quinn, smiling shyly, made eye contact with the two contestants.
They slowly worked through the list. Stella tried not to show her devastation each time Avery wasn’t picked. Soon, only Avery and Jasmine remained. A sweat bead started rolling down Stella’s back, leaving her uncomfortable and sticky. Avery, for her part, was holding it together, although she did look like she might lose her lunch. Stella knew Jasmine had tried to push her way into having quality time with Quinn but somehow had clocked the least amount of time with her. There was still hope for Avery.
“Now, Quinn, we are down to our final two women. Who do you pick to go home tonight?” Stella leaned forward, just as invested in the answer as she was sure viewers of the show would be.
Quinn wiggled in her seat, assessing the two women before her. “I went back and forth on this one. I didn’t get enough time with either of you, and had to go with my gut. Avery, you might give the best hugs out of everyone, and Jasmine, you have a quiet humor about you that I hope more people stop and pay attention to.” Quinn’s sharp gaze pulled between them. Stella could see the wheels turning in her head.
“You have to pick one to go home,” Stella nudged gently.
“Going off what I’ve seen so far, I’m going to have to pick Avery.”
Chapter 5
What Happened?
The world was quiet as Avery stood. She couldn’t believe after everything she was eliminated in the first round. Her head buzzed with what-if scenarios as she tried to keep the panic at bay, unsure how to get her legs moving past the shock and what she would do now.
“Hold on, Avery.” Jasmine’s voice was nearly drowned out by the screaming occurring in Avery’s brain, but the gentle words brought her attention back to the person who’d just been picked to stay. Jasmine stood and folded her fingers together in front of her.
