Begrudgingly, I nod to the woman as she steps away from me and moves on to the next person.
I look down at the necklace and inspect it. You wouldn’t know it was a microphone just by looking at it. It just looks like nylon with a little heart in the middle.
A woman, I’m assuming named Julia, flags everyone down and gestures for us to follow her.
“Until you all are paired up, you’ll be sleeping in common rooms. Each room is equipped with four bunk beds and a large shared bathroom. Girls, you also have a beauty bar to get yourselves camera-ready each day.”
As we step through the twelve-foot-tall glass door into the house, my jaw is practically on the floor. Somehow, the inside of the house mirrors the elegance and extravagance of the outside. Everything is crisp, white and marble. Come to think of it, the inside feels more like a Roman paradise than it does a tropical beach house. Beach mansion? Whatever.
Pops of color break up all the stark white with wall décor, neon lights and decorative pillows. There’s even a massive hot-pink U-shaped sofa in the sunken-in living room.
As we make our way deeper into the house, we pass a huge gourmet chef kitchen with three fridges and two walk-in pantries. I know there are sixteen of us living here, but my God, this all seems a little excessive.
I seem to be the only one who thinks so, though. While I’m looking at everything with wide, overwhelmed eyes, everyone else has salacious and satisfied smiles, like this place is every bit what they’d hoped for.
I feel an arm hook through mine as Luna pulls me to her.
“Bunkmates?”
I nod, relief washing over me as she smirks.
“Thank God. If I got stuck sharing a bunk with Malibu Barbie over there, I think I’d blow my brains out.”
I laugh as she gestures to the blonde that was speaking, or more like snarking, earlier.
Savannah.
We get to a section of the house that splits off in a T shape, and the boys head one way while the girls head another.
A head pops out of a room and gestures to me. “Courtney? You’re up first.”
A few curious gazes swing to me as Luna squeezes my arm.
“I’ll fight these bitches for the best bed for us.”
I smile. “Sounds good. Don’t let me down.”
She salutes with a serious nod. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Laughing, I walk towards the man who’s now gesturing for me to follow him before stepping into what looks like a green-screen room.
“Take a seat,” he says as several cameramen are setting up their cameras before he clears his throat. “Alright, let’s get started.”
Chapter Three
Courtney
“First give us your name, age, where you’re from and something special. What you do for work, a talent, whatever,” the guy says.
I nod, attempting to fix my bikini top, since half of my tit is hanging out underneath.
“Leave it. You look great. Actually, can we get a little makeup and hair over here real quick?”
In a flash, two women hustle towards me. One rakes her fingers through my hair, while another quickly dabs some kind of cream under my eyes before applying a little blush and curling my eyelashes. Then, as fast as they appeared, they slink back into the darker part of the room as huge bright lights come on. I squint for a moment before he gestures for me to go.
“Um. My name is Courtney. I’m twenty-eight. I’m from Seattle.”
I pause for a moment, not sure what else to say.
