"I FEEL LIKE THIS IS THE START OF A REALLY GOOD PORNO," Jookie said, making both of us pause in mid-fight.

My body sat on top of hers, legs straddling her hips as her hands gripped my hair and my knuckles grazed her shoulder. I pushed her off me and jumped to my feet, trying to position the bubbles over my important parts.

His deep gray eyes darkened, eyes scanning over my body. "Are you naked, my little peach?"

"Umm—" I started—

Bae punched me hard in the stomach, causing the breath to leave my lungs. I gasped, stumbling backward but not before flinging my foot up, smacking her in the cheek. She let out a squeak before falling away from me, both of us splashing back into the water at the same time, on opposite ends.

"Bae, what the hell are you doing?" Jookie said, annoyance raw in his voice.

Bae leered at me, thick suds covering half her face and body. "She started it."

"Oh really?" I said. "You pushed me first."

"You provoked me," she snapped.

Jookie rubbed his temples. "Just do your job, Bae. Get her cleaned up and dressed. We need to be on in twenty-five." He helped her out of the tub, and she stalked off without a word, leaving sudsy footprints behind.

Jookie watched her leave. "I apologize for her. She's under a lot of stress."

"Is she your ex or something? She told me to stay away from you — that I'll bring you trouble," I said. "What does that mean?"

He laughed, turning toward the door. "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

His response left me sort of dumbfounded for a second, and I just shook it away and dropped into the tub, letting the warm water soothe my sore body.

What was Bae's deal? Her words about staying away from Jookie circled in my thoughts. Were they fucking or something? Why else would she be so protective of him? But Jookie didn't act like they were romantically involved, and they didn't look related...

Fuck it. I didn't have the time to try and unravel the inner workings of a stranger and Jookie. Not when my live interview was only minutes away. What were they going to ask me?

The dark tumbling in my stomach told me it wasn't going to be a fun experience. Ever since I've been here, they loved to fuck with me mentally, so they'll probably stick to that pattern.

You can't do this interview. You need me. The fuck I do. Just go away.

"Heeelllooo!" Bae's voice broke through my arguing thoughts. "Come on, dry off."

Looking fresh and clean in tight jeans and a t-shirt, Bae tossed a fluffy towel on the floor near the tub. "Hurry up and get out. We don't have much time. Follow me." She stalked away, and I grabbed the towel, following behind her down the hall.

The flooring made my wet feet feel like ice bricks as I scurried after Bae, wrapping the towel tight around my dripping body. We ended up in the backstage area again, and I spotted Jookie sitting at one of the vanities, putting in his purple contacts while the robot women styled his hair.

His intense stare zeroed in on my soaking body, making me shiver for a second. I turned away from him, tightening the towel.

Bae pointed to a metal clothing rack in the corner before walking over to an empty vanity. "Pick something to wear from the rack."

"Alright," I said, walking over to it.

Shielding myself with the rack, I dried myself off and then looked at the rack of expensive garments. Two styles were apparent in the selection, a sweet style versus an edgy one.

Pick the pink high-slit one. Nah, black. Pink. Black.

"Hurry up!" Bae lounged at the vanity, holding a makeup brush in one hand. "We don't have all day."

"Bae..." Jookie said with an edge in his tone that made Bae visibly cringe.

The tips of my fingers swept through the hangers, trying to decide what to wear. It took seconds of internal arguing before I decided on a short long-sleeve black dress with a light silvery pattern and the back cut out into a circle.

Pulling it over my head, the dress stopped at my thigh, clinging tight to my ass. I tried to pull it down more, but it wouldn't go.

"It's meant to stop there," Bae said before sighing. "Come on, I need to do your hair and makeup."

"I don't want you touching me."

Bae puffed her cheeks. "I'm just following orders. They told me to do it, so I have too."

"Well, you should've thought of that before you pushed and threatened me for no reason," I said to her. "You don't even know me."

Bae turned to Jookie who continued to get pampered by the robot women, ignoring us both. A sigh left her painted lips. "Look, you're right," she said. "I shouldn't have judged you before knowing you. That's happened to me before, and I hate it too, so I'm sorry. Let's just ignore everything and start over. I apologize for everything."

Bitch please was on the edge of my tongue, but Betinia swam in and stopped me. "Okay, I accept. Let's start over."

I don't accept. I do.

Sitting at the far-right vanity, I watched in the mirror as Bae transformed me, changing my long curly hair into straight strands, the ends tickling my lower back. And with the flick of a few brushes, smoky steel and cranberry shadow painted my lids with a sparkly whitish color on the corners and shimmery highlighter on my cheekbones.

I blinked. "Wow."

"Two minutes, everyone." Jookie got to his feet and came over to me. His long finger trailed up my exposed back before touching my shoulder. "You clean up well, my gorgeous peach."

I eyed him through the mirror, staring into his dark purple eyes. It took me a moment to realize that I missed those gray eyes — his real eye color. "You look good when you have clothes on," I said.

He laughed and then pulled a pair of sexy black heels from behind his back. "If I give you these, you have to promise not to use them on me."

"What do you mean?"

"Promise."

"Fine."

Jookie grinned, placing them on the vanity. "The bottoms are metal, and the heels are actual blades. They make a nice weapon."

My finger stroked the slick metal side before caressing the pointy heel. I smiled. Pushing against the blade caused a small droplet of blood to materialize on my tip, and the small ping of pain made me shiver in sweet ecstasy for a minute.

"Who came up with this?" I asked before letting out a long breathe.

"Me," Jookie said, twirling a piece of my hair before walking over to the curtain. "When you hear your name, come out," he said before sliding through the curtains with a giant smile on his face.

Once he entered, I heard loud clapping and whistling, and then he introduced himself and started to talk about the show.

Clapping? There was going to be a live audience? My heart began to pound against my ribs. I couldn't imagine a large group of people just watching me. Yeah, I was on a reality show, but I didn't actually see the viewers. With this, I'd be up-close and personal with dozens of people. I didn't like attention like this.

Let me do it. No. I will do this.

Bae reached over with a clear bottle, spritzing my face a couple of times. "This will keep the makeup in place. I'm done now." Then she started to pack up her stuff, silent.

I watched her small movements. A sadness drifted off her body in waves. My first thought was to ignore her, but a piece of me had to ask.

"What's wrong?"

She let out a bitter snort. "Same shit, new day."

"Lucky," I said. "With this game, everything just seems to get worse every day." When I first got here, it was bad. Now, in less than five days, I could be dead. There's nothing worse than knowing that your death may be coming.

Bae finished packing up, clutching her makeup case to her stomach. "Trust me, I get it. I remember." Then she left without a word.

I remember? What did she mean by that? Wait... Khan said that there had to be at least a season before us. Was she on a previous season?

I shot out of my seat and ran to the hall to follow her, but Bae was already gone. Fuck. Right when I was about to explore the hall, I heard, "And let's welcome Betinia, everyone."

My head went back and forth between the curtain and the hall. I had to go to the curtain, but I really wanted to find Bae. I needed to know what she meant by her statement, but I felt like I couldn't miss this interview. The creators and the producers probably wouldn't like that.

Skipping over to the vanity and strapping on the heels, they felt like they were made just for me. The blade balanced my weight with no problem, making light tapping noises as I walked over to the curtain and paused.

I can do this. I can do this.

Inhaling deep and arching my back, I pushed through the curtains to meet my fate.

♟♙♟