Not Here to Make Friends by McAlister Jodi

Author:McAlister, Jodi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
Published: 2024-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

But I’d dug my thumbs in hard enough in the right places. It worked anyway.

I got what I wanted from Cece. A little speech about how it was better for Dylan not to know about the ‘ugliness’ between her and Heather – better for him to keep his head in the game.

Romeo-Dylan was standing just behind me as Cece spoke. I could feel his gaze. Tender when he looked at Cece. Glowering when he looked at me.

Tomorrow, I promised myself. Tomorrow, I was going to cancel the whole day of filming. It would have been the Episode Five Last Chance Party and Necklace Ceremony, and with Heather’s elimination, we didn’t need to do those anymore. I was going to cancel everything, and I was going to sit down with Romeo-Dylan, and I was going to do whatever it took to get him back on side.

I was a master of detachment. It was hard to play chess when you cared about the pieces. I needed him to trust me. I didn’t need him to like me.

That didn’t help the sick feeling in my belly.

Romeo-Dylan insisted on staying to sit with Cece while I went into the Convent to shoot interviews. I let him. Any concession I could make – anything that would help him feel like I was on his team – I would do it.

I did my job with ruthless, clinical precision. I interviewed each of the women in the Convent about the fight. I got some grabs that would make this Very Special Episode one of the most talked-about pieces of television of the year. I got content that would make Fucking Greg cream his jeans.

I took Heather aside. She was crying, shoulders shaking, big blue eyes red with tears. ‘You have to help me,’ she hiccupped, clutching at my sleeve like a lifeline. ‘Please. They’re all bullying me.’

I fixed my gaze on her fingers on my arm and went completely, aggressively silent.

It took her a moment to catch up.

Then her breath caught in her throat. A stillness came over her, one I’d seen many times before: a stillness born of total, abject fear.

Slowly, she let go.

‘You should count yourself lucky,’ I said.

‘What – what do you mean?’

‘You thought tonight was bad, dealing with all the women down here.’ I didn’t have to dig deep to find my most terrifying, threatening, dangerous voice. ‘But I want you to think about how that would have gone if Lily Fireball was in the room.’

Heather paled, but she balled a hand into a fist. ‘I’m not scared of her.’

‘Then you’re not very smart.’

Her lip started quivering again.

‘Crying isn’t going to work on me,’ I said. ‘It’s not going to work on her either. She might not be down here yet, but she will be, sooner or later. Maybe even in the same bedroom as you. Do you know what it’s like to sleep with one eye open, Heather?’

Tears were pouring down her cheeks. ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’

‘This place is full of cameras and microphones.

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