All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle

Author:Bethany Mangle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

All anyone can talk about is Chelsea and the Nair.

Confessional: If I end up with Chelsea for a stepsister, I wouldn’t ever be able to forget what she did to Madyson. And I definitely wouldn’t trust her around my stuff. I know it’s probably hard to stand out with this many competitors, but this isn’t the way to do it.

By the late afternoon, I’m ready to tie Chelsea in a sack and drop her off a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Mom and I convene at the kitchen counter in the guesthouse to strategize. I’m tired, and I can tell she is too.

“Wine overload,” she mumbles, digging the heel of her palm against her forehead. “The guys kept asking me if I wanted another drink. I think it’s their version of an icebreaker.”

I get up and fetch her a glass of water. A cursory search of the bathroom yields a travel bottle of painkillers. I shake it at her like a pharmaceutical maraca. “Want one?”

“Want four.”

I squint to read the recommended dosage for an adult, then give her two. Her liver is suffering enough as it is. “You’re allowed to say no if you don’t want more wine.”

“I didn’t want to be rude.”

“It’s your show, Mom.”

She gives a noncommittal grunt that doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. We didn’t come here to find her another crappy relationship. I almost say as much, but the mention of the divorce is enough to give her a headache on a regular day, never mind when she already doesn’t feel well. “We should decide who we’re kicking off tonight,” I point out.

“Good idea.”

I find a pen and a printout of the contestant lineup. Mom crosses out the faces and names of contestants who have already been voted off. “Brad and Chelsea, Ray and Sabrina, and Cole and Grady are the big ones on my list to keep.” She draws stars around their pictures, adding Edgar and Madyson, then AJ and Ella as I read her my picks.

“What do you think about Charles?” I ask, hoping that I sound nonchalant. “You seemed happy to see him at the pool party.”

“Oh.” She mashes her index finger against her right temple while she thinks. “Um, yeah, he seems… steady. He’s not as intense as some of the others. We can keep him if you want.”

“It would be way too easy for us to just like the same people, huh?” Looking at the list, the only overlap is Ray and Sabrina, though I don’t have anything against Cole and Grady.

“I’m not a fan of Madyson,” Mom admits. “Brad told me she started some kind of fight and ruined Chelsea’s hair.”

“That’s totally not what happened. I saw it.”

Mom looks baffled, then shrugs. “Maybe he was talking about something else. I just don’t believe that girl has a mean bone in her body. All she’s ever done is be nice and helpful. She’s given me a lot of pointers about being on camera too.”

I snuggle up to her, pushing my lip into my best pout.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.