“As I’ll ever be,” I said.
The boys were waiting in the living room. They didn’t need as much time to get ready as we did, damn them, but they knew the rules of this game as well as we did, and they knew that we were already being judged.
“One,” said Anders.
“Two,” said Pax.
“Three,” said the four of us in unison. We burst out onto the balcony connecting the second-floor apartments. Doors were opening on every side: we’d timed our appearance perfectly. We hadn’t been paranoid about it, either—there were cameras in the courtyard, lenses positioned to get as many of the opening doors as possible. So we did what was expected of us. We came out screaming and waving our hands in the air, looking like there was nothing in the world that we appreciated more than being dragged out of our beds at some ungodly hour of the morning.
At least the sun was up, even if they’d probably only waited this long because they wanted better light levels. My legs were still pleasantly loose from my nocturnal running, which told me more than I wanted to know about how little sleep I’d gotten. But those were Verity problems, and this wasn’t Verity’s time. As Valerie, I put my hands in the air and screamed like this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened.
Adrian appeared out of the swarm of cameras, stepping up onto a low platform that hadn’t been there the night before and wouldn’t be there after he left. He was holding the air horn in one hand, and a megaphone in the other. “Good morning, all-stars!” he shouted, through the megaphone. We knew our cue: we roared approval and delight until our throats hurt. Adrian smirked, mugging for the cameras before raising the megaphone again. “Are you ready to get this party started?”
We were. We were so ready to get this party started.
“Well, then, come on!” Adrian beckoned, and we ran, barefoot and in our nightclothes—or what we were pretending were our nightclothes—for the stairs. I realized we’d all been put in second-floor apartments on purpose: with only twenty contestants, sleeping four to an apartment, we could have been in doubles, each of us with a private room. But then he wouldn’t have been able to address us en masse like this, or get dramatic shots of shoeless dancers running down concrete stairs. Sometimes I really hated Hollywood.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we ran straight into a wall of cameras, followed by some producer shouting, “Cut! Did we get the shot?”
“They came out slower than I like, but we can edit that,” said Adrian, pushing his way through the mob. “I think we had good energy, good sincerity, and besides, Lindy will kill me if I don’t get back to the theater before it’s time to assign choreography groups. Morning, all. Thanks for your quick response, car for the theater leaves in twenty. Please be presentable.” Then he was gone, turning on his heel and pushing back through the swarm of cameras.
Some of which were almost certainly still running, knowing Adrian. I kept my smile in place, feeling my face relax into the easy routine of being Valerie, who was virtually unflappable. “Let’s go get dressed!” I chirped, looping my arm through Lyra’s. She matched my smile with her own, and side by side, we walked back upstairs, the boys trailing behind us.
Jessica, who’d clearly done the same math I had, was waiting on the balcony. “There are seven empty apartments in this complex,” she said, without greeting or preamble. “What would it take for me to convince the two of you to move into one of them?”
I blinked. Lyra blinked. I recovered first.
“If there are seven empty apartments, why don’t you move into one of them?” I asked. “You could have the whole place to yourself. Way better than just a single bedroom.”
“Because then I’d look like I wasn’t a team player,” said Jessica. Her tone was disgusted, like she couldn’t believe I’d be so stupid. “Everybody knows you two were BFFs during your season, so if you wanted to go off and have some girl time, they’d find a way to spin it that didn’t make you look like total bitches.”
“Do we get a vote here?” asked Anders. “Because Val’s my BFF, too, and where she goes, I go.”
“I’m not going to be the only dude rooming solo with a woman,” said Pax. “I know where the camera takes that, and it takes me to a lecture from my mama as soon as I get home.”
“So basically, we could all move into one of the empty apartments, and leave you with the problem you already have,” I concluded. “Sorry, Jessica, no sale. Now if you’ll excuse us, I want to be wearing something more substantial when I go to find out what sort of torture we’re being put through this week.” I stepped past her, my arm still looped through Lyra’s, and Anders and Pax followed close behind.
I didn’t look back to see whether Jessica was seething. I was a smart girl. I could make an educated guess.