The Wrong Bachelor

by Alexandra Moody

  I frowned at him. “That’s messed up, Angus.”

  “Whatever,” he replied. “Just make it happen.”

  I grumbled the whole way back to the campfire. Angus was forcing my hand simply to garner votes, and I didn’t like the feeling of being manipulated, or the feeling of manipulating the girls. As soon as I got back, I announced Teagan as my selection.

  I wasn’t watching Teagan’s reaction though. It was Madi who kept my attention. I could see her deflate as I announced another girl’s name. I kept trying to tell her with my eyes that Teagan wasn’t my choice. She seemed to understand because she gave me a nod, but I still wasn’t sure if she was convinced.

  Teagan seemed confused as we walked off for our date.

  “Why did you pick me?” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Brett who was still readying his camera to start filming.

  “I thought we’d have a nice time,” I said, smiling and trying not to let my face reveal the lie.

  Teagan frowned in response though. “You’d make a terrible actor, Cole. Anyone with eyes can see you like Madi.”

  My shoulders slouched and I let out a breath. “Am I that obvious?”

  “Ah, yes,” she replied.

  “I’m sorry, Teagan,” I said. I felt like I was letting her down. A part of me worried she’d be upset that I’d asked her on a date when it wasn’t for real.

  She waved my apology away though. “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “But why did you pick me when you should have asked Madi?”

  “Angus,” was my one-word response.

  “Ah.”

  We both fell silent as Brett lifted his camera in our direction and Angus approached, ushering us toward a small clearing where a second campfire had been made. There was a delicious looking cheese board by the fire and a telescope just beyond it that I assumed Angus wanted us to use for some romantic stargazing. I felt painfully awkward having to be on the date after everything I’d just admitted to Teagan.

  She took it all well though and laughed when she caught my expression.

  “It’s just cheese and a picnic rug, Cole,” she said, walking over and settling herself down by the fire. She popped a piece of cheese in her mouth as if to prove her point.

  I laughed and went to join her. “You okay with just cheese and a picnic rug?” I asked.

  “Just cheese and a picnic rug is my favorite,” she replied.

  I let out a breath and chuckled with relief. I’d been worried I’d hurt Teagan’s feelings, but it seemed she was okay with just being friends. I relaxed and allowed myself to enjoy the date. For most of it, I even forgot the cameras were there.

  By the time Teagan and I finished on our date, it was growing late. The night had been surprisingly fun, and I was actually sad for it to end. Most of the time it had felt less like a forced group date and more like hanging out with friends.

  When Teagan and I returned to the others, I hugged each of the girls goodnight before making my way to my tent. I made sure that Madi was the last hug.

  “I’m sorry about Teagan,” I whispered into her hair. “Angus didn’t give me a choice.”

  I felt her nod against my chest, and when she looked back up she was smiling. “Just one more week,” she whispered before leaving me and returning to her tent.

  After telling Angus and the film crew goodnight, I retired to my own tent. For a short while I could hear whispers from the girls, but before too long they quietened and the whole world became silent. The tent was surprisingly warm, and I quickly felt exhaustion making my eyelids heavy. Madi had been right earlier; it was peaceful out here.

  The sound of my tent zipper tugged me from my sleep. I dismissed the noise for a moment, but then I sensed someone entering the tent. Before I knew what was happening, I felt them lie down next to me and press themselves up against me.

  My eyes flew open and I jerked up in my sleeping bag. It was dark, but there was no mistaking Laurie’s bleach blonde hair at my side.

  “What the hell, Laurie?” I growled, shuffling myself away from her.

  “What’s wrong, Cole?” she asked.

  “You’re what’s wrong. What are you doing in here?”

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed that Laurie was only wearing thin scraps of underwear. I immediately grabbed the shirt I’d been wearing earlier from on top of my bag and threw it at her. “Would you put this on?”

  Laurie held my shirt in her hand but made no move to put it on. “Don’t pretend you want me to cover up,” she replied, tossing my shirt to the other side of the tent. “Stop trying to deny how you feel about me.”

  She tried to lean toward me, to trail her fingers down my bare chest, but I grabbed her wrist, firmly holding her at arm’s length. “Laurie, I’m not interested in you like that.”

  “Stop lying,” she said. She tried to close the gap between us and give me a kiss, but I was determined to keep my distance.

  “I’m not lying.” It didn’t seem to matter what I said; my words weren’t translating in her head. I may as well have been speaking Spanish for all the good it was doing me.

  I stood up, kicking myself free of my sleeping bag before I started pulling Laurie from the tent. If words weren’t going to work, actions were going to have to. I needed this girl away from me. Thankfully, Laurie didn’t fight my pull, and she allowed me to lead her out of the tent.

  The moment I emerged, I wished I’d never woken up. Madi was making her way out of her own tent, and she smiled at me sweetly when she caught sight of me. Her face completely dropped though, and her smile was replaced by a look of devastation as Laurie came out of the tent behind me and stopped at my side.

  I was so concerned about Madi’s reaction that I didn’t even notice Laurie draping herself all over me. All I could do was look into Madi’s eyes. There was so much hurt in them, it practically broke my heart.

  Madi tore her gaze from me and darted back into the tent.

  “Madi!” I yelled. I yanked Laurie’s hand from where it was placed on my chest and charged across the camp to her tent.

  I could already hear her waking the other girls.

  “Teagan, Willow, I have to leave,” Madi murmured.

  They muttered tired and groggy sounding responses.

  The tent zipped open and Madi stormed out with her clothes and sleeping bag in a loose bundle in her hands.

  “Get out of my way, Cole.”

  I shook my head and took hold of her arms. “This isn’t what it looks like,” I said.

  Madi’s gaze flickered over to Laurie, who was still standing in her underwear by my tent, before her gaze turned to my bare chest. Why hadn’t I worn a shirt to bed?

  “Let go of me, Cole,” she said through gritted teeth.

  I couldn’t let go though; not until she understood. There were tears welling in her eyes, and the sight of them shattered whatever remnants of my heart were left. “Madi—”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Cole. Just let me go.”

  I let out a defeated breath. “Okay.”

  My hands dropped to my side and she moved swiftly past me. I couldn’t just let her walk off alone though. I couldn’t let her leave. I hurried to keep up with her as she stumbled through the darkness to get to the car.

  “Please don’t leave like this,” I begged. “Let me explain. Or if you won’t let me explain, just wait until morning to leave. I don’t want you driving when you’re upset.”

  She came to a sudden stop and turned to me. “Do you think I’m an idiot?” she asked. “Is that why you’ve been leading me on? Saying all those sweet things to me? Was this some kind of sick game to you?”

  “You know that’s not true,” I replied. “I care about you so much. I would do anything for you.”

  “Anything but give up your man-whoring ways, right?”

  I pushed a hand through my hair, gripping the ends of it in frustration. “Nothing happened,” I said.

&n
bsp; “And why her?” she asked, completely ignoring my response. “Of all the girls you could have picked, why did it have to be the one who is set on tormenting me?”

  I didn’t like the way her lip trembled when she spoke about Laurie, and for a moment I forgot that we were even fighting. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know that she was behind the graffiti on my locker. I’m sure you were all having a great big laugh at me over that one.”

  “What?” I shouted. I was suddenly torn between trying to make Madi feel better and storming back to camp to confront Laurie. I had begun to think she was a just a little misunderstood. Clearly, I was wrong. That girl was a psycho.

  “I honestly had no idea she did that. I don’t want anything to do with Laurie. You’re the only person I like; why can’t you believe that?”

  “Because they’re only words, Cole. And as much as I want to believe them, I can’t accept them when your actions don’t back them up. I’m done being toyed with and I’m done with this competition. I hope you and Laurie have a great time at the formal together. You two deserve each other.”

  With that, she turned and continued toward the car. I started to go after her but felt a hand grab my arm. Willow was standing behind me, and Teagan jogged past me after Madi. They both had all of their belongings bundled in their arms.

  “Madi, wait up!” Teagan called, chasing after her. Teagan barely looked at me as she passed. I guess she must have seen Laurie in her underwear too.

  “What have you done?” Willow asked, stopping at my side.

  She shook her head at me, disappointment playing in her eyes. Even my cousin thought I was a complete tool.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I whispered.

  Willow sighed and gave a small nod, as if there was a chance she believed me. “It doesn’t look like nothing though,” she said.

  I heard panted breaths behind me and turned to see Angus running toward us, half-dressed and puffing with a camera cradled in one hand. He grinned at Willow, nodding for her to go on.

  Willow frowned at him though, a disgusted look in her eyes, before she turned to follow the other two girls without looking back. As soon as she disappeared from view, I shouted into the darkness in frustration and punched the closest tree.

  Unfortunately, the tree won our brief battle, and I let out another frustrated groan as I cradled my hand to my chest and sunk to the ground. My hand was throbbing in pain, but it was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

  “What happened, Cole? How are you feeling?” Angus asked, pointing his camera in my face.

  “If you don’t take that thing away from me, I will break it,” I growled.

  Angus must have seen how serious I was because he immediately started to back away. I closed my eyes and my head sunk down to my chest. I didn’t know how to fix this. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible to make things right with Madi again. She had no idea how much she meant to me; how much she had meant to me for all these years.

  If there was one thing I knew about myself though, it was that I wasn’t a quitter and I would do everything in my power to get her back no matter what it took. I stood up and started back to camp. I was going to win Madi back; I just needed to figure out how.

  22

  Madison

  I was shaking in the passenger seat of the car as Teagan drove us away from the campsite. Tears were streaming down my face, and I kept rubbing them away with the sleeve of my sweater. Dawn was approaching and the edges of the horizon were beginning to brighten, but it was still dark outside and there was nothing appealing about the thought of a new day. All I wanted was to remain in the darkness of night. It seemed safer here; more concealed from the ugly truths I had witnessed in the woods.

  “I just don’t believe it,” Willow said. It was the fifth time she’d repeated the phrase, and each time she sounded just as shocked. “Cole isn’t like that.”

  “Yeah, it doesn’t seem like him,” Teagan said. She kept darting concerned looks my way. I guess she hadn’t realized just how much I liked the guy.

  “Seriously, are you okay, Madi?” Teagan asked.

  I nodded, but it was hard to lie when my tears were giving me away.

  “You know, for someone so pretty you sure are a sore sight when you cry,” Teagan said. “I knew you had to have a fault somewhere.”

  I gave a small laugh. She wasn’t the first person to tell me I was an ugly crier, and she probably wouldn’t be the last. My face seemed to swell whenever I cried and everything went red. It looked more like I’d been in a fistfight.

  “You should never cry. Like, ever,” Teagan added.

  I uttered another laugh through my tears. I appreciated her trying to make me smile, but it didn’t seem to lessen the pain of Cole’s betrayal. I shouldn’t be so upset. We hadn’t even begun to date. I guess I just fell for him so hard and so fast, I didn’t realize how deep I’d gone.

  “You really liked him, huh?” Teagan continued.

  I nodded, and the pain in my heart flared up again. “I thought he liked me too,” I murmured.

  Why couldn’t Cole and I have just continued trading insults like all good enemies did? Why did he have to go and make me like him? I was almost angrier with him for doing that than I was at him for fooling around with Laurie.

  Teagan shook her head as she turned her gaze back onto the open road before us. “Laurie is such a nightmare.”

  “Agreed,” came Willow’s response from the back seat. She moved forward and leaned on the center console. “So, are you going to stay in the competition?” she asked, looking up at me.

  “No. I can’t,” I replied.

  “And you shouldn’t have to,” said Teagan. “Talk to Angus. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  “Have you met Angus?” I asked. “He doesn’t exactly take no for an answer.”

  Teagan shrugged. “Well, if he refuses you, you can tell him I quit too.”

  “And me,” Willow added.

  I sighed and nodded. Trying to convince Angus to let me out of the show a week before it ended was the last thing I felt like doing, but there was no way I was staying.

  “He’ll understand,” Willow said. “He has too.”

  I hoped she was right.

  “Madi, it’s just one more week,” Angus said. “And it’s for charity.”

  I was standing on his front doorstep, trying to convince him to let me leave the show. He couldn’t seem to understand why I was so desperate to quit though. His charity argument was beginning to feel really old. It was how he’d roped me into the contest in the first place, and he’d already raised more than double the amount of funds he had targeted. I wasn’t going to be guilt-tripped anymore. I was also beginning to suspect Angus cared more about the number of viewers than the money they were raising.

  “To be honest Angus, this whole experience has been pretty horrible for me. You told me I would be eliminated at the first ceremony, but instead I’ve been stuck in this competition for weeks. I lost my boyfriend, I’ve had people call me names and then I had to deal with that crap Cole pulled last night. I’m done.”

  “Please don’t do this,” he said. “We have thousands and thousands of people invested in the outcome. We will lose a lot of money in donations on Sunday night if people can’t vote for you.”

  I lifted a hand to silence him. “This isn’t a discussion. This is a courtesy call. Like I said, I’m done.”

  Angus huffed out a breath and leaned against his doorway. “Let me edit the footage to make the audience less likely to vote for you come Sunday,” he said. “Just give me one last ceremony for Cole to eliminate you."

  “Does it look like I’m willing to come to one last ceremony?” I waved a hand at my face, which was still red and blotchy from crying earlier. “And why would I want you to make me look bad so people don’t vote?” I felt like I might start crying again if Angus kept pushing me.

  “Please don’t cry,” he said. He a
ctually looked fearful at the prospect. I’d heard some guys couldn’t cope with crying girls, but I’d never actually encountered one.

  “Will crying get me out of the contest?”

  Angus blew out another breath. “Look, I’ll try to make things work without you,” he said. “But if I can’t, I’m going to need you to be at the ceremony on Monday.”

  “Then you better make things work,” I replied.

  I didn’t feel much better after leaving Angus’ house. I thought I could relieve myself of the massive weight that was crushing my chest by telling him I was quitting the competition. But it just felt like the pressure was now teetering on my shoulders instead.

  Angus may have agreed to try and get me out of the contest, but I didn’t feel like I could trust him. What did make me feel better was the realization that he didn’t control me. He couldn’t force me to attend the selection ceremony. So, for his sake, I hoped he could make things work without me.

  Hayley spent the rest of the weekend plying me with copious amounts of ice cream. I think she was convinced that if she put enough ice cream in my body, it would start to fill the empty hollow Cole had carved out of my heart. When the ice cream didn’t seem to make me feel better, Hayley just stuck to her theory and fed me more. Apparently, she just hadn’t given me enough.

  When Sunday night arrived, and it was time for the show to air, Hayley sat us both down for a Riverdale marathon. I was surprised she didn’t want to witness what Cole had done for herself, but she had decided to boycott the remainder of the show with me. I really loved my best friend.

  Unfortunately, Hayley couldn’t hold my hand for every minute of the next week. I’d barely been in school for five minutes on Monday when Cole sought me out.

  “Hey,” he said, as I walked away from my locker.

  I didn’t make eye contact with him. How could I when every time I looked at him I was struck by the image of him and Laurie half naked? I kept walking, hoping he would disappear if I pretended he wasn’t there.

  “Madi, can we talk?” I could sense him following me from a safe distance.