It's Season Five of LITG, and you're the Main Character - until your ex shows up. In this version of events, MC is sweet, stable but fed up with BS. A fun, quick read for those who have been disappointed with S5.
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You and the others gather around the fire pit, and you feel your heartbeat quicken with anxious energy. Your hands twist together nervously as you stand beside the girls, and you glance at Suresh. He avoids catching your eye. Resolved, you wipe your sweaty palms on your side and straighten up.
Kat sighs next to you and grabs your hand. Then she squeals and wipes her hands on her dress.
"I'm nervous," you whisper furiously. "Leave me alone."
Next to you, Dana laughs, but she sounds nervous, too.
Meera stands at Dana's side. Meera gently weaves a kind arm around Dana's, making a loop. Beside you, Arlo doesn't make a sound. She stares resolutely ahead, right at Suresh.
You groan.
Earlier in the day, the motive was clear; Suresh, Arlo, Alfie and Meera hit it off by the daybeds, laughing so loudly the sound echoed across the Villa. You spent a while inside, on the couch, with a cap and sunglasses on and a bag of chips. Coping, you called it. It was fine. Everything was fine.
It was. It really was, but you still felt you had a right to feel jipped. Not only had Suresh ruined your prospects at a romantic adventure this summer with Eddie and Alfie, but he was now kicking off with Arlo like a fireworks show. Part of you was happy for him, obviously, but come on.
How could you ever really start over?
You start to think about what you'll do first when you go home. If you go home. When you go home. You imagined yourself staying for the long haul, heading home with a cash prize to split, but part of you feels a twinge of palpable homesickness.
You miss your family – a mom who hated what Suresh did to you, a sister who looks up to you still. You miss your friends – the best guy friend who deleted Suresh's number from your phone, the roommate hosting watch parties every night for you. They must be furious for you, and rightly so.
To the Villa, you may be Suresh's ex. But to the world beyond, you're a bright, capable and enigmatic force.
Not that anyone had noticed by now.
Snapping back to reality, you look across at Finn. He's smiling at Kat and he blows her a kiss just before his eyes briefly flit to you. You look away, glancing at Alfie. He's grinning, hands behind his back, chest propped up. You roll your eyes. Eddie, too, won't catch your eye.
You've spent the day calculating and doing the math, checking your odds like you've bet money on yourself. Admittedly, you know it – the odds don't look good for you, but do you even want them to?
When faced with the choice of whether you'd like to be chosen by Suresh, Eddie, Alfie, or Finn...
Suresh's voice echoes in your mind.
"Would you even want to stay coupled up with me?"
You wonder what it might be like to have another option. A better option. Perhaps an option not influenced by an ex-boyfriend. Perhaps an option that didn't spend the entire day holding hands with someone else.
