The Challenge

Chapter One

It's ridiculous, absolute ludicrous as to why she is here, but she was backed into a corner from life itself and this was literally her only option unless homeless and starved is something she really wants to try again. She's done it before, she can't recall how many times she has run away from a foster home, slept on a park bench, and stolen all kinds of junk food to keep her going to the next day. Except, she's twenty-two now and the risk and consequences she would have to face if caught are much greater than being sent to a new foster family.

So here she is, with nothing more than a backpack of every article of clothing she owns and the blanket she was abandoned in with her name stitched across the bottom. She is so out of her damn element that her stomach won't stop churning and she thinks she might vomit all over the bus but she swallows the bile down because she refuses to be seen as the weak one. She doesn't have a home or a job or food for that matter, to keep her motivated to the next day, so she needs to do everything in her power to keep from being eliminated just to keep a roof over her head and food in her stomach.

And that's the whole reason why she signed up to be on the most competitive reality show known to mankind. The Challenge.

She just so happened to be stumbling the streets of Boston, attempting to formulate a game plan for food and a place to sleep for the night when she came across a sign for auditions to be on the next season of The Challenge. It wasn't as easy as she thought it might be. Honestly, the person in charge of checking in people who had already signed up for auditions, wouldn't let her through but she's a stubborn ass and wouldn't take no for an answer. One casting director told her she needed to send in an audition tape weeks ago and they were already in the final rounds of auditions. That didn't scare her though, she simply plastered on her most cocky smirk and used her information of the show to her advantage.

She knew politics and image were most important, so she explained that she couldn't afford anything at all to send in her audition tape. She laid on the poor orphan image nice and thick until they all felt guilty and oh so sad for her. Then she went for the kill. She told them they needed someone to shake up the house, someone who wasn't afraid to go after Regina, their top dog, The Evil Queen. She ensured them that she was scrappy, strong, and could out run anyone that was on their list now. So, the casting director brought her inside and made her jump through hoops. She had to wrestle every contender waiting for their fifteen minutes of fame, answer math problems, and solve puzzles, then they made her run until she was vomiting uncontrollably in a nearby garbage can. Not once did she quit though.

So, here she is, tucked in the back of the bus, on her way to some unknown location in Thailand, where she will live in a mansion with complete strangers and compete in the most grueling obstacles for three months. But that's three months of shelter, food, and water if she can last and if by some miracle, she makes it to the final and wins, that's one million dollars in her pocket. Except, she won't allow her mind to dream up something so spectacular and stable. Not yet, not when there are fifteen other people on this bus that are just as desperate for that prize.

She has seen the show enough times to know how the game is played. Ten years ago, she was in a foster home with a few kids who were older than she was and they were obsessed with the show. She always pretended to be disinterested but she watched every episode and when she moved on to the next home, she continued to follow every season. She knows all of the Vets, players who have been on the show for many seasons; their strengths, weaknesses, how they approach the game...she just hasn't seen any of the familiar faces yet, which is odd. However, she doesn't have time to dwell on that because she is trying to pretend that she's perfectly okay with all the cameras in her face.

The entire bus is loud and rowdy, all new contestants for the upcoming season but she is just fine hiding away in the back. Even though she ran her mouth to the casting director about wanting to shake things up, her game plan is to really lay low and skate by week after week to stay in the house because for every week she lasts, she receives a check for one thousand dollars and she could use every penny.