The Challenge

Chapter Seven

"Eat," Tink sternly orders, sliding a plate of macaroni and cheese under her face.

The warm smell wafts under her nose, creating a weird sense of déjà vu that reminds her of her childhood. It's weird really, to have such a sinking sensation in a heart that yearns for home when she never even had a place to call her own or a family for that matter.

"I'm not hungry," she mumbles under her breath and god, why does she feel like crying again?

This isn't her. She's always so in control of her life and now she's struggling to keep her emotions in check. She tiredly scrubs at her eyes and slumps back against her chair. Half the cast is showering away the lake water and the other half is already drinking by the pool and soaking up some sun.

"You need to eat," Graham kindly instructs, snagging her plate away and replacing it with something far more appealing. "You need to keep up your strength," he reminds her, wiggling a plate of grilled cheese beneath her nose.

She does love a good grilled cheese.

"I'm just...tired."

"I think that's part of the game," Tink whispers, stabbing her fork into the untouched macaroni and stealing it for herself.

"We barely do anything all week though," Emma complains. "We have one daily challenge and one elimination a week."

"We train every day," Graham proudly reminds her and she can't help but smile at his innocence.

"It's not that...it's just..." she trails off when she finds Zelena and Fiona settling down in the empty seats around the table without an invite. Her curious eyes bounce to her friends for guidance but they seem just as puzzled by the unexpected visit.

"Grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese, what a substantial last meal," Zelena sardonically quips while Fiona curls her nose in disgust.

"It's not my last meal," Emma bitterly grumbles, roughly chewing off the end of her sandwich. "Elimination is tomorrow. I still have three more meals left and then I'll have even more after I win," she smugly retorts.

"Good, that's the kind of blind arrogance we need," Zelena fires off and right when Emma opens her mouth to argue, this woman rushes on. "Listen, it's us Rookie girls left-"

"Marian and Tamara are still here," Tink reminds the wicked woman, persuading icy blue irises to roll in annoyance.

"Yes, I'm quite aware, however, they are tied to Robin and Neal and I don't believe those two will cross Regina."

"Jeff dated Regina," Tink proceeds which only agitates Zelena even further.

"For all of three weeks on the show, quite scandalous," she mocks, rolling her eyes once more while Emma quietly eats her sandwich and listens to every word closely. She can practically feel the camera zooming in on the side of her face and she pleads with her body not to blush. "Anyways, it's obvious that the numbers are going to swing in my direction this evening or Fiona's."

Emma steals a chip and slowly nods along, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself and paint herself as a schemer.

"So," Fiona chimes in, eyes sparkling with mischief, "we are thinking, if we can all get on the same page here, we might be able to throw in a more powerful team."

Emma's eyebrows pinch together in confusion. "So, you are asking me to align with you tonight when we are voting and then go up against one of the Vets?" She investigates in disbelief because the last thing she wants to do is stack the odds against herself and send herself packing home tomorrow.