In The Spotlight

Coiny- The End All Be All

(A/N: IK I never do these at the beginning, but I wanted to be upfront about this. I was doing edits, and I think this works better as the last true chapter. There will be an epilogue tomorrow. Sorry.)

I stand plastered in my spot, unsure of how to deal with the fact that I'm potentially ten minutes away from a million dollars.

That number is difficult to contextualize.

4 turns to us. "The prize for second place is 10,000 dollars. You're not going home empty handed." Oh. That one isn't.

Damn. I run toward Pin, who's jumping up and down like a child in the front row. She looks at me with giddy glee. Something in me, the most childish, basic parts of my brain, keep telling me how cool she is. Her eyes, still brown, as always now, are so shiny and lit up, it's amazing.

"I just won 10,000 dollars!" I shout, as if she didn't hear the first time.

She smiles wider, grabs my shoulders, and shakes me a little. "No." She whisper-yells. "You just won at least 10,000 dollars!"

And now I'm grinning, mirroring her. "Yeah. Yeah, oh my god."

"I'm still on Team Coiny, you know?"

I do know that, but I didn't say yes, or even nod. Instead, and I don't know why, probably adrenaline, I am completely overwhelmed by the thought that we are close enough to kiss.

Everything that's ever happened between us is flashing right now. Behind my eyes, I see our first meeting in LA, when I rambled on and on about something I'm sure she had no interest in. I see when she and I spent the morning in Brooklyn, with her hair flipping every which way in the breeze. I see us quietly watching the pigeons flit around in Washington Square Park. I see us holding hands and chatting for hours, sitting on my bed.

I pull away from her shoulders. "I know you're on my side."

"Go win this thing," she says, her expression cheerful and encouraging. She points somewhere behind me.

I look. 4 is trying to get me to stand back in view of the cameras. I give Pin a quick nod, and I walk briskly to where 4 has signaled me to go.

I can do this.

I try to focus on X explaining the rules to avoid the anxiety. Beep. Light goes on. For quite possibly the last time. "Welcome back. Now, we're going back to a round 4 approach." Their eyes somehow harden. "Who knows the other better?"

I should be intimidated right now. I can't help looking at my #1 supporter in the audience, and that gives me energy. Oddly, I kind of feel like I have this in the bag. I've known Firey, well, forever. I couldn't have gotten luckier when it came to this.

"We're going to ask a series of 5 easy questions first, but they'll ramp up as we go," explains 4. We nod.

"Firey," X begins, as the lights lower, a red glow settling upon the room. "What is Coiny's favorite color?"

I have to keep myself from laughing. He knows my favorite color, because for years he would forget until last minute to get me gifts for Christmas and birthdays, and I'd end up with a bunch of yellow party favors and lemonheads.

"Yellow," he says, with a warm smile on his face. It doesn't even really feel like a competition anymore. Just a schoolyard game. A ding sound plays.

"Coiny, what is Firey's favorite color?"

This is kind of humorous, considering his current romantic situation. "Green." I rolled my eyes playfully.

Ding.