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III. THE FIRST SUPPER
The air smells like rain is approaching; Andrew risks a peak out of the tower's window as the light slowly disappears, confirming his assumption. The sun set. "I guess we should start to head back," he says, his eyes meeting Drea's; big, and dark, and beautiful. The pair was holed up in the kiddie slide tower the whole day, sharing whispered jokes (95% of them coming from Andrew, and sometimes he was still overthinking, believing that Drea only laughed out of pity), and the dust covering all the surfaces tickles their throat. But, and that's what makes Andrew take a deep breath of relief, causing him to inhale even more of the aforementioned dust, they weren't found. Today, they were save from elimination.
He holds out a hand to guide Drea down the stairs; he knows they didn't need it, but he offers it anyways, to be a gentleman, and Drea takes it, intertwining their fingers. "This shit is so boring," they say, stretching their back, aching from a whole day of sitting around in the same position. "I wonder how they'll make it into a reality show."
Andrew shrugs, looking around trying to remember the direction from whence they came earlier that day. "There's gonna be camp drama. Teams that won't get along as well as you and I," he shrugs, "and that whole rations things," he remembers how this morning, there were rations packed for only nine contestants.
Drea pulls him in a direction without saying a word, having memorized the way back. They furrow their eyebrows thinking about Andrew's words. Artificial drama. The bread and butter of a reality show. The production team probably had storylines already planned out back when they chose the contestants. So an established couple — the goal surely was to tear them apart. Make them fight. Give the viewer their dirty laundry. Drea spots a bitter smile, staring at an imaginary camera. They won't get what they want. Andrew and Drea were going to go out of here even stronger a unit. They tighten the grip on Andrew's hand, so much that he winces and Drea is forced to loosen it again.
"Who do you think got found today?" Andrew says after a while of walking, boredom chipping away at him. He isn't even sure anymore if he asked that question before, back in the tower, that fortunately already felt like it was ages ago.
Drea shrugs, thinking about the other contestants. "Hard to say," they shrug, "Monroe and Mercer both seem to be cutthroat, only loyal to themselves kind of people. Argent seems like a bit of an arrogant prick, so he might think himself better at hiding than he really is," they squint a little, "but then Martinez seems like he could balance him out a little."
Andrew nods. "I have no idea who most of those are. How do you even have their last names memorised already?" he furrows his eyebrows, and Drea chuckles; something they only allow themselves really when there was nothing but Andrew around.
They just shrug, too lazy to explain all the names, they just continue: "Carp- Ronnie doesn't seem awfully bright, so maybe him? He seems like the type of guy who'd get eliminated cause he just went out of hiding for a piss."
