This Kiss (18+) COMPLETED

s i x t e e n

Annie didn't want to waste any time - because honestly if she stopped for even a second and thought about what she just may have ruined, she'd be running after Tyler.

She walked across the tiny trailer to the booth where she had lay her bags, and she noticed Tyler's bags still sitting next to hers. She gulped, but only stopped for a second. After digging through the clothes, she found what she had been looking for.

The phone lit up in her hand, she ignored the missed texts and calls which were illuminated on the screen like a constant reminder, and dialed Abigail's number. She felt almost scared to call her, scared to see what she'd do or say. The dull ringing in her ear was starting to make her anxious.

Then finally the ringing stopped, and she heard almost a sigh from the other end, "Whoever this is, you better return Annie's phone to her belongings immediately."

Annie almost laughed out loud, but for some reason she didn't think that would be the brightest thing to do, "Abigail, it's me."

There was a hesitation from the other side, then Annie jumped as Abigail started, "Annie!? What the heck! Did you get booted off the show! That wasn't on last nights episode, what the heck!"

Annie sighed, "Abigail, we don't have time for this. I can't explain it all right now, but I need your help.." Abigail didn't answer right away, her previous state of being unable to shut up had vanished, as if it never happened.

"What happened?"

So Annie told her, from Brock to Tyler, to Paul and escaping the place as fast as she could. She didn't leave anything out. Anything except, of course, her fight with Tyler. That part wasn't exactly a need to know kinda thing.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do.."

****

  "Annie, you have to stop freaking out." Abbie told her just 30 minutes after her desperate phone call for help towards her best friend.

  "I can't Abbie, I'm doing this on my own. I'm taking a stand for all the females out there, all the woman, everyone." She whispered, trying to convince herself in the process.

  "Look. I know what you're gonna do is pretty.. drastic. But how else are you gonna get the justice you and the ladies still on the show deserve? They basically lied to you and played with your feelings. They shouldn't have spilled the beans with those private sessions.." Annie was only half listening as Abbie went on her little encouraging rant. She was staring straight ahead through the bushes at the stage set up ahead of her.
 
  It was time for the elimination, and in just a couple minutes the cameras would be live and filming, showing all over the world. Nothing could stop her from running out there and exposing the truth. Except maybe the three giant, hunky security guards she saw bunkered down at each open entrance.

  "What if they grab me? What if they shove me 'round like they do on those cop shows?" Annie asked, interrupting Abbie's continuous speech. Abbie pretended not to notice and grabbed her by the shoulders. Her gaze tore from the lit up yard and focused on Abbie's intense stare.

  "Listen here, I don't want you chickening out on me now, Annie. This is the opportunity you have to expose the lying bastards for what they are. If you don't do this tonight, they won't stop filming. They'll explain your absence as what, a family emergency like they lied to you about with Brock? You have to do this-" Abbie was cut off by the blinding light that illuminated the set before them, and then they saw a smiling Paul come rushing out onto the set, the cameras all pointed at him at every angle, Abbie continued, "and it starts right now!"

  In the middle of Paul's opening speech, explaining the rules once again, Annie heard her own name, so she paused, her breath hitched in her throat as she listened, "I'm just devastated to hear about Annie's departure. She came to me, in such a messy state, claiming she couldn't handle lying to her husband back home. Her poor, injured husband. He was suffered from PTSD and he just couldn't bare to watch TV, so she knew she had it out, she knew she had a free go. No sex can do that-"

  "You jackass." Annie came running from the forest, and suddenly every light and camera was trained exactly on her. Every nerve in her body shot up, every inch of her body was pumping with the adrenaline.

  Nobody spoke, but she saw the security guards slowly moving in, but also eying the cameras. They weren't rushing towards her - she had time!
 
  "My name is Annie, as you all may know already. I absolutely do not have a husband back home, a poor sick one especially. Do anything to save your ass, huh Paul?" Annie took a few tentative steps forward, with each step the menacing eyes of the bulky security guards growled back.

  Her terrified stature turned into a tall, confident one, "I know what the show has been portraying," she turned and faced the camera with the brightest light, it seemed to be the main focus, "but that's not who I am, that's not what really went down. Brock was a very bad man, and I don't think I want to know what they really showed you on live TV. It pains me to think of the girls he's hurt before. But that's not the point."

  Paul was watching with wide eyes, but from cameras hidden view, she could see his hand down by his waist, his palm flat out towards his back. He was halting the security guards. One wrong move and he'd give them the go. Annie gulped but didn't falter.

  "All I know is that this show is wrong, it portrays the wrong feelings, it doesn't want anyone to fall in love, it wants to break hearts, rip them out, tear them to shreds. It wants to tear apart friendships and rip up chances that people can really have together. One wrong word and someone can walk from your life forever.." she heard a throat clear, and from the corner of her eyes she saw Abbie, and she shook her head, getting back into the program.

  "All these girls here are worth so much more than this stupid reality show. Which isn't really reality at all. It's hate, it's lies, and it's pain. It needs to end." Paul finally took a few steps towards Annie, but she held her ground strong.

  "What makes you think that your little words will do anything big?" He muttered. But she knew the cameras could hear him.

  "Because of the clips you shared. Of personal happenings between your cast members. Everything behind those walls were real. To me, and to many others. Girls! Guys! If you can hear me, please hear me loud and clear. This show portrays your most private moments for the world to see. Just so you know." Paul's face took a turn, from the first scared little boy, to the confident tv show host, and now it rest upon defeat. Annie turned around and began to run from the set just as she saw the guards start to move.

  She vanished into the dark forest once again, the darkness engulfing her very quickly as she heard Paul yell a command to the guards and the cast, "Don't waste your energy. She's gone, and so is this show."

  She peeked her head up over the bushes just in time to see Paul throw the papers -his lines? - into the air and walk off the set. She smiled and fist pumped the air, then turned and disappeared from the set, she never thought she'd be happy with not being on TV.