An Unlikely Reunion

One

I couldn't help shaking as I walked up to the villa. A camera team was following me and I had absolutely no idea how to handle that. I knew I would have to get used to it, seeing as I would be spending at least a week here. For the millionth time today, I wondered why I hadn't just ignored the invitation and gone on with my life.

"Okay, you're going to walk down these stairs right here. The other girls are already there. You ready?" one of the crew members said as another one took my luggage.

I simply nodded my head even though I was anything but ready. No one had told me that I would be the last girl to come in before, but I supposed that would only work out in my favour. After all, that meant I wouldn't have to talk too much to the others until the choosing or whatever they called it.

I slowly descended the stairs, hoping to catch a glimpse of the others before they saw me. Unfortunately, I had no such luck. They noticed me immediately. One of them, the only blonde, got up and, once I had reached the end of the stairs, came to me and hugged me.

"Hey, I'm Kylie. How are ya?" she said as she let go of me.

Despite my surprise at how comfortable she was just hugging a complete stranger, I replied, "I'm fine, I guess. My name's Claire, by the way."

She took my hand and as we walked towards the other girls, she shouted, "Hey, everyone, meet Claire!"

The others greeted me and told me their names as well, but I was too overwhelmed by the entire situation to remember them.

Once I'd sat down, the girls started to squeal. I had no idea what was going on until I saw someone else walk towards us. The moderator, I assumed -- a woman I didn't know, but everyone else obviously did. Maybe I should have done my homework before coming here. Surely it wouldn't have hurt me to watch some episodes. Well, it was too late now.

The next couple of minutes were extremely awkward for me. The other girls and the moderator had a little chat while I was just sitting there, contemplating my life decisions. Luckily, we were told that we would meet the boys now not too much later.

We stood in one line by the pool as the moderator asked us if we were excited. We all were. I wondered what kind of stupid question that was as she introduced the first boy to us: Joshua.

He had dark brown hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. Unsurprisingly, he was fairly muscular. Something about him made me think he was a bad boy. Maybe it was the way he looked at us.

We were asked who of us fancied Joshua. The girl to my left, a gorgeous brunette wearing a bathing suit with a union jack pattern, stepped forward, as well as Kylie.

The moderator asked them why the liked him. She addressed them with their names, so I found out the brunette was called Jennifer. I didn't really listen to their respective answers, though. I wasn't too much into the dude, and I really couldn't care less why anyone else would be into him.

He chose Kylie, which didn't particularly surprise me. Jennifer was absolutely stunning, for sure, but Kylie was one of those girls every guy would go for at least once in his life. Not necessarily wife material, but someone to have fun with.

The second guy was undeniably hot. He was practically the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. He looked like a more attractive version of the first guy. He had broader shoulders, more muscular arms, and, oh God, the jawline -- so sharp, it looked like it could cut you.

When the moderator asked us to step forward, I enthusiastically took a big step. He most likely wouldn't pick me unless I was the only one who'd stepped forward -- and even then, I was fairly sure he'd be confident enough to choose someone who hadn't stepped forward. As I looked around, I realised that everyone except for one girl liked him. And the one girl who stayed wasn't even Kylie, who had already been coupled up. I couldn't blame her, though.

This time, the moderator luckily didn't ask us why we liked him, but asked the other girl, Anastasia, why she didn't.

"I don't know you yet, but you look like an arse", she said.

That foul language absolutely did not match the way she looked. Her long brown hair and doe eyes gave off a vibe of innocence. Then again, I knew I looked similar, and innocent was one of those words no one would ever use to describe me.

"Ouch," the guy, Lucas, said. "That was a bit harsh." He didn't seem too bothered, though.

I kind of expected for him to choose Kylie, but he ended up choosing Jennifer. I was a bit bummed it wasn't me, but he was only the second boy. Who knew who else would walk in?

And just as I thought that, another guy walked in. He was exactly my type. Muscular, like the other two guys, but didn't have as much of a tan. Unlike the other two, he was blond and had green eyes. He didn't look as much like a tough dude, but more like a soft yet mysterious man. I was intrigued.

The moderator introduced him as Martin, and I didn't even wait for her to ask us who fancied him before I stepped forward. Everyone chuckled a little.

"Eager, are we?" the guy asked, an eyebrow raised. I bit my lip. Sassy, too? I wanted this guy.

"Well, let's skip all the introduction then. Who else fancies Martin?" the moderator laughed.

Anastasia and the one other girl, whose name I still didn't know, stepped forward. I screamed internally. They were the two girls that looked the most like me. Except they both were prettier. Anastasia was slightly taller, but more importantly thinner, while the other girl had exceptionally pretty blue eyes and the most perfect body I'd ever seen. I was nearly certain she was a model.

"Which one of those gorgeous ladies do you want to couple up with, Martin?" the moderator asked. "You can also choose the ones that didn't step forward."

He slowly mustered each of us. It was probably only a couple of seconds until he finally said something, but it felt like an eternity to me. There was absolutely no way anyone else in this competition would be more attractive to me than this guy.