Real(ity) Feelings

Chapter 8

Dianne felt Joe's sweaty palm squeeze her hand tighter and she swore she saw him wince in preparation for the words about to come out of the host's mouth. She looked at him in concern, wondering why he seemed so nervous - they were all aware that new people would be coming into the house every week, so she wasn't sure what was causing such a worry-filled reaction.

She focused her attention back toward the host, who was loudly announcing, "...the newest addition to the Oasis Island mansion...is Mia!"

A small, tanned girl with long wavy dark hair, dressed in a short white sundress, came prancing around the fence line, bouncing her way toward the group, a massive smile spread across her face, her hands clasped in front of her. Her eager energy was emanating off her body in waves.

Dianne stared, unimpressed by the overt show of enthusiasm, and unintentionally gripped Joe's hand even tighter. "It's okay, you have Joe,"she thought to herself, trying to quiet the voice in her head that was screaming at her to be worried. "He wouldn't kiss you like he did this morning and then just skip off to another girl."

The host wrapped up the introduction section, and cameras moved back, allowing the group to begin interacting without the host leading the conversation.

"Hi everyone," Mia exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "I'm so happy to be here!"

"Are you? We couldn't tell," Dianne heard Quinn mutter. For the first time since arriving to the mansion, Dianne felt a flash of warmth instead of rage toward the tattooed woman beside her.

The group went around introducing themselves, making small talk along the way. They all had gravitated back to the bar, alcohol clearly becoming necessary to cover up the awkwardness of letting a new person into the fray.

"So, Mia," Luke started, as he cracked open a beer. "Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do?

"Well," she started, the smile still wide across her face. "I'm 23, I live in London and I'm a social media influencer!"

Dianne held back a groan and looked over at Joe who was stood closely at her side, rolling her eyes and pretending to gag. Joe gave her a weak smile back, and averted his eyes.

"That was weird," Dianne thought to herself, before her attention was brought back to the conversation in front of her.

"You seem like a fun girl," Steve commented, ignoring the glare Hannah was shooting at him across the bar. "What kind of guys are you interested in?"

Mia smiled coyly back at Steve, before raking her eyes across the entire group, stopping toward the end of the bar. "Well...you're all gorgeous...but I can't lie, I'm here specifically for Joe."

---

Joe felt himself choke on the sip of beer he had just taken, hearing the murmurs of disbelief around the bar, he forced himself to look up and saw Mia smirking, batting her eyes toward him. He could see out of his peripheral vision, Dianne's head swinging around at record speed, her eyes searing holes into the side of his head.

"Um..." is all he was able to get out, before Jay interrupted.

"You're here for Joe?" he asked in disbelief. "You're in for a major letdown, love. This bloke hasn't left Dianne's side since day one."

Mia smiled at Jay briefly, before swinging her eyes back to Joe. "I'm not too fussed. Things can change."

"This can't be happening,"Joe thought as he felt his face go hot. "The girl who can reveal my secret is also obsessed with me."