Reality Check

6. Story Time

Remember how I said I felt like I was at school, what with being the partnerless kid and all? Well, it doesn't stop there. A recording of a clanging bell drowns out my conversation with Hunter like it's trying to dismiss us from homeroom.

After our temporary deafness heals, Henry yells, "Listen up! We've got an hour left. Y'all need to be speaking with different people. I'm going to call out some pairs, and you go mingle for a while. Is everyone's earpiece still working?"

Before the introductions, the crew fitted us with tiny earpieces so they can talk to us during filming without having to interrupt.

Half of us nod. The other half mumble, "Yes."

"Great. When we want you to move on, we'll tell you in your earpiece. So, when you hear a name, you drop the conversation you're in and find that person. Don't take it personally if your partner ditches for another contestant. For all you bad with names, we'll give a description of what they're wearing. Sound good? Good."

Henry begins rattling off pairs. Soon, Hunter abandons me for Claire. There's a smug glint in her eye I very much dislike. You probably think I'm being petty, but I'm not the only one who notices. As Maddie walks by to speak with Julian, she whispers, "Ignore that hoe," into my ear.

"Mia Benson and Elijah Miller!"

Elijah Miller is the type of guy Mom wants me to end up with. Neat blonde hair, blue eyes, muscular but not in an intimidating way, bright smile, all the makings of a good Midwestern boy. Oh, and he seemed nice during his spiel. That's important to Mom too.

"Hey, Mia," he says, sticking out his hand, "it's—"

"Introduce yourselves when the cameras are rolling!" Henry yells.

Elijah bites his lip and slowly retracts his hand like he's rewinding.

I decide that I agree with Mom. I'm an Elijah fan. The rewinding thing was pretty funny.

Finally, Henry announces that he finished pairing us up with a very loud, "Alright! Cameras rolling. Action!"

"As I was saying—" Elijah sticks out his hand again "—it's nice to meet you, Mia."

"You too. Having fun tonight?"

"I am. I like meeting new people, so this type of thing is perfect for me. How are you doing?"

"Same here." We start chatting about how it's cool to meet people from around the country and, in the case of Evelyn (alias British Bethany), around the world, which morphs into a conversation about travel. Elijah's easy to talk to, a natural people-person. I have a feeling most of the women are going to include him in their top three. He's polite, funny, witty, the whole nine.

Sarah's voice interrupts my story about spring break in Aruba. "Talk to Julian, please. Black tie, pink shirt."

"Looks like I, uh, have to run," I tell Elijah, and I'm happy to see that he looks a little disappointed. I know that makes me sound like a monster, but I mean it in the nicest way possible. I definitely want to continue our conversation after this mixer.

Julian's pretty hot in a too-buttoned-up type of way. His chestnut hair is slicked back with a reasonable amount of gel. He could really give Wyatt lessons, but I digress. His eyes match his hair color perfectly (kind of like Sarah's shoes and skirt yesterday), and they twinkle just a bit when they lock onto mine.

"Hi, Julian." I stick out my hand. So far tonight, the men have been introducing themselves to me first. The cycle stops here.

Julian's hand dwarfs mine, but he shakes it gently. "It's a pleasure, Mia. I was hoping I'd get the chance to talk to you tonight."