Team Chris's place in Economy Class had an overwhelming feeling of injustice. They did exactly what was asked of, yet they still lost the challenge. It was a massive slap in the face to the otherwise powerful team.
Their only consolation was their new team member, Duncan. Whether the delinquent liked it or not, he slept on the bench across from Alejandro and Tyler. The latter person looked awfully pale, trembling as if he'd just seen a ghost.
Miranda sat on Duncan's side in the corner of the room, also looking a bit uneasy. After sleeping on everything that happened back in London she just felt... wrong. Ever since she kissed the Spaniard across from her, it was as if she had sealed her fate. She was always going to have a bias in favor of him. She could deny it all she wanted, but ultimately, she was the one to initiate all this. This was completely her fault.
She took some time to vent in the confessional about it.
"...I already regret it. I was blinded by that stupidly handsome smile. If I could go back, I'd take that kiss back. I'd take it everything back...! I knew I was awful at this game, but I surprise myself more every day."
Meanwhile, Alejandro was incredibly content with his current status. He had been completely dominating this game, the majority of contestants didn't suspect him in the slightest, and he got the prettiest girl on the plane to kiss him on her own terms. He couldn't be sitting in a better place, strategically.
Although, he couldn't help but notice Tyler's anxiousness.
"Something wrong, Tyler? If you tell me, maybe I can help."
Tyler looked around worriedly. "I saw something..."
Suddenly, a yawn was heard from across the room, sealing Tyler's mouth shut.
"Oh, man that was a deep sleep. A sleep of the dead." Duncan chuckled, glaring at Tyler.
"You get it, Tyler? Dead!"
Tyler looked completely terrified by the delinquent's threat, much to Alejandro's interest. The Spaniard smirked curiously, heading off to the confessional, the one Miranda had just finished using.
"Hola, dollface. My, don't you look beautiful this morning~"
She simply rolled her eyes. "...Right."
She walked back to Economy Class, desperately trying to ignore him. He didn't mind it, though. He knew exactly where her trust was, he didn't need her to confirm it. So, Alejandro sat in the confessional to process his thoughts about what he'd witnessed.
"Duncan and Tyler...I must figure out what's going on there and use it."
He paused for a moment, snickering at his sudden haziness.
"Although, it is hard to focus when those sapphires keep clouding my judgment. Ah, such a mysterious beauty she is."
Chris soon came over the intercom. "Attention passengers! Please report to the Common Area! Pronto!"
Everyone did just that, gathering around the table in the center of the room to hear Chris's spiel once more.
"Prepare yourselves for challenges of an amateur caliber. Because we're recreating the original Olympics! And we're heading to the birthplace of the Olympics right now in..."
"Greece!"
"Atlantis?"
"Mount Olympics?"
"Wrong, fictional, and...what? We're going to Rome! Italy!"
Owen gasped. "Pizza party!"
"But Courtney was correct, the Olympics originated in Greece," Alejandro corrected politely.
"No, the originated in-"
"Greece, they're right." Gwen nodded in agreement.
Chris read over the papers in his hands, his eyes narrowing with frustration as he scowled.
"Interns!"
Two interns ran up to him with fear plastered on their pathetic faces.
"Everyone should probably hold onto something, everyone except you."
The contestants quickly grabbed onto any part of the table they could as the plane suddenly shifted sharply to send the one intern flying out into the air. Once everything straightened out, Chris glared at the other intern, shoving the papers into his arms.
"You might wanna find some info on Greece...quickly! Greece, it is. Chef, slight change of plans." Chris walked back into the cockpit.
"Prepare yourself for battle!" Sierra growled confidently.
"Child's play, there's no way us athletes will lose an Olympic challenge to a team with no men." Alejandro chuckled cockily.
Cody sighed sadly, making Sierra glare even harsher. Heather walked over to Alejandro to potentially fuel his ego.
"Hope you look good in silver. I'm great in gold," she smirked proudly.
Alejandro rolled his eyes. "I'll be happy to lend you some of ours... since we'll have all of them."
With that, everyone went back to their respective compartments. Miranda didn't like where any of this was headed. She was the furthest thing from an athlete, contrary to Alejandro's declaration. She never played sports, and quite frankly, was not active in the slightest. She wanted to get in better shape, but she had no motivation to do so. Alejandro definitely overestimated her on this one. She was already stressed and angry at her stupidity, and now she was expected to do Olympic challenges, and completely embarrass herself?
"...Fuck off," She muttered to herself as she followed her team back into Economy Class.
Within a few hours, the plane landed in Greece, right next to the famous marble structure that started a lifelong tradition across the world.
"Welcome to the Acropolis in Athens, Greece! Home to many of the first Olympians. Who, as my intern has informed me, competed naked."
Owen sighed. "Alright. Time to drop the laundry."
He started undoing his belt, which made everyone, including Chris begin to panic.
"No, no, no, no! That was just a quirky fact! Not an order! There's no need to be a hundred percent accurate. Stay dressed. Very dressed. We only have to resort to nudity if there's a tie-breaker. Today, we're gonna do things a bit differently. Since Team Amazon is down a man and is an all-girl team, in order to make things fair all of today's challenges will be one on one matches. Every victory gets you a gold medal. The team with the most golds wins First Class tickets to our next destination. Second place wins a brutal elimination ceremony."
"And silver medals! Right? Second place gets silver?" Owen asked.
"There are no silver medals, just gold."
"But at the Olympics-"
"Just gold. That's it."
The first area the contestants were taken to was large and open but had the feeling of being quite confined due to all the columns boxing them in.
"Our first historical event is a Greecian scavenger hunt. The inside of the Odeum of Pericles is filled with maze-like rows of huge columns. Players must search through this ancient forest of columns and return with the Greecian treasure that awaits inside. First one to do so, takes the gold! So, who's going in?"
Gwen and Duncan volunteered at the same time, much to Courtney's dismay.
"Gwen versus Duncan it is!"
"Wow, that is so...fun~" Courtney put on a clearly fake smile.
Alejandro rubbed his chin, getting lost in thought once again. Around here was when he took another confessional about his theories.
"Now there's tension between Duncan and Gwen? Perhaps Tyler and Gwen are secretly dating, and Duncan is...Ah, no, no, no. Patience..."
"What's the big deal? Just let someone else to the event!" Duncan complained.
"My decision is final, Duncan!"
Duncan mumbled under his breath, making Chris glare.
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't say anything." he rolled his eyes.
"And you won't say anything until the Olympics are over. Between now and then, you can either zip it or sing it. It'll begin to make up for the songs you missed while you were in breach of your contract. And if you speak instead of sing, you'll earn a lash from Chef's Olympic towel."
Duncan chuckled. "Ooh, a towel~ I'm so scared."
"You should be. Exhibit A."
Chef whipped Duncan's behind with the towel, making him wince in pain. "Ow!"
"Shucks, you really should've sung that 'ow', bro." Chris snickered
Chef hit him again, forcing Duncan to sing out his pain this time.
"Much better." Chris handed Gwen and Duncan metal trash can lids.
"Uh, why do we need these?" Gwen asked nervously.
"These authentic Spartan shields will help you in your treasure hunt. For the treasure you seek is tied to an Erymanthian boar. Good luck, you two. Duncan, Chef will be following you so be sure to sing it if you gotta say it. Chef, sound the Spartan battle horn!"
Chef blew on his mighty kazoo, making Chris groan with disappointment.
"That's the Spartan battle horn? For real? Ugh! Just go already!"
Everyone else began to leave the area, thoroughly confusing and worrying Courtney.
"We aren't going to stay? And watch? Closely?"
"Nope, time to flip channels, just like the real Olympics!"
So, Courtney reluctantly followed Chris and the others to the next playing field. They were taken to a part of the Acropolis with some crumbled staircases and a large circle in the center.
"Pankration is an ancient Greek martial art, with no rules! Last man standing wins the gold!"
"As the strongest Amazon, I volunteer to fight for our team!" Courtney grinned proudly.
"I'm pretty sure I'm the strongest," Cody argued, making Sierra swoon.
Courtney simply chuckled. "As I was saying..."
Sierra growled. "That's it! I volunteer to fight Courtney!"
"Um...I need someone from Team I Am Really Really Really Really Hot to get involved here. Anyone?"
Owen smiled, wrapping an arm around the disgruntled Spaniard. Miranda was hiding behind Tyler, anxiously waiting to be disregarded.
"Come on, Al! We can take them!"
"Wait! I was on the wrestling team in grade school!" Tyler exclaimed.
Alejandro smirked at this, pulling away from Owen.
"Then, we should make an arrangement. I'll give you my spot if you swear you'll repay me the favor down the road."
Tyler smiled, nodding agreement as Owen began to taunt the girls.
"We're gonna destroy you!"
"Sold! Into the ring with all of you!" Chris announced.
Alejandro grinned contently, standing off to the side as Miranda followed suit. She felt completely relieved nobody volunteered her, but still afraid of what was to come. She cautiously pulled on Alejandro's sleeve. He looked down at her, grinning sweetly as if to already bring her anxious heart some ease.
"If I grip onto you, I apologize. It's just... anxiety kicking in."
"Anxiety? Whatever for, chica?" he rose an eyebrow.
She gestured to everyone as they started getting in the ring.
"All of... this."
"You're afraid of martial arts?" He smirked playfully.
She sighed. "No, dumbass. I...don't know if you know what traumatophobia is, but..."
When she said that, something clicked in Alejandro's brain. Things finally started making sense, when it came to the events that occurred in Germany, that is.
"Ah, yes, the fear of physical injury from a result of combat, if I'm not mistaken."
She nodded, her eyes not meeting his out of sheer embarrassment. But Alejandro took that feeling away by wrapping an arm around her shoulder gently.
"No worries, doll. I'm here for you, I promise."
She rolled her eyes, pouting a bit. "Whatever you say."
With that, the fighting had begun. Cody immediately charged at Owen, who sent him flying with his belly. Sierra gasped, then angrily jumped on his back.
"This is for hurting Cody!" She barked, using her legs to choke Owen.
Courtney was taking swings at Tyler, pleasing Heather immensely.
"That's it, Courtney! You show him who's boss! Go Amazons! Woo-hoo!"
Alejandro wasn't quite as impressed. "Come on, Tyler! Just pin her already!"
"I don't wanna hit a girl–"
Courtney landed a solid punch on him, knocking him down. Miranda whimpered, covering her face quickly. Alejandro couldn't help but chuckle quietly as he wrapped his other arm around her.
"It's okay, dollface."
Cody quickly came rushing back into the fight.
"Never fear, ladies! I'm back to save you!"
"Just...stay out of the way, pipsqueak!" Courtney snapped.
Sierra, who was still attacking Owen, turned aggressive upon hearing that.
"Pipsqueak? That's it!"
She suddenly pounced onto Courtney, punching her and pulling on her hair.
Alejandro couldn't help but snicker as Heather's team began to crumble. Miranda buried her head in Alejandro's chest as she heard Sierra's growls of fury.
"Your team is fierce, but shouldn't they be fighting us?"
Heather glared at the girl he was holding onto. Sierra began to choke Courtney, with the CIT fighting back hard.
"Respect... my... Cody!" Sierra snarled.
"Same... team!" Courtney panted.
"Girls, girls...!" Cody pleaded, before getting a chop in the face from Courtney.
"Cody! You'll pay for that!"
They fought until both of them crash-landed on the ground from pure exhaustion, leaving Owen to gently place his foot over their backs.
"And Owen wins two medals for Team Chris!"
"Two?"
"Hey, it was supposed to be a one-on-one challenge, but you turned it into a team event." Chris grinned, cutting to a commercial.
Meanwhile, Duncan and Gwen were fighting off the boar bear, with Gwen snatching the medal as they sang.
Fine, let's do it
Let's clear the air
Save it for later
Look out for that bear!
The pain, the pain!
Too much to explain!
Gotta stop what we're doing
'Cause this is just insane
Boar bear's got me
And that's seriously lame
Thanks, Mr. Boar Bear
I guess I win this game!
Alejandro, who had the chance to sneak away from his team to witness it, was very intrigued by their telling song. It made the wheels in his devious brain start turning on overdrive. At last, he knew what all the fuss was about, and exactly how to handle it. He took a very short, but very sinister confessional.
"...Interesting song. Someone's been very naughty."
Back on the playing field, Gwen had taken the metal from the bear, earning the first gold for her team.
"Nice one, Gwen!"
"Yes!" Gwen high-fived Courtney, who immediately asked about Duncan with concern in her tone.
"Is Duncan okay? How long were you guys alone together before we got here?"
"Next event, moving on!" Chris butted in.
"What about Duncan? Shouldn't we help him?" Courtney stammered.
"Chef will do that. Moving on!" Chris demanded.
Everyone was taken outside of the Acropolis, to an area set up with a bunch of hurdles, each getting taller and taller as they led to a checkered flag.
"Welcome to the hurdles event! The ultimate test of speed and flexibility. Players must leap higher and higher over the hurdles while they race for the finish line. First one to cross wins the gold. And since Heather, Alejandro and Miranda are the only three left to compete, two of them will be going head to head. Team I Am Really Really Really Really Hot, who's hurdling?"
Alejandro was quick to notice the uncertain fear in Miranda's eyes as she heard her name. He put on a smile and stepped forward.
"I'll happily compete for our team."
"Sorry, but I'm fast and flexible." Heather pulled her leg up, smirking confidently.
Owen walked over to Alejandro.
"If we lose tonight, we're gonna vote whoever didn't win a medal, right?"
Alejandro also smirked, effortlessly doing a split and tying his hair up with his feet. Heather was completely dumbfounded.
"Oh, yeah~" Owen grinned with a snicker.
Miranda couldn't help but swoon as Alejandro started stretching, daydreaming of things she definitely shouldn't have been. Once he was ready, he turned back to Miranda, cupping her cheek gently.
"I will take your place, but you may or may not owe me something else in return." He winked.
She blushed, glancing down at her feet for a moment. "W-What would I owe you?"
He shrugged cheekily. "I'll decide that later, mamí."
That pet name only made her blush more as he let go of her and got himself over to the starting line. He wasn't leaving much up to the imagination.
"That should be Cody out there! In second grade, he competed in a hurdles event and won the coveted participation award!" Sierra chirped.
"The things you know frighten all of us. They really do. On your marks, get set, go!"
They both started running, and they ended up being very evenly matched. But of course, Alejandro couldn't help but toy with Heather.
"Don't worry! You can borrow my medal if you ever wanna look like a winner!"
Owen was cheering and high-fiving Tyler in a circle, while Miranda watched nervously.
"Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!"
Alejandro flipped onto his hands, doing flips as he jumped over each hurdle. It was getting way too close for him to be so comfortable. And the more his team watched, the more they realized that.
"Dude, come on! Come on!"
Alejandro flipped back onto his feet, turning to his team to assure them.
"Don't worry, my friends! Victory is in hand!"
He immediately ate his words as he ran directly into the tallest hurdle, while Heather just barely made it over while she tumbled across the ground. The Amazons cheered, while Alejandro gasped, quickly getting up to try and make up his lost ground. Unfortunately for him though, Heather was able to keep the lead.
"Yes!" Heather beamed as she finished.
"No!" Alejandro fell to his knees.
"Another gold for the Amazons!"
Miranda couldn't prevent herself from feeling bad for the Spaniard. She definitely tried to relish in his failure, but she just didn't have the cruelty to do so. She did take the embarrassment for her, after all.
When he made his way back over to the team, Miranda grabbed onto his hand. She didn't say anything, but he knew what exactly she would've said. His widened eyes narrowed as he smiled at her softly, squeezing onto her hand. The sudden grip was enough to stop her in her tracks, while everyone went ahead.
He pulled her close and suddenly kissed her. She gasped when this happened, quickly kissing him back before he pulled away. It felt about as quick as it came on. She blinked up at him, completely stunned.
"Wh-What..." she stumbled a bit.
"Consider that what you owe me." He cooed quietly.
She snickered and rolled her eyes, beginning to walk again. Alejandro held onto her hand while they caught up with everyone else.
As everyone gathered around Chris, Courtney began complaining about Duncan.
"Okay, seriously! Where is Duncan?"
"Duncan will join us as soon as he can, if he's still alive." Chris laughed.
Gwen looked terrified as Chris said that. "If?! What does that mean!?"
"Can you focus on the game? It's time for the dreaded tiebreaker!"
Courtney once again decided to butt in. "One sec, Chris. You sounded really concerned there..."
"Well, I uh...know how you feel," Gwen answered nervously.
"You know how I feel? Like, you get it? Or you feel the same way." Courtney glared.
"Uh, uh, look! Wings!"
An intern rolled out two sets of wings, grabbing everyone's attention again.
"Attention, please! Chef spent over one hour building two sets of wings, out of wax and the feathers we found in the plane's engine. One member from each team must strap on the wings and take flight, all the way up there. Whoever snags the gold medal out of the sky, wins the Olympics and First Class passage for their team."
"Uh...sounds kinda dangerous," Owen muttered.
"Not at all."
But as soon as Chris spoke, the wings completely fell apart. The intern anxiously rolled them back for repairs.
"We're gonna need some more wax! So, who's going up?"
"I'll do it! For all of you~" Cody grinned, making Sierra incredibly excited.
"Team Me, Super Hot Me. You'll be sending in Miranda since she has yet to compete."
It was the beginning of the end in her mind. She already felt the world closing in with pressure, but she cleared her throat and stepped forward as if she wasn't having an existential crisis.
"Sure, I'll give it a shot."
"And, since it's a tiebreaker, before you two strap on your wings, please slip into these authentic Spartan battle costumes."
Sierra hugged Cody tightly, squealing. "Costumes!"
So, the two went to change, with Miranda feeling very underdressed. All she had on was a golden bralette, a short tasseled skirt, a red cape, and some gladiator sandals. Her face was bright red, especially when Alejandro started eyeing her up and down. He winked at her, that signature smirk eating her alive. To cover up his very clear attraction, he examined the costumes themselves.
"Those are not auth–"
He was shushed by Sierra. "No one cares."
"This is gonna be a close one," Owen whispered nervously.
"Yes, too close. Someone needs a distraction to slow them down." Alejandro smirked as he made his way over to Tyler.
"Time to pay back that favor. Please tell Courtney what you know about Duncan and Gwen."
Courtney gasped, glaring at a scared Gwen. Tyler looked nervous, but Alejandro gave him a stern look.
"On your marks!" Chris chanted.
"Now." Alejandro commanded.
With only a bit of hesitation, Tyler finally blurted out his secret.
"I-I saw Duncan and Gwen kiss!"
"What!?" Courtney's eyes widened with complete disbelief.
Tyler instantly sighed, relieved to finally have said it out loud. "Oh, that's a load off..."
Miranda was honestly quite jealous of his relief.
"He said he saw–" Alejandro didn't have to repeat anything, as Courtney instantly turned, snarling at Gwen.
"Get set!"
Sierra quickly grabbed hold of Courtney to make sure she wouldn't pounce on Gwen. But that didn't stop her from trying, flailing her fists at her furiously.
"How could you!? I thought we were friend...ish! I hate you! I hate you!!"
"Go!"
Miranda had tried to blank everything out and just fly. None of this chaos concerned her, all she needed to focus on was getting a victory for her team.
Back on the ground, Cody wasn't happy with this truth that was revealed.
"Duncan? Duncan!?"
Right on cue, the punk in question appeared, laughing at Cody's costume.
"You called? Ha! Nice bikini!"
Cody silently and angrily landed a punch square in Duncan's face, knocking him down to the ground. This let Chef smack him once more with his towel.
"Fly, Cody! Fly!" Sierra called.
"Cody, stay where you are." Courtney hissed.
"But, we'll lose..."
Courtney's heated gaze was fixated on Gwen, making Sierra gasp in realization, and eventually agreement.
"Oh. Cody! Stay where you are!"
"You are so... e-lim-i-na-ted." Courtney sneered.
"She's got my vote." Heather scoffed.
"Agreed." Sierra huffed.
Gwen began tearing up, leading Cody to start flying to catch up with Miranda.
She was struggling as it was, so seeing him closing in behind her only frightened her more. When she thought it couldn't get worse, feathers from the wings began falling off.
Alejandro noticed this too. "Their wings are molting!"
"Maybe it's seasonal?" Owen asked.
"Come on, Cody..." Gwen whispered.
"You don't get to cheer!" Courtney growled.
Miranda was almost all the way, but she had barely any feathers left. The fear took hold of her body as her vision began to blur. Of course, she always got panic attacks at the worst possible times. Before she could even touch the medal, she began falling. She couldn't even scream as she plummeted to the ground. The ringing in her ears was enough to prevent her from doing so. Something about the feeling of falling completely shut her mind down, and for once, it was empty. Once she finally hit the ground, Alejandro was there to catch her in his arms.
Cody also fell soon after her, except he actually had the medal in his mouth. He landed roughly on the ground.
"Amazons win! And the losers are heading back to the elimination room for the second time in a row."
Miranda was panting heavily, feeling awful in every capacity. Alejandro looked at her worriedly. She looked completely out of it.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
She quietly shook her head, which led him to put her down. With that, everyone went back into the plane.
Team Chris sat in Loser Class with the exception of Miranda. She sat alone in the Common Area, her tact completely deteriorating. Tears burned against her cheeks as she sat and let out a broken sob and insults to herself.
"So...fucking...stupid...I'm worthless...can't do anything right..."
She was trying to prevent this scenario, but she inevitably failed. She strived to be blameless, innocent, and correct. She knew that it would keep her in the game for much longer. As long as she never did anything to put a target on her back, she'd have no reason to be voted off. It was a defensive way to play, almost pacifist-like. But, she was realizing that it was totally inferior to the more offensive methods.
She broke further and further as more minutes passed her by. She'd been away from her team for at least half an hour now. But that was enough time for Alejandro to wonder where she had wandered off to. Knowing how disoriented the tiebreaker made her, he couldn't help but fear the worst for her whereabouts.
He decided to go looking for her, and it didn't take him too long to find her. Her cries could be heard from down the hallway. Instinctually, he wanted to go comfort her. But, he didn't want to startle her, so instead, he stayed back, peering in from the hallway.
"What good are you...if you can't win... something...so simple...? They're better off without me... Stupid...whore...You blew it. You blew it, what's wrong with you!?"
Her tone shifted into distraught anger as she slapped herself across the face. She lowered her head, wiping her mouth to reveal a bit of blood on her fingertips. Her nail must've punctured the skin upon impact.
Alejandro gasped, completely stunned by the sight. Of course, he'd seen her break down before, but never like this. He was completely dumbfounded to see such violence be inflicted on herself, especially since she revealed having a phobia for combat. He thought she'd start screaming at the sight of her blood, but she simply wiped her cheek again, as if she had only gotten paint on her face.
"Worthless...you're so fucking worthless...to everyone...No one needs you..."
Once the shock began to die down, Alejandro couldn't help but feel devastated for her. The fact that she held herself with such low regard, despite being so pure was truly heartbreaking to think about. It felt completely wrong to vote her off after seeing her like this.
Worthless...no, she certainly was the furthest thing from that. She'd had some shining moments as a player, and he had noticed her lack of mistakes. She knew this was a massive blow to her reputation. Not to mention, she was a gentle soul, with no intention of disappointing anyone. She wanted to stay, she wanted to help her team. Even if she wasn't the best at expressing that, Alejandro could tell quite easily. He'd done some terrible things in this game, but to vote Miranda out at a time like this felt like a low that even he didn't want to stoop to.
Perhaps, was it her intention to make him feel bad for her? He knew she was intelligent and could pull something like that off. But, he couldn't say for sure. He didn't want to assume the worst in her. But if that was what she wanted to achieve, it was working.
After deciding he'd seen enough, Alejandro made his way back to Economy Class to sit with Tyler and Owen.
"So, gentlemen, who has your votes?"
"I mean... Miranda was the one to lose the tiebreaker, and you said whoever didn't win a medal..." Owen answered hesitantly.
"That was the only time she competed too. There's nothing else she's got going for her." Tyler agreed lamentably.
When he heard this, it only worried Alejandro further. Despite this, he quickly thought of a way to shift their thoughts.
"I lost my one event too. We all did, aside from Owen. That reasoning can be used against any of us. I'd say at this point, our votes should be cast for the person we like the least."
"...If that's the case, Duncan cheating on Courtney is totally awful. I'd vote that jerk off in a heartbeat." Tyler pouted.
"Yeah, and, Miranda's really nice. Like, really, really nice. I'd feel terrible to vote her off." Owen nodded.
"I agree, Miranda is very kind. Her heart certainly was in the right place. I don't think it's fair to vote her off when she felt an immense amount of pressure to win for us."
"Plus, it'd break your heart to lose your lady~" Owen snickered as he bumped the Spaniard's elbow.
Alejandro rolled his eyes. "I take no ownership of her, of course. But, it is decided, then?"
Both of them nodded, pleasing him greatly. Duncan wasn't around to hear any of that thankfully. But even if he was, it was irrelevant to him. All he needed was two votes and that's what he had gotten.
Everyone gathered in the elimination room after about an hour of waiting. Miranda's eyes were puffy and pink. Her head was held down, desperately trying to not look in anyone's eyes. Alejandro couldn't help but put an arm around her casually.
Chris grinned cheekily. "So here we are, let's look at why. Miranda competed for and lost the tiebreaker, which is why you're all here."
"...I'm sorry. I won't blame you if you vote for me..." Miranda whimpered, making Alejandro pull her closer.
"Tyler got TKO'd by a girl. Funny? Yes, but not helpful. Alejandro blew it in the hurdles, which forced the tiebreaker, which is why you're all here. Plus, he knocked himself out cold trying to out-man a girl. All this, while his hair was in a ponytail."
Alejandro argued back. "What does my hair have to–"
"And Duncan lost his first challenge back and managed to ruffle a lot of melted feathers. Plus, if all the girls get eliminated, we have no idea who he'll try to kiss next."
Duncan scoffed.
"Your choice is pretty clear, but today, the final choice is mine. And the Drop of Shame will be taken by...this intern!"
He pushed an intern out of the plane. Miranda lifted her head up as she covered her mouth. What...just happened? She'd already braced herself to hear her name be called. So when it wasn't...she couldn't begin to process it.
"That's right. I'm ignoring the vote. As if I'm gonna send Duncan home when the fun's just getting started! Team Chris is Really Really Really Really Hot stays as it is, for now."
It was after Chris had spoken that Miranda could process it. She wouldn't have left either way...? Was it a miracle? Was it a curse? She didn't know, but she didn't care at that moment.
She covered her face, chuckling with pure relief. Alejandro smiled brightly at the sound, kissing the side of her head. He quietly whispered in her ear.
"You're welcome."
A/N (written in August 2019): So long, Greece! Miranda stays for another day, thanks to the Aries boy, yay! My hands really hurt, golly. I'm going to bed now, but in a couple of days, I'm heading home so there will be much more typing in my future. (I don't remember where I was but ok) I hope you guys are ready for it. If you like the chapter, let me know in the comments. They bring me joy and sunshine, even if I'm feeling rainy. I love you guys so much, thank you for supporting me. Stay tuned, dollfaces! ;) ~Miranda