Through the sunset of hope, like the shapes of a dream, what paradise islands of glory gleam! – Percy Bysshe Shelley
The next day came too quickly as I got out of bed. Lady was lying in bed dead to the world still as I ventured into the bathroom to shower. I changed into a pair of wide legged pants and a white blouse. I paired my outfit with sandals before putting my hair up into a bun.
I moved over to wake Lady as I finished dressing and she slowly climbed out of bed rubbing her eyes. She dressed in a white summer dress and sandals.
"Are you alright?" she asks as she is finally awake.
"I'm fine. Just upset, ya know?"
"Yeah. That was cruel on their part. I had words after you left."
"Oh boy." I say, "How hard did you get?"
"Hard. I dug into them all. They may want to go away hungry, but you and I have medical issues and this is causing us to be cranky and ill." She pauses, "I was asked to talk to the man in charge of cooking and I explained that even though the gourmet foods were nice, they were not filling."
"I bet that talk went over well." I say as I sit on my bed.
"It actually did. From here on out, the food will be buffet style so we can take as much or as little as we want."
I cheer. "That is amazing!"
We leave our hut and head to the dining room. We step in and the large table has been removed and we're back to sitting at tables for four.
"I wonder why they changed the table up." I asked Lady.
"Probably easier for the buffet table." She replies.
A few of the contestants and their plus ones are here, eating away. BTS is nowhere to be seen.
"It's your faults that BTS will no longer be eating with us." Taki hisses at us from her table. "Just because you're pigs, doesn't mean the rest of us are."
I sneered at her. "I'm sorry that I'm not anorexic." I retort and she turns away.
"You're a joke." I snarl before dumping food high on my plate and stomping over to a table in the far corner and sitting. I dug in eating, not caring that I did indeed look like a pig eating. I was fucking starving!
Lady joins me soon later with her plate full as well. "That was uncalled for."
"It was."
We eat our food quickly before leaving our table and moving back to the pool area where we will be hanging out for the day. We took a pair of chairs near the back in the shade and sat. I was not in the mood to deal with the others today but if I wanted to stay on top of the ranks, I would have to participate in the games.
RM and the others step out to the pool dresses in shorts and t-shirts, most of their bodies covered in clothing. The rest of the others came out and took seats on the other side from us.
"We will need to talk about what happened just a bit ago." He starts.
Of course! I was to blame.
"Tia, what you said was uncalled for. Lady did what she thought was right and having buffet styled foods does not mean that we will not continue eating with you. We had other plans this morning, so it is not their fault that we were not there. Cole, calling her names was nice of you, but I can see why you said it. But this hatred towards one another needs to stop."
Tia hisses, "She needs to apologize."
I snorted, "Okay. I'm sorry...that you're an ass." I say and cross my arms with a smirk on my face.
I can see Suga smirking from behind the others, nodding his head in approval.
"Cole, why would you say that?" RM said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Because I am not sorry for pointing out her eating disorder. If she can't handle being called out, then she needs help. Not everyone can be perfect."
"And Cole has a point. Tia attacked her and Cole fought back. Tia was wrong and that's final." Suga says as he steps forward, "Besides, I'm sick of the nit-picking. If those girls want to eat, let them, you don't have to sit around and judge them on it."
The pool area goes silent.
"Well said Suga." Em says, "Cole is just being defensive as she is the one being attacked."
"And I am tired of the fighting." He says.
"We all are." She continues.
Tia and Sannie move to their huts, while some of the others leave. Suga comes over and sits next to me as I try to hold back some tears that threaten to fall.
"I can tell you are still very angry over everything that is happening. RM told us a bit about what you are dealing with." He says being coy as I don't want the world to know that I have mental issues.
I lean into him, "I just want to go home at this point." I say and move back.
"Stay and see this through." He says, "I hate to see you go so soon."
I nod.
We sit talking for the rest of the morning before lunch is served. I was taken back when a few baskets were handed to the boys and we were asked to join them in their hut for lunch. We followed them to the large hut and moved to sit in the comfortable living room. Suga and Hobi began pulling out all the delicious foods and drinks that had been packed for us.
"Why are we here?" I ask.
"We can speak freely in here now. I had the cameras and mics removed." RM tells me.
"Why?"
"Because we wanted some privacy. They will be back but for the next few days this is a free zone." Tae says.
"Now, tell us why you are so upset?" Jin asks.
I take a deep breath and clench my hands together.
"I suffer from depression and my mental state is unstable at the moment." I start.
"That is nothing to be ashamed of." Jimin tells me, "Suga hyung suffered for years. He now talks about it in his music and he's been doing so much better."
"I know. He is the reason why I am not as bad as I used to be. I am also anorexic and bulimic or I used to be. Lady got me to stop that."
"That's why you got upset. You're not angry at Tia, you're worried!" Jungkook exclaims.
"I know what eating disorders can do to a person. I've lived it."
Jimin moves to sit next to me and gives me a hug. "We all have our demons." He says gently.
I hold onto him as I let myself feel pain. I wanted this time to be happy and joyous; but like always, I made it feel dark and gloomy.
"How about we eat and put all this negativity behind us." Jin suggests and Lady nods her head in agreement.
"How about we play some music and have fun?" she says and Jungkook jumps up eagerly.
"I want to dance!" he yells and Suga groans.
"Can I go to bed?" he asks and the others yell no.
He grumbles as he leans against me and closes his eyes. "Wake me up when it's over." He tells Jimin and me.
"But don't you want to dance?" I ask, watching as he cracked his eyes open and glared at me.
I smile, "I want to dance with you love."
"Not funny." He says as he reshoots his eyes.
We dance for a few hours before the youngsters decide that they want to play UNO. RM shakes his head and Suga runs for his room.
"What's wrong playing UNO?" I asked.
"They cheat." Hobi remarks.
"Oh really?" I say, smirking. "Then let's play."
So Lady, Jimin, JK, Tae and I begin the first round and its going well until I go out first. JK growls as he continues playing, only for Tae to go next. This continues until he is the last player playing and he dumps his cards on the ground in frustration.
"You cheated!" he yelled.
"How does it feel to get played, huh?" I asked.
He pauses and stares down at me, "What?"
"I cheated to teach you a lesson."
"Oh snap!" RM says as Hobi nods his head in agreement.
"That wasn't fair!" he pouts.
I get to my feet, pat his head and move away. "Besides, I have years of experience playing that game kid."
He goes to touch me and I move out of the way and laugh.
"I'm going to freshen up." I say looking to the clock, "It's almost dinnertime."
They all disburse into their rooms while Lady and I head back to our hut to freshen up. Once we were done, we moved to the dining room and sat at a table at the back of the room near the shadows. BTS came in shortly after. Jimin came over and grabbed my hand as Tae did the same to Lady and dragged us to the front where they put three of the table together so that we could all sit together.
The others came in after that and sat. The kitchen crew came in carrying platters of food and placed it on the buffet. Anything from chicken to steak and seafood was there.
"BTS will go first then the rest of you can line up afterwards." One of the crew members said.
BTS got up and pull Lady and I along as we made our way through the buffet line. Lady and I piled our plates high before grabbing drinks and headed back to our seats. I heard a few snickers from some of the others, but I could care less as I took a seat and waited for the others to join me. Once everyone was seated, we dug into our food and ate.
After dinner, RM got to his feet. "We have another question of the day." He says, "Contestants will answer on a piece of paper that has been handed to you. Plus ones, we ask that you do not help them to make this fair. A crew member will be by each table to make sure no one cheats."
Hobi gets to his feet, "Before the name Suga, what was his stage name as an underground rapper?" he asks before taking his seat back.
I smirk as I write Gloss on the paper and fold it up and hand it over. My entry is placed with six others and tossed around. Tae moves to pick a paper and pulls one out and opens it.
"This is from Em and she says Gloss."
"Correct." Suga says as Em enters the winner board along with Rosa, Sannie and I.
"Congratulations Em. This concludes dinner tonight. Please get some rest and we will see you all for breakfast in the morning." RM says before dismissing us.
I head back to the hut while Lady goes to watch a movie with Tae. I lie down in bed and doze off as today took a lot out of me mentally and emotionally.