My alarm had gone off and I quickly turned it off so I wouldn't wake up the other girls. I changed quickly into running clothes before my phone dinged showing that I had received a text message.
He was standing in the lobby resting against a wall with his hands crossed over his chest. His grey hoodie was pulled up over his head hiding his but I knew it was him straight away. He looked up as I walked out of the elevator and smiled at me causing my heart to flip. I was so used to him looking angry all the time during matches or on posters that it always took me a moment to comprehend that he smiles.
"Morning sunshine!" He greeted huskily causing my insides to melt. He dragged me outside and we set off on our run. Similar to when we were camping, I followed him as he led the way. He showed me a new route which was mostly spent at the beach.
After twenty minutes he came to a stop near on the track and turned around to face me. The sun was halfway up and he gestured for me to follow him as he walked onto the beach towards a wooden beach hut. I followed him as he sat near one of them while I laid down on the sand allowing the ocean breeze to cool me down.
"This is my favourite time of day," he says quietly, "It's when I think the best." The sun was still raising casting an orange glow over the sea and land, illuminating every corner its rays touched.
"Same here," I reply.
He looks at me then, with curiosity and wonder in his eyes and I feel like I'm being analysed but not judged.
"Are you ok Taylor?" He asks, his voice encased with sincerity.
I freeze, confused but also nervous. This was going to open a whole set of questions. Questions I wasn't sure I was ready to answer. I nod, "Yeah, I'm ok. This is the best I've been in a long time."
He nods understandingly and doesn't push the matter any further. I know that he's seen my scars, and I'm grateful that he cares enough to ask but also respectful enough not to push into something I wasn't ready to talk about, in person at least. My blog is predominately a physical and health blog, however, during that time and after coming out of it, my blog had been an outlet and a journal as well as a place to give tips and advice for people who went and are going through similar things. It was the one place I could completely up.
"Come on, let's go before all the food is eaten." He hauls me up again off the ground, his rough warm hand holding my tiny hand. We set off again and make it back to the hotel grounds within 15 minutes. The minute we can be seen by anyone from the show, we split off in separate directions as we didn't want to bring any unwanted attention.
I showered once I got to my room and changed into a black swimsuit which had a low back and high cut around my thighs. I slipped white high waisted shorts over the top and put my white Nike Air Force 1's on before heading down to breakfast. I grabbed a plate of toast, avocado and poached eggs before finding Jasmine and sitting with her. The camera crew was filming bits and pieces as today was the day of the first challenge.
Instead of catching a bus or limo everyone, we were all led down to the beach by Marcus where I saw an enormous water obstacle course before us. The camera crew was filming every second of our reactions as well as the scenery around us.
"Welcome girls, to the very first challenge!" Marcus voice boomed over loudspeakers, "Today we will see both beauty and brains in the Search for Cinderella Beauty AND Brains Challenge!"
We all cheered Marcus along as he spoke, trying to give off energetic vibes for the camera crew to film.
"Today, the winner of this challenge will be the person who can complete the course in the fastest time. In order to do so, each person will need to answer each question asked correctly before they are able to move forward to the next green square. If a question is answered incorrectly, or not within 10 seconds, each square will drop making the unlucky victim fall into the ocean."
I was nervous but also excited at the same time, the obstacle course looked so sick.
We were all ordered in an alphabetical line depending on our last names, so I was slotted somewhere in the middle. Tara was the unlucky girl who had to go first so we watched as she stepped forward up to the first square. A quick interview with Tara was filmed and then it was time for the challenge to begin.
As the day progressed we all watched one another attempt to cross the obstacle course without being dunked however at least every girl was getting dunked at least once. My nerves were wracking up the closer the line moved up, and a mixture of excitement and anxiety danced in my stomach. When I was the fifth in line a sound crew member suited me up with a waterproof body microphone so they could hear my answers.
Eventually, I was the first in line and when Marcus called my name out through the loud speakers my heart sank. I was never good in front of crowds.
"America, we have here Taylor Grace, your everyday local California girl!" Marcus announced towards the camera, "How are you feeling today Taylor?!" He pushed the microphone in front of me and I gave a hopefully not awkward smile to the camera, "Nervous but excited, this course looks dope!" Hopefully if I sounded hype enough I would hype myself out.
Marcus took the microphone back and looked at the cameras again, "Ok, so you know what to do?" I nodded my head and he lead me to the starting point, "Ok America, Taylor Grace everyone doing the Beauty AND Brains Challenge!" I stepped up and adjusted the body microphone back to my lips.
"In 3, 2, 1!" A buzzer sounded and I heard Marcus shout through the Microphone, "Who was the author of the novels James and the Giant and Ma-."
"Roald Dahl!" I shouted and a ding sounded letting move forward, or awkwardly jump onto the next inflatable step.
"Who was the 44th President of the United States?!"
"Barack Obama!" He was the only name of any presidents that could come to my head in that instant. A ding went off and I clambered forward.
The questions went on and on covering basic general knowledge from what the 'e' in 'e-mail' stands for to what element in the Periodic Table was number 1. I was maybe halfway through the periodic table when Marcus shouted out, "In Keeping up with the Kardashians, who is the eldest sister?"
Crap.
"Um... Kim Kardashian?"
The buzzer didn't ding, and suddenly I was being plunged into ocean water. Thank goodness it was more refreshing then cold. Instead of relaxing in the water, I quickly swam to the next step and pulled myself back up. The questions, which ranged from science to literature to history and other general knowledge, continued and I tried to answer each of the questions as quickly as possible to make up for lost time. But of course, when I was only five away from the finish, Marcus asked, "What is the name of the social media star that began the meme, "Cash me outside how bah dah"?"
How the hell was I supposed to know her name? I mean, I know her face and that she went on Dr Phil but her name – who cares honestly.
"Are you serious?!" I mutter into the microphone before shouting out the first celebrity name that came to my head while preparing to be plunged into the water immediately, "Lindsey Lohan!".
The last thing I hear before being dunked into the water is Marcus's booming laughter.
I swam to the next step and hear him say into the microphone, "She tried America."
We made it to the end and a towel was draped around my shoulders. Marcuse came up and high fived me before speaking into the microphone, "There you have it, Taylor Grave everyone!" He looked at me and said, "You completed it with a time of 9 minutes and 7 seconds, how are you feeling about it?!"
I nodded slightly out of breath as the adrenaline left my body, "Pretty good I guess!" Marcus shook my hand one more time before I was led off by one of the assistants.
It took about an hour more to finish filming the challenge and the girls that had finished their turn were either sunbathing or swimming in the water out of the cameras vision.
Once the last girl had gone through, we were rounded up around Marcus and Noah as they stood on a makeshift platform.
"Ok America, the results are in, let's meet your winners for the first challenge of the Search for Cinderella Season 2!"
The girls politely cheered and clapped him on as he announced the winners. "In 3rd place we have, Destiny Coleman!" The girls clapped again as Destiny walked on stage and was presented with a tiny bronze trophy.
Marcus continued, "In 2nd place we have Taylor Grace!" Hold up, really?! I felt someone push me slightly urging me to move up to the front where I shook both Marcus' and Noah's hands. Noah gave me a subtle wink before I stood on the stage next to Destiny with a slightly bigger silver trophy.
"And now in 1st place, with a record-breaking time of 7 minutes and 3 seconds, we have Jasmine Nguyen!" Everyone cheered loudly as she shyly took her trophy and stood next to the three of us.
Marcus proceeded to talk a bit more before closing the show for the night by saying, "We look forward to seeing you all again this weekend for eliminations where five girls will be going home!"
Shortly after the cameras were cut and both Marcus and Noah was whisked off the stage and the group dispersed into free time. I was going to enjoy as much of the beach as I could and ran back into the soothing ocean water with Jasmine and Destiny and a few other girls that stayed behind, enjoying the rest of the day by the sea.
A/N: Hey Guys! What are your plans for NYE! Wooo any new years resolutions?!
I got excited and posted a few hours early haha