Olivia Mercury was the first to enter Paradise. She walked over to the entrance where show's host, Rob Lowe, was waiting for her. Once she walked up to him, she greeted him with a quick hug and said, "Hi Rob."
"Hey there, Liv. It's good to see you," he said, pulling away from the hug and extending his arms, "Welcome to Paradise."
"Thank you so much. It's great to be here," she responded.
Rob continued, "So on your season of the Bachelor, you really paved your own path. You were actually the one to break up with Jason. Do you think you're ready to find love in Paradise?"
"I'm more than ready," she answered with a smile, "I can't wait to get down there!"
"What kind of guy are you looking for?" Rob then asked.
Liv told him, "I'm looking for someone with a sense of humor, someone who's adventurous and loves the outdoors, someone who I can rely on, and just someone I have chemistry with and see a future with."
"Well, I wish you the best of luck," Rob said as he moved out of the way to the entrance and extended his arm out to the staircase, "Olivia, Paradise awaits."
"Thank you, Rob," Olivia said before running down the stairs.
As she made her way down the stone stairs to the beach, she almost couldn't believe this was happening. She was really here in Paradise. So many relationships have come out of here, and now she was here! She felt nothing but pure excitement and optimism at the possibility of what paradise could entail for her.
When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she couldn't help but gasp a little. The beach was absolutely breathtaking. Of course, she had seen it plenty of times on TV before, but it was a hundred times more beautiful in person. She let out a simple, "Oh my God."
As she looked around, she realized that no one else was here. She was the first person in Paradise! Upon realizing this, she quickly ripped her sandals off of her feet and ran over to her ocean to feel the water against her feet. It was cool and refreshing, a nice contrast from the hot sand. When she turned around, she saw that there was a new person coming down the stairs: Kiefer Sutherland.
Olivia immediately started to walk towards him in order to introduce herself. Kiefer also started to walk towards her, smiled, and said, "Hi."
Olivia smiled as well and replied, "Hi, Kiefer right?"
"Yeah, that's right," he told her.
She then said, "Awesome, I'm Olivia, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," he said, giving her a quick hug before pulling away and asking, "Are we the first ones here?"
"Yeah, we are," Olivia answered before asking, "Are you excited?"
The two of them started to walk to the bar as Kiefer answered, "I'm really excited. It's gonna be fun."
"I know, I'm interested to see who's gonna come down the stairs," Olivia said, "Hopefully, we get a good cast."
After the two of them sat down at the bar and ordered drinks from the two bartenders, Judd Nelson and Anthony Michael Hall, Olivia asked Kiefer, "So is there anyone you're hoping to see and meet here?"
"I was actually kind of hoping to meet Kayla from your season," Kiefer answered.
Olivia perked up at that and said, "Oh my God, Kayla is literally so awesome!"
"Yeah, she was great on your season. I'm really hoping she comes down the stairs," Kiefer added.
Olivia nodded and told him, "Well if she does, you two are gonna get along great."
"Really?" Kiefer asked.
Olivia nodded once again and nodded, "Oh yeah, definitely. You're like, a hundred percent her type."
"Well, that makes me feel a lot better about my chances," Kiefer joked.
The two of them laughed at that when they heard someone else coming down the stairs. Both of them looked over to see Emma Panagakos coming down the last few stairs. As soon as Olivia saw Emma, she immediately ran over to her yelling, "Emma!"
Emma looked over to see her friend running towards her, and met her half way to hug each other, "Olivia! It's so good to see you!"
"You too! I missed you so much!" Olivia told her.
Emma responded, "I missed you too!"
Olivia and Emma both competed on Matt Dillion's season of the Bachelor, and became extremely close in the process. In fact, most of the girls from Matt's season became good friends, despite the fact that they were all dating the same guy at once. Now that the two of them were in Paradise together, they would be able to help each other find love.
When they pulled away from the hug, Olivia told her friend, "You look so good!"
"Me? Look at you! You are so pretty," Emma responded.
The two girls started to walk towards the bar, and Emma and Kiefer waved at each other as he was still sitting at the bar. Emma smiled at him and said, "Hi, I'm Emma."
"I'm Kiefer," he introduced, giving her a quick hug, "Nice to meet you."
"You too. You've got a cool name," Emma told him as she pulled away from the hug.
Kiefer chuckled a little at that and said, "Well, thank you."
"So which one of you was the first down here?" Emma then asked the two.
Olivia raised her hand a little and answered, "I was."
"Awesome, you guys ready?" Emma then asked.
Olivia nodded, "For sure."
"Definitely," Kiefer added.
Olivia smirked a little as she pointed to Kiefer and told Emma, "This guy already has his sights set on Kayla."
Kiefer chuckled at this while Emma gasped a little and said to him, "Yes, you two would literally be perfect for each other."
"Well, here's to hoping, right?" Kiefer responded, holding his glass up a little like here was giving a toast.
While the three of them continued to talk, Ralph Macchio was walking towards the paradise entrance where Rob Lowe was waiting for him. Robe said to him, "Ralph, good to see you."
"Good to see you too, man," Ralph said, giving the show host a bro hug.
Rob asked, "So how are you feeling about everything?"
"Ahh man, I'm excited. I'm ready to get down there and get things started," Ralph answered.
Rob then asked, "On your season there was some drama between you and Corey F., do you think any of that is gonna affect your time in Paradise?"
"I don't think so. Whatever went down between Corey and I is in the past. I'm ready to leave that in the past, and just move forward with my life, and move forward with finding love," Ralph explained.
Rob asked, "Is there anyone in particular you're hoping to meet?"
"Olivia from last season seems really fun," Ralph answered, "She's really beautiful, and she seems very adventurous. I can definitely see myself forming a connection with her."
Rob nodded before moving to the side and extending his arm out to the staircase, "Well Ralph, welcome to Paradise. Good luck."
"Thanks man," Ralph responded before taking off down the stairs.
Ralph practically ran down the stairs from excitement. He couldn't wait to get down to the beach. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, his excitement grew tenfold when he saw Olivia sitting at the bar. In Ralph's eyes, Olivia was the best looking girl in the history of the Bachelor franchise.
Meanwhile, Olivia's heart stopped for a second when she saw Ralph come down the stairs. Olivia had a giant crush on Ralph when he was on Demi's season of the Bachelor, and now he was here. She didn't know what to do except go over and introduce herself.
"Hi there," she said as she walked over to him, "I'm Olivia."
"Hey there, Olivia, good to meet you too," Ralph said, giving her a hug, "I'm Ralph."
Olivia nodded and said, "Yeah, I recognize you from your season."
"I recognize you too," Ralph said, "You look even prettier in person."
"Well, thank you. You do too," Olivia responded.
Both of them laughed at that before Kiefer and Emma came over and introduced themselves. After the introductions, the two guys walked over to the bar while the girls stayed by the stairs talking.
Emma giggled as she saw Olivia's eyes follow Ralph to the bar. She then told her friend, "Geez Liv, talk about love at first sight."
"Is it that obvious?" Liv asked.
Emma nodded, "Yeah, just a little obvious."
"Well in that case, they can close down the beach," Liv joked, "No one else needs to come to Paradise, I'm good."
Emma laughed at this and asked, "Well then what are Kiefer and I supposed to do?"
"That's your problem, not mine," Olivia answered jokingly.
Meanwhile, there was another new member of Paradise talking to Rob Lowe at the top of the stairs: Andrea Baker or Andy as most people knew her. She walked over to Rob with a giant smile and immediately gave him a hug as she said, "Hi Rob."
"Hey Andy," he greeted, "Welcome to Paradise."
"Thank you so much. I'm so excited," She told him.
Rob asked, "So it's been a year since we met you on Jason's season, and you were definitely a fan favorite. What made you decide to come to Paradise now?"
"I felt like after Jason's season, I really just needed to take time and focus on me and kind practice some self love," Andy explained, "I just took the year to focus on myself and I'm now in a good spot to share myself with someone else."
"That's great," Rob said before asking, "So what are you hoping to get out of this experience?"
Andy answered, "Well, I'm definitely hoping to get engaged at the end. But more than anything, I'm really looking for the love of my life and the guy I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with."
"Well, I certainly hope you find what you're looking for," Rob said as he moved out of the entrance, "Andy, Paradise awaits you."
Andy took a deep breath before slowly walking down the stairs to the beach. As excited as she was to start this new journey, she was also very nervous. She had no idea what guys were going to be on the beach, what girls she would potentially be competing against for a guy, or whether or not or future husband was down there waiting for her. It was the fear of the unknown that kept Andy on edge.
When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she saw Ralph Macchio and Olivia Mercury talking at the bar while Emma Panagakos and Kiefer Sutherland were talking at one of the tables. Emma looked up to see Andy standing there and immediately smiled.
"Andy, Hey!" Emma said as she got up and ran over to hug her.
Andy immediately hugged her back and said, "Hi, my love!"
While Andy and Emma didn't compete on the same season, they did know each other pretty well. When Emma made her Broadway debut in Bare: A Pop Opera, Andy was hired to take the promotional photos for the show. The two of them had grown close during that experience, but hadn't seen each other in a few years.
"Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in forever," Emma said as she pulled away from the hug, "You look amazing!"
"Thank you! You look incredible!" Andy told her.
The rest of the cast came over to greet her before the girls and guys once again split up. As the girls sat under a cabana, Andy asked, "So how have things been so far? I know everything just got started, but have you guys been talking to anyone yet?"
"Yeah, I've been talking to Ralph, and we've been hitting it off," Olivia answered, "Him and I have the same sense of humor, and I just think he's...super hot, so I think it's going pretty well."
The other two girls laughed at that before someone else came down the stairs. The three of them looked over, and saw that it was none other than Keanu Reeves coming down the stairs.
"How's it going, dudes?" Keanu asked everyone as he walked down the stairs.
Kiefer, who became good friends with Keanu when they were on Jennifer's season together, immediately went over to greet him.
"Keanu, it's good to see you man," Kiefer said as he gave Keanu a bro hug, "How you've been?"
"I've been good, man. It's great to see you again," Keanu responded.
Ralph then introduced himself by shaking his hand and saying, "Good to meet you, man. I'm Ralph."
"Keanu," he introduced, "Good to meet you too."
The girls had walked over to introduce themselves, and Olivia was the first to do so by giving him a hug and saying, "Hi, I'm Olivia, it's so nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Keanu said, hugging him back.
When they pulled away from the hug, Olivia told him excitedly, "I've literally always wanted to give you a hug."
Keanu giggled at this. Olivia was a huge fan of Keanu's when he was on Jennifer's season of the Bachelorette and openly campaigned for him to be the Bachelor. Although she didn't have romantic interest in him, Olivia thought that Keanu was a great guy who deserved to find love. Keanu said, "Well, thank you. That's very sweet."
After introductions, the six of them all sat under a cabana talking about basic things: their experiences on their seasons on the Bachelor or Bachelorette; what they were hoping for in Paradise; who they hoped would be coming down the stairs. The whole time, Olivia and Ralph were subtly flirting with each other as they sat right next to each other and were constantly making flirty comments to one another. During the conversation, Keanu admitted that he was hoping to meet Deidra Goldberg, from Jason's Bachelor season.
As it turns out, Keanu's wish came true as Deidra was the next to walk down the stairs. Andy was the first two greet her, the two girls becoming close friends from their season, by running over and giving her a hug. Andy greeted, "It's so good to see you!"
"You too! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Deidra responded, hugging her back, "I'm so happy you're here!"
"Same!" Andy said.
Once the two girls pulled away from the hug, Keanu rushed over to greet Deidra, eager to get some time to talk with her. He offered a quick hug and said with his signature smile, "Hi, I'm Keanu. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Deidra responded, happily accepting the hug,"I'm Deidra."
When they pulled away from the hug, Keanu told her, "You look absolutely beautiful."
"Aww, thank you. You're so sweet," Deidra responded, blushing slightly.
Once she introduced herself to everyone else, Deidra and Keanu sat at the bar together and started talking.
"So how are you feeling about everything?" Keanu asked her.
"I'm super excited. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited," she answered, "How about you?"
"Same. There's a little bit of nerves, but it's more excitement than anything," Keanu responded, "I'm really excited you're here. I was hoping to meet you."
"Stop, you're too sweet," Deidra said.
Keanu told her, "It's true, though. Honestly, you were the number one person I was hoping would walk down those stairs."
"Well, that's good because I was really hoping to meet you too," she confessed.
Keanu perked up at this and asked, "Really?"
"Oh my gosh, yeah," Deidra answered, "I had such a crush on you during Jennifer's season. I thought you were the cutest thing ever."
It was now Keanu's turn to blush as he giggled a little said, "Oh my gosh, that's awesome. I was scared you would think I was a total dork."
"I think dorkiness is adorable, though. Hey, I'm a total dork too, so we're gonna get along," Deidra told him.
Keanu's smile grew at that, "Okay good. That makes me feel a lot better."
The two of them were so lost in their conversation that they didn't even notice Corey Haim came down the stairs until they heard people start to greet him, and walked over to do the same. As expected, Corey complimented every one of the girls about how nice they looked. This came as no surprise as Corey was known for being very charming and flirtatious. It's part of what made him so endearing.
Meanwhile, Kiefer was admittedly a little disappointed to see another guy come down the stairs. After all, the beach was slowly filling up, and there was still no sign of Kayla. When he got the call from producers offering him a spot on the show, he had said yes in hopes of meeting Kayla. He was very endeared by her when she was on the Bachelor, and felt that she was someone he could really connect with.
As luck would have it, a few minutes after Corey arrived, Kayla ran down the stairs before jumping onto the sands of the beach and greeting everyone with, "Hello Paradise!"
Upon hearing this, both Olivia and Emma ran over to tackle their friend in a group hug. After greeting each other with, "So good to see yous", Kayla pulled away from the hug and said to her friends, "We're definitely gonna have some fun here!"
"Definitely," Olivia responded.
While Emma added, "For sure."
Once Kayla introduced herself to the rest of the cast, Kiefer wasted no time. He immediately walked over to her, gave her a hug, and greeted, "Hi, I'm Kiefer. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," she greeted, "You look great."
"Thank you, I don't have anything on you though," Kiefer told her flirtatiously.
Kayla laughed a little at that before saying, "Oh, why thank you."
"Of course," Kiefer said before asking,"You wanna go talk?"
"Yeah totally," Kayla answered.
The two of them went over to one of the day beds and sat down. Once they were both settled, Kayla asked in a friendly voice, "So what do you wanna talk about?"
"I just wanted to get to know you a little better, and kind of see where your head's at," Kiefer explained before asking, "So I guess the most obvious question is how are you feeling about all of this?"
"I'm really excited. I have a really good feeling about all of this," Kayla answered, "I just got really good vibes when I walked in, so I'm pretty optimistic about everything."
"That's awesome," Kiefer said before asking, "So, what made you wanna come to Paradise? Cause I know a lot of people wanted you to be the Bachelorette."
Kayla nodded, "Yeah, so the producers did reach out to me about being the Bachelorette and we talked about it, but that all felt a little too formal for me and it felt like a lot of pressure. I thought that coming here would be a lot more relaxed and fun. It just felt more like my style."
Kiefer nodded and Kayla then asked, "So let me ask you: How are you doing? I know it's kind of been a crazy couple of months for you."
Kiefer automatically knew what she was talking about. He was on the most recent season of the Bachelorette with Jennifer Grey, and had made it to the final two. However, Jennifer broke up with Kiefer in the final two right before he was going to propose. Kiefer was absolutely devastated by the break up.
"It's been rough, but I've gotten through it," Kiefer answered, "You know, what Jennifer and I had was real and amazing, but it just wasn't meant to be. At the end of the day, I'm grateful for the experience, and I learned a lot from it, and I'm ready to move on and find love."
"Good for you," Kayla said before asking, "So was there anyone you're hoping to meet here?"
Kiefer smirked a little and answered, "I might've said you."
"Really?" Kayla asked, a little surprised.
"Definitely," Kiefer responded, "I told Olivia and Emma that, and they started freaking out. They said I was your type."
"Yeah, I kind of have a thing for blondes," Kayla told him, causing both of them to laugh.
As Kayla and Kiefer continued to talk, the beach quickly started to fill up. Michael J. Fox was the next to enter, and he barely had enough time to say hi to everyone before there was a loud, blaring sound coming from the stairs. As it turned out, Anya Dean was starting Paradise off with a bang as she walked down the stairs blowing an air horn. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she announced to everyone, "The party has arrived!"
As usual, she greeted her friends from her season, introduced herself to who didn't know yet, and before long her and Michael started talking.
As Anya walked towards Michael, he smirked a little at her and said, "I see the trouble has arrived."
"You know it," Anya responded, causing them both to chuckle.
Michael then gave her a quick hug and said, "I'm Michael."
"Anya," she responded, "Nice to meet you."
"You too," Michael said.
Anya then asked, "So when did you get here?"
"Literally about a minute before you walked down the stairs," Michael answered.
Anya nodded, "Okay, so you haven't had a chance to look around or anything?"
"No, not really," Michael told her before asking, "You wanna come explore the beach with me?"
"Totally," Anya answered with a smile.
Michael smiled back and said, "Awesome, let's go."
The two of them walked up and down the beach, checking out everything that it had to offer. As they talked with each other, the chemistry between them was blatantly obvious. Both of them bantered back and forth with each other, and the conversation flowed very naturally.
Michael said, "That was quite the entrance you made."
"You liked it?" Anya asked.
"I loved it," Michael answered, "I'm here to party, and if you're bringing the party, I'm all for it."
"You and I are gonna get along then," Anya told him, smirking a little.
Michael smirked back, "Well, I couldn't ask for a prettier girl to get along with."
"Is that so?" Anya asked.
"Definitely," Michael answered, "You're the best looking girl here, hands down."
Anya laughed a little at that before saying, "Why, thank you."
Eventually, Michael and Anya came across the gigantic pool. They were standing at the pool's edge when Michael asked her, "So what do you think? Are you jumping in?"
"Are you jumping in with me?" Anya asked him.
Michael raised an eyebrow at her and asked jokingly, "What? You too much of a chicken to jump in by yourself?
Anya looked at him in mock offense and said, "Chicken? I know you didn't just say that."
"I did. You wanna prove me wrong?" Michael asked, still smirking.
Anya smirked back at him before jumping into the pool, fully clothed. When she came up from under the water, she asked Michael, "Is this proof enough for you?"
"Ehh," Michael shrugged, "I've seen better."
"Okay, that's it, Mister," Anya said.
With that, she trapped Michael's hand and dragged him into the pool. Once Michael came up, both of them were laughing hysterically. After their laughter subsided, they two of them stared at each other fondly, Anya's arms wrapped around Michael's next. The chemistry between them was palpable, and the physical attraction was definitely there. Sure, it was early, but Paradise was an accelerated process. Plus, a connection couldn't be helped. Michael slowly leaned in and kissed Anya, and Anya glady kissed back. It was the first kiss of Paradise.
Ever since she stepped foot on the beach, Deidra had mostly been talking to Keanu. She was honestly hoping that he would be here. He always seemed so genuine and sweet on TV, and Deidra was pleased to discover that he was that way in real life too. As much as she was enjoying her time with Keanu, she was keeping an open mind about who else was going to come down the stairs. The whole point of Paradise was to explore different connections, and that's exactly what she planned on doing.
When River Phoenix came down the stairs, Deidra knew exactly what other connection she wanted to explore. Once River said his hellos to everyone, Deidra walked over to him and gave him a hug, "Nice to meet you. I'm Deidra."
"I'm River, it's nice to meet you too," he greeted.
"I love your name," she told him, "It's beautiful."
"Thank you, yours is really nice too," he responded.
"Thank you," Deidra said, "Welcome to Paradise!"
"It's beautiful here. The ocean looks incredible," River said.
Deidra nodded, "Oh, I know. I meant to go dip my feet in earlier."
"Well would you care to join me?" River asked as he started to walk towards the water.
Deidra answered, "Yeah, totally."
As the two of them walked along the shore line, Deidra asked him, "So are you excited to be here?"
"Definitely," River answered, "I mean, look around. This place is amazing."
"I know, I'm a beach person too, so I'm right in my element," Deidra told him.
"Me too," River said, "I love nature in general, especially the beach."
"Oh yeah, you're an animal activist, right?" Deidra asked.
"I am," River answered before asking, "What do you do for a living?"
"I work for the FBI," she answered.
River nodded, "Dang, that's pretty impressive."
"Thank you," Deidra said.
Meanwhile, people were slowly starting to break off with each other. Anya and Michael were goofing off in the pool; Kiefer and Kayla were still talking on the daybed; and Ralph and Olivia were taking a walk together. That left Andy, Keanu, Corey H., and Emma at the bar. The four of them were all talking together and having a friendly conversation. Keanu was admittedly a little disappointed that Deidra had gone off with River, but he wasn't upset about it. After all, you were supposed to explore connections. Nonetheless, he was hopeful that he would get more time with her later. All the while, the other three were simply keeping an eye out for who else was going to come down the stairs, hoping that it would be someone they could connect with.
Luckily for Corey, Bella Martinsson came down the stairs next. When he saw her, Corey immediately smiled. She was incredibly cute. He immediately got up to greet her.
"Hey there," he said with his signature smile, "I'm Corey."
Bella gave him a quick hug as she said, "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Bella."
"Welcome to Paradise, Bella," Corey greeted, "You look amazing."
Bella blushed furiously at that. She was always a fairly shy person, and could get easily flustered at compliments. Of course, Corey thought her blush was adorable. Bella finally said, "Gee, thanks. That's very sweet."
"Well, it's true," Corey told her, giving her a small wink.
Before Bella could turn into a complete blushing mess, Andy came over to give her friend a hug. Andy and Bella came from the same season of the Bachelor, and became very close friends throughout the process. As Andy walked over to her friend, she called, "Bella!"
When Bella saw Andy walking towards her, she immediately ran over and basically tackled her in a hug. Bella told Andy, "Thank God you're here! I don't think I'd be able to handle this without you."
"Don't you even worry about that," Andy reassured her, "I got you, girl."
Once they pulled away from the hug, Emma came over to introduce herself. She offered the girl a hug and said, "Hi, I'm Emma."
Bella accepted the hug as she said, "I'm Bella. Nice to meet you."
"You too. You look so cute," Emma told her.
Bella responded, "Aww, thank you."
Andy then whispered to Bella, "Bella, it honestly seems like you won't need me too much. Corey hasn't been able to stop looking at you ever since you got here."
"Really?" Bella asked, sounding shocked.
Andy nodded, "Really."
Upon hearing this, Bella looked over to see Corey sitting under a cabana with Keanu, talking to him. Corey looked back over at Bella in order to smile and wave at her. Bella smiled and waved back at him before, turning to Andy and Emma and asking frantically, "Oh my God, what do I do?"
Andy and Emma giggled a little, before Andy answered, "Go talk to him."
"What should I say?" Bella then asked.
Emma answered this one, "Just ask him about himself' get to know him a little better."
Bella nodded, "Okay, okay, I'm gonna go talk to him."
Both Andy and Emma shot her thumbs up before she walked over to Corey. Emma smiled as she watched Bella make her way over to Corey and said to Andy, "She's so cute."
"Oh, I know. She's the sweetest person on the planet," Andy told her.
As the two of them sat back down at the bar, Andy asked, "How many people do you think are gonna come down?"
"I'm not really sure, maybe like five more," Emma answered, "Hopefully some more guys come down."
"Oh my God, I know," Andy responded.
Although Paradise just started, it seemed like connections were already starting to be made. The only ones who hadn't really paired off yet were Andy and Emma. Andy was starting to get worried that she wouldn't be able to find someone here, while Emma was mostly feeling like a loser.
Emma then asked Andy, "Is there anyone you're hoping comes down?"
"I think Brooke McCarter from last season seems really cool and he's also...really hot, so I wouldn't mind seeing him," Andy answered.
Emma giggled a little at that before holding up her drink and saying, "Hey, cheers to that."
Andy clinked here glass against Emma's before taking a sip. Both of the girl's were sitting so that they were facing the bar, but Emma looked over her shoulder and her eyes went wide at who was coming down the stairs.
She turned back around and whispered to her friend, "Andy, I think you might be a physic or something cause Brooke literally just walked down the stairs."
"Wait, what?" Andy whisper-yelled back.
Both girls looked over to see Brooke, smiling brightly and saying hi to his friends from his season. As soon as Andy saw him, she started freaking out a little saying, "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, he's here!"
"That's good, though! You said you wanted him to be here," Emma reminded her.
Andy responded, "Yeah, but now that he's here, I don't know what to do."
"Just relax, everything's going to be fine," Emma said, "Also, he's coming over here right now."
Brooke then made his way over to where the two girls were sitting at the bar and greeted, "Hello ladies."
"Hi," Andy greeted, "I'm Andy."
Brooke gave her a quick hug and said, "I'm Brooke. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Andy responded.
Brooke then turned to Emma and greeted her with a hug, "Hi, I'm Brooke."
"Emma," she responded, "Nice to meet you."
"You as well," he said, pulling away from the hug, "You guys excited?"
"Very excited," Andy answered.
Emma added, "a hundred percent."
Brooke nodded, "Awesome, so when did you guys get down here?"
"I was the third one down here," Emma told him.
Andy then said, "And I was the fifth person to come down."
"Okay, so you guys have been here a while," Brooke commented.
Andy responded flirtatiously, "Yeah, we've been waiting for you to show up."
"Really?" Brooke responded, equally as flirtatious, "Well, I'm lucky I have such a pretty girl waiting for me."
Emma gave her friend a proud look before walking off to give Andy and Brooke some time to talk. Once Emma was gone, Andy asked him, "You wanna sit down?"
"Yeah sure," Brooke said, taking a seat at the bar next to her, "So have you been talking to any of the guys?"
"I mean, I have talked to everyone, but all the conversations I've just been friendly. I haven't really made a connection with anyone yet," Andy explained.
Brooke nodded, "Well, that makes me feel better."
"How come?" Andy asked curiously.
Brooke answered, "I was worried that cause I was so late to the party, all the pretty girls would be taken already. Turns out the best looking girl is still available."
Andy blushed at that and said jokingly, "You are going to be trouble."
"Maybe," Brooke said, "It's all good trouble, though."
"So, should I be worried?" Andy asked.
Brooke smirked at her and said, "Not at all."
As the two of them continued to talk, three more girls came down to the beach. The first was Aspen Holmes, a fan favorite from Jason's season. At this point, Deidra and River had returned from their walk, so Deidra was once again talking to Keanu while River and Aspen began to talk. Neither of them were necessarily trying to form a connection, as River was interested in Deidra, but they were becoming fast friends. Next was Ally Sheedy, who was a night one elimination on Matt's season of the Bachelor. Finally, Molly Ringwald stepped foot on the beach and honestly, no one was really excited to see her. Molly definitely stirred the pot and caused a lot of drama on her season of the Bachelor, and a lot of people were worried she would do the same here.
Just when it seemed like the beach was full, there was one more Paradiser making his way to the entrance.
As usual, host Rob Lowe was there to welcome the final contestant, Alex Winter, to Paradise. As soon as Alex walked up to the entrance, Rob greeted him by saying, "Alex, good to see you man."
"Good to see you too, man," Alex responded, giving him a bro hug, "How's it going?"
"It's going, good," Rob said before asking, "How are you feeling about all of this?"
"Man, I can't wait. I'm ready to go," Alex answered.
Rob then asked, "What are your expectations going into Paradise?"
"I don't really have any expectations going in. I'm just gonna go in with an open mind, and hopefully I meet an amazing girl that I can leave with," Alex said.
Rob nodded before moving out of the way and extended his arm out to the stairs, "Well Alex, welcome to Paradise. Good luck."
"Thanks man," Alex said before heading off down the stairs of Paradise.
The second Alex stept onto the beach, Emma's heart immediately stopped. Of course, she always thought that Alex was cute on TV, but seeing him in really life made her realize just how attractive he was. In fact, Deidra, who was sitting under a cabana next to Emma, had to snap her fingers in front of Emma's face to bring her back to reality. Deidra then asked, "You okay there, Emma?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, "But oh my God, Alex is hot."
Deidra laughed at this before asking, "So you gonna go talk to him?"
"Hell yeah, I am," Emma said, causing both her and Deidra to laugh a little.
Emma walked over to Alex with a bright smile as she said, "Hi, I'm Emma. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Alex," he responded, giving her a hug, "Nice to meet you too."
When they pulled away from the hug, Alex told her, "You look beautiful."
"Oh my gosh, thank you," she said, that's when she noticed a small tattoo on his forearm that immediately caught her attention.
She asked with excitement, "Is that a flash tattoo?"
"Yeah, it is," Alex answered with a smile, holding up his forearm up for her to see it better.
It was a small, simple tattoo of The Flash superhero emblem done in all black. Emma rubbed her thumb over the small tattoo and said excitedly, "Oh my god, my heart. The Flash is my all time favorite superhero."
"Mine too," Alex said before asking, "Do you read the comics?"
Emma nodded, "I've been reading comics since middle school."
"Same!" Alex said excitedly.
Before the two of them could continue their conversation, Rob called from one of the large palapas, "Ladies and Gentlemen, join me up here!"
Alex and Emma looked at each and Alex said, "We're gonna have to talk more later."
"Definitely," Emma added.
Upon hearing this, everyone made their way over to the palapa and sat down on the couch. When Michael and Anya showed up wrapped in towels and still drying off from the pool, everyone laughed and began cracking jokes. Once the ladies were settled on the couch and the guys were standing behind them, Rob stood in front of all of them and began to speak:
"Hello everyone, welcome to Paradise! As you all know, you're here for a second chance at love. So many relationships, marriages, and even children have come as a result of Paradise, so it is very possible that you can find everlasting love here. The rules are pretty simple: either be in a committed relationship or leave. Every week there will be a rose ceremony and every week new contestants will arrive to test relationships. There will also be date cards every week for you to be able to explore connections on a deeper level. At the end of each rose ceremony, if you do not receive a rose you will be asked to leave Paradise. Ladies, there's ten of you. Gentlemen, there's eight of you. You will be giving out the roses this week. Ladies, next week you will be giving out the roses and there will be new guys coming to Paradise. As for now, gentlemen find your palapa. Ladies, find your palapa. Let the adventure begin!"
Once Rob was done explaining the rules of Paradise, the cast gave him a round of applause before running off to the palapas where they would be staying. Once ther girls found their palapa and picked out their beds, they all sat down to discuss the guys that they were interested in.
Aspen asked all the girls, "So who have you all been talking too? Have you guys been vibing with anyone?"
Kayla was the first to answer, "I actually had a really good conversation with Kiefer. He pulled me aside when I first got here, and we just got to know each other better. He actually told me that he was hoping to meet here, and he's like exactly my type, so I'm really feeling Kiefer right now."
"That's so awesome," Olivia told her before turning to Anya and asking, "What about you and Michael? I know you guys kind of went off on your own earlier. How did that go?"
Anya hesitated for a moment before answering with a mischievous smile, "Umm...Michael and I kissed already."
The girls all gasped and squealed out of surprise and excitement. Olivia asked, "How did it happen?"
"Well, him and I were just kind of exploring and we came across the pool," Anya explained, "He dared me to jump in, so I did. Then I pulled him in with me and then he just leaned in and kissed me."
"Was it a good kiss?" Kayla then asked.
"Oh, God yeah," Anya answered, "Holy crap, Michael can kiss."
The girls all laughed at that before Anya before continuing to talk about the guys. Olivia talked about how she and Ralph had been talking and how they laughed together a lot. Bella told everyone that Corey was very flirtatious with her, and that he was always making her blush. Deidra explained that she had interest in both Keanu and River, and was hoping to explore things with both while Aspen confessed that she wasn't really vibing with anyone yet. Andy talked about how her and Brooke were flirting back and forth a little and that he was a total charmer, and Emma said how she and Alex hit it off pretty well, and was planning on talking to him some more. Neither Molly nor Ally really spoke much during any of this. Once the girls had given each other the rundown about where they were, they all headed back to the beach to catch back up with the guys.
When the girls got back to the beach, Corey asked Bella to go on a walk with him, and she happily accepted the offer. As they walked along the water's edge, Bella asked him, "So you're from Canada, right?"
"Yeah, I am," Corey answered, "I grew up in Toronto."
"Cool, so do you still live there or do you live in the States now?" She then asked.
Corey answered, "I have dual citizenship, so I go back and forth between Canada and California throughout the year. My family is still up in Toronto, so I got back a lot to be with them. Plus, I miss my mom a lot when I'm in the States."
"That's so sweet," Bella said before asking, "Are you and your mom close?"
"Oh yeah, for sure," Corey answered, "It sounds really cheesy, but my mom and I are best friends."
"I'm the same way with my mom," Bella told him.
Corey asked, "Aww, really?"
"Yeah, I was really shy when I was a kid, and I didn't have a lot of friends, so my mom and I became very close," Bella answered, "Her and I are still super close. I call her every single day, and we just talk about everything going on with us."
Corey smiled brightly at that, "That's awesome. Family's super important to me, so it's really nice to hear that."
"Family's really important to me too," Bella told him.
Corey then reached over and gently held Bella's hand in his. Bella looked at him a little surprised, and Corey asked, "Is this okay?"
Bella smiled at him and said, "This is perfect."
Corey smiled back and lifted her hand up to press a kiss to it.
Meanwhile, Brooke and Andy were sitting on one of the day beds and getting to know each other better. They were talking about Andy's career as a photographer, and Brooke asked, "So what made you wanna go into photography?"
"I just saw it as a great creative outlet," Andy explained, "I'm a creative spirit, so I figured that photography would be a great way to express that and make money at the same time."
Brooke nodded, "I'm the same way. I make most of my income from acting and modeling, but it's also a really great creative platform."
"Yeah, I do a lot more than photography. I draw, paint, bake, do makeup, pretty much anything creative," Andy told him.
"That's really cool," Brooke told her, "I actually have a band with some of my buddies, and we play at bars and stuff. It's just kind of a fun thing for all of us."
"That's awesome, I'll have to come see you guys one time," Andy said.
Brooke told her, "Well, I'll make sure that you have a front row seat."
Andy giggled at his flirtatious comment when Molly started walking up to them. Andy couldn't help but grimace on the inside a little, worried about what was about to happen. Molly asked with a fake smile, "Hey there, you mind if I steal Brooke away for a second?"
"Umm..." Andy said awkwardly, trying to figure out the best way to say no.
Thankfully, Brooke saved her by saying, "We just sat down."
Molly's face dropped into an annoyed expression as she said, "I just really wanted the chance to talk to you."
"I'll come find you once we finish our conversation," Brooke said finally.
Molly seemed to take the hint as she mumbled, "okay then" before walking away.
As she walked away, Brooke made a face at Andy that let her know he had no intention of talking to Molly anytime soon. Andy giggled and asked jokingly, "Oh, you're not interested in her?"
"Oh God no," Brooke answered, "Why should I be when I have you sitting right here?"
Andy giggled and said, "You are such a flirt."
"I could say the same about you," Brooke responded, "You certainly charmed me when I first got here."
"Trust me, I'm not usually that bold," Andy told him.
Brooke raised his eyebrow, "Really?"
"Yeah, I usually don't talk to guys like that," she answered, "I guess I just wanted to get your attention."
"Well , you certainly accomplished that," Brooke said jokingly, making both of them laugh.
As the two of them continued to talk, Ralph was showing some of his karate moves to Olivia. Ralph was talking about his experience as a karate champion, which led Olivia to joke that she wanted to see "how tough he really is". After a few moments of showing off the crane technique to Olivia, Ralph asked her jokingly, "So what do you think?"
"Ehh, I don't know, Olivia said jokingly, "It looks pretty easy."
"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try to fight," Ralph challenged, playing along with the joke.
"Easy," Olivia declared, "Watch this."
She then attempted to do a crane kick, but it resulted in her falling on her butt in the sand. Ralph laughed hysterically at this and after a moment of glaring at him, Olivia started laughing as well. Once he composed himself, Ralph extended his arm out and offered Olivia his hand, "Here, let me help you up."
Oliva accepted his hand, but instead of being helped up she pulled him down with her. Both of them once again burst out laughing as Ralph fell to the ground. He held himself up by the hands to avoid completely crushing Olivia. As their laughter subsided a little, Olivia said, 'Ha, sneak attack!"
This caused Ralph to laugh even harder to the point where he lost his balance on his hands and fell on top of Olivia causing her to break into a fit of giggles as he yelling, "Get up! You're crushing me!"
While most of the people in Paradise were focusing on one connection, Deidra was splitting her time between two different ones. She was currently talking to River about his animal activism.
"So what made you want to start working for animal rights?" She asked.
"Well, I've always felt a connection to nature, and I've always wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, so activism just seemed like a natural fit," River explained, "I felt a need to be a voice for the voiceless."
Deidra nodded, "I totally get that. It's part of the reason I joined the FBI. Most agents focus on going after the criminals, but I wanted to help victims and get justice for them."
"Exactly, a voice for the voiceless," River said, "That's very noble of you."
"You too," Deidra responded before asking, "So you how long have you been working for PETA?"
"About five years now. I also work for an organization that helps fight global warming," River answered, "We actually just helped pass legislation that would cut carbon emissions."
Deidra said, "That's awesome! I actually volunteer with the Crime Victims Center. It's an organization that helps victims of crimes. I mostly help the child victims."
"Wow, that's incredible," River told her.
The two of them continued to talk about their different charity works while Kiefer was playing his guitar for Kayla. The two of them had been talking about their shared love of music, when Kiefer told her that he actually wrote songs. Kayla had insisted on hearing one, and Kiefer had agreed. He was a little conflicted about what song he wanted to play for her, as he didn't really write that many love songs, until he finally settled on one.
I don't wanna steal your freedom
I don't wanna change your mind
I don't have to make you love me
I just wanna take your time
And I don't wanna blow your phone up
I just wanna blow your mind
I don't have to take your heart
I just wanna take your time
No, I ain't gotta call you baby
And I ain't gotta call you mine
I don't have to take your heart
I just wanna take your time
Once he finished, be panicked for a split second. It was by no means the most romantic song, but it was the most romantic he had. Thankfully, Kayla started clapping and said, "That was amazing!"
"You liked it?" Kiefer asked.
"I loved it," she answered as she gave him a hug, "Thank you so much."
"Of course," Kiefer told her.
When they pulled away from the hug, they still kept their arms around one another. The sun was slowly setting on the beach, creating the perfect romantic scene. After a moment of thinking about it, Kiefer decided to just go for it. He leaned in and gave Kayla a gentle kiss. Kayla didn't hesitate to kiss back. It was soft and slow; the perfect first kiss.
Meanwhile, Alex and Emma were continuing their conversation from earlier and talking about superheroes and comic books when Alex asked the ultimate question: "Okay, answer honestly: DC or Marvel?"
Emma hesitated for a second before answering, "Okay hear me out: DC for comics and Marvel for movies."
"Right answer," Alex said jokingly, causing them both to laugh.
Emma then said, "It stinks though cause the DC comics are so good, but the movies just make me...sad."
"Same," Alex said, "Pretty much every DC movie has been a disappointment."
"Wonder Woman was great, though," Emma quickly added.
"Oh yeah, that was amazing," Alex responded, "The directing was awesome. Patty Jenkins is such a talented director."
Emma then asked, "You're a director, right?"
"Yeah, I am," Alex answered, "I acted for years, and I still act a little bit, but I really love being behind the camera."
Emma nodded before asking, "So what kind of stuff do you direct?"
"I direct a lot of documentaries," Alex explained, "I've done about three independent ones, and then I also helped direct 20/20 one ABC."
"Wait, that's really cool. I love 20/20," Emma told him, "I actually have a small true crime podcast with some of my friends, and we were inspired by 20/20."
Alex said to her in a joking voice, "Well, it's always nice to meet a fan."
Both of them laughed at that before Alex asked, "You're on Broadway too, right?"
"Yeah I am, I'm a Broadway actress," Emma answered, "So I'm a theatre kid with a crime podcast who likes comics cause you know, I'm just really cool."
She said the last part sarcastically, which made Alex laugh before asking, "What shows have you been in?"
Emma explained, "I actually made my debut when I was eighteen. The show Bare: A Pop Opera had just transferred to Broadway, and I got one of the two female leads in that show. I stayed there for about a year and a half, and then I was the lead in Anastasia for a few months. After that, Rock of Ages was doing a six week limited revival, and I stared in that too, and then I just finished the national tour of Wicked as Elphaba. Then when I get back from Paradise, I'm gonna start my run as Eliza in Hamilton."
Once she was finished, Alex said, "That's incredible. Dang, I feel really lazy after hearing all that."
"No, no, no, don't feel lazy," Emma told him, "You've done so much amazing stuff too."
Alex then told her, "You know, I was actually on Broadway as a kid."
Emma gasped a little in pleasant surprise and said, "No way, what shows were you in?"
"I was in The King and I and Peter Pan," he answered.
Something clicked in Emma's head when he said that because she asked, "Wait, who was playing Peter Pan when you were in it and who were you playing?"
"Sandy Duncan was Peter Pan," Alex answered, "And I was playing John Darling."
"Oh my God," Emma gasped as everything clicked in her head.
Alex raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "What?"
"Okay, you're not going to believe me when I tell you this," she said, "But I actually saw that production."
Alex perked up at that and said, "No way."
"Yes way," Emma told him, "My mom took me to see it and it was the first Broadway show I had ever seen."
"Oh my God, that's insane," Alex said, "God, I looked like such a dork in that show."
Emma giggled a little, "That's funny that you say that, actually. This is super embarrassing to admit, but I was nine years old when I saw that show, and I saw you walk onstage. I remember when I saw you, I turned to my mom and said, 'Mom, he's really cute. I'm gonna marry him one day'."
Both of them laughed hysterically at this, Alex especially. He finally composed himself and smirked a little and said, "Well, I guess we'll have to see where Paradise takes us."
"I guess we do," Emma responded, smirking back.
Michael and Anya, who had pretty much been attached to the hip all day, were now sitting at the bar drinking and talking about music.
"So what instruments do you play?" Anya asked.
Michael answered, "I play bass and guitar."
"No way! I play guitar too!" Anya told him, "Guitar and drums."
Michael nodded, "Yeah, I've actually listened to a lot of your music. It's all really good."
"Really? You listen to my stuff?" Anya asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah, I loved it. You have a really great voice," Michael admitted, blushing a little, "I was just a little embarrassed to tell you that."
Anya asked him, "How come?"
"I didn't want you to think I was like a creepy stalker fan boy," Michael said, chuckling a little.
Anya shook her head, "You're not, trust me. That's very sweet of you."
To prove her point, she gave him a long kiss that he happily reciprocated.
As the sun continued to set, a date card appeared under one of the cabanas. Aspen was the first to find it and picked it up to announce to the beach that the first date card of the season was here. Everyone gathered under one of the palapas in anticipation to see whose name was on the date card. They knew that whoever's name was on the card got the first date or the season and got to take whoever they wanted on the date with them.
Once everyone was gathered around, Aspen opened the envelope and read what was on the date card: "River, it's time to begin your love story. Pick a beautiful girl to join you for a romantic evening."
River smiled as everyone clapped for him getting the date card. He stood up from his spot on the couch in order and walked over to Aspen, who handed him the date card. He smiled down at it. He didn't even have to think about his decision. He knew exactly who he wanted to take.
He walked over to where Deidra and held the date card out to her and he asked, "Deidra, would you like to go on this date with me?"
"I'd love to," Deidra answered, smiling brightly.
Everyone cheered when she said yes. That is, of course, everyone but Keanu. He came to Paradise in order to pursue Deidra, and so far that was proving to be difficult with River here. However, Keanu wasn't given up just yet; he was ready to fight for love.
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Ahhhhhhhh! The first chapter is finally up! I'm so flipping excited for this book! I really hope you all enjoy! Shout out to all my friends who are in this book:
This is for you guys! I really hope you all love it!