The next day Olivia woke them all early with a cheerful “Rise and shine!” that made Charlotte want to throw a pillow at her. Grumbling, they slowly made their way out of bed.
Catherine was in the dining hall when the girls arrived for breakfast, but she wasn’t eating. Instead she sat at one of the other tables just watching. She’s definitely plotting something, Charlotte thought.
As soon as they finished eating, Catherine appeared next to their table. “Girls,” she said, smiling at them, “no down time today! This afternoon is the first group date. As you know you’ll have one every week, and then you’ll each have a one-on-one date every week as well.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Olivia, clapping her hands with excitement.
“You’re going boating on the lake,” said Catherine. “Make sure you wear a swimsuit—you’ll be water skiing too.”
Charlotte perked up a bit at this. She hadn’t been looking forward to another group event, but she’d always wanted to try water skiing.
“Will we have to get in the water?” whined Teagan.
“I hate seaweed,” added Delaney.
“No one will make you,” said Catherine, frowning. “But I strongly encourage you to participate fully in the dates. Dominic chose all these activities, and if you’re hoping to make a good impression on him, you should at least try the things he enjoys.”
Teagan and Delaney both stared at Catherine with huge eyes. This will be very interesting, Charlotte thought, stifling a laugh. “Be ready in an hour,” said Catherine. “We’ll have sunscreen, food, drinks, all of that. Just bring yourselves!”
As they walked back to their cabin, Teagan said, “I knew I should have gotten a better tan before this!”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Delaney.
They changed into their swimsuits right away. Charlotte threw on a T-shirt and shorts over hers, while the other three all wore sundresses. No one said anything about her clothes this time, but she was still self-conscious. It made her angry—at home she never worried about what anyone thought of how she looked, but thinking of the whole country judging her appearance the way Teagan and Delaney had made her anxious.
***
When they arrived at the dock, Dominic was surrounded by members of the crew, who were clearly there to keep them all from interacting before the cameras were ready.
The boat wasn’t as big as Charlotte had expected. There was room for only one cameraperson onboard, as well as a driver. A second boat, already loaded with the camera crew, was ready to follow them.
“All right, everyone ready?” asked Catherine. “Let’s get started!”
Dominic walked over to the dock, smiling his too-perfect smile. Charlotte still thought it looked fake, but she couldn’t help noticing how it lit up his eyes. She hoped she’d see a real smile from him someday. Charlotte followed Teagan, Delaney, and Olivia to him, letting them greet him first.
“You girls ready for some speed?” he asked.
Teagan giggled, though it sounded forced. She hesitated before stepping carefully into the boat. She was pale with fear and her smile looked pained. Delaney nodded, a tentative smile on her face, and Olivia shrieked and jumped up and down. Charlotte just smiled a little and climbed into the boat. “More than ready,” she said. Charlotte almost thought she saw an interested gleam in Dominic’s eyes, but it was gone in a flash.
They started slowly, cruising around the edge of the lake, where the cliffs rose high above them. The reds and browns of the rock were beautiful in the sun, and the dark green pine trees at the top of the cliffs looked mysterious and calm.
But the atmosphere in the boat was anything but calm. Teagan seemed to have overcome her anxiety and was back to her outrageous flirting. She removed her sundress almost immediately to reveal a black bikini. Olivia and Delaney followed suit, saying the weather was far too nice to be covered up. Dominic removed his shirt, and as much as Charlotte tried not to look, it was hard to ignore the muscles on display.
“Come on, Charlie, don’t you want to join us?” he asked. He winked at her again.
Her stomach flipped at his request—this time his wink seemed charming, and part of her wanted to, but she just shook her head. “I don’t want to get a sunburn,” she said. “I’ll change when we get in the water.”
“Then let’s get in!” said Dominic excitedly. He got the water skis set up easily. It was clear he’d done it before, and Charlotte admired how confident he was. “Have any of you ever skied?” he asked, looking at each of them. When they all shook their heads, he said, “I’ll go first then, and you can all give it a try after you see how it’s done!”
He pulled on a life jacket, then strapped on the skis and jumped into the water, whooping at the temperature. He surfaced immediately, shaking water out of his hair.
“Watch how I do this, girls!” he said. The driver passed him the rope and, at Dominic’s signal, slowly drove forward until the rope was pulled tight. When Dominic yelled, “Hit it!” the driver accelerated, fast.
Dominic popped up out of the water in a crouch, his arms straight in front of him. The four girls in the boat shrieked at the sudden acceleration and held on. Dominic gave a thumbs-up and the boat sped up even more. Charlotte could see him laughing though she couldn’t hear it over the roar of the wind, and she couldn’t help but laugh too. Even with the cameras on them, this was fun.
After a few minutes, the driver slowed down and circled back to pick up Dominic. “Who’s next?” he asked as he climbed back into the boat.
Charlotte really wanted to go, but Olivia jumped to her feet. “I’ll try!” she giggled.
Olivia was terrible. Every time she started to come out of the water, she lost her balance or her feet flew in opposite directions. She tried enthusiastically for ten minutes before signaling that she was done.
“I just can’t seem to get the hang of it,” she said. She didn’t seem upset, though.
“I think it’s because you’re not bending your knees enough,” said Dominic. “You can try again later. Delaney, do you want to go next?”
Delaney agreed, but she clearly wasn’t enjoying herself. She seemed scared and tried half-heartedly before quickly giving up.
“Me next,” said Charlotte when Delaney had settled back into her seat.
She stood and pulled off her T-shirt and shorts. Her shirt was only halfway off when Delaney burst out laughing. “I didn’t know anyone still bought suits like that!” she said, pointing at Charlotte.
Charlotte was confused. She was just wearing a plain one-piece. She knew it wasn’t super fashionable, but she thought it looked nice on her.
“You look like you’re on the swim team,” said Olivia. She rushed to add, “Not that that’s a bad thing!”
Charlotte felt herself blush. It was amazing how bad they could make her feel about things she’d never worried much about. She refused to let it show, though. “I like my swimsuit to stay on when I swim,” she said simply. She put on the lifejacket and water skis.
“I don’t know why you’re worried about that,” said Teagan, sneering. “It’s not like anyone would want to see what’s underneath anyway.” Delaney giggled again.
Charlotte dropped into the water. She was angry now, but fighting with Teagan was a bad idea. She already knew that Catherine wanted Teagan to win, and she was sure that when they edited the show they’d make Teagan look good and Charlotte look bad. Six weeks from now she’d never have to see these girls again—she could put up with them until then.
The water was cold, and it cooled off her temper. She grabbed the rope and positioned herself like Dominic had. The tips of the skis rose out of the water in front of her with the rope stretched toward the boat.
“Hit it!” she yelled, and the boat surged forward. The strength of it surprised her, but she kept her arms straight and held on. She felt herself rising out of the water and kept her knees bent. She thought she had it when she suddenly hit a rough patch of water.
Her legs flew apart as she fell, and the rope jerked out of her hands. Bobbing on the water with the life jacket around her chin, she swam awkwardly forward and got ready to try again.
This time, Charlotte was ready. She got her balance right away when the boat pulled her out of the water, and then she was flying. Her legs burned with the effort, but the hours in the gym and at soccer practice paid off.
The boat turned and she zoomed out in a wide arc, bumping over the wake. When she straightened out again, she gave the driver a thumbs-up, asking to go faster. She laughed as they sped up. After a few more minutes, she gave the signal to stop.
When she climbed back into the boat, Dominic was looking at her like he’d never seen her before. “Have you done that before?” he asked. “It took me ages to learn when I was a kid.”
“Nope,” she said. “I always wanted to, though. Once I got the hang of it, it wasn’t so hard.” She shrugged and took of the life jacket. “Your turn, Teagan.” She passed the wet life jacket over to Teagan, who took it like it was covered in mold.
Teagan complained the whole time she was getting ready. The water was too cold, the rope would hurt her hands, she wasn’t strong enough. She only tried because Catherine glared at her from the other boat.
They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the lake. They ate and drank and skied again several times. By the end of the day, they were all exhausted, but they had managed to get along reasonably well.
Charlotte didn’t speak much—she never really knew what to say, and it was even harder with the cameras there. They’d been easy to ignore while she was on the water skis, but on the boat it was impossible. Even though she didn’t really talk to him, she saw Dominic looking at her. It made her nervous, even though part of her got a little thrill every time she noticed him looking.
When the sun started going down and the tall cliffs cast long shadows on the lake, the driver docked the boat. Dominic helped each of them out of the boat like a gentleman. “I had a really good time with you all,” he said once they stood on the dock. “I can’t wait to get to know each of you better during our private dates. Tomorrow I’d like to invite Teagan to come to the beach with me.”
Teagan nodded enthusiastically. “I can’t wait,” she said.
“I’ll see you all later,” he said. He waved at them as he walked back toward the trees.
Typical, thought Charlotte. Of course Teagan gets the first date. It’ll be hard for any of the rest of us to make an impression when she’s gotten there first. Even though she wasn’t sure how she felt about Dominic, she did want him to like her. If she wanted any chance at the scholarship, he had to.
“Cut!” called Catherine. “Teagan, you’ll be picked up at ten tomorrow morning. The rest of the private dates will be Charlie, then Olivia, then Delaney. At the end of the week, you’ll film your first confessionals, and then you’ll get a day off before the next week of dates begins. When you don’t have to film, you’re free to explore the area. Just don’t get in the way.”
A day off, and then a date. I guess it’s good I don’t have too much time to worry about it, thought Charlotte as she followed the others back to the cabin.