Page 31 of Fight For Me

“Did you know Bodhi was coming?” Alex asks Fox as Everly rushes over to hug the guy.

“Nope,” he says, laughing. “But are we surprised?”

“Not in the least bit,” Alex’s grin is huge. “I think I’d actually be more surprised if Bodhi wasn’t here for our first day of filming.”

“Who the hell is Bodhi?” I ask.

Alex’s eyes sparkle as she turns to me. “You haven’t met Bodhi? Seriously? I thought he was best friends with the entire family by now.”

I shrug, not bothering to point out that I haven’t been home much in the last few years.

“Bodhi is Leo’s roommate,” Fox explains.

“Leo as in Rose’s boyfriend?” I’ve met the guy a few times. He seemed okay—not nearly good enough for Rosie, but then no one really is. “And Rose’s boyfriend’s roommate is here because…?”

Alex shrugs. “He’s kind of just always around.” She doesn’t look annoyed by it, though. I shoot the new guy another look, and try to tamp down the irrational jealousy sparked by her undeniably fond tone.

“Bodhi is awesome,” Fox tells me. “He’s a little much when you first meet him, but he grows on you. Kind of like mold or some kind of resistant bacteria.”

“I heard that,” Bodhi shouts from the door. “Are you showing me this place or what?”

“Did you sign your release to be on camera?” Fox shoots back.

Bodhi rolls his eyes. “What do you think?”

“He signed his release before the ink was dry on our contract,” Alex says, laughing. “The camera is going to love him. He’s probably going to have his own show by the end of this.”

Scott pulls up behind Fox’s Jeep in a sleek black Audi convertible. The fact that his hair hasn’t moved a centimeter since he left the apartment, even after driving with the top down, proves my hunch about the excessive hair gel. He grins as he hops out of the car. “We ready to get started?”

Alex’s face looks a little pale but Fox and Everly seem too excited to notice. I want to pull her aside, want to make sure she’s not too nervous, but Scott’s eyes are on me and I don’t want to give myself away any more than I already have. So I clench my jaw shut and follow them inside.

The inside of the store looks like a construction zone. Two of the walls have been taken down to the studs, another wall is covered in scaffolding, the front windows are covered in brown paper, and half the tile floor has been ripped up.

“Um, it looks great,” Bodhi says, voice uncertain, and Everly laughs.

“It’s going to lookamazing. Come and look at the plans!”

“Hang on,” Scott calls out. “We need to go over the script first.”

“The script?” I mutter to Alex. “I thought the point of reality TV was that it’s unscripted.” She shrugs, looking as confused as I feel. She also still looks really pale. “Alex, are you—”

But Everly grabs her by the arm and pulls her over to the huddle in the middle of the store. Scott is there, along with two camera guys and a woman holding a clipboard—I think she’s Scott’s assistant, Monica. I find a stool in the corner and take a seat, my gaze locked on the group. Luckily, Scott seems to be in business mode now, because he barely looks at Alex as he gives direction.

Shooting a reality show is nothing like I expected it to be. First the girls and Fox are directed to go back outside and enter again, as if they haven’t seen the place yet. They do this four times so the cameras can get different angles and catch a reaction from each of them. Then Scott directs them to walk around the store a few times before Everly pulls out the plans and explains them. Monica produces a handful of paint swatches and fabric samples and Scott directs them to argue over which they like better—even though I know for a fact they’ve already chosen the color scheme. Everly has talked about nothing else since we moved into the condo.

Finally, Scott has Bodhi leave and come back in so the three of them can show him around the store. He does the same thing for me, clearly agitated when I don’t respond to his directives to act like a douchebag at the state of the renovations. Apparently, it would be good television if we all argue more. Eventually Scott has the three of them stand in the center of the room, arms around each other, and directs them to look like they’re “on the verge of greatness,” whatever the hell that means. The camera guys record them from every possible angle before Scott is satisfied.

“Great work,” he says as the crew packs up their equipment. “You guys have the condo to yourselves for tonight, but the crew will be over bright and early to get started tomorrow.”

“What will we be filming tomorrow?” Everly asks. Unlike Alex—who looks tired—and Fox, who looks bored, Everly alone still seems ready to bounce off the walls with excitement.

“We’ll record you guys moving into the house,” he explains.

I don’t point out that we moved into the house three days ago. Apparently, reality isn’t really the focus of reality TV.

Once the camera crew leaves, Alex collapses onto the ground. “I had no idea that would be so tiring.”

“Or boring,” Fox agrees. “How many times can we walk around a four hundred square foot space?”