It vaguely occurs to me that I still have no idea what day it is. I swat Will away, and I hear him yelp as my hand connects clumsily with his face. “Sleeping,” I mutter.“Come on,” he says, nudging me with his toe from a safer distance. “We have to pick our new partners, and then you can rest.”I struggle into a sitting position and peel his sweatshirt off my face. It feels like something flew into my mouth and died. “Who got eliminated?” I ask, trying not to breathe in his direction.“Lou and that woman with the purple hair, whatever her name is. Jade, or something? They just got in a minute ago.” He points off to the right, where Lou and Jada are sitting on a stone wall with one of the producers and doing their exit interview.“It sucks that Lou’s out,” I say. “I’m sorry. Are you upset?”He shrugs. “Nah. No big deal. I’ll see him at home in a couple weeks.” His nonchalance surprises me—if my sister had been eliminated, I’d be devastated. But maybe it’s different for guys.Isis arranges us in a semicircle at the base of the alligator statue, and the camera people surround us, careful to stay out of each other’s sightlines.
