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“That’s five votes,” I said. “We need at least one more.”

“I’ll talk to Carlos,” Jacintha said. “He’ll do as I say.”

“Six votes,” Candice said. “I can’t say it to Andrew: it’ll tip off the others. But six votes will do. Fuck Ryan; he doesn’t deserve to be here.”

We glanced behind us, to make sure they couldn’t hear.

“But,” Candice said, “if we vote Ryan out, Lily will be vulnerable that night. We can’t have you kicked out, Lil, for something that he did.”

“She’ll have to find someone else to share a bed with,” Becca said, and I looked at her sharply. She was so young, Becca. I had yet to find out what age she was.

“Who?” Jacintha said.

“Tom, of course,” Becca said.

The thought of sharing a bed with Tom filled me with dread. I knew I wouldn’t sleep for a minute, his massive form lying inches away. The girls were looking at me expectantly, and I knew that they were right. If someone had to go, let it be Vanessa.

“We’ll need to try and get the vote done as soon as the task comes up on the screen,” Jacintha said. “We can’t let the boys talk to each other.”

“The sooner you talk to Tom, the better, Lily. Do you want me to find you an outfit?” Candice said.

“I’m not going toseducehim,” I said. “Jesus.”

“It’s all right,” Jacintha said. “There are other ways.”

“I don’t like Tom,” I said. I didn’t say what I really meant, which was that there was a part of me that was frightened of him. I didn’t say it, but I think that the girls somehow understood.

“Don’t worry,” Candice said, and stroked my hand. “He’s next.”

—

The producers musthave known what we were about, because after a simple task in exchange for teabags, the screen read:

Task: Banish one person from the compound

Reward: Tennis racquets

We had received a net for the tennis court in a Communal Task, and balls that one of the boys had won in a Personal Task. The racquets would mean that we could play proper games.

“We should get it over with now,” Candice said.

Andrew sighed. “I don’t know. The banishments are always hard, but worse now that there are only ten of us.”

“I fucking love tennis,” Jacintha said, and Andrew brightened.

“Yeah?” he said, smiling. “Me too. Willing to take me on? I’m pretty good.”

“Sure,” she said. “Let’s get the racquets, and we’ll play.”

He looked at the position of the sun low in the sky. We generally didn’t do tasks in the evening anymore, but it was too tempting an offer to let it pass us by. He pointed at the shadow of a nearby tree. “When the shadow of that tree reaches the red bucket. That’s when I’ll blow the whistle.”

When he walked off, Jacintha said, “That’s not long, Lily: it might be an hour, but it could be a half hour. I need to go and talk to Carlos and make sure his vote is secure. Go find Tom. Quickly. People will be planning to make sure they don’t sleep alone tonight. Get to him before someone else does.”

“I’ll find Vanessa, and make sure she’s occupied,” Candice said. “Becca, go to Sam and tell him to keep quiet about the vote.”

I didn’t see Tom anywhere, but I couldn’t be spotted rushing around looking for him. I walked casually around the perimeter of the house, and then to the gym, and eventually found him in the gray room. He had put up shelves. It was amazing how much better the room looked, actually. There was a chair and a desk, giving the room the feel of a home office. He had placed some things on the shelves, and on closer inspection I saw that they were all his own personal items—a model of a ship, a potted cactus, a print of a gangster movie, a toy soldier. When I found him, he was sitting quietly in the swivel chair, gazing at them.

“Planning on moving in?” I asked. He looked up and smiled.