Page 74 of The Cuffing Game

“It’s so good! I’m pretty sure everyone who goes to Marlon watches it now, especially after the show made college sports headlines when Jack came out. Even my parents are watching it with me. All I’ve been doing this Aspen trip is ski and watchThe Cuffing Game.”

That meant everyone and their mom—literally—was going to watch Noah’s little freak-out, if they hadn’t seen it already. He groaned, leaning back into his seat.

“Hey,” Thad continued. “So—”

The line went dead. In the sudden quiet, Noah’s heart still pounded in his ears. The whole conversation had been stressful, but he also didn’t want to leave his friend hanging. He sighed and called him again when the tiny bar was back.

“Sorry, lost service. I’m back now, though.”

“Wait, lost service? I waswonderingwhy your voice sounded so weird. Where are you?”

“Long story,” Noah said.

“Um, okay. Are you all right, though?”

Noah stared out his windshield, at where his car was half-submerged in snow. “Yeah,” he lied.

“Anyway, who is this Mia chick? Does she like you or something? She keeps staringat you ineveryepisode. Like, I know she’s the host but—damn, she glared at you right now! Sorry, I started watching the new episode they just uploaded.”

Noah froze. “What do you mean?”

“Huh? Well, apparently something happened last night so they had to delay—”

“No, about Mia. What did you mean, shestaresat me?”

Hehadnoticed Mia looking at him a few times here and there throughout the last few days. But had it really been that much? His heart still stung from her rejection today. He wasn’t sure he could take any false hope.

“Oh man,” Thad replied. “Listen. This is something you have to see for yourself. Is your cell service good enough to watch the show?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay, well, just trust me and watch the show whenever you get the chance.”

Thad sounded so confident, enough that it piqued Noah’s curiosity. “All right,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“See ya,” Thad replied. “Have fun!”

Noah hung up. After bookmarking the webpage of therapists, he searched forThe Cuffing Game. Blood rushed to his face as the screen slowly loaded with all the different results.

Thad was right. The show had become really popular. Not only did the show already have entire articlesandits own subreddit, but a couple of episodes themselves had several hundred thousand views.

It was going to take forever to load up the episodes with his fickle service.

But luckily, Noah had plenty of time.

Day Five (Continued)

The Cuffing Game

Behind-the-Scenes Contestant Interview

Kyle Yoshida

[Internal note: unaired; recorded shortly before we left Big Bear]

ALEX:Hey, Kyle. Thanks for dropping by on your way out. Please look at the camera and state your name, year, major, and crush.

KYLE:[looks directly at camera]Hey, what’s up? My name is Kyle. I’m a freshman and I’m majoring in business. My crush is Celine, the little hottie.