“Welcome…to your new home.” Irene said.

“Oh. My. God.” Keira gasped, dropping her bags in surprise. It was…incredible. The three story foyer was nearly as big as her entire apartment building, with a sweeping spiral staircase and polished marble everywhere. Keira suddenly felt underdressed in her jeans and sweater. This place deserved something couture. Hell, with all the money she was getting for this, she could afford to go shopping. She made a mental note.

Irene smiled at her gaping expression. “I’ll show you to your room.” She said sweetly, pointing beyond the winding staircase to the second floor.

Irene continued, gesturing as she went along. “This is the west wing. You’ll be staying here, along with the host and the camera crew. All the boys will be staying in the east wing. They are, however, allowed in the west wing…it’s your show.” Irene winked at her. “You make the decisions.” Keira blushed.

She thought she would keel over when they finally reached her room. The walls were painted a soft green (her request) and her very own flawless 52” plasma screen TV was set into the wall. A Jacuzzi tub was situated in by the elegant French doors, opening over a beautifully lit pool and hot tub.

A girl could get used to this.

“Dinner is at eight.” And with that, Irene left.

Keira collapsed onto the king-sized bed (with a canopy, no less), and snuggled her head into the plush pillows. This was insane. Just four hours ago, she was Keira Hartly, a small town girl from Rhode Island, of all places, who was just trying to get by at her dead end temp job. Now she was Keira Hartly, in Los Angeles, the star of the new reality dating show Mr. Right.

She wasn’t going to get chosen. That’s what she told Gisele, anyway. They all went along with it: Gisele, Vivian, Colin, every last one of them. She knew she wouldn’t get picked. Who wants to make a Rhode Island girl a national television star? So she sent in the application, just to pacify them. She wouldn’t get picked.

She got picked.

It wasn’t like Keira hadn’t been searching for Mr. Right since the moment she had first learned that girls were supposed to feel that way about boys. She just wasn’t sure that having twenty complete strangers woo her shamelessly was the best way to go about finding him.

Well, when she said it that way, it doesn’t sound quite so bad.

But still. Insane.

Vivian sprung into the room, collapsing on the bed beside Keira. “Hi.” She said breathlessly.

Keira had to giggle. V was the head entertainment writer for The Valley Breeze, a local newspaper in their town, and was appropriately loud and prying enough for the job. She convinced the creators of the show to let her tag along for some behind-the-scenes coverage of the show.

“Boo.” Whispered Gisele, making Keira jump so high she almost fell off the bed.

Keira stared at her. “What are you doing here? I thought…it was just…V.”

“Disappointed, I see.” Gisele teased. She stood in front of the mirror, fixing her long curls and checking her makeup. “Well, Vivian here used her tremendous charm to let us all come.”

“All?”

Just then, Colin popped his head in. “Everybody decent?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn.” Colin replied. “Maybe I’ll just have to wait until tonight, when you you’re your sleepover.”

“You know that your sick fantasies don’t actually mirror real life, right?” Gisele smiled.

“Ah, the crusher of dreams is here.” Colin rolled his eyes. He strode into the room, Ben right at his heels.

Keira sighed. It really was a shame. For all Gisele’s complaints about how she couldn’t find a boyfriend, she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Colin was entirely head over heels for her. Gisele wouldn’t date him, though. She thought he was a player. But Keira knew the truth-Colin had barely talked to another girl in almost three months. Here he was, trying to prove himself to Gisele, and she didn’t even notice it.

Keira wanted that. That’s why she joined the show, wasn’t it? She wanted someone who loved her enough to give up everything for her. She wouldn’t make them do it, of course, she wasn’t that girl. But it’s nice to know that they would.

Vivian joined the group on their tour, and Ben took her spot on the bed. Keira groaned. “What the hell have I gotten myself into, Ben?” She asked.

Ben smiled. “I think you’re asking the wrong person, Puff.”

She smacked him on the arm. “Please stop calling me that.” She begged.

“Why? It’s cute.”

Keira groaned again. Puff was the nickname her friends had chosen for her, despite her ardent protests. And they used it. Often.

“We could call you Princess, if you want.” Ben offered.

“That’s it. Out! All of you, out!” Keira huffed.

Ben gave her the puppy dog eyes. She really hated when he did that. It was irresistible. He moved over to his side, facing her. He rested his hand on her arm. “Aw, Keira, be nice. We came all this way just to be with you.”

Keira smiled in spite of herself. It was going to be okay, she told herself. Ben was here, her best friend was here. Everything would be great. “I’m really glad you’re here.” She confessed.

“You know we’ll always be here.” He assured her.

Keira curled up on the bed a little more. “I’m…scared, I think. I don’t know. I can’t explain this. It’s just-.” She rambled.

“Shhh.” Ben whispered. “You’ll be fine. I know you will.”

“I’m glad somebody believes that.”

“You will. I know it.” He repeated.

Keira nodded. “We should get ready for dinner. It’s in twenty minutes.”

Ben stood up, herding the others out of the room as he went. He found his room quickly, and walked out onto the small balcony. The cool night air made him shiver.

Why did he even come? So he could watch Keira finally find the love of her life? Some handsome, rich bachelor that would woo her and then break her heart? No thanks.

He would never break her heart.

But that, she would never know. Nobody would ever know.

--

Dinner was filet mignon, baked potatoes, and, for dessert, a three-layer cake. Keira nearly choked just looking at the display. This was a dream, it had to be. Things like this just didn’t happen. Not to people like her.

No one spoke, choosing instead to scarf down the food. Colin was the first one to finish.

“Yes!” He yelled, pumping his fists like a champion boxer.

Gisele rolled her eyes. Colin was so immature. He was so clueless. He was so…ugh.

He was also very, very attractive.

Damn.

Colin looked at Gisele at smiled. God, she was beautiful. None of the girls he had ever met were like her. She smiled back. And then she flipped him off.

It was too bad she hated him.

Vivian watched this humorous little exchange, stifling a grin. They would find their way to each other sometime. It was just fate.

V had never been in love, and she didn’t plan to. Love was good for some people-people that were not her. She looked to the other side of the table to see Ben staring at an oblivious Keira.

Keira was making a big mistake, and Vivian couldn’t do anything about it.

Nobody could.

--

Gisele clutched her stomach. “I’m going to gain thirty pounds living here.” She moaned.

Keira snorted. The only way Gisele would gain thirty pounds was if she downed an entire Krispy Kreme building. And even then, she’d burn it off by the next day.

Gisele gathered up her long hair, letting it fall loosely over her shoulders. Sometimes Keira felt invisible next to Gisele. Gisele was the beautiful one, and Vivian was the funny one. What was she? The practical one? Wonderful.

Vivian grasped Keira’s hand. “What are you thinking about?” She asked.

“I meet the guys tomorrow.”

“I know.”

“What if this is just one huge waste of time?”

“Nothing is ever a complete waste of time. I mean, what else do you have to do?”

Keira laughed. Unfortunately, V was right.

Gisele curled up closer into Keira’s covers. Should she…? No, she wouldn’t. But geez, it was so painfully obvious. How did Keira not notice?

Ben was entirely head over heels for her.

Seriously.

Vivian smiled. She knew it, she knew…everything. Everyone but Gisele knew that Colin was crazy about her, just like everyone but Keira knew that Ben was crazy about her. But with them, everything remained unspoken. And if Colin and Ben weren’t going to start fighting, then she wasn’t going to be the one to start it for them.

Keira shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “I’m really doing this.”

“You’re really doing this.” Gisele echoed.

Vivian leaned over and grabbed three Cokes out of the mini fridge. She handed them out, and then raised her own.

“A toast.” She said. “To a new beginning. For all of us.”

“A new beginning.” Gisele repeated.

“A new beginning.” Keira said, and they clanked their cans.

So…welcome to my new story! I know that the first chapter is short, but I’m going to try to put a lot more detail into this story than I did in NSGA.

I actually just got the inspiration for this very early this morning, so it’s not completely planned out, and may be a little more spontaneous, which should be very interesting.

In the next chapter, you will meet all 20 contestants. They’ll all have their own personalities, and Keira will react differently to all of them. In each chapter, one of the boys will be kicked off.

Please, please, PLEASE review. It is very, highly, amazingly appreciated and I will try my best to return the favor for all of you.