The Contestant#6
Wait, before you start reading this, have you read ‘Woman of The Hour‘?
Corey grabbed their backpack from the overhead cabin and effortlessly slipped into the line of passengers making their way off the plane.
As they made their way into the airport, Corey powered on their phone, and like floodgates being opened the notifications began rolling in. Ignoring the hundreds of texts, emails, and other random notifications that had accumulated over the course of their flight, Corey unlocked their phone and sent a text to the family group chat.
‘Landed’ Corey texted.
After locking their phone, Corey pocketed the device before making their way over to baggage claim.
Corey arrived at the luggage carousel and as they began looking for their bag, their phone pinged, letting them know that they’d received a text. Figuring that it was either their mother or their father, Corey ignored the notification; they’d get to it on their way to wherever it was that they were going.
But shortly after that first ping, a second one came in, then a third, followed by a fourth ping and soon their pocket sounded like an impatient guest slamming the service bell at a fancy hotel.
As the millionth ping went off, they located their last bag and after putting it on the cart, they reached into their pocket and pulled out their phone.
‘Cornelious Vincent Smiley left New York City? No, I don’t believe it’ read a text from Silvia, Corey’s aunt on their father’s side.
‘Please tell me this dating thing is gonna be on TV’ Lex, Corey’s second cousin said.
Text after text rolled in, and Corey shook their head. They were going to kill their grandfather.
As more text rolled in, Corey heard someone call out to them.
“Corey Smiley?” Said a deep voice.
Corey looked up from their phone to find a tall man standing in front of them. Dressed in black jeans, and a matching t-shirt, the man held a sign with Corey’s name on it.
“That’s me. Sorry, I just have to finish this text.” Corey said, pointing down at their phone.
“Oh, no worries. We’ve got a couple more people that we’re waiting on anyways.” The man said with a nonchalant wave.
Corey gave a nod before diving back into their phone; opening up their second family group chat, which consisted solely of their parents and siblings, Corey began typing.
‘Good luck dealing with the mess in the extended family group chat.’ They said.
Just seconds after sending the message off, Corey’s phone buzzed with a response.
‘Fuck that, I’ve left the chat altogether.’ Allie, Corey’s second oldest sister said.
‘Who the hell gave grandpa access to a phone to even leak this shit. My phone’s blowing up like crazy right now!’ Maddison, Corey’s oldest sister responded.
Corey simply responded with a shrugging emoji.
“Are you here for the dating competition too?” Said a voice.
Corey looked up from their phone to find a petite blonde standing in front of them.
Standing at six feet even, Corey felt like a giant next to the woman. She had to be at least five foot one, and even that measurement felt generous.
“Oh yeah, I am.” Corey said with a nod.
The woman smiled as she ran a hand through her fiery red hair.
Corey could tell by the way she shifted her weight from one leg to the other that she was a bit nervous; and if Corey were being completely honest, so were they.
Standing there, with the redhead, and the driver, Corey was taken back to their school days; like waiting for the bus on the first day of school, a mix of nervousness and excitement swam around in the pit of their stomach.
“Corey.” Corey said, sticking their hand out in an attempt to break the ice.
Like water spilling across a countertop, a smile spilled across the woman’s face. Wrapping her hand around Corey’s, she shook it as she looked at them.
“Jessica, but most people just call me Jess.” The woman said.
Since they were still waiting on a couple more contestants, Corey and Jess made small talk.
Jess was from a small town in Kansas, and after exhausting the dating pool within her town, she opened up her OKCupid profile to include women and AFAB people from all around the world. But after a couple of horrific dates, Jess was ready to throw in the towel.
“You’re half-brother! You went on a date with your half-brother!” Corey said in disbelief.
Jess laughed as she waved her hands out in front of her, a physical attempt to clear up Corey’s confusion.
“I didn’t know he was my half-brother when I agreed to the date!” Jess said between fits of laughter.
“But why the hell didn’t he say something during the I don’t know, billions of texts you two had exchanged beforehand!” Corey asked in disbelief.
“According to him, he felt something, and he wanted to ‘explore it’. His words not mine!” She said, holding up her hands.
“Oh, I have no doubt he felt something. A fucking familial bond! That’s what he fucking felt!” Corey said.
The pair continued talking as a cluster of contestants made their way over.
“Hawaii!” Yelled a deep voice.
Turning around, Corey and Jess came face to face with a tall, square-jawed, dirty blonde man. With about four or five people trailing behind him, the man walked through the airport like he was surrounded by paparazzi who were snapping his photo.
As the ‘superstar’, and the people behind him, made their way over, the man walked right up to Corey and Jess.
“You guys here for the dating thing too?” He said after pushing his Ray Bans to the top of his head.
The man hadn’t even come to a complete stop in front of them, and he was already eyeing them. He wasn’t at all shy about his little staring contest with Jess’s breast, and from the annoyed look on her face, it was clear that she noticed it too.
“Yeah, we are.” Corey said, causing the man to finally look up from Jess’s chest.
The man’s face twisted for a moment, a visual questioning of whether Corey was ‘a boy’ or ‘a girl’. But to his credit, the facial expression only lasted a second before he recovered.
“Brock.” The man said as he stuck out his hand.
It took everything within Corey not to let out an ‘of course’, as they nodded and shook the man’s hand.
A couple more contestants arrived, and after checking to make sure everyone was present, the man in the suit led everyone out of the airport, and over to a waiting SUV.
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