Rogue

Pulling up to the river after a long three hours, everyone piled out of the vihecles right next to a mini cruise ship.

a

Dallas, the director, holler through his loudspeaker, “Time to hop on the boat and disch all your phones and gadgets with your peeps. They ain’t coming with you?

Evangeline, rolling solo without any crew, held out her phone. “No one is around me. Can you keep my phone safe, Mr. Fowler!”

Dallas snagged her phone and popped it in a metal box. Then, he asked the staff member for a tool and had the box welded shut on the spot.

“Don’t sweat it,” he grinned at Evangeline. “It’s safe from sticky fingers. We’ll crack it open after the shoot”

This measure aimed to reassure the guests and avoid potential risks for the production team. If any star’s secrets got spilled while they were off the grid, fingers would point at the TV folks. So locking up phones was a win–win.

Evangeline shoots Dallas the thumbs up.

Samson chucked his phone at Dallas too. “Make sure mine’s locked up good.”

Meghan handed over her phone, batting her lashes. “Stick mine in with Sam’s. Save a box, you know?”

The other three guests followed suit and gave their phones to Dallas, none of them keen on their people snooping through their secrets, Secrets too juicy for even their own families to know. Naturally, they refused to let their managers and assistants find out. They were worried that their managers or assistants would take the opportunity to sneak through their phones. Hence, the safest option would be to hand Dallas their phones and have them locked in a box.

After Dallas bolted all the pho

away, everyone’s names got slapped on their box.

Then, the whole gang–six celebs and camera crew–set sail. Left on the dock were a bunch of managers and assistants waving bye–bye.

The boat pushed through the water for a solid five hours before they hit this wicked old jungle with bushes as tall as a basketball hoop on stilts

They dock and roll out onto some grassy flat spot. Everyone’s eyeballing the joint like it just grew three heads,

“This place is a hot mess,” groaned Travis, nose all wrinkled up “Are we crashing here for a whole week?”

Jolene’s jaw dropped. You mean we’re actually doing this survival thing for real? It’s like the moon, but with trees?”

Meghan and Samson weren’t feeling it either.

Though Kendrick remained silent, his displeasure was evident, apparently unsatisfied with the filming location.

Evangeline! Cool as a cucumber. She was already casing the joint for survival tips.

Hearing their complaints, Dallas chuckled. “I made the rules clear on the contract. It’s stated that you’ll survive for seven days in an undeveloped old–growth forest, I wasn’t joking. However since none of you have wilderness survival experience, we let loose some farm animals for you to chow down on. Enjoy the hunt!”

“Ewe, like dead or what?” Meghan piped up, clueless

In response, Dallas said, “Alive. Dead stuff would go bad in no time flat,”

Meghan was shocked. ‘Alive? So, we have to kill them ourselves? That’s too cruel. I can’t even deal”

Evangeline, never one to miss a chance for a jab, spoke up. “Says the girl with the croc skin bag. Save it. How’s that any different!”

Meghan’s face flushed red as she glared at Evangeline angrily. Although Evangeline had signed a contract to target Meghan to deliberately put her in the spotlight and evoke sympathy from viewers, Meghan thought Evangeline could’ve done it differently ‘How am I supposed to explain myself?” she wondered. Her face reddened, she elucidated, “It’s faux Fake croc, all right?:

Evangeline wore a half smile as she remarked. “For real! Last I checked, that brand was all about the real deal. You saying they’re selling fakes now?”

Meghan was flustered. “No, 1-

Evangeline didn’t let her finish. She turned to the camera like she was chatting with an old friend. “Anyone from the fancy bag company watchingt You got some explaining to do. If you’re peddling faux as real, that’s a no–no,”

Meghan was super stressed, her hands balled up into fists as she tried to stay cool. She was rocking a bag from a huge fancy brand, and if she messed up in front of them, no way would they want her to rep their stuff again. Especially since they’d just made her their go–to girl to show off

ل

Chapter 4

their gear. She had to keep their name looking good, or elsieshe’d have to pay up for any had buzz.

The livestream chat was popping off. Did y’all see that Meghan’s faking it! She’s the face of that fancy bag brand. She’s actually lying!1

[What a show! She’s carrying a crocodile skin bag, yet gets upset over animals getting hurt? Talk about playing both sides.]

[Stop slandering Meghan. Her endorsements are arranged by her company. It’s not like she has a say in any of this]

[Meghan is kind and lovely, but Evangeline is targeting her. I pity her.

[Can Evangeline disappear? She’s always bullying Meghan!]

[Let’s blacklist Evangeline!]

[Evangeline is deliberately targeting Meghan. Don’t be misled, guys!]

That live chat was blowing up. Everyone was gabbing about Meghan being two–faced while some had her back, saying Evangeline was just being

mean for no reason.

Samson was super annoyed with Evangeline. “Hey, why are you always on Meghan’s case! What did she even

do to

make you hate her so much?”

Evangeline snorted, “Please, you know exactly why she bugs me.”

Samson got really mad, “You.

But Meghan tugged at his sleeve, whispering “Chill, Sam. Maybe Evangeline’s just having a rough time with her frizzy hair. If picking on me makes her happy, let her be.”

Samson sighed. “You’re too nice, Meghan, Wish she could be a bit like you.”

Evangeline pretended to barf, “Cross. Save me from that fake niceness. If Lever turn into Meghan, I’d just lose it.”

That got Meghan really fired up. She shot Evangeline a look that could cut through steel.

Samson was so ticked off he could barely talk, shaking a finger at Evangeline

“If you point that finger at me again, I might just snap it,” Evangeline threatened, ice–call. If you po

Sensing her apparent hostility, Samson backed off real quick, refraining from provoking her further

The netizens once again erupted into chans. [Evangeline’s got some serious attitude! Bet she’s even worse off–camera. Sheesh!]

[How pity! Why’s somebody like that even fimous? She needs a time–oudi]

[How could she diss Samson like that? She’s crossed the line“]

I’m done with Evangeline. Not watching anything she’s in ever again!]

The netizens engaged in heated debate.

Dallas saw everyone getting all heated and stepped in “Knock it off. You gotta stick together for a week, so cool it. It’s gening dark, and you’ve got to prep for dinner soon.”

“Can’t we just crash on the cruise ship?” Jolene asked, kinda clueless

Dallas shook his head. “Nope. No cruise ship till we’re done with the shoot.”

That news! Not exactly music to their cars. “Are we actually gonna sleep in the woods? How’s that gonna work? they all thought, but nobody said a word ‘cause the cam was still rolling

Meghan jumped in, “Let’s hustle and get stuff done like Mr. Fowler said. We don’t want to hit the hay on an empty stomach or sleep with no tent”

Heads nodded all around.

“How about we team up?” Meghan suggested. “We’re all newbies to this ‘wild‘ thing. We’ll do bener together than alone. NôvelDrama.Org owns this.

“I’m in” Samson agreed right away.

“Tin down.” Jolene pitched in.

“Yeah, let’s team up,” Travis chimed.

A

ل

I’m cool with teaming but count me out if it’s with Evange

Evangelne,” Kendrick laid it out

Afraid he might be on the same team as Evangeline, Travis jumped in quick, “Me neither. No teams with her.”

After watching Evangeline go after Meghan and Samson, no one wanted to be her next target. Plus, any drama with Evangeline, and they’d all ger dragged into the spotlight.

Samson was like. “I got Meghan’s back. She’s on my team,”

Comments came flooding in again. [LOL Evangeline’s getting a taste of her own medicine. Nobody wants to hang with her. What’s she gonna do?]

[Totally, she was way mean to Meghan and Samson in front of everyone. Now she’s all alone!]

[People online are backing the ones who won’t team up with Evangeline so she doesn’t give them a hard time]

Meghan was actually pretty happy that no one wanted to chill with Evangeline. But she kept it cool and was like. “Hey Evangeline, want to partner up? We can make two teams–one to find a place to crash and the other to get food. You me, Samson will search for the spot, and the rest can handle the food. Cool!”

Kendrick was on board. “Sounds good in me.”

Everyone else nodded too.

Online. Meghan got a ton of love. [Darling Meghan’s the nicest ever! Even though Evangeline was so uncool to her, she’s still letting her join her group.]

[Darling Meghan, you’re inviting trouble by teaming up with Evangeline. Aren’t you afraid she’ll harm you“]]

[If Evangeline dares to harm Meghan, I’m so gonna be mad.]

(Yeah, and if Evangeline thinks she’s better off solo, she should just roll alone.

Evangeline did just that, peering at Meghan with an eye roll and saying, “Forget it. I don’t need anyone slowing me down. I’ll fare much better on MY OWNI

While packing, she took note of what everyone brought. The combined belongings of the five weren’t even as complete as what she alone had. And she wasn’t about to share her own gear with anyone

Samson wasn’t having any of it and snapped at Evangeline, “Uncool, Meghan’s trying to be nice and you’re calling us dead weight? Fine! Good luck handling everything on your own. Don’t come begging for our help

Evangeline just smirked. “You might be the ones who’ll want my help, not the other way around.”

Samson shot back, “Yeah, right, like that’s ever gonna happen!”

Meghan got all upset. “Evangeline, why do you have to be this way? It’s not safe on your

WIF ONTL…

But Evangeline out her off, Tll take my chances. Just keep your drama to yoursel

Meghan’s voice got soft, “Okay, if you really wanna go solo, that’s on you.”

Jolene felt bad for Evangeline and offered, “Hey, maybe team up with me for food! It’s a lot to do by yourself”

Travis and Kendrick didn’t look too happy, but they kept quiet. No one wanted to look bad online, not even Evangeline. They couldn’t afford to expose their malicious, selfish sides to the public.

Evangeline glanced at Julene and said, “You sure? I might lose my cool like with Meghan.”

Jolene scratched her head, “Maybe… you could not do that!”

But before Evangeline answered, Samson jumped in, “Forget it! No one’s helping her tonight. She thinks she’s got it all covered, right! We’ll see.”

SEND GIFT