She groans as she swings her feet over the side of the bed. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror and almost laughs.

BANG, BANG, BANG!!!

Quickly followed by another, ‘BONNIE!’

‘Coming!’ she calls back, annoyed, trying to pick the familiar voice. It certainly isn’t Carla or Oliver.

She pulls open the door to see Darcy, who looks like she’s had no sleep at all.

‘Who the hell is this?’ Darcy thrusts her mobile towards Bonnie.

Bonnie’s insides somersault as she reaches for the phone, her mind spiralling at the image. The screen is filled with a photo of Bonnie and Oliver on Bonnie’s doorstep, taken last night. It’s grainy and dark, but it’s still easy to recognise who they are. The frame shows Oliver touching Bonnie’s hand as he moves into the house.

‘Is he still here?’ Darcy looks past Bonnie, implying he might be in Bonnie’s bed.

‘What? No!’ Panic rushes over her. ‘Where did you get this from?’ They were being watched? She feels sick. She wants to sit down.

Darcy must recognise this and glances over her shoulder. ‘Come on, let’s go inside.’

Bonnie, still clutching the phone, makes her way to the lounge. Darcy follows and perches next to her. Somewhere in Bonnie’s brain she knows Darcy hasn’t been here before and she really should offer her a drink but she can’t seem to connect any words to her mouth.

‘It’s already online,’ Darcy says, clearly stressed. ‘All the major gossip sites have posted it. Comments and shares are coming in fast.’

‘How?’ Bonnie utters, finally managing one word.

Darcy pushes back some hair off her face. ‘Someone must have been watching your house last night.’ She shrugs. ‘They’ve probably just made themselves a few thousand dollars.’

‘A few thousand dollars for this?’ Bonnie knows a little bit about how the paparazzi work, but she can’t quite get her head around the fact that they want to take photos of her. She stares down at the photo on the screen again. She can still feel Oliver’s touch against her skin.

‘As far as everyone is concerned, you’re still a contestant on The One,’ Darcy says. ‘People are already outraged—some think you’ve gone behind Ty’s back.’

Bonnie grimaces. ‘Just what I need—the whole country to hate me.’

‘It gives us a good angle for why you’re leaving the show.’

‘No!’ Bonnie rushes, panicked at the ramifications of that.

Darcy studies her face for a moment. ‘Look, we’ll do what we can to try and spin the story, but I need to know what we’re dealing with. Who is the guy?’

She wishes she could lie. She wishes she could protect him, but there’s no point, it’s already too late. ‘My high school boyfriend. His name is Oliver.’

‘Shit!’