DANIELLE'S POV

Jonathan's previously teasing look had turned a little dark. I ignored it and passed him the microphone. Who was I to say anything or try to pry anyway? Sure, we'd been teasing each other and having fun, but I was sure it was because he was aware that eyes were on our every move. The professional. I was also a professional at that. I just needed to convince myself.

I changed the key to C, going the safer route, and started singing. Jonathan sang quietly as well, and we waited in anticipation for the result. My stomach dropped when the result came out. We had gone up by eighteen points. A proud forty-two points.

Jonathan's look was light now. "Five minutes left. Maybe we should try moving the microphone away from us. The song is short, so we still have some attempts left before it's time."

Was he trying to console me? I really hated the fact that I hated losing. The thought of losing now was making me tense up, not the threat of the penalty.

I nodded, and we sang 'Happy birthday' according to his suggestion, and I shook my head when the result came out. It had gone up seven points now. What else were we going to do?

"How about we try to sing without the microphone?" I suggested. "Do we have to change the song to something more complex? What exactly does the stupid machine even want?" I finally burst out and kicked it. "It probably has a problem? When was this last thing checked?" I hissed.

Jonathan drew me closer. "Let's try one more time. Let's sing as loudly as possible. If this time doesn't work, we'll give up."

I collected the microphone I'd dropped out of frustration from him, knowing he was just living in delusion. We had less than a minute left. We sang 'Happy birthday' as loud and chaotic as we both could dare and somehow in the middle, I was able to smile, knowing I'd given it my all. The song ended, and I looked at Jonathan with a smile. He was also smiling at me. I moved away from him, studying the room. I should at least know what the room looked like, even when I failed.

"So, what do you think the penalty will be?" Even though we had failed this round, I hoped the score was over seventy. So far, with all our trials, our highest had been sixty-seven so far.

My eyes widened, and I let out a scream as confetti streamed into the room with the pop of a balloon. I stared at the machine with disbelief. "Is this real?" I asked Jonathan, who was also looking as shocked as I was.

"I believe so."

"Congratulations on making it past this room." The voice from the speaker said, and I raised my arms, starting to run to Jonathan to celebrate our win. When I got myself, I was in his arms.

I felt myself turn red as I extracted myself, quite literally, from his hold. The wall slid open, and I stared at it helplessly. What could I say to rid me of this stupid tension? What had I been thinking?

I enjoyed the next room joylessly, determined not to look him in the eye. Oh God, I was so embarrassed. I heard him behind me, but I refused to face him even as the wall slid back into place.

"Danielle…"

"About that…"

We both started at the same time. My eyes widened. I didn't want to hear what he wanted to say that he had to call my name.

"I'm so sorry about that. I was just happy we won after thinking we would lose. Can we just pretend it didn't happen?" I rushed out.

JONATHAN'S POV

When her arms had come around me, my heart rate had doubled, if not tripled. Until she had removed her arms, then I'd felt bereft.

The tension that was between us was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. But even I, someone who never felt nervous to talk to anyone, didn't know what to say. What could I say to her that wouldn't make things worse. I'd been enjoying our camaraderie.

"Danielle." I started saying, then stopped when I realized she was saying something else.

"I'm so sorry about that. I was just happy we won after thinking we would lose. Can we just pretend it didn't happen?" She rushed out, still unable to look at me, and I had no choice but to nod. Not that I would have wanted it any other way, though. This was obviously the reasonable step to take.

"Sure. I understand your excitement as well." I replied, and she finally looked up at me. I counted it a win, even though she was focused on my chin.

"Yeah. Besides, since we aren't alone, it helps against any rumors that may spring out."

I nodded, even as I felt my stomach dip. So she had been doing everything, teasing, having fun, hugging me, because there was someone watching. Well, that was what I was meant to have in my mind as well. I was grateful she had reminded me before I'd done something I would have regretted.

The speaker made a sound and we both turned to it. "Congrats on crossing the last hurdle. This is your challenge for this stage. This is an individual match as opposed to the first two rooms…"

We both looked at each other and I wondered how crazy the challenge would be this time?

"… You will both wear the device in front of you. It is used to measure your heartbeats. This stage requires you to keep your heart rate as constant as possible. The person with the least heart rate change will get a reward when you're done. One you both do not want to miss. And before you think it, it's something totally immeasurable…"

I glared at the speaker. The person behind it had to be someone that knew me personally, or a little. Or probably a stalker.

"… What you will do is tell each other facts or ask questions that you know the reaction will be obvious. That's if you want the reward. As always, you have fifteen minutes and after that your heart rate will be calculated. We can see the data here…"

"What will they do if we remove it?" Danielle said and flushed. Her voice had been louder than she had probably meant it to be. There was no doubt whoever was speaking through the speaker would have heard.

The person paused. "… Please don't. This is meant to be fun. And if you still haven't realized, what the machine wanted to hear was you two having fun. Good luck on this challenge. I'll see you in the next room."

I looked at Danielle and saw the challenge in her eyes. I knew I also had the same in my eyes. We were both determined not to lose, I briefly imagined how bad this challenge could go if we weren't careful. And it was an individual match.

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