I’m walking through the mall with my boyfriend when a strange man pounces in front of us. His hair and eyes are both wild and he shoves clipboards into our hands. “Would you two like to be on a crazy new game show?” He asks, looking at us like he expects us to say yes. My immediate reaction, to be fair, is to say yes. I love this sort of thing, unexpected opportunities always give me a thrill. “Not really,” my boyfriend says. Jamaal has never been very adventurous, and I am the exact opposite. I like to have fun and be spontaneous, and this has been a constant issue with us. “I think that actually would be kind of cool,” I say, looking over the papers on the clipboards. They list off a number of possible things that we could be subjected to, like physical challenges, quizzes and trivia, and various random challenges. It also says that if we back out after signing the release form, we could be expected to pay upwards of $ 5000. The number scares me but I know that I wouldn’t back out of any sort of challenge. I may not be very strong, but I think I can do any physical challenge. I can at least try. “You have to be kidding me, they expect us to pay if we back out.” “So you’re saying you’re chicken, then?” “No but that doesn’t mean –” “If you’re not a chicken, then why would you back out?” I look at Jamaal, who might not be very adventurous but he is extremely competitive. If you call him out, he will always follow through. He is incapable of saying no to a bet or dare. The man with wild hair and wild eyes grins as I sign the papers, looking defiantly at Jamaal. He turns to Jamaal, who stares at me for a second before rolling his eyes. He signs his papers too. “Great! Now that you have signed this, if you follow me I will take you to meet the producer.” The man takes the clipboards from us, removing the papers and leaving the clipboards on his table. We follow him through the mall, passing lingerie stores, toy stores, and my favorite candle store. “I think you two will have a lot of fun. I want to make sure that you understand that you will be fined $ 5000 if you back out of your agreement. I will give you five minutes in this room,” he opens a door to a red room with one black couch in it. “If after that five minutes you want to go home I will let you. After that though, you’ll be expected to do everything the game master says. You will be on camera, but there will be no live audience. All of the cameras are hidden, so you will only be interacting with the game master and the other players.” “Will we be able to meet the other players first?” I ask, looking around the red room. “And when will we find out what kind of game we’re playing?” The man rubs his chin and crosses his arms. “Well, you will meet the other players and find out the rules when you’re on stage. I can’t give you any more information before then. See you in five minutes!” Walking into the room, I sit down on the black couch. Its cool leather is soft against my legs. What is the worst that could happen, I wonder? It’s just a game show. Though, looking at Jamaal, I can tell that he’s furious. “What’s wrong?” “Are you serious? You could cost us $ 10,000. What if they ask us to do something awful? What if they ask us to do something illegal?” I shrug. “I doubt they would do that, and I doubt a court would hold them to it if they tried. Plus if we go through with it and win, we could each go home with $ 10,000. That would pay off our student loans, and put us toward the house.” Jamaal grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me hard. “Why do you always get us into this stuff? Why did you ever think before you do something? You always jump in headfirst without considering what’s down a hole.” I’m contemplating bitch slapping him when the man with wild hair comes back in. “So, will you to be joining us on the game show? The game master and producer are waiting for you.” I look at Jamaal, who just crosses his arms and fumes. I feel bad, but I know that I want to go through with this. “Take us to them, then!” We follow the man through another hallway and are soon joined by three tall, handsome white men. I glance up at one, who winks at me and makes me blush. I wonder if these guys will be playing with us? Strange demographics. After the hallway we enter a wide room with a stage. On the stage is a man and behind him is a large piece of wood with two rows of four holes cut into it. There are no other obstacles, no podiums to answer questions, just this big piece of wood. “What the fuck is that?” Jamaal looks bewildered at the stage. “I have no idea,” I answer. The man with wild hair marches all of us up onto the stage. We shake hands with the man, who we find out is the game master. His hair is cut short, and his nose is a little bit crooked. Still, he looks incredibly handsome in a tailored suit. Sort of like a well-dressed a soldier. When I go to shake his hand, he takes mine and kisses it gently. The look in his eyes as he glances up at me burns through me like a wildfire. “You are in for a wonderful surprise,” he says, before winking at me and turning to gesture towards the piece of wood.