... the Exchange Student...

As if on cue, Arabella straightened, her eyes fixed on the horizon. "Andy, another Contestant is about to arrive."

Dawn looked up, startled. "There's more?"

Arabella nodded, silently gesturing to the six remaining stools, and even Andy could not read her expression.

The shimmer was back. And this time, Andy felt a prickle at the back of his neck, a strange premonition.

The shimmer stretched and trembled, taking on a kind of blue-white radiance as it resolved into a new figure. For a few seconds, it was as if someone had cut a person-shaped hole in the world and filled it with static. Then the figure stumbled forward, sand spraying up around her bright green running shoes.

The first thing Andy noticed was the vivid color: strawberry blonde hair pulled tight into a ponytail, athletic leggings splashed with a wild floral print, a neon-bright green sports bra, and a black tank top that clung to her as if she'd run through a sprinkler. The second thing was the confusion in her body language—a ducked head, a hand on her ribs as if she'd been winded, and a quick glance backward at the vanishing shimmer as though she might be able to run back through it.

She froze at the edge of the gazebo, seeing the group for the first time. Her eyes scanned from Andy to Claire to Dawn to Arabella, then back to Andy, lingering as if trying to place a familiar face on an unfamiliar body.

"Hallo? Wat is dit? Waar ben ik?"* Her voice was strong, but threaded with panic, each syllable sharp and unfamiliar to the others. Andy blinked, his mind too busy churning, dredging up the long-dormant Flemish in his brain to realize who this must be.

He hesitated, searching for the right words, then tried: "Het is… eh, niet gevaarlijk. Je bent veilig."** It sounded like gibberish in his own ears, and he knew his accent was atrocious, but the girl’s eyes widened in surprise and a measure of relief. Then, if possible, her eyes widened further as if a thought had just occurred to her.

"Andy?" she said, suddenly switching to accented English. She took a few uncertain steps toward him. "Andy Cooper, is that you?"

He stood, heart pounding. That accent… that strawberry blonde hair… How could he not recognize her? "Liesa? Liesa Claes?"

A flush crept up her neck. "Yes, yes," she said, then repeated herself, as if checking the word for accuracy. "Yes, it is me." She laughed, a short, shaky sound. "I thought maybe I am still dreaming. I have this dream sometimes, but I am usually not—" she glanced down at her workout clothes, then at the other women. "—I am not usually in a… what is this place?"

Arabella intervened, smiling warmly. "Welkom, Liesa. Ik ben Arabella, je gastvrouw. Ga gerust bij de anderen. Je bent volledig veilig, en al je vragen zullen snel beantwoord worden."*** She said this in flawless Flemish, then she offered Liesa a fourth glass of water that Andy was sure had not existed a moment earlier.

Liesa gawked, her composure fraying a little more. "I… thank you?" She approached the stools, hesitated, then perched herself on one as though it might collapse beneath her. She pressed her hands flat on her knees, then smoothed back her ponytail.

Dawn, ever the dutiful hospitality worker, piped up, "Hi, I'm Dawn. This is Claire. And, uh, welcome to Team Kidnapped, I guess?" She nervously pulled down the t-shirt.

Claire gave a small, polite nod. Liesa’s eyes flicked to her, then back to Andy. "So, you know what this is?" Her English was halting but crisp, with the odd vowel stretched or clipped in odd places.

Andy sat back, shaking his head. "Not a clue. Arabella says it’s some kind of contest, or game, but she won't say what. I just arrived here like you did."

Liesa sighed, a sound of pure exhaustion. "I was jogging," she said. "Training for a… eh, you do not care, but I was in the park. Next moment, I was here. I think I maybe had heat stroke, or heart attack, but I do not think you get afterlife in… sportswear."

Dawn tried to smile, but it wilted quickly. "It's a weird day for everybody," she said. "I was asleep, now I'm here. And no one will tell us what's going on."

Liesa looked at her, then Claire. "How do you know Andy?"

Claire shrugged. "We went through high school together. We were only ever friends." The word seemed to echo, leaving something important unsaid.

Liesa turned back to Andy. "We meet at university," she said, almost apologetically. "I was on exchange. He helped me with English, and, uh…" She hesitated, then shrugged. "We were also friends."

Andy felt a small ache at the word, but covered it with a smile. "Liesa's English was already perfect. She just liked to make fun of my American accent. She tried to teach me Flemish, though."

Liesa smiled, shy and sudden. "Only sometimes. Your Flemish was very bad."

"Probably worse now," Andy admitted, and the group, after a moment of confusion, gave a collective, uneasy laugh.

Arabella watched from the edge of the canopy, a contented cat observing the slow alignment of its playthings.

Claire, who'd been quiet, suddenly spoke up. "Can I ask something?" She waited for Liesa’s nod. "Did you get the sense, when you arrived, that this is some kind of, I don’t know… matchmaking thing?"

The question hung in the air like an insect.

Dawn blinked. "Matchmaking? Like, we're here to… date?"

Claire shrugged. "Well, so far it's just women, and Andy. He's on a throne, and we're lined up on stools like we're auditioning for something." Her tone was mild, but there was an edge to the logic.

Liesa frowned. "I do not think this is good joke," she said, and looked to Andy for confirmation.

He raised his hands in defense. "No joke. I promise, I’m as lost as you. I didn’t ask for this... whatever it is, or want it. If I did, I wouldn’t have worn this shirt." He looked down at the palm tree print, then back up at the others.

Dawn’s shoulders slumped. "So… this is like The Bachelor? Only, surprise, nobody signed up for it?"

Liesa bit her lip, then shook her head. "I would not have signed up," she said. "No offense, Andy." There was something unreadable in her eyes.

"None taken," Andy said, though he felt the sting of memory anyway.

Claire studied Arabella, then the setup of the beach. "There has to be a point to this. Nobody goes to this much trouble just for a prank." She turned to Andy, eyes sharp. "Why you?"

Andy floundered. "I have no idea. Maybe because I didn’t sign up for anything? Maybe because…" He stopped, unwilling to say more, to unspool the tangled history in front of strangers.

Dawn caught the hesitation, but didn't press. Instead, she turned to Liesa. "You said you had dreams like this sometimes?"

Liesa nodded. "Yes, but I am not usually so… awake. Or so sweaty." She took a gulp of water.

Dawn smiled, just a little. "Yeah, this is way too vivid for a dream. And in my dreams, I’m not… you know." She gestured to her outfit, then blushed.

Claire, gently, said, "No one here is judging you for that. This is out of everyone's control."

Dawn smiled gratefully to Claire, then turned back to Liesa. “But I mean… do the dreams always involve a bunch of other women and Andy?”

Liesa choked, coughing and spluttering, turning red from the effort. Claire studied her curiously, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. Dawn looked at both of them, confused. "What? What did I say?"

Andy watched the exchange, marveling at how quickly the three women were finding their own rapport. There was a strange comfort in it, he thought, although Claire’s and Liesa’s definitions of their relationships with him had hurt. Still… what else should he have expected? All he could think of was the strangeness of it—how every love, every regret, every unresolved history in his life had somehow been gathered and placed within arm’s reach. He studied the three women sitting on the stools thus far. Two out of three were living examples of his mistakes and his damage.

He looked at Arabella, who stood at the head of the circle, smiling like a magician about to reveal her best trick.

* "Hello? What is this? Where am I?"

** "It is… uh, not dangerous. You are safe."

*** "Welcome, Liesa. I am Arabella, your Host. Please join the others. You are quite safe, and you will have all your questions answered soon."