Go into the other room, the adults are talking

Abby was lounging in the pool. Ninth place. She had only managed to beat one other person, and it was Emma, who was on a date with Turner tonight and more than likely would do something in order to get victory points. Her date was only in two days, so she could definitely fire back if that was the case.

Did she want to, though?

This was a show all about Turner building a harem of girls, did she really want to stoop down to that level in order to scavenge for victory points? Sure, she'd get them more easily than someone like Becca would, because of what Kendra had said about multipliers, but she didn't necessarily want to throw herself at him for points. That would be an insult to him, herself, and Becca.

"Hey, Abs, you got a second?" Becca said as she sat down next to her in the pool.

Abby knew exactly what this was going to be about. Her new transformation. Becca still hadn't gotten the chance to say anything to her regarding that because of the challenge that had been thrust their way.

"I guess so," she responded with a mix of weariness and innocence. She didn't want to make it seem like nothing was up, but also didn't want to come across as over-confrontational, especially since Becca was going through tough shit right now.

"Look, about your transformation," Becca began, confirming Abby's suspicions. "I'm not mad at you for this. You had no part in it, you were at the mercy of the people who voted and Turner's mind."

"Then what, are you mad at Turner?" Abby said, her voice breaking up a little bit. "That might be worse, because then it'd feel like I drove a divide between the two of you. I know I didn't ask for this, but neither did you or him for that matter. This is all the doing of the people running the show!"

"I know I should be mad at him for this, but I'm not," Becca clarified. "Don't worry about that. I was just...in shock, I guess."

"And wouldn't it be so sweet to have someone who's hotter than you with Turner?", her inner desires said, but now was not the time for that.

"Well, thank you," Abby honestly responded. "I know it can't be easy speaking cordially to me, especially with all of this having happened, so really, thank you."

"Whatcha doing over here?" Charlotte announced her arrival, her contagious high-spiritedness working to make things a little less heavy.

"Oh, nothing, just some sibling bonding time," Abby dismissed.

"Hey, anybody else think it's a little strange how Paige managed to get us all in that challenge?" Becca remarked. "I mean, I don't recall her ever being good at anything."

"She's not really bad at everything, per se," Abby noted. "Just...a lot of things."

---

Paige relaxed in the bed in the hut she shared with Becca. It was exhilarating to get first place in the recent challenge, and while being stripped of her clothes and modesty may not have been something that she would've done of her own accord, it was worth it to stick it to Becca, Emma, and all the other people who were generally well-liked. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the group of six that was sticking together were the six people who placed 5th-10th in the challenge while the four others placed 1st-4th.

"Plus, was it really so bad that I got to show off a little bit in front of Turner?" she thought. "It's the least that I could do to make up for everything I've done to him over the years."

She saw Abby and Becca talking again and smiled a bit. It was evil, yes, but it was nice to see Becca getting the short end of the stick.

"My night with Turner IS before Becca's is," she continued. "Maybe I'll be able to...apologize to him."

Lauren, her new ally, had also done well for herself in the challenge. Fourth place was nothing to turn your nose at. Of course, it would've been better if Liam and Mandy had actually accepted her proposal, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Plus, Paige wasn't going to get another transformation at this point, because she had gotten first. She would be able to watch as everyone else would have their fates at the mercy of the audience, at least for one round.

---

"I can't with Kendra right now," Kathryn complained as she flopped face-up onto the bed in the cabin, venting out loud to Sara. "I swear she's gunning for me to get out of the game in any way, shape, or form that she can."

"I mean, it's not like you haven't done your fair share of verbal attacking of her," Sara pointed out.

"That's true, I should look at it from her perspective," Kathryn's voice changed to an overly sarcastic interpretation of Kendra as she continued. "Hmm...I have a great idea for what I want to do with my boring and pointless life! I'll take these people who are perfectly content with their lives...well, 80% of them who are content with their lives...and I'll make them all compete for a guy! And if someone disagrees with me, then I should just make their life even more of a living hell!"

"Hey, you didn't get last though," Sara countered.

"Well I would've if Abby didn't give up and if Emma wasn't trigger happy," Kathryn's voice returned back to normal, exasperated. "It ain't easy being at the bottom of the barrel. You're well-liked by the other contestants, the viewers, and the host. I've struck out on each of those categories; everyone tends to see me as overbearing and I don't want to change who I am just to better my standings on a show that I don't even want to be on in the first place, that feels dishonest and cheap to me."

"The other contestants don't hate you," Sara argued. "At least, me, Emma, Abby, Becca, Charlotte, we're on your side for all of this."

To help comfort her better, Sara sat down on the bed next to Kathryn, who was still staring up at the wooden beams criss-crossing the ceiling above them.

"Well we'll see how long that lasts with this stupid shit that I'm spouting out every five seconds," Kathryn said pessimistically. "I was in physical pain from restraining myself from spouting out some unsavory comment about Abby's new figure this morning. I'm bound to slip up eventually with everyone here, and I'm not exactly fun to be around when I'm unfiltered."

Sara, a bit overwhelmed by everything Kathryn was saying, just sat there with her for a short while, before saying "I won't leave you. I know this can't be easy for you, but I'm used to being around people who speak their mind."

That got Kathryn to sit up a bit and look over at Sara for the first time since they had returned back from the challenge. Sara internally cheered, making progress with the demoralized girl.

---

"Liam, I didn't mean-"

"I told you, mom. I'm fine."

Liam's voice was icy as he speed walked back to his abode, with his mom trying her best to keep up. After reaching the front stoop, he turned back to her to get in one last statement.

"I don't want to be here. You don't want to be here either. But that doesn't mean that you have to try and protect me from everything that's happening. I'm not seven, I can deal with my problems like an adult."

He slammed the door in Mandy's face. It felt bad leaving his mom out there, but he just needed some time alone and she was being incredibly overbearing. It wasn't just the challenge today, but she had been following his every move ever since that, like a shadow. One that tried to control your life.

"You okay?" a voice from behind asked.

Startled, Liam whipped his head around to see Abby sitting on the edge of the bed lazily holding a book in her right hand.

"Never better," he responded, not matching his peeved expression.

"Look, you don't have to worry much," Abby reassured. "You got third in the challenge, it's not like you're going to have to crawl your way back up by appeasing Turner like Emma, Kathryn, or myself in order to stay in the game."

"That's...that's not what it is," Liam tried not to sound upset, but it was difficult given the situation. "It's my mom, she's trying too much to parent me while I'm here. I'm not sure if you saw her in the challenge, but she kept sticking by me and telling me what to do. It was okay there, because y'know, safety in numbers, but it's been getting worse ever since we got back."

"Well, it seems like something that Mandy-er...Mrs. Teller would do," Abby relented. "She's the same with Emma, she's been trying to parent her, which was a smart decision given the circumstances, to her credit, but it wasn't necessary, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't be surprised if this sort of thing continues."

"I just don't know what to do," Liam complained. "I've tried to get away from her, I've tried to just tell her how I feel, I've tried everything. It's fruitless, she won't give up. She keeps trying to talk to me about my transformation, and honestly I don't want to talk about it! It's emasculating, literally, and I just feel like if I don't talk or think about it, then it won't be as big of a deal as it seems like."

"I mean, avoidance isn't necessarily the best solution," Abby warned. "But she still should respect her wishes. Maybe she'll back off a little bit here in the coming days, with her living in a separate place than you and us not needed to report to anything together for several days. I could help you out too, maybe if you and I do things together then she'll feel less of a need to be on your back all the time."

"I'd love to do that," Liam's face started breaking as his eyes watered. "Thank you, it means a lot. I didn't really know how many people here really cared about me that much, since everyone here is close to Turner and not necessarily me, but it's really freeing to know that someone like you is here watching over me."

"It's no problem," Abby responded. "I just don't want you to feel down constantly with your mom hounding you about everything, you've got enough on your plate."

"I'm gonna go on a walk, clear my head a little bit," he said, getting up.

"You want me to come?" Abby offered, moving to stand up again.

"Nah, I won't be gone long," he declined, closing the door softly behind him as he left.

Looking left and right before he stepped onto the boardwalk, he didn't see his mom anywhere nearby and started strolling in the direction opposite from her house. He really didn't want her to see him taking a twilight walk and pry him about his feelings or whatever.

Who he did run into, however, was Paige, walking down from Lauren and Charlotte's front door. He was a little confused on what Paige was doing at that house, especially at an hour like this, but shrugged it off as her maybe just having gone for a walk. She looked...happy? It was likely because of her recent victory, she didn't seem like the type of person to be generally optimistic.

"Oh, hey Liam," she simply said as she saw him coming the other direction. "How are you?"

"Doing alright," he absentmindedly responded as he prepared to walk past her.

"Hey, hey, wait a second," Paige stopped him. "Listen, about today's challenge..."

"Don't mention it," he interrupted, not really excited to talk to someone like her at the moment. "It's a game, I understand."

"No, listen to me," she repeated, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him and turning him around. "I...I heard your conversation with Mandy right after I hit you."

Liam was temporarily horrified that a third party had heard an argument with his mom that he thought was private, but his shock subsided a bit and turned to curiosity. Why was she bringing this up? Did she just want him to know that she had a piece of sensitive information? That seems like something that she would do.

"I know what you're going through," Paige continued. "My parents were the same when I was finishing up high school, they were always on my back about everything I did. Granted, I was 18, not in my early twenties, but it's not too different."

"Oh, well, thanks," Liam's expression softened a bit. He figured that Paige was just trying to make amends with anybody she could, especially with those who were closer to Turner and knew the depth of what she had done in the past. He began to walk away again.

"Wait, stop, stop," she stopped him again. "Look, I know that I've done some shitty things in the past, not just to Turner, but also to you. You're his best friend, that's not something small."

"Bingo!" Liam felt vindicated. It was exactly what he had thought she was planning.

"Is...is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" she extended, looking a bit flustered.

"Well, first you need to forgive Turner," he mentioned after a few seconds of thought. "I'm not the one that you beat up, he was. Then there's Becca, and all the slander you've been throwing her way. I don't even know why you came to me first, did you just think I'd be the weakest link and that you could exploit that in order to appease Turner?"

"No, no, that's not it at all," Paige denied. "I just...I couldn't sit idly by while I saw you going through...all of this, and I didn't want to be another bad influence on your mental state. I just wanted to try and alleviate some of your stress, however small, and I felt the best way to start doing that was...to apologize to you."

"I don't know how much I buy that," Liam said warily, eyes narrowing. "You're a snake, you've tried at every juncture to use people for your personal gain. This is just a ploy to either exploit me for Turner or exploit me for your popularity here."

"Look, why don't you and I...God, why don't we just go off to the side there and I can show you just how sorry I am," Paige shifted her weight between her feet, looking a bit uncomfortable.

Liam was appalled by what she was insinuating, but then he remembered her trait; she would try to apologize using sexual methods. That didn't change much, though, he was still dismayed by her offer. He didn't want to do anything with Paige, and given her ravenous gaze, it didn't spell out anything for him. Plus, what would stop her from doing something, ANYthing, and then pinning the blame on him and outing him as some sort of pervert? It wasn't out of the possibility, especially from someone like her.

"No, I don't think so," he tried to deflect. "I just need a few days before I'm ready to even just talk to you about this."

Paige pleaded, not just out of an urge to atone, but also because she was deriving a little bit of pleasure from all of this, but it was to no avail. Liam walked past her, and, dejected, she trudged back to her place.

"What a weirdo," Liam muttered mainly to himself after Paige was out of earshot.

---

Quietly, Paige opened the front door and tried to not make her presence known if Becca was in the house. She wasn't in the mental state to deal with her at the moment. To her relief, there was no sign that she was inside, as the lights were all off.

Paige sneaked into the bathroom, not that being quiet mattered much to the empty place, but it just wouldn't feel right if she didn't do this stealthily. She started up the shower, turning the water as hot as it would possibly go, which was her preferred temperature for her apartment with very little hot water. One touch and she realized that it was scalding, though, so she made it more moderate, and it was a bit of a wake-up call that although the situation wasn't great, there was a silver lining, that being that it was actually a very luxurious place to be trapped in.

Her main goal wasn't to take a shower, though. She sat down on the surprisingly warm shower floor, bringing the shower head down with her. She had gotten pent-up with her recent interaction with Liam and just wanted some release.

Pointing the shower head at her sensitive pussy, on fire from everything that had been happening recently. She added two fingers, plunging in and out, **** for any sort of release from her sexual tension.

But nothing worked.

She tried everything, adding more fingers, tweaking her sensitive nipples, heck, she even tried manipulating her asshole in desperation, but still, she couldn't get off.

"Hah...hnn...what the fuck!" she said quietly out loud, but slowly became louder as her frenzied masturbation kept going. In a drunken haze, she let go of all her inhibitions, screaming out "Fuck! I'm so...I'm so fucking sorry for everything I did! Please...Turner, please...forgive me..."

Her pitch and volume descended as she came to one of her most earth-shattering orgasms, almost passing out in the bathtub. She draped lazily to the side as she recovered, the warm water soothing her fiery loins.

After a few minutes, she came to again, realizing what she had just said and done. And if that wasn't bad enough, she heard movement from outside the bathroom.

"Shit!" she thought to herself. "First off...what the hell did I just do? Secondly, and more importantly, how much did she hear? Did she just come back or has she been here...the whole time?"

To try and preserve some of her modesty, she actually did take a shower, hoping that she could just pass it off as actually taking a shower if Becca had just come back in the last minute or so.

---

Turner woke up at morning's first light. Emma hadn't moved at all from when he had last been awake. It was surreal, everything that had happened last night. He had tried his damn hardest to try not to do anything with all of these girls out of respect for Becca, the girls, and himself, but he ended up cuddling one of them on the first night. If this pace kept up, he'd be fucking every single one of them by the end of the week.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head, physically shaking his head as if that would help clear his mind. Sitting up, he noticed something...moist. The bed felt a little wet underneath his legs. Picking one of them up, he noticed a damp patch on the sheets that led directly to Emma's underwear.

He was mortified. Did she know what was happening? Did anything happen between the two of them overnight while he was ****? Was this something Kendra did? Would Emma have any answers or would she be just as clueless as he was? Would Emma be embarrassed as he was?

As he paced the room, not making himself breakfast both out of desire to let Emma sleep in as much as possible, and also because his stomach was churning due to nerves, his mind wandered to every possible reason. What if it was just water? What if the roof was leaky and it rained overnight? Looking out the balcony, nothing seemed wet outside. Was it just sweat? Did she get too hot again, like she did when she threw her pants across the room? It wasn't outside of the realm of imagination...

Slowly, Emma's eyes fluttered open and she woke up, her face turning as red as a tomato as her eyes met Turner's.