Here's My Cup of Care. Look, it's Empty!

"Where did you learn to cook, Charlotte?" Emma asked, sinking her teeth into breakfast. "It's like taking a bite out of a fluffy cloud!"

"Well, I live with a bunch of friends who have day jobs, so they're usually gone during the day," Charlotte cheerfully explained. "A gal's gotta provide for herself sometimes!"

"Don't you work night shift though?" Kathryn spun her fork in a circle, deep in thought. "And go to college? When do you have time to sleep?"

"Eh, a little here, a little there," Charlotte answered. "I'm used to getting like next to no sleep, so it's really nice to be on an indefinitely long vacation where I can sleep in as long as I want."

"Last I checked, most vacations don't involve people getting manipulated," Paige grumpily said off to the side.

"What's up with you this morning?" Abby asked her with genuine concern. "You were acting like you had nine cups of coffee when I saw you this morning, and now it seems like you're missing some medication that you need to be on."

"Did Becca do something again?" Liam wondered aloud.

"Speaking of Becca, where the hell is she?" Kathryn added, unintentionally snubbing Paige's chance to speak, the blonde girl falling backwards in her seat with resignation. "And Mandy, for that matter."

"Well, it's their loss, they're missing a really nice breakfast," Sara complimented.

Lauren silently looked over at Paige. She knew the look that Paige had in her eye, it was all too familiar. She had found herself with that look several times over the past day or so, especially right after Charlotte left. It was frustration. Not just any frustration, but sexual frustration.

"You two blinking in Morse code over there or something?" Kathryn addressed the two looking at each other.

"No, I'm just thinking, and my eyes inadvertently landed over there," Paige lied.

"Right, because thinking is your specialty," Emma rolled her eyes, earning her a jab in the side from Charlotte.

"Be nice!" she scolded. Paige let out a tiny smile at that. Someone here who didn't think she was a waste of time, although it could've just been because of her general optimism.

"Well, thank you for this," Sara reentered the conversation. "It's not often I get someone to fix me breakfast."

"Of course!" Charlotte cheerfully said. "What are friends for if not to cook up breakfast every once in a while?"

---

"What is it that you needed to talk with me about?" Mandy asked, after they had made their way to the bottom of the very same ski lift that Turner and Abby had gone up about 24 hours prior.

"Well, you know how Emma got all those points the other day?" Becca started.

"Yeah, what's that gotta do with this, though?" Mandy answered, with a little bit of a grumble in her voice.

"I was just thinking...y'know, I've gotta get a bit of a head start on everyone here, right?" Becca continued.

"Sure," Mandy gave a noncommittal answer.

"So, because of your recent transformation, I was going to ask you...like, what do you...what should I...uh, how..."

"I think I'm getting at what you're saying here," Mandy cut her off. "You want me to give you sex pointers."

"Uh...yeah," Becca confirmed, her face growing red. "I mean, I don't want to steal your thunder if you wanted to do it with him first, but..."

"Don't," Mandy held her hand up. "I don't want to. End of story. I guess I will help you out, though, it's what I've gotta do."

"Are you sure?" Becca impulsively said. "Wait, no, wait, that's not what I...ugh, I hate Kendra sometimes."

"Don't we all," Mandy looked out over the horizon. "Anyways, what exactly were you gonna do with him?"

"I don't know, that's why I came to you, I don't really know what the next logical step is," Becca admitted.

"Well, where were you with him?" Mandy asked.

"Um, I mean, he and I really have only gotten to kissing," Becca's face grew even redder.

"I mean, I'd say that the next step is totally up to you, then. If you want to go slow, then I can give you some ideas for where to go from here. If you want to just take all your clothes off and have sex, that's not my decision to make, it's yours."

"Um, well, I don't think we'll...uh...he'll, or me, go, uh," Becca stammered.

"This is kinda interesting," Mandy thought to herself as the redhead tried to get the words out of her mouth. "She's so pushy and driven 99% of the time, but now she decides to get so shy that she can't even get a coherent sentence, hell, even a coherent phrase out? And she didn't want to tell this to Paige...should I tell Paige what she wanted to talk about with me? I mean, it'd certainly help me get in her good graces, but then again, Paige and Lauren are two of the most disliked people here, aside from myself. I could try to work with Becca, Charlotte, Abby, Sara, and the rest of that group, but I'd be outclassed by them. Hmm..."

---

"All ready for your big evening?" Charlotte was over the moon in excitement, and it wasn't even for herself, it was for her roommate.

"I guess," Lauren said nonchalantly. "I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a big evening, it's just going to be grabbing coffee with Turner."

"Well, it's your first little date night!" Charlotte was acting as giddy as a teenage girl who'd just learned that a boy she liked was into her. "That's gotta account for something."

"I don't even know him that well," Lauren waved her hand. "It's not like it's gonna be some connection from days past, I don't even look the same as when I babysat him all those years ago. I was fifteen!"

"Just try to have fun!" Charlotte encouraged. "That's what I did, and we had a great time! You don't even need to worry about your placing, you're sitting comfortably in the middle of the pack!"

"Hooray, average," Lauren rolled her eyes. "My favorite place to be."

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Paige could be heard through the door as she knocked.

"Who, both of us, or just Lauren?" Charlotte asked.

"I mean, I have something to say to both of you, so sure, both of you," Paige answered.

"Alright, well, come on in!" Charlotte invited.

Paige stepped through the door. She looked a little disheveled, similar to how Abby had described to Charlotte earlier in the day. Charlotte just assumed that she had just woken up from taking a midday nap or something, the girl didn't seem the most determined. "Sly" was a word that Charlotte would use to describe Paige's general demeanor when it came to the game.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell us?" Charlotte's curiosity took her over after only about three seconds.

"Oh, well, Charlotte, I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me a bit earlier today," Paige looked down at her shoes, like this was something she didn't do very often.

"It's no problem, seriously," Charlotte responded. "I just didn't want to see anyone being made fun of, and I don't really see a reason for you to be. I mean, you've been a little harsh with Becca, but she has with you too, so I can't really fault you for that."

"Speaking of..." Paige nervously shuffled a bit. "I wanted to apologize too, in the induction ceremony, I realized that I addressed you as 'that cheer bitch' to everyone who was there so far."

"Oh, it's fine, that's what everyone else assumes of me too-"

"Is there...some way I can make it up to you?" Paige cut her off, but looked a little hopeful, finally looking up at Charlotte again. "I'd do...anything..."

Charlotte was picking up what she was insinuating, because she had also been relayed the story of what happened with Liam a few days ago. Gossip definitely got around on this island, and Charlotte figured that, one way or another, the other gals would hear about this. She looked at Paige a little more closely. She was attractive, in her own way. Paige reminded her of that classic "girl next door" look, a little nerdy-looking, but that just made her cute.

"I can't do that, though," she thought to herself. "Especially with Lauren here."

"I think just apologizing is fine," Charlotte said. "It's not that big a deal. Besides, when I was in high school, I really was just 'that cheer bitch', so it's seriously cool."

"Okay, well, the offer still stands," Paige told her. She was happy that Charlotte hadn't immediately gone on the defensive like Liam had, but still, it was a bit of a blow to her ego being turned down by someone like Charlotte. "Anyways, Lauren, uh...I actually forgot what I was going to tell you. Well, good luck on your date! Not too much good luck though, don't ruin him for the rest of us."

She winked after that last statement, which made Lauren a little uneasy, but then Paige swiftly left.

"That was a little strange," Charlotte noted. "Paige has been a bit weird recently, I wonder if she needs to have a heart-to-heart with Sara, she's great at that sort of thing."

"Right, well, I'm gonna ahead out," Lauren ignored what Charlotte said. "Can't let it get too late, it's already the evening."

"Alright!" Charlotte imitated a parental voice. "Make good decisions, be home at a reasonable hour, you know the drill."

Lauren rolled her eyes as she heard Charlotte say that, but she did crack a small smile.

---

Turner looked impatiently at the entrance to the hotel as he sat in the lobby. Lauren wasn't someone who he could say he was looking forward to going on a date with, but he wasn't despising it. It would be an interesting night; he hadn't had the chance to talk to her much recently. Recently, of course, meaning in the last decade, but still. He had really no idea what she'd been up to for the last several years, and was looking forward to learning more about what made the former babysitter tick.

Unlike Abby, Lauren hadn't told him what sort of date they were going on, so he went with the tried and true collared polo shirt and some of his finest khaki shorts. Not exactly something you could go to a fancy event to, but it looked better than the average 22-year-old's attire.

He saw Lauren approaching the building, walking down the cobbled path. She didn't dress up too fancily either, opting for a simple shirt and jeans. It helped calm his mind a little bit, knowing that it wasn't going to be an upper class event that the two were going to. Even that alone was a morsel of information he could glean from Lauren. She didn't think she needed to impress him. Either that, or she had no idea how to impress him, they were equally likely to him.

"Hey," Lauren simply said as she walked into the hotel. "How're you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty well," Turner responded. "You?"

"Eh, I'm alive," she frowned a little bit.

"Well, I'm glad I get to spend the night with the chance to get to know you a little better," Turner said. "It's been so long since I've seen you, It'll be so fun to talk with you about how things have been. Speaking of tonight, what were your plans?"

"I was thinking nothing crazy, just maybe sandwiches and coffee," she told him. "Although, I'm now realizing that coffee at 6 in the evening is probably a bad idea, so if you have any other ideas, I'd rather do that."

"Sandwiches and coffee are fine," Turner agreed.

The duo walked downtown again, Turner making the majority of the conversation between the two. To her credit, though, Lauren wasn't silent, nor was she really that dismissive of what Turner had to say. She actually responded to what he was saying too, making simple small talk.

"Ah, I haven't had something like this in a long time," she exhaled heavily as she entered the small cream-colored building. "Usually my meals are just something really cheap and quick, generally fast food."

"Well, maybe this will be a new beginning," Turner offered. "There's pretty much everything here on the island."

"Yeah, Charlotte made us all breakfast this morning," Lauren explained. "Well, everyone but Becca and Mandy."

"What?" Turner was confused. "Why not those two?"

"Don't know," Lauren shrugged. "They just never showed up."

"Hmm..." Turner started to get lost in thought about what the two of them may be doing, but shook it off. Tonight was about Lauren, not Becca or Mandy. "Well, let's eat!"

---

"Alright, Mandy gave me some good tips," Becca thought to herself as she ate supper with the group. "I'll look at where the standings are when it's my turn; I don't really want to look at it all the time, it'll only cause more problems like with Emma."

"You look pretty pensive, sis, what's on your mind?" Abby asked from across the table.

"Nothing, I just don't feel myself today," Becca responded, a bit gloomily.

"Are you feeling sick?" Charlotte questioned, worried. "Do you have a headache? Stomachache? Earache? Do you feel warm? Are you getting dizzy?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Becca denied. "I just feel bad about blowing up on Emma like that."

"You were a bit justified on that, but from what I heard from Emma, she was really upset afterwards," Kathryn told her.

"I don't want to lose a friend over this, especially because all she did was kiss Turner," Becca continued. "I shouldn't be upset about that."

The voice in her head was telling her "Just let Emma keep going with Turner. Hell, you should maybe even encourage the two of them while you're apologizing."

"Well, I think she may have gone home for the day," Sara said. "You might have to get Mandy out of there if you don't want her to overhear your conversation with Emma, because I don't think she goes out that much."

"She needs a hobby," Kathryn agreed. "More than just trying to corral Emma and go missing randomly in the mornings."

Becca tried not to make a face at that, but Kathryn definitely noticed her face contort. Thankfully, she didn't say anything about it, but Kathryn was probably the worst person to know a secret, or even have an inkling of knowing a secret, because no doubt, she would forget to put her guard up at one point or another, and something would slip. At least Paige didn't know, though.

"She's not that bored," Charlotte defended. "When I saw her earlier, she was doing a puzzle book or something."

"I think that reinforces the narrative that she needs a hobby," Abby said, a bit quietly.

"Hey, puzzles can be fun," Kathryn took a little offense to that. "Especially for someone like Turner or I, our entire job is just one giant puzzle."

That gave Kathryn an idea for her date night later with Turner, but she shelved that thought for the time being. She still had four days until she had to worry about it.

---

"That...was amazing," Lauren marveled as she swallowed the last bite of her supper. "I forgot how amazing good food is after years of not having any. I get a discount at my local burger joint because of working there, so that's generally where I eat when money's tight."

"Not to pry to much or anything, but how are things, really?" Turner asked her. "I mean, you've been pretty Laissez-Faire about, well, about everything at this point, but how are you actually doing?"

"Well, I don't really tell people this, but fuck it, if I'm gonna be tied to you for eternity, I might as well tell you," Lauren sighed a bit. "I've actually been doing pretty shitty over the last...what feels like a generation. I shacked up with this guy who is probably the worst person in existence, but he made good money. Anyways, fast forward a few years, I quit my babysitting job, failed all of my dreams, and ended up dead-end as a 'team member' or whatever the fuck they call the people who flip burgers, assemble mediocre meals, and add thousands of calories to food that's already unhealthy. So, yeah, things haven't been exactly great recently."

"Wow, uh, well, at least you're rid of all of that now," Turner tried to offer some consolation. "Especially him. I don't even know him, but just the fact that you described him as the 'worst person in existence', I think I have a pretty good picture of him."

"Abusive, yeah," Lauren confirmed. "So...yeah. The last thing I actually did back on Earth was break him away from me. Well, he was the one who broke away from me, for the ninetieth time this month, but this time, I'm not gonna come crawling back to him when I run out of resources. Mainly because I actually can't now, but even if I could, I wouldn't."

"What changed?" Turner wondered out loud.

"Well, to tell you the truth, even though I act like she gets on my nerves all the time, Charlotte has actually helped to lift my spirits every now and then," Lauren admitted. "Her contagious optimism and excitement is annoying, yes, but I just can't help myself but be a little less pessimistic whenever I'm around her."

"I noticed that with her too, she really is leaning into the stereotype of being spirited," Turner agreed. "Or, at the very least, she's being **** to lean into it."

"Yeah, it's really helped recently, after all of this," Lauren didn't gesture to anything specifically, but Turner got what she was talking about. "If I'm continuing to be honest, though, this island was probably the best thing that happened to me. I'm getting almost a second chance at life. And while slowly becoming a sex addict isn't my favorite thing in the world, it's a lot better than the other options they had for me."

"Well, it's getting pretty late, you wanna start heading back?" Turner changed the subject.

"Sure," Lauren accepted. "Although, I bet Kendra would probably start making us head back if I didn't say yes to that."