Not Far From the Tree

Liam sat at home, playing a video game like he did most evenings. He talked to his friends online, who he was closer to than basically everyone in real life. Well, everyone except for two people.

One of those two people that he was closer to was his best friend, Turner. The two of them had been inseparable since elementary school. They were your classic best friend duo, always sticking by the other's side when they needed them most, and never hesitating to poke fun at each other. Nowadays, though, they had grown a little distant. Part of that was due to Turner going to college and landing a job in Washington while Liam stayed home and took up odd jobs around the neighborhood. However, a lot of that was due to Paige and Becca. Paige tried to isolate Turner and **** him away from Liam, but Becca was the opposite, with Turner opting to spend more time with her than he did with Liam. Liam got that he was deeply in love with her, but bros before hoes, right?

The other person that Liam was close to was his mom, which was understandable because he still lived with her. She didn't mind having him around the house, mainly because she could have him pick up chores around the house, and what mom wouldn't want their son being around more? That being said, though, she did wish that he would make something more with his life rather than working at the neighborhood farmer's market in the summer and shoveling driveways in the winter.

"Liam, can you help me load these things into the truck?" he heard his mom say from downstairs.

"Coming, mom!" he yelled down as he paused his game.

The things to load were boxes of his sisters' old clothes. They were twins, and had left recently, both declaring that they didn't want their old stuff at home. His mom was taking them to some aunts and uncles to have for their kids.

"Here, you can drive," she said, handing him the keys as he closed the tailgate of the pickup truck.

The trip was relatively light, they didn't live far from most of their family aside from the sisters that had gone off to college several states over to try and get away from the family; the polar opposite of Liam. After they dropped off the clothes and talked with their relatives for a bit, Liam headed back to the car while his mom looked his aunt's new sewing machine.

"Damn, maybe I should let Mom drive," Liam said as he got in the driver's seat. "I can't drive with this headache."

Then, he felt himself slipping out of consciousness.

"I just decided to splurge, my old was a piece of shit, and making everything for my website with them was getting tedious," she droned on.

Mandy didn't really care for sewing machines, but she felt trapped as her sister wouldn't stop talking. The two of them were like that, she talked very little while her sister was an incessant chatterbox.

"Hey, we really gotta get going home," she suddenly said once her sister took a breath. "It's getting dark, and I don't want to drive home when it's pitch black when there's deer everywhere."

"Oh, yeah, that's fine," her sister said, clearly a bit disappointed. "I'll see you soon!"

"Yep, see you soon," Mandy responded, as she left the house and walked out to the car.

She was confused as she didn't see Liam in the driver's seat even though she gave him the keys. That confusion soon turned to panic as he wasn't anywhere to be found. Immediately assuming the worst; that he got **** or something similar, she reached for her phone to call 911, but only dialed the nine before she got a similar fate to him.

"My best friend?" Turner asked, incredulous. "And his MOM?"

"Oh, give me a break," Kendra responded. "You're telling me you never had the best friend's mom fantasy?"

"I've especially never had a fantasy about my best friend, last I checked, he's a guy. I'm not exactly attracted to him," Turner tried to reason.

"As I said, things on this show can change," Kendra said with a wink to the camera.

"Wait, so you're gonna make him into a woman?" Kathryn asked, immediately.

"Not necessarily, it's up to the viewers," Kendra answered.

"Up to the viewers?" Sara asked, saying something for the first time since she arrived.

"We'll get to that in just a sec, hun," Kendra dismissed. "Let's introduce Liam and Mandy first!"

~~

"Wait, mom?" Liam said as he walked down the hallway and saw his mom behind him.

"Liam?" Mandy answered, similarly confused. "Wait...the harem thing, is this yours?"

"I hope not," he answered. "I wouldn't do anything like that with you, so they're gonna have to find someone else."

They both exited the door at the same time. They saw ten people sitting in the lounge, and all of them turned their eyes towards the duo.

"Turner?" Liam said. "Why are you here?"

"Well, he's the harem leader," Kendra said. "I'm Kendra, by the way, your host this season."

"You're absolutely not my host," Mandy declared. "I won't be taking part in this, especially if my son's best friend is the person who's going to be at the center of this."

"Relax, Mandy," Kendra soothed. "Your husband hasn't been around for years, why not give a younger guy a chance?"

"Why am I here too?" Liam asked. "I'm, you know, a guy, and Turner isn't into guys."

"We'll get to that," Kendra said. "For now, take a seat, and I'll explain everything."

"I won't be taking any seat," Mandy said defiantly. "I'm going back home, and you're going to do the same with all of these young people who have their entire lives ahead of them."

"I wouldn't recommend going home," Kendra said, annoyed. "You're in what you can call an alternate dimension. You CAN'T go home without me or the producers helping you."

Mandy sputtered, but eventually gave in and sat down in the seat next to Lauren, with Liam following her lead and sitting at the end of the couch.

"Good, now, I believe a few of you didn't read the rules, so I'm gonna go through those super quick, and then we'll get into what this show is all about," Kendra said.