Familiarity

The gang was led by one of those servants that Kendra had briefly mentioned. They walked down a path that resembled a boardwalk, of sorts. Wooden boards were elevated above the shoreline with a small railing protecting people from falling into the nearby ocean. Nobody was really talking, aside from Kathryn, who was saying basically whatever the heck she was thinking about at the moment, and the person showing them their places, showing off various aspects of the island that nobody was paying attention to.

"Those transformations really can be evil," Sara thought. "I bet this is only the tip of the iceberg for her too, especially if she keeps being a dick to Kendra. Then there's that other transformation thing, the fetish one."

They kept walking for a little bit in silence, before the guy in front looked like he had an epiphany, saying "Oh! That reminds me! Kendra said to meet her back in the cabana tomorrow morning at 10. Said she was gonna do the first challenge right off the bat or something like that."

"First challenge?" Kathryn said. "We just get a single day...less than that actually...to get used to these changes and we're already gonna be at a challenge? What if it's some sort of lying game? I'm gonna be toast!"

"Oh, she didn't mention?" the guy said. "Figures, she's new to this sort of thing. The transformations will never get in your way to compete in challenges, so I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Don't worry about it, Kendra!" Charlotte said, hugging Kendra from behind. "I'm sure you'll do great!"

"Easy for you to say," Lauren grumbled.

"Here we are, at our first house!" the leader announced, changing the subject. "This one is for Paige and Becca!"

Paige made a little disgruntled scoffing noise as she left the group and walked down the pathway to the little bungalow. There was a little wooden path that led to a pale colored wooden house, most color likely drained from being exposed to the elements. Either that or it was built that way to fit in better with the beach. A small porch extended around the perimeter of the house.

"Well, at least they chose a nice place for me to be stuck with you for the foreseeable future," Paige remarked.

"Woulda been nicer if we were in that hotel or whatever," Becca added.

Paige opened the door and entered the house. There was one bed in the middle of the main room, two dressers, a small kitchenette, and a door that led to what appeared to be a bathroom on the opposite corner of the room. It looked like a hotel room.

"Wait, we don't have to share a bed, do we?" Becca rhetorically asked.

"I hope not, I'd rather not sleep," Paige agreed.

"Okay, I think we need to clear the air between the two of us," Becca reluctantly said. "If we're gonna be stuck here together for weeks, maybe even months, I'd rather it not be a chore every time I come home."

"I guess so," Paige said. "Don't think that I'm gonna be your best friend while here though."

"Well, anything better than 'worst enemy' would be preferable to this," Becca noted.

"I just...I really regret what I did to Turner all those years ago," Paige poured out. "I know it's not gonna change anything saying that, but it's...I can't stand seeing you with him."

"Why?" Becca asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, I get that you're under the impression I'm only with him because he's rich and makes a lot of money, but...is that really all?"

"No, it isn't all," Paige said. "I honestly only say that as a cover up sometimes. I just...I wish it was me."

Becca was a bit stunned. It had only been an hour or two since the two of them had gotten here, and Paige was already revealing her secrets to her. One of her deepest secrets too, mind you. It's not every day that your boyfriend's ex admits to still having feelings for him. Was this the trait that Paige had gotten? Was she feeling apologetic and this was the beginning of something? That wouldn't make sense, this wasn't anything related to sex. Unless she was trying to do something with Becca...?

Why was the thought of Paige with Turner on her mind so much?

"I...wow," Becca said a bit overwhelmed. "I mean...I...I can't easily forgive you for that, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Paige answered, sullen.

"But that doesn't mean a whole lot," Becca continued. NO! Don't you dare say what you're thinking, woman! Her internal monologue tried to stop her, but she pressed on, saying "We are on a show centered around sex with Turner, right?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?" Becca thought, right after she said that. "Why would you tell that to Paige? You know she's gonna act on it, especially with that new trait she got!"

"Are you...are you saying what I think you're saying?" Paige said, a little meekly.

"Say no!" Becca thought, but a much deeper part of her told her to continue, "I-I mean...I-I have to go."

She rushed into the bathroom for a bit, mostly to avoid having to talk to Paige any more about this. She had just crossed a line. Hopefully Turner wouldn't be upset with her.

"Alright, here we are at your room, Emma and Mandy!"

Emma all but skipped into the house after she took the key from the leader. Mandy followed behind, rolling her eyes, but she couldn't help the grin appearing on her face as the young girl in front of her was too overjoyed for this.

"She has so much energy, just like Charlotte," Mandy thought to herself. "I can't imagine if the two of them were in the same house, it'd be like party central every day.

"Woah...this place is pretty sick!" Emma said as she unlocked the door and entered the house.

Their room was no different from Paige and Becca's, extending out into the water with the same living/sleeping space and bathroom. Mandy figured that they wouldn't be spending too much time here, otherwise the producers would've given them a much more luxurious place to live. She had been paying attention to Kendra's speech and remembered that she could spend her BP on things to pass the time on, like reading which she always enjoyed doing.

"Like all that reading on sex you could do to improve your knowledge", the voice in the back of her head said.

"What? Who said that?" Mandy asked, confused while looking at Emma.

"Said what?" Emma turned to her, equally confused. "I didn't say anything after we came inside."

"Never mind, I'm hearing things," Mandy dismissed. "What the hell, Kendra?"

The best part about being here when it was because of magical forces was undoubtedly the fucking bags. Having to unpack everything and then make sure nothing was left behind constantly was a hassle, but one look inside of her dresser, and Mandy was satisfied that they hadn't left anything of hers at home, at least when it came to clothing.

"Wait, one bed?" Emma said, a bit inquisitively. "Oh well, I mean, it's just like when I had to share a bed with my mom on our trips to Florida."

"I hope you're not about to start referring to me as 'Mom'," Mandy warned.

"I won't," Emma responded cheerfully. "Unless Kendra dictates it somehow, gives you some sort of mom transformation."

"God, that was so messed up," Mandy admitted, chuckling as her method of coping with it. "She filled my head with just insane knowledge of sex, it's like...why would I ever use that?"

"Well, you may use it on your night away with Turner," Emma noted.

"Oh please, I would never with him," Mandy responded with a pseudo-refined tone. "He's like half my age."

"Whatever you say, Mom", Emma teased. "At least you aren't gonna be **** to be in situations with him. I swear, I'm gonna riot if they make me say 'Oh, please help me stepbro, I'm stuck in the washing machine!'".

"I think he does see you as a little sister, weird as it may sound for me to say after...that," Mandy said. "He looks after you, no?"

"Oh, he does," Emma acknowledged. "Sometimes I think it's a little too much, but I know he's doing it out of love.

"You're gonna be at his place tomorrow night, right?" Mandy remembered what Kendra had said. "Are you gonna try to make a move on him? It definitely seemed like you would at the meeting."

"To be honest, I don't know," Emma said. "I guess I'll see where the night takes me."

"Abby and Liam, this one's yours!"

"It's Abigail...y'know what, you can call me Abby, you haven't screwed me over unlike that excuse for a host," Abigail warily said as she took her key. Liam followed suit.

It had been a long day. Abby felt it hard to believe that it was on the same day that she had almost failed her psychology test and gotten ****. Plus, there was that transformation where she would "suit Turner's needs" that she had yet to see. That didn't mean that she already sui...no, that couldn't be it. She was just a little antsy. She didn't necessarily _want _it to happen, but it would be a huge weight off of her shoulders when it did.

Although, she couldn't even imagine what Liam was going through. From being a normal boy living his life at the beginning of the day to being a 'gamer girl' as Kendra had dubbed him? Her? Abby wasn't really sure what pronoun to use, especially since Liam hadn't exactly been talkative since the changes. Maybe she could get something, after all, they'd be spending a lot of time together.

"Well, this is very quaint," Abby remarked as they opened the door. "Not somewhere I'd be upset about staying, given the circumstances."

Her thought was that if she was talking, maybe Liam would be more open to talk. Anything would be welcome, it didn't have to be about the transformation, or really anything serious.

"Yeah," was the response she got.

Well, it was better than nothing.

"I'm beat, I'm gonna hit the hay," Abby continued. "You're more than welcome to stay up if you want, but if Kendra's having us compete at 10 tomorrow morning, I should probably be going to sleep so I can be alert in the morning."

"Makes sense," Liam said. "You sure you're okay with sharing the bed?"

"Eh, I've shared the bed with worse people," Abby joked. "This is small potatoes compared to everything we've had to go through today."

"Kathryn! You and Sara are gonna be here!"

"Hmm, this place actually looks nice," Kathryn said. "Although that's not too surprising, the hotel looked like some rich Floridian's wet dream."

"Please never say that again, I'm never getting that image out of my head," Sara said, her joking demeanor shining through."

Sara was a little bewildered. Why had they decided to send her on a date with Turner last? Unless it was random, which Kendra had claimed it was, but she didn't believe that for a second. This entire show was built upon drama, heck, they picked roommates for that purpose, why would they leave the dating up to chance?

"What's on your mind?" Kathryn asked Sara. "I noticed you were kinda frowning, and you looked lost in thought."

"Oh, nothing," Sara said, not even starting the line of conversation.

"Wow, so I get this transformation where I'm basically an incessant chatterbox, but everyone else gets to keep secrets from me?" Kathryn accused, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I love this game."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just not really willing to talk about it," Sara responded. "Let's just have fun for tonight, I need to get my mind off of things."

"What do you mean?" Kathryn asked curiously.

"You up for a night swim?" Sara offered.

"I haven't been in a pool in ages," Kathryn admitted. "Fuck it, I'm here, might as well do something with my life instead of holing up in my room and overanalyzing everything to try and find a way out of here."

"That's the spirit!" Sara said excitedly.

"And last, but not least, Charlotte and Lauren! Here you are, try not to destroy the place," the guy showing them around said as he did an about-face and headed back down the boardwalk towards the palace again.

Charlotte and Lauren were the farthest away, but the pathway extended on for as far as they could see. Charlotte especially wondered where it went, her energetic side giving her, well, energy.

"Yay!" Charlotte said cheerfully. "It's gonna be just like being on vacation!"

"Yeah, a vacation where we have to fuck some guy that we don't even know anymore," Lauren dismally replied. "Why are we even here? I babysat him fifteen years ago, and you didn't even know him, you just went to high school with him."

"I don't know," Charlotte honestly replied as she turned the key. "It can't be too bad though, we don't _have _to cater to him to win, we just have to try hard at the challenges to get the Victory Points!"

"We're tied to him no matter what though," Lauren correctly pointed out, something Charlotte had failed to mention. "No matter what; win, lose, or get eliminated, we're still gonna be a part of his harem. It's just where in his harem that is to be determined now."

"Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," Charlotte replied. "Just think of it as an adventure, we're stuck here regardless, so why complain about it? Like look at this place we get to live! It's amazing! I always dreamed about owning a house on the beach!"

"It is nice, I guess," Lauren admitted.

"Alright, I'm gonna go swim in the pool, do you want to come with?" Charlotte extended.

"No, I'm okay just staying in here for tonight," Lauren declined.

"Well, if you want to join, don't hesitate to ask me, I'd gladly spend time with you!" Charlotte said, somehow still cheerful.

"Sure," was Lauren's short reply.

And with that, Charlotte leapt out of the room in her bathing suit. Lauren laid back on the bed. Even just talking with her for a minute was a chore, how did Charlotte do it? How was she so happy-go-lucky? Sure, there was magic helping her out, but if what everyone else said was correct, she was a bit of a ditz in high school too.

"Fuck, I'm a bit pent up, how did I get like this?" Lauren wondered aloud.