Week 1: Tuesday Terrors (The Date)

About an hour later...

Crystal and Serena separated from each other as they reached their room. Crystal was in her dress before the transformation, but Serena was missing her pants and was in her underwear. Crystal immediately took off the earring and threw it at Serena. Serena caught it before putting it on the other ear.

“What the hell was that?!”

“I was just having a little fun. Plus, you can’t say you didn’t enjoy it. I could feel your/our enjoyment of the event through our connection. Don’t try to deny it,” replied Serena as she smirked.

Crystal blushed, “Well, I haven’t felt so sexy and confident in a long time. The fact that he wanted to go further was very flattering. However, you were actually pushing for sex, weren’t you.”

“We get VP for doing it, and I wanted to have a bit of fun. There’s no reason why we shouldn't have. I could feel your personality briefly gain a bit more power as it overpowered mine to stop it from going too far.”

Crystal frowned, “Why is it that your personality seems to have more control over mine?”

Serena pondered, “Maybe I simply have a stronger will or personality than yours so mine bleeds through a little more often than not. That being said, it still felt less like my decision but a combination of both of our decisions. We were one person, after all.”

Crystal sighs, “Yeah, you’re right. I’ve got a much deeper and intimate understanding of you now that we’ve fused. You’ve never had any bad intentions towards me or anyone else, and you truly wanted to help me. Thank you, Serena. I’m sorry I didn’t fully trust you before.”

Serena looks slightly embarrassed, “There’s no need. I know fully well how I can come across. I’m glad that you decided to trust me.”

Crystal smiled, “I’m glad that you’re my teammate and not anyone else here even if it was only a stroke of luck. However, next time ask me before you try to fuse the two of us again.”

Serena smirked, “Next time, huh? I’m happy you’re up for another round of Serenal sometime soon.”

Crystal blushed, “We make a good team, and maybe I’ll let you push a little further next time. Max seemed to enjoy our company.”

Serena hugged Crystal and said, “Oh, I can’t wait.”

---

Nicole stopped working on her project and was making her way to Max’s room. She couldn’t lie to herself and say she wasn’t a bit nervous to talk one-on-one with her long-lost brother finally. It didn’t help that he was dealing with their mother’s horrible life decisions. Nicole could only hope she meant what she said and was turning over a new leaf.

She was wearing a white polo shirt and some blue jeans. Despite the show saying it was a date, Nicole had no desire to dress up to seduce her little brother. She hoped that she could win or escape this place without having sex with her brother.

She was lost in her thoughts as she made her way up the elevator to Max’s room. Nicole stepped out to see that Max had also decided to wear casual clothes for the date. He was wearing a black T-shirt and some blue shorts.

Max smiled, “Welcome Nicole, I’ve been wanting to meet with you for a while now.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk with you little brother.”

Max smiled turned a bit fragile, “Right. Well, do you have any preference for what you want to eat for dinner? I was thinking of asking the maids to bring us up something later.”

Nicole thought for a second, “How about Chinese?”

“Sounds good to me. Did you want anything specific?”

“No, anything's fine. I’m not a picky eater.”

Max nodded and left to make the order while she scanned the room. The lounge area she was in had a huge TV, two-floor pillows, and a nice coffee table. She wondered if Max had even used it yet. Everything about the area seemed untouched so far. Then again, Nicole knew that he only had one date before her, so they could’ve hung out in the dining area or the bedroom instead.

Max came back fairly quickly and asked, “Do you want me to make you some hot tea? I figured it would be nice to have something to drink for our discussion.”

Nicole smiled, “I would love some. Why don’t we sit down at your coffee table too?”

Max nodded, “Just give me a few minutes to make it.”

Nicole got comfortable at the table as Max brought over some sugar and honey to add to the tea. It didn’t take long until the tea was ready, and she scooped up a bit of sugar to add to her cup. Nicole noticed that Max added a lot of sugar before taking a sip of his tea.

“So, Nicole, I’ve never gotten the chance to tell you how much I admire your work. You’re an expert coder and programmer. I’m lucky I got one of the few spots in your class.”

Nicole had almost forgotten that Max was her student before she ended up here, “Thanks Max, that’s nice of you to say. I want to be able to make my mark on the world with my skills eventually, but for the moment I’m trying to pass on my knowledge to the next generation.”

“That’s an admirable goal. It’s no wonder the other contestants have banded together under you. You’ve got the intelligence and integrity that’s needed to be a leader.”

Nicole frowned, “I don’t know about that. I mostly took up the role because I didn’t think that anyone else would. I felt that we could only win this game by working together with each other instead of stabbing each other in the back.”

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself. I haven’t heard or seen anyone stabbing each other in the back since this game started.”

Nicole looked down skeptically at her drink, “It's only been two days though. Besides, there’s only so much we can both see. Also, who's to say that they haven’t been plotting something and haven’t executed it? I hope that alliance isn’t as tenuous as I think it is though.”

Max sighs, “Fair enough. I still think you’re doing great. Why don’t we talk about something less stressful? Maybe, you can tell me a bit more about yourself. The only information I have about you is from your syllabus, and that’s not a lot to go on.”

Nicole smiled, “I’ve always gravitated toward computers and technology growing up. My parents didn’t want to buy me a phone, so I made my own. It wasn’t the most beautiful piece of technology, but it worked. You should’ve seen their faces when they caught me with the phone. They were equal parts impressed and angry at me for it.”

Max smiled, “They sound nice.”

“They were. I didn’t realize it until I got here that they weren’t my biological parents but they always treated me as one of their own, and I’ll always be grateful for that. That doesn’t change the fact that I am your sister and that I want to show you the same familial love that was given to me.”

Max looked a little shocked and said, “You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

Max smiled, “Thanks, Nicole, but I understand if you don’t. You might need to have sex with me to get enough points to win this game.”

“Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Why don’t you tell me a bit more about yourself? How is our father?”

Max smiles wryly, “He’s fine. I think he told me he had an important meeting in Paris for his job. He should be there for the rest of the week.”

“Does our dad travel a lot?”

“All the time. He’s constantly on the move, which means that I have more freedom to do what I want to do. I’m actually working on a JRPG, and your class has helped me out a lot on the coding aspect of it. There would be a lot more bugs in it if it wasn’t for you.”

“I’m happy you enjoyed my class. You’re one of the handful of students I get that puts forth genuine effort into your assignments, and it shows.”

“That’s good to hear. I still have more assignments that I have to complete for your class and the others when we get back. Part of me is looking forward to finishing my game, and another part is dreading the possibility that we’ve been gone a while, and I’ve already failed all those classes.”

Nicole frowned, “Yes, our lives and responsibilities will have to be picked back up once we get out of here. Let’s hope Ann is right and barely any time at all has passed since we’ve gotten here.”

“I agree, though I’m curious. Was your cell phone the reason why you got into coding and programming?”

Nicole smiled seeing Max trying to shift from the dour topic, “A little. Making the phone was fun and challenging so I knew that I wanted to do something dealing with technology in the future, but it wasn’t until high school that I made my decision about it. My teacher Mr. Cooper showed me how fun and interesting coding could be. I had decided then that I was going to continue building my skills in that field in the future until I got to where I am today. If it wasn’t for him, then I might’ve become an engineer instead. I was considering becoming one until I took his class.”

“If you did, then you and Brianna would’ve had a little more in common.”

“Brianna’s an engineer? Is that why she was wearing overalls when she was summoned? Now that I think about it, I think she smelled a bit like motor oil too.”

“Yeah, she’s one of the best mechanics I know.”

Nicole raises an eyebrow, “Do you know a lot of mechanics?”

“Kind of. I do work as a car salesman, so I know a decent amount of them from my job. Brianna is one of those very same mechanics.”

“Oh, I completely neglected to ask if you were also working.”

Max chuckled, “I was a little surprised that you didn’t know about it already. Kimberly and Brianna both work at my job, so I assumed they would’ve brought it up at some point if someone asked how they knew me.”

Nicole frowned, “I haven’t really talked with any of the contestants besides our daily meetings, so it's not surprising that I didn’t receive that information. I haven’t even talked to my roommate much either since she’s not much for conversation or cooperation.”

“She was pleasant enough company while she was up here but, in a way, she is **** to be given the situation we are in.”

Nicole was about to say something when the elevator door slid open to reveal a couple of maids entering the room. One of them had a distinct red bow tied to her maid outfit as they laid out the Chinese food in front of them. Max didn’t comment on it, but he seemed interested in the minor alteration to her outfit before turning his attention back to her.

“Why don’t we relax for the rest of our date? I can put on a movie on this huge TV.”

“What kind of movie were you thinking?”

Max pondered, “How about we watch, Argylle?”

“I haven’t watched it before. What’s it about?”

“It's an action, comedy spy movie where the main character of the movie is an author whose plot seems to follow real-life events that happened in the world. In my opinion, it's only okay, but I’m down to relax and watch some wacky fun.”

“As long as it's not horror, then I’m not down for anything.”

Max smiled and put on the movie. The two of them relaxed next to each other and enjoyed each other’s company for the movie as they ate the food the maids brought for them. They were both tired at the end of the movie and made their way to Max’s bed. They both claimed a side of the bed before Nicole whispered, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Nicole.”

Nicole smiled as her day caught up to her, and she quickly fell asleep.

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Overall Placements

1. Brianna West

VP: 10

BP: 1,259

2. Serena Wixx

VP: 10

BP: 905

3. Crystal Waters

VP: 9

BP: 440

4. Nicole Adams

VP: 0

BP: 709

5. Lisa Hall

VP: 0

BP: 598

6. Kimberly Smith

VP: 0

BP: 335

7. Jessica White

VP: 0

BP: 18

8. Gina Roberts

VP: -5

BP: 234

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Sapphire (Maid)