This May Be Cheesy, But I Think You're Grate

"A little birdie told me that you got up to no good this morning," Paige said, baiting Becca.

"Don't talk to me," she coldly dismissed.

"Well that's rather rude, you don't even know what happened with Emma," Paige mock-pouted.

"Neither do you," Becca answered with narrowed eyes. "When in the fucking world has Emma ever said anything more to you other than acknowledging your existence?"

"What if I told you she came to me, trying to get my advice on what happened?" Paige offered.

"What if I told you that you can take your lies straight to hell?" Becca rejected.

"Whatever, it's your loss, I just thought I'd let you know," Paige said.

Becca tried to block Paige out of her mind for now. Paige was the last thing that she needed to worry about at the moment, but she couldn't just not think about her when there was no more than ten feet between the two of them. Leaving the house would most likely cause another round of questioning from the blonde girl, and that was enough reason to stay inside and just ignore everything.

"But what if the two of them did have a secret meeting?" she thought. "Why would Paige make something like that up?"

"Because she's a pathological liar,", she told herself. "Why wouldn't she make something like that up? It's the perfect opportunity, she had a chance to drive a wedge between us, and it's fucking working."

"Think about it, though. I'm in your head, I know that you were just thinking about the past. Something about how Paige and Emma were always going to be 1st and 2nd? It would make sense that they would leave you out then."

"Shut up, you don't know anything. You're just implanted into my head by Kendra."

"Maybe I am, but why would that equate to me not knowing anything? I am part of you now."

"Just...I can't deal with you right now."

"Whatever you say, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that Emma and Paige met up behind your back."

"What did she say?" Becca blurted out in desperation.

"Oh, look who finally wants to talk to me," Paige smirked. "What was it that you said earlier? Oh, right. You can take your questions straight to hell." She was in control of the situation, and she was going to make sure Becca knew it.

"Ooh, the mystery is killing me," Becca thought. "If only I was the one facilitating it, that way there'd actually be a chance of knowing what happened."

"I don't even know why I tried," Becca opened the door. "I'll have better luck with her."

"Wow, you think she's gonna talk to you after everything that happened today?" Paige pointed out. "I mean, she's naïve, but not stupid."

"You're right, it's your job to be the stupid one," Becca retorted right before closing the door with a satisfying slam.

"Oh, boo-hoo, Becca called me stupid," Paige fake-cried, talking to herself after she presumed Becca was out of range. "It's only the umpteenth time that's happened, that girl really needs to get familiar with a thesaurus or something."

"You were not wrong about that at all," Turner contentedly said. "That was some of the best food I've ever eaten."

"Did you have any doubt?" Abby asked pridefully.

"Not really, you're a bit of a cheese connoisseur," Turner answered. "I just wasn't expecting it to be that good."

"That's one good thing about this place," Abby noted. "They make up for their questionable tactics and possible human rights violations with the best amenities and food I can think of. Anyways, I'm spent, you good with hitting the hay?"

"Sounds perfectly reasonable to me," Turner agreed. "That's probably the most physical activity I've done in a while."

"You should try out the gym sometime," Abby offered. "I don't doubt there's one, if not in the hotel, then definitely in town somewhere."

"Maybe I will," Turner said. "Not exactly something that I'd expect to hear from you."

"Hey, if I'm gonna look like a dream to you, then fair is fair, right?" Abby joked. "In all seriousness, though, I'm just saying it as an uninvolved third party. You could probably look better than 'average' if you decided to work out."

"Average?" Turner asked, a bit taken aback.

"Relax, I was just having a bit of fun at your expense," Abby calmed. "Anyways, what's the room look like?"

"Oh, get ready to be wowed," Turner said, getting distracted as they entered the hotel. "You've been in the lobby, but the penthouse is just...it's gorgeous. And the view is to die for."

"Now that's what I'm talking about, I love a good lookout point," Abby smiled. "Why else do you think I took you up a mountain today?"

"That reminds me, why did you end up choosing that for our date?" Turner asked.

"Oh, that's a whole story in and of itself," Abby waved. "It's long, with lots of moving parts...I don't know if I should..."

"We have time," Turner pressed. "I mean, we have a whole night, and if Charlotte's return time was any indication, the better part of a morning."

"Okay, if you say so," Abby took a deep breath. "So...Emma and you went out two days ago, doing lord knows what. Then you and Charlotte yesterday, same thing. However, when Charlotte got back to us gals this morning, Becca was immediately suspicious of her. You know Becca, she gets jealous and fired up real quick if someone's coming for anything or anyone that she loves. Anyways, Charlotte tried to diffuse it by telling Becca to look at the board, and then she saw that Emma had gained a couple of points on her date with you."

"Fuck," Turner muttered. "I should've known it was a bad idea. I mean, she was just cold in the middle of the night, and I didn't really think anything of it, Emma's just like a sister to me, but she wanted someone to cuddle with her. Then in the morning, she just out of the blue kissed me, then she said she'd talk to Becca."

"Oh...so that's what happened," Abby remarked. "I was wondering, like what the point conversion thingy was, but six points for a kiss and cuddling doesn't seem like a whole lot."

"Probably because Kendra wants something more spicy," Turner admitted. "Cuddling is more romantic than sexual in most cases, and that would only do something for Sara."

"Yeah, I'm a bit surprised we haven't really gotten to see her new transformation yet," Abby noted. "I mean, it's probably a good thing, because these are shit for some people, but she's been more of a therapist down there or something."

"Makes sense, her and Phoebe are going into medicine," Turner said. "Anyways, you were saying that Becca noticed the board..."

"Oh!" Abby exclaimed. "Right, sorry, got a bit off track. Anyways, I was already planning on doing something pretty innocent with you, out of respect for you and Becca. But when Becca went ballistic, I knew I really couldn't screw the pooch on this one, and I thought 'Skiing, that sounds like something both fun and platonic'."

"Wait, she went ballistic?" Turner asked.

"Yeah, she went up and started yelling at Kendra," Abby confirmed.

"Why is that so nonchalant?" Turner was a bit frazzled. "She yelled at the host? The one with supernatural powers? The one who apparently teleported us to another dimension? What?"

"She really is head over heels for you," Abby teased. "If she's willing to yell at a person with telekinesis to try and defend your and her relationship."

Turner's face turned a bit red at that, but he was saved by the sound of the elevator reaching the top floor.

"Anyways...here it is," Turner revealed like he was showing off a prize on a game show. "The penthouse."

Abby's eyes went wide as she took it all in. She wasn't exactly sure what she had been expecting in the elevator, but this definitely was way better. The hotel already looked like a five-star Vegas resort, but this was something else. The room was decorated in a very lavish, but still classy manner, the bright tones of the gold not extremely vibrant and eye-piercing. The design for the windows, doors, heck, even the bed, was ornate, with care put into the carving and the material.

"This is...breathtaking," Abby marveled. "I always kinda liked interior design, but I think this room is gonna make anything that I dream of in the future look like the budget motel downtown with crime and **** problems every night.

"Hey, fair is fair," Turner shot back one of her previous statements. "You got to wow me with food, I get to show you this place. And that's not all, because I'm such a gracious host that I'm gonna let you sleep here tonight."

"Oh, really?" Abby played along. "My my, how wonderful! I can't believe that you're letting me have the privilege of sleeping in this ornate room out of the goodness of your heart and definitely not because you're bound by the rules of some Southern lady!"

"Why would you even say such a thing?" Turner joked. "That seems like a rather specific accusation, what made you come up with that?"

"No reason, it just popped into my head," Abby made a fake dreamy face. "Anyways, we're both sleeping on the bed, right?"

"Yep, those are the rules," Turner said, his face moving back to neutral. "However, it's not like it's a twin or something like that, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"Do you think Abby will do anything?" Sara asked aloud in the dark room.

"What do you mean?" Kathryn responded.

"I mean, on her and Turner's date tonight," Sara clarified. "Abby's not exactly high in the rankings, she's in last after Emma moved up in the world, do you think she's gonna try something with Turner?"

"I honestly don't know her well enough to figure that out," Kathryn scratched the back of her head. "I certainly think it's possible, but Becca's probably put the fear of God in her after her outburst about Emma this morning."

"But being at the bottom of the pack, especially with the punishment of being transformed being held over our heads...that's a pretty good deterrent," Sara pointed out.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it that much," Kathryn all but shrugged. "It's not like it'll influence us that much; Becca's gonna be upset no matter what happens with Abby, because there are still five more people between the two of them."

"What about you?" Sara turned the question. "Your date is before Becca's, are you gonna do anything?"

"While I don't doubt my ability to stand up to Becca, I still have respect for her and Turner," Kathryn explained. "Plus, there really aren't any transformations holding me back, I won't be stuck in any situations like Emma was, so I really don't think there'd be anything that could make me. In short, no, I don't think I will."

"But if Abby gets any points, you'll be in last place," Sara mentioned.

"So?" Kathryn rebutted. "It's not like the person in last is eliminated at the end of the round, it's just if we're in the negatives. If I go down into the negatives in the next challenge, then I'll cross the bridge of gaining points. I don't want to get any earlier if I don't have to. What about you? You're going last, you'll be able to look at everyone's standings when you go on your date with Turner."

"Eh, I'm not sure if I'll be able to show up whatever elaborate and extravagant date that Becca has planned," Sara replied. "I'll just see what happens by then."

"You're such a procrastinator," Kathryn noted.

"Yep, that's me, and I'm not ashamed about it," Sara proudly said. "Plus, I really do have no idea what I'm gonna feel like by then, so I'll save that decision for future Sara to think up."

Kathryn left the conversation at that. Sara had become one of the closest people to her over the few days that she'd known her, probably the second-closest behind Turner, who was the common denominator with everyone here. She didn't know anybody here upon arriving. Turner had mentioned Becca before, but it had stopped there; she just knew about Becca's existence, not anything about her, or meeting her. Sara was her perfect foil. The procrastinating one versus the go-getter. The relaxed one versus the excitable one. The soothing one versus the blunt one.

It looked even better when compared to the other duos that were chosen as roommates. Becca and Paige was obvious, they were chosen specifically because there was animosity between the two of them. Mandy and Emma were similar to Lauren and Charlotte; roommates who were total opposites and got on each others' nerves. Abby and Liam didn't seem to have too much opposition between them, but the relationship didn't seem as deep as the one between herself and Sara.

Sara really reminded her of a childhood friend that she had back in college, her last real friend before she drowned herself in a job that she enjoyed. She'd been so focused on work recently that she didn't really make time for other people. She lived in a condo by herself, didn't go out that often, the only people she'd consider as acquaintances were her coworkers, and those people she didn't even usually do anything with, other than working late the odd evening and eating supper with them.

"Oh my god, this feels so relaxing," Abby said as she sank into the premium material of the bed. "I don't know if I'm gonna be able to go back to my home bed after this. I mean, the beds in the bungalows are good too, but I mean my bed back at the apartment complex."

"I know, right?" Turner agreed. "It's so nice here. Although, if Kendra has her way with everything, I don't know what the world that we'll go back to after this show is over will look like. I mean, will we still live in the apartment complex outside of D.C. or will she make all of our lives set for-forever?"

"You mean will she make your life set forever," Abby corrected. "You're the one who's gonna have all of us in your harem."

"I guess so, but that doesn't mean that you won't have your own lives," Turner said with remorse.

"Also true, unless these transformations get really bad or we're eliminated," Abby pointed out. "But anyways, I don't know if she'll make our lives set. The winner gets a wish, remember? That kinda implies that we should wish for something to improve our lives, because she won't do it for us."

"I guess, but it's not like we can just be plopped back on Earth where we left off," Turner answered. "You, Becca, and Kathryn may live nearby, but who knows where other people here live, like Charlotte and Lauren? They could be light-years away from Washington!"

"Maybe she'll put some sort of stipulation in there about where we head when we go back to Earth," Abby said. "I don't really wanna think about it too much, because if it's 100 VP to win and the current leader has 9, it won't be for a while. Plus, thinking about the fact that we're on a show in general isn't my favorite thing in the world, I'd rather just be with you for the next couple hours and not have to worry about anything."

"Y'know what? Me too," Turner agreed.

"I am actually really tired though," Abby admitted. "You ready to go to bed?"

"As little as I've been doing the last couple days, I'm pretty tired myself," Turner answered. "Let me just get changed for a sec."

As Turner changed into his sleeping attire in the other room, he began to appreciate spending the day with Abby. Emma and Charlotte had both been pretty high energy people, and although the activity he did on his date today was physically taxing, Abby herself wasn't an exhausting person. She embodied a lot of the qualities he admired. Not as much as Becca, mind you, but still a lot. That didn't mean that he was going to get down on one knee and propose to Abby or something like that. Well, on a show like Harem Hotel, that was always a possibility, but he wasn't going to do it right now, while he still had a choice in the matter.

"I...uh, didn't buy any sleepwear while I was out this morning," Abby said as Turner re-entered the room. "So, I borrowed one of your shirts. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine, I wasn't gonna wear them all right now to do a fashion show for you," Turner accepted. "Plus, the laundry in this place is magical or something, it gets done right away."

"Okay, thanks!" Abby gratefully said as she jumped back into bed.

Turner wasn't going to say this to her, or anybody, but something about Abby wearing one of his shirts was endearing, in its own way. Especially on a body like-

"Nope, stop that train of thought right there", he told himself as he got into bed as well.

"Alright, well, good night," Abby awkwardly said as she turned out the lights.

"Good night," Turner replied, turning out the light on his side in tandem.

He couldn't see, but Abby fell asleep with a smile on her face. Turner had always been a person she'd admired from afar, especially now that she lived in the same building as her. The two saw each other on a daily basis, and got along like they had been best friends since preschool. Abby secretly was a bit jealous of Becca for beating her to the punch, but she just had a small crush on Turner. Nothing that she couldn't handle.

Nothing that she could handle on a normal day, that is. This wasn't a normal day though. She was giddy that they had gotten to go on a date; not only that, but doing things that she enjoyed and she knew he enjoyed as well. It couldn't have gone more perfectly if she had meticulously planned out every single detail about every single second of the pair's day out. She didn't want to infringe on her sister's relationship, though, so she kept her excitement contained and invisible to the outside world.

"But this is a show about a guy getting a harem," Abby thought to herself as she laid awake next to him. "I mean, look at this right now; I'm sleeping with him. Not sleeping with him as in the euphemism for having sex, but literally sleeping right next to him, which is similarly ****. I was sculpted to fit his desires by the producers of the show, do I think that's just going to go to waste here? Win or lose, I'm going to be part of his harem by the end of this, so shouldn't I be in an advantageous position to actually win and get the wish, or at least not have to have my future severely rewritten?"

"Becca would notice though," she sullenly reminded herself. "She's probably going to be watching the leaderboards like a hawk now because of the incident with Emma."

She then remembered something that Kendra had said at the beginning of the game, specifically calling Abby out by saying that some people may gain more points for doing the same act as others, based on how likely it would be to happen in the real world.

"I could just make up a lie, right?" she convinced herself. "I could just say, 'Oh, I got X amount of points just from hugging him or holding his hand...and it just happened accidentally. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll grab myself a couple of points, to bring myself up from 10th place, and I'll just tell Becca that it was something innocent. The problem is...what do I do? I could give him a kiss, but there's no saying how many points that would give me. It could give me 15 points for all I know, and then Becca wouldn't believe it was from something innocent. Let's see...what did Emma get points for again? Oh! I know!"

Abby inched herself closer to Turner, whom she believed was already fast asleep, since it felt like she had been staring at the ceiling thinking for a half hour or something ridiculous like that. That belief was shattered, though, when he spoke.

"What are you doing?" he whispered quietly.

"Look, I just want to get a couple extra points, to get me out of this hole, and I'm freezing in this room. How on Earth do you sleep in this temperature?" Abby's request derailed a little bit before getting back on track. "Anyways, could you...maybe...hold me?"

Turner let out a deep sigh. Abby didn't know whether to place that in the "I'm so disappointed" or the "I'm deep in thought" category, but she let him speak before making up her mind. "Look...I don't want this to turn into another episode of 'Becca gets mad because I'm doing something with another girl'. I can't exactly play unfairly though. Just...promise me that you'll diffuse the situation at ground zero tomorrow?" he pleaded.

"I'll do whatever it takes," Abby nodded, although it was difficult to make out in the dark. "I know her pretty well, I am her sister after all."

Turner let out another deep sigh, this one seemingly of resignation, but then he moved in. Abby met him in the middle, and he brought his arms around her. She was in absolute bliss, never in her mind did she think this would happen to her.

Cuddled With Turner: +4 VP!