Jett nodded absently when Nina explained what she thought about the confessionals. He wasn’t sure what to expect since he didn’t watch many reality TV shows, but he knew he had to be mindful about what he said when it was his turn to talk. If he made any comments that would hurt his reputation, he was sure his manager would bite his head off when he went back to New York at the end of the summer. It was hard to balance relaxing with work when someone was always watching him for news-worthy slip ups.

As Nina attempted to cheer Bella up, Jett turned back to the two, chewing on the end of his fork. Honestly, he thought Madison’s outburst was uncalled for. He’d never met her before yesterday, but he could already tell she was a grade A bitch. It was a marvel she was as famous as she was when she didn’t seem to know how to shut her mouth. Every other egomaniac he’d met in Hollywood was at least smart enough not to let it be known what they thought of everyone else. Charisma was just part of the job. No matter how terrible of a person someone was, they could still rise to the top as long as they could put on a friendly face for the audience. Madison seemed to have gotten around that rule somehow. She probably made a sex tape or something.

Caught up in his thoughts, Jett blinked when Anna suddenly spoke up. She’d been so quiet until now that he’d almost forgotten she was still sitting with them. At least she wasn’t siding with Madison. After the way she’d spoken to him at the breakfast bar, he didn’t know what to expect from her anymore. Last night, she’d seemed like a cool person, easy to talk to and fun to dance with. This morning, she acted like she didn’t want anything to do with him. He glanced at her subtly. Right now, she seemed like the girl he’d met at the party. It was hard to keep up with her mood swings when she switched from vixen to viper at the drop of a hat.

As she suddenly drew him back into the conversation, he smirked amusedly and took the fork out of his mouth. “I think you already know what I think. Right, Bella?” he asked, turning to the other singer. He guessed that Anna didn’t know he and Bella had been friends before the start of the show, since she hadn’t even known who he was before last night. Of course he was going to pick her over Madison any day.

“Yeah,” Bella smiled back at him. “You always hated people like her.”

“For a good reason,” Jett nodded. “Who cares what anyone else thinks? Do what you want. Eat, drink, and be merry.” Having said his piece, he picked up his empty dishes from the coffee table and stood up. He wanted to explore the rest of the house now that his stomach was full. “I’m going to see what else this place has to offer,” he announced. “There have to be some cool rooms in a mansion this big.”

“Sounds like fun,” Nina got up too, jumping at the chance to tag along with him. “Mind if I join?”

“Go ahead,” Jett shrugged, turning back to Bella. “I’ll see you later. Enjoy that grape juice.”

The morning of their first full day at this estate had been nothing short of eventful. The producers were surely very happy with what they'd just seen and were at work trying to sort everything out in time for tonight's episode. The rest of the day, at least on Anna's part, was spent on her exploring the house and getting to know some other people better. There wasn't much to really do besides get drunk and hang out with people. It could get REAL boring sometimes if you weren't interacting with people. Of course, interactions weren't exactly few and far between. Anna was probably having another conversation within twenty minutes of the last one she had.

Of course, it allowed her to gain some rapport with some other people. Madison and Jett were people she were sure to stay away from, as one didn't give her a good impression and one didn't exactly like her after this morning. Still, she ended up having a good time with the likes of Nina, Nathan, and Ashley. She spent a surprising amount of time around the pool table with them, bullshitting and making sure that Nathan wasn't going to hit the eight ball into the pocket again. You think he'd learn after the first time around, but they'd lost because of that more times than Anna would've liked.

Speaking of pool, once night time had rolled around everyone was instructed to change into swimwear. The reason being was unknown, but seeing the supposed host outside probably clued them off as to what was coming. Anna was wearing a white swimsuit as she stepped onto the rather astonishing infinity pool. It was a travesty that she hadn't made her way to this amazing pool before the cast was asked to gather here tonight. But, there was a first time for everything. As Anna stepped out onto the deck, she glanced around to see everyone making their way in. A lot of women had opted to go for two pieces, much like her. Only Nina, as a matter of fact, had opted to go for a one piece swimsuit instead. The men, for the most part, had opted for swim trunks. Anna couldn't see any speedos which was a blessing to her eyes.

Once everyone was settled and done for the most part, the host cleared her throat as the cameras panned onto her. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, I hope you had a very nice first day here. I know some had better days than others." She took a quick glance at Anna and Bella, before continuing on her monologue, "But now we've got our first challenge!"

She stepped aside to gesture at the pool, "Tonight, we're going to start with something simple. All you have to do is win a game of chicken. Every girl will be paired up with a guy and pairs will go one-by-one until there's a victor. The victor of tonight's challenge -- will get immunity from being voted off later tonight." The host put her hands together, before flashing a smile, "Any questions?"

Everyone looked at each other, before looking straight back at the host. It was pretty straight forward. The screen next to her switched from the show logo to what appeared to be portraits of everyone paired up with one another. "Your pairings are on the screen behind me. Find your partner, and be ready in five minutes! Good luck, everyone!" She smiled, before walking off to the side.

Anna squinted to find her portrait, and it didn't take her long until her eyes landed on it and then portrait next to her.

Much to her dismay, her partner turned out to be none other than...

...Jett.

Once he finished touring the rest of the house with Nina and finding a few interesting rooms along the way, Jett spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Bella and David. After all the drama he’d endured that morning, he felt like he needed to relax, and the other two singers were good, laidback company. They lounged in the living room to catch up for a while before they headed to a parlor with a baby grand piano that Jett had found earlier, where they improvised some music together. With David on the keys—his country voice didn’t really mix well with either of the others—and Jett and Bella singing harmonies about whatever random thought came to mind, the three had a great time and found themselves laughing quite a bit. By the end of it, Jett had completely forgotten about both Anna and Madison and was in a much better mood than before.

The camera crew ate it up too. Jett was pretty sure there weren’t any more than a few minutes when they didn’t have a lens on them. He wasn’t surprised about that though. Celebrities hamming it up for the sake of having fun wasn’t something an audience got to see every day. He was sure the production team was elated about catching that on film. Plus, he didn’t mind the exposure. It was definitely better than getting drunk and making out with the first girl to make bedroom eyes at him on set.

He really needed to recover from that one.

Eventually, their improv band session was put to an end when a crew member swung by to tell them all to get changed for something that would be happening at the pool soon. Jett headed back to his room to dig up a pair of royal blue swim trunks from his still-packed suitcase—he hadn’t found the time to put everything away yet—and then made his way out to the deck to meet up with everyone else who had already gathered there. Right away, he noticed that the celebrities seemed to be congregating on one side, while everyone else stood on the other. The divide was weird, but he didn’t bother questioning it as he stepped up beside Bella to wait for the host to tell them what was going on.

When she announced they’d be playing chicken, Jett smiled amusedly. Production was probably hoping some of the teams would form connections through the game, since they always seemed to be pushing people to hook up. He couldn’t help but wonder who they would assign to be his partner. Which girl on the show did they think he would fall for?

As the host drew their attention to a screen that had been temporarily set up beside her, he skimmed the list curiously. Bella was paired up with a guy named Ethan, Nina was with Luke, David was Ashley… His eyes traveled down to the bottom of the screen, where he spotted his own photo. It was next to…

Anna.

Jett’s eyes widened in shock for a second before he remembered there were probably cameras on him, waiting to capture his reaction. Too late to take it back now. He had to marvel at the crew’s choice though. Of all the girls on the cast, why did they match him up with Anna? He’d thought they would have chosen Nina or maybe even Bella, since he clearly got along with them. Instead, it looked like they were hoping to stir up more drama by setting him up with the one person he’d been trying to avoid all day.

As everyone else wandered off to find their partners, Jett hesitated, suddenly reluctant to join in the game. He knew he couldn’t get out of it though. As soon as he’d signed the contract to participate in all the events, he’d lost the freedom to make that choice without being booted from the show. He glanced at Anna and then averted his gaze, forcing himself to walk over to her.

“Well, I guess we’re partners now,” he shrugged when he reached her, crossing his arms over his chest. “Looks like you do need me after all.”

Anna was slightly bothered by her pairing. Out of all the people in the estate, it had to be him. The producers knew what they were doing, admittedly, but it didn't make it the slightest bit better that she was paired up by the one person who she managed to burn a bridge with. The tension was pretty thick -- thick enough to be cut through by a hot knife and be spread on a piece of toast. But, she had to bite the bullet if she wanted to stay. She didn't want to be put up for elimination. To be kicked out so quickly after coming here, that would've been embarrassing and a disgrace to the Ivanova family. As much as things were rough between her and Jett, she had to do something.

As everyone dispersed, she was about to go to Jett, only to find that he had taken the initiative and walked over to her instead. At least she didn't have to bite the bullet just yet. Now the hard part -- to talk. She looked up at him, a hand on her arm as she rubbed it slowly, to self-soothe. "Looks like we need each other." She shrugged, before glancing at the pool. "I don't want to leave, and I'm sure you don't either." Anna said, flashing an awkward smile before glancing back at everyone else.

"Just... try not to drop me okay?" Anna chuckled, "Last thing we want is to be among the first ones out. I'll try not to fall off, in return."

At least Anna looked just as uncomfortable as Jett felt. That was relieving. If she had walked up to him with the same sass and swagger she’d had that morning, he wasn’t sure if he could put up with it long enough to make it through the evening. Instead, she stood defensively, and he wondered whether she was remorseful about the way she’d spoken to him or just feeling awkward because she hadn’t expected to talk to him again. It was hard to tell, and he didn’t bother to ask.

When she said they needed each other, he almost scoffed. He didn’t expect much, but it sounded like she was trying to move on without even an apology. It was pretty presumptuous of her to assume he would be fine with just letting the past go that easily. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in any position to demand an “I’m sorry,” especially since she was right that they had to rely on each other if they wanted to stay on the show. As much as he disliked it, they were going to have to cooperate—at least long enough to get through the night.

Jett turned to face the pool with a shake of his head, smiling incredulously. He really hoped the producers wouldn’t keep pairing him up with Anna just for shits and giggles, but knowing how much they loved drama, he had a feeling this was just their first unwanted matchup of the season. In fact, there were probably at least two cameras on them right now, devouring the tension.

“I’ll try,” he drawled, glancing back at her when she told him not to drop her. His gaze lingered on her for a half second too long before he looked away again. Despite his simmering annoyance, he couldn’t deny that she looked hot in her bikini. That was what made the situation even worse. He hated that he was both attracted and repelled by her at the same time. It was confusing. Why did she have to be such a fireball on the outside and inside? If she was one or the other, it would have been easier for him to decide where he stood with her.

“Look, Nina and Luke are about to square up with Adam and Traci,” Jett said suddenly, indicating toward the pool in an attempt to think about something else. “This oughta be good. Come on.” Without waiting for a reply, he waved a hand for her to follow him over to the patio lounge chairs where they could watch the tournament until it was their turn.

Anna followed Jett over to the pool, walking over to the lounge chairs to watch their fellow housemates take each other on in the most intense, high-stakes game of chicken to ever grace this Earth so far. Anna took the opportunity to sit at the bare edge of the chair, so that she could get a good view of what was going on. She wasn't entirely aware that it was totally a splash zone, however. But, she could worry about that later when she got a faceful of pool water when one of the girls fell.

In the meantime, Nina, Luke, Adam, and Traci were about to get ready to fight each other. Nina sat perched on top of Luke's shoulders, and Traci did the same with Adam. Just based on appearance alone, it looked like Nina had the upper edge simple because she was heavier and it was going to be harder for Traci to even fathom trying to push her over. Luke was pretty buff, as well, so he was definitely going to be able to hold onto Nina, despite her heavier stature.

The host stayed quiet as the duos got ready to build some silence, before she finally put her hand down and said "Go!" to have the two start going at each other. A giant amount of water came up as the two closed into each other, locking fists as they pushed and pulled at each other, cameras watching their every move knowing that their failure could result in their departure from this show.

Watching the pairs square up in the pool, Jett’s thoughts about the matchup were the opposite of Anna’s. To him, it seemed logical that whatever went up, must come down, so Traci and Adam could find a way to use Nina’s weight against her. He leaned back in the lounge chair he’d chosen with his feet kicked up. Even though he wasn’t excited about his own arrangement with Anna, he looked forward to the sight of all the other groups playing the game. Choosing to focus on that, he kept his gray eyes honed in on the match, avoiding the woman beside him. He wasn’t above moving on from their spat that morning, but until he saw even a hint of a sign that she understood why he was put off by her attitude, he wouldn’t be the first to let it drop. He had too much self-respect for that.

At an announcement by the host, the pairs in the water went at each other with the ferocity of wild animals. It was obvious that neither team wanted to lose their shot at staying on the show, and that made for great entertainment, in Jett’s opinion. He watched amusedly as Nina managed to throw Traci from Adam’s shoulders. Maybe her weight would win her the match after all. However, in the second round, Traci turned the tide by getting inside Nina’s defense and tossing her down from her perch on Luke. Jett whistled and clapped with the rest of the spectators, thoroughly enjoying the competition, but the moment didn’t last long before he noticed that Luke had a concerned expression on his face, and Nina wasn’t making any move to get back on his shoulders.

He leaned forward in his seat, wondering what had happened. It hadn’t looked like she’d gotten hurt when she’d toppled into the pool, but she was grimacing like something had gone wrong. From where he was sitting, he couldn’t make out what was being said, but he could see the others’ gestures. Nina muttered something to Luke, whose eyes widened before he helped her hobble out of the water. It was only when she was thigh deep that it became clear that she was cradling between her legs. The sight didn’t give Jett any clarity until she briefly moved her hand away. He gawped at the sight of… well, not female anatomy that had become noticeable beneath the fabric of her swimsuit.

The realization struck him right before he heard Bella whisper the word ‘transwoman’ to her partner nearby. Again, he could practically feel the cameras bearing down on him as the crew members sought to drink up every second of his reaction to the news that the girl he’d kissed the night before wasn’t a natural woman. He stifled a groan and raked his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t even been on the show for twenty-four hours, and it already felt like he had landed himself in the worst situations. When he’d accepted the invitation to join for the summer, he’d been hoping for a fun, relaxing getaway with a few stunts for the public here and there. Instead, he was neck-deep in drama he hadn’t wanted to be involved in from the start.

That’s reality TV, I guess, he thought dryly, making a mental note to pass up the next offer he got to participate in a show like this. The pay and perks weren’t worth the hassle.

Acutely aware that the cameras wouldn’t leave him alone until he gave them a satisfactory reaction, he glanced at Anna. “Who would’ve thought?” he mused idly. Hopefully by playing his surprise off as cool nonchalance, the crew would lose interest and move on to someone else.

Looking forward, Anna was about as stonefaced as ever. As the pairs clashed and started to fight with each other, Anna was looking carefully to see who had the natural advantage right now. Right now, her bet was on Nina and Luke since Nina was on the heavier side. It was fierce, a lot more fierce than it had any right to be. For being suspended in water, it sure felt like these duos were colliding with every single ounce of force they had. It was actually pretty entertaining, and Anna found herself smiling when the first round ended. Something about seeing Traci tumble into the water was pretty funny, until Anna had gotten some of that water on her face and hair. She took a moment to wipe it off her face, before realizing it was rather futile.

Watching the duos set up for the next round, Anna glanced back at Jett momentarily. There was still a high amount of tension between them, despite them being paired up together for this challenge. Anna was somewhat hoping that she would be able to get around whatever tension they had through this challenge. Anna wasn't one to apologize and she certainly wasn't going to start now. It was hard as hell for her to apologize, especially if she didn't feel she was in the wrong, which she didn't. That sort of stuff sort of got her into some deep shit with some people, but it was just the way she was.

They were at it again, and oddly enough, Traci had managed to get Nina off Luke's shoulders rather quickly. Hm, so her bet was off. Thankfully she didn't actually make that bet, though. She would've been out some money. Speaking of things being off, however, it took Nina a little too long to get back on Luke. Seeing crew members race closer and cameras point onto Nina, Anna soon saw what exactly was the commotion. Getting a better glance at her as she twisted, she saw a not-so-little something form an outline on her bathing suit. Anna's eyes widened as she realized what exactly that was. Putting her hand on her chin, she turned back to Jett, shooting him a look that was more of "you seeing this shit?!".

"None of us..." Anna replied, before glancing back over to Nina, "Hope she's okay though. Seems rough." Nina was kneeled over and had to be escorted off by some crew members to examine her a little more closely. Maybe she hurt herself a little worse than she had let on. In any case, once Nina was clear of the cameras and off somewhere, the host came back in and proceeded to try to clear the awkward aura that had fallen over the cast as one of their own had been hurt. "Unfortunately, due to Nina's injury, Adam and Traci automatically move onto the next round!" She said, before turning to the screen. "...so next up, we're going to have Ashley and Nathan against... Jett and Anna!"

Anna turned around and looked at Jett in light of the news that they were going up next, raising an eyebrow at him. "You ready? It's showtime." Anna stood up, glancing back at Jett one more time before she started heading toward the pool. She hoped to god they made it through, as she wasn't entirely looking forward to leaving just two days into this thing.

Watching the unusual scene unfold by the edge of the pool, Jett nodded when Anna said she hoped Nina was okay. He had never empathized with a girl for being elbowed or hit—to be honest, he still wasn’t sure what had happened, since it had all gone down so fast—in the crotch before, but there was a first time for everything, he supposed. At least it looked like the crew had some medically trained members. Almost as soon as it became apparent that Nina had hurt herself, she was swarmed by a group of men and women in black who spoke to her in low voices and then carted her off to be treated without an audience. Like an injured football player rising after taking a tumble, the rest of the cast golf clapped supportively as she disappeared into the house.

He was just about to lean back into his lounge chair when the host announced that he and Anna were one of the next pairs to face off in the competition. Apparently he wouldn’t be getting a break just yet. “As I’ll ever be,” he stood up and arched his back in a stretch, following her over to the pool. Even though he wasn’t on the best of terms with his teammate, he wasn’t so petty that he would let their personal squabble impact his performance in the game. He’s signed up to see this thing through to the end, so a guarantee not to be kicked off before the end of the very first week would have been nice.

The water was lukewarm as he stepped into it, heated by the California summer sun that had been beating down on it all day. It was pleasant now, but Jett knew getting back out of it later would be like closing himself into a walk-in freezer. If they made it far in the tournament, they’d have to wade in and out a few separate times too. Idly, he wondered if the crew had towels around to make the transition more comfortable. Considering the type of show they were filming, he doubted it. Fans of reality TV loved watching their favorite cast members parade around in scanty swimwear, so the producers probably expected them to tough out the cold for positive ratings.

Once he was set up where he needed to be, he took a second to size up their competition. Ashley and Nathan looked similar enough to them in height and weight that it was hard to tell how difficult they would be to beat. It was probably going to come down to skill. He hoped Anna could come up with a few tricks to knock Ashley off her partner’s shoulders, since most of the work was going to land on her. All he had to do was hold on tight while they brawled against the others and try not to let her fall.

Turning to her, Jett offered a hand to help her balance when she climbed on top of him. “Hop up fast,” he advised just before dunking his head under the water to make it easier for her to straddle his shoulders. He waited for her to get in place before he came back up for air.

Seeing Jett offer a hand to her, Anna quickly took it and climbed on top of him. Her legs were quickly on her shoulders, groin against the back of his neck as she got comfy on his shoulders. Adjusting her position, she made sure there wasn't a gap of some sort that could cause her to slip right off. The key to this was security and making sure she was strong enough to fend off any attempts on her. With how... muscular Jett was, she doubted that he was going to be unable to handle her. He could definitely hold onto her, it was just a matter of if she was able to hold on. Anna's core strength was going to be put to the test not too much later.

Sitting atop of Jett's shoulders, she glanced at Ashley, who had also clambered onto Nathan. It was very hard to tell how this would go. If Anna was a bit bigger or Ashley a bit smaller, it would've been easier. But they were pretty much even in terms of physicality. At this point, this meant that it was going to boil down to who was luckier, and who had better technique... if there was even technique to this sort of thing, which Anna doubted. Rolling her shoulders, Anna made sure she wasn't unexpectedly tight in some areas. It was a bit odd having a part of her body in the water and the rest exposed to the relatively warm California air. Anna didn't exactly feel like being dripping wet at this time of night.

Looking at the host, she made her spiel about the next contestants and introducing them, before she turned to them and got them ready. As she held her hand up to signal for both crowds to get ready, Anna adjusted herself and got ready, hands on her legs as she got ready to lock them with Ashley. As soon as the host gave the signal, Ashley and Anna locked hands. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. Anna tried not to let Ashley get too close to her, as it would've spelled their end if such a thing were to happen. Anna then had a sudden brain spark as she was pushing and shoving. What if she pushed and pulled at the same time? Anna started pushing at Ashley's left arm to see if it would collapse, and expectedly, it did! That meant if Anna pulled on the right arm at the same time, Ashley's balance would've been upset.

Gripping hard, Anna then pushed toward her left, while pulling as hard as she could on her right arm. This upset Nathan and Ashley's balance enough to the point that the both of them had to let go if they wanted to stay alive. There was a wide grin on Anna's face as she saw them fall into the water, not minding the splashing on her face. "Woo! Good job, Jett!"

As soon as he felt Anna settle on top of his shoulders, Jett came back up for air. It had been a long time since he’d last played chicken—he hadn’t even heard talk of the game since he was a teenager—but after watching the first two teams go at it, he felt like he remembered enough to give himself and Anna a real shot at winning. As much as he could, anyway. She would be doing most of the work while he just held onto her legs and prayed that she wouldn’t accidentally choke him if she fell backwards. As a professional singer, anything that could damage his throat was a threat to his career. He was sure that his manager would have killed him if he’d found out that he was even participating in a tournament like this.

Eyeing the competition, he couldn’t tell which team would beat the other any more than Anna could. Almost everyone who had joined the cast of the show was athletic, so it would probably come down to who wore out the other first. He could feel her shifting her weight against the back of his neck as she prepared for the first round, just like an athlete warming up for a match. Whether or not it would help was to be determined, but he found the motion kind of hot. Personal squabbles aside, he would have been lying if he’s said he didn’t like having an attractive woman pressed so close to him, skin on skin. The sensation made being paired up with her a little more bearable.

When the host finished talking, the game began. Jett did his part by holding onto Anna and maneuvering in the water to help her shove Ashley. At first, the two girls seemed to be equal, with neither one gaining the upper hand, and he guessed they were just going to have to wait and see who tired out first. However, after they had been pushing against each other for about a minute, he blinked in surprise when Anna suddenly switched to a twisting motion to pull Ashley off Nathan’s shoulders. She wasn’t an engineer for nothing. The trick worked in their favor as Ashley fell into the pool with a splash.

“Me? I didn’t do anything,” he glanced up at Anna, marveling at the show of creativity. Though he hadn’t yet forgiven her for her derisive comment at breakfast, it was hard for him to stay mad when he saw the grin on her face. Her excitement was infectious. If they kept up at this rate, they might even be able to win the whole competition. He grinned back at her, “I don’t know what the hell just happened, but do it again. I think it’s working.”

"Oh you bet I will!" Anna beamed, resting her hands on her thighs as she waited for Ashley and Nathan to get set up again. It took one more defeat to send Anna and Jett to the next round. Hopefully Ashley didn't catch onto Anna's strategy, because that was precisely the same thing she was going to try to do to get the easy victory. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Anna took a deep breath as Ashley clambered onto Nathan's shoulders again, an obviously very dissatisfied look on her face as she realized that one more loss would send her into elimination contention. Nobody in the pool, let alone around the pool wanted to be eliminated. They wanted to stay and show the world what they got and what they were made of.

The host made the proper preparations again, the same "ready, set, go!" as last time as the two went forward and clashed yet again. Locking hands, it was the same old. Pushing and pulling. It seemed Ashley had figured out what Anna was trying to do and trying to adopt it into her own. Anna had to figure out how to get her off. Pushing and pulling toward one side wasn't going to work. As the two were at a stalemate because the both of them had effectively canceled each other out, Anna suddenly figured out a plan. What if she just... pulled? No pushing, just pulling. The sudden motion of pulling would probably knock her off.

It was worth a shot. As she felt Ashley starting to push and pull at the same time, she simply pulled on her wrists at the same time as hard as she could, and yanked her off of Nathan's shoulders, surprisingly enough. Anna made a happy shriek as she realized her plan work. "Oh shit! We did it! Oh shit!" She was surely going to be censored, but it didn't matter. She and Jett had advanced!

Jett could see the frustration building on Nathan’s face as Ashley clambered back onto his shoulders. On just day two at the mansion, he didn’t know any of the cast outside of the other celebrities that he’d met before, but this guy struck him as the competitive type. Not that he could blame him. With immunity on the line, the stakes were high, and whoever lost would be at risk of getting voted off the show. He would have started sweating too if he and Anna had lost the first round. After all, he hadn’t carved out a whole summer just to be sent packing back to New York with no scheduled tours or other ways to earn revenue. Vacationing at the beach in Malibu had been the whole plan.

Equally as determined to win as Nathan looked, he launched into the second round with Anna as soon as the host gave them the all-clear to start. Like the last time, most of the work landed on the sharp-tongued engineer, but he trusted her to hold her own against Ashley since she’d managed to do so once already. Who would have thought that in a game of chicken, brains would beat brawn? Apparently, Anna had discovered some kind of higher evolved strategy for pool games, because after a brief tussle, she pulled her opponent into the water again.

Jett turned his head away as the splash soaked his face and hair and let out a short, victorious holler. He’d been disappointed that he had been paired with Anna before, but not anymore. She was a surprisingly wicked competitor. If she kept it up for the next couple rounds, they might even have a shot at winning the whole damn tournament. It was a great place to start out when the show was still too new for them to have loyal fans who wouldn’t vote them off.

Now that their turn was over, he started to shift to let her climb down from his shoulders and then paused. Instead of helping her gracefully descend into the water, a devious smirk crossed his lips, and he leaned backwards so that they would both fall into the pool. Part of him had wanted to get her back for her sassy remarks that morning, but he was mostly messing with her because he was in a good mood after winning against Nathan and Ashley.

“Nice one!” he laughed, dragging his hand over his soaked hair when he resurfaced separately from the engineer. Wading toward the steps to get out of the pool, he lowered his voice, “Where’d you learn to do that pulling trick? That’s some sneaky shit.”

There was a wide smirk on Anna's face, obviously very happy and satisfied with her handiwork. It was such a weird and surreal thing to think about -- earlier the two were at odds with each other but now they were rather happy with each other and working together as well as two gears in a well oiled machine. It was time to climb down from Mount Jett, and as she was about to climb off of him, the cheeky lad decided to lean backwards, causing Anna to lose her balance and fall completely into the water. A small shriek came out of her as she fell off Jett's shoulders and into the rather warm pool, a loud and proud splash coming as a result of Anna being thrown into the water by Jett's devious actions. Her entire world was wet, and it tasted a bit salty.

Rising back up to the water, she spat out some water and cleared her hair from her face, before turning around to see Jett walking toward the steps to get out of the pool. Before she even thought up of an answer, Anna took a moment to thrust her hands forward and splash Jett with some water as playful retaliation for dropping her in the water. Climbing out of the stairs, she tried to think of a witty answer to Jett's question. For now she was glad that they had advanced into the next round. Now to just sit back and watch a bunch of other people fall into the water and hope that the really strong people didn't make it through.

But first, Jett's question. "I'm a biomechanical engineer, Jett! You're gonna learn a thing or two about the human body there." She winked, before laughing. "Plus, it helps that you're super strong." She teased, sticking her tongue out momentarily before going over to their seats. "If we keep this up, we can win it!" She smiled, before sitting down on the lounge chair in front of her as the host got the next people set up.

“Got me there,” Jett shrugged. In all the commotion, he’d forgotten that she was an actual engineer. It was definitely hard to remember that she was a working woman with a full-time career when she was parading around an infinity pool in an itty-bitty white bikini. Right now, she looked more like a Victoria’s Secret model with an attitude. But, of course, the one person on the show with whom he’d started off on the wrong foot had to be packing both a brain and a body. At least they seemed to be getting along better now than they had that morning. He couldn’t tell if her mood had genuinely improved or if she was just putting on a show for the cameras, but either way, he was enjoying the unspoken truce between them while they had to work as a team to avoid getting booted off the show.

When they got back to their lounge chairs, he sat down and kicked his feet up comfortably. With wet swim trunks on, he was colder than before, but it didn’t take long for the warm evening air to start drying him off. “You might actually be right,” he agreed with an incredulous shake of his head. “Let’s just hope no one catches on to the fact that you turn into a ninja in that pool.” He shot her a teasing smirk and leaned into the backrest of his seat, propping his hands behind his head as the next two teams were called to compete.

Hanging out with Anna wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d first thought it would be. In fact, as they lounged by the side of the pool and competed in the next couple rounds—winning both seamlessly—he was reminded of how well they had worked together when they were dancing the night before. Although he didn’t want to admit it out loud when he knew she also had a sharp side, he enjoyed spending time with her when they weren’t bickering.

So, by the time the last match came around, the guardedness he’d expressed at the start of the competition had pretty much evaporated. “Ready to kick their asses and win this thing?” he asked when the host called them back into the water for the finale. “I know I’m about ready to have a nightcap and sleep soundly knowing we won’t be sent packing this week.”

Surprisingly enough, Anna and Jett were managing to get along for once. The fact that they were slicing through their competition like a hot knife through butter really helped when it came to rebuilding their relationship and trust in one another. It was natural considering what they were doing to the competition. Anna's knowledge of the human body and how it operated had come in handy when it came to manipulating it and making the laws of physics work against them. Hell, they even managed to have a few exchanges that weren't filled with the awkward tension and aura that used to be around them. For the most part, Anna thought it was safe to assume that whatever beef they had with each other was at the very least suspended and pushed aside for the time being.

Eventually, they were among the finalists for tonight's competition. The goal of being safe from elimination was still within reach. Anna was more than sure that neither she or Jett were particularly interested in being sent packing. Anna had made many reservations and arrangements to put her life on hold for this very thing. The last thing that she wanted to do was to waste all that and come back home. Although, then again, this was a reality show. Just because she was sent packing didn't exactly mean that she was going home just yet. But, that didn't mean she wanted to give up. The biomedical engineer wanted to make the most out of her time here, and to do that, she needed to win.

"I was born ready, Jett." Anna said, slipping off her robe and stepping toward the pool. The two were so good of a duo that Anna had hardly ever touched the water. Only her legs and the tip of her hair had managed to touch the water, but other than that Anna had stayed relatively dry while she was on top of Jett's shoulders. Stepping into the pool, Anna shivered a bit at the now colder water that had occupied the pool. Since when did the water get so cold? Anna found Jett and started to climb on his shoulders, while seeing the competition across from them. "We can totally take them, Jett." Anna grinned, as she watched Chloe Thomas and David Hopper square up against them. "Let's do this." The girl said, her hands resting on top of her thighs.

All eyes and cameras were on the pool as Jett and Anna set themselves up for a round against Chloe and David. It was the last game of the night before they determined which team would be safe from being voted off the show, so there was a lot riding on the outcome. Jett adjusted his hold on Anna’s slender legs, waiting for the signal to start the ‘fight.’ It had been a long afternoon—now evening—and he was hoping to win quickly, so they could get dinner, report to the confessional lounge if asked by production, and hit the sack to get a good night’s rest for whatever else the crew had planned for them in the coming days.

Once both pairs were ready, the announcer-slash-referee commenced the game. Jett lunged forward to get Anna close enough to Chloe to start working on the other woman’s balance, falling into their quickly developed push-pull rhythm to knock her off David’s shoulders. The team that had made it to the last round with them was a little more skilled than the others they’d been pitted against so far, but their tricks still worked. Chloe splashed into the pool first once then twice and then a third time for good measure, and the game was over. Jett and Anna had secured immunity from being eliminated from the cast of the show.

As they climbed back out of the water, the announcer practically pounced on them to get a word in before they made it to the towel rack (now that they were done playing, they were finally allowed to dry off). She beamed with a perfected, eager smile that belied her experience in front of the camera crew and spoke with an energy that matched: “That was something else! You two make a fierce team together. Do you think you’ll want to pair up again for future games?”

Fleetingly, Jett peered over her shoulder, preferring to locate the source of the smell of freshly cooked food coming from somewhere inside the house rather than stand outside answering questions. However, building points with the show’s soon-to-be fanbase was probably more important in the long run, so he put on his most charming smile for the audience and glanced at Anna, “Well, she pretty much single-handedly won us immunity tonight, so I definitely wouldn’t say no to being her partner again. I don’t think I can do much better.”

They'd done it! Jett and Anna had made it out of this competition as the winners. There wasn't a doubt in Anna's mind whatsoever that they would've won, especially since they'd actually done it and beaten everyone else. It always felt good to be a winner, and today was no exception to that case. There was a cheeky smile on Anna's face as she climbed out of the water, quick to grab a nearby towel to dry herself off. No longer did she have to have that slightly wet feeling, and there was no going back into that pool for the rest of the night. That much, Anna was grateful for. No more having to push-pull people either. It was great to be a winner, but it wasn't all on her. There was no way she could've won with anyone else, let alone herself. She and Jett formed a good team, despite their earlier awkward situations.

However, the host had practically jumped onto Jett and Anna as Anna was in the process of drying herself off. Given how busy Anna was getting all the water off of her, the host figured it was best for Jett to answer first, and that was the best choice. It also allowed Anna to hear what exactly Jett had to say about their experiences together, and it was nice to hear Jett say such nice things about her. As a matter of fact, she felt rather fuzzy inside. She liked hearing compliments, but compliments from Jett simply hit different. It meant a bit more to her, for some strange reason.

As Jett finished up his comments, the host then switched over to Anna, who had finally finished up and gotten herself dry. "And what about you, Anna? How do you feel about pairing up with Jett in the future?" The host asked, a brief smile on Anna's face as she formulated her answer. "Well, you saw what we did out there. We make a good team, and I can't really ask for a better partner than Jett. We crushed it out there." Anna laughed, before the host nodded. She said some obligatory reality show bullshit, as the camera panned away from Jett and Anna.

Anna lightly tapped Jett on the arm, a rather enthusiastic look on her face as she looked up to Jett. "Hey, we killed it out there!" Anna beamed, "Great job, Jett! We work well together, if I do say so myself."

The moment the camera shifted away from them was like a breath of fresh air, and Jett let the polished smile disappear from his lips. He was still smiling of course—how could he not, when he and Anna had just won a whole ass tournament?—but the defining grin had been replaced with a more natural and slightly lopsided expression than he usually showed to an audience. Even though he hadn’t played chicken since he was in high school, it felt good to win the silly competition. He’d always been competitive, sometimes to a fault, so it was a stroke to his ego to know that they’d come out on top of all the other pairs at the beach house.

Feeling a tap on his arm, he turned to Anna and blinked, mildly surprised by the bright smile on her face. He didn’t know exactly when it had happened, but at some point since the night they’d met, he’d decided in his own head that she wasn’t capable of looking that chipper. Right now though, she looked about as happy as a kid in a candy store, and it stirred something warm in the pit of his stomach that made him worry for a fleeting moment that the heat had made its way up his neck and onto his cheeks. She was actually kind of cute. Suddenly, he was reminded why he’d had so much fun dancing with her at the welcome party.

He cleared his throat and grinned back at her, “I’ll say. You did do most of the work though. All I did was hold you up to knock over all the other girls. I was pretty much a glorified booster seat.” With the short interview out of the way, he turned his attention back to the smell of food coming from inside the house. After the many rounds of chicken in the pool, he’d worked up a hearty appetite; and since his dietician was all the way on the other side of the country, there was nothing holding him back from pigging out on as much unhealthy food as he could fit on a plate. Malibu was turning out to be heaven.

“Want to go inside and raid the buffet line? I think they’ve got a Hawaiian barbeque thing going on,” he said, nudging Anna eagerly in the side. After the match, he was willing to let bygones be bygones and forget about their argument earlier in the morning.

Anna tilted her head curiously at Jett's comment, "Nothing will work without a solid foundation -- and that was exactly what you were for me." Anna shrugged, "You can't build a skyscraper without laying down the foundation, y'know?" Anna threw her hair behind her shoulders, the blonde hair still damp from the games of chicken that they played and won earlier. It was a bit surreal that the man she had a bit of an argument with earlier was now the very man she just won the first challenge of this show with. Despite their earlier butting of heads, it seemed like they made a pretty decent team, which was something the Anna of a few hours ago wouldn't have anticipated to happen.

The smell of food started to make its way to Anna's nose as well, and it reminded her of just how hungry she actually was. She had gotten too far caught up in the heat of competition to realize that she hadn't eaten in a while. Her stomach grumbled as soon as she realized that was food she was smelling. Anna turned to Jett, who had just offered to go hit up the buffet line with her. "You know what, that sounds great!" Anna smiled, before she realized that she was still in her bathing suit.

"I think I'm gonna grab a plate, set it down somewhere, and then go inside and change real quick. I'm already getting cold." Anna laughed, before shivering a bit. Standing up, Anna offered a hand to Jett. "Looks like the line isn't very long. Looks like a few staff members have already gotten there but it seems like there's still a lot of good food there." Anna said, before opening the door for Jett. "What do you have your eyes on right now?" Anna asked, "I, myself, have my eyes on the spam musubi -- same with the barbecue chicken. With a side of white rice? Can't ever go wrong with that."