“Good luck getting past the producers. I have a feeling they’d rather let us freeze if it means getting more shots of everyone in their swimsuits,” Jett pointed out with a gesture at the other nearby contestants, all of whom were still in their bikinis and trunks too. Showing some skin made for higher ratings, especially when half the cast was made up of celebrities with their own individual cult followings. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the crew had even set up bouncers to keep them from getting back to their rooms until the end of the night. The trade-off for spending the summer in Malibu was that they had to sell their souls to the cameras, after all.

He took Anna’s hand when she offered it and walked with her over to the food line. “It’s a buffet, so I’ll probably try to have a little of everything,” he replied, eyeing a tray loaded with kalua pork. His dietician would murder him if he went crazy and gained ten pounds before he came back to New York, but five wouldn’t be too bad, right? He was sure the producers would have them doing all sorts of active games while they were staying at the beachside mansion anyway. He could have a big dinner and worry about burning it off the next time they were called to compete for immunity.

True to his word, he stacked a plate with everything from barbeque meats to sliced pineapple to bread rolls and then swiped an exotic looking cocktail off the end of the counter for good measure. With a veritable feast in hand, he turned back to Anna and tipped his head in the direction of the outdoor fireplace, where a few of the other cast members were already congregating. “I think I’ll hang out over here. Want me to take your plate for you while you go on your quest to change clothes? I’ve got enough of my own food that I won’t eat yours. Scout’s honor.”

Anna didn't think about how it was best to get a little bit of everything at the buffet. It was a buffet, after all and pretty much everything was free game. Anna wasn't much of a picky eater but she figured she didn't want to look like a glutton in front of her peers. Then again, who cared what they thought? They were the ones who lost and she and Jett were the ones who came out victorious in the end. No amount of slander these people could ever throw at them would ever take away the fact that they won. They were the ones who were victorious in the end. At least, for now.

Anna trailed behind Jett as he continued to pile on food on his plate. He wasn't kidding when he said when he said he was going to have a little bit of everything. It dwarfed Anna's own plate in comparison, which had a relatively measly serving of white rice, teriyaki chicken, Kahlua pork, and other sorts of Hawaiian delicacies. Once it was all said and done, Jett's plate practically towered over Anna's own plate. Though, there was always the possibility of seconds so Anna wasn't too worried about her plate.

Holding her plate out with an arm, Anna was already starting to slightly regret her decision doing it with just the singular arm with how it was trembling. Maybe she should've swapped arms or two armed it. However, by the time Anna reached a decision, Jett had offered to take her plate. "Oh. Uh- yeah. Yeah that sounds good!" Anna nodded, flashing a small smile, "I'll know if you take something anyway." The Ukrainian winked, before handing her plate over to Jett and walking off to her room. She didn't really plan anything fancy, not like it was the time and place to do so after all. Just whatever she found out of her closet would do.

Stepping into her room, Anna went head first into her closet and grabbed two random articles of clothing that she deemed appropriate for hanging out at the fireplace with Jett. It took a few minutes, but Anna emerged from her room dressed in a blue tanktop paired with a pair of simple gray shorts. Stepping back out into the backyard, Anna immediately spotted Jett and walked over to him, sitting down next to him. "Thanks for guarding my food." Anna smiled, before grabbing her fork. "It doesn't look like you took anything either." Anna laughed, before glancing over at his plate. "You enjoying your food so far?"

“And here I thought you were learning to trust me after we slayed at the last game,” Jett pouted in mock offense. In spite of the remark, he took Anna’s proffered plate, balancing it with his own with the long lost skills he’d picked up in his early days waiting tables, and headed over to the lounge chairs to snag a couple seats for them before the area filled up. Already Madison, Bella, David and Nathan were sitting around the fireplace, chatting about the outcome of the most competitive game of chicken any of them had played in their lives. Bella and David were belly laughing about something someone had said before Jett had gotten within earshot, while Madison noticeably avoided eye contact with Nathan.

As he sat down in one of the empty chairs, Bella turned to him with a grin. “Well, well, if it isn’t one half of our champion team,” she clapped loudly, starting a small round of applause, to which Jett set down his plates to flourish a hand in a bow. “Who knew you’d be so good at pool games?”

“It was my major in college,” Jett quipped, smirking around the straw of his drink. “You should see me play Marco Polo.” The joke earned him another short round of laughter and gave him a nice, natural segue into the conversation. They went on about the games while they ate, reviewing the first one and pitching their guesses about what the next challenge could be. Of course, Bella ribbed him about Nina’s reveal, and the cameramen filmed the whole thing in the hopes of securing a few minutes of TV-worthy talking that could interest their viewers.

When Anna got back, Jett handed over her plate of food, which he hadn’t touched while she was gone. He’d been tempted to steal a piece of chicken just to see if she would actually notice its absence, but there wasn’t a point when he had more than enough on his own plate to stuff himself full to the brim with Hawaiian delicacies.

“That’s because I didn’t,” he told her through a mouthful of pork that he chased with another swig of his drink. He’d already worked his way through about a third of the small mountain of food he’d grabbed from the buffet line, and he nodded at her question. “Everything is great. They’re really setting the bar high for our meals on this show.” He gestured vaguely to the other people sitting around the fireplace as he added, “We were just trying to predict the next challenge we’ll have to do to fight for immunity here. Got any guesses?”

Anna hadn't noticed that Bella had came back until she glanced over a certain direction and saw her sitting in a chair not too far away from them. The co-champion of the night waved at the girl, before she started to chow down on her much deserved food. Anna thought a little bit about Jett's question as she stuck a piece of the chicken inside of her mouth. If a game of chicken was on the menu, then there was no telling what else would be in store for the crowd. There were many directions that her guess could go. Anything seemed plausible at this time considering it was only the first day of everything. Were they going for something physical? Something summer themed? Something that would activate their competitive spirit constantly?

"My guess is that it's hard to guess." Anna chuckled, "But if you want a real guess, I'm thinking we're gonna have to cook at some point." Anna shrugged, stabbing at her chicken once again. "With such a nice, big kitchen there's no way that we aren't gonna use it somehow and cook something." Hopefully Anna's answer was satisfactory enough. "With that being said, there's gotta be a twist to it. I'm just not sure as to how exactly they would twist it..." Anna glanced over at Bella and Jett. "Really? Cooking's an interesting idea. I think I agree with Anna. Though, Jett here had some good ideas." Bella mentioned, taking a sip out of her (virgin) mai-tai.

"Oh?" Anna smirked, before looking at Jett and Bella again, "What are your guesses, then?" Anna was genuinely curious as to what her peers thought. The possibilities were endless and there was so much that could be mentioned. "I wouldn't mind like a Jeopardy-type thing either. I love Jeopardy." Anna remarked, before allowing her peers to speak their thoughts.

“God, I hope not,” Jett pulled a face when Anna posed the theory that they might have to cook at some point. He may have worked in a restaurant when he was younger, but there was a good reason why he hadn’t been part of the kitchen staff. Cooking wasn’t something he was very good at, so if he had to put a dish together on the show, he had a feeling he wasn’t going to do as well as he had at the pool game that evening. If he ended up going home because he could barely handle scrambled eggs, his mother would never let him hear the end of it.

“Hell yeah,” David grinned at the suggestion of Jeopardy. “That would be a fun game.”

“Seriously?” Madison rolled her eyes. “Who wants to sit around answering random trivia questions all night?”

Jett brushed off her comment. “Jeopardy would be cool. I think they’re gonna change things up on us though. They’ll probably throw in a talent competition or maybe an obstacle course on the beach like American Ninja Warrior.” Anna was right though, there was no way to know. They were all participating in the pilot season of the reality show, so anything could happen. They were the producers’ guinea pigs until their contracts were up. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be excited or nervous about that, but the chance to stay in the oceanside mansion all summer was enough compensation not to think about it too hard.

“A talent competition would be great,” Madison grinned.

“Yeah, but if they run anything like that, they’ll probably make us pick a talent that we’re not famous for,” Bella pointed out with a laugh.

“I hope you’re all ready for amateur close-up magic then,” Jett smirked and turned to Anna. “Got any hidden talents you’d like to share with the group?”

The sound of a talent show was about the worst thing that Anna could've ever heard come out of Jett's mouth. Anna wasn't even sure what she had to offer at something like that. The thing she was good at she did for a living -- but otherwise she didn't really have anything that could win her a million dollars on America's Got Talent or American Idol, let alone a talent show on this show she was on. Still, what was probably even more surprising was that Jett was apparently a magician as well. That was real interesting, and something that Anna couldn't have ever predicted based off of what she knew about Jett right now.

"Me?" Anna tilted her head curiously. "I don't really have much to offer. Nothing that'll really catch someone's eye." Anna laughed. "Unless you consider building machines to save people a talent I can display." Anna continued to chuckle, a slight awkward energy to her. "Maybe I can be Jett's assistant or something." Anna joked, before she shoved some more food in her mouth. Madison shrugged at Bella's point. "I hope they don't do that. I don't think people want me to bust out the stand-up."

Anna whipped her head at Madison, "You... do stand-up?" Madison laughed and winked. "Not so much actual stand-up -- it's more like a routine I memorized for a role once. Not my jokes, but I know how to deliver it. Not like they can tell the difference, anyway."

Well, it wasn’t surprising to find out Madison was planning to recycle a role she’d been assigned before in order to get through a talent competition. Jett wondered if she took the reality show they were on seriously at all. To be fair, he didn’t know what to think about it yet either, but he was still making an effort to be nice to the other contestants and participating in their conversations without acting all high and mighty just because half the cast wasn’t famous.

Taking a bite of his dinner, he thought to himself that if they were all going to be voting on a person to send home, Madison didn’t stand much of a chance at making it through the first round. Not with all the enemies she was probably making with her better-than-thou comments.

For the rest of the evening, they continued throwing out ideas and preferences for the next challenge of the show and getting to know each other a little better. The cameramen circled the yard like sharks, capturing everything on film to be sorted through later when they narrowed down what would make it into the final cut of the pilot. Eventually, everyone’s attention was grabbed by the host, who gathered them together by the fire pit for another planned event.

While they headed over, Jett fell in step between Anna and Bella and asked quietly, “How much you wanna bet they’re going to have us rank each other or something?”

Anna looked over at Jett as he slotted in between the two of them as they walked over to the fire pit. The host wanted to do something with them, but on a show like this, there was no telling what exactly was going to happen. She smiled and looked over at Jett. "I'd bet my whole life that they're going to have us do that. They're probably going to make us spend a looooot of time as a pair together. Maybe not us specifically, but paired off with other people, absolutely." Anna laughed, as they eventually arrived at the fire pit.

The host stood before the fire pit, with cameras and crew scattered all over as the entire cast of the show stood there. Some were still dressed in their swimsuits, as they spent more time in the pool, others were more dressed for the night as it appeared that they were about to go to bed. Regardless, this took priority, and with the look on some people's faces, it was hard to tell what was going to happen.

"Today was a great first day! We saw some bonds develop, people getting to know each other, and the start of something beautiful." The host smiled, before quickly wiping it off of her face, "Unfortunately, for one, that bond will come to an end today. Today is the first elimination. The entire cast must vote on who to eliminate. Jett, Anna - as the winners of the first challenge, you are protected from elimination for today. So you guys can rest easy knowing that you're safe. However, for the rest of you, it could be any of your last days. Have your votes in by ten minutes from now." The host said, before turning around and walking off.

Anna turned to Jett, "Thank god we won."

“Oh, what if they match us with the person we try to get rid of, if that person doesn’t leave the show?” Jett arched his brows as the idea crossed his mind. On a reality show like this, he wouldn’t have put it past the production team to try a move like that. If they did, he really hoped Madison didn’t make it past the first round of voting—or whatever it was they were going to be doing—since he already knew he wanted her gone.

When they got to the fire pit, and the next event was announced, he wasn’t at all surprised to find out their guess about eliminating another player had been right. With his hands in the pockets of his swim trunks, he listened to the host explain that one person was going to be leaving the cast, and they had ten minutes to pitch their votes—and he and Anna were exempt from being kicked off because they’d won the first challenge. At that, he turned to catch her gaze with a grin, offering up a hand in a high-five. “For real. Good job out there, partner.”

Over the next few minutes, the cast members took their turns scribbling down names on slips of paper to add to a box by the center of the fire pit. For dramatic effect, they had to hold up their votes in front of the cameramen, so they could capture who had voted for whom. Jett took his turn when there was space, since he and Anna were still part of the elimination process even though they couldn’t be eliminated. Naturally, he picked Madison, tired of listening to her complain about the non-celebrity contestants, and headed back to join the others until everyone was done making their choices.

“This is gonna be heated,” Bella leaned over to whisper to him and a couple others with a smirk. “If you-know-who leaves the show, how much you wanna bet the producers are gonna get sued for defamation?”

Anna reciprocated the high five almost immediately from Jett, as the next events were set in motion and the show continued to proceed. Anna was glad that she and Jett had won the challenge, because she couldn't imagine the amount of anxiety she would have if she were to actually be in contention for elimination, and she was sure that anxiety was inhabiting everyone else. Anna looked down at her slip of paper and cast her vote for Madison. She had clearly demonstrated that she wasn't someone that was going to be pleasant to be around whatsoever. The sooner that she was out of here, the better. Even though this was a reality show, keeping the drama to a minimum was ideal for people like Anna, who weren't exactly used to being in these sorts of situations.

After putting her slip in the box, Anna sauntered on over to where Jett, Bella, and a few others were congregated. Sitting down, she heard Bella mentioning something about a lawsuit should someone be eliminated. Anna laughed and shook her head, "She can try. I doubt she'd get anywhere though." The thought of someone like Madison trying to sue an entire production company on her own was amusing, but definitely in character for someone of her stature.

A few more minutes had elapsed, and the host had come out to get everyone's attention, the box full of slips in hand as everyone looked over to her. "Votes are in! Now we will see... who will be the first person eliminated tonight?" Anna glanced towards Jett, smirking as she looked toward the host, who was opening the box and shuffling through the slips before pulling one out. "Our first vote is for... Madison." The host said, as she continued to reveal the votes casted. At the end of it all, it was revealed that Madison had garnered the most votes. It seemed like she rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in her rather short time here.

The cameras pointed in Madison's direction as she had a shocked look on her face, almost as if she was surprised that so many people had voted to kick her out of the competition. "I'm sorry Madison, it is your time to go. Please pack your things." The hostess said, as a few snickers rang out from some members of the cast.

Madison shook her head, "No, this is bullshit! This shit is fucking rigged. This shit is NOT the last you will see of me. Absolutely not." Madison grunted, standing up. "You'll be hearing from me soon." If it was up to her, she wouldn't budge, but even she knew that she didn't want to be filmed being thrown out of the house. She wanted to go out her own way.

"Someone isn't happy." Anna snickered.