AN: Sorry, missed another day. Computer problems. Anyways, I'm thankful for you guys…I thought I'd have Spot fans mauling me left and right about that, but you guys were surprisingly good-tempered about it. Wahoo! Okay…time for head of household competition and nominations.
Race
"Hello, boys. The power is up for grabs."
For the first time, the head of household competition was indoors. I was sitting on a chair with two small boards on either side of me so I could only see the other guys sitting in the line with me from the head up, and I was holding a ping pong paddle that said "A" on one side and "B" on the other. I had the feeling I knew what we were going to do, but I couldn't be sure.
Davey continued with the explanation. "I am going to give you an unfinished quote from one of the evicted house guests, and then I will give you two different endings. You must pick the ending that you thought the guest would have said, and you will get one point for each correct answer. There will be ten questions, and the house guest with the most points at the end of ten questions will be the new head of household."
I looked carefully at my competition- I couldn't be sure who would win. I was assuming they would take these quotes from their diary room entries, which none of us had heard. It would be interesting, to say the least.
"In his first diary room entry, Snitch referred to someone as smelling good. Who was that someone? A…Mush, or B…Spot?"
Why in the hell was that kid thinking about how someone smelled? Was he gay too?
Probably Mush. I lifted my answer thingy to show the side that said 'A'. Now I knew why those dividing boards were there- I couldn't see how any of the other guys answered.
"The correct answer was 'A'. Mush, you got it wrong. Skittery, Blink, Race…you all three have one point each. Next question. Bumlets said "I swear, this house is full of…". Was it A, idiots and preps? Or B, gay people who don't know they're gay?"
Wow. I couldn't picture Bumlets saying either of those things. But if he said one of them, I would guess B.
"The correct answer is B. Skittery, you got it wrong. That leaves Mush and Skittery with 1, and Blink and Race tied for the lead with 2. Next question…whom did Cowboy refer to as being 'as blocked off as Skittery'? A, Bumlets…or B, Snitch?"
B. Definitely. I noticed the same thing about Snitch. That's why I helped get him evicted.
"The correct answer is B. You all got it right. Skittery and Mush, you have 2, Blink and Race, you have 3. Next question…which houseguest referred to feeling like a cat in a cage with a starving Doberman while he was in the house? A, Spot, or B, Itey?"
Itey didn't have the brains to say that. The kid probably didn't even know what a Doberman was. But then again, I couldn't see Spot making a comment like that. I chose B.
"The correct answer was A. Blink, Race, you both got it wrong. That evens up the score all around, leaving everyone with 3 points. Next question…what was Dutchy referring to when he mentioned that he'd probably never see his eighteenth birthday? A, the infamous truth and dare kiss? Or B, Skittery not being evicted?"
Well, the logical people would go for A. But from what I'd heard about Dutchy's mother, I really didn't think she would kill him for something like that. So I chose B.
"The correct answer is B. Everyone got it wrong except for Race. That leaves Mush, Skittery, and Blink with three and Race with four. Next question…Dutchy said "I only wish that…"…A, these guys would ignore me altogether, or B, that he could go home? A hint…it was the first diary room entry for him."
Okay, think. In the first week…well, there were a whole lot of us that were nervous, but I don't think we were nervous enough to be wanting to go home yet. But…he was a painter. What could you expect from the artistic type? I wouldn't know. I chose B.
"The correct answer is A. Race and Skittery, you got it wrong. That leaves Skittery with three, Mush, Blink, and Race with four. Seventh question…who did I, Davey, describe as 'naturally nice'? A, Mush, or B, Bumlets?"
Um…B. In the first week, Bumlets did seem nice, and Mush was the obvious answer here. I chose B.
"The correct answer was B. Blink, you got it wrong. That leaves Blink and Skittery with four, and Race and Mush with five. Eighth question…which house guest mentioned wanting to duck in a closet and hide until he was evicted? A, Specs, or B, Itey?"
Definitely Itey. I chose B.
"The correct answer was B. You all got it right. Skittery and Blink, you have five, Race and Mush, you have six. Ninth question…which house guest did Dutchy refer to as the 'smartest guy on the planet' for his game strategy? A, Skittery, or B, Specs?"
Well…Skittery had been beating people, jumping alliances, and scaring people all along. Specs had been basically a part of the woodwork until Dutchy came along. Who would he admire more?
Wait…that time when Skittery put Mush up against Cowboy…we all thought he was a genius then. Could this quote have been taken from then? I chose A.
"The correct answer is A. Skittery, you got it wrong. That leaves Skittery with five, Blink with six, and Race and Mush tied for the lead with 7. Final question…which house guest said "A promise is a promise, and unlike some people, I don't break them." A, Specs, or B, Dutchy?"
Well…either one of them could've said that. They were both that type. And whichever one it was, I was going to kill him when I got out for indirectly referring to me like that. Not that it wasn't true or anything…and he didn't mention any names…oh, well. I'd just guess. I chose B.
"The correct answer is B. Blink and Skittery, you got it wrong. Racetrack, you are the new head of household."
Skittery
Once again, I was sitting beside Grace on the couch, pretending to listen to her go on and on about some third cousin's roommates brother's former girlfriend that met Tom Cruise. At least, I think that's what it was.
Reno walked in and sat down with one of her fashion magazines, her face plastered with the green goo that she wore for an hour every single day. She looked like the swamp monster with fake eyelashes.
And quite suddenly, I got an idea. I got a very mean, very awful idea.
For once, I was glad Grace was head over heels for me. Because I would need her help for this.
"Hey Grace…let's go outside. Get some fresh air."
Grace looked up at me in shock. I think that was the most I'd ever said to her. She jumped up and grabbed my arm, and I was yanked out of the house by the bounding, hyper girl.
I explained my plan, and she was ecstatic. She promised to do exactly as I had asked, and then I went to the kitchen, where Ace was sitting nursing a cup of strong coffee. I explained to him as well, and we set to work preparing what we would need.
About an hour later Grace brought us what we needed, and we 'doctored it up' a little. Grace then returned the object she'd brought us to its place, and now all we had to do was wait.
Blink
I think anyone within a 500 mile radius of the Big Brother house heard the scream.
We all went rushing to Reno's room that she shared with Grace, expecting to find blood all over and maybe a dead body or two from the way she was screaming. Race and I slammed into each other, but quickly recovered when Reno scrambled into view.
Her entire face was bright green. As in bright, neon green. And it wasn't the green goo this time.
"Who is responsible for this?" she shrieked, and I suddenly took notice of Skittery, who was leaning in the doorway to the kitchen snickering like a maniac. I looked from him, to Reno, and back to him.
"What did you do, Skittery?" I asked, more out of amusement than anger. In fact, it was all amusement. Reno was the only one angry here.
"Just added a little green food coloring to her face mask. I thought it would help even out her skin tone." Skittery said, and Reno absolutely quivered with rage.
"How long…will this…last?" she hissed.
"About…three days. The stain may last longer though. Maybe a week."
Reno suddenly took off at Skittery, and we let her go, seeing as how Skittery could sure handle himself. And in fact, when she jumped at him, he sidestepped out of the doorway and she ended up slipping and falling flat on her face in the kitchen. Skittery laughed again as she picked herself up, and then he headed for the backyard, shaking his head as he cracked up again. Reno, being the 'helpless female type' she is, promptly burst into tears.
Mush looked at me, and I shrugged. I wasn't about to go comfort her; her idea of comfort was quite more intimate than I would want. Mush rolled his eyes and went to her, sitting down beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, now…what's more embarrassing…having America see you with a green face, or having America see you sitting here crying like a baby?"
She looked up at him, her anger only multiplied by his comments. She stood up and fumed for a few moments before heading back for her room.
"You're ALL dead! I'm going to have my lawyers suck you dry! ALL OF YOU!"
Slam!
Toby sauntered in, looking around the now-quiet area. "What just happened?"
"Reno got a face-lift, that's all." Mush said with a knowing smile. Toby looked at me, then at Mush, and then back at me.
"You two…need therapy. At least try to behave."
With that, he walked out. Mush and I looked at each other, both of us in shock at what we had just experienced.
Toby just spoke with us without insulting us. He didn't even glare. He was somewhat…civil.
With a yelp of joy I grabbed Mush and literally picked him up off the floor and spun him around. How, I really don't know. I've never been able to do that before without pulling all the muscles in my back.
"I think it's gonna work. I think it's finally gonna work." He said, and I nodded. He and I had been right from the start.
Race may have head of household, but things were still working out for us even better than we'd planned.
Race
"Look at them."
I turned, surprised to see Toby standing beside me, his arms crossed and an unreadable look on his face as he looked through the window. I followed his gaze in time to see Blink pick Mush up off the floor and spin him around, setting him down gentle as a feather. They chatted a bit, their eyes never leaving one another's.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think they were in love." I said in a joking tone as I turned once again to watch the sun drop behind the fence. Toby remained silent for a few more moments, and then he heaved a heavy sigh and sat down. I followed his lead, sitting down on the patio beside him.
"I just…the pastor always said that queers were demons, sent straight from hell to corrupt the weak. But…" he started, weakening in mid-sentence.
I finished for him. "But Mush isn't a demon. And he's definitely not weak."
"Yeah. Yeah."
He sighed again. "Wonder what it feels like."
"What?"
"To actually be in love."
I raised an eyebrow. "So you believe it's love now?"
He cringed. "Well…Mush was deeper than any of us in that religion stuff. He was the pastor's favorite student, the guy that every other person wanted to be just like."
"Including you?"
"Yeah…I guess. I never thought he'd ever fall for sin. I always thought that Satan himself could throw anything at that kid, and he'd throw it right back."
I nodded. "But love conquers all, Toby. That's the old saying, anyway."
He swallowed hard. I could tell he was having trouble with this idea, but it wasn't as hard to accept as it had been before. I decided to take it one step further.
"Maybe you should…you know…sit down and talk with them. Get to know Blink. He's not that bad of a guy, you know."
I expected him to throw a temper tantrum, maybe throw a punch or two. But instead, he slowly nodded.
"I'll do that sometime. That kid is stubborn as an ox. If I can't change his mind, I may as well get to know my future brother-in-law…cause Mush ain't gonna be able to handle mom and dad all by himself, even with Blink there to back him up."
Nominations
Mush
Race brought out the nominations box, with only one key inside this time. Only one safe person.
I didn't know. I knew Race wanted either Blink or me out of the house, but after what Skittery did to him, I wasn't sure he would follow through on that. Maybe he would go for Skittery…but I doubted it.
"Alright, guys…one key this time. Four of us left. I'm safe, and there's only one other safe person."
He reached down and pulled the key out. "Skittery…you're safe."
He took a deep breath as Skittery took his key and put it around his neck. Then, he spoke again.
"Skitts…after what you did, I would've given anything to see you walk out that door. But that's personal, not strategy. And by strategy…I'm obliged to break up this final alliance. You three know that as well as I do. And now that we're this close, it's no holds barred. It's every man for himself. And I'm holding to those nominations."
With that he took the nomination box back to its place and Skittery went to hang up his key, leaving Blink and I alone in the room.
"Mush…if you get veto…promise me you'll save yourself and not me." Blink suddenly said, and I looked at him in shock.
"Only if you do the same."
"No. Not this time."
I gave him a smug smile. "I'm not seeing how this is fair to you."
"It's not supposed to be fair to me. No matter what happens, I want to see you go to the finals. Not me."
"But…why?"
He laughed quietly, grabbing my hand with both of his. "You deserve it. You need it. And I love you."
I hesitated, and then kissed him gently. "We'll see. I'm not making any promises though."
"I'll throw you in the pool again if you don't promise."
"You've done that a million times already. That one doesn't work anymore."
"Then I'll lock you in a room alone with Reno."
I looked up at him in shock. "You wouldn't…"
"Promise me and I won't."
I shoved him and punched him in the arm. "I hate you."
"No you don't."
"Yes I do."
"Promise me?"
"Fine."
He stared at me a moment, and I refused to look at him.
"You love me. You know it." He said with a smile.
I looked at him, and then grabbed his chin and pulled him into a kiss.
"Who wouldn't?"
AN: Next chapter, veto competition, veto meeting, votes, and eviction. Sorry I'm not all that talkative…I haven't felt good all day. So…review. It makes me feel better!
Also…I have gotten a total of two replies on the outtakes. (Thank you to those who actually replied!). Now, I CAN come up with them on my own, but I really want your help- it would end up a whole lot funnier! And two replies…I'm sorry, two scenes ain't gonna cut it. Send them in, people! Please? My PuppyDogEyes!Mush is begging you! Pretty please? Okay, enough begging. If I don't get more replies, I'm going to team up my ViolentAsHell!Mush and my Psychopath!Skittery and send them to hunt you down and make sure you never get to eat another Klondike Bar in your life! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay. Point being, send me scenes!
I'll end on a good note: I luv all you guys! Really, I do! And so do all my crazy muses…I think…