Hey guys! :) I'm posting the next four chapters at once, so it's a quadruple update. I've been super sick over the past week, so I apologize for any grammar/spelling issues.

This was supposed to be one chapter at 2k words and I kind of overwrote 😅 (something I do a lot lol) and it's 10k, and I thought about cutting it out completely and making it a deleted scene, but I decided to just upload it. I really hope you guys like it and I didn't just bore you even though any scene with Rucker and Yaz ain't boring lol

Think of this as the beach/pool episode in an anime, a breather arc, because I want you to get to know them a bit better because (spoiler) we might be losing some people very soon 😢😭😓 Or will we? 🤔

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This white bikini coated my skin like a flimsy spiderweb without a design, covering only my main bits while leaving everything else to the wolves.

I spent my whole life trying to be average, staying under the radar. Wearing revealing clothes did the opposite of that. It made people aware of me. Very aware, and that feeling took me out of my comfort zone.

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" I spun around in front of the full-length mirror that Yaz just requested, almost tripping over a pile of rejected bikinis.

We've been modeling swimsuits for each other for the past hour and a half. Both of us were already twenty minutes late for the party. Rucker texted us like ten times already, and Yaz ignored them all.

"You're fine. Mine's worse than yours," Yaz said, tugging at her black and gold strapless cups. She twirled in the mirror next to me. "I can have a nip slip at any time, and I don't care. I'm trying to drink and forget that I'm in this shit hole for a few hours."

That would be nice. Not the drunkenness but the forgetting part. That whole Layla thing drained everything out of me. Demo almost killed me, and that fight with Aries was painful. My body and spirit needed a break.

Plus, it was nice to wear a bikini. It almost felt like I didn't have to fully be average Betinia. I could be Tin — STOP IT. She's gone now.

"You ready?" Yaz snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to reality.

A full fake smile formed on my glossed lips. "Yup."

We made it out of her room, slamming the door behind us and walked down the hall, heels clicking on the floors. A clammy warmth scooted throughout the air, pressing against my naked parts as an eerie dimness blanketed the empty spaces, a buzzing quietness drilling in my ears, making me alert.

Betinia...

I paused, heart dropping in my stomach. There was my name again, spoken in a voice that seemed oddly familiar. My body turned mid-step, searching for something that wasn't there.

"You alright?" Yaz made it a few feet before stopping.

"Sorry," I said, running to catch up. It was probably just the producers trying to fuck with me again.

Loud chatter soon replaced the silence, mingling with the quick beat of music. A rich smoky aroma smacked our faces as we turned the corner to the pool room.

Bright red and touches of black decorated the coolly toned atmosphere. Weirdly shaped balloons touched the ceiling while others littered the floor like sand on a beach. Giant floor pillows dotted the titled floor, and a bar draped in colored bottles lined the wall to the left.

The boys all surrounded the long table by the bar. It was covered in big bowls, uncooked food, rolls, and aluminum pans. The fogging grill rested at the left end of the table.

Duke played with the balloons on the floor, surfing back and forth, using his nose to boop them around before chasing after them.

The creaking sound of the glass doors opening alerted the boys to our entrance. Neck straight, shoulders back, we strutted forward, every footstep in sync with one another, never missing a beat.

Rucker whistled and grinned. "We need to have bikini parties more often."

"Yeah, yeah," Yaz said, brushing off his compliment like it meant nothing.

An awkward smile tugged at Sebastian's face as he tried to hide his wandering eyes. Khan appeared unreadable as always, but he did give me a soft smile.

I smiled at both of them, trying to relax in my string bikini. I was out of my element a bit but being around everyone made me feel a bit more comfortable.

"Is the food done yet?" Yaz said, sauntering over to the smoking BBQ grill. "I'm not waiting like before. Me and Betinia will throw you in the pool."

Rucker laughed. "I'll just bring you both with me."

"You will not get my hair wet," we said in unison.

An impish smile curled around Rucker's lips, as he watched Yaz. "Okay."

"Rucker." Yaz pursed her red painted lips. "If you get my hair wet..."

Rucker pretended to be shocked. "I would never do something so barbaric and childish. My god."

She glowered up at him. "Uh-huh."

I glanced at the far corner, seeing blankets and pillows neatly stacked. "Are we sleeping in here tonight?"

"Yeah." Rucker picked up a chain off the floor and went over to the glass doors, dangling the metal links through the oblong-shaped doorknobs. A big padlock completed the exchange, locking everything in place. "No one can get in or out."

"How the hell are we supposed to go to the bathroom?" Yaz asked, standing akimbo.

Khan motioned to the tiled wall. "The pool room has a bathroom and a sauna." He moved over to it, pushing on three tiles, which caused a large rectangle piece to push in, revealing a giant lit room.

I peeked inside, seeing a giant jacuzzi tub, large showering stalls, a wooden door which must've housed the sauna and toilet stalls. "That's convenient, but how did you guys know this existed?"

"Puppy balls over there was trying to put up the decorations and somehow face-planted into the wall." Rucker snickered. "Bled everywhere."

"Thanks for your concern." Sebastian folded his arms. "At least my pain did some good."

"You okay?" I asked, making my way over to him. He still looked a bit battered from the fight earlier, and now he hurt himself yet again.

Sebastian scratched his neck, avoiding my eyes. "Just a little bit sore and my nose stopped bleeding a while ago. I'm okay."

"Anybody want any drinks?" Khan asked, moving behind the bar. "I can make anything."

"I'll take a soda," I said.

"The fuck you are." Rucker gripped an aluminum pan and opened the grill. Dense smoke shot out as Rucker took juicy chicken, long hot dogs, thick sausages, plump cheeseburgers, and corn on the cob off the grill and placed it in the empty pan. "We're here for fun, not a bible study class."

"How does soda equal bible study class?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm going off personal experience, hamhock," Rucker said.

"I don't usually drink," I said, trying to nip their interactions in the bud before it turned into a full-on fight again.

Drinking changed people. Drinking made people lose control. I needed to be in control of Tini at all times, which was why I never consumed alcohol besides a few sips. But now that she was gone...

"Good time to start then." Rucker slammed the grill shut. "You don't wanna die without getting drunk at least once in your life, right?"

I chuckled. "When you put it that way."

Khan leaned down behind the bar, bringing up a cooler that contained ice cream. "I'll make you an Aperol float. They're really sweet, so you won't even taste the alcohol."

"Make sure it's extra-large," Rucker said.

"Uh don't listen to him," I said. "Make it like a medium?" Did alcoholic drinks come in medium size?

Yaz popped behind the bar, taking a new bottle of tequila. "I don't need nothing fancy. Just a bottle."

"Drinking tequila makes you freaky," Rucker said, picking up his spatula.

"I'm already freaky." Yaz took a long swig from the bottle. "Uhhhh, I missed this."

Duke surfed through the balloons to get over to Rucker and danced at his feet, begging for food scraps.

"Here you go, little buddy," Rucker said, tossing some chicken pieces to the floor. Duke gobbled them up and panted for more, and Rucker obliged.

"Finished," Khan said, putting a giant glass filled with vanilla ice cream and reddish-orange liquid on the bar.

A delectable iciness caressed my lips when they hit the rim of the glass. I tilted the glass back and sipped. A swirl of various flavors with hints of dark vanilla tantalized mouth. "Wow, this is good."

"I made it extra sweet for you, so you shouldn't taste any alcohol at all." Khan wiped down the bar and turned to Sebastian. "What do you want to drink?"

Sebastian peeked behind the bar. "You got any Absinthe?"

"That shit's garbage," Rucker said. "I heard that shit's supposed to make you hallucinate, and I didn't feel nothin."

"Yeah, the hallucination is a myth." Khan placed a skull-shaped bottle filled with bright green liquid on the bar. "Still good stuff, but you have to try Ayahuasca if you want to trip and that's hard to get."

"Shit, you think we can request it?" Rucker asked.

"Probably—" Khan started but a knock interrupted him.

All of our eyes followed the noise to the locked glass doors.

Jookie waved at us, carrying a large box with a giant red bow. A navy-blue muscle tank hugged his tight middle, showing off his glistening tats. Hair tousled around his sharp jaw, he glanced at me with cloudy violet eyes, irises turning darker by the second.

"What the fuck does he want?" Rucker stomped over, and we all sort of followed behind him like his shadow.

"Just presenting a gift from the creators," Jookie said through the glass, answering his question.

Rucker lowered his eyes. "We don't want no gift from you."

Jookie grinned, white teeth shining under the bright lighting. "You'll want this gift."

Rucker turned to us. "Do you guys want to open the door?"

"I don't see no harm in accepting the gift," Khan said, tapping his chin. "We can at least see what it is and toss it if we don't want it." He held out his hand, and Rucker dropped the key in his palm.

Khan took the chain off and opened the door. "Give it."

Jookie handed him the gift with a chuckle. "You guys are too paranoid. Just because we promote killing doesn't mean we're going to try and kill you all the time."

"Says that guy who killed how many contestants since we been here?" Yaz tossed her hair and plopped herself on one of the floor pillows by the pool.

Jookie ignored her statement and focused on me by the door. His tongue lapped his bottom lip, as his gaze hardened.

I refused to react. Tini and him had something — Betinia wanted nothing to do with him.

Cocking his head to the side, he leaned against the open glass door and licked his lips. "I don't like the white. It makes me want to rip it off you. I think you're more of a red and black girl."

An uber-sweet smile graced my full lips as my hand latched onto the glass door. "I don't know. If you want to strip me naked, white must be a good choice, right?"

Right after I said that I slammed the door in his growling face, wrapping the chain back around with the lock. I turned around and saw that half of my team was laughing.

"I swear you're the only one who can talk to that man like that." Yaz let out a loud laugh. "He left so angry."

"And frustrated," Rucker said, trying to hold in a laugh. "Very frustrated."

"He's so annoying," Sebastian mumbled.

Khan whistled, bringing our attention back to him as he waved the black box around. "Ready to open this?"

"Not really," Yaz muttered. "He never gave us anything good before, so why start now?"

True. What the hell did he give us?

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