Cutthroat

1x02

The house was pretty quiet later that night. Amber was crying, packing up her clothes as Judas and London comforted her. "This sucks. This REALLY fucking sucks. I can't believe it." She sobbed, dabbing a tissue under her eyes. London was fuming. "This is bullshit anyways, Ambs. We should've been in the top, but whatever. All we can do is go down there and hope for the best." She shrugged.

(Confession time)
"I mean obviously I'm upset. Anyone would be. But a part of me is hoping, just a bit, that Brooklyn starts playing the game the way it should be and send Amber's ass packing. Don't get me wrong, she's my best friend here, but it's strategically the smartest thing to do. I'd do it." London shrugs.

(Confessional switch)
"I'm a fucking mess right now. I am in a very vulnerable place here. Out of the three of us in the bottom, I'm the only one with a win so far. On the other hand I don't think people hate me as much as they hate...some unmentioned individuals." Amber scoffed.  "I am praying that the Cutthroat gods shine on me and I stay. To go home now would be so disappointing."

(Confessional over)

Meanwhile, Tommy is packing his things as well. Zeke raises a brow curiously. "Uhh, what are you doing?" Zeke chuckles oddly. Tommy sighs, zipping up the last of the things in his suitcase. "Dude, you heard what happened down there. I'm not too sure Wyatt's gonna want me in the same room with him. I'll just sleep on the couch from now on." He explained. From across the room, the door opened, and Wyatt's face dropped as he and Oleander assessed the situation. "Hey." He muttered. Tommy nodded. "Hey."

Wyatt's eyes made their way over to Tommy's suitcases. "Going somewhere?" He frowned. "Yeah," Tommy answered. "I just don't want any drama between us so I think it's best I leave."

Oleander stopped him as Tommy made his way out the door. "Wait! You can't leave, we're a family, remember? Wyatt..." Oleander pleaded. Tommy turned to look at Wyatt again. The green haired boy's glazed over Tommy, a dismissive frown on his face. He turned, sat down on Tommy's bed, and shrugged. "The blankets on the couch are pretty awesome."  Wyatt spoke quickly, turning his back to them. Oleander pouted, and even Zeke was surprised by his reaction. Tommy said nothing, grabbing his things and descending downstairs.

(Confessional time)
"Look, I'm as big of a fan of the whole 'taking out a threat' move as the next guy. But if you're gonna do that, TOMMY, don't be fucking sloppy. The difference between him and I is that had I received an opportunity to send him home, he wouldn't be walking down the steps just to sleep on the couch, he'd be out the goddamn door. My god, this house..." Wyatt muttered incredulously, followed by a loud exhausted sigh.

(Confessional Over)

This was it. It was time to vote. Brooklyn chose Ginger and tatyana for the jury, leaving only Zeke, Karyn, Oleander, Wyatt, Tommy, and London to vote. Judas was still pretty shook up, Amber stood hands fiddling, and Ryder nervously twiddled his thumbs. A sense of fear was in his eyes, and for once, he wasn't a cocky, egotistical jock like usual. He was afraid.

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Brooklyn muttered, as one by one, the others went to vote.

"Please don't send me home." Amber whispered shakily to herself. "Please don't send me home..."

Oleander was the last to vote as suddenly the intercom cracked. Amber jumped, taking a deep breath.

"The votes are in." The voice announced, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Ladies and Gentleman... we have a tie."

Faces. Were. Cracked.

The tears began to roll down London's face as she began to hold in her sobs. Ryder let out a small sigh of relief. Amber said nothing, glaring at the ground as Wyatt had a more than entertained smirk on his face. Amber was, quite obviously livid.

"Judas, can you please step down. The votes were split 3-3 with Ryder and Amber." The voice announced. Zeke let out a shocked chuckle.

(Confession time)

"You can not make this up! Quality fucking television here! Two of the worst people in this house are having a goddamn meltdown on stage and now it's up to the people they just got into an argument with to choose who sucks the most and send them home. Mwah! This is what makes all worth it y'all." Zeke laughed, wiping a tear from his face.

(Confession switch)

"So, Brooklyn, Karyn, and Tatyana have to choose between a joke of a jock and Amber, who didn't even do bad, people just genuinely hate her that much. Grab the popcorn, folks. This is hilarious." Wyatt, stone-faced, dryly joked.

(Confession over)

Brooklyn, Karyn, and Tatyana made their way into the voting room. The process took at least 15 minutes. 15 minutes of pure, pin drop silence. As the trio made their way out, they seemed to be carrying a husk of a small rectangle shaped cylinder. Oleander raised a brow suspiciously. "Alright. So, it took a LOT of thought right now, believe me. But, we've ultimately made our decision." Brooklyn explained. "The person we have decided to send home...is..."

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"......Ryder."

"What!?" Oleander gasped, a surprised (and annoyed) look on his face. Ryder wiped the tears from his face, took a deep breath, and nodded.

"Alright. Well, it was fun while it lasted, I guess." He jumped down from the stage and walked over to Oleander, who eyed him cautiously. "Thanks for trying to help, small fry." Ryder half smiled, ruffling the boy's lemon yellow hair. Oleander smiled back, giving the jock a hug. With that, Ryder was gone.

The rest of the house made their way inside, clearly exhausted from the emotionally stressful day. It was time to call it a day. At least until tomorrow...