Jake yawned, sitting up in bed and squinting in the darkness, trying to make out his surroundings. For a moment, he completely forgot where he was, until he remembered that last night he had entered the Big Brother house and was now being watched 24/7.
Creepy.
With another huge yawn, he crawled out of bed and padded his way over to the bedroom door, opening it and quickly going through, so the lights from outside would not wake anyone else up. He wondered what time it was as he walked out to the backyard, where Elle was already sitting, nursing a cup of tea.
"Morning," he greeted in a slightly raspy voice.
"Morning," Elle replied, sounding a little more alert than he. But not by much. "Anyone else up?"
"Nope, just you and me. Although, I did hear Krystal moving around a bit, but I think she's still dead to the world," Jake answered.
Elle nodded and sat back on the sunchair, basking in the early morning sun. "I wonder what the time is."
"It's weird hey? Looking at the time is so second nature to me."
Elle nodded her agreement. "I think it's probably around 8:30 or something. Still not very hot yet."
"This is Big Brother," a voice suddenly boomed through the house. "The hot water is now on."
In the bedroom, the lights had just turned on and several of the housemates groaned and rolled over, trying to sleep.
Ebony
Ebony blinked her eyes and groaned. How's that for a rude shock? She sat up and looked around, and for a moment nearby panicked at the unfamilar surroundings. Then it all came back to her and she shook her head as if that might help her make some sense of it all.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and made her way out of the bedroom. A shower definitely sounded nice. Even if she wasn't allowed to turn completely invisable, she could handle only her head being seen while she was showering, if her body could be invisable. Ebony always hated communal showers.
Thus, to the showers she went, hoping to get a head start on the hot water.
Housemates
Krystal rolled over in bed and adjusted her top to make sure she was still in it. She reached down to her bag and picked up her bikini and with great difficulty, managed to put it on without ever getting naked in front of the camera.
That done, she hopped out and headed for the showers.
"Morning," she chirped to Ebony, going to stand under one of the shower heads. She touched her breasts lightly, they were still a little hard and sore from her operation, but not as bad as they had been a few weeks ago.
Elle washed her tea cup out in the sink, then headed for the bathroom, pausing only to put her swimmers on, going through the same ordeal as Krystal, trying not to reveal her nakedness on camera.
As she walked into the bathroom, she passed a still very asleep Dale and Scotte, sleeping on far ends of the double bed they shared, so no boy touching could possibly have happened.
"Hey," she greeted as she strode through the bathroom doors.
"Hey," Krystal replied. "Is it a nice day outside?"
Elle pulled her microphone off and left it on the rack where they were told to leave them while showering or in the sauna.
"Yep. Sunny, and warm already. It's a sunbaking pool day, I think, unless BB has something up his sleeve for us," she answered, stepping under the spray of the showers. "Jake says the boys will probably shower after us because most of them are going naked so they don't want to make us uncomfortable."
Krystal laughed lightly. "That's pretty decent of them."
Ebony
Ebony smiled. She tried to think of something to add to the conversation, but nothing came to her.
"You're going to be stuck with these people for quite some time, unless you manage to be the first one voted out," she reminded herself, "Best at least try to get to know them."
By this point, Ebony was naked, but invisable (all but her head), in the shower. She kinda felt sorry for the other girls having to shower in their swimmers.
"Well," she said, attempting to sound cheerful, "we can't all turn invisable."
Then she winced to herself, and hoped that she didn't sound like she was being arrogant or something.
Housemates
Krystal laughed politely at Ebony's comment. It was just in her nature to be friendly and sweet to everyone. And she pretty much always meant it too.
"Sometimes I wish I could, like right now, for instance," Krystal told her.
"Yeah, I never thought I'd ever miss showering naked, it's not something you think about," Elle pitched in.
"Morning ladies!" Jamie greeted as he sauntered past the shower, carefully averting his eyes as he headed for the toilet. "Sorry to interrupt, I hope you're not offended, but nature was calling very loudly and I could not ignore it any longer."
Karen snickered, following Jamie in, again dressed in her swimmers. Barely a look was passed between Krystal and Karen. They had been instructed to try and hide their relationship for a week, and if they succeeded, they would be rewarded. If not, they would go up for the first public eviction.
"Morning all." Karen stepped under the shower.
Ebony
"Morning," Ebony replied.
She turned off the tapes and reached for her towel, it turning invisable at her whim and proceeded to dry off. Her stomach rumbled, demanding breakfast.
Housemates - Nessa
"I'm starved," Krystal said, turning the water off.
"Same," Elle agreed.
Karen turned to look at the other 3 girls. "David was getting up to start cooking breakfast, just before I came in here."
Krystal quickly dried off and put her microphone back on before talking again.
"Cool, I'm going to go out and help."
Housemates - Michelle
Ebony donned her microphone, dressed and became visable again, then headed to the kitchen.
"Good morning," said David.
"Morning," Ebony replied.
"Ahh, a girl in the kitchen," Dale said, "Does this mean that you girls are finally finished in the showers?"
"Mostly, I think."
"Smashing."
Ebony giggled, amused by his English accent. Dale stood, stretched out his arm to take a slice of toast and headed off.
Housemates - Nessa
Skye finally vacated her bed and padded into the shower. She stripped out of her clothes, opting to shower naked and had a quick wash down, then dressed in a bikini and a pair of shorts, put her microphone back on and headed for the kitchen.
"Morning," she said groggily to Tim, who was organising the mass amounts of coffee and tea.
"Hey. Tea or coffee?" he asked.
"Coffee please, desperately," Skye replied, sitting down on a stool and leaning forward slightly.
Tim nodded and set about making the drinks for everyone.
"Do we have orange juice or do we have to squeeze oranges?" Krystal asked.
"I'd squeeze your oranges," Matt joked, as he appeared in the kitchen.
Krystal laughed and playfully slapped him on the arm. "No, seriously!"
Dale stretched out and opened the fridge door. "I think we have some."
Housemates - Michelle
"Umm," said Ebony, tentatively, "I'll have orange juice too. Please."
"No problem," said Tim.
He took the liberty of shape-shifting a few extra arms, and Ebony's eyes widened appreciatively.
Housemates - Nessa
"Isn't it such a relief to be able to use your powers in the open?" Krystal half asked, half stated. She used her telekinesis to open the cupboard and bringing the cups and plates over to the bench.
"Yeah," Jake agreed, still looking bleary eyed, despite the fact he was nursing a cup of coffee. "Although, my power isn't anything I'd really have to hide all that often. In fact... I could be a total perve and see through all your clothes."
Matt faked a blush. "Oh, Jacob, not around the girls."
At this, Jake burst into hysterics.
"Oh man, three months with this?" Elle asked, looking around at the girls for solidarity. "Spare me!"
Housemates - Michelle
"Oh, I'm sure we'll get our own back," Skye replied coyly.
Her hand reach out for her mug of coffee and she took a sip.
"Ahh," she sighed contentedly.
"Let's just try not to make enemies of each other," Tim said, "I mean, we are going to be stuck with each other for three months. Wouldn't want anyone getting cabin fever and going psycho or something."
Housemates - Nessa
"Did anyone see that movie? Cabin Fever? And the guy is like fingering some girls LEG because there are SORES in it?" Elle said, making a face.
Jacob nodded. "Yes, I hired that and man, it was gross. Even for me."
Krystal wrinkled her nose. "Please, no talk of horror movies before breakfast."
Housemates - Michelle
"Why not?" David asked, with a malicious gleam in his eye.
"Yeah, what's wrong with scary movies?" Tim asked. "I'm rather fond of Scary Movie, and its sequals."
Ebony shook her head at the bad joke.
"Dork," David said to Tim.
Tim just chuckled.
Housemates - Nessa
"I love how he didn't even refute it," Elle commented, taking a sip of her tea.
"He knows the truth," David said knowingly.
Tim nodded.
"Yeah... I mean... hey!"
Housemates - Michelle
"Too early in the morning to come up with devastating comebacks?" Dale suggested.
"Yes," Tim agreed. "What he said."
"Okay so what exactly qualifies for breakfast around here anyway?" Scotte asked, walking into the kitchen.
Housemates - Nessa
"Well, we can't have bread, not for a few hours, because it has to be made. I'll start that now if someone wants to help me," Elle offered.
"I'll help," Jamie said, appearing at her side.
"Cool, and other than that, there are oats, so we can have porridge," Elle told the rest of the housemates.
"Ew," Skye said, making a face. "But if it's all we've got, I guess I can deal with it."
Housemates - Michelle
"Wait, what's porridge?" Dale asked.
"I think it's like gruel," Jamie said. "It's supposed to be thicker or something."
"Right, okay. Let's see... porridge now, or bread later... Not hungry enough at the moment to submit to porridge, so I think I'll go have that shower," Dale said.
"Is there a bread maker in this kitchen?" asked Keahi. "Or do we have to use the oven?"
Housemates - Nessa
"Oven," Elle told her. "Everything is done by us."
Jamie pulled out the instructions and the ingredients for the bread and placed them on the counter.
"Man, I wish someone's power was like... cooking or something," he joked.
Karen laughed, as she stepped into the kitchen area, tying ehr hair up. "But think of how unfair that would be for that person."
Housemates - Michelle
"I have pyrokinesis," Keahi offered. "Of course, that's only helpful in cooking if we had a barbeque."
"Okay, those who don't want to be in on the bread making... depart now and stop cluttering up the kitchen," Tim said. "Those who do will get first dibs on the finished product."
Housemates - Nessa
A few people, bar Elle and Jamie remained in the actual kitchen area, while a few people perched on the stools in front of the counter, and others sat on the dining chairs.
"So... how do we start?" Elle asked.
"Well, it says here..." Jamie trailed off, handing Elle the instructions.
"I don't think I got to speak to you much last night with all the craziness, so where are you from?" Krystal asked Ebony.
Ebony
"Sydney," Ebony replied.
"Say something else. Say something else," she coaxed herself. "No need to be short and abrupt."
"What about you?"
"Yeah, okay, that works."
Housemates
"New York," Krystal replied, raking her fingers through her hair. "It's so different being in Australia, like I know that sounds so obvious, but it really is. Not that I'm experiencing it a lot, seeing as I'm here, so I haven't really had a big culture shock."
Jake padded over to where the two girls were sitting on the couches and lay down, his head in Krystal's lap.
"Man, I wish we had clocks, hey?"
Ebony
"We could always try to teach ourselves to tell the time by the position of the sun," Ebony suggested. "I mean, first we'd have to figure out which way was north... but the sun always comes from the east in the morning, so we could get a basic idea. And if there's anyone here who's got their body clock trained to do something at a particular time, we could use that to figure out where the sun is at that time -"
Ebony suddenly realised she was chatting a mile a minute with people she barely knew and found her voice faltering.
Housemates - Nessa
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Jake commented. "Coz I can tell that after awhile, the days are just going to merge into one, and we'll probably start eating dinner at like 9, thinking it's 6 or something."
"Is that what you're concerned about? Meal times?" Krystal teased.
Jake nodded, grinning. "Of course!"
Tim padded over from the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee carefully as he plonked down on the opposite lounge. "I hope we get given something to do today."
Housemates - Michelle
"Why? Not creative enough to come up with an idea of your own?" Jake responded.
Ebony giggled.
"We could play a game," Keahi suggested.
Housemates - Nessa
"We'll probably get given some sort of 'get to know each other' tasks this week, and be quizzed on each other," Dale said, walking over to the group.
Tim nodded. "Yeah, I figured something like that would happen."
"Hey, can you open the oven, Jamie?" Elle asked, holding the tray of bread.
Jamie nodded and opened the oven, and they both put their trays inside. "K, so... now we wait. I've set the timer. Don't you love how it's just a dial? We don't even have a clock on it."
Housemates - Michelle
"They really don't want us to know what the time is, huh?" Keahi commented.
"We may have to resort to the whole sun thing," Jake nodded. "Would it be against the rules to build a sundial? I mean, we wouldn't actually be bring a clock into the house, and it'll probably be completely inaccurate anyway..."
"I wouldn't push it," Tim advised.
"What kind of... 'getting to know you' games?" Ebony asked nervously.
Housemates - Nessa
"Well knowing the time gives us some sort of control, I think," Elle piped up, joining the time conversation. "But I guess we could ask if we could build a sundial."
"This is Big Brother. Tim to the diary room."
"Busted custard," Jake joked.
Tim laughed and tossed a pillow at him, then got up from his chair. He went over to the diary room doors and pressed the button. The doors opened and he went inside and perched down on the chair.
"Tim."
"Big Brother," Tim replied.
"On the table next to you, you will find an envelope. Take it, and read it aloud to your fellow housemates. That is all."
Tim looked over and grabbed the envelope. "Thanks Big Brother."
He got up and headed outside again.
"K guys, can you all come in here please?"
Housemates - Michelle
"I wonder what it says," Ebony said softly.
"I guess we'll find out when everyone shows up," Keahi said.
Within a few minutes, all the housemates had gathered together to hear what Tim was about to read.
Housemates - Nessa
"Housemates," Tim started, reading from the bright orange piece of paper. "Welcome to the Big Brother house. Your first task this week will be 'Getting To Know You'. During the course of the week, you should all find out as much as you possibly can about each other."
"Ah, I knew it," Dale commented.
"On Friday, each of you will be tested individually, given a series of questions on any or all of the housemates. You must decide how much of the weekly budget you wish to wager on passing the task. 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%. Success means money for shopping next week. Failure means a week of staples."
Tim looked around at the group.
"I vote like 50%," Jamie volunteered. "That way even if we do fail it, we still have some money."
Housemates - Michelle
"Agreed," said Keahi.
Ebony nodded.
"What?" asked Skye. "No one wants to be adventurous and go with 100%?"
"Note to self, Skye's addicted to gambling," Dale said, pretending his finger was a pen and his hand was a pad of paper.
Skye gave him a dirty look.
Housemates - Nessa
"Well, to be fair, are we really confident that we're going to know each other inside and out at the end of this week?" Krystal asked reasonably. "I mean, come on, we don't want to tell all our stories this week and be stuck with nothing to talk about for the rest of the 3 months."
"That's a good point," Jamie agreed. "I'm comfortable with either 50 or 75. I don't think we should try for 100. Not until we're absolutely certain we can nail it."
"So... 50?" Tim asked.
Housemates - Michelle
"50."
"50."
"50 sounds good."
"Sounds like a consensus to me."
Housemates - Nessa
Tim nodded and headed back for the diary room.
"Oooh, bread," Elle said, going back into the kitchen, Jamie close at her heels.
Keahi - Michelle
"So, how do we start getting to know each other?" Keahi asked.
"Maybe Big Brother will have some ideas," someone suggested. "We should probably wait until Tim comes back."
Housemates - Nessa
"I guess we just talk to each other," Kiara said. "I mean, that's all we can do really, just ask each other questions."
"So, we should probably try and talk to at least 4 people a day and get to know as much about them as possible," David suggested. "That way, we'll probably have spoken and gotten to know everyone in like three days time, then it gives us two days to kinda just relax and go over what we know about each other."
Housemates - Michelle
"Sounds like a plan," said Matt.
"Well," said Scotte. "May as well get started. So, Matt, what do you do?"
And the two boys started chatting.
Housemates
"Hey, bread's ready, guys!" Elle called out, some time later.
"Oh thank god, I am starving!" Dale announced, jumping off the couch and running for the kitchen.