Day 51 - 7.14am

Day 51 in the Big Brother house. Last night Kyle became the seventh person to be evicted from the house. All the housemates are in bed asleep apart from Tess, who is lying awake after a restless night.

Tess lies awake on the bed with her eyes open. She stares at the ceiling for a minute before using her arm to cover her eyes. She sighs as she gets out of bed and grabs a blanket and her cuddly toy before walking quietly out of the room.

She walks to the kitchen and pours herself a drink of water before walking towards the boys room. She pulls the blanket close to her and sits down on Kyle's bed. She pulls her legs up underneath the blue football jersey she's wearing and cuddles JC close to her. She sighs as she lies down on the bed and closes her eyes as she pulls the blanket tightly around her.

9.26am

Alex and Laurie are in the lounge talking while Isabel is in the shower.

Alex looks at Laurie as he takes a drink from his coffee cup. "Should we wake her up?"

Laurie sighs and shakes her head. "I don't think she slept too well last night, she was crying in bed last night."

Alex nods his head. "Yeah, I know. I heard her..."

"I hope she'll be okay..." Laurie says as she looks at the door to the boys room.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, it'll just hurt just now...but, we'll all get her through it..." Alex says to her with a smile.

Laurie nods her head as Isabel walks out towards them. "Yeah, you're right. She'll be fine."

Isabel looks at them both as she sits down. "What's wrong?"

Laurie looks at her but doesn't say anything. Alex smiles sadly at Isabel, "We're just talking about Tess..."

Isabel nods her head. "Is she still in there?" She indicates towards the boys room.

Alex nods his head and Laurie replies cooly. "Yeah, she is. She took it really badly."

Isabel looks at Laurie and responds. "Yeah, well, evictions always affect people. It'll hurt just now but she'll feel better in a few days..."

Laurie shakes her head and smiles bemused as she turns away. "Unfortunately, this is different from the other evictions..."

Isabel nods her head, "Maybe, but look at Maria when Michael went, she took it badly at first but she got over it and she is in love with Michael."

Laurie looks like she's going to say something but takes a deep breath before speaking angrilly. "You don't think that Tess is in love with Kyle?"

Isabel shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know, I don't even know if she knows. I mean, they did start off in here in a totally different relationship."

"But it grew. That's what happens when you fall in love with someone. You should know that."

Alex looks at them both puzzled but clearly not wanting to get involved as Isabel nods her head. "Yeah, that might have happened, but remember, she thought she loved Max..."

Alex looks at Isabel and says quietly. "Yeah, but it's really not the same. You know...Tess was never really in love with Max...but her and Kyle...that seemed pretty real..."

Laurie's eyes widen and she looks at Isabel angrilly as they both don't take any notice of Alex. "You aren't honestly comparing the two relationships? They were nothing alike, they were entirely different and Tess feels more for Kyle than she ever came close to feeling for Max! For one thing, Kyle loves Tess back, and you know, Kyle never made Tess feel the way Max felt that night!"

Isabel shrugs her shoulders and replies. "Fine, whatever you think. I'm just saying, we don't know what they feel about each other. I know she's hurting just now, but it will get better."

Alex nods his head and tries to sound happily. "It will get better, as I said, we all just have to be there for her. That's important..." He looks at Laurie and Isabel who are still looking at each other.

Laurie looks at Isabel and shakes her head, "Yeah, we all should be there for her."

Isabel smiles at her. "Of course."

Alex looks at the two girls and sighs. "Okay then. Well, we get a task today, what do you think it will be?"

Laurie shrugs her shoulders and stands up from the couch and walks towards the shower room. "No idea. To be honest, I don't care."

Isabel looks at Alex and sighs, "Hopefully it will be an active one, I could do with something to keep me busy."

Alex nods his head but looks at Isabel and then to Laurie before shaking his head in confusion and turning back to talk to Isabel.

10.21am

Tess is still in the boys room. Laurie is in the girls room while Isabel makes breakfast.

Alex walks towards the boys room and walks in. He see's Tess lying on the bed and walks quietly over to his bed to grab his shirt. She opens her eyes as he picks his shirt up and looks at him sadly, her eyes are red and her face is tearstained. Alex notices this and sighs sadly before taking a deep breath and smiling warmly at her.

"Hey Tess, how are you feeling?"

Tess sits up and pulls the blanket around her. She forces herself to smile as she replies. "Okay..."

Alex nods his head and walks over beside her and sits down. "You must have got up pretty early this morning...you were up before any of us."

Tess nods her head. "I couldn't really sleep..."

Alex looks at her and nods his head sadly. "We figured as much, how are you feeling now?"

Tess nods her head and runs her hand through her hair as she smiles sadly. "I...I feel, pretty bad, if I'm honest..."

Alex sighs and puts his arm around her shoulders and hugs her. "I know you do...do you want to talk about it?"

Tess sighs and lets Alex hug her before shaking her head sadly. "No..."

Alex nods his head and smiles understandingly at her. "You know, as much as it hurts just now Tess, it will get easier...and that probably seems pretty unlikely just now..."

She smiles at him and nods her head and says weakly. "Yeah...I know it will."

He stands up and smiles at her. "Yeah, and you can always talk to me about it, I hope you know that."

"I do, thanks Alex..."

Alex looks at her. "Come on, you've missed the hot water but on the plus point Isabel's making breakfast."

She shakes her head. "I'm really not that hungry, but thanks."

Alex looks at her and sticks his hand out. "I know you're not, but I am, and I really need an ally out there. Isabel and Laurie are being weird again."

Tess looks at him. "Weird?"

Alex looks at her and grabs her hand. "You have no idea, so, in a purely selfish move by me you need to come out..." She looks unsure and he takes a deep breath as he puts a pleading expression on. "Please?"

Tess looks at him and sighs as she stands up. "Okay..."

As she stands up and leaves the blanket on the bed. Alex smiles and puts his arm around Tess' shoulders. "Thank you, you have no idea how much I appreciate this."

She sighs and walks with him out into the lounge.

11.08am

Every week, the housemates are asked to write out there shopping list. The housemates passed this weeks task so they now have an extra 60% to spend on their shopping.

Alex, Isabel and Laurie are sitting in the lounge writing out the shopping list while Tess sits and watches them.

"So, how much can we afford to blow on stuff? Because I think we could all do with something to cheer us up." Alex asks as he peers over Isabels shoulder to look at the list.

Laurie nods her head, "I agree, I think we should buy a lot of junk food. Tess is there anything you want?"

Tess shakes her head. "No, I can't really think of anything...but junk food sounds good..."

Laurie smiles and looks at the list. "Okay, well, we'll get a lot of chocolate and some chips..."

Isabel starts writing the list. "Okay, I think we might need to make sure that we have enough actual food before we go for anymore luxuries..."

Alex nods his head, "That's probably a good idea. I'll go and see what we have in the kitchen..."

As he walks over he calls to them, "You know what would be good? Some really good ice cream..."

Laurie nods her head, "Oh yeah, ice cream would be great..."

Isabel looks at him and smiles. "I didn't know you liked ice cream, Alex."

Alex grins at her, "Well, that just goes to show that there is still a lot you don't know about me...just call me a man of mystery..."

Isabel begins to laugh. "Oh yeah, definately..."

Laurie looks at her and shakes her head. "Okay, so we have to put the ice cream down if that's okay with you Isabel."

Isabel looks at her. "It's fine." She writes ice-cream down on the blackboard and smirks at Laurie. "Anything else?"

"You guys need tabasco..." Alex calls over from the kitchen.

Isabel nods her head and looks at Tess. "How many bottles do you think we'll need?"

Tess shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not sure, 6 or 7 if we can afford it and that will be enough for the final weeks?"

Isabel looks at her. "Well, how much did we go through this week?"

Tess looks at her sadly. "Umm, I think 4 bottles...but, there was three of us were using it then and...and there's only two of us using it this week."

Isabel nods her head and smiles understandingly at her. "Okay, well, we'll put 6 down and that should be enough..."

Tess nods her head and Laurie smiles at her. "If that's not enough you can always get more next week."

Alex calls over from the kitchen, " You know what else would be good? How about some cookies? We could ask them for some cookie mix and then we could have hot cookies...or muffins! We should get muffins!"

Isabel looks at him, "You are really missing the junk food aren't you?"

Alex sticks his head up from the counter and grins at her. "Yes, yes I am. But this is therapy food to help us get through the stressful final weeks. I find sweet things calming..."

Laurie looks at him and smiles, "You realise that us three have to fit into eviction outfits don't you?"

"Well, if you guys don't want to eat it, I, for one won't force you to..." He grins at her before continuing, "We need coffee as well. And orange juice. And probably some fruit..."

Isabel grins at him, "Finally something a little bit healthy..."

Alex looks at Tess. "Tess, will you please tell Isabel the importance of sugar? Is there anything that you want? You should tell us now before I spend all the money..."

Tess smiles at him weakly. "Umm...how about some chocolate covered raisins?"

Alex grins at her and then looks at Isabel and Laurie. "You heard the lady, chocolate covered raisins..."

Laurie smiles. "You know what would be really good? Some honey comb stuff..."

Tess nods her head. "Yeah, stuff like that. Oh, I know...one other thing, some nuttella spread..."

Alex grins at Isabel, "See, she knows how to play the game."

Isabel looks at the list. "Okay, we have the essentials here, you know, real food, toiletries etc. but so far 70% of our budget is away on junk...can you guys think of anything else?"

Alex comes over from the kitchen and looks over at the list and sighs. "Hmm, do we want to buy anything fun? You girls need hairspray? Perfume? Oooh, look, we can buy hairdye...any of you blondes want to be a brunnette? Or a red head?"

Tess shakes her head and Isabel speaks. "I don't think we want to be red heads...saying that, being a brunette might be fun. But no, I don't think we want to dye our hair ourselves..."

Alex looks at them, "Aww, I think you would all look good...besides, I let you cut my hair...but fine, okay what else is there. Hmm, I can't really see anything, can you?"

The others all look at the list. "No, I can't see anything, Laurie? Tess?"

Tess passes the list to Laurie and shakes her head. Laurie reads over the list and looks at Isabel. "Have we got soda on it?"

Isabel looks down the list. "Yeah, we do. Plus fruit juice and milk."

Laurie hands her the list. "That's all I can think of."

"Well, we still have $4 to spend, should I just blow that on some fruit?"

Alex sighs as he looks at her with a smile. "I suppose we need to have some of it there..."

Isabel writes down the list and sighs. "Well, that's that. I'll go and take it into the Diary Room."

2.51pm

Isabel, Laurie and Tess are in the lounge talking while Alex is alone out in the garden.

Alex bounces the soccer ball up and down and sighs as he throws it up in the air and begins bouncing it up and down on his knee. As the ball bounces away from him he groans. "I hate this stupid ball..."

He sighs and picks the ball up again and bounces it slowly as he looks in the house at the girls and shakes his head sadly and looks towards the makeshift hoop that they had made the previous day. He stops and lines up his shot before firing it at the net. The ball bounces of it and comes towards him. "Okay, this game is no fun by yourself..." He throws the ball down and walks in the house.

He walks in the house and walks over to the girls. "Hey. What are you guys up to?"

Laurie shakes her head. "Not a lot. You?"

He shakes his head and sighs. "Nope..."

Isabel looks at him and smiles. "I take it you're a little bored?"

Alex nods his head and sighs. "Maybe a little...post eviction."

Tess sighs. "Post eviction..."

Laurie smiles at her sadly. "Yeah, we're all feeling it."

This is Big Brother, will someone please come to the Diary Room.

"Well, there's our task. I'll go..." Alex says as he walks towards the Diary Room.

The others all look after him and Tess stands up and walks to the kitchen. "Any of you guys want anything while I'm over here? Laurie? Isabel?"

Laurie smiles at her. "I'll have a glass of water please."

"Isabel?"

Isabel looks at her and smiles. "Um, I'll have the same. Thanks."

Tess nods her head and brings out 4 glasses and begins pouring some water in them. She walks over to the freezer and puts ice in the glasses as Alex walks out of the Diary Room. He looks at her and rolls his eyes. "You should see what they want us to do now..."

Tess smiles at him and hands him a glass as they walk over to the lounge where Isabel and Laurie are sitting in silence. "Well, what do they want us to do?"

Alex sits over on the seat and looks at the girls. He clears his throat dramatically and looks at the paper. "This week, Big Brother would like the housemates to perform an endurance task where they have to take it in turns to continuously stand on their head for 10 hours a day..."

He looks at the other housemates. Isabel is looking at him. "They cannot be serious? That's impossible!"

Alex nods his head. "I know, I said that to them but they said that was it. But that we would obviously work it in shifts so it was possible. They were actually pretty rude..."

Laurie looks at Tess and shakes her head. "I can't stand on my head for 2 and a half hours a day!"

Tess shakes her head. "It's too hard. We can't do that."

Alex looks down at the paper and begins to snigger as the girls all look at each other. As they hear him laugh Laurie looks at him. "Alex! You lied to us!"

Tess looks at him and he grins at them, "I'm sorry, but I just wanted to see your reaction!"

Tess looks at him and lifts a cushion and fires it at him. "I thought that was a real task..."

Isabel looks at Alex and shakes her head. "We all thought it was the real task. We know how sadistic they can be..."

Alex holds the cushion that Tess hit him with and sighs as he sits back. "Well, I found it amusing. Anyway, the real task is pretty dull..."

Isabel looks at him. "What is it?"

Alex sighs. "We have to be artistic. Which includes practising with a variety of mediums, paint, pastel and charcoal. We will be given 3 things we must practise drawing before Wednesday. Come Wednesday, we will be given our final assignment where we will be given a surprise thing to draw in 6 hours and we will be told what medium we have to use. We must each achieve a number of points based on flair, composition and stuff...the paintings will be looked over and judged by 3 independant experts."

"Stuff?" Isabel asks as she looks at him.

He shrugs his shoulders, "It's a really boring task! Can we bet low? There is no way that we will pass it..."

Isabel leans over and looks at the sheet. "Well, we have plenty of food. We could bet half way..."

Alex looks at her. "Isabel? I'm being honest when I tell you I have problems drawing matchstick men. And, the likely hood that I have to draw one of you is high and I'll just end up offending you..."

Isabel looks at him. "I'm sure we can live with it...besides, it could be fun."

Alex looks at Laurie and Tess pleadingly. "Guys? Do you think it's a good task? Do you think we should bet high?"

Tess looks at Laurie and nods her head. "I think it will be fun. Plus, it gives us something to do..."

Alex shakes his head. "Laurie? Please tell me that you aren't going along with those two?"

Laurie smiles at him and shakes his head. "Sorry, I agree with them. I think it could be good and we really have nothing to lose..."

Alex sighs and looks at them all. "You are ganging up on me aren't you? Girls versus boy?"

Laurie looks at him and smiles. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that..."

Alex looks at them. "I would. So, how much are we going to bet?"

Isabel looks. "Umm, how about 70%?"

Tess nods her head. "Hmm, maybe a little bit less? 60% again?"

Isabel shrugs her shoulders. "60% is fine with me. Laurie?"

Laurie nods her head. "That sounds fine."

Alex looks at them and sighs. "60% it is. But don't be complaining to me when you get out if you all starve next week..."

He stands up and smiles at them. "Look at it this way though, at the very least, it should be funny."

4.14pm

All the housemates are in the garden talking about the task. Big Brother will ask the housemates to begin preperation for the task tomorrow.

Isabel and Tess are sitting on the deck chairs while Alex and Laurie sit on the cushions.

"Do you think it will be a still-life, portrait or the landscape one tomorrow?" Alex asks as Tess gazes over at the wall.

Tess doesn't hear as Isabel answers. "They'll probably start us with a still-life."

Laurie looks at Tess and nudges her slightly. "What do you think? What would you like to start with?"

Tess looks at her and smiles shyly. "Sorry?"

Laurie smiles at her. "What would you prefer to start with tomorrow?"

Tess sighs. "Still life would probably be easier..."

This is Big Brother, will Tess please come to the Diary Room.

Alex looks at her and smiles. "Guess they want to see you then..."

Tess nods her head and stands up. "I'll see you guys in a little while. Do you want me to bring you anything out when I come out?"

Alex looks at her and smiles. "No, I think we'll be okay."

Tess nods her head and she smiles as she walks into the Diary Room.

Laurie looks at him and sighs. "She seems a little better now..."

Alex nods his head. "It's typical of them to not give us a task we can start today when we need something to keep her occupied."

Isabel sighs. "She seems okay to me. A little quiet but I guess she's just a little lonely...she'll get better."

"How are you two feeling?" Alex asks as he looks from Isabel to Laurie.

"I'm okay...glad that we have a couple of days of relative quiet again..." Isabel says as she looks at him.

"Yeah, a few days of not having to worry about anyone leaving will be good." Alex replies with a sad smile. He turns to Laurie. "How are you?"

Laurie sighs. "I'm okay, I'm really worried about Tess, and it's so weird without Kyle. The place seems so quiet without him."

Alex nods his head and lies down on the cushion. "Yeah, it is. I wonder what he's doing out there...hopefully having fun..."

Laurie looks at him and sighs. "Although it's probably more likely he's doing the same thing Tess is..."

Isabel rolls her eyes and sighs before looking down at Alex. "How are you feeing, Alex?"

Alex sighs. "I'm okay. It's a little weird without Kyle but...you know?"

Isabel nods her head and leans back in her chair.

In the house Tess is sitting in the Diary Room chair.

Hello Tess.

Tess smiles sadly as she brings her legs up to her chest. "Hey, Big Brother."

How are you feeling today?

Tess shrugs her shoulders and pulls her sleeves down over her hands. "Okay..."

How have you felt from last nights eviction?

Tess avoids looking at the camera. "It's, it's not really the same since Kyle went..."

Why is it not the same?

Tess looks at the camera sadly. "Because it's not...it's not as good. I...I really miss him..."

She looks away from the camera and her eyes begin to water as she brings her hand up to wipe her eyes. "I um...I didn't think it would be so hard. I didn't think it would hurt like it does...I always knew I would miss him, but I didn't know how much." She looks down at the floor and continues quietly. "I didn't think I could miss anyone as much...I just...I just wish he was still here..."

6.58pm

Alex and Tess are in the garden as Laurie does the dishes and Isabel is in the Diary Room.

Alex turns to Tess and smiles. "Have you noticed what I meant when I said that they have been acting weird with each other? I don't think they have said more than 2 words to each other today apart from earlier..."

Tess looks at him. "Earlier? When?"

Alex looks at her and smiles nervously. "Umm, while you were asleep."

Tess nods her head. "What were they saying then?"

Alex shakes his head. "Hmm, ah you know, the usual although it was a little bit frosty. You know what girls can be like though..."

Tess smiles at him. "I hope I know what girls are like, and I hope you weren't being sexist when you said that?"

Alex puts his hands up in defence. "Me, sexist? God no...I mean it's me? My two best friends are girls, you think they would let me away with being sexist? Nope, I had that particular male trait beaten out of me at a very young age..."

Tess begins to laugh and Alex grins. "I see you find that amusing...I'm not even going to tell you then what happened to a boy that we all know very well when his girlfriend caught him ogling another girl...talk about sexist? Whew..."

Tess looks at him intrigued. "Who?"

Alex looks at her. "I can't tell you on national tv..."

Tess looks at him. "They won't show this...this is dull tv."

Alex looks at her. "I can't, I like to live and Maria would kill me..."

As Alex speaks he immediately covers his mouth in horror as Tess begins to laugh softly. "Michael? What did she do?"

Alex squints his eyes and shakes his head continuously. "I didn't say it was Michael, I didn't even mean to say it was Maria...it was an accident."

Tess smiles at him and shakes her head. "You said Maria..."

Alex looks at her pleadingly. "Tess, I'm begging you, forget what I said..."

Tess grins at him and shakes her head. "Not unless you tell me what she did to him."

Alex sighs and shakes his head and stoops down and whispers quietly in her ear. She looks at him as he sits back and looks shocked. "She didn't?"

Alex raises his eyebrows and nods his head as she begins to laugh. "Okay, that's cruel..."

Alex nods his head. "That's what I said but she said that he needed to be punished..."

Tess shakes her head and leans back in the chair. "You miss her don't you? You miss Maria and Liz?"

Alex sighs as he sits back in the chair and turns his head to look at her. "I do...it's weird because we would talk pretty much everyday...and it's been about 3 weeks since I spoke to them. I miss them..."

Tess nods her head and looks at him. "You wanted to leave didn't you?"

Alex looks at her seriously. "I did, but that was stupid of me. I didn't come in here with anyone and it was stupid to decide to leave because of someone leaving."

Tess smiles sadly. "Even though it hurt?"

Alex looks at her as she turned to look at the den. "I knew that it wouldn't hurt all the time and after a few days things would get back into some semblance of normality. Besides, I knew I still had friends in here, and although it wouldn't be the same it didn't mean it wouldn't still be fun."

He looks at her as she nods her head quietly and sighs. "I mean, it's not good to withdraw. It helps to talk about things, well, I found that anyway..."

Tess smiles sadly at him. "I know..."

Isabel is sitting in the Diary Room chair. "Hello, Big Brother."

Hello Isabel.

Isabel looks at the camera and sighs. "I guess I just needed someone to talk to, as I can't really talk to anyone in the house about it."

Big Brother is always here to listen.

Isabel nods her head and sighs. "It's about me and Laurie. Recently we had been getting on much better, but now. Now things have just gone down hill."

Why do you think that is?

Isabel looks directly at the camera. "I know why it is. She seems to think that everyone in the house should be devastated because of the eviction. She doesn't understand that some people just don't get on. And she keeps on making little snipy remarks. I can't voice my opinion about anything without little icy looks or her attempting to threaten me. She used to be so nice...but now, now she seems to think that I should be scared of her and her idle threats."

Have you talked to Laurie about this?

Isabel shakes her head. "No, I haven't. Basically, I don't want to, I'm not apologising for anything and when it comes down to it, I feel bad for Tess but I'm glad I beat Kyle. I'm glad he left and I don't care what Laurie and Alex think, I still have my doubts on whether Tess is actually in love with Kyle. It would be nice if she was but...I'm just not sure."

She sighs as she looks at the camera and smiles sadly. "I just...I wish I had someone in here I could talk to about it. I wish...I wish the others weren't as close because I know that Tess and Alex are starting to wonder what is going on with Laurie and me."

Have you thought about talking to the group?

Isabel shakes her head. "How can I? They all like Laurie and Kyle. What am I supposed to say? "Oh, by the way, Tess I'm glad Kyle went and Alex, I hate Laurie?" I don't think that would go down too well..." She sighs as she continues. "It's not even that I hate her...I just don't like her much at this moment in time."

She looks down at her hands before looking back at the camera. "And I fully expect to be up for eviction again. If I was anyone else I'd probably start to wonder why the hell they keep nominating me..."

Have you asked them?

Isabel shakes her head. "If I asked them that would let them know that it bothers me. And I won't do that, besides, you have to nominate someone..I guess I'm just easy to say because I'm not like them in a lot of ways..."

9.36pm

Laurie and Tess are in the den while Alex and Isabel sit in the lounge.

Alex looks at Isabel as she reads her book. "You were in at Big Brother for a while tonight. Is everything alright?"

Isabel looks at him and nods her head. "Yeah, I just wanted to clear some things up in my head and sometimes it's noce to be able to ramble without having to worry about boring them."

Alex smiles at her. "Why? I try and bore them...I have went on in length to them more than once..."

Isabel laughs gently. "Well, I might try that next time..."

Alex nods his head. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Isabel looks thoughtful before smiling at him. "Hmm, probably shouldn't."

Alex sits his comic book down and looks at her. "You sure, Dr Alex is always in business..."

Isabel laughs and grins at him. "Dr Alex? I'm sorry, but I could definately see that being your future profession..."

Alex looks at her and grins. "Only if becoming an international rock star doesn't happen...but, I'm serious. If you want to talk I can be totally impartial..."

Isabel looks at him and shakes her head. "No, you can't."

Alex sighs and nods his head. "Okay, you're right. I am not good at the impartial thing but I am a good listener."

Isabel looks at him softly. "I know you are...I can talk to you about anything..."

Alex nods his head. "You finally realised that? And it only took you...2 and a half years!"

Isabel smiles. "I guess I'm just slow on the uptake sometimes..."

Alex nods his head as he smiles gently at her. "Well, you could put it like that..."

"But you wouldn't?" Isabel says as she looks at him.

Alex grins. "I just don't know if "slow" is enough to say how slow on the uptake you can be..."

Isabel smirks and shakes her head. "You have definately got more sarcastic in here you know that?"

Alex looks at her and smiles. "I know, but I've been corrupted by over exposure to a variety of bad influences over the weeks..."

Isabel raises an eyebrow. "I'm not sure about that, I get the idea that you have been doing most of the corrupting..."

Alex gasps. "Me? Never..."

Isabel laughs gently as she picks up her book again. "Okay, we'll just call you Mr Innocent then..."

Alex smirks. "Now who's being sarcastic?"

In the den Tess is sitting against the side wall as Laurie sits opposite her.

"You okay, Tess?" Laurie asks.

Tess smiles at her and nods her head. "Yeah, I'm okay...you?"

Laurie nods her head and smiles. "I'm fine."

"Really? Because you and Isabel seem a little weird..."

Laurie looks at her and shakes her head. "I don't know what you mean."

Tess sighs. "You know, tall blonde girl? Goes by the name Isabel? Has a vested interest in Alex?"

Laurie smirks at her. "Hmm, that description sounds familiar..."

Tess smiles. "So? Why are you two so frosty? Poor Alex is getting a complex..."

Laurie looks at her. "He is? Why?"

"Well, I think he worries that he is somehow involved in whatever is going on?"

Laurie shakes her head and smiles. "No, he's not involved...it's just a personality clash..."

"You never clashed before...well, that's maybe not true, but you did get over it..." Tess says as Laurie looks at the floor.

"We're fine..."

Tess looks at her and shakes her head but doesn't say anything. She sighs and looks at the back of the den and smiles sadly.

Laurie notices this and nudges her. "You're still missing him aren't you?"

Tess looks at her and nods her head. "I do...it's just so weird being in here without him."

Laurie smiles sadly. "I know it must be weird. But you know that he is probably missing you as well..."

Tess smiles as she brings her legs up to her chest and hugs them tightly. "Maybe off with some 6 foot blonde..."

Laurie looks at her and laughs. "I'd be worried if you believed that, but you and I both know that he's not..."

Tess smiles at her. "I know that...but, I hope he's having fun. I hope he isn't feeling as bad as I am..."

Tess sighs sadly and runs a hand through her hair as Laurie comes over and sits beside her. She puts an arm around her shoulder and hugs her. "It's hard but you know that it's only for two weeks..."

"Maybe..." Tess smiles wistfully.

Laurie smiles as she looks at her. "We should do something to cheer ourselves up."

Tess nods her head. "I don't know what we could do this late..."

Laurie looks at her and they both appear thoughtful. Laurie looks at her and smiles. "Well, we could do something that doesn't require a lot of effort..."

Tess turns to her and grins. "We could go and torment Alex..."

Laurie looks at her and smiles. "That sounds good..."

Tess and Laurie stand up and grin at each other. "I think that he's starting to think that we're picking on him..."

Tess smiles at her. "Well, we are picking on him...but that's only really because he dishes it out, he can take it..."

"Which is probably a good job..." Laurie adds.

Tess nods her head. "Definately a good job."

Laurie grins at her and they both begin to giggle as they walk towards the house.

11.13pm

All the housemates are getting ready for bed.

Tess and Laurie are grinning at each other in the ensuite as Alex walks towards his bed. Isabel is already in bed. Alex sighs as he looks at his bed. "I am so glad to get to bed tonight..."

He stands beside the bed and calls loudly. "Guys? Can you turn the lights out when you are finished?"

Laurie sniggers slightly before calling. "Okay, Alex..."

Alex nods his head and sits down on the bed and promptly falls through it. "Whoa!"

Isabel looks up as he looks around and Tess and Laurie begin laughing loudly as they walk out of the ensuite.

Alex glares at them. "You!"

Tess looks at him and offers him a hand. As he reaches for it she pulls it away quickly and all the girls start laughing loudly.

Alex whines. "Ha ha, come on! I've been really good today!"

Tess nods her head and smiles at him as he struggles to his feet.

Alex looks at them and shakes his head. "You know, people in prison don't have to put up with as much crap as I have to in here..."

Laurie looks at him. "Consider it character building..."

Alex shakes his head and shouts indignantly. "But I have enough character!"

Tess looks at him and sighs..."You're still a little flopsy...you need to toughen up. So we've made you our project."

"Toughen up? Am I in the marines?"

Tess smiles at him. "You'll thank us for this later in life..."

Alex looks at her and shakes his head. "No, I won't. Because I'll probably become a sociopath!"

Laurie sighs and looks at Tess and whispers. "Look, he's being over dramatic..."

Tess whispers back but still audible to Alex. "I know, but we'll get rid of that after a few days..."

Alex looks at them and gasps before looking at Isabel. "Isabel! Will you tell them to stop! Tell them I'm not a project..."

Isabel stifles a laugh as she looks at them. "I don't know, they look pretty determined..."

"Isabel!" Alex says pleadingly as Tess and Laurie continue to laugh and whisper loudly about Alex.

Isabel shakes her head. "Just tell them..."

"I've tried...but they aren't listening to me..."

Isabel looks at him and looks like she's thinking about it. "Actually, if you can't tell two girls to stop picking on you, you might need character building..."

Alex looks at her and then to Laurie and Tess. "Will you two please stop whispering and tell me where my bed is?"

Laurie sighs. "Your bed is in the ensuite."

"Thank you."

Tess smiles as she walks over to her own bed. "You're welcome. See you bright and early..."

Alex looks at her. "No, I am not getting up early."

Laurie sighs as she walks towards her own bed. "Okay, sure you're not...goodnight Alex."

Alex walks towards the ensuite. "You girls don't want to start anything..."

Laurie looks at Tess and smiles. "Sure we don't. See you Alex..."

"Goodnight." Isabel says as she pulls her cover up.

Tess looks at her and smiles. "Goodnight Isabel."

Laurie sounds reluctant as she speaks. "'night."

Tess looks behind her at her pictures and sighs wistfully before sliding down on her bed and grabs JC and cuddles him close to her as Alex continues to mutter in the ensuite.