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Courtney opened her eyes. She was on the boat, heading to Wawanakwa. It was the first season of Total Drama all over again. The crazy voice was right; she had gone back in time.
"I'm going to die now. I'm going to frickin' die now."
She'd hopped off the boat, the book safely stowed in her backpack. Who knows why she'd even bothered. Other than that first page, the entire book was blank. Why she'd even bothered to hold onto the damn thing, even if it helped her escape the raging inferno that was once planet Earth, was something she didn't understand. So, basically, it was worthless, and she'd been committed to five years of déjà vu, with a fiery finale.
Most of the campers were already here. Now… how did this go again? Right, shake hands with Owen, say "pleased to meet you", turn, get an eyeful of the Hawaiian superhunk… and Izzy falls off the boat and hits herself on the dock.
"Hiii, Chris! Hiiiii!"
It hasn't happened yet, Courtney realized. Before she even realized it, she was running down the dock.
"Hiiiiii! Hii-waaugh!" Izzy tripped, fell overboard… but this time Courtney was there to catch her before she hit her chin.
"Are you okay?" she said.
"That fellllt… GOOD! I mean, it probably wouldn't if I'd like hit my chin or something, but… oh hey, is this summer camp? Is there gonna be papier mache? Are we having lunch soon?"
"Just be more careful, all right?" Courtney said.
"Aye aye, Captain!" the quirky redhead replied. "Hey, that was cool! It was almost like you knew I was gonna fall! Are you psychic? 'Cause I totally am. Or was that psycho? One of the two."
"Um… just luck, really."
"Okay!" said Chris. "Now that we've been cheated out of our first injury, thank you SO much for that, Courtney… we need a group photo for the promo. Everyone on the end of the dock!"
Oh, no, Courtney thought to herself. She knew exactly what was coming up. She could warn everyone, but she'd already called attention to herself once. Avert two accidents, within less than five minutes of each other, and people might start to get really suspicious. And if they started asking questions about how she knew, it'd be the loony bin for sure. She was just going to have to endure this one. She sat down next to Bridgette, put on her best fake smile, and held her breath.
"Okay, 1… 2… 3… ooh! Okay. Forgot the lens cap! Okay, hold that pose… 1… 2… oh… no wait. Card's full. Hold on."
Gahh, just get it over with…
"Everyone say: 'Wawanakwa!'"
"Wawanakwa—ohh…"
The dock shook beneath them. Here it comes. Courtney inhaled and braced herself for it…
The dock collapsed beneath the campers, plunging them into the icy waters.
It's for the mission, Courtney reminded herself.
"Okay, guys, dry off and meet at the campfire pit in ten."
Courtney swam back to shore, wondering if she wasn't wasting her time. As it was, history was just repeating itself. At the rate things were going, she… and humanity… were toast.
And so it went; Chris assigned the campers to their teams and cabins. Courtney was in the Bass's cabin now, unpacking. Two beds over, Sadie was still moping over being assigned to a different team than her BFFL.
"But we've NEVER been apart, Courtney! We grew up together, we were in all the same classes, we took all our vacations together…"
"Sadie… it's gonna be okay. In the long run, being apart from each other will make the two of you appreciate your friendship even more. Your bond will become even stronger."
"Do… do you think so?"
"Sure. You can handle this, Sadie."
"I… I don't know."
"Just try it."
"Hey, nice save back on the dock there."
Courtney turned back to the door. Bridgette had entered, lugging her baggage and surfboard. She claimed the bed between Courtney and Sadie. "Bridgette Weinstein, Vancouver." She offered her hand.
"Courtney Greene, Montreal," Courtney replied, taking it. "I guess I was just in the right place at the right time."
"Cool. What's with the big book?"
"This? Uh, nothing, really... just a diary."
"Looks a bit old and ornate."
"It's an antique diary. It was my grandmother's. Only she never actually used it, so it's totally blank."
"Right… so… what are you playing for? You seem kinda…"
"Preppy? Yeah, I get that a lot. Well… I'm playing to pay my way through Harvard Law. That's the dream… You?"
"My dream is to surf the world. Hawaii, Australia, Big Sur, wherever I can find a wave. I figure a hundred grand'll get me where I wanna go."
"That sounds really cool, I have to admit."
"Thanks. You know… I have a good feeling about us."
Courtney forced a smile. "Me too." If I can avoid past mistakes…
Which brings us back to…
"Oooh… hate to see that happen."
Harold had hit the water… hard. In a tender area. And now Courtney was up.
The first time, she'd chickened out. This time things would be different. This time, she'd take the plunge. This time…
She looked down, and remembered exactly why she hadn't jumped in the first place.
"Long way down, huh?" teased Chris. "You can always chicken out… but you could cost your team the win. And then they'll HATE you."
She looked down again. There would be… other chances, right?
"Now, if you'll just take one of our fetching chicken hats…"
"YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!" Courtney said, hurling herself off the cliff, Lake Wawanakwa rushing toward her.
"I INSTANTLY REGRET THIIIIIIII-" Courtney's shout was cut short as her front collided with the water's surface. I would belly-flop, wouldn't I.
"Owww…" Courtney moaned, rubbing her tender belly.
"It's okay," Bridgette assured her. "They're not scoring us on style."
Eva nodded at her. "Might actually be hope for you, Princess." Was that... no, not a smile, but a slightly flatter scowl. I'll take it.
"Yeah," Duncan added. "Didn't think you'd have the cojo-" He looked up. "Ooh, crap. I don't believe it!"
"GANGWAY!" yelled DJ as he plunged toward the waters, his cannonball raising a huge splash.
"That was probably the best cannonball ever," commented Harold.
"You made it big guy!" Tyler slapped DJ on the back.
"Well, you know… I couldn't be the only one to let the team down, could I?"
Up on the cliff, Sadie had refused to jump without Katie until Izzy had grabbed her, declared herself Acting Katie, and leapt off the cliff. History was already changing. The entire Bass team had jumped.
Of course, that was trivial compared to what needed to change.
The challenge had continued to play out differently. Beth refused to jump as before, and Katie lacked the courage to jump without Sadie. Instead of losing the opening challenge 10-9, the Bass had won, 11-9. The Gophers had gone on to lose the hot tub-building challenge, and were now headed to the campfire ceremony.
Courtney, lost in thought, walked back to the Bass cabin, not really looking where she was going…
"Hey! Watch where you're going, CIT!"
"You watch where you're-" Courtney's voice caught. It's her.
"Sorry," Courtney said. "I'm… just getting used to all of this." She held out her hand "I'm Courtney."
Gwen smirked. "I dunno… if I got caught shaking hands with 'the enemy' …could be trouble."
"What's life without a little risk?"
"Easy for you to say… YOU'RE not facing elimination."
"It… probably won't be you?"
"I dunno. In case you haven't noticed… I'm not the friendliest person here."
"Hey!"
"Well, good luck, anyway. I'm rooting for you, for what that's worth"
"Hey!"
"Um… thanks. See you around, I hope…"
"LISTEN!"
"WHAT?!" Courtney snapped, irritated that the mystery voice in her head had chosen now to make itself known.
"What?"
"Uh… sorry… thought I heard someone calling me… gotta gonowbye" Courtney muttered, running for the cabin.
Weirdo, Gwen thought to herself as she walked away.
"What do you want from me?" Courtney demanded, finally sure she was alone. "You lead me to that worthless book as the world ends, you disappear, and now all of a sudden you're back and I look like a lunatic in front of-"
"Shut up. This is critical. You must make sure NO ONE gets eliminated tonight."
"Really? And how am I to do that?" But the voice was silent now.
She flopped down on her bed. The book lay there next to her, open. That's funny… I thought I left it under the bed…
What was odder was the page it was open to now had writing on it. She had been sure every page was blank, but apparently she'd missed one.
"Invisibility spell…?"
She scanned the words. It was suddenly so simple. A child could do it. A baby could do. It was so simple.
"If you hurry, you can disrupt the ceremony," the voice said.
"But I have to test it first," Courtney pleaded.
"No time! It's got to be now!"
"Screaming Gophers… at camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp… marshmallows represent life."
Courtney hid in the bushes. I need to get this right, she told herself.
"You've all cast your votes and made your decision. There are only ten marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name. come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers. That means you're out of the contest. And you can't come back EV-ERRRR. The first marshmallow goes to…. Trent."
He called them one by one. At last, it was down to only Katie and Beth.
"Campers… this is the final marshmallow of the evening."
Now. Courtney reached out with her mind, drawing a veil around the final marshmallow.
"What the hell?" Chris exclaimed, dropping the plate. "Where'd it go? It was there, but… it's… damn it! How am I supposed to do a marshmallow ceremony without marshmallows? This episode goes on air tomorrow! I don't have time to do this over!"
"You could just kick the loser off without a marshmallow," suggested Heather.
"It's not the same!" Chris whined. "Forget it! There's no elimination tonight! But next week… the challenge is gonna be extra brutal!"
The vulnerable campers breathed a sigh of relief as they filed back to the cabin, safe for a week.
I did it, Courtney thought to herself. Suddenly, her stomach felt like it was twisting in knots… it lasted only a few seconds, though. I guess I should expect some kind of price for using magic.
A bell rang. "DINNER! GET YOUR BUTTS IN HERE!" bellowed Chef.
It was inedible slop, no doubt. But for some reason, Courtney didn't care. She was ravenous.
Almost as if she'd grown a second stomach…
