Courtney stares at the stick for a little while longer. It would be so easy to get rid of that memory. The fire was right next to her, and she could easily throw the stick into it. The memory would be gone forever.

She sighs and holds the stick by the fire...


"Courtney, please don't do it," whispers Duncan.

"Why would you care if she threw that stick away. It just means that she's getting over you."

He closes his eyes and thinks for a moment. Why do I care about my relationship with Courtney now? What about Gwen? "When was the last time we had a decent conversation?"

"Exsqueeze me," asks Gwen offended. "We talk all the time! We're talking now aren't we?"

"No," Duncan says. "We mostly make out."

She rolls her eyes. Since when did he get so sensitive? "Of course we do! Because it's fun and we don't expect anything from each other."

"I don't think that's considered a relationship."

"And how would you know that? You only really dated Courtney and look what happened. A total train wreck."


...When Bridgette grabs her wrist stopping her from dropping the stick.

"Remember," says Bridgette. "We agreed to burn everything after we looked at every single memory."

Courtney sighs but nods her head. She reaches inside the box and pulls out the next memory. A hook.


FLASHBACK: First Time Being in His Arms

After the last two wins, I was feeling more confident in my team and in my leadership. Because I woke up Duncan, we won the dodgeball tournament. Because I chose Harold as the replacement, we won the talent contest ("But you didn't let him try out at first!" "That's so not the point..."). So when Chris threw the map and compass, I knew that I should be the one to take the lead ("But Chris threw it to Duncan..." "Shut it, Bridgette!").

Finding the campsite wasn't the hard part. Neither was setting up the tent. The hardest part was dealing with a certain delinquent.

First, he thought that since I'm of the female gender that I would provide the meal. Yeah, right.

Then, he decides to tell a scary story. For the record, I cannot handle scary stories. But I was the leader! ("No you weren't..." "Do you want to hear the story or not?") So therefore, I couldn't show my fear. I had to act courageous. Besides, it couldn't be that scary, right?

Wrong. The story itself wasn't that bad. It was the hook that he brought out at the end that did it for me. As soon as I saw it, I lost it.

...And of course, Duncan thought that it was funny.

We were in the woods in the middle of the night. We could have been eaten by bears. Some of us could've died! ("It actually would've been nice if Katie and Sadie were eaten by wolves..." "Bridgette, I swear to god!") Throw in a scary story and a fake hook, nobody will be sleeping tonight.

So of course, when I heard a noise I jumped... into Duncan's arms. But it didn't mean anything because I didn't like him like that. At least, not during that challenge.

But what was so significant about that fish hook? It was the thing that first lead me into his arms.

END OF FLASHBACK


"And," asks Bridgette.

"And what," Courtney asks back confused.

"And what about the part when Duncan caught you cuddling with him? Isn't that significant in some way?"

Courtney sighs. Although people who watched the show would disagree, cuddling with Duncan was an honest mistake. The fact that Duncan had made it seem like it was her fault made the situation even worse.

"It was significant," says Courtney trying to choose her words carefully. "But not exactly in a positive way."

"How so," asks Bridgette.

"Well..." says Courtney bringing her eyes down to the fire. There were a lot of things that people did not know about her, and she planned to keep it that way. Besides, it wasn't like she could trust a lot of the people there. But then again, she is alone with Bridgette and what she says at the campfire stays at the campfire... right? "I kind of had a boyfriend," Courtney mumbles out hoping that Bridgette would not hear.

"You had a what?"


Gwen smirks. This was just too much. Courtney's such a hypocrite. She also cheated on her boyfriend yet she acts like Duncan and I are beneath her. Gwen then pulls out her cell phone and was about to hit the record button...

...When Duncan snatches the phone out of her hands. She glares at Duncan. "What do you think you're doing," asks Gwen. "This is great for blackmail. For all the times she treated us like crap."

He folds his arms. "Explain."

"Well," says Gwen. "She purposely cuddled up to you which means she also cheated on her boyfriend."

Duncan rolls his eyes. "You can't hold that against her."

"Why not?"

"First of all," Duncan says while turning his eyes back on Courtney. "Nobody is going to believe you. Second of all, I knew she had a boyfriend. And finally, I was the one who pulled her on top of me while she was asleep causing him to break up with her."

Wait. Did he actually like me back during that second season? "You mean like how you bullied Trent to becoming crazy so that I would break up with him and date you?"

He tries to resist the urge to roll his eyes. How the hell did she come to that conclusion? "You have a wild imagination. But no, I didn't cause your breakup. You and Trent just had issues you didn't want to work through. Besides, I was still into Princess during that time."

Ignoring his comment about Trent (it still breaks her heart a little just to hear his name), Gwen purses her lips together. It sounds to me that he worked a lot harder in getting Courtney than in getting me. "You're still not over Courtney, are you?"

Duncan turns around and looks at Gwen. "What makes you say that?"

"You just called her Princess."


Courtney thinks back to the day when the alleged cuddling had happened. "I tried," Courtney says. "I tried to explain in the confessional that it was a mistake. But he still broke up with me. And for a little while it hurt." She closes her eyes waiting for the pain to come into her heart. But it doesn't come. Bridgette pats Courtney's shoulder lightly. I never knew that there was more to Courtney than she let out. I wonder what else she's been hiding.