Chapter 3:
Cameron, Gwen, and Duncan were all sitting on the curb while waiting for Mike and Zoey to come back, Duncan whittling a stick with his knife.
"My turn again. Let's see..." Cameron looked around the area. "Ok. I spy with my little eye something...big." Cameron said.
"Is it a tree?" Gwen asked half-heartedly.
"Nope."
"A mountain?"
"Nope."
Duncan stopped whittling the stick he was holding, and held it in front of him. It was a pretty nice looking make-shift spear. Prison gave him a ton of time to work on his whittling skills.
"How about you guess Duncan?" Cameron offered. "So far, only me and Gwen have been playing I Spy."
Duncan continued admiring his work. "Yeah, I think I had enough word games. Besides, kinda busy with my own stuff."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're so busy playing with that stick." Gwen said.
"It's not playing, Princess, it's called being prepared."
Gwen felt a prickle of annoyance. Duncan in general was an annoying person, but being called by the nicknames he used for Courtney rubbed her the wrong way. Was he seriously trying to put her on the same level of that bossy, selfish control freak? "Prepared for what?"
"Take it from a guy who has experience in prison. Anything can be more dangerous than you'd think at first. I didn't think I'd be afraid of a midget before. Then I saw Tommy nearly choke his cellmate to death with a broken shoelace over stolen food. So, if you two get attacked by an animal you think is harmless, I'll be there to save you two."
"That's really nice of you Dunc-" Cameron began to say.
"Hey Cam, was the big thing you had in mind Duncan's ego?" Gwen intterupted. "Because I gotta say, 'big' is a massive understatement."
"Umm..."
"Hey, how about I play after all? Is it...Gwen's unbearable sense of self-righteousness?" Duncan suggested.
"Neither of those things can be 'seen'." Cameron said.
"My bad. I should have said Duncan's head then." Gwen replied.
"Yeah? Well how about I use this big head of mine to break your nose?" Duncan threatened.
"That's right Duncan! The small thing I was looking at was Gwen's nose!" Cameron lied.
"...You said it was something big." Gwen pointed out.
"I said small. Anyway, now it's your turn Duncan!"
Duncan simply sat down and went back to whittling. Cameron sighed, and texted on his phone. 'When are Mike and Zoey getting here?' He wondered. Even when he's off Total Drama, it looks like he can't escape being caught in drama. Cameron thought the word games might help Duncan and Gwen get along, at least slightly. But every game he tried for the past two hours either resulted in neither of them speaking with each other for most of the game, and then an argument breaking out by the end of it.
A little whole afterwards, the three heard the sound of a car horn. They noticed Mike driving towards them in his car, Zoey being in the shotgun seat. "I spy something reacquired." Duncan smiled.
"Mike got his car back!" Cameron exclaimed.
Mike stopped his car, and rolled down his windows. "Hey guys! Would have gotten here sooner, but then it turned out the gas was empty, so me and Zoey had to push it to a nearby gas station."
Duncan, Cameron, and Gwen all entered the backseat of the car, Cameron getting in the middle. "That's good to hear." Cameron said. He and Gwen put on their seat belts, while Duncan continued to whittle his makeshift spear.
"So Duncan, is your place far from here, or do you want us to pay for a ticket home?" Zoey asked.
Duncan stopped whittling. "Y-you'd do that?" Duncan asked.
"Of course! It wouldn't be right for you to be living on the streets."
"So, where do you live? If your home isn't too far from Windsor, we might just be able to drive you." Mike offered.
Duncan was stunned for a little while. He wasn't expecting people he barely knew to go this far to help him out.
"Umm...Duncan?" Zoey asked.
"Huh? Oh, right. I live in Kingston, so we sure ain't driving there. Not like it matters though."
"What do you mean 'not like it matters'?" Cameron asked.
"Something tells me my folks don't wanna see me. And I'd rather not see them either. Just drop me off at a motel or something."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"Think about it. My bail was only a few hundred dollars. My parents would be able to afford that no sweat. But I was in jail for about 8 months. And whenever they wrote to me, the letters kept talking about how it was 'too expensive' for them to help me out."
Zoey, Mike, Cameron, and Gwen widened their eyes in realization. "Duncan...I'm so sorry to hear that." Zoey said.
"I appreciate the concern, but it's whatever to me. Like I said, drop me off at a motel and-"
"This isn't a minor thing!" Gwen yelled. "Putting up this bad boy act isn't worth being abandoned by your family!"
"Since when did you care about my well being? You're the one who mocked me when I got arrested."
"You think that just because I dislike you, I want you to live on the streets homeless? I'd only wish that on someone like Chris."
"Look, I'll bounce back. I'll be fine on my own. I'll find a job and-"
"Sorry, but where will you pay for the motel?" Zoey interupted.
"I'll...I'll get money from my job."
"So, you're saying that until you get enough payment from your job, you won't have anywhere to stay." Mike said.
"I'm tough enough to live on the street for a while."
"Ok. Let's say that's the case. How quick do you think you'll find a job? Because spoiler alert, a lot of places aren't going to want a guy whose spent more time in juvie than his own home." Gwen said.
"Gwen's right. Finding a job takes time." Cameron said.
Mike started to drive away from the nature trail. "Look Duncan, I noticed that you never brought up how we could lend you money for the motel, or that you could stay at one of our places for a while."
"Because I'm fine on my own." Duncan insisted.
"Then why do you need me to drive you?"
"Pfft. That's just to make things less of a hassle. I can still walk, it would just be more annoying."
"Look Duncan, getting help isn't anything to be ashamed of." Zoey said. "Gwen, Mike, and Cam all live here in Windsor. Maybe you could stay at one of their places until you make up with you family. Or until you can get your own place to stay at."
Duncan said nothing for a while. Finally he sighed. He hated to admit it, but they were right. "Fine." Duncan turned to Cameron. "Your place free?"
"Actually, no." Cameron answered. "Since I stayed in my bubble so often, my mom never felt the need to buy much for a house, and after all the money she spent on purified air over the years, she barely had enough money left to buy me a bed. She can't really afford a third person in the house."
"What about your place?" Duncan asked Zoey.
"Oh, I don't live in Windsor. I'm visiting Mike over Spring Break." Zoey answered.
"And it's been the best spring break yet." Mike smiled.
"Oh. Um..." Duncan began to say.
"What's wrong?" Cameron asked.
"It's just that..."
"Oh, you're worried about Mal, right?" Mike asked. "Dont worry, he's long gone now."
"And Mike's parents are out of town, so there'll be enough room for you to stay." Zoey added.
"Oh. Well that's good to hear I guess." In all honesty, Duncan was still a little uncomfortable staying with Zoey and Mike. Being a third wheel was kind of annoying. But it seemed to be his best option.
"So, when are your parents coming back anyway? Kinda doubt they'd want to find out a felon is staying at their home."
"They'll be back next week. We'll try and get you a job and a place to stay at by then." Mike said.
"Worst case scenario, Duncan can stay at Gwen's place when they come back." Cameron suggested.
"No. Way." Duncan and Gwen replied simultaneously. They then glared at each other angrily.
"Umm..."
Not too long afterwards, Mike stopped at a somewhat small, green house. "Here's your place Cam."
Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Mike!" Cameron quickly unbuckled himself. "Excuse me Gwen." Cameron stepped over Gwen and opened the door. "Have a nice night guys!" Cameron got out of the car and closed the door.
Mike and Zoey waved goodbye to Cameron before Mike continued driving. Duncan and Gwen continued to glare at each other. "I'd rather sleep in the streets then have to stay the night at your place." Duncan said.
"Good. Because I wouldn't let you stay at my place for all the money in the world."
"Says the girl who wanted to bail me out of jail so she could make up with me."
"I didn't want that! That's just what Dawn thought!"
"Oh, so you'll believe whatever Dawn says when it comes to my 'aura', but go in denial when it's about yours? Pft. Predictable."
"What's predictable is that bailing you out was a waste of time, and just got Mike and Zoey a useless freeloader for Spring Break."
"ENOUGH!" Zoey screamed. Mike hit the brake pedal and his car screeched to a halt. He wasn't gonna risk steering out of control and crashing after he just got his car back. Due to not wearing a seat belt, Duncan lurgded forward, and hit his head on the back of Mike's chair. "Owww..." Duncan rubbed his eye in pain.
"Oh, sorry for startling you Mike." Zoey then tunred to Gwen and Duncan. "But not to you two! Oh, sorry, that came off as too mean. Especially since you hurt your eye Duncan. But still, you two have been at each other's throats ever since you came back from that session with Dawn."
"How would you even know about that? You weren't even there." Duncan pointed out.
Zoey got out her phone. "Cam was texting me while he was waiting for me and Mike. You two have been freaking him out for hours."
" 'Duncan threatened to attack Gwen. Things are going really badly' from 15 minutes ago. 'Gwen and Ducan have been rubbing failed relationships in each other's faces. So much for Never Have I Ever' from 37 minutes ago. '20 questions doesn't work so well when Duncan and Gwen either refuse to ask questions to each other, or just hurl insults at each other' from an hour ago." Duncan read.
"Look, maybe you guys are right. Maybe Dawn misread your auras. But it's only been a few hours since you guys came back from meeting with her, and your arguing's already driving us crazy!"
Duncan and Gwen both widened their eyes. Gwen said nothing for a while before sighing. "You're right. Sorry Zoey. It's not fair for you guys to get dragged into this."
Duncan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah...what she said I guess."
"Look, it's been a long day for all of us. Let's just take Gwen home, and then Duncan can crash at my place for a week. We'll figure the rest out from there." Mike said.
All four of them heard the sound of a car horn. "Come on, move it!" A driver angrilly yelled from behind them.
"Better keep going Mike. We don't want you to lose your car twice in one day." Zoey said.
Mike hit the gas pedal again, and continued to drive. Several minutes of silence went by. Throughout the ride, Duncan was lost in thought. What was with him tonight? A few hours ago, he thought seeing Gwen again would be the coolest thing to do after getting out of prison. Now he was arguing with her even more than he did with Courtney. He had to admit, it kinda sucked to be on bad terms with Gwen. Girlfriend or simply a friend, she was a really cool person. Witty, independent, and she shares a bunch of Duncan's interests. But Gwen constantly overlooking everything he's done for her annoyed him to no end. She dumped him for paying more attention to Courtney than her, but convieniently overlooked how she's not exactly innocent in that department either.
In fact, the more he thought about it, Miss CIT was a major reason why he and Gwen were on bad terms recently. The reason Gwen dumped Duncan was because he was trying to get Courtney to start paying attention to him again. And the reason why Gwen was blanking him back in All Stars was because she was busy trying to make up with Courtney. Granted, neither of those things were Courtney's fault directly as much as he hated to admit it, but Duncan and Gwen wouldn't have acted the way they did in All Stars if it weren't for her.
"In your case, you have two bonds you wish to reforge." He remembered that hippy girl saying that, and Duncan was certain she was talking about Courtney without a second thought. He'd never admit it out loud, but Dawn was right that he still wanted to make things right with Gwen. So maybe he did want to make things right with Courtney. He didn't know why he'd miss a pain in the butt like her, but Dawn was right with her readings so far. Sure she was a bossy, stuck up, control freak...but that's half the reason he fell for her to begin with.
Eventially, Mike stopped at a dark blue house. "This is my stop." Gwen unbuckled herself and opened the door. "Zoey, Mike, see you around."
"Have a nice night Gwen." Zoey said.
Gwen was about to close the door, but Duncan stretched his arm out to keep it open. "Umm...what are you doing Duncan?"
Duncan took a deep breath. "Hey...wanna bring Courtney along for another session?"