Courtney's P.O.V.

I forgot that I passed a library when I was finding my room on the second floor. I walk into it and close the doors behind me. This place is designed extravagantly! The ceiling must be over 100 feet high; there's a check out desk on the left and an area with couches and chairs for people to relax in the middle; the carpet is a soft, magenta color, and tall, chestnut bookshelves are everywhere! And what's even better is that Justin would never look for me in here. He's not exactly the most cultured person on this boat—Lindsay probably wins a trophy for that one.

I find the DVD section and look for Texas Chainsaw Massacre under 'T's,' my eyes scanning the never ending list of movies. My thoughts revert back to Justin and I huff out loud. His blatant display of flirting is beyond aggravating. Is he trying to distract me from winning? He needs to improve his performance if he wants me to even merely glance at him. His whole body reeks of conceitedness and he so needs new contacts! He looks like a deranged vampire! Not to mention better whitening strips, as I'm sure he uses them—ugh.

I stop in my tracks and scowl. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is missing from the shelf—of course! Because this mediocre scavenger hunt isn't already useless enough. Earning a spot in the final 13 doesn't require any physical activity or hidden talents; it's just a second-rate game of Hide and Seek! Why can't my C-I-T skills be of any use here?

"I want to speak to the librarian!" I demand, trying to find my way back to the check-out desk. You would think there would be a librarian in this boat—I know there's other staff here lurking about. I've seen a couple of cooks make dinner and people stationed at spas and other amenities looking bored. I know we're not the only one's here.

To my surprise, I see Chef watching a small television at the check-out desk. He wasn't here a second ago. And shouldn't he be with Chris on the island? He sees me and narrows his eyes. "I'm the librarian around here!" he barks. "What do you want, cadette?"

His presence doesn't intimidate me. I march right over to him and get close to his face. He doesn't even flinch from me, his eyes boring into mine.

"Where is Texas Chainsaw Massacre? If Chris or Blaineley are purposefully trying to make me lose, you will hear from my lawyers for wrongful sabotage!"

Chef grunts and shoves a piece of paper in my hand that reads 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Room 8.'

"The green-haired Mohawk boy took it a couple of hours ago," he snaps. "He's got it for 2 weeks—take your mess up with him!"

My heart skips a beat. Why, why, WHY? My head becomes woozy and I grip the edge of the counter to keep from falling. I can't just go to him and ask for it! I start trembling.

Breathe in…breathe out…

In…out…

I regain my composure. "Fine!" I dash out the library to find Room 8. I go into a short hallway near the lobby and see room 2…4…6…

I stop in front of 8. A huge rock is lodged in my throat as I stare at the door. What if he's in there with Gwen? Cuddling, making out, or…that?

My feet are rooted in place and I can feel a sweat break out on my forehead. Slowly, I press my right ear to the door…I don't hear anything. He must be gone. I dart my head left and right to see if anyone's coming. I can't risk getting caught and have this blown out of proportion. Seeing no one in sight, I clutch the doorknob and cautiously turn it.

It opens. Why is he so careless? Someone could take complete advantage of his privacy! Someone could steal his belongings! If you consider an amateurly carved wooden skull to be of any value, that is.

His room is surprisingly clean, but that's because it's only our first day here. Blaineley still never put our luggage in our rooms. I guess she wants us to be dirty for the rest of the trip. Like my room, there's a king-sized bed in the middle with a yellow comforter and white sheets, a circular window on the left side of the wall, a bathroom, a television across from the bed, and mahogany drawers to the right of the bed.

I quickly shut the door behind me, making sure not to be loud. Since there's nothing in this room, finding the DVD shouldn't be hard. I look under his pillows, in the bed, and finally the drawers, where it's laying in plain sight in the 5th drawer.

Triumphant, I snatch the DVD and find my second clue card inside the case. I guess he hasn't watched it yet or mistook the card for something irrelevant. I put the card in my pocket when I hear voices coming closer and closer to the door.

I feel like the bastard himself just punched me in the gut and knocked the wind out of me.

Trying to catch my breath, and with the DVD case still in my hand, I lunge for the closet at the end of the room and close the door just as the front door opens. Ugh, the only thing in here is his suitcase! At least Blaineley had the decency to finally give us our luggage. I curl myself into a ball and hide behind the luggage in the far left corner.

I can hear the douchebag's arrogant voice…and another voice that sounds like Tyler. The cheater's voice comes through, but muffled by the closet.

"—and we're gonna make some awesome cannonballs! Let me just get my towel." I hear him pull out a drawer and then close it. The front door shuts.

I wait in the dark for what seems like an infinite amount of time. I'm sure 10 minutes have passed and he's not coming back. I slowly inch out the closet and then breathe the sigh of relief I've been unknowingly holding in for so long. I crawl out the closet and step towards the drawers to put the DVD back when I hear heavy footsteps approach the door.

Instinctively, I run into the bathroom, hide in the shower, and draw the blue curtains and liner to conceal me. What does he need now? Is Gwen with him? Am I going to be subjected to unwanted noises that will haunt me for the remainder of my life?

The front door opens, and I hear footsteps inch their way to the bathroom. No, no, NO! My whole body's on edge and I can feel my skin being pricked by tiny, miniscule, needles. The white, cool bathtub floor that is pressed against my cheek snaps me from my moment of insanity. Since when am I afraid of Duncan? Oh right, when I'm trespassing in his cabin and looking like a desperate ex-girlfriend! Which I'm not!

He's in the doorway of the bathroom now. He's not moving—why'd he stop?

My nose tingles—no! I can't—

"ACHOO!"

The shower curtain draws back abruptly and his turquoise eyes widen in astonishment. His mouth opens the same time as mine.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Duncan's P.O.V.

All I did was come back in my room to get soap and there's Courtney curled up in my bathtub like a freakin' baby. I knew it was her as soon as she sneezed—she sneezes like a yeti.

I point a finger at her. "What are you doing? Get out!" Is she really that pissed that she has to stalk me?

Courtney's shaking—since when does she ever get scared?—and stands up from the tub floor. At one point, I would've been turned on by her fiery dark eyes and her flushed face—yeah, those days are gone.

"What are you doing back already?" She answers me back with a question.

"You've just admitted you've been stalking me, Princess." I say Princess like it smells like Harold's underwear—cuz it does.

And she loses it. Who would've guessed?

"I've had the unfortunate pleasure to come into your room because my 2nd clue was in this movie!" she shrieks, glaring at me and holding up Texas Chainsaw Massacre. "And you don't have the right to call me that anymore! I revoke it!"

I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. She needs to take a freakin' chill pill cuz I can't deal with a psycho Courtney.

"Well, Princess," I sneer, and I'm happy to see Courtney's face is getting redder and redder. "You never gave me that right, so I'll call you 'Princess' all I damn want. And here I thought Miss C-I-T had better things to do than stalk an ex-boyfriend's room. Obviously at whatever shit-hole camp you went to, they didn't teach you the basics of stalking because you would've known I came to get soap—" I grab the bottle from the sink—"to fill the pool to make a bubble bath. Sign up for juvie and you might learn a thing or two." Oh yeah, she'll like that one—I'm already smirking at her mouth that just dropped open. Now that she's here, I'm actually looking at Courtney for the first time since being on the boat. She still has the same brown hair, tan skin, and preppy outfit. After Miss Not-So-Famous' life-changing announcement, I haven't bumped into her. Yeah, it's still Day 1, but 8 hours of being Courtney free is like an accomplishment.

I look at her trembling body and I get even angrier. She brought this on herself, sneaking around in my room! She should just leave if she hates me so much.

Courtney closes her mouth after my last remark and I smirk wider. She's still trembling, but I know it's from anger this time. Her eyes are completely coal-black as both her hands turn into fists.

Here comes my favorite part.

"YOU VILE, IDIOTIC, FOUL-MOUTHED, OBTUSE, WANNA-BE BADASS NEANDERTHAL—"

I zone out her rambling. I've never had so many compliments in 5 seconds. She's really outdoing herself!

"Keep the compliments coming, Princess," I interrupt, but then realize 'wanna-be badass' isn't a compliment. Juvie don't make you a 'wanna-be,' alright?

I see a crowd of people in my room before I point this out. I guess Courtney doesn't care because her whiny voice is still going strong. Man she has a mouth on her—I do not miss that.

"—DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ASSOCIATING ME TO YOUR TRIVIAL LEVELS OF DELIQUENCY! I—"

I turn around to see who's behind me in the bathroom doorway. Owen's eating an ice cream sandwich; Lindsay and Beth look scared out of their panties; Sierra's holding onto Cody like she's watching a horror movie; Geoff and DJ look…like they saw this coming, and Bridgette's face is pale.

Sierra speaks up. "You tell him, Courtney! He's a scumbag who doesn't deserve happiness, right Cody-bear?" she gushes at the end. Ugh, they make me wanna hurl. I don't mind having a crowd come and watch the entertainment; they can see just how much of a lunatic Courtney is. But Sierra and her Spineless Sidekick can leave if they're not on my side.

Courtney stops spitting out insults that I've drowned out. She locks her eyes with mine and smirks. "At least I have supporters—and looks like your biggest one is conveniently absent—Gwen." She says 'Gwen' like it's some type of disease.

I narrow my eyes at her and now my hands are clenched. I'm eager to punch Courtney's head off her shoulders. Her prissy mouth better take that back. I hear Beth and Lindsay talk.

"Do you think they're actually gonna fight?" Beth says worriedly.

"I don't know, think about Duncan's mirror—if they break it, how will he do his hair in the morning?" Gasps Lindsay. How'd I deal watching a movie for 2 hours with her?

I put my attention back on Courtney. "At least people like me—you just order people around and expect everyone to kiss your ass! Now get out!" I jab my thumb to the bathroom doorway, searing my eyes into Courtney's who's searing back into mine. I'd so win this if it was a staring contest. If she doesn't get out that tub I'll—

"Gladly!" she yells, and throws the DVD case with full force. Right. At. My. Kiwis.

"AAAHH!" I grab my crotch and the DVD case as burning pain hits me. I double over, whimpering, as I hear "Oooh's" from the crowd. I land on the floor and rock back and forth, fighting tears as I shut my eyes.

I open my eyes slowly, still pushing back tears and wincing as I see Courtney smiling—she's a freakin' sadist!

"Have fun trying to procreate!" Those are her last words as she steps over me, walks through the crowd, and out my room—finally.

People start to mumble and leave. Yeah, leave the guy who's on the floor holding his kiwis!

Owen shakes his head. "And right in the kiwis—I know that all too well." He comes over to me. "Need a hand, buddy?"

I take it and slowly stand up, my left hand protectively covering my crotch in case anyone else has any smart ideas.

"Did you see that?" I tell the whole crowd. "She's a freakin' stalker! Don't tell me you think this is my fault!"

DJ and Geoff shake their heads. "Dude, you're making this harder on yourself," Geoff says. Like I care.

Everyone then exits the room and I'm left by myself. My head's pounding from fighting with Courtney and I'm not thinking straight. I release my fists to let my fingers move freely. She always ruins my day—here I was all hyped up to do cannonballs in the biggest bubble bath, and then I have to deal with this? With her?

I let out a long sigh. I have to cool off somewhere.

I leave my room and close the door behind me, locking it this time in case I get another surprise. I turn right in the hallway and come back to the lobby. I rush through the double doors that lead back to the main deck and go up the stairs on the far left of the boat that leads to the top deck, taking 2 stairs at a time.

My body relaxes as I get to the top deck. When I was here after hitting Geoff earlier today, it looked completely different—it was the afternoon, so the white Christmas lights that are wrapped around the railings are now on. This area's pretty spacey like a dance floor and there are random plants in the corner decorated with red Christmas lights. Maybe I'll take Gwen up here with me—she'd dig it.

I make my way to the railing across from me and lean my elbows on it, staring at a few stars in the night sky. I glance at my red knuckles as a result from hitting Geoff. I wanna put that behind me—I really didn't mean to hit him—I was losing it and then he had to bring up if I liked Gwen when I was still with Courtney. Even I don't know about that. We were just friends and got closer in TDA when Courtney wasn't there—I still liked her, but then she had to mess it up with her controlling self.

I grip the railing with both hands to stop shaking from rage. We kept making up and breaking up since TDA and it was freakin' annoying. The 4 months we were on break and getting ready for World Tour, we'd visit each other's houses, and I'd sleep over sometimes. Weirdly, her family actually liked me—I think cuz I took her away from home. Even her parents don't wanna deal with her crap.

And I started hanging out with Gwen more over the break too. She was cool to be around—and she had to deal with me talk about Courtney being stupid. I give her props for listening. Listening to me tell her that Courtney was mapping out my life—picking my colleges, telling me to get a summer job, get along with my parents more—why was I gonna listen to Little Miss Perfect when she had her own issues? And I wasn't complaining about them to her face?

I give out a long sigh again, more relaxed than a few minutes ago. It Courtney wasn't Courtney—nah, like that would happen. She's not the same girl I fell for. And I guess that's why I like Gwen so much—she's everything Courtney's not. I've never dated any girls that I was friends with first, so dating Gwen is different.

Cooled off now, I go down the steps to the main deck and out the doors to the lobby, making my way to my room. Princess is just gonna have to suck it up that we're done. And if I catch her in my room again she's dead.

I get to my hallway and raise my eyebrows—Gwen's outside my door. She sees me and waves. All my thoughts of Courtney are pushed out the door when I see her and I give her that smile that's only for her.

"Hey, gorgeous," I say and hug her.

"Hey, yourself," she says back and ends the hug. "So your door's locked—why?"

I roll my eyes. "Prin—uh, Courtney was hiding in there earlier." Gwen hates when I call Courtney that, and I get it. It's just a bad habit.

Gwen doesn't jump to conclusions about that statement—if I said the same thing to Courtney she would've exploded.

"I guess someone can't move on," she says shrugging.

"That too, and the fact her second clue was in there…how long have you been here?" I didn't notice how long I was out.

She grins. "Only about 10 minutes. I just came from Leshawna's room and figured I'd stop by since I haven't seen you since 2."

I take out my key and unlock the door. "After you," I gesture inside. I'm so sappy around Gwen, but I guess doing corny stuff like that happens when you really like someone. Never did that with Courtney.

I follow her in and don't even hide the fact I'm staring at her butt in that skirt of hers. She sits on the edge of my bed and meets my eyes—I've been caught, but she gives me a sly grin. Her face is so red now! She's too cute. I sit to the left of her.

"So…" I start.

"What happened to your knuckles?" She looks puzzled. Do I really wanna explain that?

"I used Harold as a punching bag."

She hits me pretty good in my left shoulder, giving me a 'you really think I believe that?' look.

"Really, what happened?" She touches my knuckles lightly, looking at me for a real answer.

"I hit the machine at the arcade—I lost the game." I wish she'd just drop it. I guess this is a good answer because she stops.

"Take it easy next time," she chuckles, and then pulls a card from her skirt pocket. "I have the dumbest clue ever." She reads a statement on the card. "'Find fishes purple, green, and blue, and underneath will be your next clue.' Have you seen a fishbowl anywhere?"

I shrug. "I've never really explored the boat, it's kinda bigger than it looks from the outside. Where'd you find your clue anyway? DJ and Geoff said they found it in their rooms but I don't see anything."

Gwen gets up and walks to the pillow on the right side of the bed. She lifts it up and grabs the clue card that was hidden there. She hands it to me and sits back in her spot.

What the hell is this? This clue makes no sense. "'Butter, milk, eggs, frosting, candles, sugar, apples, baking soda, salt, and vanilla?'" I start laughing hysterically and Gwen joins me. "What is this, a grocery list?" I throw the card at the door. "All Geoff had was a picture of a cow! Why does this sound like a cake?"

"They want you to bake a cake?" Gwen's bending over and holding her sides from laughing. I'm getting a little turned on by her laughing but I contain myself—for now.

"We can deal with it tomorrow," I say, calming down my laughter. "Geoff and Deej want us to find clues with them and Malibu, that way we can all be in the final 13 together. You in?"

Gwen's laughter dies down and she smiles. "Sounds good to me…so I heard Owen talking about a pool party later tonight—"

"Yeah it's on right now. Me and Tyler were gonna fill the pool with soap and make this wicked bubble bath. It's probably filled right now." But I don't wanna go just yet, as I stare into Gwen's eyes. She gives a devious smile and I wrap both my hands around her waist and sit her on my lap. Her face is totally an open book—I can tell she's flustered and I'm loving every single minute of it.

She stammers out her next words as I remove my right hand from her waist and start caressing her right thigh, grinning. Doesn't take long to turn Gwen on.

"D-do you w-wanna go to the party?" She already knows the answer but is asking me anyway—I love this girl! Her face is a tomato right now as she's grinning mysteriously, looking down at my hand on her thigh.

"Hey, did you forget your promise?" I smile at her. "Alone time after the dumb announcement—you can't hold out on me now. We'll go later."

She opens her mouth to say something but I don't wanna hear it—in one motion I cup Gwen's chin and capture her mouth with mine. She kisses me back and I can feel she's smiling underneath our kiss. I tug her hair lightly with my left hand and we both fall on the bed. I position myself on top of her as her arms find their way around my neck, pulling me closer to deepen the kiss. I bite her lower lip and tug on it fiercely, hearing a quick intake of breath from her that gets my heart racing.

I ease up my right hand from her thigh and inch it closer to her stomach, as I kiss her harder, more feverishly. My hand is flat on her stomach as I rub my thumb back and forth on her pale body. She's squirming because she's ticklish there, which makes it even more fun for me. I then slide my hand under her thin shirt and find her bra, stroking it. I break away from Gwen's mouth and start nipping at the left side of her neck—her whole body freezes and I stop.

I turn my face to look at Gwen. "What?" I say heavily. I'm kinda fired up here and don't wanna stop. She's never complained about hickies before.

Her eyes are dead serious. "Not right now," she says sternly. I'm surprised her voice is so strong, cuz it's usually weak and what not when we make out. "I don't wanna go to the party with hickies everywhere—that's just gross."

Ok, I get it—it makes sense, but I'm still in the zone to touch her everywhere.

I brush my lips against the spot on her neck that I was at earlier and Gwen shivers—way too easy to read.

"I'm not gonna do anything you don't wanna do," I murmur into her neck. "Promise." I take my mouth off her neck and look back into her dark eyes and grin at her. "Got that?"

Gwen gives me a mischievous grin and wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me closer to her so that our lips are just centimeters apart. Damn, it's taking me everything not to rip off her clothes right now. But I don't want a kick to my face…or my kiwis, so I don't.

"Ok," she whispers huskily as I feel the word vibrate softly on my mouth. In an instant she crashes her mouth against mine and I groan loudly as she pulls tightly on my hair.

We are so not going to that party.

A/N Ok I've officially given up on line breaks, and it's much easier without them! So thank you so much for people who reviewed, you're reviews have actually given me new ideas for my story! And I decided I would break longer chapters into parts, so part 2 will come soon! :D Review if you like!