Hey guys! Well, I'm sorry if this chapter is short, but the reason is because this was supposed to be part of last chapter, but I never got a chance to write it out. Anyways, in this version of TDI, there was no hotub contest, just to clear that up. Also, expect next chapter to be REALLY long, and I swear that the original characters will have their time in the light. Like next chapter, a LOT of Gwen and Trent, just to let you know. Okay, onwards!
Courtney tensed as she felt the cold glares penetrated her back. She looked up and scowled at the perpetrator. "What do you want, ogre?" she spat, looking at him straight in the eye. Duncan snorted as he stabbed his mash potato that was slowly crawling away. "Why do you think, Princess?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You cost us a challenge."
Bridgette sighed and massaged her temple. "So we really have to vote someone off?" she asked, feeling very uncomfortable at the notion. "But everyone seems so nice..."
Duncan smirked. "It's not about being nice, Blondie," he replied, twirling his fork in the air. "It's about winning. And I think we should discuss who we should vote off."
Everyone agreed with him, glancing at each other with nervous looks. "So...who do you think should be off first?" Dosko asked, biting his lip. He looked at Emma, who was staring at him furiously. He slowly turned away and cleared his throat. "Hehe...." Duncan glared at Courtney, who was taking notes in her notebook. "What about Miss Chicken?"
Courtney's head snapped up in shock. "What?! Why?!" she exclaimed. The punk sniggered and propped his head up on his elbow. "Well, it's either you or the paranoid brickhouse, and just in case the challenges consist of catching falling cars, I would stick with the big guy." DJ chuckled as he gave the deliquent a high-five. The brunette girl felt her eye twitch. "Come ON guys, I was a CIT!"
Izzy flicked a flustered Courtney's nose and grinned. "We heard that the first 10,234 times, Chickenhead. Believe me, I counted!" Bomby nodded as he poked his head from under the table. "You got that right. Hey, is Chef gone? I mean messing with him is fun and all, but....I'm kinda hungry..."
Emma looked at the piece of meat she was about to feed Booboo and sighed. "Here, you may have mine," she whispered, giving it to the green-haired ex-recruit. He grinned at her and was about to take it, but he stopped. He didn't know if it was the huge adrenaline rush he had earlier that day or if the medication boot camp had given him had finally caught up to him, but he swore that he saw Emma's ugly doll slowly turn his head to him and glare at him with button eyes. Bomby's face grew pale and his eyes grew large. Meeping, he scurried away from the pair.
Trent immediately stopped chewing as he slowly looked up to see Bomby gripping at his head tightly, body shaking. The musician only stared for a few minutes before clearing his throat. "Um....Bomby, Bomby right?"
"Uh-huh...." the boy attached to his head said shakily.
"Can I have my head back?"
Bomby stiffened, then silently scanned the room. Everyone had dropped their conversations and were staring at him like he had six heads or something. Slowly, he climbed off Trent and sat next to him politely. Slowly, the rest of the campers resumed their conversations. Trent raised an eyebrow. "So...what was so freaky that you were groping my head?" he asked, his eyes clearly interested. The shade-wearing boy gulped and leaned his head forwards. "That doll...it's ALIVE..." he whispered hoarsely. Trent followed his gaze towards Booboo, which was seemingly staring back at him. Feeling unnerved, the guitar-playing boy shifted his eyes away from the monstrosity. He looked at Bomby with fear-ridden eyes. "I'll bring the stake if you bring the garlic."
"Got it."
Lindsay curled a strand of blonde hair around her finger and giggled as she gave a small wave towards Tyler. The red-clad jock waved back dreamily. Eva, whom was sitting next to him, felt her eye twitch madly. This always happens! she thought grudgingly, feeling her stomach turn over in a knot as the blonde beauty gave her crush a lovestruck smile. Eva looked away. It seemed that every time she liked a boy, a pretty, weak, air-headed girl would saunter in and seduce him into her clutches. It was maddening.
Tyler turned away from the silent flirting and gave Eva a warm grin. "So what do you think? Who should we vote off?"
Eva's stone heart involuntarily fluttered under his friendly gaze. "Well, erm, uh...actually..."
"WHAT ABOUT HIM?" Courtney screeched, pointing to Tyler, who just looked at her with dumbstruck eyes. "NO!" Lindsay and Eva screamed at the same time. The room quieted and stared at the pair incredulously. The two girls shifted nervously and then sat down quietly at their table. Tyler looked taken aback, his eyes full of surprise. He had expected Lindsay coming to his defense, but Eva...that was another story. He tilted his head quizzically at the buff girl, whose face was seething silently. "It's...just...er...well...you're not weak and all...you know..." she stuttered, cursing herself for not being smoother.
Tyler's spirits perked up and he gave her a small smile. "Thanks," he said cheerfully. Eva could only gawk at his oh-so cute smile. She'd promise herself that she wouldn't ever go all ga-ga over a guy like those prissy little weaklings in the movies, but here she was, melting at his grin. She once again cursed herself for turning against everything she believed in.
Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble Princess, but he actually jumped," he said smugly, enjoying the maddening look on the brunette girl's face. "I guess it just leaves us with you."
Courtney trembled in anger. "B-but....but...but..." she stuttered, feeling an overwhelming collection of emotions beat against her. DJ bit his lip. He hated seeing girls crying. Yeah, Courtney had acted like a selfish brat, but...
He sighed. Maybe I can sacrifice myself, he thought to himself. I'll just hold everyone back but...Momma...
Fiorella yawned and looked sleepily from her place on DJ's lap (which she had coddled without consent). "What's up?" she asked groggily, wiping the crust away from her eyes. She looked at the scene before her. Duncan and Courtney yelling endlessly, Dosko squirming uncomfortably under Emma's intent gaze, Trent and Bomby arming themselves against an unknown evil, Izzy poking Ezekiel's belly button relentlessly, Tyler talking to a blushing Eva, and a bitchy Heather glaring at Gwen and LeShawna.
"Do I want to know?" she asked, fixing her brown headband. DJ chuckled and patted her head. "I don't think so..." he trailed off, contemplating on what he should do. Fiorella noticed this and tugged at his t-shirt. "Is something wrong?" she asked sincerely, her eyes now clear from the effects of the drugs. "Tell me."
DJ shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "I think people should vote me off." he stated simply. The hippie's eyes bulged from their sockets. "What?! Why?!" she asked, biting her lip in confusion.
The gentle giant sighed and pointed to the scene in front of him. "I just...can't. I can't make somebody leave here. They all have high hopes and..."
Fiorella stared at him in concern. "That's the whole point of the competition, hun," she said, ignoring his blush at the word hun. "You're supposed to pick people off. But yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from. It'd be tough to vote someone off on the first day." Her eyes drifted over to Ezekiel who was stirring the goop in his soup.
The toque wearing boy sighed. "I just don't get it, eh," he said with a sigh. "I mean, they're the ones with eight girls!"
The room suddenly grew quiet, with the girls gaping at him in shock, and the guys only shaking their heads in sorrow. Even Michael stopped stabbing the table for a second. Bridgette glared at him heatedly. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she seethed, approaching his seat with deadpanned eyes. Eva snapped out of her lovestruck daze and narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah Homeschool, enlighten us," she growled, punching a hole into the wall.
Ezekiel flinched and gulped. "Um, well, it's just that boys are much stronger and faster than girls, eh," he explained, not noticing the maddening leers from the females in the room. Geoff approached him and shook his head. "Dude, you did NOT just say that," he said with a remorseful chuckle. Eva growled and began to strangle him. "STILL THINK WE'RE WEAKER THAN YOU?!" she roared, throttling him madly.
"...N-no..." Ezekiel meeped hoarsely, clutching her knuckles in a desperate attempt to stop her. Geoff bit his lip and tried to calm the girls down. "C'mon girls, chillax, give the dude a break. I mean, it's not like he said that boys are smarter than girls or something like that."
Ezekiel weakly pulled himself back into his seat and massaged his throat. "But...they...are..." he managed to gasp out. Noah slapped his forehead and sighed. "He's a goner," he murmured. Jude felt her vein throb heavily in rage. She was about to get up and give the little f-cker a piece of her mind when she felt a hand restrain her. "...Not worth it..." Long muttered simply. The tomboy felt her muscles tighten, then relax, and slowly, she let herself slide back into her seat. "Thanks..." she murmured, giving him a goofy grin. Long only nodded and went back to eating his food.
Eva roared again, breaking her team's table in half. She was about to make a grab for Ezekiel when a certain emo stood in her way. "C'mon guys, I mean, the dude's homeschooled right?"
The group looked at each other and nodded their heads reluctantly. Eva sneered. "But that doesn't give him any excuse for insulting the female race like that!" she said through gritted teeth. Dosko took a step back, feeling a little unnerved by the gym buff's glare. "Er, yeah, I know, but, I mean...okay look, Ezekiel, have you ever in your life gone to a mall?"
The praire boy tilted his head to the right innocently. "What's a mall?" he asked naively. The room grew silent once more. Izzy gasped in shock. "What?! My precious Zeke doesn't even know what a mall is?!" Her frown slowly formed into a mischevious grin. "Oh, is there a lot that I'm gonna have to teach you!" she said, her eyes glinting with the unmistakable glimmer of a schemer.
Cackling wildly, the wild red-head grabbed the poor boy with a vice-like grip and then tore through the door. And I meant that quite literally, as she didn't even bother opening the door; instead, an Izzy-shaped hole was now visible to all. Eva grinned ear to ear. "Somehow, I think that tonight will be enough torture for him to go through..." she murmured evilly. Bridgette huffed and looked away. "That was still extremely uncalled for though," she muttered. Geoff sat next to her and rubbed her back. "Hey, be easy on the dude. I mean, if he didn't even know what a mall was, I'm sure he didn't know what he said was like, totally bad."
Bridgette sighed and sank lower into her seat. "I guess you're right..." she muttered. "Fine, I won't vote for him." She looked up at Eva who was deep in thought. "What about you? Are you gonna vote for him?"
Eva waved it off. "Nah, whatever that psycho girl's got planned for him will be ten times worse than whatever I could do, as sorry as I am to say that." She looked around and her eyes settled on Courtney. "Miss CIT, however, will be getting my vote."
Courtney banged her head against the table and sighed. "B-but you n-need me..." she muttered quietly. DJ once again flinched at this action and stood up. "You know what y'all," he said with a sniff. "Vote for me!"
The table looked at him with incredulous gazes. "What, why?" Duncan asked, a pierced eyebrow raised. The brickhouse sighed. "I just can't stand seeing girls cry...I mean, sure, she can be a bossy, spoiled, whiny little brat but still..."
Fiorella looked up and gave him a peaceful smile. "Ladies and gentleman..." she said as she stood onto the table, a knowing smirk on her face. "I think I have a plan."
Bonfire Ceremony
Chris stood at the podium, with a look of relish on his face. He smirked at the down-cast group and smoothed back his hair. "Hello ladies and ladies," he joked, ignoring a death threat from Duncan. "Tonight you are all here because you lost your very first challenge! Losers!"
The people in front of him groaned in annoyance and acknowledgement. The sadistic host continued, his eyes flickering from one camper to another. "I have fourteen marshmellows on this here tray...yet, there are fifteen of you. If I call your name, please come up and recieve your tasty treat. You will be safe...for now." He smirked at the uncomfortable shifts seen throughout the campfire. "However...if I do not call your name, you will have to walk the Dock of Shame, get into the Boat of Losers, and you can't come back...
"EVER!!!!!!!"
The campers flinched in surprise as the host blurted out the last phrase. He chuckled and picked up the first marshmellow. He looked at each and every one of the campers, studying there faces, enjoying the fact that he was making them sweat and squirm under his gaze. He chuckled and threw the fluffy treat towards a camper.
"Geoff!"
"Booyah!" the party animal whooped. He gave Duncan and DJ a high-five before sitting back down. Chris rolled his eyes and flicked another one towards Dosko. The emo gave a victory punch in the air and sat back down before grinning intently at Emma, who was trying very hard not to smile.
"Duncan!" The juvie kid smirked as he caught his marshmellow and popped it in his mouth. He then looked towards Courtney and smirked.
"Boomby!" Chris threw the marshmellow at an empty seat. "Wait, where's Bomby?" he asked confused.
Back at the Mess Hall
Trent and Cody stared at each other with uneasiness as they watched Bomby scale into the kitchen. "Dude, are you sure that's safe?" Cody asked, nearly wetting his pants in nervousness. Bomby only grinned before plopping into the room and waiting quietly for Chef to come in. Trent looked at the geek beside him and laughed nervously. "Why are we here?" he whispered, looking around in fright. "Something about Chef, a possessed doll, and pepper." Cody responded, not really understanding what he was saying himself.
The two paused before slowly slipping away in the shadows.
Bonfire Ceremony
Something in Chris' mind told him he didn't really want to know, so he ignored the ex-recruit's absence. "Alright folks....Bridgette!" The surfer girl grinned as she grabbed the snack and popped it in her mouth, not noticing Geoff's silent dance of joy.
"Harold,"
The lanky nerd gave a murmured "Yes!" before sitting back down with the marshmellow.
"Eva!" The fitness buff only grunted as she squished the snack with her fist. The gooey paste landed right into Courtney's hair, who growled softly, before turning away.
"Eva, you're gonna love this one....TYLER!" The jock pumped his fist into the air before trying to catch his reward and failing miserably, as he tripped over his own feet and landed onto Eva's lap. The serious girl huffed before looking away, hoping no one saw her mad blush.
"Saaaaaaadie!"
The BFF gave a shriek of joy before grabbing her marshmellow and gobbling it down happily.
"Fiorella!" The hippie caught hers easily, and gave a smile of serenity towards the host.
"Izz-wait where's Izzy?" Chris asked, scratching his head in thought. "On that note, where's Ezekiel? I have a marshmellow for the dude too."
The campers looked at each other and shuddered. They could only imagine the horror that the praire boy was going through at the hands of a pyschotic girl. Chris shrugged and threw the two marshmellows into the ocean, where they were immediately gobbled up by two pairs of tentacles.
"Anyways....I now have two marshmellows on this plate. Yet there are three of you you..." he said quietly, flickering his gaze from DJ to Emma to Courtney. "The second to last marshmellow goes to...
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"........................................DJ!"
The brickhouse heaved a sigh mixed with relief and remorse. He stared nervously as the two girls started to shift in their seats uncomfortably. Emma hugged her doll tightly against her chest, while Courtney rocked back and forth in her seat. The host smirked, juggling the last marshmellow in his hand casually, looking at the two teens. "Campers...this....is the last marshmellow of the evening..."
The two girls glanced at each other and back at the host. Chris gave a smug look and continued with speech. "And the last marshmellow goes to....
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"................................................................................................................................................Both of you!"
The campers gave a shocked expression as the host split the marshmellow in two and tossed them towards Emma and Courtney. "B-but...but....but...who did they vote off then...?" Courtney sputtered out as a mixed concoction of relief and confusion came over her. Chris smirked and took his gaze towards Emma. "Creepy schizo girl...you are safe...but your doll isn't."
Emma's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-what?" she whimpered, cuddling her beloved rag doll closer. Chris grinned. "Apparently, a lot of your teammates believe that Booboo wouldn't be a good teamplayer."
The creepy girl's eyes watered as a disgruntled Chef pulled her doll out of her tiny hands. "B-booboo..." she hiccuped. She began to wail as she watched her doll being tossed onto the boat and driven away. "Booboo..."
Suddenly, the remorseful look in her eyes were replaced with a look of hatred. Slowly, she turned around and faced her team. "You won't get rid of us so easily...." she whispered before running away, sobbing. Dosko bit his lip hesitantly before following her.
Duncan rolled his eyes and sneered at Fiorella. "Great, your wonderful idea has gotten us stuck with a grudge from a girl who looks like she could of stepped out of 'The Ring'," he grumbled. Fiorella raised her hands in defense. "It's just a doll; I'm sure that Emma will understand somehow."
Somewhere in the woods...
Emma was still running, tripping over her own feet as she finally sank under a tree and sobbed into her arms. She twitched as she heard a twig snap under somebody's foot. She snarled and looked as if she was going to attack the newcomer, but immediately stopped in her tracks. "Oh, it's you..." she muttered before sliding back down the tree trunk. Dosko gave her a soft smile before sitting next to you. They sat in silence for a bit, the silence overwhelming. Finally Emma snapped her head towards to dark haired boy and scowled. "Oh please, I know that you probably voted off Booboo as well," she muttered.
Dosko gave her a look of confusion. "Um, no actually. I didn't really think of voting off a doll."
She looked at him quizically. "Y-you mean that...?" she whispered. He nodded before tilting his head in concern. "Why are you upset that your doll got voted off?"
Emma looked away. "You'll think I'm crazy. They ALL do..." she murmured softly. Dosko hesitated before proceeding. "I promise, I won't think of you like that, okay?"
The creepy girl looked at him before sighing miserably. "He was my only friend...the only one who talks to me...the only one who listens to me..." she whispered. She flinched when felt someone's hand go over her own. "I'm your friend."
Emma shot Dosko a look. "Yeah right, you're just saying that," she snapped looking away. Dosko got in front of her and tilted her chin so she could face him. "I'm not! I mean, look, you may be a little...erm...different, but that doesn't mean that you aren't fun to be around with!"
She sniffed and looked up. "R-really?" she said, barely above a whispered. "Uh-huh..." Slowly, their faces started to inch forward, closer....closer...closer...
"BONZAI!"
The two snapped their heads back to attention, only to see Izzy riding an exhausted Ezekiel like a horse. "Izzy...can...I...stop...now...?" the boy panted, his knees wobbling a bit. Izzy grinned immensely. "Nuh-uh-uh-uh!" she tsked, flicking the back of his head. "Izzy still has much to teach you little one!" With that, the wild girl smacked Zeke's butt, and the two went riding away into the moonlit woods. Emma and Dosko slowly glanced at each other before getting up.
"Should we go to the cabins...?
"I think so..."
And so, the two friends went down the path leading to the campgrounds, ignoring Ezekiel's distant pleas and Izzy's maniacal cackles.
End of Day 1
A/N: Sorry if I didn't put a lot of the Screaming Gophers, but this is what I like to call a "team chapter", meaning that it focuses on only one team, seeing that it was the elimination ceremony. Anyways...like it? Hate it? Haha, I surprised you all didn't I? Yeah, I thought that having Courtney leaving would be too cruel...so...walah!
R&R, I would love to know what you think!
Love,
Hana