Treacherous

Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted.

A/N: Warning! This chapter, unlike the others, is definitely T-rated, so if you need reminding of those guidelines for any which reason, please go ahead and review them. Thanks so much for the detailed reviews, they make me so excited to keep writing! This chapter shows a little bit of a side of Courtney that didn't get shown all too often on TD because of the show's desire to stick to stereotypes, but that in my opinion, is super important in explaining everything that happens between her and Duncan in the show and that leads to her character unravelling as the series progresses. Hopefully I do a decent enough job at explaining her psyche in the chapter, and as always, hit that review button if you've got something to say! Enjoy :)

Chapter 6 – Surprises

"Read 'em and weep ladies," flashing my four of a kind to Bridgette and Sadie, sitting around me.

"And the pot goes to Courtney – again," Bridgette said in a sour tone. I couldn't help but beam – I loved to win, after all – as I collected the hodgepodge pot of dollars, loose change, Scrunchies, and half-empty jars of nail polish in front of me.

It was Saturday night, and while a Friday challenge meant a full weekend off, it had been raining nonstop since the previous night's marshmallow ceremony, leaving everyone feeling a little miserable – Bridgette, especially, since she lived for the sun. She, Sadie, and I decided to play poker after dinner, not wanting to leave the warmth of our cabin again – Bridgette and I already knew how to play, and after a couple rounds of teaching Sadie, the three of us were gambling away. I had a particularly good night; my parents taught me how to play Texas Holdem at the age of ten, and as their student, I became rather adept at the game. They both believed strongly in the power of having a perfect poker face, and I did my best to emulate their strategies.

"Another round?" I asked cheerily.

Bridgette made a face. "Sorry, Court, but I really don't feel like losing again. We could go and check out what the guys are up to," she suggested.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun," Sadie jumped in, likely getting bored with the game, as well.

I sighed. I didn't really want to spend time with the boys, but also didn't want to be left in the cabin alone on such a miserable night. It was choosing between the lesser of two evils. "Fine, I guess we could go."

Both girls hopped up quickly at my comment, probably hoping to get over there before I changed my mind.

"Great!" Bridgette beamed.

We stood out on the cabin porch and knocked on the guys' door, waiting for them to let us in. Thankfully it was covered, so none of us were getting wet, but nightfall combined with the storm had led the air outside to become quite chilly. I was wearing a short, pink pair of pajama bottoms and a grey sweater from my high school. Goosebumps traveled up my legs as the three of us awaited entry.

Geoff answered the door. "Well, hello, dudettes!"

Bridgette, leading the pack, smiled back at him. "Hey, Geoff. We were wondering if we could hang out here for a bit? We got bored of playing poker."

I cleared my throat, an expectant smile on my face, and raised my eyebrows. "Ahem."

Bridgette rolled her eyes and smiled. "Okay, we got tired of Courtney kicking both of our butts."

"Thank-you," I smiled, satisfied.

Geoff chuckled. "Sure, come on in, we've just been hanging."

The three of us filed in quickly, not wanting to spend another second out in the cold, and once inside, I was pleasantly surprised. You could definitely tell it was a boy's cabin from the bare walls and lack of décor – the girls had put up photos, calendars, and posters to decorate our side – but it wasn't messy at all. Laundry was in hampers, beds were (albeit sloppily) made, and bags were tucked away underneath bunks. Duncan and D.J. had apparently had the same idea as us, and were on the ground playing a game of cards, while Harold was watching from his bunk.

"So the princess plays poker, huh?" Duncan called out, his eyes not leaving his hand, as he laid down another card on the pile in front of him and D.J. "Didn't see that one coming."

I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the bunk behind Duncan, peering over his shoulder to look at his hand. "Don't judge a book by its cover," I chastised, but couldn't contain the smirk that plastered itself on my face.

"Ugh, please tell me we're not playing cards again," Bridgette whined. The weather must've been really getting to her; I had rarely seen her look so miserable.

"Uh, we can play whatever you want, Bridge," Geoff sounded panicked, as if pleasing the surfer girl was his sole aspiration in life. I rolled my eyes, and they ended up landing on Duncan's. His blue pair locked on mine, both of us apparently thinking the same thing, and I had to look away, stifling a giggle.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Sadie squealed. "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

"That's actually not the worst idea," Duncan said appreciatively.

"I'm game," D.J. chirped in.

"I'll play, too," Harold wheezed, moving from his spot on his bunk to one on the floor.

"Bridge?" Geoff questioned, hesitantly.

"Sounds like fun," she shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"Sweet!" Geoff pumped a fist in the air.

"Ugh, how old are we, twelve?" I was not looking forward to playing – especially not with Duncan. In my mind, this could turn out a number of different ways, most of them falling underneath the distinctive categories of horrifying, humiliating, or disgusting. Or a combination of the three.

"What's the matter, darling?" Duncan taunted. "Afraid you'll lose?"

I grit my teeth. "No. It just seems a little too middle school."

Bridgette chimed in, "Come on, Courtney, it won't be that bad."

"Yeah, come on, Court!" Geoff mimicked.

You've said that before, I thought, remembering the canoe fiasco. But with my whole team playing, I really didn't want to be the odd one out or the stick in the mud. I sighed. "Fine," I said, for the second time that night. I took a seat between Bridgette and Sadie in the circle my teammates had formed on the cabin floor. "But there has to be a few ground rules. One: If anyone other than the person whose turn it is vetoes the dare or the question, the person who came up with it has to come up with a new one."

"That seems fair," Bridgette nodded.

"And two: kissing dares are out of the question," I shook my head, cheeks turning a little pink as a certain delinquent came to mind. "Then it just becomes glorified spin the bottle. Agreed?"

I was met with nods and agreeable murmurs around the circle. "Good," I smiled. "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go," Duncan piped up.

Here we go, I though, letting out an audible sigh.

He took a deep breath, then looked right at me, smiling smugly. "I dare Courtney to kiss me."

"Ugh!" I cried in frustration. I could see that one coming a mile off. "Do you listen to anything I say?"

"Occasionally," he smirked.

"No kissing dares, Duncan." I seethed.

"Fine," he shrugged. "Then I dare you to-" he proceeded to propose something explicit that didn't bear repeating and turned my cheeks fire-truck red from embarrassment. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Fine," I said curtly, and I crawled over to his side of the circle. His expression was shocked. "Close your eyes." He hastily did as I asked, and in an instant, I slammed my fist down on top of his family jewels.

His eyes jerked open, and he yelped in pain, grabbing his package and falling over on his side. I could hear painful "oohs" and Bridgette's muttering of "I saw that coming," as I crawled back over to where I was seated.

"Right," I said matter-of-factly, fighting to contain my own triumphant smirk. "Duncan's turn has been revoked, hopefully along with his fertility. Who's next?"

"I'll go," Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Sadie, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" She squealed excitedly.

Bridgette had been expecting this answer, and she proposed her dare without missing a beat. "I dare you to sneak into the kitchen, steal a pack of hot chocolate, make a cup, and bring it back here for me to drink."

Sadie gulped, and I was impressed. Hot chocolate sounded really good right now. I elbowed Bridgette and held up two fingers, making an excitedly pleading face.

"Two cups," Bridgette modified.

Sadie nodded, stood up, and walked out the door.

Half an hour later, with a half-empty mug of hot cocoa in my hand, my teammates and I were having a blast, shouting out dares and laughing obnoxiously when an embarrassing truth was spilt. So far, I had done cartwheels in the rain, told the entire team all about my middle school boyfriend Tom (who was now my running-mate for student council and had filmed my audition tape back in May, in which I dropped an f-bomb and sent in anyways), and shaved one of Harold's legs, assisted by a now mostly recovered Duncan. I was laughing so hard I was close to tears, and felt positively drunk on the amiable atmosphere.

"Okay, okay, it's my turn," I spluttered out between fits of laughter. "Duncan – truth or dare?"

He grinned. "Truth."

I cocked my head to the side, stumped. I wasn't expecting that answer. "Umm . . . tell us something surprising."

"That's not a question, Court," he teased.

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Okay, what is something surprising about you?"

He bit his lip for a moment, and then responded. "Both of my parents are cops."

My jaw dropped, and the entire room erupted in gasps and "nuh-uhs."

"No way," I smiled incredulously, shaking my head a little.

"It's true," he shrugged. "Okay, Bridgette," he turned to the surfer girl beside me. "I dare you to jump into the lake . . . butt naked."

"Dude," Geoff chided.

Bridgette bit her lip. "I'll do it if Courtney does it with me."

Maybe I was feeling particularly rebellious that night. Maybe the pressure of being in the competition was a little too much at that point. Maybe hanging around Duncan more than usual was getting to me. But for whatever reason, after a pause, I nodded. "Deal, let's go." I stood up, grabbing her hand and running out to the dock.

"Woah, are they serious?" I heard someone ask from behind me, followed by "Two for the price of one!"

It was pouring outside, and in a couple of seconds, Bridgette and I were completely soaked through. "Sadie!" I called back. "Make sure those guys stay on the shore, not the dock!"

It was rainy enough that we'd just be silhouettes in the distance from their point of view, and as the two of us stood on the edge of the dock, I couldn't help but feel high on the adrenaline coursing through my veins. This was, up until that point in time, the most reckless thing I had ever done. And I couldn't stop smiling.

"It's gonna be so cold, Courtney," Bridgette said, looking down at the water below us.

"It already is, Bridgette," I laughed.

She looked at me worriedly. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean, I didn't mean to pressure you into it, it wasn't your dare . . ."

I looked behind me to make sure that none of the boys had stepped foot on the dock. They were as close as they could get without touching it, and I could only see each of their outlines. The sheets of rain were too thick to see any details. I laughed at the self-restraint they must've been calling upon, only keeping their distance out of fear that if they took another step closer, we'd back out.

I turned my gaze back to Bridgette, shivering. "On the count of three, strip?"

She nodded, eyes wide.

"One," I started.

"Two," she replied.

"Three," we said together, and I pulled my sweater over my head and tugged my shorts down, throwing both in a soaked pile on the dock and taking care not to turn around.

Bridgette finished almost as quickly as I did, starting the next count herself hastily. "One."

"Two," I responded more quickly.

"Three," she screamed. And we jumped, forming cannonballs as we fell.

When I reached the surface, I heard Bridgette scream. "Oh my God!"

"Fuck, it's cold!" I laughed, moving to grab a hold of the dock and perching there, my chest and everything south of it staying underwater. "Towels, Sadie!" I screamed.

She was back in an instant, and covered us as we pulled ourselves up onto the dock and wrapped ourselves in the soaked towels. We grabbed our clothing, and sprinted back up to the cabin, passing the boys as we went.

"I think it's safe to say, Courtney and I win!" Bridgette called back to them. I giggled, both at her comment and the fact that the four of them still seemed completely stunned by what had just happened. "Goodnight!" she called, and we made our way into our cabin to warm up, dry off, and change into fresh clothes.

It was a magnificent and rare occasion, that night – like witnessing a flash of volcanic lightening or seeing bioluminescence for the first time. I allowed myself to let my hair down for once, and it felt exciting and new, a breath of fresh air. I had done so before, occasionally with friends, on sleepovers or at parties. I knew, though, as I lied down to sleep that night, that while living in color was fun, it wasn't sustainable. I couldn't make a habit of it, nor did I really want to at that point in time. Staying like that, so completely out of control, on any type of regular basis, would've kill me. But those moments of spontaneity, however infrequently they took ahold of me, were important, too. Without them, I would've cracked under all the pressure I put on myself to be in control, to be perfect.

It was an addictive feeling, giving up control, and for a sixteen-year-old perfectionist, I managed it well. I didn't do it enough at the time to really know how strong its effects could be.

I made a lot of choices throughout my time on Total Drama that I would come to regret, but letting a few strands of hair down that night was never one of them.