A few days after the disastrous night out camping, all the contestants had gathered for breakfast in the dining hall. Cody was playing around with a gummy worm he had gotten from the tuck shop he and the other Gophers had visited as a reward for winning the previous challenge, since Chef wasn't around to force-feed him the 'food' he had prepared for them.
He breathed in, accidentally inhaling the gummy in the process, and quickly coughed it back up, sending it flying across the room and landing on the Bass' dining table. DJ let out a loud scream as it landed right in front of him.
"Snake! There's a snake!" He yelled, diving under the table. Unfortunately, he was far too big to fit, and ended up sending the thing over onto it's side, almost squashing Beth as she struggled to get out of the way in time.
Duncan picked the pink sugary snack and held it up for all to see. "Chill, dude. It's just a gummy worm." He then proceeded to fling it into the kitchen, wiping his hands on his shirt with a disgusted look on his face.
"Sorry for tripping, snakes just freak me out." DJ muttered, crawling out from behind the table, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"I feel you. Chickens give me the creeps, dude." Tyler said, patting his teammate on the back reassuringly.
"You're afraid of chickens?" Gwen asked, trying to contain a laugh.
Duncan, however, was not so gracious in his reaction. "Chickens? That's- that's really lame man."
Confessionals Start
"The next thing I know, everyone is having this big old share-fest over our slop." Gwen sat with one leg over the other, a bored look on her face. "Beth went on for a little too long about how her mortal fear is being covered in bugs, Ezekiel talked about his fear of flying, and I haven't even gotten to the weird stuff!"
Confessionals End
"What's my worst fear?" Gwen tapped at her chin in thought. "I guess being buried alive."
"Mine would have to be walking through a minefield. In heels." Lindsay shuddered at the thought.
"Hail's pretty scary, man. It's like- small, but deadly." Geoff said.
Katie toyed with a lock of her hair, anxiously. "Bad haircuts."
Lindsay's eyes widened as she brought a hand to her own hair. "Okay yeah, I change my fear. A bad haircut is way worse."
LeShawna sent her friend a confused look, but shrugged it off. "Spiders are pretty creepy, with all their hair and legs and eyes and just..." The girl let out a noise of disgust.
"I know this is gonna sound kind of weird, but like, sumo wrestlers," Heather mumbled, chewing her lip. "Just, from their angry faces to their diets, everything about them freaks me out."
Cody swung his legs back and forth as he shoved another handful of gummy worms into his mouth. "Having to defuse a time bomb under pressure."
Noah gave him a weird look. "A little specific, but okay." The tan boy shrugged, before putting one hand under his head to hold it up. "I don't really have any fears." Cody stifled a laugh, thinking back to how Noah seemed to have a particular hatred for one of the elements of the outdoors.
"Yeah, I call bull." Duncan smirked, crossing his arms. Noah shot him a glare as he sat up straighter, as if doing so would make him seem more sure of himself.
"Oh, really? Well then, would you mind sharing your phobia with us?" Noah asked, causing the punk's eyes to widen and the smirk to leave his face. He looked from camper to camper, only to find them all staring at him in anticipation.
Duncan looked down to the ground, kicking at it lightly with his shoe. He didn't need to see the other campers faces to know that they were all staring at him, awaiting his answer. "C-Céline Dion music store standees." He mumbled, his face turning red from embarrassment.
Cody burst out laughing, his smile so big his eyes partially closed in the process. "Ex-squeeze me? I didn't quite get that!" He continued to laugh as the delinquent sent him a glare, clearly unaffected.
"Dude, did you say Céline Dion music store standees?" Trent asked, clearly amused. "They're- they're just cardboard cutouts. They can't do anything except stand there and stare at you." The black-haired teen tried to silence his laughter, largely out of pity for his friend, but also since no one aside from Ezekiel seemed to be trying.
"Yeah, and that's part of what makes them so creepy. Besides, it's not like I'm the only one here with a stupid fear." Duncan glanced over to Tyler as he said that, causing the jock to quiet down immediately. "What are you guys afraid of anyways?"
"Well, I hate mimes. Like, a lot." Gwen rolled her eyes at Trent's response, clearly annoyed that his fear wasn't something that could be easily manipulated whilst on the island. Silence filled the air and a few campers turned to Noah, staring at him expectantly, including Trent. "Okay dude, you're definitely afraid of something."
"Perhaps I am. But I don't believe it's a good idea to disclose my weaknesses to potential enemies." Noah rolled his eyes as he stood up, pushing away his half-finished breakfast. "Well, I'll be leaving now. Can't say I enjoyed the little bonding session, but oh well." The boy then left the room with Ness hopping close behind, just as Chef entered.
The large, muscular man looked out over the dining hall, the Bass' table still on it's side and bowls of his homemade goop sticking to the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. His eye began to twitch in anger, causing some campers to take the hint and run out before he could yell at them, whilst those that remained, either because they were too slow or too busy hiding, were forced to clean up the mess that had been made.
•・・・•・・・•
It was almost time for lunch, and most of the contestants were under the impression that that day would be another one without a challenge; something that they were quite pleased about. Chris, however, had other ideas. He let out a loud whistle, rounding up the teenagers. "Campers! Your next challenge is a little game I like to call: Phobia Factor! Prepare to face your worst fears!"
"Worse than this?" LeShawna questioned, holding up a dead rat she had found under her bunk.
"We're in trouble." Lindsay shivered, staring at the rodent corpse in disgust.
"Now for our first victims," Chris pulled a cue card out from behind his back and read the name on it, the smirk on his face getting bigger by the second. "Heather! Meet us all in the theatre! It's sumo time!"
Heather, who had been eating some gummy worms given to her by Cody, instantly spat them out in shock, spraying them all over ground. "No! I don't- How did you- No no no!" She gripped onto Lindsay's arm as she started to sob, causing the taller blonde to almost feel sorry for her. Almost.
"Gwen!" Chris said, drawing the lone girl's attention away from the scene Heather was causing to stare at the host. "You, me, the beach? A couple tonnes of sand?" The redhead let out a gasp as looks of realisation began to appear on other campers faces.
"H-how did they... how did they know those were our worst fears?" Heather managed to choke out, trying to wipe away her tears. Lindsay ripped her arm from the shorter girl's grasp as Noah began to pat her back comfortingly, causing him to send a glare her way.
"Because we told them." Gwen said, her hands flying to her face as she let out a loud groan of annoyance.
When Heather only responded with a confused look, Noah decided to elaborate on what Gwen had said. "This morning, at breakfast, when everyone shared their fears."
Heather's expression went from scared and confused to angry as she remembered what Gwen had said. What's my worst fear? I guess being buried alive. "They were listening to us?" She sniffed, her cheeks beginning to turn red. "That's so not cool beans!"
"It's a reality show, honey. They're always listening to us." Noah muttered, earning a few glares from the others and a slap on the wrist from his pet bunny.
There was the sound of footsteps from the path to the dining hall, and everyone turned to see Chef walking down to the group, a covered plate in one hand as he smiled wickedly. "Chef Hatchet! Didn't you have a special order for Tyler over here?" Chris asked.
Chef nodded, the smile on his face only seeming to get more malicious as he stopped in front of the jock. He held the plate right in front of Tyler's face, and pulled off the cover, revealing a whole deep fried chicken underneath. Chickens give me the creeps, dude. Nervously, Tyler picked it up, and took a large bite from where the head shook have been.
Instead of the juicy and tender white meat of a well-cooked chicken, however, Tyler was met with a live one, completely unharmed and full of energy. It let out a loud cluck, causing Tyler to scream and drop it to the ground, running off into the woods to escape his fear.
•・・・•・・・•
The challenge had officially begun, and Beth was up first for the Killer Bass. Chris had managed to find an inflatable kiddy pool that was made up of more patches that covered gaping holes than the actual original material. It was filled to the brim with different kinds of bugs and creepy crawlies, and some of the campers looked to be on the verge of fainting.
Beth went on for a little too long about her mortal fear is being covered by bugs... Beth looked at the kiddie pool, watching all the different creatures wiggle and squirm. The detective wannabe took a deep, albeit shaky breath, and handed her glasses to DJ before diving into the pool.
After a few seconds, Beth reappeared on the other side of the pool, a few worms in her mouth. She spat them out in disgust, as her team let out cheers of victory. "And Beth sets the bar way up there!" Chris announced, as a small ding could be heard, signifying that the Bass had gotten the first point. DJ quickly handed her her glasses before going off to puke, Timmy staying behind to clap happily. When no one else was around, the raccoon dived into the pool, happily munching away at the creepy crawlies.
The next two up were Katie and Lindsay. The two girls had been seated on stools inside the dining hall, and Chris was approaching them slowly, as if trying to get one of them to snap, with two mullet wigs in his hands. Bad haircuts... When neither moved, he gently rested them on top of their heads, making sure not to let a single part of their normal hair show.
As soon as the wig touched her head, Lindsay reacted. She let out a loud, high-pitched scream, and flung the mullet off her head and into Chef's kitchen, causing it to land in the deep fryer. "I am not wearing that lice-infested rat hair on my head!" She yelled, before storming out of the room.
A few of the Gophers, although it was mainly Noah, let out disappointed sighs and began to mutter about what they would do if they lost. Heather began to panic as she overheard a few of her teammates talk about how by some miracle they lost, seeing as they did have more members on their team, making it harder for the Bass to win, whether voting for Lindsay would be a good idea.
Ezekiel talked about his fear of flying... Ezekiel stood in front of the propeller plane that Chef had put together last minute before the challenge. The rusted panels looked ready to disintegrate, and one of the wings looked like it would fall off at any moment. Chef, dressed in a flight attendant outfit, motioned for the homeschooled boy to come on.
Ezekiel shook as he stepped onboard, and as soon as he'd closed the door behind himself, Chef began to fly the plane up high into the air, causing Ezekiel to let out a loud scream of fear as he was knocked to the back of the plane. He watched from the window as bits of tape began to peel off the wings, revealing deep cracks all along it's surface. Chef did a giant loop in the sky, causing a loose object to hit Ezekiel on the head, knocking him out.
LeShawna was on the ground, shaking in fear as she backed away from an intern dressed in a giant purple spider costume. The inter reached out one of his fake arms in an attempt to comfort her, but the girl slapped it so hard that it flew off. Realising what she could do to win the challenge, or at least her part of it anyway, LeShawna kicked the spider intern in the stomach so hard that he jumped back a few steps, before collapsing to the ground.
"And LeShawna earns the Bass their second point!" Chris declared, the small ding going off again. The Killer Bass cheered, holding LeShawna up high. The girl looked over at the Gophers, before locking eyes with Lindsay. She let a smirk slip onto her face and winked, causing Lindsay to mirror her expression. Beth had been eyeing the two girls suspiciously without their knowledge, witnessing the whole interaction, as she was trailing behind the rest of her team due to Timmy clawing at her leg.
"Heather!" Chris slammed his hand down onto the poor girl's shoulder, a grin on his face. Heather let out a whimper as she began to shake, tearing up yet again at the thought of facing her fear. "You're up next. Of course, if you don't want to go up against the poor guy we hired to do this, you don't have to, but-"
"I'll do it." Heather said, her voice cracking as she headed off to the theatre. Every part of her shook as she got closer and closer, almost all of the campers following her from a distance in case she decided to run away at the last second. As she climbed the steps to the stage, her heart beat fast in her chest, the blood in her pumping so hard that she was certain everyone on the island could hear it.
Confessionals Start
"Whether Lindsay did the right thing or not during the talent show doesn't matter. We're friends, and I can't let her go home early." Heather was still noticeably shaking, but far calmer than she was standing in front of the giant sumo wrestler. "And we're in an alliance that she's in charge of. Without her it'd kind of fall apart. But she's my friend mainly!"
Confessionals End
Heather stood opposite the sumo wrestler, every part of her quivering and shaking so hard she was certain her legs would give way at any moment. I know this is gonna sound kind of weird, but like, sumo wrestlers... "This isn't cool beans. Not one bit." She whimpered as her fear began to run at her, letting out a cry in an attempt to make her back down at the last second.
Instead, she did something no one was expecting. Heather ran directly at the 300 pound fighting machine, her eyes squeezed shut as she launched herself at the behemoth. Thankfully for the raven-haired girl's safety, she wasn't perfectly skinny, otherwise she might've been launched back a few hundred metres after hurling herself into the man's stomach. Instead, she ended up tumbling backwards of the stage and rolling for a bit, before stopping just outside the woods.
Although she had been unsuccessful in her attempt to beat the professional sumo wrestler she had been put up against, Heather had been successful in obtaining a point for her team, something they were very, very thankful for. Gwen rushed over to help her up, with Geoff following soon after, leading her back over to the group.
"That was really brave of you, dudette." Geoff complimented Heather, a goofy grin on his face. "I'm not sure I'd be able to hurl myself head first into a hail storm."
"That's probably because you are physically unable to, Geoff." Gwen reminded him, causing him to let out an embarrassed laugh. "But I agree. That was pretty cool, Heather."
"Oh, it was nothing really. I'm sure you guys will do way better than me anyways." Heather said, her face turning red from all the praise. That's when Chris suddenly appeared in front of them, an two interns behind, surrounding the trio. Without warning, the host pushed Gwen backwards, and the interns caught her in a glass case, closing it as soon as she was inside.
The redhead hit the container she was trapped in angrily, glaring at the host. "Chris, what the hell? Let me out!" She yelled, thankful that there was a small opening in the glass that she could slide open so he could hear her properly. The interns began to drag her away to the beach as she screamed, Geoff and Heather running after them as Chris laughed.
Once they had finally reached the beach, the interns tossed Gwen into a pit they had dug in the sand, before beginning to cover her up. "Oh, great, thanks for the warning." She commented, although they ignored her as they continued to work.
Geoff, who was standing back nervously, noticed that both the interns had walkie talkies strapped to their waists. He managed to swipe them whilst neither were paying any attention to what was going on around them, and the party boy bent down so he was close to the opening in her case.
"Hey, don't worry Gwen. I'll be right here." He dropped the communication device inside, causing Gwen to smile with newfound comfort. "You've got enough air in their for maybe an hour? It's a big case, I dunno. But you've only got to be in there for," Geoff noticed one of the interns setting up a timer and placing it into the sand next to Gwen's pit, "five minutes.
"I'll be here the whole time, I promise. If you panic, just call and I'll dig you up straight away, no problem." The warm smile on Geoff's face was enough to convince Gwen that he was telling the truth, and so she smiled back as she slid the opening shut and waved him goodbye, just as her face was covered up with sand.
•・・・•・・・•
DJ was up on the theatre's stage, his hands in his hoodie pockets as he eyed the tiny snake in front of him, tucked away in its enclosure. Snake! There's a snake! ...Sorry for tripping, snakes just freak me out. "You can do it, DJ! We believe in you!" Beth cheered from the Bass' bench, a few of their teammates cheering along with her.
The large teen took in a deep breath, before stretching out his arm so the snake could slither onto his hand. After a few seconds, and no negative reaction from the tiny reptile, DJ pulled his arm back with it not resting on his palm, a smile on his face. The cheers grew even louder, as the Bass' counter went up from two to three.
As Chris led everyone off to the next unconquered phobia, Lindsay pulled LeShawna aside. "What's going on? 'Cause right now, your team seems to be pretty far in the lead." She hissed.
"Don't worry about it, girl. Your team has way more people than ours, and 'sides, I bet I could convince Katie to throw off that wig of hers before her time's up. No biggie." LeShawna smirked, placing a hand on Lindsay's shoulder. "I have no idea why you're so worried about this. I can guarantee you, Katie's going home tonight."
Lindsay squinted her eyes at her friend, before sighing and crossing her arms as they continued to walk. "You better be right. Or else I'll have no choice but to tell the other fishies what you've been doing behind their backs."
"Wouldn't put it past you, blondie."
•・・・•・・・•
There were three minutes left on the timer, and Geoff had managed to make himself comfortable by lying down on the sand. "You still alive in there?" Geoff joked into his walkie talkie, using his cowboy hat to shield his face from the sun.
"Yeah. How much time do I have left?" Gwen asked, fear evident in her voice.
"Just three more minutes, then I'll dig you up. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, don't worry." Heather had left to go watch the other contestants, leaving Geoff almost entirely alone on the beach. Trent and Duncan were a couple metres away, talking about something he didn't particularly care about.
"I need some kind of distraction. Could you tell me a story? Just anything, really."
Geoff let his mind wander as he began to think of something to say, when the idea dawned upon him. "Would how I became afraid of hail be okay? I figure it'd kind of help me ready myself against it, y'know, if I told you and stuff."
"That'd be great!" There was a pause. "I mean- only if you want to, of course."
"Of course I want to, I was the one who suggested it." The blonde got up and put his hat back on his head, pacing back and forth a bit as he tried to remember. "It was a long time ago. When I was six, maybe, I don't know, but I was tiny. I remember seeing this stuff on the TV about huge balls of ice, like golf balls, hitting cars and stuff and totally destroying them. It messed me up, dudette. So I guess that's why I- ow!"
"Geoff? What's going on?" Gwen asked, as Geoff continued to yell in pain. Unknown to either of them, Chris had been waiting nearby all along, waiting for the perfect time to test out his weather simulator. He had managed to make a cloud form just over Geoff's head, raining down a steady stream of hail upon him.
One of the balls of ice hit Geoff's walkie talkie, effectively destroying it beyond repair. The poor teen ran past Trent and Duncan, earning a couple of laughs from them. When he noticed Chris standing amongst the trees away from all the commotion and the remote control in his hand, Trent smiled. "Hey Chris! Can you make it go a bit lower?" He yelled, and the host did just that.
As Geoff ran around with his whole head now inside the cloud, Duncan turned to his friend. "I didn't realise you were such an asshole." He snickered, earning a playful nudge in the ribs.
"Guess you're rubbing off on me." Duncan burst out laughing, slapping a hand onto Trent's back as he did so to keep himself steady. "What? What is it?"
"That sounded really gay dude." The delinquent smirked as he watched his musician friend fumble and stumble for words in his pitiful attempt at a response.
The host stepped out of the trees, the other campers, sans Ezekiel, all joining him. The teen could be heard faintly screaming somewhere in the distance, barely audible over the loud clanking and engine noises made by the plane he was in. "Looks like Gwen has two minutes to go, so Cody, you're up next!" Chris said, walking down the beach and motioning for the geek so follow him.
Having to defuse a time bomb under pressure. Cody swallowed hard as he began to walk across the sand, his knees ready to give way at any moment. Out of all the other campers, Noah was the only one to follow him, as everyone else was a little more concerned for their own health and safety than they were for Cody's ability to complete the challenge.
They reached the end of the beach, the same area they had been dropped off after diving off of the giant 1000 foot high cliff in the first challenge. There, rigged up to a smaller version of Gwen's timer, was three bins filled to the brim with garbage.
"You've got ten minutes before this thing blows." Chris said, a large grin on his face as Cody approached the bomb cautiously. "You can try and defuse it, but you can't get physical help from anyone." The host eyed Noah as he said this, who only rolled his eyes as if to say 'I would never even dream of touching that filth', "But if you get help verbally that's fine as long as he can't see what's going on."
When Chris began to walk away, Cody began to grow more nervous. "Wait, you're not going to watch?"
The middle-aged man snorted, looking at the teen with amusement. "Of course not! That's a live bomb, dude!" He ran away, a set of blueprints falling out of his back pocket as he did so.
Noah walked over and picked it up, shaking the dirt off before unfurling it so he could see what was inside. He looked back over to Cody and showed him the diagrams sketched in white that showed every single delicate step he would need to take to defuse the garbage bomb.
"I believe Chris has just accidentally given us a free point."
•・・・•・・・•
C-Céline Dion music store standees.
Duncan stared blankly at the standee ten metres away from him. He didn't dare move, just in case it decided to jump out at him- but that's ridiculous! It's Celíne Dion, what's she going to do, sing you to death? And it's made of cardboard! Come on Duncan, get a hold of yourself-
"It's okay if you can't do it, dude." Trent said, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Instantly, all of Duncan's thoughts were washed away, being replaced with Trent.
"You're just saying that 'cause you're on the other team." Duncan brushed him off, although he was kind of really hoping what he thought wasn't true.
"No, I'm serious. Fears are weird, man." Trent looked over at the standee, narrowing his eyes. "And besides, this thing is like, uncanny valley levels of lifelike for a piece of cardboard."
Duncan chuckled, before looking back over at the cardboard Celíne. It didn't really matter to him anymore, whether he got the point for his team or not. He just needed to prove himself to his team, and to Chris, and most importantly for whatever reason his mind was making, to Trent.
So maybe that's why he'd taken a deep breath and run forward, arms stretched out as far as they could go, towards the Celíne Dion music store standee, and embraced it in a hug, all whilst keeping his eyes tightly shut.
He didn't care about his teammates all cheering for him as they won their third point or the jabs Chris threw his way. The music was a little much, in his personal opinion, but it's not like he cared enough to complain.
"You did it, man!" Trent cheered, wrapping his arms around Duncan as soon as the delinquent had pulled away from the standee.
The two stayed like that for a while, long enough that Cody and Noah had managed to not only defuse the bomb, but also walk all the way back to camp, although it really wasn't that far away when you weren't carrying huge crates filled with building supplies.
"Looks like Lindsay and Tyler aren't the only two hooking up on the island." Noah said, rolling his eyes as he smirked. Duncan and Trent instantly let go of each other after his remark, one of them significantly more embarrassed than the other.
"Oh yeah, Trent and I are so in love that we can't keep our hands off each other. How else would I have managed to hug Celíne over there?" Duncan managed to make it sound like he was joking just as Noah was, although he couldn't figure out why it didn't feel like one when the words left his lips.
That was when Ezekiel came stumbling out of the woods, dazed and confused. His normally neat and tidy hair was an absolute mess, but aside from that and his disorientation, he seemed to be unaffected by his plane ride.
The homeschooled boy gave everyone a thumbs up, before collapsing to the ground in a tired heap. Chef came out of the woods soon after, wearing a blonde wig and ill-fitting female flight attendant's uniform. "Chef, what the hell? I thought I told you to keep him in the air for at least another hour!"
"Well how am I supposed to stop the kid from jumping out of the plane when you don't give me anyway to lock the damn doors?" Chef shot back. "The weirdo saw an opportunity when we were flying low over some trees, and he took it. Surprised he didn't break something, actually."
Chris sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Guess that means that the Bass are still in front, with four points to the Gophers' two."
"Make that three for the Gophers, Chris." Geoff said, his body battered and bruised from all the hail pelting him beforehand. All that was left of the miniature storm was a small grey wisp, forming around the blonde's head almost like a halo.
"I could, or I could remind you of a certain someone who completed their challenge about," Chris glanced down at his watch, "I'd say five minutes ago."
Geoff stared at the host in confusion, until, slowly, he realised who Chris was talking about. "Oh shoot, Gwen!" The party boy ran back towards the beach, as if Gwen's hour of air had suddenly been limited to two minutes.
Grabbing a nearby shovel that one of the interns had left lying on the ground, Geoff began to dig up Gwen, desperate to see that she was okay. What was a few minutes felt like hours to the boy as he shoveled the sand away, until, finally, he saw her face.
"Gwen! You're okay!" He yelled, trying to pull her out of the ditch as best as he could. It was a little difficult, considering her coffin was made of solid glass, but he was at least making progress.
"I've been better." She mumbled, stretching out her arms and legs as soon as she was out. "That felt like longer than three minutes, after you went. What happened?"
Geoff sheepishly looked down to the ground. "Well uh, Chris kind of sent me to do a hail check, I guess you could call it." Seeing the broken walkie talkie lying on the sand, he picked it up and held it gently in his hands.
Gwen examined the broken electronic. "Ah. Well, that's okay. I mean, if you'd just run off then that wouldn't have been okay, but..." She looked up into his baby blue eyes, her emerald green ones sparkling with an emotion he couldn't place. "I'd be a hypocrite if I wasn't okay with you disappearing because Chris sprung up on you unexpectedly."
The two teens laughed together, their shoulders bumping against each other being the only reason they realised how close they were to one another. Although neither was quite sure at that moment as to why, they both began to lean in, only stopping when their lips softly met.
Heather ran out of the woods, panting heavily in exhaustion. "Gwen! Thank God you're- oh." Geoff and Gwen pulled away, their faces bright red and their hands locked by their fingers. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something! I'll just go!"
"No, no, it's okay!" Gwen got up, accidentally bringing Geoff with her. "We needed to get back to the others anyway, you go ahead." Heather nodded, before rushing back into the trees.
"Hey, so um, you don't have to uh, go out with me or anything-" Geoff began, only to be cut off by Gwen's giggling. "What's so funny?"
"You're kind of an idiot, is all." Gwen answered, before kissing him once again. "I'd love to go out with you. As soon as we get off of this stupid island, of course."
•・・・•・・・•
Katie looked at herself in the mirror, playing around with her wig, trying to make it look good. She bit her lip in frustration, before sighing and taking a step back, completely giving up.
The bathroom door opened, causing Katie to whip her head around so fast that her wig would have flown off her head if she wasn't holding it down. "Woah, calm down, girl! It's just Shawnie!"
"Oh... Hey, LeShawna." Katie mumbled, a sad smile on her face. She glanced between her teammate and the mirror, her smile disappearing entirely.
LeShawna walked over, resting a hand gently onto Katie's back. "What's wrong? You're not as happy as you are normally."
Katie looked back towards LeShawna, tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes. "I-It's just... The reason I , like, fear having a bad haircut is because of Sadie. I'm scared of what she would, like, think of me."
"Why? Like, don't get me wrong, she's sweet 'n' all, and I get you're best friends or whatever, but why should you care so much?" Katie sniffed, wiping her eyes as LeShawna continued to stare her down.
"I've been wanting to tell her this for, like, ages, but I haven't had the guts..." Katie tugged at the wig on her head nervously, "I kind of... like Sadie. In a more-than-friends kind of way."
"Well if that's the case, you're going to want to look your best, right? After all, we are on a reality TV show that'll be shown all across the country." LeShawna couldn't help but let a small smirk slip onto her face when she thought Katie wasn't looking.
"Yeah... yeah, you're right." Katie pulled the wig off her head, scrunching it up into a little ball. "I can't let her see me like this!"
Katie walked out of the Bass' bathroom, heading straight for the cliff. She ran as fast as she could and, once she reached the top, she threw the wig so hard it disappeared as it flew towards the horizon, carried by the wind.
Meanwhile, Bridgette and Courtney were hanging out by the pool at the Playa Des Losers, when a muddy brown mullet wig landed in the water, splashing the two girls.
"Ugh! What the fuck is that?!" Courtney yelled, kicking it out of the pool with her foot, sending it flying over to Harold, who had been fast asleep on one of the lounge chairs nearby.
Bridgette clung onto Courtney's arm, still shaken from the unexpected flying wig. "Thanks, Court." She said, her voice airy and light, as if she wasn't really there.
"Well, if a dead rat thinks it can just invade on my cuddle time with you, then it's got another thing coming." Courtney replied, a smile on her face as Bridgette let out a small giggle.
•・・・•・・・•
Tyler was sitting down in the dodgeball arena, surrounded by chickens. He was having a surprisingly good time, and had managed to conquer his fear easily.
Confessionals Start
"Who knew that chickens were really just giant softies!" Tyler laughed, plucking a few feathers out of his hair. "And their babies are adorable! I don't know why I was so scared of them!"
Confessionals End
Lindsay wasn't pleased whatsoever by these results. It meant the teams were tied, and that meant, she assumed, a double elimination. "What do we do now? Everyone's done their challenges, and we're tied six all." She huffed.
Chris chuckled, crossing his arms. "Now, I wouldn't say everyone has completed their challenge." Slowly, as if trying to milk out every last drop of drama he could, Chris turned to Noah.
The bespectacled teen smirked, one hand on his hip. "Look, Chris, I didn't say my fear. So, clearly, you can't- why are you smiling at me like that?" Noah began to grow uneasy as Chris' malicious grin only grew wider.
"Oh, Noah, you act like I don't review the footage for every episode. I thought you were the smart one!" Chris let out a hearty laugh that made Noah's normally dark skin turn pale. "Now, if you would all be so kind as to follow me..."
Cody looked at his friend, concern evident in his eyes. "Hey, dude, are you okay?" He asked, as they began to follow Chris deep into the woods with the rest of the campers.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not like Chris is smart enough to have figured it out. He probably thinks it's something stupid, like the dark." Noah gulped as the dirt beneath their feet became damper, until he could hear it make a disgusting squelch noise.
Although Cody wasn't convinced of Noah's false confidence in the slightest, he decided to hide his worry so that Noah would feel better. Finally, the group reached a clearing, where, right in the centre, was a tub filled with muck.
"Welcome, everyone, to our tiebreaker!" Chris announced, gesturing grandly towards the tub. "If Noah conquers his fear, then the Gophers will win! If not, then they'll have to wish one of their teammates goodbye.
"To conquer his fear, Noah has to climb this tree, which we have equipped with the longest ladder we could find." On the tallest tree in the clearing, there was a long, rickety ladder, barely holding together, even with all the duct tape and glue on it's sagging joints.
"He will then jump off the platform at the top into this giant above ground swimming pool filled with dirt, mud, and all that other good stuff, and stay in there for ten seconds." Chris chuckled as he watched some of the campers cringe.
Noah looked at the brown mess, bubbling up as if it contained a beast that wanted to be set free from it's murky prison. His whole body shook as he took a step back from it, but he was stopped by a reassuring hand on his back.
"Hey." Cody whispered softly, turning Noah's face to look at him. He moved his hand from Noah's back to rest on his other cheek, so he was holding his friend's head in his hands. He tried to ignore the way his cheeks turned darker when he did that, hoping Noah wouldn't acknowledge his own blush in return.
"Hey." Noah choked out, a small smile appearing on his face.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Lindsay didn't complete her challenge either. I could just try and convince everyone to vote for her."
Noah laughed a genuine laugh, one that caused his nose to scrunch up and his eyes to close slightly, a laugh Cody loved. Wait- "That's a nice thing of you to say. But I've got to do this." He looked up at the ladder, a newfound determination in his eyes.
At that moment, Cody had never felt more of an urge to kiss the boy in front of him. But he resisted that urge, instead ruffling his hair. "I knew you would say that."
"Oh really now?"
"Well, no. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that you conquer that fear of yours."
Noah walked over to the ladder, keeping his eyes off the tub he would soon be diving into so he wouldn't lose all the confidence he had just earned. Ness jumped out of Noah's jacket, landing softly on the ground and getting their paws dirty in the process, as Noah set one foot on the bottom rung. He ignored the way the ladder squealed and creaked under his weight until he got to the branch directly above the muck below.
The tan teen took a deep breath, blocking out all the sounds around him, especially the Bass' jeers as they tried to get him not to jump down. He raised his arms above his head, before leaping off the edge, a loud squelching noise echoing through the island as soon as he landed, sending a disgusted shiver up his spine.
Noah could barely make out Chris counting to ten, but when it was finally time for him to come out, he did so in haste. His glasses were caked in mud, and his clothes were ruined, and he wanted more than he ever had before to be booted off the island, but he had done it. Noah had won it for his team.
All of the Gophers cheered for the filthy teen, some of them completely ignoring their own need for hygiene as they enveloped him in a group hug. "Well, Bass, looks like you're on the chopping block once again! Better figure out who you'll be voting off tonight." Chris said.
•・・・•・・・•
Confessionals Start
"I swear, getting Katie voted off was the easiest thing I've ever done." LeShawna let out a fake yawn to show off how bored she was. "The girl's more fragile about her appearance than one of my mama's mirrors."
Confessionals End
When LeShawna walked out of the confessional, she failed to noticed a small shrub that had mysteriously 'grown' next to the stall over the course of the day. As soon as she was out of sight, Beth popped her head out of the bush, green leaves sticking in her hair.
"Did you get that, DJ?" She asked, a shocked expression on her face.
The teen in question fell out of the tree he was hiding in soon after, the branch he was sitting on having snapped under his weight. "Oh, you bet I did. That girl is going down."
"But how? We've already voted, and for Katie." Beth groaned, putting her head into her hands. "I feel so bad now..."
"It's simple, Beth." DJ said, brushing himself off as he got up. "The next time we have an elimination challenge, we throw it. But only after revealing LeShawna as the slippery eel she is."
Beth's uneasy expression quickly turned into one of joy. "That's a great idea, DJ!" She looked back in the direction LeShawna had walked off in, a new, confident look on her face. "Hear that, LeShawna? You're going down! Operation Avenge Harold will soon be complete!"
•・・・•・・・•
"I can't say I'm surprised by the outcome of this elimination. Just disappointed." Chris had thrown all his other marshmallows to everyone on the Bass except Katie, meaning she was the one who had to go home. "You know the drill by this point."
Katie nodded, her head pointed down towards the ground as she walked off towards the docks. As soon as she set foot on the wooden planks, she heard a familiar squeal from on the boat.
"Katie! It's you!" Sadie squealed, waving her arms around excitedly. She was sitting on the boat, waving a little flag she had made out of a skewer and a piece of paper, decorated with her BFFFL's face.
"Sadie!" Katie squealed in reply, grabbing her luggage out of an intern's hands and dashing onto the boat, excitedly. "I've got, like, so much to tell you! I've learned, like, so much!"
"I can't wait! So much has, like, happened back at the resort! It's so exciting!" The two girls giggled in unison, talking and squealing excitedly the whole ride to the Playa.