Duncan's P.O.V.

If I could kill Blaineley, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. It sucks my probation sentence is the only thing that's stopping me, though, and I am not going back to juvie. She—or really Trent—ruined my fun at the surf simulator when DJ got a text from him saying that Blaineley's rigging the competition, so now we're all in Sierra's room, along with Courtney, Trent, Sierra, Justin, and Cody.

Sierra's jotting down something in her decorated Cody sticker journal, probably writing about this 'happy moment.' She probably begged for this 'emergency meeting' to be in her room like the creeper she is.

I really don't wanna be here right now, especially with Courtney in the room. She's sitting in a chair glaring at me and Gwen and I just glare back at her. Touching her boob was the last thing I wanted to do, but if she's still pissed at that then she should open her prissy little mouth and say something. Being close to Courtney like that scared the crap outta me—I wouldn't have minded being on top of her a long time ago, but now everything she does just turns me off.

The room is way too quiet as we're waiting for everyone else to come. Bridgette's sitting in Geoff's lap on Sierra's bed, me and Gwen are sitting on the floor with everyone else, and Justin's leaning against a wall and drooling at Courtney—why?—as she's glued to her damn PDA like it's her lifeline in her chair.

"Ok, when is everyone else getting here?" I say, annoyed. Everyone jumps—guess they weren't expecting someone to actually, ya know, talk, since we're all here.

DJ's phone goes off and looks at it. "Lindsay said she's on her way," he tells us.

I snort. "Since when do you have Lindsay's number?"

"Since we were on Team Victory! We bonded." Great, Deej is gonna turn into an airhead if he keeps 'bonding' with her.

Bridgette speaks up. "I just got a text from Leshawna—she's on her way, too."

Gwen sighs and looks at Sierra warily. "Would you just tell us what's going on already? Is it that bad?"

Courtney cuts in before Sierra opens her mouth, still glaring at Gwen. "It'd be pointless to repeat the same thing twice, and yes, it is bad," she spits. "It's horrible and totally uncalled for!"

"Why are we in here anyway?" Geoff tiredly asks. "There's a lot more room in the lobby."

Courtney rolls her eyes—geez, he was only asking a question, cut him some slack. "Our rooms are the safest places on the boat—if you forgot, there's cameramen filming us. There wouldn't be any cameras in our rooms because that's an invasion of privacy! We needed a place to talk in secret. Then again, Gwen knows all about keeping secrets." At that last part she gives Gwen an evil smile. I'm seriously about to tell Courtney off but Gwen beats me to it.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" she growls, standing up and clenching her fists. Justin stands in front of Courtney—uh, why? Is he her personal bodyguard? It's Courtney, she doesn't need it.

Justin looks scared like everyone else in the room, except for Courtney and me—she just has a smug expression on her face. If Courtney attacks Gwen, it's going down.

"Guys, we can solve this," Justin says, glancing between a furious Gwen and a cocky Courtney, who's just sitting in her chair. "My Hollister contract states I can't be in a room where 'an altercation of the physical nature is present.' So as long as I'm in this room, you guys can't fight! I can't risk getting any bruises!" That crap's gotta be the stupidest thing I've heard in my life, and it looks like everyone thinks so too as we all stare at him like 'really dude?'

"What—" starts Gwen, but then the door opens and Lindsay, Tyler, Beth, Heather, and Ale-robo come in.

"I got DJ's text!" Lindsay says happily and sits on the floor with Beth and Tyler. "Bethany's rigging the competition? First Chip lies to us, and now her! It really shows you can't trust anyone here." It took her that long to figure that out?

Gwen huffs and sits back down next to me—guess the cat fight's happening another time since Lindsay's mouth killed the mood. She wrinkles her nose. "I didn't know Heather was with you guys."

"We were all in the spa together," Beth explains. "She overheard us talking when Lindsay got DJ's text."

Heather and Ale-robo walk over to Justin and lean against the wall, too. "Yeah, why didn't anyone tell me there was an emergency?" she asks hotly.

"I think no one has your number for obvious reason," I state. Heather looks like she wants to rip out my eyebrow piercing—I'd light her hair on fire before she does that.

"Unless you want ice dumped on your head and paint shot at you too, I suggest you stop talking—now."

I shrug. "That prank was awesome and you know it."

"You and Gwen just watch your backs," she snaps.

"Bring it on, then," I challenge. The door opens and Owen, Noah, Izzy, Leshawna, and Harold come in. They join the majority of us on the floor.

"What's this I hear about Blaineley rigging the competition?" Leshawna asks angrily. "Has she lost her mind?"

Courtney pushes Justin away from her to see everyone and says "Before we say anything, where's Katie, Sadie, and Eva?"

"Don't call them!" Trent blurts out. Hah, sucks to be him.

Courtney rolls her eyes. "Whatever, we're all in here anyway. So Justin told Cody, Trent, Sierra, and I that he overheard Blaineley talking to Chris about rigging the competition. Apparently, us collecting clues means nothing because at the end of this, she's gonna automatically pick the 13 people who rank the lowest in fan favorites, or the bottom 13, as she calls it, instead of the real winners!" Everyone gasps. Wow—that's pretty messed up.

"Why would she do that?" Bridgette asks.

Geoff snorts. "Cuz she hates us!"

Justin laughs. "Yeah…but she hates you and Courtney more….sorry Courtney," he adds quickly after seeing the dirty look she gives him. Really, what is his deal with her? He cringes under Courtney's eyes and continues. "She also said picking the 'losers' out of us will help the audience like the new cast better for the next season!"

Owen stuffs 5 brownies in his mouth. "So who's in the bottom 13?"

Courtney touches the screen of her PDA, looking at it intensely. "I haven't checked yet, but I know I'm not—I'm one of the most likable people here." I snicker—yeah, right. She looks up from her device and narrows her eyes at me. "You're in no position to talk after what you did to me! You're DEFINITELY in the bottom!"

"So what if I am?" I shoot back. "That just means I get a freebie to win this thing and won't have to do any work. Sounds good to me." I haven't found my 1st clue yet, so I kinda wanna be in the bottom 13.

Courtney doesn't like my answer cuz she's looking at me like I'm stupid. "You have to do the work! She still wants the competition to go on!"

"Once we tell her that we know she's rigging it, I doubt she's gonna make us work! I know I'm not doing anything. Kinda pointless to make us do stuff when we know her secret, so she's gonna have to cancel it and just put us in the 5th season. So I HOPE I'm in the bottom!"

"Being in the bottom means you're a loser to the viewing world! Which is exactly what you are and where you deserve to be because you're an obnoxious, disgusting, CHEATER!"

Gwen goes "Hey!" and stands up with me as I ball my hands into fists. That word boils my blood and I can't stop my mouth as I say "Well anyone with half a brain wouldn't put up with your shit either!" The room is dead silent and—I really shouldn't have said that—like, I really shouldn't have said that. But it just came out. I glance at Gwen next to me—looks like the cat fight came back as she returns Courtney's piercing glare. All I hear is my heavy breathing as I bore my eyes into Courtney's dark ones, and her face—her face is so pale, and even though her eyes are functioning cuz she's throwing daggers at me, her mouth fails to work as she tries to form words.

And then like lightning she's out her chair and her eyes are filled with pure fury as she rushes at me—I see her hand and then—SLAP! Her hand collides hard on my left cheek, the slap sounding like a firecracker, echoing loudly around the room and bouncing off the walls as my head snaps to the right. Before I can do anything—and I'm not sure what I wanna do—Gwen, Geoff, and Owen hold me back as I see Courtney's hand again, but Trent and Sierra grab her by the waist as she's kicking and flailing as I touch the burning sensation on my face, fuming as I look at her livid eyes.

"YOU THINK THIS IS MY FAULT?!" she screeches like a banshee. "YOU THINK THIS IS MY FAULT?! YOU CHEATED ON ME! YOU'RE THE BASTARD! YOU SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE!" She continues kicking as Leshawna opens the door with Trent and Sierra dragging Courtney out the room, Sierra saying "Ow, you're kicking my leg!" and Courtney yelling "I DON'T CARE! I HATE HIM, I HATE HIM!" her words trail off as they go further down the hallway.

Owen, Gwen, and Geoff let go of me as I'm shaking and the room's dead silent. Everyone's looking at me like I'm a bomb about to explode, cuz that's what I feel like. "What?" I spit and sit back down on the ground. Gwen looks shaken up too and sits back down next to me. I guess she wasn't expecting all this to happen.

Heather breaks the tension in the room. "Can we please get on with this and see who's in the bottom already? You can watch them rip each other to shreds later." Yeah, she really knows how to get the mood back. I feel like going somewhere before I hit someone—hopefully not Geoff again—but since I got called in here I might as well stay and see what's going on.

My breathing slows down and Justin picks up Courtney's PDA from the floor, gulping nervously. Some bodyguard he'd turn out to be—he didn't do anything to help Courtney.

"Ok," Justin says anxiously, reading the PDA, "these are the bottom 13 in order: Geoff, Leshawna, Tyler, Beth, Harold, Courtney, me, Katie, Eva, Sadie, Sierra, Ezekiel, and Gwen. Yes, I'm in the bottom 13! I'm gonna win!"

Lindsay starts crying and hugs Tyler. "I'm not in the bottom 13 with you, Tyler! We won't be in Season 5 together!"

Justin reads more stuff. "And the top fan favorites in order are: Owen, Alejandro, Duncan, Izzy, Noah, Lindsay, Heather, Bridgette, Cody, DJ, and Trent. Wow, that's a shocker!" What?! That means I won't be in Season 5. Like hell I'm not! At least people still like me, though.

"What?!" Geoff protests. "Why is Bridge higher up than me?"

Bridgette hugs him. "Oh Geoffy-bear, it's because you got a big head on the Aftermath! It's ok, you just have to show everyone you're nice again! At least you'll be in Season 5!"

"But, but I am nice! And I don't wanna be without ya, babe!" They start making out—yeah, too bad Geoff's not a favorite, I'd be cool with them both of them not being in the next season.

Gwen's voice is depressed and squeaky. "I'm the bottom of the bottom? Ezekiel beat me and he's barely human! But why…"

Noah cuts in. "Um, you and Duncan in the confessional, Tyler the Tattletale, Courtney throwing a hissy-fit…I can't be the only one who remembers." Me and Gwen shoot him a death glare. He's so on my hit list next to Harold.

"Thanks for the reminder," Gwen says bitterly.

"Keep it up, and you're not gonna be remembering anything either," I threaten. Noah drily says "Enlighten me." He wants a light? I'll knock his out for being a smart-ass!

Beth scratches her head. "So why is Duncan 3rd favorite then?"

Owen laughs. "Oh, that's easy, Beth! For the guy viewers he's like the winner of the Babe Olympics! Getting 2 girls on this show, he's the ultimate guy!"

"Or—tool," Tyler coughs. Number 3 on my hit list. And then Owen's 4 for making Gwen sadder. I feel bad for her, though—she still looks sad, so I rub her back. She brightens up a little.

"And then Alejandro's 2nd because he's gorgeous!" Owen finishes.

"Hey!" Justin says angrily. "I'm the gorgeous one now!"

"Yeah, but Al's got style, charisma, and he's smoking hot!" Everyone looks at Owen questioningly. I'd say he's bi at least, but nothing's wrong with that. "Ya know, if I was a girl I'd say that, DUH. And I guess all the girl viewers like Alejandro and uh…not people who, uh…did what you…did…Gwen."

"Whatever," mutters Gwen, holding her hands on her knees now. I wrap my arms around her and she gives me a small smile that I return. Screw the polls, Gwen doesn't deserve to be last.

"Are you done now?" I rudely ask Owen. He quickly nods. "Good, cuz if you weren't, it wasn't gonna be pretty."

Heather's demanding voice breaks through my thoughts on trying to cheer Gwen up. "Even though I'm flattered to be a fan favorite—and of course why wouldn't I be, I make this show worth watching—I'm not putting up with this! If we let her get away with this, I won't be in Season 5! And that million dollars was supposed to be mine! We need to find a way to get her to unrig it."

Leshawna laughs at Heather's angry face. "You mean you need to find a way to get her to unrig it. I'm safe! Don't even waste your time, I'm gonna be in Season 5!" Harold and Eva nod in agreement. She does have a point—it's me and the other fan favorites who're in danger.

"Well I'm not getting jipped of a million dollars if we don't do something," I say spitefully, standing up. "So let me get this straight, everyone who's in the bottom 13 won't help us stop Blaineley?" Only Leshawna, Eva, and Harold nod. Tyler, Beth, Gwen, and Geoff shake their heads.

"Dude, you're my bud!" says Geoff. "You won't be in it if we don't do something—and Bridge too!"

Gwen also nods. "What Geoff said."

"I can't leave my Lindsay behind, and I know Beth doesn't want to either," adds Tyler.

Justin clears his throat. "I have a plan." Since when does he think? "Why don't we get Blaineley to tell us on tape? I have my camera! And we can send the confession to Courtney's lawyers to sue!"

Noah chuckles. "Huzzah, her lawyers are actually useful for once."

I hear a heavy sigh from DJ. "She'll just deny it when we confront her."

Do these guys know anything? "We have to threaten her to get her to tell us! We get her to confess on video that she and Chris are rigging the show, and then shave her hair if she doesn't fess up! I got a razor."

If it isn't Courtney, it's Harold who has to say something about my idea. "What if that doesn't work?"

"Of course it'll work!" Heather shouts. "No girl wants to be bald! I had to live through it for almost 2 seasons!"

"So hold up, hold up," interrupts Leshawna. "Y'all are actually gonna make her unrig the show? Even though I'm already picked to win this thing?"

"Have you been listening to anything we've just said?" Heather retorts snobbishly.

"Aw, hell naw, I want my spot in Season 5! If y'all are threatening Blaineley, well so am I! I'm gonna tell her to keep riggin' the show, announce the Season 5 winners, and cancel the competition cuz I don't wanna do any work!" She turns to Justin. "Justin, we're in the same boat, you gotta help us! Where's Blaineley's room?"

"It's on the 3rd floor near the ice skating rink."

"Alright, c'mon String Bean and Eva, we got some convincing to do to Blaineley." She grabs Harold's hands and leaves the room with Eva smirking at us. Everyone glares at Justin.

"Thanks for making us lose, Justin," Cody says sourly.

"Actually, I don't know where the ice skating rink is, and her room is the Captain's Quarters, on the first floor near the saunas," Justin winks.

"So why are you helping us?" Heather asks suspiciously.

Justin gives the fakest smile in the world. "Well, Trent's not in the bottom 13, and since he was in The Drama Brothers with us, we gotta look out for each other! He deserves to be in the 5th season too!" I think Justin has another motive—since when does he think of others? The only person he cares about is the freak with the no-violence policy staring back at him in the mirror.

"Ok, so our plan is to find Blaineley in her room and shave her hair if she doesn't unrig the show," starts Bridgette, "but we don't know where she is. Is she still in her room? She could be anywhere!"

I get up from the floor and pull up Gwen with me. "Going to her room first is worth a shot—we'll change it up if we hit some bumps. Pretty Boy, get your camera and meet us at Blaineley's room. I'm gonna get my razor. Everyone else, just…find Blaineley's room." Everyone nods and starts to go in the hallway. Izzy rushes past me.

"Ooh, Izzy loves playing Hide and Seek! Will we find Blaineley in her room? The world may never know!"

Noah groans. "Please, someone shoot me now."

Gwen, Geoff, Bridgette, and DJ follow me to my room to get my razor. Man, this day just got hell of a lot better.

Trent's P.O.V.

"Courtney, chill out, we left the room!" I yell, trying to overpower her screams of hating Duncan as me and Sierra take each of her arms and force her to walk down the hallway. She's really strong—she's like those Spanish bulls that chase the red flag, only her flag is Duncan. I guess I'm the second flag because she keeps elbowing me in my ribcage while she tries to escape. Man her elbows are pointy!

"I will NOT 'chill out'!" she snaps, still kicking her legs to get away. "Let me go! I wasn't done hitting him!"

"As much as I loved seeing you slap Duncan—" Courtney's arm tenses when Sierra says 'Duncan.' Does she not like hearing his name? "—you're kind of unstable right now, so you need to cool off. Next time you wanna hit that lousy cheater, just tell me. We can beat him like a piñata with my bat!"

"Uh, you have a bat on the boat?" I hesitantly ask. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised.

"Well DUH," Sierra says, giggling like a crazy person—wait, she is one. "How else am I gonna keep Cody from sleepwalking? Last time he did I couldn't find him for 20 minutes! I can't be away from him for that long!" Who's the unstable one again?

Courtney stops trying to get out of our grasp and is actually allowing us to guide her through the hallway as we turn a corner. I think Sierra's answer about the bat made her calm down, and now she's creepily smiling at Sierra. Oh great.

"Do you have another bat?" Courtney asks evilly, her smile getting wider. "It'd be twice as fun if you joined in."

"Of course!" Sierra gleefully replies. "I always bring a back up bat!" She looks at me slyly. "Do you wanna join in pulverizing that good-for-nothing piece of trash to a pulp too? You know it'll feel gooooood."

I shakily laugh. "Um, I'll pass." Sierra just shrugs and Courtney has this glassy look in her eye. I don't wanna start any beef with Duncan—it's bad enough he already has Gwen. I don't blame Courtney at all; he deserves to get hit with a bat! Just what kind of guy cheats on his girl? How could Gwen like someone like that and be part of it too? It's like…she's a totally different Gwen…but I still…I still lo—

Gwen's face disappears from my head as someone nudges my arm. "W-What?!" I say in a panic, darting my eyes to see where I am. Oh, we're in front of the game room.

Courtney huffs and releases herself from my loosened grip. "We've been calling you for the past minute! Wake up!" Looks like she's back to her old self—guess all she needed was Sierra to plan a Duncan bashing party—literally.

Sierra runs inside the room with me and Courtney following behind. She goes to a large ping pong table and picks up a paddle and a ball. "Ok Courtney, let out all your pent up anger at me! C'mon!"

Courtney doesn't even think twice before she's on the other side of the table and picks up her paddle, smirking at Sierra. "Bring it!" she barks, getting into a…ping pong stance?

Sierra grins deviously. "The ball, is the guy who stepped all over your heart…the guy who stepped all over your heart, is the ball…now hit him like you mean it and hit him where it hurts!"

"Just hit the ball already!" And the game begins. As soon as the ball bounces to Courtney's side, she jumps into the air and grand slams it like a pro-wrestler or something! They're both chillingly aggressive as the ball's a blur between them. There's a lot of "Take that you bastard!" "Who's the weak one now?!" and "You think this paddle is hard? Wait till you feel that bat cracking your spine!" Yessh, I do not wanna get on their bad sides.

Since I'm out the loop of playing with them, I walk over to the TV and pop in Rockband 2 into the Xbox 360, putting the guitar strap over my shoulder. I pick 'Float On' to play, and it's really easy. Man, I need this game at home!

A cell phone alarm goes off and I turn to see it's Sierra's. The ball whizzes past Sierra's face as she checks her phone. "I need to find Cody, it's time to take his allergy shots! If he misses a dose who knows what could happen. Let's all have dinner at 6 tonight!" And like that she's gone.

Courtney sighs. "I have to admit, that was a good way to get out my anger—it's better than breaking lamps."

I pause my game and raise my eyebrows. "When did you break a lamp?"

"It's not like it's a big deal, it was in my room—don't worry about it." Her voice seems really detached—obviously something happened. I won't pressure her, though. If she doesn't wanna tell me, that's fine—and if she does, well, that's good too. I don't really expect her to tell me all her secrets anyway.

I take off the guitar strap and take Sierra's place at the ping pong table, grabbing her paddle. "We never got to play since Justin told us about Blaineley. You still gonna cream me?" I say with a smile. I know I'm not gonna win, but it's worth a shot.

She looks at me mischievously. "Prepare to be annihilated!"

"You're on!" And with that I take the ball and hit it over the net.

We play about 7 games of Courtney kicking my butt—and with less anger—until I score a point in the 8th game. She stares at me with her mouth open.

"B-but I never lose!" she protests, glaring at me as I give her a guilty smile. "No one's ever beaten me at ping pong! Not even Sierra was close enough!"

I shrug. "I guess it was a lucky shot."

"Yeah, it was," she retorts crossly. Wow, she really is a sore loser. She didn't have to say it like that. It's just a game, and I only beat her once. Why does she think she's always right and everything works for her? But I really don't wanna get her angry again so I just keep my comments to myself.

I guess not saying anything and whatever expression I have on my face makes Courtney go "Well, if you practice you'll get to be like me."

"Really?"

"Almost like me."

There goes that moment. Whatever, I don't really care anymore. Sometimes she's…ok most of the time she's difficult to read. But she needs someone, and we're in the same situation, with our exes together and all…and I never really got to talk to her in TDI. It's like I'm meeting her for the first time. Although I think we would've gotten along better in TDI then now. She kinda changed.

My phone goes off—it's a text from DJ.

"So I'm not in the bottom 13," I murmur as I read the text.

"Well what is it?" Courtney demands.

"DJ and everyone are going to Blaineley's room to get her to confess on camera that she's rigging the show," I slowly say, still reading, "and…they're threatening to shave off her hair if she doesn't…oh, and Leshawna's trying to stop them so she can be in Season 5."

"So I guess she's in the bottom. Did he tell you who's in the bottom with her?" Courtney asks impatiently.

"Yeahhhh." She's not gonna like the rest of it. "I'm not in the bottom…but you are."

"WHAT?!" She walks up to me and looks at my phone. "I'm 6th in the bottom?! Have people forgotten I've always been near the end of every season! Well, excluding what Harold did to me in TDI. And I'm the fiercest competitor there is! I bet I'm in the bottom because everyone likes…him." She begins to shake. "I am not a loser and shouldn't be clumped with the rest of those…idiots!"

"Sierra's in the bottom with you, too," I point out. Yeah, she's a psycho stalker who has a disturbing relationship with Cody, but she's really helping Courtney get better, and that's good.

"She—she—" I'm waiting for her to say something nice about Sierra. "She's ok, it's just the rest of them! And Gwen's in the bottom! I wonder why." That last part sounded cocky. I know why too, but…I can't say it out loud. So I just nod in agreement, looking at the floor.

"Hey." I look up to see Courtney with her hands on her hips, eyeing me coolly. "You can do a lot better, Trent." I can? "Liking someone who backstabs their friends? Who doesn't even give you a second chance and moves on to someone new, forgetting about you entirely?"

My chest feels like it's being twisted at all the painful accusations.

"She didn't forget!" I hope my voice didn't sound high-pitched right there.

"Sure she did!" she lashes back and I wince from the acid in her voice. "She's with him. And for your own piece of mind you should move on too!"

That knocks the breath out of me as if I got hit by a car, and I grip the edge of the ping pong table to steady myself. It's true—everything she's saying is true, but…

"Courtney, I don't wanna hear it," I say, my voice strained, still looking at the floor. "I don' t—just—give it a rest."

She haughtily laughs. "If I don't tell you the truth, then who will?"

I can't take her anymore. Rage storms inside of me and topples over as we both glower each other down intensely. "Maybe you should take your own advice and move on too!"

"My situation is completely different from yours!" Her voice rises to hysteria.

"It's basically the same thing!"

"You didn't have someone cheat on you!"

"It sure feels that way to me!"

I don't think she was expecting that because she looks appalled and incredulous as both of us breathe hard. She finally ends our staring contest in a snooty voice. "You can do better and you know it! Use your brain and find a girl that's gonna respect you!" She swiftly walks out the room and disappears.

I slump on the floor, drained. I didn't think all that would happen. We were getting along somewhat well and then when Gwen got brought up…I couldn't handle it.

I know all the things Courtney said were true. Gwen never wanted to talk after TDA—I texted and called but she never got back to me. It was like the stages of being forgotten. I bet she liked Duncan then—ok, obviously she liked Duncan. But why wouldn't she give us another try? Guess I liked her more than she liked me. And that hurts.

Of course I'm gonna get defensive about Gwen—I still wanna be with her. Even though I told her we couldn't be friends, I wanna give it my all now. And…I can't help but think this is all my fault with Courtney. She was right—I didn't wanna hear what I was already thinking. She has a weird way of talking about things, but that's just her I guess.

As for a girl that respects me? It was Gwen. But I know I'm not ready to move on…not yet.

I get up from the floor and exit the room, going to my cabin to get my guitar. Once I get it, I head to the ballroom because I know Courtney will be there.

The room is bright when I enter. Courtney's sitting at the piano, playing a song I don't recognize, but it's really fluid and calming. She sees me and stops. "What?" she flares up. "Don't worry, I won't tell you anything truthful ever again."

I ignore that stab and hop on stage with her, smiling. Don't know why I'm smiling, but it gets bigger as she raises her eyebrows and says "Why are you so happy all of a sudden? In case you forgot, we just had a fight—and you're smiling?"

"Yep." I pull a chair next to her. "Name a song, any song—something well-known or on the radio."

"Why?" she asks skeptically, glancing at my guitar. "Are you gonna play something?"

Man she's difficult, but I think I get her now. Kinda. Sorta. Ok not really but it's getting there.

I don't answer her and start strumming. She has her arms crossed and looks leery. And then I sing.

"If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea

I'll sail the world, to find you

If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see

I'll be the light, to guide you."

Still grinning at her, I continue to strum as she looks at me in surprise, releasing her arms from her chest.

"Find out what we're made of

When we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like 1,2,3

I'll be there

And I know when I'm needed I can count on you like 4,3,2

You'll be there

Cuz that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah

Ooooohh, ooohhh, ooh, yeah, yeah."

I just keep repeating the beginning melody and look at Courtney's who's speechless—that's a first. And looking like she can't believe this is happening. Then I skip to the last line of the song, finishing:

"You can count on me cuz I can count on you."

It's silent for a few seconds while Courtney's still in shock.

"Sorry," I abruptly say. "You were right—about everything. I was thinking all those things about Gwen. And when I heard someone else slamming my thoughts back in my face, I got scared, because…it meant everything I'd been thinking was true." I let out a deep sigh and look at a curious Courtney. "So, thanks for knocking some sense into me."

Still quiet. Then she gives a crafty grin. "I could always hit you with Sierra's bat if you need more 'sense.'"

Her reply makes me laugh—I can't believe she made a joke! Courtney is actually joking with me? Wow!

Courtney's eyebrows furrow. "What's so funny? I can and WILL hit you with one if you keep it up!"

I'm still cracking up. "It's just—I've never seen you lighten up. You're always—"

"Ok, now that we've established that I never make jokes, can you play that song again? It's actually really…relaxing."

"No prob." I play the song and start singing again as Courtney moves her head to the beat.

I think we're ok. No, more than ok. I think we're…

Friends.

Justin's P.O.V.

Where is everybody? I got my camera but I'm the only person waiting outside Blaineley's door, and I don't think she's even in there since I knocked. I have Cody and Trent's numbers since we were in The Drama Brothers, so I'll text them. And plus, they're the ones in danger of not being in the 5th season—I'm perfectly safe! But even though I can join Leshawna to keep the competition rigged so me and Courtney can win, I'm stopping Blaineley to get Courtney's attention! I can see it now—the beautiful Courtney wrapping her arms around me and kissing me passionately while I run my fingers through her soft hair, as she calls me a hero for unrigging the show. This plan has to work—I want my kiss! Or if not a kiss, at least a date!

I look at both ends of the hallway—no one's coming. Sighing, I get out my phone and text Cody and Trent:

Hey Blaineley's not in her room and im the only 1 in here! Where r u?

Trent immediately texts back:

w/Courtney. Is Duncan there?

Oh yeah, I forgot Trent was with her. I hope she calmed down—her anger problems are another thing we'll have to work on once we're a couple. I can't have my girlfriend die from high-blood pressure—it'd be all over the tabloids!

No, but he's coming.

Don't wanna repeat of earlier. Just txt when ur not w/him anymore.

Boo, I wanted to see Courtney! I could see her later and write another poem to cheer up! I think the last one made her happy. I don't like her with snot running down her nose like the other day—not her best look.

There's no point in texting Trent back so I'm just waiting. And waiting, until finally Cody, Sierra, Owen, Izzy, Noah, Heather, and Ale-Stole-My-Spotlight comes from the left side of the hallway.

"You guys took a really long time," I say, shaking my head. "Do you know how many sexy headshots I could've taken with my camera?"

Izzy jumps up and down. "Oooh, let me guess! Like 351 right? We we're gone for 15 minutes, so you could've taken, like, 23.4 pictures per minute!"

"Actually, my record is 79 per minute!" I gloat, showing off my pearly whites. "I'm trying to do 80 but it's hard!"

Owen covers his eyes with his hands. "AAAH, your perfectly model white teeth are burning my eyes! Make it STOOOOOP!"

"Oh, sorry." I stop beaming and Owen lays his arms down, breathing hard. And then he farts—at least it was a little one.

Everyone goes "Ewww." It smells like—

"Mmm, beans," Owen says dreamily.

"Ugh, you're just a constant fart machine!" Heather says in disgust.

"I panicked when Justin's teeth blinded me!" I guess I should be flattered I have the power to make Owen fart—good thing, or bad?

I shake my head and look at Cody. "Did you get my text? I don't think Blaineley's in there. I knocked but no one answered."

Cody looks glumly at Sierra who's happily humming. "No…Sierra had my phone the whole time while she was giving me my allergy shot and forgot to mention that!" Sierra takes the phone out her pocket and gives it to Cody.

"Oops, must've forgotten to check when it vibrated," she sing songs. Cody just frowns.

Heather gives an annoyed 'ugh' and moves to the door, banging on it. "Open up in there, we know you're rigging the show!" No answer. She starts kicking the door. "Get OUT here!"

Noah looks at Heather with mild amusement. "Yeah, acting like the Big Bad Wolf is really gonna make her open the door. Smart move."

Heather's still kicking as Duncan, Gwen, Bridgette, Geoff, DJ, Lindsay, Beth, and Tyler, come from the right of the hallway.

"Got the razor!" Duncan smirks as he holds it up—or smarting, I can't really tell since he has a red hand mark on the left side of his face. I'm basically shooting needles at him with my eyes but he doesn't notice. What he said to Courtney earlier was wrong! Telling her because of all her problems, that's why he cheated on her? I don't know what relationship book Duncan's been reading, but when you're dating someone, you talk to them about their problems—they might not even be aware of it! That's why when we're a couple, I'm gonna tell Courtney she's gonna have frown lines if she doesn't stop. It's tough love, but it's needed!

Duncan's group joins us and snickers at Heather still trying to barrel the door down. "I take it Blaineley's not in there?" Bridgette asks.

Heather stops her useless kicking and stomps her foot. "We don't have time to find her! She could be anywhere on this stupid boat!"

"The chick's gotta come back at night and sleep, right?" Geoff points out. "Have you guys seen her in the morning? She needs all the beauty sleep she can get!"

Duncan pulls Gwen along with him right in front of the door. "Ok, remember how I showed you to open it?"

"Yeah, I think so."

He takes out a safety pin and hands it to a blushing Gwen—I'm glad Courtney's not here to see this. Tyler looks confused as Gwen fidgets with the door. "I thought she wasn't in there?"

Duncan smirks again and Gwen opens the door. "Change of plans! We're gonna steal something valuable if shaving her hair doesn't work—and we're coming back at midnight to see if she's here again." Everyone crowds in the room as Heather flips her hair haughtily.

"Why are you in charge?"

"Cuz I'm the one with the razor! And I can easily rearrange an 'accident' if you got a problem with it!"

"Puh-lease." But Heather's eyes looks unsure and stops talking.

Blaineley 's room looks different from ours—it's a lot bigger, has a flat screen TV, and a kitchenette. And it's messy with clothes and make-up anywhere. I go into the kitchenette and see a low-fat smoothie that hasn't been drunk yet, but before I get to it, Owen snatches it up and inhales it, smacking his lips. "Mmm, lime-coconut."

"Owennnnn! I wanted that!" I whine. "And that's my favorite flavor!"

"Oh, well, ya know, if I was a bird I could just throw it back up in this cup and give it to you—"

"Ew, back in the cup? No, that's ok—"

"You're so totally right, how silly of me!" He smacks his forehead, laughing. "Mouth to mouth is the correct way to do it! Here, I'll—"

"AAAAHHHHHH!" I run back in the main room and hide behind Ale-Wishes-He-Could-Be As-Hot-As-Me. First Beth drools over me, then Katie and Sadie, and now Owen?! I can't handle the pressure of my good looks coming back so fast! I'm not mentally ready!

Alejandro glides to the closet as I follow behind him, hiding from Owen, while everyone's looking for something valuable. He then starts to repeatedly beep. What the heck?! I dash away from him and hide behind DJ as everyone's looks scared at Alejandro.

"What's going on, man?" DJ asks with fear creeping up in his voice. I peek from DJ and see Alejandro raising his arm and shooting a laser at the closet door, making a large hole.

Gwen steps through the new entrance. "Well, this is more convenient than opening the door…what the heck?" She comes back in the room with 5 Gemi Awards. "Who carries their own awards with them?"

"Who cares, we got something valuable!" Duncan hugs Gwen. "Nice work, babe."

"You mean nice work Alejandro," Heather rudely corrects.

"Whatever," Duncan says, shooing her away.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Cody says. "Since we're on an actual cruise, real people would've been here for vacation, which means there's gotta be security cameras hidden around. And we are being filmed, so there's gotta be a security room! Why don't we find it and look at the cameras to see where Blaineley is instead of waiting till midnight? It'd be a lot faster."

Sierra crushes Cody into a monster hug. "My Cody is so smart! Our kids are definitely gonna inherit your brilliance!" Aww, what a cute couple! I hope me and Courtney are like that, minus the psychotic behavior. 'Cuckoo Courtney Goes Nuts Over Beau'—yeah, not a good image for me—or magazine headline.

Beth looks around the room. "I'm guessing no one knows where it is." Everyone shakes their heads. Izzy flips right in front of Alejandro. "C'mon guys, if Al could find the awards, he can find the room! Let me just program it…" Her hands are a blur as she presses all the gadgets on Alejandro's chest, and then she stops, smiling at her hard work. A robot voice says "Find. Security. Room." He spins around, puts out an arm that vaporizes Blaineley's door completely, and leaves with Heather following behind.

"I hope she doesn't have to pay for the expenses on this boat," I say as we all follow Alejandro and Heather. Bridgette giggles next to me.

"So, Bridgette," I start off smoothly, "what else can you tell me about Courtney? What does she like?"

"I'm not really that close to her," she admits, "but I can tell you everything we've talked about from TDI. Plus, Sierra might be a better person to ask—she knows everything about everyone."

"Yeah, but you knew Courtney first and that's a big difference," I say, brightly smiling.

"Oh—ok." She's squinting and blocks my rays with her arm. "Well…she likes flowers…lilacs, not lilies. I don't know why she doesn't like lilies."

"Uh huh." I whip out my notepad and pen and jot everything down.

"Wow, you're being really serious about this," she giggles.

"Of course! Anything to win her over! Favorite candy?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"Favorite instrument?"

"That's random, but the violin—she plays it."

"Favorite song?"

"Something classical I guess?"

"Color?"

"Purple."

"The book slash movie slash musical?"

"What?"

"Hey Pretty Boy!" Duncan shouts angrily from behind. I turn around to see his glare. "I got a question for you—what's red and toothless?"

"Is this a trick question?"

"Your mouth, if you don't shut up with all those questions!" He punches his fist into his hand menacingly and I gulp. I really would keep asking Bridgette more stuff but I really like my teeth. It's the first thing people notice about me! I didn't have 5 years of braces for nothing! Back in my…ugh, ugly duckling stage.

Speaking of ugly, why do so many guys like Duncan anyway? Why did Courtney like him? As a couple, he was doing nothing for her in the looks department. How is everyone overlooking his unibrow?! At least get someone to wax it off! Even Gwen doesn't mind it. Did I miss the memo of unibrows being the new black? No way am I getting a fake one even if that's true! And a green Mohawk? He'd look so much better in red! It matches his personality more. I'm gonna look so much better with Courtney than Duncan ever did when we're a couple!

Bridgette elbows me and I snap back in reality. "I'll tell you more later," she whispers and I nod. We keep walking down into a long hallway until we reach the end of it with a room that says "Employee Personnel Only."

"Security. Room. Located." Heather opens the door before Alejandro vaporizes it and we all see a couple of stairs leading down into a dark hole. Alejandro floats up a foot in the air, powered by fire, and goes down the stairway. Izzy somersaults right behind him going "Whoo! I'd so kill to be a robot!" We all tentatively go down the staircase and in few seconds get to a door that says 'Security Room.' On the right is some type of security system where you have to enter a passcode, but it has all the letters of the alphabet instead of numbers. My stomach growls loudly. All this searching is making me hungry for a low-cal dinner.

Lindsay pouts. "Aww, we'll never open—" but Alejandro just vaporizes this door too, leaving Lindsay with her mouth open. "Never mind."

We all step in the room—nothing's really interesting unless you count the cameras, the multiple TVs showing different locations of the boat, lots of wires, boxes of half empty donuts and—

"CHEF?!" we say confused. He wakes up from the computer chair going "I won't leave ya soldier!" He then notices us and stands up straight. "What are you maggots doing here?"

"More like, aren't you supposed to be with Chris on the island hosting the show?" asks Gwen.

"What I'm doing here is nobody's business!" he barks. "You need to be lookin' for those clues! Now get your scrawny butts outta here or I'll move—them—for—you."

Heather goes up to a surprised Chef and jabs her finger in his chest. "Oh we'll move, after you tell us where Blaineley is. We know she's rigging the competition and I think Alejandro can practice his laser skills on a live person if someone's not willing to talk."

Chef looks at the missing door and then at Heather. "Fine—I picked her up this morning and took her to the island. She needed to talk to Chris. I just came here to check up on my boat and what do I come back to? Intern's slacking in the camera room! They need some lashes!"

"When is she gonna be back?" asks DJ.

"Sometime tomorrow—8am, 11am, 4pm, midnight—tomorrow! Now get out and don't let me catch you in my security room again!"

"What did she have to talk to Chris about?" I add.

"Again, none—of your—business," Chef says lowly through gritted teeth.

Owen's hand inches to the donuts and Chef slaps him, making Owen go "For the love of all things that are sweet and good, that really smarts!"

"NOW YOU SISSIES GET OUT AND DON'T MAKE ME WHIP YOUR BUTTS NUMB!"

We all scamper out the room and run up the stairs back into the hallway.

Cody looks back at the door, his breath shaky. "I don't think I can sleep knowing Chef's there."

"Oh Cody, I'll protect you! Don't—you—worry!" At that last part she tries to lift him off the ground.

Duncan just shakes his head at Sierra and Cody. "Ok, change of plans. If someone sees Blaineley tomorrow, just text someone and we'll all get there somehow. And we can use Ale-robo to threaten Blaineley instead. I think my razor's pretty lame compared to his lasers."

"Great plan, nice teamwork everyone, and by everyone, I mean Alejandro," Noah says with fake enthusiasm. "I don't know about you guys, but it's 6 o'clock and I'm hungry." He walks off to the dining hall with Owen carrying Izzy in his arms as he says "Wait up little buddy!" Everyone starts to break up and I walk to Bridgette. "Think you can tell me more about Courtney?"

She peeks at Duncan. "How about after dinner?" I catch her drift.

"Ok," I wink. She smiles and walks with Geoff and their crew. I catch up to Sierra and Cody who are headed to the dining hall too. "Hey, would you mind if I joined you for dinner?" They better be eating with Courtney or it's gonna be a waste of my time.

Sierra squeals and claps her hands. "No, not at all! Are you gonna be part of our foursome?"

"Uh—"

"Whoops, that came out so wrong," she giggles. "I meant if you're gonna be part of me, Cody, Courtney, and Trent's group?" Whoo, wasn't sure what I was getting myself into right there. I'm not even gonna bring up that adding me would be a fivesome—I've had enough awkwardness today, thanks to Owen offering to give me my first man kiss!

I clasp both Sierra and Cody's shoulders. "Yeah, I guess I am gonna be part of your group."

"Now all the attention can be off me," Cody mumbles, but Sierra doesn't hear him because she would've freaked out.

"Great!" Sierra squeals some more. "I love making new friends!" Same here, same here. Especially with people that gets me one step closer to being with Courtney.

Duncan's P.O.V.

Bridgette's yellow race car comes outta nowhere and rams my car over the bridge, knocking me in the water.

"MALIBU!" I turn my head to the right and stare her down while she laughs and high-fives Geoff, who's also sitting next to her, as she continues to move the steering wheel with her left hand.

"Who's winning now?" she taunts.

"Nice one, Bridge!" Geoff praises. "Look at you, you're in 1st now—WOOHOO!"

"Yeah, well you're still in 4th place," I snap. I didn't even see Bridgette gaining up on me! Some random angels lift me out the water and put me where I last left off. I grip the wheel harder and floor it. "You're going down Malibu!"

"Guys, I thought we were just playin' for fun," DJ says to the left of me. Yeah, look where 'fun' put him—in 4th, since he's decided to drive like a freakin' grandma and let Geoff pass him!

"This is fun!" I roar, catching up to Bridgette—she's close to the finish line but I gang up on her and ram her sorry-ass car into the wall on the right, making her flip high in the air as she wails "NOOOOOOO!"

"SCOOOOORE!" I get up and do a little victory dance. No way could Bridgette beat me, I own this game! "Next time, Malibu," I jeer back. She opens her mouth to say something but Geoff interrupts her with "Aww, sweet, I got in 2nd! Looks like I wasn't that far behind ya, Bridge!"

Bridgette gloomily finishes her car at 3rd. "Wow, didn't see that coming at all."

DJ gets up from his chair and pats her shoulder. "It's ok Bridge, you were beating Duncan for a while so that counts for something." Comforting the loser isn't part of the game—you're supposed to give props to the winner, and I'm not getting any!

"Yeah, but did you guys see how I slammed Malibu and made it back to 1st? Awesome comeback, right?" Geoff high-fives me over Bridgette.

"You got some serious racing skills, dude! You should be in like, NASCAR or something! And the way you made her hurl in the air? Wicked!" Bridgette frowns at him and he quickly adds "But ya know, NASCAR's not that big of a thing anyway, pssh, who watches that?" Still frowning. "And you shouldn't slam people if you become a pro-racer, too—I think that's illegal." Bridgette sighs like 'how stupid are you' while Geoff goes "What?" Way to make your girl feel better, man.

I stretch my arms and yawn. "Well, this was fun, but I have plans to hang out with Gwen."

DJ chuckles. "You guys watching another movie?"

"Yep." Wow, they're all a bunch of suckers. I don't really have plans to see Gwen, I just want time by myself. The whole Courtney thing today's been pissing me off, and my face still stings—I just wanna cool off somewhere.

Geoff gives me a thumbs-up. "Ok dude, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," I say hastily, and walk past a dented game console as I leave the arcade. Ugh, that's when I went crazy after Geoff asked me why I…can't the lousy staff here fix that so I don't have to be reminded of punching him? Sheesh.

Now in the lobby, I head to the double doors leading outside but stop in my tracks. I should probably double check my door's locked—kinda paranoid that Courtney might be hiding in there, waiting to freakin' stab me with a knife or something.

I walk to my room and jiggle the knob—it's locked but I'm still not convinced. I jam my key in the knob and swing the door open. "Courtney, if you're in here, get out." I hope my voice doesn't sound shaky—I'm not afraid of her, just…I don't know what to expect. I check under my bed, the closet, and the bathtub—nothing. Whoo, glad she's not here.

Leaving my room, I lock my door and start to leave when I hear "Hey!" I turn to see Gwen coming from my right, waving. I smile at her and wave back. Crap, I don't wanna see her right now. She better not say 'let's hang out.' There's really no way to tell your girlfriend 'I wanna be alone' without sounding like you have problems.

"Hey," I say as she hugs me. "I thought you were with Leshawna." Why the hell isn't she with Leshawna?!

We end the hug and Gwen looks confused. "I was but you said we would watch Saw 3 at 10. Did you text me another time?" She gets out her phone.

I'm blankin' out. When did I say that? It wasn't at dinner…

"We talked about it after the stupid roller skating challenge?" Gwen tries to stir my memory—I don't know what the hell she's talking about.

"Oh…yeahhh." That came out really convincing, but I really don't remember. She's not gonna let up with this, so—

"I gotta talk to DJ," I blurt out. I hate lying to Gwen but if I tell her I wanna be alone she's gonna freak and just keep asking what's wrong like she did with my knuckles.

She looks suspicious—I'm doing great. "I thought you were just with him?"

"I was," I say anxiously, searching for my next words, "but…he just texted me saying he really needs to talk, and with Geoff and Malibu sucking face, I'm the only one he's got." Lying or not, she knows that's true.

"He does?"

"Yeah, he has, uh…girlfriend problems!" Shit, why did I say that?!

"I didn't know DJ has a girlfriend." She's still doubtful but she's thinking about the reality of it and asks "Who is it? Someone on the boat?"

Boat, boat, what girl isn't hitched here yet?

"Eva!" Gwen looks horrified. "They aren't going out, but he really likes her. It's bad."

"DJ really likes her?" Gwen's suspicions are gone and she's genuinely curious. "That's sweet. I guess she could help him with his 'softness' but that's what makes DJ him."

"Yeah, he's head-over-heels! He can't stop thinking about the…mole on her face, or…how her pony tail swishes back and forth like a horse—and you know how Deej likes animals!" Gwen cracks up and I laugh with her cuz I'm so screwed.

"Y-you just said Eva looks like a horse?!" Gwen is having a fit as her face gets red and then I laugh for real this time, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"The dude's bawling like a baby! But you know DJ, he's Mr. Sensitive—I gotta check up on him."

"You can't just call him and solve it in 2 minutes?" Her laughter fades and she looks sad. "I really wanted to spend time together." UGH, why does she have to look like that?! All pitiful and what not—dammit, Gwen! I just want some time to myself and then I promise I won't do this again.

I put my hands on her waist and draw her close, looking into her surprised eyes. "We'll hang after I talk to DJ, ok?" I silence her with a kiss and pull away to see the smile I love.

"Okay," she caves, "I get it, DJ really needs you. I won't hold up your bromance. I'll get the movie from the library, so just text me when you're done."

Before I kiss her again, I see Trent coming into the hallway. He stops in his tracks at the sight of me and Gwen. "Oh, hey Gwen…Duncan." He looks at my hands on Gwen's waist and a shadow goes across his face. Gwen feels rigid but doesn't turn around to see him. First Gwen pops up, then Trent? All I wanna do is be by myself, damn!

Gwen's words come out broken. "I'm g-gonna—get—the movie." She takes my hands off her waist and runs out the hallway, leaving me and Trent behind as he calls out "Gwen, wait up," but she's gone. He looks like someone dropped the world on his face or something.

"Dude," I say harshly, and Trent frowns. "Just give it up. You saw how she ran away—she doesn't wanna be near you." I didn't know Gwen acted that way around Trent but now that I see, I don't like it.

"What do you know anyway?" he asks sharply—woah, guitar man's got a snippy side.

I cross my arms. "Um, like the fact that you said you didn't wanna be friends with her anymore? What makes you think you can still talk to her? Leave her the hell alone."

"She told you that?"

"Uh, YEAH."

Trent shifts back and forth on his feet, looking at the floor. "I just wanted to tell her I could try."

"Too late, Elvis—obviously, Gwen doesn't wanna be friends with you anymore. And if you stalk her, make her cry, or do anything to upset her, you're gonna be talking to my fist, got that?" I pound my right fist into my hand hard. I got no problem beating up Trent if it came to it—he doesn't stand a chance.

Trent looks un-phased at my threat. "Whatever, man," he says angrily, and goes into his room, closing the door with a bang.

I'm kinda cooled off after all the interruptions, but I still want time to myself. I quickly text Gwen if she's still in the library, but no answer. Guess I'll check up on her later—movie night's gonna suck thanks to Mr. Can't-Move-On.

I leave the hallway and in a couple of seconds I'm back at the top deck, leaning over the railing once more and staring at the dark ocean. It really sucks I keep coming up here, and both times it's been cuz of Courtney. I'm not the kinda guy that sits and 'reflects' but it's turning out that way.

I gingerly touch my slap mark and wince—I should get some ice on that. The image of Courtney slapping my face while I just stood there like a freakin' dummy creates a taste like lead in my mouth. I know I shouldn't have hinted because of her nagging ways and Courtney being Courtney was the reason I cheated on her—it's true, but it came out wrong. And she humiliated me, made me look like a wimp in front of everyone! I felt disrespected. What man allows themselves to get slapped?!

My hands grab on to the railing and tightly grip the bar, turning my knuckles white. Out of all our fights, not once did she hit me, and I never hit her. No matter how much Courtney pushed me over the edge, which was like every day, hitting her never crossed my mind—I couldn't. But I can't believe she hates me so much that she actually slapped me. Like I can't get over it. Would she have done it if we were still together? And she was going for another slap too, but I was too stunned to move—I don't even know what I would've done.

The weird thing about that fight was Trent and Sierra were dragging Courtney away. Since when do they care about her? They were with her when we came in Sierra's room—I guess she's gotta be friends with someone since she doesn't have any. And what's up with Justin going goo-goo over her? Hah, that's gonna fizzle out quick when she'll just stomp all over him and give him some stupid relationship contracts to follow. And then he asked Bridgette what all her favorite things were? The man's freakin' whipped—he's in for some pain.

The lead in my mouth gets stronger as Courtney's painful face pops in my head, the face that resulted from me saying no one would put up with her shit. I've never seen that look on her face before, ever. Not when she was angry or cried. This was like—she looked so—ugh, I don't know. Dammit, she looked broken. Frail. Devastated. Crushed. All those things—not the Courtney I know…or knew. I didn't think she could ever look like that.

I tilt my head up to the dark sky, my eyes piercing the stars. Geoff better not bring this fight up or I might hit him for real this time. Like I would ever tell him, or anyone, that I cheated on Courtney because I couldn't take her anymore. I wanted to be my own person, do whatever the hell I wanted to do—I don't follow rules, I break them, and she wasn't gonna tie me down by controlling my life and trying to change me with her stupid lists. She had the wrong boyfriend if she thought I was gonna do what she said—that's not me.

And not only that, I cheated on her cuz it was the one thing she had no control over whatsoever, and I loved it. Cheating meant I was done with Courtney forever. I loved kissing Gwen in that confessional and I don't regret it. It was like an escape kissing her—I was free and that kiss was new; special; exhilarating. I didn't have to get Courtney's permission to kiss Gwen and I didn't need permission to cheat—I did it cuz it was the first time in a long time that I finally had control over myself.

And like I'd tell Geoff or DJ that yeah, I liked Gwen right before World Tour. True, I didn't like her for the majority of the summer after TDA when me and Courtney were off and on, or when I hung out with her, but after my huge fight with Courtney, I started falling for Gwen. We had gotten closer, she always listened to me bitch about Courtney, and I started thinking, what if I dated Gwen? What if Gwen was mine? Someone who liked me for me as corny as that sounds, someone who was freakin' hot, funny, smart, down to earth, and more importantly, wasn't trying to change me? Now we're together, and it's great! Well, except for seeing Courtney everywhere, but who cares about her?

I didn't know that summer would be the last of me and Courtney, but I should've seen it coming after that fight, which was stupid in itself. Telling me how to spend my prize money and planning our lives? She was off her rocker for real. But it's over now and I have Gwen, and that's all that matters.

My pocket vibrates and I check my phone—sweet, Gwen's got the movie. And she's ok—so she says. Forget Courtney, I'm actually gonna have fun on this boat with Gwen, and she's not gonna stop me.


A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Kinda picking up right?! I put more 'action' with each P.O.V. and made it longer than usual because...THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE SUMMER! :O I'm sorry, I really tried to write another chapter but I was SERIOUSLY not motivated whatsoever to write this one anyway, so another chapter was out the door. AND this chapter took a lot of revising than usual. AND I wrote Justin's and Duncan's last part when I got my wisdom teeth taken out.

So things about this chapter:

1.) I don't care if there is a real poll of who character favorites are, I made their spots up cuz it goes with my story, ok? :P

2.) The song Trent's singing is Count On Me by Bruno Mars

Things coming up:

What is this mysterious HUGE fight that I keep making Duncan and Courtney randomly talk about but never go into detail with? Weeelllllll...I'm making another story! Really a long one-shot, like a prequel to this story. It's going to show Duncan and Courtney's fight and what ultimately changed their relationship for the worst right before World Tour. Because I figured it's easier to SHOW you what the fight was then tell you. That way when you know what it's about, you'll understand when it's brought up later in this story. The prequel will come out before I write the chapter of Duncan and Courtney bringing up the fight in here.

Thanks to Malzi21 for telling off the troll! I know I already thanked you but I'm doing it again :D and thanks NTA FANFIC for your nice review too! And thank you to everyone who reviewed this story as well! It means a lot!

For anyone who cares: My wisdom teeth surgery went well :D Was knocked out and didn't remember a single thing! The after effects were bad, tho, I was throwing up from the pain killers I had to take-they were too strong -_-

SOOOOO...REVIEW CUZ IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER UNTIL 4/5 MONTHS! I wont write till December or January cuz it's my last year of college and I can't slack! So review... SHA-please? :P

See you all next time and thanks for reading again! =)