Right. We're continuing the story. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.
"Haley?"
"Hales, are you okay?"
"Wake up!"
Haley opened her eyes to see all three of the girls still on her team giving her concerned looks. "What happened?" she asked.
"You were whimpering." Sadie told her.
"Nightmare?" Bridgette asked sympathetically. "I know I was ready to have one when I remember what Cody looked like coming towards me yesterday..." she shuddered.
"And this time, turning my back and insisting it was just a dream didn't make him go away." Haley admitted in a tiny voice. She'd been acting flirtatious and teasing so much recently that this vulnerability was new to the girls. She'd had that unspoken but clear confidence even before she decided she had a crush, but this was definitely the most young that anyone had ever seen her. Had she not been petite with a younger look to her, the team wouldn't have felt protective at all until then. But after all, she was two years younger, and never had that been clearer than in Haley's nightmares. Even ditzy Sadie felt protective at that moment.
Courtney jumped down from her bunk and gave Haley a hug. "You'll never have to face that again." she comforted the younger girl. "That challenge is over. Besides, you were so brave to be able to face it. I couldn't do it."
It was a good thing the next challenge involved being in partners, rather than having to concentrate alone. The group had to take canoes to a place called Boney Island, hike to the other side with the canoe, make a fire, then get back. The team that got back to Wawanakwa first would be the ones to win immunity. Chris added that if they brought anything back from the island, legend had it that they would be cursed. And with that, the Bass and the Gophers headed to the beach. Well, Beth was a little late, but she caught up quickly, and she and Lindsay immediately pounced on Trent while Cody quickly grabbed Gwen as his partner.
Sadie immediately said "Haley, be my partner for the canoeing?"
Haley smiled and said "Definitely." Haley and Sadie didn't really know each other that well, but the older girl had figured after the nightmares, Haley needed a friend that wasn't a control freak.
As it turned out, the two girls had more in common than they thought. Haley wasn't Katie, but Sadie still genuinely began to like her. They started swapping stories about all the stupid things they'd done. Even when Haley asked about what had happened when the girls got lost on the wilderness challenge, Sadie explained how they'd found blueberries and hadn't noticed the group had left, although she left out her fight with Katie.
Haley couldn't help liking Sadie. She was a much more interesting person, once she had a personality other than "Katie's BFF".
"When did you and Katie become friends, anyway?" she asked.
"When we became neighbours." Sadie answered. "We totally hit it off, like, right away, and our moms became BFFs, so now, me and Katie, we're like this." She twisted two fingers together. Suddenly, her face crumpled. "I've never been away from her for more than a few hours! I miss her so much!"
"Sadie, don't cry." Haley pleaded. "Remember, Katie's counting on you to go on for her. She's probably watching us right now...that is," she added, glancing around, "If they've decided to show us, instead of Beth and Lindsay monopolizing Trent, or Cody trying to hit on Gwen, or Bridgette and Courtney laughing about that cheesy little gift Geoff left Bridgette." The two girls giggled. They'd seen it before Bridgette came back, but Courtney hadn't, so they knew the blonde would be telling her all about it.
Everyone touched land at the same time. "Okay, did you see that skull?" Izzy said enthusiastically, referring to the carved rock. "How cool is that? It's like this place is haunted or something!"
There were skulls everywhere, making most of the competitors feel very uneasy. Then halfway through running, Geoff hurt his leg and couldn't stand. Haley couldn't help noticing that Bridgette was very concerned about him, but DJ had to grab Courtney's arm to haul her back. "We're not leaving any man behind. Not on my watch." he told her.
In the end, DJ and Harold carried Geoff on top of a canoe, and were soon on the other side of the island, ready to build their fire. Luckily, although the other team got there first, they got a fire started quicker, since Duncan was carrying a lighter around. The Killer Bass had the pleasure of seeing Heather get really pissed, especially when Chris, hovering above in a helicopter, pointed out that there were no rules against it.
But then Harold tried to get the fire bigger by tossing the nearest wood he could find on it – the paddles.
"How are we supposed to get home now?" snapped Bridgette.
Not to mention that it was for nothing, since Izzy's homemade fire starter beat their little fire by miles. But then again, Izzy did suggest what they could do without paddles on their way back. "You could always have someone swim behind the canoes and push them." She started talking about her having done that with some others with something else, but it didn't make much sense. "Okay, later!" she finished, laughing.
"Thanks, Iz!" Haley yelled after the off-kilter redhead. And in spite of his fear of water, DJ overcame it and pushed all of the canoes back, and they actually were back before the Gophers, just by the tiniest amount.
"The Bass are the winners!" announced Chris.
The group started cheering, while Leshawna yelled at Izzy for giving them the idea.
"Okay, you are so lucky that my license to kill has expired." was Izzy's unconcerned reply, but she ran away when Leshawna raised a paddle.
Even the Bass heard what went down at the elimination campfire. They heard the helicopters and the loudspeaker calling for Izzy (turned out she was wanted), and the redhead's scream of "YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIVE!" echoed across the island.
"Not gonna lie." Haley said in the confessionals. "I'm gonna miss Izzy. We didn't see each other much, but she seemed like fun." She shrugged and smiled. "Oh well, at least there's still one delinquent still in the game."
Not much development in the relationship department this chapter, but hey, Haley's made friends with Sadie! Please review.
