Gwen's P.O.V.
The stupid sun blinding my face forces me to groggily open my eyes, and then I realize I'm on top my bed. In my clothes. Next to Duncan in his clothes. Ugh, not again. Weirdly enough, sleeping in combat boots isn't comfy. I sit up and look at Duncan sleeping in his usual hands behind his head pose, smirking like always.
"Hey Duncan," I say, rubbing my eyes. "Wanna get breakfast?" No answer. I lightly shake his shoulder. "Hey—"
His left hand suddenly grabs my arm and jerkily pulls me down on his chest, while his other hand circles my waist. I bet he can hear my heart pounding—crap.
His eyes are still closed but he's smiling. "Nah, too tired."
I try to get out of his grip but he holds on tighter, making me laugh. "Too tired, huh?" I try to wiggle free but he won't let go. And really, I don't wanna go but my stomach's killing me—and I feel gross for not showering. "C'mon, you know I need coffee."
"Just call room service."
"And I need to get out my clothes."
"I can help with that," he says playfully, now opening his eyes and grinning at me.
I use my free hand and lightly punch his face, but can't resist smiling. "Very funny. You don't have to come with me, but I want a real breakfast. And you know the room service here sucks."
He lets out a long yawn and loosens his grip on me. "Bring me back some waffles." And just like that he's back asleep. Typical.
Still smiling, I get up from the bed, grab a set of new clothes that's pretty much identical to the skirt, tights, and top I have on, and take a 15 minute shower. Once I'm done that, I comb my wet hair and am about to leave the room when I see Saw 3 sitting on my dresser. Might as well return it since we're done with it. And I could bring my sketchbook too while I'm eating—I haven't drawn anything in a while. I go in my closet, take out the sketchbook from my suitcase, grab Saw 3, and smile once more at Duncan before I close the door and head to the library.
At the library, there's a normal guy sitting at the front desk. I heard Chef was the librarian at one point, but nothing on this boat should surprise me anymore. I hand the movie to the guy who's lazily flipping through a magazine titled "The End of 2012 Is True! Kimye's Having A Baby!"
"Just returning this," I sate, placing the DVD on the desk. He says nothing and continues reading.
"Uh, you're welcome?" Still no answer.
"Whatever," I mutter, and make my way to the front door. What a jerk librarian. If I had Chef he would've at least yelled in my face. Or called me a maggot. Or—
"OWWW!" someone yells on the other side of the door after I swing it open. Oh crap, I didn't mean to hit them in the face.
"S—" I start out, but then I see Courtney vigorously rubbing her red forehead. Great. This is gonna be the best day ever. A rock's growing in the pit of my stomach and it's not from hunger.
"Um—" but her furious eyes cut my sentence short and leave the rest of my words jumbled in my throat.
"Now I'm gonna have a bruise. Thanks, Gwen," she sneers. She stops rubbing her head and looks me up and down disapprovingly.
What's with that look? "Sorry," I manage to get out, stepping aside to let her through. I'm definitely not in the mood to fight right now, and she keeps staring at me! I've done nothing wrong—but slam a door in her face, but still! It wasn't on purpose.
Instead, she crosses her arms and stays in place, trying to murder me in every way possible she can with her eyes. Now I'm bracing myself for a fight and meet her eyes with the same intensity.
"What?" I snap. "I've done nothing to you! What's your problem?"
"You!" she points an accusing finger at me. "As if 'sorry' fixes everything, which it does not. Who knows how long this bump is gonna last on my forehead?!"
"You have legs, get some ice," I snarkily reply.
"Exactly my point! You'll do something and won't even follow up on it!"
"What are you talking about?!" Courtney's definitely lost it.
"You two really are alike, you know that?" I know she's talking about Duncan and I grit my teeth.
"What's he got to do with anything?!" I lash out. "All you do is pick fights for no reason. I say sorry and you still bite my head off!"
She gives a short, haughty laugh, and glares at me. "You're just like him! 'Sorry' for cheating and 'sorry' for hitting you with a door, but you're not really sorry. You two just continue through life wrecking stuff and don't even bother to check up on the damage you've done to other people!"
Really? She really went there? I'm not dealing with this.
I shove her aside, shaking with anger, and walk down the hallway towards the dining hall. "Where are you going?!" she yells.
"Somewhere to save my sanity!" The library door closes with a bang loud enough to wake the dead. Courtney overreacting isn't new, but now it's on another level I can't stand.
Luckily, the dining hall's empty so I can vent and sulk in silence. I sit at a center table after brewing my black coffee and getting some pancakes and bacon from a waiter. Before I even start my sulking, Bridgette, Lindsay, Beth, Tyler, Noah, Owen, and Eva all come in the room. There goes my alone time.
"Gweeeeen!" Owen happily sings, giving me a tight bear hug that makes me gag. "Haven't seen ya in forever! It's kinda funny that Duncan's not with you."
"Oh, he's just sleeping," I respond, trying to hide my moodiness.
Bridgette sits next to me with her plate as the others get their food. "You're such a morning person," she teases. Can't fool her.
"You know it," I say, attempting to grin. "So what've you been up to? Besides making out with Geoff, that is." I don't even bother to hide my laughter as Bridgette gives me a knowing look, but then smiles.
"Trying to find clues until Blaineley ruined everything. Do you really think her plan's gonna go through?"
I shrug. "Don't know, it's hard to say."
The rest then come over to the table. Noah sits really close to Bridgette who frowns, scooting away. Owen has a whole plate of sausage, bacon, waffles, pancakes, bagels, croissants, and 5 glasses of milk. "This boat is amazing!" he says in awe. "An all you can eat buffet AND the swirliest water slide EVER?! I'm never leaving!"
"And they have TONS of spas!" Lindsay adds, clapping her hands. "It's like the boat I've always wanted!"
Beth gasps. "If you win the million instead of me next season, can you buy this boat?"
"Well, duh! It's so nice to have people wait on you hand and finger!"
"You mean hand and foot," Bridgette corrects.
"Oh no that's silly," Lindsay says, shaking her head. And the winner of the Dumbest Blonde Award goes to…Lindsay.
"I don't think the waiters come with the boat," pipes in Tyler, scratching his head.
"So," I start, changing the quickly approaching brain cell killing conversation, "has anyone else found any clues? I've found 2 already."
Eva's voice is harsh as she pounds the table. "What does it matter? Your boyfriend is trying to make me lose! I'm finding Blaineley before he does!" She's gripping her glass cup with her free hand and it's starting to crack. I do not wanna be drenched in orange juice. Everyone looks scared except Noah, who pats her arm comfortingly. "Woah there, hold your horses."
I start busting out loud while everyone looks at me quizzically—except for Owen who's devouring his food and Eva who looks like she wants to pummel me. "What's so funny goth girl?"
I instantly stop laughing. "N-nothing." Like I would tell her Duncan compared her to a horse.
Noah continues to pat Eva's arm while she's still seething at me, her cup still cracking. "C'mon, use those skills you learned in anger management. You can only get mad 4 times a day. You really wanna waste it now?" Only 4 times a day? That doesn't sound exactly helpful, but what do I know?
I sigh after she calms down and releases her hand from the cup—good to know I won't have to take another shower.
Owen slurps up the last of his food. "You haven't seen Izzy, have you Gwen? She wasn't in her room this morning and isn't answering her phone."
"I don't think it's unlike her—it's Izzy. Maybe she's…swinging off a vine somewhere?"
"Nutsy will be fine," Noah says, waving his hand. "She'll show up soon."
Owen looks doubtful. "I hope so."
Tyler stands up with a clean plate. "Hey guys, wanna play badminton? I haven't played since—"
"You hit yourself in the kiwis with your racket after tripping over your shoelaces in high school?" grunts Eva.
"No! Since I played badminton at my friend's farm and these ch—chickens came outta nowhere and started p-p-pecking me and beating me upside the head with my racket." His eyes are glossy and shivers.
"Wow. That's…that's sad," Bridgette says in wonder. It really is.
"Sure, I'll play!" Lindsay stands up, oblivious to Tyler's whimpering.
"Me too!" Beth adds, and they make their way towards the gym.
Noah smiles at Bridgette. "Wanna play too, Bridgette?"
She shrugs. "Sure, why not?" Noah looks weirdly brighter but then frowns when she asks, "Are you coming, Gwen?"
"I'm good." I pick up my sketchbook. "I haven't drawn in a while so go without me." Bridgette nodes and grabs Tyler's hands. "C'mon, I'll walk you over." He's still paralyzed with fear as they leave the room. Eva runs after them, yelling, "You're all getting CRUSHED!" Noah just shakes his head and follows her with Owen.
Phew, I'm finally alone. After drinking half my coffee and all my pancakes I open my sketchbook. I almost forgot all the stuff I drew in here—my backyard, my brother playing Xbox, DJ's bunny, Trent on his guitar—
Oh. Trent.
His face hypnotizes me. That was during TDI days. Should I rip it out? He made it crystal clear he doesn't wanna be friends anymore. Or even try. Aw crap, I can feel the tears coming up. I angrily brush them away, but my sketchbook's still fuzzy. The silent tears roll down my face as I bore at Trent's picture. I should've seen it coming—it was so awkward at the pool party and yet I still invited him to find clues together because I thought we could start over and get past the weirdness. And yesterday I just couldn't face him when he came in the hallway with me and Duncan. I didn't wanna show how much he hurt me that day. Or hurts me now. In a fit of rage I rip out Trent's picture and crunch it into a tiny ball, flinging it into oblivion, shakily breathing. I don't have any more connections with him now…no phone number, no pictures, no photos, and it feels…good. And I've stopped crying, too. I guess throwing that away was a load off.
I stare at the empty page in front of me, thinking what I could draw to get my mind off of Trent. Something to calm me down. Duncan. I could draw my new life with him, now. I can't believe I haven't drawn him yet, actually. It could be his birthday present or something. I begin to draw his face, and for the first time today, start to loosen up. Waking up today was great—hitting Courtney in the head was not. Ugh, does she not have anything better to do then attack me every chance she gets? I try to stay out her way but I keep running into her. And then yesterday she actually slapped Duncan. Courtney's crazy, but I didn't think she'd really do that! But I'm glad Duncan didn't hit her back because that would've been a chaotic mess even I couldn't clean up. And…he really shouldn't have said those things to her—he knows Courtney's a ticking time bomb!
My pencil then outlines his eyes. She doesn't even think I feel bad, but I do! I didn't plan to take Duncan away from her. I never thought it would happen! I was resisting all this time, trying to keep Courtney happy and my feelings hidden, but then in the confessional…he looked at me totally different, staring at me 'til he grabbed my hand, coming closer and closer, and then something clicked where I just couldn't resist him anymore, and I knew he felt the same too. My head was spinning and I just really liked that kiss! I didn't even think he liked me back until he said, "Every time I ran from the cops, I thought of you," and looked at me with those…teal eyes…ahh, snap out of it!
Just thinking about that stuff has my face burning. When did I get so girly? I finish up Duncan's famous smirk and head over to his neckline. I agree it wasn't the best way to get with him, but I can't change what happened. What's done is done, even if…some people hate me for it. I can't take the hate—I just wanna get off this stupid boat! Courtney's done a great job of making me feel lousy. I don't know if I can ever make it up to her. She'd be happy if I killed myself—I'm pretty sure that's what she wants.
My charcoal breaks in half—great. Good thing I brought a spare. I drink some more coffee and continue drawing. Duncan makes me happy, though. We're so similar and have the same sense of humor—it's nice dating your best friend. So cliché, but now I know why people say that. Again, I repeat: when did I get so girly?
I pick up my cup but realize there's no more coffee left, so I get up to refill it. I also get some pancakes to take up to Duncan and some muffins for myself. He asked for waffles but Owen used all the batter. I turn around but then drop all the food in my hands—
My sketchbook's gone.
I search the room frantically, but it's obvious no one's here. Who took it that quick? The charcoal's still on the table, though. Guess they thought that was useless.
Heart almost pounding out my ribcage, I dash out the dining hall—they couldn't have gone that far. Please, please, please, please, please don't be Courtney!
I start running down a random hallway and see Sadie and Katie coming towards me, gossiping.
"I can't decide who's hotter, Justin or Trent?" Katie gushes.
"They're both so yummy! And Justin's butt…oooooooh!"
"But Trent's butt is way better!"
"Uh, hello Katie, Justin is a model!"
"So? Trent's a musician!"
"So is Justin!"
"You call playing the tambourine a talent?"
"Oh, so whistling out of your nose is a talent too?"
"You never said you hated my nose whistling!"
I clear my throat and they stop their arguing. "Have you guys seen someone carrying a sketchbook?"
Sadie shakes her head. "No, but…" Her voice gets fan-girly high pitched. "You've dated Trent before! Is his butt toned?!"
I'm sure my face is red before I lie, "I-I wouldn't know," and run right past them. Creeper much? I turn the corner and stop dead in my tracks.
Trent's snooping though my book.
I can't even think—I don't even know what to think, but I'm getting that panicky feeling like I'm claustrophobic. He's flipping through the pages like it's nothing and I'm standing right here!
"What are you doing?!" I confront him, and that's when he finally notices me—and he's embarrassed.
He hastily shuts the book and calls my name, but the ringing in my ears muffle out the rest of his words as I lunge towards him and snatch the book from his hands.
"Why did you steal my book?!" I scream, glaring into his scared eyes and clutching the book to my chest like it's my lifeline. Is he crazy? "Are you crazy?!"
All I hear is my shallow breath as Trent takes 3 steps towards me with hesitation while I simultaneously take 3 steps back. "I-I didn't steal it!" he insists, but all the while looking guilty. "You'd think I'd really do that?"
"Oh sure," I snap, while Trent's still playing the dummy. "I got up from my seat to get more food in the dining hall, and when I turned around, it was gone! And then in less than 2 minutes I see you with it! How do you explain that?"
"I swear, I didn't even know it was yours!" He shifts his gaze from my eyes to the book and frowns. "I just saw it here on the floor."
"Yeah, right."
"It's the truth!" he protests—horribly. I know exactly why he stole it, too.
"You just can't get over that we broke up!"
That probably wounds Trent more than it shows. His face gets dark and he knows I'm right. "You saw me drawing Duncan and stole my book! I know you're jealous but that's just low."
Trent narrows his eyes at me. "I might be jealous of Duncan—"
"No, you are jealous of Duncan—"
"Whatever," he says, trying to shut me up. "But I'd never do something like this…even if…you do draw millions of pictures of Duncan." His shuddering at that last part says it all.
I tighten my grip on the book and accuse lowly, "You just can't see that I'm happy and moved on."
"That's totally not true!" he counters, but I know he's lying. "I want you to be happy but—"
"Not with Duncan," I finish for him sharply.
"Of course not with Duncan!" He shouts it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Now he's on a rampage and paces back and forth as I continue thinking how I wanna kill him. "He's ruthless, a complete jerk, and you LIKE him?!"
I've had it. What gives him the right to attack Duncan like this? "You don't even know him!" My throat's hoarse and feels like it's on fire. "You don't even know what he's like!"
"I know he's no good for you and will break your heart," Trent says with equal intensity as my voice. "If he cheated on Courtney he'll cheat on you too!"
Those words tell me we're done. My whole body tenses up and I turn away from him, walking and barking behind me, "I'm not putting up with you dissing him because you're jealous!" All I can focus on is getting as far away from Trent as possible.
He runs up beside me but I don't wanna look at him. We're done with this stupid conversation! Stop following me!
His voice is semi-apologetic. "Hey, look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, but that's not what I wanna talk about. What I've been meaning to tell you since yesterday is—"
I shove him strongly away from me, still walking, and catch his upset eyes. "I don't wanna hear you bash Duncan anymore."
He abruptly grabs my left wrist and yanks me to a halt, but I violently try to break from his tight grip, still avoiding his eyes by looking straight ahead. "Let—me—go!"
"C'mon," he says fiercely, "just hear me out!"
I continue to shake my wrist away from him and then turn around to meet his distressed face, but before I can tell him that I never wanna speak to him ever again, Leshawna appears from the other corner of the hallway, humming a song, and stops when she sees the scene.
"Trent, I know you ain't hurting Gwen!" she says loudly, walking towards us with her hands on her hips and giving Trent the evil eye.
His hands loosen their grip on me and I jerk my arm away from him, glancing at my wrist. At least it isn't red. I can tell he's not sure what to do now that Leshawna's here. Whatever anger Trent had is gone because he's now anxious. "No! No, it's not that. I just wanted to talk to her—"
"That sure didn't look like talking to me," Leshawna cuts him off. "Now unless you want your guitar to mysteriously go overboard, stop bothering Gwen."
Trent lets out a defeated sigh and looks at me with sadness, but all I feel is rage as I turn my head away from him.
"Sorry for being harsh," he mutters, and then walks past me, his hands in his pockets, and disappears around the left corner.
"Are you alright?" Leshawna asks with concern, but I let out a deep groan and push myself against the wall, sliding slowly to the floor. I fling my sketchbook to the other wall in front of me, bring my legs up, and bury my head in my knees.
I think Leshawna's sitting across from me because I hear her plop down on the floor, too. "It's gonna be ok," she soothes.
"No it's not," I muffle. "I'm cranky, I'm miserable, I hate Trent, and all I wanna do is rip my hair out, let it re-grow, and then rip it out again because that's how screwed up this whole thing is!"
"Why were you fighting with him anyway?"
"Because he stole my sketchbook. With Duncan in it." I look up warily at her and meet her shocked face. "I was drawing Duncan in the dining hall, I went to get food, and when I came back it was gone. And then minutes later he has it but denies it! What am I supposed to believe when my sketchbook is in his hands and he told me the other day he's jealous of Duncan? And then he said Duncan's ruthless and would cheat on me!"
"Girl, that's messed up!"
"I know!" I wail. "You know how much I wanna be friends with Trent, but he's acting so stupid! I'm done. I'm seriously done with him! If he's acting like this, it's over. And to make this day even better than it already is, I slammed Courtney's face with the library door! She went all psycho-crazy on me when I apologized. If you have any sympathy, stab me in the neck with a knife. She'll worship you forever."
"I'm saving that for Heather," Leshawna tries to joke, but I'm not laughing. She sighs deeply. "I know it's not easy being on this boat with Trent the Fool and Courtney the Cactus—"
Ha, that's a good one.
"—but you got me to help you deal with it!"
"I know, but it doesn't make me feel exactly great that Courtney hates me. Like, really hates me. She's being a total brat! Every chance she can find she brings up me and Duncan and it sucks!"
Leshawna arches an eyebrow. "Uh, you know you stole Duncan from her."
"Leshawna!" She can't be serious! I put my head back in between my knees.
"You gotta own up to it," she puts plainly. "No matter how much you sugar coat it, you stole another girl's man. You can't hide from the truth, girl. Don't tell me you don't remember when Heather and Trent kissed on the dock in TDI?"
As if my heart couldn't sink any lower from when she said I stole Duncan, it just plummeted 3,000 feet. "Yeahhhhh…."
"It's the same thing!" she exclaims. "Gwen you better look at me." I grudgingly lift my head up and look at her stern eyes. Why do I feel like a little kid being scolded by their mom? "You thought Trent was foolin' around and you got hurt. You know darn well what Courtney feels like cuz you felt it too."
Her words sting me deep, puncturing my bruised heart even more. I'm trying to ignore this dry feeling in my mouth but it won't go away, and I feel clammy. Me and Leshawna have a staring contest showdown, not uttering a single word.
She finally breaks the silence and gives a stupid attempt to smile which fails to lift my mood. "Bottom line, I'm happy that you're happy, even if it's with that punk. I'm just saying y'all could've gotten together a whole lot better than you did. I bet you didn't even tell her sorry."
Oh. 'Sorry'. The same word that got Courtney to freak out on me. "'Hey Courtney, sorry I kissed your boyfriend and liked it and ruined our almost friendship. Oh, you forgive me? Now I can sleep knowing we're besties and you cut off all your plans to murder me. Thanks.' Yeah, not gonna happen."
"Even if she doesn't accept it, you'll be the bigger person and maybe won't be called the New Heather anymore." I cringe at that name. I am not Heather! She then half-laughs. "And girl, you need to step up your apology skills. What kinda apology was that?!"
"Only the best apology in the world," I answer sarcastically.
"Gwen, you know I got your back when dealing with Courtney or anyone." I give her a small smile. "That whiny, bratty, wanna-be Judge Judy needs to be put in her place."
"Thanks, Leshawna." I hope she hears how sincere I am. We both stand up from the floor and she returns my sketchbook.
"Anytime. Oh, and one more thing." She looks at me slyly and I cock my head in question. "Tell Duncan to stop pranking Harold. He replaced the inside of his toothpaste tube with glue."
Hmmm. "You like Harold again, don't you?"
Her mouth twitches and averts her eyes to her nails casually—but not casual enough because I know her too well. "Me and Harold are over. What gave you that idea?"
"You care too much about what Duncan does to him."
"There's no crime in caring about your friend." She walks past me, laughing it off. "C'mon, let's go to your room and put that book away before Trent steals it again."
"Whatever you say," I joke, and catch up to her.
Courtney's P.O.V.
"Courtney, my legs are seriously turning into jelly from all this walking," comes Sierra's exasperated voice as she collapses on the movie theater's dark and dirty floor.
I keep pacing through the row of velvet red chairs, trying to find Blaineley cowering underneath them. "We can't give up now! If we find her first before Leshawna she'll make the competition back to normal again. I thought you'd care more that Cody's not gonna be with you next season, since you're safe after all."
That get's her attention. She snaps her head up from the floor and says menacingly, "NEVER—question—how much I care about Cody. NEVER! I'm just tired, ok?!" I'm glad she still has some fighting spirit in her left—which is good because we're falling behind!
Cody falls into one of the chairs, yawning. "Face it, she's not even on the boat. We've spent all morning looking in the spas, bowling alley, skating rink, shops, and now we've hit a dead end. And why would she be hiding anyway? She doesn't even know we figured her out."
I glare at both of them but they're so tired they don't even notice. It figures I'm the only one who cares about this stupid scavenger hunt being flawed. It's insulting to think I'm winning by default because I'm in the bottom! I'm winning this thing because I earned it and that's how it's gonna be!
"Chef probably told her the minute we left the security room," I snap. "He, Blaineley, and Chris are trying to corrupt this show and I won't allow it! If you guys are tired I'll just find her myself."
"Cool, I'll just head over to the pool," Cody says a little too eagerly to my liking, springing up quick from his seat while I eye him down, but like a cheetah Sierra stands up from the floor in a flash and grabs Cody's right arm, yanking him to her chest, much to his chagrin.
"I got a better idea!" Sierra squeals with a creepy glint in her eye. "Let's all take a break and do something fun! Liiiiiiike, watch Cody's birthing video!"
"WHAT?!" Cody frantically outbursts as I bend over laughing, holding my sides together. She's a maniac! She reaches under her hat and pulls out a CD case. "SIERRA! How did you…where did you—"
"My life began when Cody Emmett Jameson Anderson was born 18 years ago on April 1st at 9:45 a.m.," Sierra says tearfully, clutching the visibly red and scared Cody tighter to her chest. "Your mom screaming, 'GET THIS THING OUTTA ME' was my favorite part! OH-EM-GEE, no no no, my favorite part was when you popped out and your dad was looking at the nurse holding you and then you peed right in his face! So much pee from such a cute little wee-wee—"
"You know what pee reminds me of? The water! And you know what has lots of water? The pool! Let's go—NOW!" Cody covers Sierra's mouth and drags her out the theater as her protesting words are subdued by his hand. At least he's asserting his authority over her for once. Maybe he's not such a lost cause after all.
I look around the empty theater and let out and irked sigh. Where else can I look for her? I refuse to believe Chef hasn't told her yet—of course she knows! She's acting a lot smarter than she looks.
Out of nowhere, my pocket vibrates, causing me to jump. Oh, my PDA. I whip it out and see it's a text from Bridgette:
Hey, wanna go on the surf simulator now if ur not busy? Im playing badminton and totally sucking at it :P
Hmmm, find Blaineley or waste my time taking a break?
Sure, I'm out of leads trying to find Blaineley anyway.
Random qt: do you like mangos?
What's she trying to get at? Um, no I do not. WHY?
And now she suspiciously doesn't respond. What is with her? That question was too out the blue. We're not that close anymore but…something's going on and I demand to know! But I can't complain too much. Even though she's being sneaky, seeing her is a nice change of pace as opposed to being around Sierra, Cody, and Trent all the time.
Exiting the theater, I walk down a long hallway and turn 3 corners to get to my room. I grab the gray bathing suit I always wear in Total Drama, and then make my way to the main deck. The air smells like sea salt and calms me down—not that I'm stressed but the atmosphere's relaxing. The sky's blue, there's clouds, and more importantly, no one's up here. I make my way to the surf simulator which is in the middle of the deck's landing, and sit on its white border, waiting for Bridgette, watching the clear, cerulean waves quietly lap under the blue and yellow striped surf board that's lying peacefully in its resting zone. Finally, she emerges from the double doors in her usual body suit and smiles. "Long time no see!"
I return the smile and wave. "Yeah, I know. I'm surprised you texted me."
Her voice sounds a little off as she walks towards me. "We haven't hung out in a while and I felt kinda bad." Oh. That makes me fully aware we're not as close as we used to be. I guess I could've asked her to hang out too, but I wasn't focused on it. Or just didn't miss her as much.
"Well, we're here now," I say happily, trying to cloud over the awkwardness I sense brewing. And now my voice changes to a tone of suspicion. "Why did you ask me if I liked mangos?"
"Oh, Geoff's conducting a survey to see what foods he should have for future parties," she responds nonchalantly, finally at the simulator. As if I believe that downright, outrageous, lie, but I let it slide. Grabbing the surfboard, she jumps out the water and walks up the little stairs on the side leading to the head of the simulator and steps her feet in, placing the board at the top of it while the rest of the wall slopes downward with rushing water into a medium sized pool, where the waves lap backward. Positioning herself on the board with her arms outstretched, Bridgette surfs down, keeping her balance as the current runs against her. I then join her with the blue and green striped surfboard lying on the left of the machine, laughing the whole time. I guess we're getting our rhythm back.
After about 45 minutes of surfing perfectly, we then go into the jacuzzi next to the machine, also on the landing, under Bridgette's suggestion. Oooh, the jets hitting my back feel soooooo gooooood.
Bridgette starts the conversation. "I wanted to hang out because I didn't know if you were ok from yesterday. Y'know, the whole Duncan thing."
An involuntary shiver runs down my back and my elated mood instantly turns sour.
"Of course I'm ok!" I bristle up. "He's the last thing on my mind!"
Bridgette doesn't believe me—her eyes show it but I try to look as innocently as I can.
"Okaayyyy," she sing-songs. "I can't believe you slapped Duncan! As much as you guys fought I didn't think you'd ever hit each other. But he totally deserved it—what he said was beyond rude."
"Yeah, slapping him was definitely empowering," I smirk, ignoring another shiver.
"Soooo, what happened after Trent and Sierra took you out the room?"
"I beat both of them at ping-pong and played music with Trent. And then—" I shiver this time from revulsion, "—Justin ate dinner with us. He has to be the only idiot who can't tell the difference between an insult and a compliment! I called him a blockhead and a simpleton but he just smiled at me with those creepy fake eyes! And all throughout dinner he wrote in this stupid notepad. I bet he was reminding himself to re-shape his eyebrows because they're starting to look like caterpillars."
"You're totally exaggerating!" But Bridgette's laughing with me. "He's…really not that bad of a guy, though."
I look at her like she just told me to go out with Justin. Because that's basically what she implied. "You're saying I should give him a chance?!"
"No, but…" she's fumbling for words. "…yeah, but….ah, I don't know. He's an ok guy. You could be friendly, cordial, something!"
She's acting weird. First the mango text then this? "Why are you on Justin's side?" I say suspiciously but she's not cracking. "He's way too pushy! And even if he wasn't…NO!"
She merely shrugs like I'm blowing everything out of proportion. "He could be a useful ally."
How did that idea enter her brain? I roll my eyes. "An ally if I ever wanted to co-write The Playboy's Guide To Being A Dummy. I'll stick to law school."
Bridgette shrugs again. "Your call. By the way, I think it's cool your friends with Trent and Sierra."
"They're not as bad as I normally thought," I state. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but…I can get used to Sierra's over the top energy and…Trent's not that much of a loser—he is when he's mopey, though," I add quickly. "And Cody's not bad either."
"Speaking of 'friends,'" Bridgette air quotes, grinning slyly, "do you still have a crush on Alejandro?"
She thought that would catch me off guard but it doesn't as I return her sly gaze. "Not. At. All."
"Really? Because you fell for him hard in World Tour. And plus, you said he was the best player of the game. In some weird way, I think you liked that."
"You got fooled just as much as I did!" I remind her and she blushes.
"Well, everyone did! He was so smooth and cool until we found out he was evil. But I still think you like him."
"Look," I say, now giving her a smug grin, "I don't like that dead-donkey anymore. I admit he played the game better than anyone else but that's as far as it goes. He was something to get my mind off of Duncan but it meant nothing; I never really liked him on a deeper level. And looking back at those tapes of him flirting with me, I look like a love-struck teenager! He made me look like an idiot on national television while he played me and that's something I'm never gonna forgive him for! And don't even get me started on that stupid Drama Machine. There's no future with someone who isn't physically able to take care of themselves—he'll just hold me back."
"Wow, that's brutal!" Bridgette starts cracking up but then calms herself down. "Ok, so you don't like Alejandro. But what about Duncan?"
Spider-like chills crawl all over my body. "As if!" I scoff at her excited face. "I don't even know what I saw in him!"
"C'mon, you can tell me!" Bridgette insists, widening her green eyes but I turn my face away from her. "I know we were a lot closer in TDI, but I'm here for you!"
My words come out curtly. "I most certainly DO NOT like him."
"Really?" More disbelief.
"Really."
"Uh huh."
"It's true!" I point to my bare, left arm. "I even got my heart tattoo removed after World Tour ended! I so do not like him!"
"But you freak out over everything they do, even it's not to you! Like if they make out—"
"You really wanna know how I feel?" I finally erupt, looking at Bridgette's taken back face. "Do you know how aggravating it is to see the guy who broke your heart every single day while he acts like he did nothing wrong? That no matter how much you try to erase him, he's always there mocking you in your face, and then all the blame gets dumped on you? And after all of this people still have the audacity to LIKE him and treat him like some untouchable demi-god while I'm in the bottom 13?" My speech now takes on a rapid approach and I shoot out my next words like darts. "He deserves to be slapped, he deserves to be hated, and he deserves to be hurt just as much as I am!"
We're both silent, me fuming and Bridgette at a loss for words. I pierce the jacuzzi bubbles with the imaginary lasers I envision coming out of my eyes, picturing the bubbles to be the bastard's head. I held that in for so long but now I feel…lighter.
"Wow," is all Bridgette has to say, wide-eyed. That's all she has to say as the first person I've told any of this to? I know I dumped a lot of stuff on her but I expected more of a reaction. This rebuilding friendship thing is gonna take some work.
I wearily sigh. "So that's what I've been feeling. Thanks for…letting me vent." It felt so good to do that. But I know I can trust Bridgette with all of this—we may not be close but she's the most trustworthy person on the boat.
She finally speaks—about time.
"No prob! I'm always here to listen." She waves her hand like I just didn't reveal my heart and soul to her, and her face changes from shell shocked to ease. "Vent as much as you want. I really didn't know you hated Duncan that much. I actually do too—I just put up with him because of Geoff. He should've never cheated on you."
I don't wanna make a scene out of that word, so I just hold back my angry tears and say with acid, "I hate Gwen, too."
"Yeahhhh…"
"She deserves just as much anguish as I've been in!" I say defiantly, lifting up my head. "At least someone else had sense to put her in the bottom of the bottom 13. And do you know she hit me in the head and caused this bruise?"
Bridgette mumbles something about "that explains breakfast."
"What? I can't hear you."
"Nothing," she quickly says. "Anyway, you have a right to be mad at both of them, but I think it's time to move on. It's already been a few months since the whole thing happened."
Trent's words from yesterday echo in my head: Maybe you should take your own advice and move on too! Ugh, both he and Bridgette don't know what they're talking about. I'm trying and it's hard!
"Don't you think I want to?" I snobbishly reply. "I told you, they're everywhere! Seeing them makes me wanna vomit."
"I think you should try and date someone else," Bridgette suggests. Then her eyes start sparkling. "I'll find you someone! Then you won't give me crap for making out with Geoff so much!"
My stomach churns. "Y-you don't need to find me anyone! Plus, I have too long of an expectation list. You'll never find someone who meets all the criteria." I know for a fact she couldn't.
But Bridgette has determination in her face. "Your list needs some major tweaking, and I'm gonna help you. It's settled—I'm finding you a boyfriend! You said you don't like Duncan right?"
More chills. "No."
"Or anyone else?"
"Nope."
"Alright!" she pumps her fist in the air. "This guy's gonna be 100% Courtney-approved!"
I should be happy. I should be happy. Dammit, I wanna be happy!
But a pair of teal eyes lingers in my head.
Justin's P.O.V.
The cashier hands me my bag. "Here's your gift, Justin."
I didn't know we were on a first name basis. I lean forward to read his name tag and squint. "Thanks…Chad. I'll catch you on the flip side." He points his finger at me and winks and I do the same before I turn around. This is gonna be the perfect gift for Courtney! Now I just have to find her. Should I make her a card? Nah, I'm not good at making things from scratch—arts and crafts is not my style. Last time I did paper- mâché I got a rash on my arm— never again. I can't afford to get a rash using foreign paper products that aren't approved by my agent.
"Hey Justin! What's in the bag?" Leshawna's voice startles me and I see her and Eva come into the shop, walking towards me. That's funny—I thought they hated each other. Oh right, they teamed up to make sure Blaineley keeps the competition rigged. Being frenemies seems to be the trend in Total Drama, and so far, it's working great!
"It's a surprise for Courtney." I place my left hand over the opening of the bag from Eva's peering eyes. Back off man hands!
Leshawna chuckles. "You're still crushing on her? If that ain't dedication I don't know what is."
"She's gonna have to give in eventually! C'mon, who can resist this face? I know I can't." I whip out the mirror from my pocket and wink at my reflection. Handsome as always!
Eva and Leshawna give each other looks. They don't even agree with me! I have lost my edge…
"Blaineley's room wasn't near the ice skating rink like you said," Eva says gruffly, snapping me out of my paranoia about my looks.
I stuff the mirror back in my pocket and beam. "What reason would I have to lie? I'm in the same boat with you! I want a free pass to Season 5 too—I must've confused her room with something else." Eva looks like she's gonna eat me alive but I keep beaming, hiding the fact that she's intimidating me.
Leshawna breaks the forming tension. "How'd you buy Courtney's present anyway? We all thought we were going back on the island, not a trip to the mall."
"I don't have money—I promised Chad over there I'd take him to Hawaii if he gave me what I wanted."
Leshawna loops her arm with mine and bats her eyes. "Hey honeypie, we're friends, right? You wouldn't mind taking me to your hometown one day? Say, after we got off this boat?"
"Yeah yeah, no problem," I say smoothly and she shrieks in happiness. "Buuuut, you're gonna have to pay for your own ticket." And just like that her happiness is gone and she un-loops her arm from mine.
"Don't you have your own private jet?" she asks defensively.
"I do, but gas ain't no joke, sister."
Her mouth hangs open. "You're expecting me to pay for a jet?"
"$2,500 round trip isn't so bad."
"You know what, forget it!" she shakes her head. "I know we're cool and all, but that's just wrong."
Eva snickers while Leshawna raises an eyebrow. Before she can open her mouth to give Eva a piece of her mind, Geoff peeks his head into the store and cuts in.
"Dudes! We're throwing a gnarly party in the mini-golf room right now! We got balloons, sparkling spiked and non-spiked cider, and bangin' music! So get your butts over there and have some fun! Later!" He runs away but then backtracks in less than a second. "Oh yeah, Justin, bring your camera in case we see Blaineley so we can get her to confess on tape. Later!" And he's off again.
The 2 girls stare me down while I nervously smile. Thanks, Geoff.
"I knew it! You're on their side!" Eva accuses, her neck beginning to bulge.
"No I'm not!" If I was them I'd believe me! I sound convincing!
"Then why are you helping Geoff and them unrig this?" Leshawna demands.
Should I tell them about helping Courtney? "I'm making them believe I'm helping them. You know, that whole keep your friends close but your enemies closer thing." They're not buying it and continue to icily stare at me. I start backing out the store. "Well ladies, it's been nice chatting but now I gotta—"
"Get your camera so you can be a traitor? Do you know what I do to traitors?!" Eva punches her fist hard and I gulp. I can't let those man hands give me any more deformities!
"Maybe you can show me sometime when it's not a threat against me, but I exfoliate at 7:30 every day, and what do you know, it's 7:30. Bye!" I dash out the store and run to my left, checking to see if they're behind me—nope. Phew, that was a close one! I take the elevator to the 3rd floor, run to my room at the end of the hall, stuff my camera in my other pocket, and run down the stairs to the 2nd floor to the mini-golf room. I know I'm at the right place even before I get to the door because I can see the golf courses through the glass walls, and plus, The Wanted's "Glad You Came" is put on full blast.
I walk in and look around—Geoff really knows his stuff! The whole room's dark with green, red, blue, orange, and yellow lights bouncing off the walls from a disco light on the ceiling, balloons of every color are floating around, and there's streamers on the wall. And the mini golf course is awesome—and huge! There's a couple of shallow little lakes, a windmill course, lots of fake felted grass, benches for people to sit on, a Slip-N-Slide, a moon bounce, and an ice cream truck— where the heck did Geoff find that at? I'm pretty sure that didn't come with the room.
Geoff immediately comes out of nowhere and wraps his arm around my neck while his other hand's carrying a red cup. "Glad you came, dude! Get it? Cuz of the song?"
"Yeah, this is some party! Now I finally get the chance to come to one! Remember I couldn't go to the one you hosted after TDI cuz I had my American Eagle photo shoot?"
"You missed one awesome night, bro, but listen! We got drinks in the back with Katie and Sadie managing the table, an ice cream truck where you can get as much as you want, and if you wanna request a song, tell Alejandro or Heather who's in the back over there with the sound system, they'll hook you up. So PAR-TAY OOOOOOONNNNNN!" He downs the rest of whatever he's drinking, no doubt the spiked cider, and sashays off to hole #5 with Bridgette, Gwen, Duncan, DJ, and Leshawna. Courtney should be here too—if not, I'll have fun for a bit before I give her my gift.
I scan the area and see she's at hole #9 with Trent, Sierra, and Cody. I look to my right and see a row of golf clubs peeking out from a closet. After grabbing a club and a red ball, I make my way over to Courtney.
Sierra, who's finished putting, sees me and gets super hyper. "JUSTIIIIIIIIN! Come and join us, we got room!"
Trent and Cody greet me while Courtney abruptly turns around and gives me a hostile look, putting her hands on her hips. I love when she looks like that!
"If you join you'll just ruin the outcome of the game!" She walks towards me and shoves the scorecard under my nose. "I'm winning with 20 points, Sierra has 25, Trent has—"
Sierra snatches the card from an incredulous Courtney and rips it in half, saying cheerfully, "We'll just get a new card and start from the beginning! That way Cody-kins has a chance to not be last!"
"NOOO!" Courtney—and Trent? —protest at the same time.
"9's my lucky number! I know for sure I'd get a hole in one!"
"It completely violates the rules of fairness, sportsmanship—"
"It's ok Courtney," I step in, "I know you'll be in first place again." I shine my radiating teeth at her, which fills up half the room, but then stop when Cody yells, "I'm gonna be blind before I'm 20!"
"Oh, before I forget." I hand Courtney the bag but she doesn't take it. I know she'll like it! I followed Harold's advice after all. I'm anticipating her shining face, a hug, and a kiss on the mouth if I'm lucky…a kiss on the cheek is ok too, but I'm trying to reach high! "Read the paper at the top of the bag, first."
"No."
"But it's really good!"
"No."
"Ok, I'll read it for you." She's so cute when she's stubborn! "From me, to you, Courtney:
'Nothing is your fault
Someone should slice Duncan's face
Cuz he's a meanie
I wanna punch him
But I really really can't
I'm a hand model
Your yelling is bad
It shattered my mirror bad
No more sexy time
Here is a panda
It is a purple panda
I hope you like it'"
"You gave me a panda as a gift?!" she says dumbfounded, snatching the bag from my hand and pulling out the small, purple and white stuffed animal underneath the tissue paper. She holds it away from her like it has rabies—can they even get those?
"I couldn't find a teddy bear in the store, and panda's are kinda like bears, right? And purple's your favorite color, so it's perfect!"
"I—HATE—pandas!" Her nose scrunches up like she smelled rotten eggs, and throws it back in the bag.
"What's wrong with pandas?" Are pandas not part of the bear family?
"For starters, they're the laziest animals on the planet! All they do is eat bamboo and sleep. Bamboo has low nutrients so they need to consume a lot to get energy, but they're stupid because they can eat other foods but choose not to. Their bodies have adapted to only eating bamboo, thus making them lazy, incompetent, and furthermore, STUPID! They're so lazy they can't even get off their butts to save their species from extinction and procreate! Why would I like pandas when they're the cause of their own demise?!"
It's not like you learn that every day—she is smart. I like it. I like it a lot.
"What animal do you like?" I prompt at her still dissatisfied face. "Flamingos? Elephants? Tigers?"
"Ooooh, get her a penguin!" Sierra says in her hyper voice. "They are soooo cute!"
Courtney sits the bag on the floor and crosses her arms. "We're wasting time! Let's get back to the game already!"
Cody pats my shoulder. "I thought the poem and panda was good. You'll win her over someday."
"I feel her pain, though. If someone gave me a pineapple clay mask instead of cucumber seaweed, I'd act the same way!" So poems are out, no thanks to Harold who helped me write it— he should stick to beat boxing. And pandas are a no-go. It'd make a good present for someone…I should give it to Beth so karma won't hit me again.
All of a sudden I'm really thirsty. "I'll be right back, I'm getting some cider," I call out, leaving the group.
"Fine, but we are not starting over again for you to catch up!" Courtney grabs her ball and the rest follow, Sierra running ahead while Cody and Trent shrug.
Katie and Sadie are at the drinks table in the back of the room, serving Gwen. There are 2 punch bowls, one labeled 'spiked' and the other 'plain'.
"I'll have plain," Gwen says. Katie pours her drink and hands it to her.
"Come again soon!" Sadie pipes in.
Gwen rolls her eyes and turns around, bumping into me.
"Sorry," she says, looking up at me and then her face relaxes.
"It's fine," I brush off.
"I thought you were someone else for a second—at least you don't freak out when I apologize," she says drily.
"Come again?"
"Nothing. Liking the party so far?"
"Yeah, the music's pumpin'!" I start dancing to the current song blasting in the room, Ne-Yo's "Let Me Love You", and Gwen just gives a half-hearted laugh, shaking her head.
"See ya later then." She waves and walks back to her group, where Geoff is definitely drunk. He's yelling, "WOOO! WOOOO! WOOOOOO!" and swinging Bridgette around and around while she's grimacing along with Leshawna. Duncan's pointing and laughing at them and tries to do it with Gwen, who pushes him away. At least Duncan's not doing it with Gwen, or Courtney might get upset—or slap him again, that was funny too!
I come up to Katie and Sadie who're breathing extra heavy at the table. "So, ladies," I say in my best seductive tone, "can I have plain cider too?" They do that annoying 'EEEEEE' thing. I swear they're both dolphins on the inside.
Katie's practically drooling. "Suuuuure." She never takes her eyes off me as she dips the cup in the bowl. Sadie, who's equally drooling, nudges her.
"You're doing it wrong!" she whispers. "You're supposed to use the ladle."
It's nice to know my powers still work on them, but they can't even serve me right! I grab the ladle and pour my own drink. "Thanks, but I got this is," I say flatly, and walk back to my group as they continue to form a puddle of spit.
If only I had the same effect on Courtney! It's gonna take some time, but I can wait.
Trent's P.O.V.
We finally manage to get to hole #3, but I know Courtney's still angry about starting over. And I am too but I'm trying not to show it. #9 was my hole! I can't be too mad, though; I'm in 2nd this time. But if I get in first place I'm never gonna hear the end of it—that's Courtney for ya.
Cody now putts and automatically gets a hole in one. "Woohoo! Who's the man, who's the man?!"
"You are, Cody-wody!" Sierra cheers and hugs him in a bear hug. I high five Cody's free hand that's not tangled in the hug.
"Nice job, man! Wish I could have some of your luck!"
Justin drinks some of his cider. "Just do that freaky 9 counting thing—that should work."
"I'm saving it for #9 again—I'll be twice as lucky there!" I answer confidently.
"When did you get so obsessed with 9?" Justin downs the rest of his cider and drops the red cup on the floor, burping.
"Ewww." Courtney stops lining up her shot and wrinkles her nose, glancing at the floor. "You're seriously littering? There's a trashcan near the moon bounce."
"That's what everyone does at parties," Justin shrugs as Courtney gives him a dirty look and resumes her putting. "No one's clean. So," he looks at me, "the 9 thing. What's the deal?"
"Obviously you didn't watch the Aftermath," Sierra says darkly. "He—"
"I can say it," I cut her off, annoyed. It's my life story. "My grandfather—"
"Save the sob story for someone who cares," Justin rudely interrupts, hiccupping.
What the heck? "But you asked me!"
"Well, pop, lock, and zip it, cuz I don't wanna hear it…haha, that rhymed, hahaha…" Not really. He continues to laugh but it's a little out of control.
Cody looks scared. "Uh, you ok, Justin?"
"Yeah, I'm great!" he shouts, and then wraps his arm around Courtney's waist. "Heyyyy beautiful! Why don't we—"
Courtney jabs the top of her club at full force to his kiwis, yelling, "YOU PEVERT! I'LL SUE YOU FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT!" Justin grabs his crotch and says in a different octave, "Mommy," and stumbles in a dizzy circle away from her while Courtney looks smugly satisfied.
"You think he's drunk?" I question, now looking at Justin who's being held back by Cody cuz he's lunging for Courtney now, who has her club up like a baseball bat. He really doesn't wanna have kids.
Sierra magically whips out a journal and pen that's plastered with Cody stickers and starts writing super fast. "This is the best moment EVER! Geoff's parties are legendary but things are already heating up! I can't believe Justin's drunk, EEEEEK! His fan base is totally gonna freak!"
"A—little—HELP?!" Cody pleads, as Justin tries to kick Cody off of him. "Ugh, his breath reeks of alcohol!"
"No no no no no," Justin argues, goofily laughing, and stops resisting Cody before I help. "I drank plain….pl….play-doh….what'd I drink?!"
"He is so wasted!" Courtney looks so put off right now and eyes Justin like he's lower then dirt or something. "Let's just leave him and continue our game! You're next, Sierra."
"Almost…done…writing," Sierra replies, writing like she's in the Writing Olympics. I thought Justin wouldn't drink cuz he's watching his figure. Too much alcohol can go to the face. Ruin his…perfect…model….face…hmmm…
"Hey Sierraaaaaa!" Justin calls—or, slurs. "Teach me how you live with your deformities! How does it feel covering your hideous bald head with a cap?"
Why'd he say that?! Sierra's eyes flash as she snaps her Cody pen in half and drops her book. She marches up to Justin and clutches his shirt collar, getting very close to his face, but he's so gone he's still cracking up. "You owe me a Cody pen! And I don't have any 'deformities', Cody likes me the way I am! Isn't that right Cody?! RIGHT?!"
"I do," Cody replies meekly. And then a weird thing happens—Justin starts sobbing—like, hardcore heaving.
"I'm sorry Sierra," he sniffles, but she's not moved. "You're ugly, I'm ugly, and I thought ugly people should stick together! Courtney doesn't even notice me, and only unattractive people like Katie, Sadie, and Beth like my pretty face, but what's it matter when my-my-my powers are gone for good? Tell me how to get them back! From one ugly to another!"
"Justin, you—" but a random black golf ball flies outta nowhere and hits Cody square in the face, knocking him out cold on the floor. He's got a black eye forming that quickly?
"Cody!" In a flash Sierra's giving him CPR.
"And now Cody's died from my ugliness! It's contagious!" Justin falls on the floor, still sobbing.
I scan the area and see Duncan laughing at Cody—and Gwen too? —while the rest of her group wince at us. That's rude and not like Gwen at all…but then what do I know about Gwen? She thought I stole her book and I didn't…
Sierra stops CPR'ing and locks her eyes with Duncan and Gwen—really, Gwen. "Why are they laughing?!"
"I think they're the ones who hit Cody," Courtney says deviously.
Sierra gasps and stands up, grabbing her club. "I should've known! Gwen's going DOWN!"
"I'll back you up!" Courtney gets her club and they march to the windmill station with me following behind.
"You guys are jumping to conclusions!" I shout, looking at Gwen who's still laughing and Duncan who's howling on the floor. "We don't know it was them! And you don't have your bats!"
"These golf clubs are even better!" Courtney exclaims and Sierra nods in agreement. Crap, I thought for sure they'd stop when I said that.
Sierra's seething at Gwen as we approach the tense group. "Did you hit Cody in the face?!"
Duncan's having the time of his life rolling on the floor. "She did! It was AWESOME! I didn't think she had the guts. HAHAHAHAHA!"
"She didn't do it on purpose," Bridgette intervenes, biting her lip.
"But she's still laughing!" Sierra shouts. "She's not even sorry! Apologize!"
"It was so funny—" laughs Gwen, but Sierra tries to clobber her with her club.
"NO!" I anxiously yell, but Leshawna runs in front of Gwen and grabs the end of Sierra's club, in which they tug of war.
"You better back up!" Leshawna growls as Sierra cries, "SHE HIT CODY!"
Courtney then tries to hit Gwen with her club, belting out, "TAKE THIS YOU GOTH WITCH!" but Duncan also engages in a tug of war with her club too.
This party's getting out of control! And Geoff's definitely drunk! He's throwing his cowboy hat around like it's a Frisbee and trying to catch it himself, but weirdly, everyone else is doing their own thing and not paying attention to us.
I know Gwen probably doesn't wanna talk to me, and I don't wanna talk to her after the way she treated me, but now's my chance to clear up what happened earlier today.
"Gwen!" I shout over the loud music, grabbing her shoulders. She surprisingly doesn't move away but points at Cody. "He is so out of it! Did you see his face when I hit him?"
"Yeah his face is a real crack up, now listen!" She's still chuckling, though. "I didn't steal your book! I don't know who took it but it wasn't me! I found it on the floor and picked it up. You just caught me at a bad time."
She speaks really slowly and slaps my hands. "Get away from me…we're…we're not friends!"
"That's what I tried to tell you today—and yesterday! I changed my mind, I wanna be friends! I made the mistake in telling you I didn't but—" Gwen abruptly kicks my foot, causing me to let go of her, and she falls on her butt.
"Why the heck—" I try to pick her up but then a whiff of alcohol hits my nose.
Aw crap. How did I not know she was drunk?!
Her little chuckling turns into outrageous laughter as she's rolling on the floor. Bridgette and DJ join me on the floor, apprehensive.
"Is she gonna be ok?" DJ says in a high voice.
"Yeah, but she's drunk," I answer. His and Bridgette's mouths drop open.
Bridgette's puzzled. "But she doesn't drink. When she said she was getting cider everyone knew what she meant. Geoff on the other hand…"
It's true Gwen doesn't drink—at least, she probably didn't before she met Duncan. That idiot!
"DJ, DJ," Gwen says out of breath. "DJ, DJ…JD…hahahaha, JD, like Scrubs! Are you him?"
"No, Gwen, I'm DJ!" he answers, frantic to the extreme.
"But JD, you have to—" she hiccups and still laughs, "go out with Eva!"
"Why?! She's scary!"
"But Duncan said—"
Duncan comes outta nowhere and covers Gwen's mouth with his hand and nervously smiles. "Ha, drunk people and their made-up shit."
"How'd you lose Courtney?" Bridgette asks, looking around.
"While we were tug-of-warring I let go and her club swung back and hit Eva's face! I'd say she's got a lot of running to do."
I look behind me and see Eva charging like a bull at a panicked Courtney through the golf courses. I hope Courtney can outrun her.
Bridgette stands up and grabs DJ's hands. "C'mon, we gotta help Gwen calm down! Let's find some water and bread." DJ looks back at me and Gwen and bites his free hand.
Now it's just me and Duncan. Sierra and Leshawna are still fighting but Leshawna has her own club now.
I put my attention back on Duncan and frown. "You didn't tell Gwen I wanted to be friends again, did you? She totally thought I was that jealous to steal her sketchbook!"
Duncan releases his hands from Gwen's laughing mouth, who's calmed down and looks sleepy. He crosses his arms and frowns back. "As far as I know, you two are over, capiche? I don't have to tell her anything you say. If she doesn't wanna listen, that's your problem, brah."
Man he's a total jerk! And now he's making sure me and Gwen aren't friends. "You're a real asshole, you know that right?"
I wish I could punch that stupid smirk off his face, but if I do that Gwen will really hate me. "And the snippy side comes out again. I've been called worse." He lifts Gwen from the ground, who's half-asleep, and carries her in his arms, her head resting on his chest. "I'm taking her back to her room."
I grab Gwen's arm but she swats at my hand. "I figured out she was drunk, I should do it!"
"It's not like I was napping the whole time, I had to fight off Courtney!" He tries to walk away but I'm still holding on to her. "Get off!"
"I wanna tell her the truth when she wakes up!"
"Not happenin', man! Last time I checked, I'm her boyfriend, so freakin' grow a pair and get over it!"
Man, that hit me bad. Like an airplane, grand piano, and freight train all crashed into me at once bad.
Suddenly, a sharp pain attacks my right leg. "AAAH!" I clutch it with both hands and see a dart there. What the heck?!
"Better get that checked out," Duncan snickers, walking away with Gwen out the room.
Darn it, I missed my chance with Gwen! But who threw that—
Another dart whizzes past my ear and I limp to hide in the moon bounce. Someone has tranquilizers?! I look behind me and see Katie and Sadie chasing after me with tranquilizer guns, cackling. Tranquilizer guns?! "SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEEEE!"
Luckily enough, Justin, who's still drunk but not as bad as he was before, jumps in front of them, and they stop, mesmerized.
"Katie! Sadie! Am I fugly?!"
I don't stick around to hear their answer before I jump into the entrance of the moon bounce. Whoo, safe for now. In the moon bounce with me are Owen, Tyler, Noah, and Harold.
"Guys!" I wheeze, going up and down the squishy floor as they're bouncing. "Sadie and Katie—are chasing me—with tranquilizer guns! You—gotta save me!"
How did they—get guns?!" Harold asks.
"I don't know! Maybe—Geoff brought them—for the party?"
"I always—loved his sense of humor!" Owen heartily laughs. "If Izzy was here—she'd go nuts!"
"She—already—IS!" Noah yells.
Sadie and Katie poke their heads into the moon bounce. Crap. "Oh Treeeeeeeeeent!" they sing-song and start climbing in.
"AAAHH! SAVE ME!" My leg's slowing me down from running away. I try to hit it but it's still numb.
"Don't worry dude, I got you covered!" Tyler screams, and jumps on top of Katie while Owen smothers Sadie.
I exit out the flap in the back of the moon bounce and stand up to see I'm near the sound system with Alejandro and Heather. Heather has this evil smile on her face. "Having fun?"
"If getting chased by Katie and Sadie is fun, then sure." I limp myself away from Heather who's laughing like my pain's the funniest thing in the world.
Sadie and Katie are gonna get out the moon bounce sometime soon, so where to hide…. the ice cream truck! I get there as fast as I can and see Beth and Lindsay eating ice cream inside the truck too. I hastily pull the door open, slam it, and lay on the floor.
"Trent!" Lindsay exclaims. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"If you see Sadie and Katie tell them I'm not here—please? Please?"
"Ok," Beth agrees. "I saw them with tranquilizers. I didn't know they could be so scary."
Just then, I hear the duo's voice outside the truck.
"Hey, you have 2 seen Trent?" Katie asks. "We wanna compare his butt with Justin's!" That's what they've been trying to do?! I thought they wanted to drug me and do all sorts of stalker-ish things.
"He went, uh…back to his room," Beth fibs. "He got bored playing mini-golf."
"EEEEEE! Let's find him!" Sadie shrills. I don't hear them anymore so I think the coast is clear. I lift my head to check—yep, they're gone. "I owe you guy's big time."
"Oh my gosh, you're gonna take us to see Big Time Rush?" Lindsay squeals and hugs me tight. "Aw, you're the best, Trent!" Uh….what?
The door opens up and Owen, Tyler, Harold , and Noah come inside, getting their ice cream. "Those girls couldn't handle our sick wrestling moves," gloats Tyler. "They gave up quicker than I thought!"
"More like, they saw Trent wasn't in the moon bounce anymore and bolted," dead-pans Noah.
"Thanks guys," I say, and avoid the phrase 'big time'. "This night's been crazy!" I scoop myself some mint chocolate chip ice cream and we all sit on the floor.
"Well I declare this night officially awesome!" Harold grins. "Every party needs ice cream!"
Everyone "mmms" in agreement as we can continue to eat. Then—
"MMMMFF! MMMMMMMMFFFF!"
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Owen jumps up and well all hold on to each other, shaking in fear.
"It's in that brown bag over there!" wails Tyler. A long, brown bag all the way at the end of the truck starts rolling back and forth.
"I don't wanna find out what that is!" I tremble. "Let's go!"
"MMMMMMMFFFFF!" The bag starts thrashing around and shakes the truck as we all scream.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIEEEEE!" Owen yells, sobbing like a baby.
Just then, a square patch of the truck's floor opens up and out pops—
"IZZYYYYYY!" Owen throws us all aside and picks her up, crushing her into a hug but she just giggles.
"Hey Big O! Do you know there's a trap door under this truck, which leads into this long, windy tunnel and then into my room? Wanna see?!"
"I told you she was fine," Noah says, smiling.
"Guuuuyyyysss, it's moving again!" Beth points and then we all scream except Izzy as the bag gives another "MMMMMMMMMMFFF!"
"Oh, that thing? The tranquilizers must've wore off," Izzy states. "I'll show you what it is outside. I brought it back from the island."
The island? Everyone scrambles out the truck as Izzy comes out with the bag over her shoulder, and then carelessly drops it.
"Why were you on the island?" Owen asks. "I was looking everywhere for you!"
Izzy has a mischievous smile on her face. "I was wrestling alligators!" She flops on the ground and pretends she's wrestling, but then jolts from being shocked.
"You're lying!" Harold accuses. "In the TDA Aftermath you said you had a lie deterrent micro-chip that shocks you when you lie."
"I am, but wouldn't wrestling alligators be so much fun?!" She stops fake wrestling and stands up, sitting the twitching bag upright. "Look what I brought!" She uncovers the top of the bag.
"You found Bethany?!" Lindsay says, astonished. Blaineley's mouth is duct-taped, which would explain the noise, but I guess her hands and feet are tied up because she can't stand up. We must've been making a big commotion about Blaineley because everyone that's left in the room comes around to see what's up. The only people who don't appear are Justin, who's passed out on his back near a lake, and Bridgette, DJ, Duncan, Gwen, Sadie and Katie.
Geoff almost drops his cookie dough ice cream. "Blaineley? How'd you find her?!"
"She was on the island!" Izzy boasts.
"Why were you there?" Heather asks suspiciously.
"MMMMMFFF! MMMMMMMMFFF!" Blaineley still flails around, boring her eyes at us. She's probably killing us all in her head.
"Look dudes, it doesn't matter why Izzy was there, we can finally get Mildred to confess on tape!" Geoff says, quickly ripping the tape from her mouth as we all cover our ears from her eardrum deafening scream.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU PUNKS!" she roars, and I don't doubt she will. "Now I know how Chef feels—I don't get paid enough for abuse! Untie me this instant!"
"Put a sock in it," Geoff scoffs, eating the last of his ice cream. "Where's Duncan? We need his razor!" I'd tell him, but…nah.
Heather, extremely cross, walks over to Blaineley. "We know you're rigging this to make the bottom 13 win." Blaineley's face pales. "No one's robbing me of a million dollars!"
Blaineley puts her nose in the air. "I never said that!"
Heather points to Justin's sleeping form. "He overheard you talking to Chris about it! If you don't fess up, you're gonna regret it—I know personally."
Blaineley doesn't look threatened. "Pfft, puh-lease. You have no proof! I'll do what I want!"
Geoff starts wickedly chuckling and now Blaineley looks unnerved. "I wouldn't say that if I were you. We're gonna cut off all your hair if you don't tell us."
"And apparently you need the delinquent for that reason," Blaineley mocks. "I might be tied up, but you're not gonna get me to say it."
It's looking bad—they got nothing to threaten her with. Harold, Eva, and, Leshawna look like they won this battle. Maybe I should tell them that Duncan's in Gwen's room. I'm not in the bottom 13 and neither is Duncan…if this holds out, both of us won't be in Season 5. And maybe that's what I want to happen, because I hate him!
A new, tired voice joins the conversation. "You're forgetting…I have…lasers…"
Everybody turns to Alejandro.
"You can talk? But I thought you were a robot!" Lindsay says with confusion.
"Izzy…put me…on robot…mode…this is only…a suit…puta…" His happy/apathetic meter is all the way down to the blue apathetic side. But I really think he's annoyed. That's not a good meter anyway.
"Alright!" Geoff claps his hands, grinning deviously at Blaineley who gulps. "Al here's gonna burn off your hair with lasers if you don't fess up!" Alejandro starts making noises and Blaineley looks like a ghost.
"NO! NO NO NO NO NOOOO! I just got these extensions put in last week!"
"Someone get Justin's—"
"Looking for this?" Eva cuts Geoff off, lifting up Justin's camera from her pocket, and everyone looks like they were told they only have one day to live.
"NOOOOO!" Heather screams at the top of her lungs as Eva throws it into the lake besides her. She falls to her knees, clawing the felt. "That was the only camera we had with a video tape! And all the ones in the shops are disposable Kodaks!"
Leshawna high fives Eva. "You go, girl!"
Courtney joins Heather's frustration and uses her golf club to hit the ground. "UGH! This abomination of a show sucks! Got that, Chris?! I hope you can hear me!"
The color returns to Blaineley's face as she belts out a laugh. "You losers really thought you could win! And FYI, Courtney, this special and Revenge of the Island aren't live—they're both being heavily edited for once. You brats need to be more entertaining if you want views and you're doing a terrific job so far. The great thing about editing is we can cut this so it doesn't look like I'm being mugged by some thugs—"
Geoff silences her mouth with duct-tape and she "MMMMFFF's" again. "Guys, I think she won," he says, bummed. "We got nothing else."
"Can we still burn her hair?" Noah snickers.
Geoff tiredly shrugs. "If Al wants to. Sorry guys, we tried."
"Aww, don't be so hard on yourselves," Leshawna teases.
"Nothing personal, Geoff," Harold says. "I just wanna win." Geoff just pouts, "Mhmm."
Leshawna grabs Harold's hand, who smiles like he's the luckiest guy in the world. "If anyone wants to join us, we'll be celebrating in the club on the 2nd floor! Let's go baby cakes!" Everyone remains stunned as her, Harold, and Eva leave. Tyler looks conflicted whether to stay or go.
Beth sheepishly smiles. "Maybe getting a pass to Season 5 isn't so bad. And you're in it too, Geoff!"
"But what about Bridge?" he whimpers.
"Oh…she could…cheer you from the sidelines?"
They continue talking and my mind wanders to Gwen. She'll be in Season 5 too…without me…or Duncan…at least she's not with Duncan!
Izzy rips the duct-tape from Blaineley's mouth and unties her hands and feet. "I thought we were gonna leave her like that?" Geoff asks with a sadistic and hopeful tone.
Blaineley stands up, wiping the dirt off her dress and pierces us with her icy eyes. "You brats are lucky you did nothing to my hair, or I would've screwed you all over!" She leaves the room briskly and now everyone's in a funk, except me; Duncan lost!
I turn to Izzy who's doing back flips and cartwheels. "Why'd you let her go?"
She stops moving around and stares into my eyes. She's got a secret and it shows. "Because…Izzy's got an idea!"
A/N: I'm baaaack! Do you know how long I missed writing this story?! I've been thinking about it the whole time I was in college. I'd even get epiphanies about what would happen later and jot notes down in my laptop haha. Thanks for patiently waiting since the summer :D
So there's a couple of things I'd like to say...first, I'm not gonna update til this summer. I don't know when, maybe June or July, but it will be over the summer. I have this whole story planned out and it sucks I can't update quicker, but life keeps getting in the way :P College, then I need a job, all of that stuff. I wish I wrote this story 2 years ago or something so I'd have more time :/
Second...the dumb haiku didn't space out like I wanted it to. I tried and tried but I guess I can't separate it into 4 stanzas on here. Sorry!
Third...I know the 5th season is supposed to come out sometime this year and apparently some characters have already been announced of who's coming back?! I heard Duncan and Mike were? Even if that's the case, whoever's in the 5th season isn't effecting the outcome of this story. I've already decided who's winning and who's not, so that's that.
Since I won't be updating for a while, I think I might write random one-shots. I actually thought of a one shot today and it's a parody, but that's all I'm gonna say. I thought it would be a funny idea :D So stay tuned for that whenever I write it!
Also, I think of random songs when writing this that make me think of the characters. "A Little Too Not Over You" by David Archuleta reminds me of Gwen and Trent, really from Trent's POV. The lyrics pretty much describe his situation and it was making me laugh b/c the words are so pathetic and I was picturing Trent singing it...look it up if you want. Or not. Just thought I'd share :D
I hope everyone had a good holiday/break and great New Year's too! Thanks for sticking with me and see you all in the summer! :D