Again, sorry for the late updates! I've been working quite a bit lately so updates aren't going to be super quick. But I will try my hardest to get up them as fast as possible. But anyways, enjoy chapter 11!
"I can't believe we're back here. AGAIN!", Heather's complaining could be heard all through out economy class. "If it weren't for the two of you-" the raven-haired teen continued as she sent a glare the Courtney and Gwen. "-We would be in first class right now. Had that been an elimination challenge yesterday, weird goth girl would be gone. And you know what?-", After three seasons, Gwen had finally learned how to tune Heather out when she needed to. Yes, she knew it was partially her fault for the loss, but she didn't need to be constantly reminded of it. It just reminded her of the mind tease she was given when she thought Duncan had returned...
Duncan... It wasn't until yesterday that she realized how much she had missed him. Probably because she's felt pretty distracted. Certain people in this game, good or bad, were able to keep her mind off of the punk. People like Courtney, Cody, Alejandro... She blushed for a moment. Did she really begin to forget about Duncan because of him? No... That's not possible... There was no way HE could keep her mind off of him... Right?
She snapped out of her thoughts once she felt a small tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to see a certain CIT, a small smile on her face.
"Hey... Thanks for yesterday. You know, with the whole, taking the blame thing. You didn't have to do that. It wasn't only YOUR fault. That really did look like him...", Gwen smirked. "Is it because he's as dumb as a rock?", she chuckled. Courtney's eyes darted her way, at first with a glare, but soon realized she couldn't contain her laughter as she began to laugh along. Sometimes it was okay joke about her boyfriend. This was so weird for Gwen. She could feel herself actually enjoying the CIT's company. It was awkward, but also enjoyable.
"Attention passengers... AHHH!", Chris screamed over the megaphone. Gwen's eyes widened. "What's going on?!", Courtney yelled, the plane now answering her question as it began to shake uncontrollably. The teams could be heard yelling from all over the plane.
Alejandro's eyes widened as he took notice of Izzy, who had opened the door to the plane. What was wrong with her? Actually, stupid question. "Last one out is a rotten egg!", she said, jumping out of the plane with the only working parachute, Owen now flying out with her. The rest of the team were able to get a grip on something in first class.
The plane finally came to a hard landing, the contestants quickly slid down the emergency exit. Gwen held her head in discomfort, as she realized she hit her head pretty hard during landing. The Latin slid down, taking notice of Gwen's groggy form. For some reason, he felt himself being drawn into her as he quickly made his way over. "Hey, are you okay?", he asked, genuine concern evident in his voice. "Yeah... Just kind of hit my head. It feels like my brain is about to pulsate out of my skull.", the Latin waved their host over to the two. "Chris, I think Gwen needs a little medical attention.", he said, holding his arms around her to keep her from falling. "No, no... I'm fine but... Hey, where's Owen and Izzy?", "CHRIS! Owen and Izzy need help!", the CIT yelled as she tried to pry Owen out from underneath the plane. "Well that's answers my question.", the goth said.
They finally managed to pull the two out. Owen ended with a good number of cuts and bruises, while Izzy was completely unconscious. Chef got quick hold of them, loading onto an ambulance. Chris began to try and reassure the competitors.
"Izzy and Owen are gonna be fine. Thanks to travel insurance, help is on the way! In six to thirty-eight hours!", Chris started. "What about the rest of us?", Gwen asked, keeping a tight grip on her throbbing head "Well, we're out of gas, plane's busted, and we're broke. But the show must go on! We can't waste any of this footage! Think of the hits we'll get on cliptube!", Chris continued. "Where are we?", the jock asked. "Jamaica, maaaan. We're were supposed to land in Ochos Rios, but since SOMEBODY forgot how glide...", he started as he sent a glare to Chef, who had no hesitation to send one right back. "...We'll have to do the challenges here instead. And fast, before whoever owns this dump shows up and asks for a location fee."
"Didn't you guys budget for the whole season?", the bookworm asked. Chris replied. "Some things cost more than expected. Airplane ready hot tubs don't grow on trees, you know.", "You must have an emergency fund!", Heather interjected. "Spent it on our last fuel up.", "Which went soooo well.", Noah said, sarcasm evident in his voice. Chris conveniently ignored Noah's remark. "Grab your board shorts and meet me at the waterfall.", and with that, the teams went onto the plane to get changed into their bathing suits. Gwen found herself going a little slower because of her pounding headache. God, it hurt like hell. Could today get any worse for her?
"Hahaha! Pretty blouse!", Noah blurted out with sarcash once again to their host. "It's a Dashiki, maaaaan.", "Yeah, a women's Dashiki.", Dj said. Chris' eyes widened. "What?!", "Can we get to the challenge, please?", Courtney intervened, really just wanting to get this over with.
"I'd like to call our first challenge... 'The Treasure Hune of Death'!", Chris started. "We were supposed to do this at Dunn's River Falls, but this far more dangerous waterfall will have to do!", Dj jumped in once again. "So... It's another water challenge?", "Afraid so. Your challenge begins with a off beautiful 'wherever we are' falls into the lagoon far below!", "Which is full of what, sharks?", Noah asked. "Nope!", at that moment the competitors let out a sigh o relief. "Electric eels AND sharks!", Gwen sighed. Why would she expect any less from their sadistic host? "Players must tag team dive into the infested waters for, as long as you can hold your breath, for pirate treasure! A.k.a, the gold chains Chef always wears on karaoke night. First team to bring me Chef's treasure, wins a major advantage in the next challenge. So, good luck! Especially to team I am super, duper, mega, whopper hot! With Izzy and Owen out of comish', you'll have to work extra hard to make up for their absence!", Chris finished.
Dj, Cody and Tyler began as each team's first divers. Chris started the countdown. "Ready, steady, Freddy... GO!", immediately the three jumped with absolutely no hesitation. Gwen was pleasantly surprised with Cody's confidence. She expected HIM to be the one to get OUT of a challenge like this. The goth gripped her once again as she felt another sharp pain take over. Did she really hit her head that hard? How was she supposed to even compete in this challenge with the condition she's in? God, she knew she shouldn't have agreed to this. But after their performance on the last episode, she owed her team that much to at least participate in this death defying experience along side of them. Her condition didn't go unnoticed by the Latin. He strolled over to her, catching her before she could completely pass out.
"You know you shouldn't be doing this. You are not in any condition to be doing something this extreme. You might have a concussion.", he told her, keeping a tight grip to keep her from falling flat on her face. With the little vision that she had, she directed her eyes up to his. She saw the... sincerity? Why did he care? Alejandro didn't even know himself. He's never felt worried about someone before. What was happening to him? The goth didn't know whether this was a trap, or just his gentlemanly actions. And she wasn't about to find out by letting her guard down. "Listen, you're going to convince me to drop out of this challenge. I know what you're doing and I'm not falling for it.", she finished, yanking her petite form away from the Latin's rather muscular one. Alejandro stood there dumbfounded. He wasn't playing her at all this time. He actually cared about her well being... Which absolutely terrified him. Why was he losing focus over this? He knew what he had to do. He had to put his walls back up. She wants to play this game? Then play they shall.
Cody made his way back to the top, empty handed like the team half expected. He tagged Heather in. The Latin grinned deviously. He eliminated each girl from Team Victory. Now, it was time to move on to the Amazons. The raven-haired team readied herself to dive in, this was his chance.
"You have beautiful form!", Heather's eyes widened as her attention turned to the Spaniard. "What?", she asked, obviously confused about why he would say that. Off of the distraction, she lost her balance, plummeting down into the lagoon, hitting the water hard. Alejandro and Noah cringed was they watched that impact. The Latin yelled down to her. "Nothing personal!", she looked up and growled at him. The goth looked over at him. There he goes again. Trying to sabotage her team. She knew he didn't care. He was only messing with her. Now it's really game on.
It was now Sierra's turn to dive, no, cannon ball, into the lagoon. Now causing the water from below to make it to the top, completely soaking the Amazons. Gwen's eyes widened as she noticed the little eletric friend on the CIT's head. "Uh... Courtney?", the brunette, with a confused expression, then looked to where Gwen's finger was pointing, and instantly began to freak out, causing it to shock her. "AH!", she yelled in pain. Gwen's hand's quickly gripped the eel. "Got it-AH!", both the goth and Courtney yelled as it once again shocked them. "GET IT OFF!", Courtney continued to scream. The goth knew she just had to grow a pair and help her. She grabbed the eel off of Courtney's head and flung it back into the water. But not before it stung Gwen once more. "Phew... Thanks.", Courtney sighed. "Yeah...", the goth started weakly. "No problem..."
The longer Gwen watched the other teams dive into the waters, the more she realized how long her and her pale skin have been standing in the sun. "Ah... I think I'm getting burnt.", she muttered, then feeling a hard tag to the burned area from none other than Heather. She then glared at the teen before making her way to the edge of the cliff. Her head begun pounding once again against her skull. No. She had to ignore. She quickly dove into the waters as a concerned Latin looked on. She wasn't fit to do this. And he knew that. God, why was he letting her get to him? This wasn't good. He did his best to look away and ignore it.
Gwen eventually popped her head out of the water, a medallion in her hand. "I got the gold!", she yelled, causing the Amazons to cheer on their teammate. Not too long after, Gwen felt a huge shock pulsate throughout her body as she finally noticed the three to four eels that had been wrapped around her. She cried out in pain as she sunk back down underwater. Alejandro's eyes widened. Before he could even realize what he was doing, he dove into her rescue. Carrying her bridal style back to shore and setting her down in the sand, propping her head up for support. He took the chains and set them aside.
"Gwen? Can you hear me? Gwen?!". Heather quickly made her way over to the two as she grabbed the gold. "Thanks for the delivery!", he yelled. Alejandro's eyes widened as he watched her hand Chris the chains. "Team Amazon wins round one!", Chris yelled. "Noah and Tyler glared down at the Latin. Alejandro sighed. If they lost this challenge, he would definitely be the one going home tonight.
The goth's eyes fluttered open. How long had she been out? She looked to her right to see Owen in the next bed. "Oh, hi Gwen!", "Owen...? How did I get in here?", "Alejandro carried you in. Told docs to keep an eye on ya. Probably because of the combination of the concussion and eel stings.", Owen said. Gwen blushed. He brought her there while the game was going on? Not too long after, the doctors walked into the infirmary.
"Owen, you're all cleared to compete.", the doctor said. "Woohoo! Thanks, Doc! See ya later, Gwen!", and with that, Gwen was alone. She felt herself drift off into another slumber.
"Hey... Gwen...", the goth heard a whisper as she felt a slight nudge wake her up. She opened her eyes to see Alejandro sitting at the edge of the bed. Her heart began pounding rapidly.
"Oh, hi... Um... Thanks for helping me... You know, earlier...", the goth said awkwardly. "De nada, senorita. How are you feeling?", "A little groggy but definitely better than before. But I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have slept with the whole concussion thing.", she said. "The doctors said it would be okay for you to sleep, considering it was a very minor concussion. But still bad enough to give you a horrible headache.", "You're telling me..."
Alejandro smirked. "So, I guess you should congratulate me.", he said. Gwen eyed him weirdly. "Why? Are you expecting?", she said with a grin, to which the Latin chuckled. "Not exactly, but enjoy being in economy class.", Gwen's eyes widened. "Wait, we lost?!", "Second place. Dj's going home tonight.", Alejandro finished. Gwen sighed. A thought popped in her head. She spoke up again. "Why did you help me?", she asked. Alejandro looked to be in deep thought, also trying to figure why he did what he did.
"I... I don't know, senorita. I guess... the thought of something happening to you... scared me. I don't know why... It just did.", Gwen was surprised. He sounded so genuine. It made her heart clench. Would Duncan ever risk his life for her?
She sat up from her bed and moved her form closer to him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. His eyes widened. "It's still game on between us, but thank you.", she said. Alejandro looked at her, his eyes moving down to her lips, as did hers. Just like what happened back in Paris. "Alejandro...", was all she could make out to try and stop this. He completely ignored her attempts. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. This was exactly like Paris.
Only difference was that he pressed his lips against hers.
IT FINALLY HAPPENED! Took eleven damn chapters to make this happen! But the drama's not stopping there. Because next chapter is based around episode 13. Yanno... the episode where Duncan comes back! So be prepared for, hopefully, a lot of drama to go down. But I hope you all enjoyed! Please favorite/review as it does give me the motivation to keep writing. And I'll see you all in the next one!
~Cheri
