All right, stopped ranting about which countries do the best international cuisines that aren't theirs. Now...Mexico. Well, I've never been there. I've heard horror stories about crime levels, and I know it's warm and sunny there. And they speak Spanish. But...well, Julie will be a lot more excited to visit it than I ever will, although I'd quite like to go there one day. Remember why?

Thanks for your reviews, Nicky Haugh, TheProtecterOfHim, Phenomenal Styles, Pokemon FTW and Lord of the Sloths.

I went to the confessional just before we started for the next location, just to vent. "I get the feeling that this is going to be the hardest part of the race. If we can survive the next few locations, the last one or two will feel just token. Even if we don't win, I think we'll feel like we've accomplished the most important thing. Well," I added with a grin, "As long as one of the teams we beat are the Ice Dancers."

As soon as Sky pushed the Don Box button and I pulled out the tip, I gave a major cheer. "Let's hit it! Acapulco, Mexico, here we come!"

"Why are you so excited?" Sky asked, staring at me curiously.

I giggled. "Look at this face, Sky. Notice anything?"

Sky gave me another curious look. After almost a full minute, she gave a nod. "I forgot! Your family's Mexican, right?"

I nodded. "I've never got to go to my parents' home, and I can't wait! How much do you bet the locals will speak to me in Spanish, thinking I'm a local. I'll just have to tell them: Me llamo Julie. Vengo de Canada." ("My name is Julie. I come from Canada.")

"You never mentioned you spoke Spanish." Sky remarked.

I grinned again. "It never came up. I happen to be bilingual."

The bus taking us to Mexico was a chicken bus – that is we shared it with them. It was pretty loud and grubby, but oh well. It was a small price to pay for going to my family's home country.

The journey itself – while it was noisy, I still heard a few things. Sky and I happened to be sitting behind the Ice Dancers, who were whispering to each other and looking at the Goths, who were just in front. Devin, who'd noticed all the chicken faeces everywhere, offered his lap to Carrie, but she said no. Interesting – Carrie had said she was determined to move on from Devin, but it seemed like a total role reversal. The minute Carrie stopped trying to please Devin, he was trying to please her and, like he had before, she didn't even seem to notice.

Meanwhile, the Surfer Dudes were scoffing burittos from the bus station where we'd left Vegas and chatting loudly about how good they were, even getting MacArthur's attention.

At that moment, I caught a whisper from Jacques. "...athletes? It wouldn't take much to turn them against each other!"

This gave me enough motivation to listen closer.

"It would've been easier last week." Josee whispered back crossly. "But the only way to turn them against each other is to make out that one of them cheated."

I nudged Sky. "Hey, the Ice Queen and her knight are talking about making us look like cheaters to each other." I whispered, keeping my voice lower than theirs.

Sky frowned. "What?"

"In other words, they're afraid of us beating them and want to make it look like one of us cheated to make us hate each other." I whispered rapidly. "So if it looks like I did something unorthodox, promise to ask me before accusing me, so I can explain what happened?"

Sky nodded. "Don't worry, I won't jump to conclusions. I know those two have been cheating." Her mouth was set in a harsh line, the look she always got when she discussed cheating.

We somehow ended up being second-to-last last to the Don Box once we got off the bus (the Surfer Dudes felt the effects of sketchy bus station burritos and had to look for a bathroom), but at least the challenge looked easy enough . "All-In." Sky said. "One of us has to eat one of three peppers. The other has to jump off a cliff – the milder the pepper, the higher ledge to dive off."

"No-brainer." I shrugged. "I like spice, you're good at diving, right?"

Sky grinned. "Right!"

Almost no one had jumped when we got to the cart, along with other teams who weren't first to the Don Box. Possibly the only one was Sanders. MacArthur, meanwhile, was slumped on the ground. "Kill...me..." she said in a hoarse voice.

The rest of us looked at the peppers – the large mild yellow, the medium green, and the tiny fiery red.

"Okay, medium it is!" Kitty affirmed what the rest of us were thinking. I nodded at Sky and she went to climb up to the medium ledge with most of the other divers.

Crimson, however, went straight for the red pepper. She carefully chewed and swallowed. All that, and her only reaction was a dull "Ow."

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have pushed in front of Jacques when I took the green pepper. But I was desperate not to finish in last, and apart from Devin, who was struggling with a mild pepper and one or two other teams, most of gothem had finished. Plus, once Sky had dived, she was supposed to find a canteen of milk with a tip attached, the milk being for me, of course.

Finally, I waved the flag. "Jump!" I called, just as the full force of the spice hit me and my tongue became paralyzed. Sky did a perfect swallow dive, just as Jacques snatched the flag off me and waved if for Josee to jump.

And then, I felt it. There was this weird furry sensation on my back, like something was...I don't know...alive. Sky showed me the tip (we had to take two burros to the Chill Zone), I drank the milk, but the sensation carried on. I wasn't sure what it was.

Then, Sky narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you carrying something?" she asked, looking suspicious.

I shrugged. "Am I? I don't know – I think someone stuck something furry down my back, now that you mention it. Can you help me get it out?"

Sky reached up my T-shirt and pulled. Out fell...what?

"Okay, Sky, before you say anything, no, I have no idea how Loki got from Ennui to me!" I said quickly. "You promised to listen before accusing me of anything, remember?"

As I spoke, Loki was already hopping back to the cliff, obviously looking for the Goths.

Sky still looked suspicious. "And no one got close enough to plant it on you or anything?" she said, as we mounted our donkeys.

"I..." I paused, thinking. Then I gasped. "Now I remember! When Jacques took the flag off me, he could've easily stuck something down the neck of my shirt, and don't forget, he and Josee are holding a grudge against the Goths right now, for beating them in the last two challenges. We're in the top two, and both of them know that if it looked like I was cheating, we'd be out ot the race in a heartbeat. So if Jacques threw the Goths off by kidnapping Loki, and then planted the poor thing on me..."

"Then they could be sure to make me quit the race, or delay the Goths." Sky said, her eyes hardening by the second. "Let's go."

That was all she said as we left for the Chill Zone, but it spoke volumes. I knew Sky was furious, but I said nothing. It made for a hard and uncomfortable ride to the Chill Zone, but at least Sky's anger wasn't directed at me. It was going to be D-Day for the Ice Dancers when they reached the Chill Zone.

And D-Day for the Goths, apparently. The Ice Dancers actually won the leg, and didn't even get a penalty. Don obviously had no idea what they'd been up to, but honestly! Luckily, we made it into fourth place, beating the Surfer Dudes and Best Friends, but only finishing after the Sisters.

The Goths arrived last. "Crimson, Ennui, rabbit," Don said, "You're the last to arrive. I thought I would be saying this on day one, but here it is: You've been cut from the competition!"

No reaction. Don scowled. "I wish you luck in whichever cult or circus you end up in. Go away."

And as they walked away, Jacques and Josee high-fived each other.

And then, Sky, quiet, levelheaded Sky who usually kept her temper in check, suddenly lost her composure. She stepped up to the two of them, and even though I was a distance away, I heard what she said.

"I know what you two did. Stay away from us from now on. You know that Don hates cheaters, and we'll make sure that next time you cheat, you'll get penalized. I knew my teammate wouldn't pull such a low trick."

That last line, that defense, it made me feel so happy. I couldn't believe that Sky trusted me enough to strike a blow like that, not just for fairness, but for me too. Even if it had made us more of a target for them, I really didn't care.

I talked to some of the others that night, too. Kitty mostly. She said Emma was getting better, "But she's still thinking about Noah." she said. "She even called me Noah earlier on today. I think she's getting a bit better, though."

"I think that's kind of sweet, considering." I smiled. "What about you, though?"

Kitty laughed. "Me? I'm kind of enjoying the race, but it is harder." She gave a sigh. "I liked it better earlier on, when everyone was just kind of having a good time and enjoying themselves."

I shrugged. "You know, you should go tell Geoff and Brody that. They're the masters of having a good time in any situation."

Kitty giggled. "Maybe I will."

The Best Friends seemed a little awkward around each other, too. Carrie kept shooting Devin these curious sidelong glances, like she was still into him, but not sure how to react. She said she was over him, but I couldn't tell if she really was. As for Devin, he was acting more like a puppy, always hanging around Carrie, asking her if he could do anything, or if she wanted to go somewhere – what was going on?

Eventually, I had to ask. I dragged Devin off for a moment and asked him straight out. "Look, I'm seeing something weird going on here. Are you trying to make things up to Carrie after being a pain or whatever? Because I think you're annoying her more than helping her."

Devin looked completely devastated. "I...I'm annoying her? I didn't mean to! I'm just trying to be there for her. She was there for me, and I messed up majorly yesterday. She says she's not mad, but...and the pepper today – I was desperate to eat the hottest pepper and prove myself, but I couldn't even do that!"

I frowned. "You've known Carrie, like, forever! Why are you so worried about messing up all of a sudden? You've probably messed up in front of her before."

Devin scowled. "Okay, maybe, but that was before..."

"Before..." I prompted.

He suddenly blurted it out. "Before I realized I was in love with her!"

Well, that was not what I expected. I couldn't even speak for a second, I just stood there. Then I found my tongue. "No! I can't believe – could there be a worse time for this?"

"What?" Devin scowled again.
I tried to work out what to say. I didn't want to tell him the roles had reversed, because if Carrie truly was over him, things would get weird between them. On the other hand, I couldn't tell him that Carrie used to love him and that he'd lost his chance.

In the end, I settled for "You don't need to try so hard to impress Carrie. You've been best friends for years and you know each other really well. Do you think she would be best friends with you if she didn't already care about you? All you really need to do is try and drop some hints that show you want to take your relationship with her further. If she picks up and feels the same way, trust me, she'll act. But if she doesn't, you'll still be best friends forever, right?"

Devin gave a sigh. "I know, but it's really hard. I wish Carrie could understand what I'm going through here. I feel like I need to prove that I'm worth it."

"Well, don't." I said bluntly. "If Carrie wants to date you, she'll want the best friend she grew up with."

Boys...they always think they know best. No matter how sound my advice was, I was pretty sure he wouldn't take it.

Okay, an interesting point – not having the Daters prevented Devin from rubbing his eyes because originally, he did it because he saw Carrie and Ryan were holding hands, so his eyesight's fine, but his mouth still needs to recover. However, as I said, Jacques planted Loki on Julie in order to kill two birds with one stone and damage the Frenemy Athletes along with the Goths. It didn't work, but Loki still delayed the Goths enough to put them in last again. But the Ice Dancers haven't forgotten that the Frenemy Athletes are strong...