Niagara Falls, you say? I've never been there, but one side is actually in New York. Not the city, much further north, and NY is a big state. So I've been close, but not all that close. We've had our time in Central Park – let's head up to the falls!

Thanks for reviewing, OmniUIShaggyOverexaggerated, Pokemon FTW, TheSparklyKitten and wacky620 (Chris might have fudged the numbers – also, if Noah voted Duncan, he was hoping he could get Jemma over to his side – but as she didn't vote for him last time, Alejandro managed to get her onto his side first).

After First Class, I didn't sleep too well in Economy again. In fact, by the time I did fall asleep, I was so tired that I was sure nothing would have made me stir. Well, apart from falling from the sky with everyone screaming around me.

That's literally what was happening when I opened my eyes. There were screams, and I soon realized that I was falling.

"Hey kids, you better get into your paddleboats!" We hadn't fallen far yet. Chris was calling from the plane through a loudspeaker – and sure enough, two boats were falling with us. I jumped into one that happened to be with Sierra, Courtney and Noah, and we landed safely.

"I'm starting to question my mom's crush on Chris just a little." Sierra muttered to me. I giggled nervously, wondering what kind of person her mom was, to crush on Chris. I mean, yeah, Sierra being obsessed with Cody was weird, but I knew enough about Cody to know that he had a heart, and was actually kind of a sweetheart, even though he wasn't exactly a charmer. Chris probably had no heart at all, was sourer than one of those TNT sweets, and only thought he was charming (he was SO not). And, more importantly, was Sierra's mom's attitude towards Chris like her daughter's towards Cody? I almost felt sorry for the host. Almost.

That's when I heard the rushing sound behind me, in the direction the boat was drifting towards. "Um, guys..." I stammered, "I think we're going towards a-"

"Waterfall!" Alejandro called out from the other boat.

Courtney began to pray as we tried in vain to paddle away from it. "If you let us live, I will tutor any brain-dead person who requires it, even Duncan."

She must've said it loudly enough for the other boat to hear it, because Duncan called out from the other boat "If we live, I'll forget she ever said that!"

And then we heard Cody's voice. "If we live, I'll let Sierra kiss me!" There was a pause, and then I heard "What? Like we're gonna make it."

As it was, this actually meant we made it. Sierra suddenly gained superheroine strength, found a rope, tied it to the other boat and paddled us all the way to the shore.

I managed to get my bearings while Sierra was taking it upon herself to get her kiss, via pretending to give Cody CPR. His muffled voice was saying "Okay, now I can't breathe!" I briefly wondered what she did to him in First Class. I doubted Courtney or Lindsay paid too much attention to them, especially now.

Chris finally deigned to put in an appearance. "So, Niagara Falls is pretty awesome, eh?"

I stood up. "Is it less awesome because we didn't die, or more so?"

Chris shrugged. "It's always awesome."

We had to go to a casino – but Chris didn't tell us until we got there that we had to go to the concert hall because none of us were old enough to have a try on the fruit machines.

Then, we got the good news. The merge was upon us.

The girls cheered openly, while Alejandro shook hands with the other guys. "Well, gentlemen, it's been an honour. I trust our brotherhood will continue in some manner?" Then he turned to me, and said in a whisper "I hope we will still have our cargo hold meetings outside of the challenges?" I giggled and blushed, nodding.

But at least I had the presence of mind to catch Lindsay's eye and wink at her. She smiled back, giving a nod. Whether anyone knew it or not, we were a team. BFFs before BFs, and both of us were going to adhere to that.

But today, we weren't allowed to work together. We had to use a giant fruit machine to "marry" one of the guys for the challenge and work with him. The four guys – and a bear – were all put into the machine, and then, each of us had to pull.

I went first, praying to get Alejandro, or at least, to NOT get Duncan.

Well, I got one wish, but not the other. The three fruit machine slots all showed Noah. I smiled sweetly at him. "Okay, fine. Let's just try to win while we're married, okay...sweetie?"

Noah scowled at me. "Yeah, yeah, as long as you never call me that again."

I giggled. "Okay. It's just so much fun to annoy you sometimes."

Sierra threw a tantrum when she got Alejandro, so eventually Lindsay offered to pair up with him instead. She didn't know about the off-camera relationship that had begun, but I didn't worry. I knew she wouldn't forget about Tyler.

Courtney wasn't so pleased, glaring as the two of them walked to the side together. Since Sierra was ordered to the back of the line, the brunette was next, and I knew what she was praying for – not getting Duncan. Well, she got the bear, but after a good few minutes of being chased, Chris agreed to restrain the bear and let Courtney try again. This time she got Duncan.

I doubled over laughing at Duncan's reaction. He took one look at Courtney and tried to climb back into the fruit machine.

"Maybe I should work things out with the bear." Courtney muttered.

Sierra, on the other hand, was thrilled. "My blog, 'When Cody and I Are Married', just became a prophecy!"

"I really hope she doesn't expect a honeymoon." I whispered to Noah, who managed a smirk.

"We'll just have to make sure she doesn't win." he whispered back. "We don't want them in First Class together."

(I should mention here, the rule about post-merge First Class was that it was only for two people – the winner, and usually one person of their choice, but this time it would be one of the couples – regardless, if Sierra won anything, she'd take Cody with her, partner or not).

Our first challenge was a trust thing. All of us girls had to be blindfolded, while the guys used loudspeakers to tell us how to get through a minefield of booby traps to reach our wedding gowns. If you didn't get the dress, too bad. You couldn't try for invincibility.

On one side of me, I could hear Cody mumbling, and on the other, Alejandro calling out simplified instructions for Lindsay, while Duncan was purposely leading Courtney into traps.

Noah took the challenge more seriously than Cody or Duncan, giving me instructions in a clear but bored voice. It wasn't until he called out "Okay, two more paces ahead" that I hit anything. And that was the dress itself – a rather nice slim-fitting thing with a tiara. In fact, I was the first to get it. Lindsay kept getting her lefts and rights mixed up and the other two didn't have great partners.

Everyone got the dress in the end. Sierra was still halfway when Chris called for time, but she suddenly hurtled forward, avoided several traps and knocked over the stand, calling out "Cody, I got the dress!"

I somehow suspected Cody's intent with not using his loudspeaker and mumbling everything was to take themselves out of the competition. But honestly, Sierra was far too persistent to let that happen. Even without seeing much of her before now, I could tell within a few minutes of meeting her.

Our next challenge was one that worried me. There was a tightrope strung up across Niagara Falls. Our job was to cross from the United States to Canada, where Chef would ask us some questions in order for us to clear Customs. And Noah and I got a small headstart since we'd won the first round.

Oh yeah. One more thing. Noah was supposed to carry me across.

"Think you can handle it?" I asked, a little concerned. We were about the same size, but I wasn't sure he was all that strong.

Noah shrugged. "You don't look all that heavy." There was no rules about how he had to carry me, so he decided to go with slinging me over his shoulder. The only problem with that (from my point of view) was that I had to look over my shoulder to see how far we'd gotten, and we were constantly tilting over to one side.

But it worked, along with our lead. We reached Customs before anyone could overtake us.

"Business or pleasure?" Chef asked.

"Business." we chorused, and I let out a squeal that was a result of trying to conceal my nervous laughter.

Then Chef asked us a few questions about things like the capital of Canada, the leaf on the flag and a few other Canadian things.

Chef checked his notes after we'd answered them. "All right. Anything to declare?"

Noah answered this time. "Just immunity."

"And First Class!" I chirped.

Yep, I'd won my first individual challenge. Sort of individual. But I still wished that I could share with Lindsay or Alejandro. Noah was all right, but I'd far rather share with someone I was close with.

It wasn't until we all got to the elimination ceremony that Chris revealed a twist in voting. "Since this destination's challenge was a couples challenge, you will be voting for one couple, rather than one person. Noah and Jemma have immunity. Everyone else is fair game."

Well, I'd already spoken to Lindsay about my choices when we thought it was individual. "I want Duncan to go." I'd said firmly. "I'm sick of him and his wisecracks and total lack of guilt from hurting his own girlfriend."

Lindsay had looked doubtful, but when I'd explained my reasons, she'd nodded. "I guess so. He's always been okay to me, but he did hurt my teammate..."

"Well, he threatened me back in Area 51." I added. "I just want to be able to sleep safer."

The only problem was, to get rid of Duncan now meant that Courtney wouldn't have the chance to outlast him. I could have switched my vote to Sierra and Cody, and I considered it, but I didn't really want to cheat either of them out of a chance. After Duncan, Sierra was second priority to send home (because I was worried about what she'd do to Cody if they ended up in the final two, and she seemed to be a strong player), but for now, my wish to take out Duncan was stronger than wanting to give Courtney a feeling of empowerment. And Sierra hadn't really done anything mean, no matter how hard a time she gave Cody.

When Chris announced the votes, though, they were close. There were three votes for Lindsay and Alejandro, and one for Sierra and Cody. But the other four votes were all for Duncan and Courtney.

"Prepare to hear from my lawyers!" Courtney threatened as she took her parachute. "And just because we're getting eliminated together, Duncan, it doesn't mean I won't be suing you for a personal defamation lawsuit while I'm at it!"

Duncan shrugged and rolled his eyes. Just before he took a parachute, though, he turned and looked straight at me. To my shock, he grinned. "I guess you got me, short stuff." he said with a shrug. "I was waiting to see which one of us would last longer. This time, you win."

"If we ever meet again, I'll win that time, too." I said, my dislike for him waning ever so slightly.

"Don't count on it, honey." Duncan teased, but his tone was light. Then he added "And in case you're still scared about what I said in Area 51, you're off the hook, okay?"
I giggled. "Kind of guessed, seeing as I'm still here and you won't be. Bye now." I looked towards Courtney and added "Don't feel bad, Court. You're still the better player – it was just luck that caused this to happen. You can choose whatever path you want now you're not stuck playing this game."

Courtney's eyes brightened the tiniest bit. Then, she shoved Duncan out of the plane herself (don't panic, he had the parachute), then, wearing her own parachute, jumped out with ...well, one last thing. Alejandro told me just after this that Sierra was insisting now that she and Cody were married for real. Apparently she'd recited the ceremony, tricked Cody into saying "I do", and then kissed him, declaring that there was no chance of annulment and she didn't believe in divorce. Alejandro had witnessed the whole thing, but admitted to me the marriage couldn't be real. But Sierra still seemed to think it was, and it was important to play along to keep her happy.

It took me a long time to decide whether I wanted them eliminated together, or to take the group to New Zealand and eliminate Courtney a round after Duncan. Ultimately, I decided to take them out together and get the double out in a way that I feel makes as much sense as a tie. It was a couples challenge, so why not kick out one couple? Just for the record, even though Courtney didn't outlast Duncan, I consider this a win for her. She managed to keep just one shred of dignity by taking the Drop Of Shame gracefully (of course, after she'd threatened her lawyers).

I almost forgot about the subplot of Sierra "marrying" Cody. We'll have to see how that plays out.