Cody Anderson regretted every choice that had brought him to this moment.
"Join a reality show" they said. "It'll be fun," they said.
The fact that he was currently being choked(though Sierra would have called it cuddling) by the stalker made even the niceness of 1st class seem lessened. The crying of Courtney in the background merely added to the morose atmosphere.
Cody wished he had been smart enough to just stay at Playa del Losers. Free food, free entertainment, and all he had to do was sit in the Peanut Gallery during the Aftermath Specials.
But no, I wanted another chance to win the Million.
No, that wasn't the main reason.
I wanted to impress Gwen.
Why had he ever thought he had a chance? First, she had turned him down on Island.
And then I helped her and Trent get together. Because they were both cool people, they were both my friends.
He had done his best to let go of Gwen after that. He had never had a chance at her affections, but he had gained her friendship. That was enough.
And then along came Action.
It had not been a great season for him, watching Trent slowly have a mental breakdown while the Goth didn't know what to do.
And then the hope came back.
Cody wasn't exactly proud of the fact that one of his 1st thoughts after both Gwen and Trent were eliminated was that he now had a 2nd chance but it was true.
Getting onto World Tour had been stupidly dangerous but what wasn't on this stupid show?
All that struggling, all that suffering, and what did he have to show for it?
A psychotic stalker.
Teammates who didn't respect him.
Losing Gwen again.
This time hurt much more.
Losing to Trent, a good guy and someone who Cody was glad to call his friend, was more bittersweet.
Losing to Duncan. A bully, a juvenile delinquent who was already in a relationship. It was as bitter as could be. It made Cody's stomach churn, whether with anger at how unfair it felt, or just the wrongness of it.
Slowly, Cody's mind turned to someone who had never really been on there: Courtney.
She didn't particularly care for him. Thought he was useless, and the little voice in the back of Cody's head agreed with her.
I 'lost' Gwen.
Courtney actually lost her boyfriend and the best friend she had on the team to this stupid thing.
A fresh pang of hate hit Cody's heart, and before he realized what was happening, the next thought hit him.
You can't lose what you never really had.
Cody understood that, even if he didn't particularly like the sound of it.
I lost a chance at Gwen.
She probably would have left me for Duncan anyway.
He could see it now.
Gwen would give him a chance after Duncan left in Egypt, and he'd do everything in his power to show her that it was a chance worth taking.
Then Duncan would return, and the next day they'd smooch.
That would have been worse.
" Sierra, I have to go to the bathroom." Sierra looked unhappy but released her iron grip.
" Alright Codykins, be back soon."
" I will." Cody stood up, putting on a queasy smile as the not very well thought through plan started forming in his mind.
This is insane. I can't do this, he'll kill me!
Harold punched him out in Action. You knocked him out today.
Man up.
Cody blankly wondered if this was how Dr Jekyll felt with Hyde in his mind. One side, reserved and arguing for peace. The other, cynical and arguing, screaming at the evil..
The tech geek slipped into the confessional, closing the door and sitting with his back against it in order to make sure no one(especially Sierra) could just open the door.
It's what right, isn't it?
The world isn't a fair or right place. Let it go, it's not your battle.
The two voices debated what Cody's next course of action would be.
Cody practically jumped as someone knocked on the door to the confessional.
" Hey, anyone in here?" It was Tyler. And Cody breathed in a sigh of relief.
" Yeah, just give me a sec."
What would I even say?
The truth.
It was such a simple answer to a question Cody didn't even want to ask.
The tech geek had fallen into the background this season by choice, because he had wanted to avoid the drama.
Sighing, Cody stood up and opened the door.
" Hey Cody."
Cody smiled and gave a noncommittal "hey" as the jock stepped inside the confessional.
Cody knew what he had to do, so he shuffled nervously to his destination.
Before he knew it, he was standing before Alejandro and Duncan, who were currently engrossed in the middle of a conversation. Owen was further down the seat, sleeping soundly despite the loud cries of Courtney that still could be heard all throughout the plane.
Eventually the two's conversation stopped and Duncan was sending Cody a glare.
" What do you want?"
" Why are you such an a**hole?" Cody didn't mean to ask the question in those words, but that's how it came out.
Duncan looked understandably miffed, while Alejandro looked amused by this turn of events.
" I'm sorry, what was that 'Codemeister'?"
Cody sucked in a nervous breath.
Well, already in the grave. Might as well dig deeper.
" You heard me." Cody's voice broke at the end, ruining the intimidation he was going for. "You cheated on your girlfriend, and that's not the first terrible thing you've done. I just want to know why?"
Duncan looked through Cody, his eyes narrowing.
" So you're pissed Gwen didn't give you a chance?"
" This isn't about Gwen! This is about you, you jerk! You broke Courtney's heart because what, breaking up with her before getting with Gwen would have been too much work? Are you just lazy?!" Cody knew he was getting louder, but as the hate and pain spilled out, it infected his voice.
Quickly he thought that he must have looked deranged, but he didn't care.
" I don't have to sit here and take this from a geek who's probably never had a girlfriend. In case you didn't notice, Courtney's crazy-"
" Then why didn't you just break up with her!? We're on a reality show, you moron! You really think that if Tyler hadn't spilled the beans, Chris wouldn't have?"
The delinquent's face seethed, as internally he could see that Cody wasn't wrong.
" If you didn't feel anything for her anymore, you could have left. There was nothing stopping you. Yeah, she'd still be mad but she wouldn't be sobbing in the cargo hold because her boyfriend and her best friend betrayed her!
I mean, how would you feel if she had done this to you? If on the island, or at Playa Del Losers, she just kissed another guy behind your back?" Cody didn't realize he was almost hyperventilating
Nor did anyone realize that the crying had stopped, with all their attention on the screaming.
Sierra and Tyler watched from the curtain in 1st class, Tyler looking at the tech geek like he had grown an extra head while Sierra's eyes were filled with awe.
He also couldn't see the two amazons sitting currently in 1st class. Gwen's face was buried in her hands, just waiting for it to be over. Heather, meanwhile, looked mildly surprised at this turn of events.
" You done?" Duncan asked, the only emotion in his voice seemingly being annoyance.
Cody didn't intentionally swing his fist, it just seemed to fly out on it's own accord like it was possessed. It smacked into Duncan's temple, and the back of his head smacked against the wall with a clang.
The delinquent wasn't knocked out like he had been earlier, but he was dazed by the blow.
Cody's fist went flying again to finish the job, but he soon found himself being pulled back by Tyler.
" You've won man, just walk away." The jock sound, surprisingly calmly.
Cody took a deep breath, then another, and finally spoke.
" I've calmed down." Tyler released his grip, and when he let go Cody took off walking back in the direction of first class.
" Codykins!" Sierra came running towards the geek, and Cody quickly thought up another excuse to keep the stalker off his back.
" Sierra, could you do me a favor?"
" Of course. I'd do anything for you." Cody smiled weakly at that, feeling terrible at the fact that if not for her insane nature, Sierra was a good friend.
" Could you go see if I left my MePod in my backpack?" Cody self consciously ran his fingers over the device in question which was currently in his pants pocket
" Okay! She dashed back towards first class." Cody turned around and headed towards the cargo hold.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This was the worst day of Courtney's life.
At least, it certainly felt that way.
She wished they had failed in London. She'd give anything in this moment to go back to that challenge and just not go looking for The Ripper.
What was all that yelling about?
Over her own crying and the plane's engine, she had heard yelling but she really couldn't place who was doing it.
Her face was currently hidden in her knees, sobbing quietly.
She lifted her head up as she heard soft footsteps coming up to her.
Through puffy red eyes, she saw her amazon teammate Cody looking at her with pity.
I hate pity.
" What do you want?" Courtney asked, hate in her voice. In this moment, she wanted everyone on this stupid plane to hurt as much as she did.
Cody suddenly felt nervous again, but he pushed it down.
" Courtney, are you alright?
As soon as the words left his mouth, Cody knew that he had made a mistake.
" Oh, I'm absolutely peachy! It turns out that my only real friend on this show is a pasty boyfriend stealer, my boyfriend is a two timing jackass, and on top of all that, the only reason she's still here is looking me in the face asking if 'I'm alright!."
Cody's mind instantly went to the confessional he had made earlier today when he had saved Gwen.
" I'll do anything for has to kiss me evantually."
Guilt went through the geek's heart as the full weight of his choice, and the reasoning behind it, hit him.
Cody sat beside the scowling CIT.
" Look, I know you hate me..."
" I didn't before today." she looked directly into Cody's teal eyes." It's funny, now I feel like I actually see you for what you really are.
You're not just useless, you're not just a pervert, you also happen to be the densest moron I've ever had the misfortune of meeting on this show! Gwen doesn't like you, Gwen never even liked me! Gwen is evil!" Her voice cracked on the last word, as if all the pain and rage she felt in that moment had ruined her ability to express herself.
" Would you please stop yelling?" Courtney whipped her head towards the source of the voice.
" What do you want?" The CIT growled. Heather rubbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
" He's trying to help. He just punched Duncan again, for crying out loud."
" Well, he sucks at it." Courtney whined.
Heather didn't reply, instead walking down and sitting down next to Courtney's open side.
" Can't I be alone right now?"
" Not a chance." Heather replied with a tired voice, "Courtney, are you really going to let Duncan beat you this easily?"
" Shut up." The CIT muttered.
" I thought you were stronger than this. Look, I promise you that I'll help you vote out Gwen but if you fall apart, we'll be easy pickings for Team Chris."
Heather snapped in Courtney's face, getting her attention.
" 'The Best Revenge is success.' You want to hurt Gwen? Then we need to destroy Team Chris til they boot that mohawked loser."
Cody wanted to throw in his 2 cents, wanted to quote one of the few good pieces of advice his dad had ever given him: Vengeance is like fire, and seeking revenge is setting yourself aflame.
But he didn't.
Cody saw the vicious, hateful look burned on Courtney's face, as well as the dangerous gleam in Heather's eyes as she talked about revenge, and another thought occurred to him.
They were all on a plane ride to perdition, and Cody Anderson had no clue when they'd got on.
Author's Notes
After writing "The Geek's Failure" which had some angst but had a fluffy ending, I wanted to write something that was angsty and drama filled throughout.
Heather's quote to Courtney is a quote that's been attributed to about a thousand different people.