"Ok, so spill." Bridgette sat across from her friend, boyfriend in tow.

As he sat down his cowboy hat bobbed up-and-down. "Yeah Mocha, what was that?"

The person in question glanced at both of them confused, and a bit disinterested. "Spill what? What are you guys talking about?"

In the back of her mind, Courtney was happy Bridgette had taken some notice to her for the first time in the few days. They hadn't really had any time to hangout or just chat. Unfortunately, she was (still) attached to the hip to Geoff. It wasn't to say she disliked him, but their personalities did not mesh well naturally. Plus, he isn't her best friend; Bridgette is.

Bridgette leaned forward and whispered. "What do you mean what? Why did you come in to dinner last night with Trent? What's going on there?"

Courtney's personal life was one she tried to avoid speaking about around Bridgette, and especially around Geoff. She had a bad feeling one of the two (or worse, both) would become power-hungry and lose empathy for the people they were interviewing, seeking drama instead [1]. That was the power that came from being Aftermath host, and Courtney believed she would have probably been a better decision if she got along better with anyone else.

In addition, she started losing some trust in Bridgette. There have been several (several) occasions where she's told Bridgette something only for her to accidentally relay the information to her boyfriend. And that wouldn't be a problem had Geoff learned to keep his mouth shut. Or not been the best friend of the topic of many of those secrets.

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "We both so-happen to be in the music room at the same time. That was probably the second time we had ever talked."

"Y'all sure were having a grand old time during dinner though, laughing like old friends." Geoff added on.

Courtney stopped poking at her breakfast, and gave Geoff a look. "Can you even list three times I'd even interacted with Trent last season?"

The blonde put his hands up defensively. "Hey man, I'm just saying. I wasn't watching ya the whole time you were around. Plus there's a few weeks at Playa De Losers."

"Everyone sitting at this table - really in this cafeteria - knows who I had eyes for Geoff. Don't even try that." She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Finally, Bridgette intervened. "Court we were just wondering, not insinuating anything super serious."

And now Courtney was in an annoyed mood. Bridgette never gave her boyfriend any accountability for his actions, at least nothing more than a glare. "Sure."

She decided to glance up and look around. The tables were filled with all the former contestants and some of the production crew. They didn't mingle too much with Courtney or anyone else (minus Geoff and Bridgette), so Courtney couldn't remember any of their names.

As she looked around she realized Trent was sitting at the table directly across from her with some of the guys. His head fit in-between Bridgette's and Geoff's heads so she could look at him without tilting her own head. Instead of his regular green shirt with the hand print on it he settled for a plain olive t-shirt. He was chewing his food casually but somewhat carefully, making sure he didn't spill any syrup or eggs on himself. Suddenly, he looked up and the two of them made eye-contact.

He smiled. And for a short, uninterrupted moment, she smiled back.

Quickly, she remembered where she was and who she was with.

Almost comically, Cody turned to see who the musician was looking at. Awkwardly, Cody and Courtney made eye contact and he quickly turned around, probably to tell Trent to stop hanging around Courtney.

Looking at Bridgette, it seemed she didn't notice anything because she was talking about how excited she was for the next Aftermath episode. Geoff, on the other hand, had a look on his face. It was one of those looks where he was trying to make the wheels in his brain turn.

"Also, Courtney, can I stop by around noon today? We haven't hung out and I wanna makeup for all the time, at least a little." Bridgette suggested.

This made Courtney smile. "Of course Bridge. I'll leave my door unlocked." This was something the brunette needed to hear. Finally, some girl time where they could just be with each other.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Courtney really valued the time she had with Bridgette. Her attitude on-camera was somewhat correct, but not completely. Being on television all the time made her anxious and on-edge. Which should have diminished by this point, but she couldn't help it. Considering who the host of the show was and how he could get editors and production to distort how each contestant acted, it wouldn't be surprising to see the downfall of some contestants or watch them go feral based on fan reactions and how the show is aired [2].

When the cameras weren't around, even Courtney could admit she was a bit more relaxed. Like, during the first season she didn't think the whole stealing from Chris and Chef scene would be aired. So she let loose (it was also partially due to who she was committing these actions with, but still).

Bridgette smiled at the confirmation, and as Geoff began talking about some new segment they were considering adding to the Aftermath, Courtney continued eating silently.

Courtney was laying on top of her bed, wearing a pair of black leggings and gray t-shirt. The television was on, stuck on some classical music channel. It was thoughtlessly playing in the background of Courtney's internal monologue.

Then the door knocked.

Standing up almost too-quickly, Courtney walked over to it. Annoyed, she called out, "I told you I'd leave it unlo-."

On the other door was not a short blonde teenager. For one, it was not a female. He stood taller than Courtney and his dark hair drooped over the top of his head barely.

"Hey Courtney, what's up?" the young man greeted, hands in his pockets.

He had started speaking right when she stopped. She paused and looked at him, a bit shocked.

She stood to the side, holding her door open. "Hi Trent." She paused. "Come in."

The male musician walked in. "Were you expecting company? It sounded like you thought someone else was at the door."

An exasperated sigh came from Courtney, as she went and sat at the desk chair. Trent sat a few feet away on her bed.

"Bridgette said she wanted to come over around noon. But it's fine, how can I help you?"

The clock next to her bed read 12:54PM. Trent snuck a pitiful look at the girl. Her face looked like it did many times throughout Total Drama Island, eyebrows furrowed and frown deepening on her face. But Trent could tell by her onyx eyes looking away from him she was obviously upset about it.

In his mind, Trent assumed Courtney was one of those people who always properly prepared for any event, regardless of size. It wouldn't be in the most obvious ways, but subtly remembering things people liked or disliked and accommodating for it. His theory was temporarily proven true by the snacks that sat behind the Latina on her desk: chocolate, sour candy, and a single bottle of sparkling water.

Noticing where his attention was, Courtney spoke up. "Most of this stuff was for Bridge, she loves sweets and this gross sparkling water. It's like a compulsion: whenever she's sitting around or just talking she'll have a candy bar with her too."

"I heard you and Bridgette haven't been hanging out as much as you have in the past."

Courtney raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that?"

Trent shrugged his shoulders. "I think it was Cody."

"Well you tell Cody to mind his little business before I do to him what I did to Harold [3]."

In all honestly, Trent made that up. He just wanted to see how she would respond. But he wouldn't tell her that, though, since he didn't want to end up like Harold either.

The male musician sat back a bit on the bed to get a little more comfortable. "I'll be sure to relay the message to him."

She continued talking. "I don't even know why a little twerp like him even cares about who I'm talking to or why. He has Noah and Tyler and Geoff and now you." She crossed her arms and picked up a piece of the chocolate laying on her desk. "How does he even have the time to worry about other people like me."

Someone who has no one Trent thought in his head.

In a way, Courtney reminded him of Gwen. Maybe that's why he was so interested in her well-being. Though he didn't know a whole lot about her, he could figure out enough to come up with his own interpretations.

"You know, he isn't all that bad. He's like, cool and funny sometimes when he isn't trying too hard."

Based on the eye raise Courtney gave him, he could tell she wasn't too believing of his words. "Anyways, I came over just to hangout."

"Hangout?" She asked him, confusion filling the room.

"Yeah?" Trent responded, sounding confused too. "Is that a problem?"

Abruptly, the brunette stood up, shaking her head. "No, no! Not at all. I'm sure you're aware I don't have too many people come and just want to be in my presence. Usually people need something." She turned and picked up one of the bags of candy. "Do you want some?"

She threw a bag of sour candy into his open palms. "Thanks." He responded. Tearing it open, he picked up a few pieces shaped like worms and dropped them in his mouth.

As he was doing this she walked to the other side of the bed and sat next to Trent, with some space separating them. "So, what did you want to do?"

Trent hummed as he chewed the candy in his mouth and swallowed. "Well, it's kinda cloudy out though I don't think it'll rain. We could watch a movie or see what's on TV? I honestly didn't have anything in mind."

"So you just decided to come over with no specific plan in mind?" She questioned, looking around the room for her television remote.

He chuckled. "Unfortunately not all of us can be as prepared as you."

That made her smile as she grabbed the remote from behind him. "I know, it's such a hard life I live."

They both laughed, even though Trent couldn't tell if she was being serious or not.

Handing the remote to the male musician, he started the journey of getting through the music channels before finding regular cable. "You know, I don't think you saw this yesterday but Katie and Sadie were pissed you sat with me during lunch."

That didn't shock him, but he still replied, "Really?" When she wasn't ranting or in a terrible mood, Trent enjoyed listening to her speak. It was fascinating, watching her face poorly hide any of her emotions but her voice expand on those feelings.

"Oh Trent you should have seen their faces. I'm pretty sure they wanted to gut me." Courtney laughed, "It was so weird."

Continuing to move through the channels, Trent smiled as he watched the TV. "You should've seen your face when I was with you. You didn't know what to do."

He could hear the tiny gasp that came from the brunette. "I'm sure my face was composed as it always is."

When he stopped channel surfing and turned to look at her, she rolled her eyes. There wasn't any heat or hatred though; it made Trent smile at her for a second.

"Fine, I was a little surprised too. We've never talked before, what was I supposed to think?"

He set the remote down, the television showing a romantic drama. "Well, we're talking now. That's all that matters, right?"

Forty-five minutes later, the two musicians were watching the same movie Trent had stumbled upon, Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Most of their time was spent in silence, but occasionally Courtney would comment on something she decided was unnecessary. In the back of his mind, Trent was pleasantly surprised by how quiet she had been. He thought, like a lot of other people, she would talk throughout the entire movie.

Courtney was hard to please, he could tell. He could only imagine if she was a movie director how difficult it could be on the set.

"That was stupid." He could hear her mumble underneath her breath.

"Court." He called her name in a lighter tone, not really annoyed. He moved his head slightly so he could see the faint glow of her face from the screen.

The faint "sorry" reached his ears and he turned his eyes back to face the television.

He was still sitting on the edge of the bed, legs reaching the burgundy carpeted floor of the hotel room. Sometimes he'd leaned back and put his arms behind him, stretching out or getting more comfortable.

On the other hand, Courtney was laying on her stomach beside him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her hands reaching out to stretch.

Though they spent a similar amount of time together yesterday, this was the quietest either had been. There were different moments throughout the afternoon Trent wanted to turn and look and see if Courtney was actually paying attention to the movie, or if she was lost in her thoughts.

The movie was interesting enough, a geeky teen romance that weirdly resonated with the teenager. Every time the main character, Charlie, said or did something that felt painful, it reminded him of Gwen. This was kind of the first breakup that really sucked; like, yeah breaking up with girls isn't the coolest thing and his laundry list of girls he's dated may surpass the amount of songs he's ever written, but still. He felt like shit. And all the guys have been picking him up (or at least attempting to), but it's still hard.

But he could see why it happened the way it did. He just wish it didn't. Especially because Gwen was single and Duncan was too, potentially.

Yesterday, Courtney didn't really give a straight answer on their current relationship status. But everyone knew it wasn't pristine. And based on her answer, they more than likely weren't currently together, even if Courtney acted or said anything different.

And Trent didn't want to see Courtney hurt. Even though they haven't spent a whole lot of time together, she's actually not as bad as everyone else creates her to be. She's incredibly insightful, caring, and straightforward. Which is cool, because Trent hated fluff in conversation. The Courtney here is different than the one that's aired on TV.

"Hey Trent, can I ask you something?" He could hear her voice over the actors.

Leaning back, he looked to his right to meet her face. "What's up?"

Though it was a humid summer, the clouds made her room darker than it would have been at one in the afternoon on a weekday.

Courtney's onyx eyes were looking up and away, and Trent figured she was thinking about her question. Suddenly, they were making eye contact.

"Do you believe in soulmates?"

Her head was rested in the palm of her right hand, and she looked curious to hear Trent's response. For a second, Trent was focused on her facial features.

"Sometimes."

That made her raise an eyebrow. "Only sometimes?"

He nodded his head. "I think we have a perfect match, but there could be different types of obstacles."

"I don't understand."

Maybe it was too idealistic for her. Courtney is a concrete, practical teen. Trent knew this. He wondered if she was a visual learner, like he is.

"Like, maybe you already met your soulmate, but it wasn't at the perfect time; you both need to grow before being together." He started. Then, continued, "Or, you're friends now, but you haven't realized how much you mean to each other, or what you could be."

Seemingly clicking, she began nodding her head. "Oh, so like the puzzle pieces are there, you just have to put them together."

"Yeah. Something like that." He looked at her confused, a lopsided smile on his face. "What made you ask that?"

The female teenager turned away from him and back at the television. Her face glowed again from the screen. "The movie did. I think it's interesting how there's some romance tied into it as this kid struggles with so much stuff mentally. It's done well."

Once she explained that, it made sense how Trent's answer fit into her observations of the movie. She looked back at him. He didn't know what to say for a few seconds.

"I agree. I was just thinking of how some of this stuff hits the heart deep." He finally spoke, laying back completely on her bed.

He stared at her ceiling.

She maneuvered her body so she was laying on her back now. "Yeah, same here. Sorry I asked you such a weird, deep question out of the blue."

"All good."

"What were you thinking about watching it?" She asked.

Trent sighed, placing his hands behind his head. "Gwen. Before you ask, I don't think we were soulmates. At least, right now."

They both chuckled. "What about you?" He asked, already forming an idea of what the answer was.

There was a quick pause, and the commercials wrapped up their advertisements as the movie continued. Neither made much of a move to sit up and watch.

"My parents." She finally said. "I don't really think they're soulmates though."

Definitely not what Trent was expecting to hear. "How come?"

He could hear a groan. "I don't know, they're just...them. You know? Like I guess I never really saw them affectionate with each other or do lovey dovey stuff. Maybe they are made for each other after-all."

It's pretty shocking to hear Courtney actually talk about her personal life. Trent probably shocked her yesterday when he revealed his current GPA and how much closer theirs were than she had originally predicted. So, he guessed they were about even.

Hearing that about her parents didn't shock Trent. It actually explained a lot of her behavior, at least from what he could remember after taking intro to psychology. And, her relationship with Duncan was secretive in the sense where she never really talked about him except to Bridgette. And even he was more open about the two of them and doing PDA than she was.

Again, Courtney sorta reminded Trent of Gwen. They both have their personal life that more than likely is sadder than what they make it appear to be. It's just done in different ways. Gwen has her art and music and style, and Courtney has her aspirations and beliefs.

"You just described my mom." The male musician chuckled. "She's pretty affectionate with my dad, and even from time to time so is he. He can just be so overbearing at times. He's gonna kill me when I get home."

She laughed. "You're telling me. I need to get into this season and win so my parents don't disown me."

Trent smiled, thinking of his family. "Yeah, I think they'll be happy to see me. But my dad wants me to be an accountant so badly like he is and that is just not for me."

"Oh I cannot see you as an accountant at all Trent." She continued, changing her voice to sound more proper. "Um, Mr. Trenton, is it possible you could look over these numbers for me."

"Shut up." He laughed, following the Latina's own laughter, and throwing his hand out to hit her. Landing on her stomach, she gasped and hit him back, but landing on his face.

That made her giggle, and then he began to laugh too.

The room was full of laughter and the scene where Charlie passes out when the police arrive at his house.

Trent grabbed the near-empty bag of candy beside him and let it fall into his mouth. He was listening to the movie, too lazy to sit up and use his eyes.

It seemed the crinkling of the bag caught his friend's (friend?) attention. "I have some more candy if you want it. You're aware of that right."

"Sorry." He sounded embarrassed, and felt it too. Especially as Courtney stood up and grabbed some from the table.

She threw a few different bags at him, each landing in different spots. And each time he mumbled a "thank you!" that made her shake her head.

When she walked back over, he couldn't help but turn and watch her. This time, she plopped down in the same direction as him, so they could be face-to-face and talk. "Make sure you see a dentist after all this is over. Candy is bad for your teeth."

"Yes ma'am."

Courtney turned away and looked at her ceiling, a small smile on her face.

As the two didn't speak and listened to the movie reach it final minutes, Trent thought about if this was the Courtney Duncan and Bridgette got to see. Everyone else saw this bossy, determined, try-hard character. In the time Trent has spent with her, he could tell at least part of it was a façade for something else. In a way, he felt lucky to have been given this opportunity so quickly.

At least from afar, Trent didn't see any moments where Courtney let her walls down and had actual fun. He had to go back and watch the edited season to realize it existed, but it was a rare occurrence. There was a drastic difference in her behavior, as if she needed to prove something when filmed. It probably gets exhausting from time-to-time, he assumed.

Picking up one of the pieces of candy she threw in his general direction, it was a lollipop. He unwrapped it and began licking it, spending more of his time listening to the movie instead of falling into his thoughts.

One part caught his attention, and so he sat up and started watching again. This seemed to cause Courtney to rise up as well and begin watching.

It was one of the most infamous scenes in the movie, where Charlie is riding in the back of a truck in a tunnel.

"That looks fun." He comments, continuing to subside his hunger with his lollipop.

Courtney sucked on her teeth. "It looks a little dangerous. I don't know if I would do it."

Trent gave her a look. "I'm sure you could be convinced. A safer option is riding on the back of my motorcycle and feeling the wind."

She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "And how exactly is that a safer option?" She stared at him.

"Uh, because I'll be the one driving. Duh." He responded, smiling.

And that made her roll her eyes and smile. "Whatever Trent. Since when have you known how to drive a motorcycle?"

He watched her pick up his empty wrappers from her bed and go and throw them out. "I got my license right before we went to film Island [4], but don't worry, I'm pretty much a pro. Plus I wanna own my own shop one day. That would be kinda cool. And thanks for throwing out my trash, I should've done it earlier, sorry."

"A business-owner? That's not a bad job to have. Maybe you should learn some accounting then to manage your finances." Courtney suggested, waving off his apology.

"But it's soooooo boring." He had to emphasize the boringness of accounting. After listening to countless stories of his dad doing accounting-related stuff, he knew that was not his calling.

Courtney turned around and crossed her arms. "So you'd rather hire someone else to do it and potentially mess up instead of you learning it and doing it yourself?"

She had a point. Which sucked, cause Trent was pretty sure she was used to being right.

He folded his hands and leaned his head down. "Can you be my accountant for my potential bike shop, please?"

The teen laughed, and Trent looked up at her.

"Trent I'm going to be a lawyer. I can't be that and your accountant. Maybe -."

Before she could finish her sentence there was a knock at the door.

They both looked at it, Courtney more confused than Trent. "Come in!" She called out, and Trent could feel her defenses raising by the second.

The door opened and revealed her best friend, Bridgette, on the other side. "Courtney I am so so sorry for being late."

Courtney sighed. "Bridge you're over an hour late."

"I know it's just that I was with Geoff and you know how that can be sometimes, right? And then we had to do this stuff to prepare for the next Aftermath episode which took forever and then we grabbed lunch and I just lost track of time."

It almost seemed like Bridgette didn't even recognize Trent's presence in the room as she talked directly to Courtney, who was standing beside the door.

"It's fine, we can just plan for another time you aren't busy."

Everyone in the room knew that it wasn't fine, but Trent was honestly shocked by the lack of fiery anger in her voice. He couldn't really placed what emotion was being depicted right now.

Bridgette spoke, "I have like forty-five minutes to spare if you wanna hang now?"

"That's okay Bridgette, I actually have company."

This finally rang in Bridgette's ears as she turned and noticed Trent sitting on Courtney's bed. He gave her a slight wave and awkward smile.

"Oh. Oh I'm sorry Courtney. Let's talk during dinner. I feel awful."

Courtney smiled. "Dinner is fine Bridgette. I'll see you then."

The blonde gave Trent one final look before turning and walking out the door.

Based on the grip Courtney had on the door, Trent wasn't sure how she didn't slam the door shut. Once it was closed, he could see her shoulders fall as she removed her hand from the doorknob and stood there for a second.

"Sorry about that Trent!" She exclaimed, a bit too excited for Trent to be comfortable.

He gave her a look. "You know you don't have to fake anything with me. I get you're just doing what you usually do but still."

She looked at him, and looked a bit relieved. "I don't know why yet, but I trust you aren't going to spread me being upset around, right?"

That made him cross his arms, especially since it wasn't the first time she asked something similar to that. He knew it wasn't her fault she was so distrusting; that's just how she is. She needs the reassurance, and Trent realized that. "Courtney, no I'm not going to tell anyone. This is between you and I; no one else."

It was almost as if she picked up on his thoughts. "I know I probably sound annoying asking that." She walked over to the chair by her desk and sat there, continuing to distance herself from Trent. "It's just that sometimes I tell Bridgette stuff and she's told Geoff who has the world's biggest mouth other than Owen."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

She made this face. "I should've known Bridgette would forget about our mini-date today. She can be the worst at that sometimes. I wish she just never came at all. It just sucks she gets so busy with the Aftermath and hanging out with Geoff."

Trent realized it was disappoint. That's what it felt like when she spoke to her friend earlier. Courtney was disappointed, but not surprised. It explains why she isn't angry at the very least.

Courtney continued her rant. "And now I'm going to have to listen to her apologies all over again later this evening and I really don't want to. I don't even care anymore. I just want to hangout with Bridgette like normal."

"Why didn't you kick me out then?" Trent asked, confused.

She paused. "Why would I do that? I'm enjoying our afternoon together and I wouldn't have ended up having a good time with Bridgette now anyways since my mood is ruined."

It felt good to hear Courtney say she was enjoying her time with Trent, because he felt similar.

"I think everything you're feeling is valid." He finally stated, looking over at Courtney. "It's probably frustrating for this to happen over and over again."

"Yes!" She raised her hands, almost desperately. "It is the worst and I'm getting so tired of it." The brunette took a quick moment to calm herself and breathe. "But, and I'm sure you can tell, I don't have many friends. There's just too many losers around here for me to hangout with."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Aren't you a loser too?"

Her stutter obviously meant he caught her off-guard. "Well, yes but-but I'm going to win my lawsuit against Chris and get back on the show even if it kills me!" She crossed her arms. "You're a loser too, Trent, but not as much of one as I originally thought."

"I will take all the compliments I can at this point." He smiled at her.

For the twentieth time today (maybe), Courtney rolled her eyes at him, but her frown was fighting the urge to curve into the beautiful smile Trent knew he could pull out of Courtney.

Trent spoke again. "Well, know I'm here to talk to whenever, even if I am a loser too. You don't have to be alone whenever Bridgette is crazy busy."

And he knew he was setting himself up to be that "other" person in this instant. In his mind, he felt this desire to be there for Courtney. He wasn't sure how. His thoughts were getting jumbled up with his feelings about Gwen and his disdain towards Duncan and his appreciation for Courtney and her strength. He really wasn't sure how he was feeling.

But, he knew he wanted to be here.

Finally, he was able to see a smile. "Thanks Trent, I appreciate it. Honestly." And he wished he knew what she was thinking. He wasn't ready to do something as scary as what he did last season.

"Do you wanna watch another movie? This one is like fifteen minutes in but I wouldn't mind the company." He heard her ask. It may have been the softest he ever hear her speak yet.

This time he kicked off his sneakers and getting much more comfortable in her bed.

She grabbed some more candy and walked back to her bed. "Sure thing, make yourself at home."

The sarcasm was evident, but Trent thought nothing of it and gave a cheeky smile.

The next movie they watched ended up being one of the Harry Potter movies, which was weird considering they weren't being played in any specific order.

"You know, I used to think Harry Potter was next level intelligent when I was a kid; now I look at it and think it's terrible writing."

Trent laughed. "I never read the books."

She turned to the teen and gave him a look Trent had to describe as surpassing shock. Her eyebrows were nearing her hairline and her mouth was wide open. "You are seriously joking. Everyone at my school, probably the whole town, read the books. We were obsessed with it."

He shook his head. "We were more of Twilight people."

Courtney nodded her head. "Yeah, we had a quick Twilight phase too. But nothing compared to this."

"I'm gonna be honest with you. I haven't got a clue on what's been going on during this movie."

The brunette suddenly laughed. "Well yeah, I understand why now."

As the movie continued on, Courtney would explain parts that sounded confusing. Sometimes, Trent noticed, she would point at certain characters and give some backstory to help.

She didn't dumb-it-down like she would have for someone like Duncan, Trent recognized. She spoke to him like an equal, and would occasionally ask if he had any questions. And of course he did, they were watching like the third or fourth movie. But he just said he understood so she wouldn't have to repeat herself and he could listen to her talk some more.

Once he finally left, she had to turn her lamp on because it was getting dark outside and dinner was soon. He wasn't sure how to say goodbye, but she gave him a quick hug and thanked him for today. It was nice. And now he had a plethora of knowledge about Harry Potter he wouldn't remember in due time but was glad to have it repeating in his head.

The walk back to his room felt eternal, and it was probably because he wanted to hangout with Courtney some more. It was so interesting to be able to spend time with her and not get called an idiot or stupid.

Back in his room, he walked into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He felt the leftover candy in his teeth and thought about brushing his teeth after dinner. A note was left under his front door from Katie and Sadie, but he decided to just throw it out instead of reading it. It was probably set for a time he already missed.

Trent grabbed his guitar and a notepad from his desk. He sat on his bed and wrote down different strings of words on different places of the page. Some words about his train of thought, others about his current situation, ...finding my love until I brought a gun to a gunfight? Something about it made sense. His songwriting was all over the place, but it was a clear representation of where his thoughts were too.

At some point, a knock on his door reminded him it was dinner time. Walking down the hallways with Noah, he barely listened to him complain about why he was following Cody's orders about getting Trent to hangout during dinner. He sat down next to Cody, listening to him talk about the fan mail he received from (primarily) women, and watching the back of Courtney's head move while Bridgette sat next to her. He wondered what they were talking about. He wish he could pick up on her movements, her habits. She never turned around to look at him, so maybe it was an intense conversation.

"So what did you do all day?" Cody may have asked him at some point.

"Ohh I uh, hung out with Court today." He spoke, picking at his mashed potatoes.

He felt like Cody kept asking him why he was doing that to himself, but he wasn't really preoccupied with the conversation. The entire day felt like a late-night rerun in his head. Did he say everything the way he wanted to? What could he do better next time? Next time? Isn't there an elimination in a day or so? What if it's Duncan?

These thoughts plagued him until he finally made it back into his room, switched into his pajamas, and let the television watch him drift off into sleep.

[1]: foreshadowing Geoff's behavioral changes as the Aftermath host as the show continues

[2]: foreshadowing Courtney's visual changes during filming as the show continues

[3]: the classic "twist-Harold-with-a-light-pole" during Playa De Losers

[4]: In Trent's TDI bio, it is revealed he really did get a motorcycle license right before TDI

howdy! hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I know the end probably looks really rushed, but that was intentional. I wanted us to get a closer peek at Trent's head since we get general thoughts throughout this chapter.

plopped some easter eggs in honor of the upcoming holiday (if you celebrate of course) into this chapter that tie back to scales of judgement (don't worry i swear i'm working on a chapter) because why not.

also want to apologize for this extreme delay! same things goes for scales, but especially this. life happened and i've pretty much been out of commission for the past three months. happy to be back!

anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and exploration into something I wish TDI did (as per usual). I don't own these characters (unfortunately); I am but a fan of the franchise :) bye for now!

ps: wanted to state i am against and saddened by all the hate and violence towards the asian community, specifically here in the United States. as a WOC (woman of color) i can understand what that hatred can feel like, so i just wanted to say if anyone ever needs to talk or vent my PMs are always always open and i promise i respond much quicker than i do updating my stories. okay, until next time friends!