Well, well. If it isn't the third chapter. Instead of jumping straight into the next challenge, let's kick back a little and view how first night and break day will turn out to the campers. After all, huge part of drama and connections tend to form outside the action and during downtime.
Of Establishing Relationships
Screaming Gophers spent many hours on hot tub, switching between people sitting in it. No one was interested in going to sleep before their skins would be all wrinkled and warmth would have drained every last bit of strength out of their bodies.
"You won't get better situation than this. Mind to finally share your secret how you survived those psychotic man-eating sharks?" Noah pried once he was at the hot tub alongside Justin.
"Yes! Tell us, Justin!" Beth wanted to know as well.
"Ah! Well you see it was no big deal. Psychotic or not, their inner behavior remains the same. You see, when I was growing up and took some scuba diving lessons, I was taught this maneuver - or trick of sorts if you will – how you can redirect shark's swimming direction. Oversimplified, you need to remain calm and get on a touching distance of its stomach", Justin explained carefree like it was no big deal.
Leshawna looked Justin wide-eyed. "Now you care to explain where on earth you take your lessons if it includes swimming with sharks?"
"You see, sweetheart, I was born in Hawaii. And even though I might have moved to Canada when I was just a small boy, I still spent my childhood summers there swimming, diving, tanning, and getting ever so more handsome."
"That's so cool. So you also learn to dive so stylishly there?" Beth asked. She was getting dreamy-eyed the more Justin explained his history.
"Absolutely. I'd say cliff diving is such an essential skill to have if you grew up so close to water as I did", Justin answered and gave a wink. Beth and Leshawna both blushed but tried to hide it.
"Hmm. Then you definitely lucked out with that first challenge. Let's hope we keep getting other challenges where our individual fortes can shine", Noah said. He dipped his head underwater to wash sweat and condensation from steam off his face.
As people at the hot tub and around it kept having a chat, Gwen after her swim turn had moved to sit on cabins steps. Towel was wrapped tightly around her, and she kept following teammates banter. If she wanted to admit or not, she could not help but crack a small smile. As much as she had hated the surprise of being dumped on god-forsaken summer camp, in that moment there was something magical. Left in the wilderness with other youths who were now laughing and joking together. That fuzzy but comfortable state of being when one has had a good warm wash. Dim lights illuminating from cabin behind her and bright stars on the night sky and feeling of actual fresh air. As much as the camp itself sucked, there was something profound in nature and on that little secluded bubble they now where in.
"Hi, would you like to have a drink?"
Gwen's moment was suddenly interrupted as someone talked to her. She got startled and turned to look at person who talked.
Cody stood just a step higher than she and was handing to her an apple juice box.
"Well… I… guess I could do one", Gwen answered. She had mixed feelings about it. She was not necessarily thirsty and she could have gone and get one herself. After all they had gotten bunch of juice box packs as a part of their reward and they were free for all to take. But at the same time Cody had gone his way to bring one for her. She did not necessarily want to turn down such a kind gesture.
"Great. It's important to stay hydrated", Cody said and reached out just a little bit more so Gwen in turn did not have to reach out for the juice box.
Gwen thanked Cody. She opened the juice and took a sip. It was lukewarm but it was to be expected since the day had been quite warm and keeping things in cool in primitive conditions was a challenge. Cody tried to strike up a conversation with Gwen, but girl was not really into it. Out of courtesy and as a thanks for the juice she humored Cody with couple halfhearted answers. She hoped he would get the hint that she was not the talkative one but he would not stop trying to converse. Furthermore, she could not but notice that boy might have tried to flirt with her but some of his comments were so poorly chosen and masqueraded, she was starting to get uncomfortable about it.
As a last-ditch effort she stood up saying something about taking another round at hot tub. Like a miracle sent from heaven, Trent shouted at them the very same second.
"Hey! Why'd you stay there? Come and have another dip in the tub!"
"You know who I think should have a dip first of all?" asked Leshawna smiling smugly and looked somebody squatting on the grass. "Owen, grab his legs. I think our fire master should loosen up and have a dip himself"."
Before Jeremy could process it was him who was the subject and oppose, Owen lunged to grab hold of his feet while Leshawna took hold of his arms. Together they tossed Jeremy to hot tub before others in it could clear the way.
Splashes went everywhere as Jeremy fell and went underwater. He got so disoriented it took a while for him to get into upright position. Izzy, Heather, and Noah occupied the tub, and Jeremy could not be sure which ones of them he accidentally kept touching as he tried to reposition himself in relatively dark and bubble filled water.
"Gotcha!" Izzy shouted and laughed wickedly when she lifted Jeremy's head off water with her leg.
Boy gasped for breath and wiped water off his face.
"Why'd you do that?" Jeremy asked while he sloshed to the side.
Most of the youngsters were laughing in a friendly manner at Jeremy.
"Come on, honey. You've taken single-handedly care of the fire this whole day. Time for us thankin' you and let you have a dip", Leshawna said putting hands on her hips.
"Live a little, die-hard", said Noah, cracking a smile. He climbed out of the tub to make room for Gwen and Cody. Lindsay hopped in alongside of them.
Jeremy yielded and sank to sit. When he considered it, he had done good, save perhaps he had tried too hard in places just like Noah observed.
The next day was going to be free day so Gophers were not in rush to finish their tub party. They could not, however, be bothered to replenish water in tub which little by little was vaporizing and getting replaced when people went in and out. And adding buckets of cold lake water at that point would have ruined the balance of warmth, they thought.
Therefore, maybe after an extra hour when water level was getting dangerously low and embers at the stove were diminishing, they decided to call quits. As a one last triumph, they decided to check if they could cram all of them at once to the tub.
They could do it even though they were incredibly cramped. It did not help how Owen technically could have been counted as three persons. They stayed there a quick moment, shouted few more chants, and disembarked. While finishing off, Cody suggested they check the integrity of structure the next day just in case. It would have been shame should they lose hot tub early. Long summer was just starting.
Intern had come and collected Ezekiel's belongings out of Killer Bass boys' room. On that account room was little less cramped than boys had expected it to be.
Mood was not as jovial as on Gophers' camp, but it did not feel awkward either, which they took as a good sign that the mischances of the day were getting put behind.
Duncan had headed straight to the sandman's land. That was the reason why Geoff, DJ, and Tyler debated in low voice if they should leave window open for the night in order to let fresh air in. Harold had gone to brush his teeth so he was not present to participate in the discussion.
When they realized there was not mosquito net on window frame, they scraped the idea. There was one on communicating door, but then Tyler pointed out that even though it had been warm day, it could actually get really cool during small hours.
That observation led them wonder cabin's overall insulation. After some pondering, they decided to light the fireplace. It would definitely provide them with warmth and should it turn room too warm, it would be quicker to cool it off than try to make cold room warm.
When Harold returned from bathrooms DJ, who had taken chicken hat finally off his head, was already working on fire.
Geoff suggested they should use lamp oil as catalyst. There was some in a canister next to log pile.
DJ and Harold shot down that idea really quickly. DJ did it because he believed to be knowledgeable enough to make it without it. Harold opposed it because he knew it could really well send a fireball up the chimney which in turn could cause whole cabin to catch fire.
It got proven DJ was a man of his word. It took a moment to make sufficient amount of feather sticks but once it got sorted, boy was able to get a nice fire going in just a few minutes.
He kept feeding the fire about half an hour before he decided it was good enough to be left on its own. He put last two pieces of firewood in before going to bed. Other guys had drifted already in sleep.
As he as the last guy to fall into sleep, he wondered if he had adequately redeemed his failure to jump off the cliff.
The first night did not turn out to be all peaceful.
Around four in the morning Noah woke up from his dreamless sleep to a noise which he first thought was consequence of something getting smashed against wall somewhere in the cabin.
He was not too beaten to fall back sleep immediately so he raised himself on his upper bunk. As his eyes got adjusted to darkness, he tried to figure out where the noise had originated.
Then he heard it once again and it boomed louder and longer. It came directly from beneath him.
Then the smell hit him.
"OH GOD!"
Other boys got woken up by Noah's shout and followed-up ruckus when he jumped off his upper bunk and ran towards the door.
"Jesus! Something did die inside of him!" he shouted as he hastily forced the door open.
Other boys were startled and wondered what was going on. Once they were wake enough, they also realized the horrid smell spreading in the cabin. It was hugely worse than the one during the moving in.
Another rumbling noise echoed around, even more thunderous than previous ones.
"Sorry", Owen apologized as he let out one last fart. He definitely looked apologetic when Trent, Justin, and Cody ran past him to get out of the cabin.
Four boys gagged and coughed for fresh air. Justin even ran a little lap around the cabin trying to get his nose forget the lingering smell.
Door to girls room opened. Irritated and sleepy-eyed Leshawna merged.
"Do you mind? The heck is the matter?"
"Ghetto sis' is right. It's middle of the night", Heather voice was heard before her head peeked out of the door. She looked more furious than Leshawna because her sleep got interrupted.
Noah, leaning to his knees in standing position, pointed somberly towards boys room.
"You go in there and say that's a place to sleep in. I'm as furious as you are", he said.
"I'm sorry!" Owen once again shouted inside.
"Come out, man! Let the stink settle!" Justin, who just came back, shouted back.
Owen came out, tapping his index fingers together.
"Sorry. I guess that dinner didn't sit right after all. I can get gassy if my diet changes."
Leshawna rolled her eyes but dared to move to check what was the matter inside boys room. She was preceded by Izzy.
"Now that's a smell of a man! Way to go, big guy", Izzy announced and laughed when she took in boys room's air.
"Wait, aren't you one guy short?" Leshawna remarked before she herself reached the door. She could only count five boys standing outside.
That was the moment boys noticed to do proper head count. And true it was how Jeremy was absent.
"No way", Trent muttered. He pulled his undershirt to cover his nose and moved inside.
As it turned out, Jeremy had slept through whole ordeal. None of the woken could fathom how.
Confessional: Cody
Nighttime outside and still in his sleep attire, Cody leaned against sidewall. Drooping, he made long tired sigh.
"I wonder if I could just sleep here. That cabin's still no-go after Owen's stink nuke."
As first rays of morning sun started to make their way into the cabin through window glass, Duncan was the first boy to wake up in the room.
He yawned and stretched while still laying on his bunk. Once he got sleeping stiffness shaken off his body, he threw his feet over the bunk edge and prized himself into sitting position.
He wanted to be labeled as rebellious soul who did not care about rules or what other people thought. Nonetheless, waking up early was one of those self-implemented rules he had learnt to be strict about with himself. Time spent at juvenile detention had taught him not only to be ready to go at minute's notice if needed but when certain rights were stripped off you, you needed to establish some routine for yourself to retain some sense of autonomy. Waking up early was one of those routines for him. And even though he was not detained anymore, he found hard to give up that routine.
If you were able to wake up early and quickly, nobody could gain an upper hand over him by sabotaging his sleeping.
He dropped down to the floor and started series of push-ups to not only stay fit and full of stamina but to completely force his body to wake up.
He stopped once he hit fifty.
He put his trousers on and grabbed toothbrush and towel from his duffel bag. He pondered for a moment should he slip into his shower sandals or just make the run for the showers barefoot. Then he remembered the disgusting state of communal bathroom he had witnessed the previous day and decided to put in the effort and dig the sandals out of his bag.
He did not see anybody on his way to showers. Although somewhat oddly enough one of the doors on another team's cabin was open. Maybe someone had left it open on his way to bathrooms.
Delinquent recognized it was boys side since the day before he had killed the cockroach on girls room. Realization made him worried and even little annoyed because if some Gopher boy had gone for the bathrooms before him, that guy might attempt to strike a conversation with him. Even though he was early bird, it did not come coupled with urge to speak in a while after waking up.
To his luck, there was nobody in the showers. It allowed him to have his peace as he concurrently showered and brushed his teeth.
When he walked back to the cabin, he saw one of his team's girls doing stretches on the porch. He had not actively bothered to memorize girls' names by then except Courtney's since he had suggested voting her off the night before. For that reason he had no memory what the name of that particular girl was, except he had this feeling it was something long and weird.
"Morning, beautiful", he decided to flirt just for the fun of it as he walked past her. She after all was good-looking by his standard.
"Morning, Duncan", girl answered without really looking at him but stopped her stretches.
"Come on now. Don't stop because of me. Looking great", Duncan teased as he stopped himself but that was because he needed to open the door on the way in.
"Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type."
That caught Duncan totally off-guard and he froze. He had doorhandle pushed down but he did not pull the door open.
"Pardon?" he could not identify it from girl's voice so he was uncertain if she actually flirted back, mocked his flirtation, or was somehow offended by him.
"You're not my type. I'm sparing my poses for special eyes only", she leaned playfully to her hip and flashed him half-smile.
Duncan smiled back but felt awkward. He really could not tell if girl was teasing him or not. And he felt more uncomfortable by the second due to the fact he could not recall her name.
"And what makes you think I'd be into you?" Duncan tried not to lose the game if girl was testing him.
"'Cause you seemed to have thing for Heather and I'm as well darker haired. So I'd say you prefer brunette slash black."
"Hah, get real!" Duncan rolled his eyes. He could not just walk away after that comment since it would seem like girl had the point.
"Nonetheless, maybe ask Courtney if you're her type. She's also brunette."
"Now why would I do that? You are the receiver of my attention now", said Duncan. He was getting more and more irritated yet, weirdly enough, also intrigued. Girl was getting under his skin with her alleged perceptiveness. But he could not start arguing because if girl actually was flirting back, he could lose his chance.
Girl held laughter and smiled widely.
"Of course. Sorry for teasing you. It's good to know I'm worthy for boys' attention."
"You certainly are."
"Go put some shirt on. Otherwise you catch summer flu in no time."
"No more stretches for me?"
"Na-ah."
Duncan sighed like he had been hurt. He finally opened the door and went inside to get properly clothed.
Confessional: Mackenzie
Girl lent forward and had buried her face to her hands. As she finally leaned back to sat straight, she breathed out long and gazed the confessional's ceiling.
"I don't get it. I honestly thought it was supposed to be a tiebreaker yesterday. But Ezekiel went home without one. Either Harold changed his mind or Duncan or DJ voted Zeke. I mean, I didn't personally talk to Duncan or DJ about it so it's possible but this uncertainty is killing me. What did I miss?"
She buried her face again to her hands.
"Oh no... I tried to smell out if it could have been Duncan but I think I tried too hard. I hope he doesn't take that flirting wrong way. Why did I do that? No… I'm such a horrible person."
She gave out a huge sigh.
"Or… maybe I'm just thinking too hard into this."
Low growl was rumbling in Chef's throat as he lifted up the megaphone which he had snatched from equipment storage. He double-checked it was on and at maximum volume.
"LISTEN UP, MAGGOTS! I SAID I SERVE IT THREE TIMES A DAY AND YOU'LL EAT IT THREE TIMES A DAY!"
Screams of fear and surprises echoed around cabin site as sleeping campers still within rooms got rough wake-up alarm. Some thumps were heard as well when some of them fell off their beds or hit their heads to upper bunks.
"THIS IS YOU'RE GODDAMN FIRST FULL DAY SO THIS WON'T FLY! IT'S BREAKFAST TIME! ONLY SIX EATERS WON'T DO!"
"What is going on?" Cody whimpered inside the cabin, holding his ears, and curled up in fetal position on the floor.
"YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES! GET YOUR SORRY BUTTS TO THE MAIN LODGE NOW!"
Chef finished and left muttering under his breath.
People inside the cabins started to pick up themselves, muttering and whining.
As Trent looked the time, Chef's wrath might have had some justification because it was closing ten in the morning.
"But it's our day-off", Lindsay whined in girls room. "Why can't we just sleep in. We stayed up so late."
"Guess he'd just blame it on you", Beth sympathized Lindsay's agony but gave a relevant argument from Chef's point of view. She herself had woken up already two hours ago. As she had grew up on farm, she was used to early mornings even if she could feel she might have wanted to have a nice nap later.
Fifteen remaining eaters wandered in different states of dishevelment to eat, ready to get thing out of the way so they could dive back to sheets or go have a shower.
Besides Beth, Duncan, and Mackenzie, Bridgette, Eva, and Jeremy had already eaten their breakfast and hence were not present at the gathering for late breakfast.
"Mind if I sit here?" asked Noah, carrying his oatmeal and pieces of homemade rye bread on tray, from Heather and Lindsay who were sitting on the opposite side of the table.
"Well, can I really stop you if you so decide?" Heather remarked snappily, but she was not sufficiently awakened to be harsher on her answer.
Noah took that as permission to make himself a seat there. They ate in silence for a moment, but once Noah saw how Owen got his food, he raised his voice.
"Hey, big guy! Why don't you come sit here with us?"
Owen joined them, pushing Noah's room sideways with his body mass, but short guy accommodated it quickly.
"Well now that you and you are all present, I think I should apologize the ruckus last night", Noah said and nodded alternately to Owen and the girls.
"What?" Lindsay did not get it.
"The fart aftermath. It was nasty stink, sure, but I shouldn't have woken up the whole team due to it."
"Well someone slept through it", Heather marked with slight intended jab.
"Well, I still don't get it how that guy could sleep all the way through it but whatever. Anyway, I wanted to say sorry for that sleep-interrupting outburst."
"No offense taken", still apologetic Owen assured. "I just hope this diet adjustment won't take too long for my stomach."
"Can we talk about something else than farts. Eating this... stuff is already as hard as it is", Heather did not want to lose the little appetite she had.
The day was going to be warmer than the previous. Some of the late eaters decided to go have a nap after lunch which was served quite soon after the late breakfast. The idea was that it would be easier to have solid sleep time between lunch and dinner rather than lunch and breakfast. They would have time to socialize and explore the island after dinner.
Some of campers stayed awake and tried to find activities to do.
Duncan, for example, had disappeared somewhere, probably exploring the surroundings theorized the others. Eva was doing her workout routine around the campground, and Gwen retreated somewhere with a notebook. Harold whipped out yo-yos and informed he could be found practicing his "mad skills" on them.
Tyler was among those who decided to skip napping time. He instead had couple of items on his to-do-list he wanted to get done if possible before dinner. First of all he wanted to know if Lindsay had gone sleeping or stayed awake. She was easily the girl on the island who tickled his fancy the most so he wanted to find out if he could find a nice opportunity to introduce himself better. Secondly, last night's elimination had bothered him and he wanted to talk about it with Mackenzie.
Discretion in both cases was the key, he concluded. He could not just barge in either girl's room and ask if they were present or if he could talk with them. He wanted both interactions to appear as natural as possible. He was not the brightest guy but he knew some interactions were better done privately.
He was prone to bad luck but as luck once in a blue moon would have it, he saw Mackenzie coming from the direction of confessional when he was pondering what to do it, if he could not directly check the rooms.
He raised his hand to wave at Mackenzie after he checked no one was at their immediate vicinity.
When girl recognized that she was getting greeted, she returned the gesture but noteworthy she was not smiling like she usually did when she greeted people.
Tyler jogged over to her.
"Hey, Mackenzie. How's it going?"
"Not too bad. Just poured out my soul at confessional."
"Oh man. I still need to test it myself. Hey, do you have a moment to chat?"
Mackenzie froze and could not get a word out of her mouth. She forced herself to react in seconds.
"Oh, sorry. Talk? Yeah, sure. What's it about?"
"I was just wondering…", Tyler checked once again their immediate vicinity. Just to be on safe side he gestured Mackenzie that maybe they should walk a little bit away from campground as inconspicuously as possible. Eva was doing some laps around the cabins.
They walked towards main lodge. As they did that, jock could have had no idea how much turmoil was taking place in neighbor girl's mind.
When he was sure Eva would not by accident hear them, he continued.
"I've been thinkin'… what happened last night? Zeke went home."
It was exactly what Mackenzie had thought it was going to be about.
"You mean… why it wasn't Courtney?"
"Yeah. We agreed on Courtney. Were… Zeke's comments in the end too much?"
Mackenzie could not blatantly lie about it. She did not want to lie about. Maybe actually talking to someone rather than camera lens could give her overthinking mind rest.
"I level with you. I voted Ezekiel. You never asked directly if I'd vote with you. Geoff and you kinda just assumed it."
Tyler didn't say anything immediately.
"Why didn't you just say you wanted Ezekiel out? You dropped both names at that convo."
"I wasn't sure either by that point! But do the math. The results still won't add up even if you count my vote against Ezekiel."
"What do ya mean?"
"Six girls voting Ezekiel isn't majority. It's one vote short. Some guy must have pooled his vote to Ezekiel. Or some girl didn't vote him, which still means even more boys didn't vote Ezekiel."
It felt really good for Mackenzie to pour her heart out. She did not know if it would backfire later but at the moment it was therapeutic so she did not care.
Tyler took a moment to process what Mackenzie just said. Then it clicked in his mind.
"Right. No tiebreaker."
"Exactly!" Mackenzie exclaimed and spread her arms.
Tyler looked her outburst weirdly.
"Sorry. It just that it's been bothering me all night and morning as well", Mackenzie apologized.
"Well… I just wanted to clear any misunderstanding. Does it matter anymore which guy didn't vote her?"
"Of course it matters! You came to me saying DJ would be with you. I told you that for Harold Courtney was bigger liability than Zeke. One of them lied to us or decided last second to switch camps. Either way bad thing. Or maybe it was Duncan. Or Zeke himself. If Zeke, he played himself. If Duncan, I don't get it why he'd change target so drastically last second."
"Are you… getting agitated by this?" Tyler asked one brow worriedly lifted.
"I'm sorry", Mackenzie apologized again and took deep breath. "I thought I couldn't be the final judge so I decided to heed Geoff's idea. With tiebreaker it wouldn't have felt so unfair to be the first boot. But one or more boys went after Zeke with us girls."
"It can be stressful. Believe me. I'm an athlete", he said and put hand over his heart. Mackenzie was not sure if she followed the exact intended meaning.
"Whose prone to accident", she added and finally manage to crack a smile. "How are your bruises doing?"
"Barely noticeable", he assured which was the easiest lie of the day to detect as there still was mean-looking purplish bruise covering one of his cheeks.
As they went separate ways, both had gained something to consider.
Mackenzie, who had been working to stay on top of the unfolding drama starting from the first elimination, felt tricked and betrayed even though she realized the unfairness of such emotions. Now she had Tyler's stand to wonder. She needed to figure out if she had talked too openly to him and what it meant that he by own initiative had come talk to her.
Tyler pitied the reality how he may not have had such a solid foundation for network as he might have hoped for. But his thoughts already started to get occupied by thoughts of Lindsay.
Temperature was peaking so Jeremy had left his hoodie back in the cabin. Cody and Noah had said they would check before their nap how the hot tub was holding up after last night's pool party. That being taken care of, Jeremy had decided it was time for him to take some me-time alone.
The day before he had seen this idyllic spot along the shoreline during their march towards the cabins after cliff dive. It was not any secret paradise per se but he found it neat how there was this one spot where long single pier stood alone on slice of shoreline which was not as badly trashed as the shoreline around the main docks. Even the waters seemed somewhat clearer there. It also faced towards east so sunrises could be gorgeous to look from there.
What he had on his mind was not however to go for a swim. Instead he had took with him sketch book, few pencils, eraser, and pocketknife. He eyed trees close to tree line and considered if he could climb one of them safely and find thick branch to sit. From there he could get better bird eye view and sketch the scenery opening before his eyes.
He landed on one of the shorter ones because it looked like it had noticeably thicker branches compared to the other options. It stood short distance aside from the actual mini-beach but it would not be too detrimental for the experience.
He climbed the tree with experience and made himself comfortable at about thirteen feet altitude. Once he had now tested it, he realized how stupid of an idea it was and made note not to try it again. But as he already had climbed there, he decided to make it worth his while that time and do the upper view sketch.
He sat there for the time being and drew the lake, horizon and other islands sprinkled in there.
It was nice and helpful for him. The day before had been socially very taxing so he was glad he could have a whole lot of time then to be alone with his thoughts and drawings.
At some point he heard steps shifting through sand. He turned his gaze and saw how the blond surfer girl from Killer Bass walked to the beach. She stopped momentarily, went then to the pier, and tested the waters with her hand, stood up, gazed a little bit into the horizon and returned to the beach. She continued her afternoon walk passing Jeremy sitting in the tree as she went.
She did not notice Jeremy because leaves and branches covered his presence quite well unless you directly watched and combed through the trees.
Jeremy did not intend to make his presence known so he followed silently as surfer girl went and finally disappeared.
For a moment he listened if there were other campers about to come as well but the only sounds were wind, rustling of the leaves, waves washing over the shore and birds singing their sonnets.
The name of the girl escaped him. There were two longer names among the Killer Bass girls. He was certain hers was one of them, but those names had not yet stuck with him.
He focused again on his drawing, taking a mental note at the same time to start associate names with faces from another team as well.
Chris McLean, clad in white bathrobe and shower sandals of matching color, walked short distance from his Airstream to another travel trailer, which had been modified and dedicated to act as island's end operative center. He sipped with satisfaction milk coffee from a cup which had show's initials plastered around it in big red letters, piece of trial merchandise.
"Afternoon, subordinates", host greeted people working inside the trailer when he stepped in.
"Good afternoon too, mister McLean", highest ranking employee present, shift manager of sorts, greeted the host.
Even though technically none of them worked directly under McLean, host had readily adapted a habit to call them his subordinates when he interacted with two or more of them at a time. In principle host outranked them and thus was the leader of production on island, but in actuality other employees' superiors were on the mainland.
"You seem to be on good spirits today, sir", said one employee who was working on computer closest to trailer's door.
"Why wouldn't I! Excellent shooting yesterday, my bedsheets were soft, breakfast omelet was absolutely out of this world, bath just minute ago was heavenly, and I have coffee", Chris counted his blessings. He took another sip of his drink.
"That's good to hear, sir."
"Enough about me for now. How's the editing going?"
"Right on schedule. Going through sound design at the moment."
"Excellent. I want nothing but the absolute top quality from the pilot."
"It shall be delivered. Was your visit of casual purpose or did you have anything else, mister McLean?"
"Yes! How's the hype train doing? Are we the hottest topic of summer television?"
"Hey, Jillian!" shift manager turned to shout to a young woman at the other end of the trailer. "Where's the morning report?"
"It's on Norman's station!"
Shift manager retrieved the report from where it was left.
"Doing well, mister McLean", shift manager said while eyeing the report himself. "Nothing earth-shattering but definitely one of the more anticipated shows of season. Teaser trailers are gaining attraction, and promo pictures of some contestants' silhouettes went, as they say, viral in Internet. Demographic-wise, younger audiences are still more likely to watch the show, but there are some hints interest might be on rise among the people in their twenties."
He handed the report over to Chris who put down his coffee mug in order to handle clipboard with report by both hands.
"Good. Very good. And subscriptions for premium packages?" Chris asked while studying the graphs.
"Experiencing some headwind but it was to be expected. Early bird offers are selling well but anything else is not really going. People are hesitant to buy 'cause they can't tell if they're buying a pig in a poke there."
"Well, let's change that once the pilot airs on weekend", Chris said and handed back the report.
"Let's hope so, sir."
"Speaking of episodes, how's my campers doing? Offering already some juicy drama for filler?" He picked up his mug and took another sip.
"If you like to know the deets, you have to ask interns. Tariq and Alex have been monitoring the cameras this morning. Although, as much as I've understood correctly, most of the contestants have been sleeping quite a lot today. When he visited here, mister Hatchet was very displeased because majority of them tried to sleep over the breakfast."
"Sleeping? On my show? Well, that will be easily fixed. Let them sleep for now", Chris giggled.
"Yes, absolutely, sir", shift manager joined the sentiment and cracked a small smile himself. He knew what show's host meant with his words.
Tyler did not have as much luck on his pursuit as he had hoped for. He did find Lindsay at the main beach sunbathing in the afternoon's heat. The problem was that the pretty boy Justin was there as well sunbathing.
He thought about it and came to conclusion he would not get better opportunity than that before dinner. That was why he went and change into his swimming gear. He theorized that if he could not get anything too flirtatious going due to Justin being there, he could at least put himself at podium and hope Lindsay would further notice him.
"Fancy seein' you here", he greeted Lindsay when he jogged backwards past her sun lounger after returning to the beach.
She opened her eyes and lifted her sunglasses from obscuring her vision. When she realized it was Tyler, she smiled innocently and said hi.
Once he heard her saying hi, he smiled back, turned hundred and eighty degrees, and spurted down the docks. He put up as good of a performance as he could of him taking headfirst dive at the end of the docks. He swum few laps before he headed back to the beach. He tried to imitate a movie scene he had seen as much as possible when he waded to beach. He glanced Justin's way and gave the guy up nod.
Pretty boy acknowledged Tyler's presence but did not seem to care otherwise. Tyler took that as a chance to have a little chitchat with Lindsay without feeling the obligation to interact further with Justin.
Lindsay seemed interested and she answered eagerly though somewhat perhaps shyly when Tyler spoke to her. He thought he managed to do some good flirtation even if he toned it down because of Justin nearby.
To nail down the idea for casual nature of interaction, he took couple more dips in the lake during the course of next hour. After that, people who had taken afternoon naps started to wake up.
Katie and Sadie came to hang around when they learnt that Justin was there taking care of his tan. Beth from the other team also appeared, infatuated by pretty boy like two best friends, but eager to chat with Lindsay as well.
Tyler took his leave at that point telling he was going to have a shower to wash off lake water.
Confessional: Lindsay
"Blair keeps saying how dreamy Joseph is and I get it. He's tanned and good-looking. But have you seen Thomas! That butt of his could achieve world peace! And he's so nice and handsome. It's hard to get two words out of Joseph but Thomas is so attentive when I talk to him."
Lindsay tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"I wonder if he's just nice to me. Or could he actually like me?"
Dinner came and went. Everyone was quickly losing their hope that the meals during the summer would be anything of great quality. It appeared Chef had only one style in his cooking repertoire and it was "bland". Eating still happened mostly in silence because not too many campers felt yet comfortable enough talking in big groups with people who they barely knew.
Once everyone had stomached their dinner, they were free to spend their evening and socialize as they pleased.
Owen, for example, had been thinking how to bond with fellow campers better. Everyone seemed nice people with maybe few exceptions but he wanted to actually befriend other youngsters, not just assume they were great people. Back in the home just few days ago when he had asked from his siblings their ideas how to get to know other people, one of his brothers had given him his modified version of Apples to Apples to play, suggesting game nights were always solid option. Granted, that brother of his had hoped to see some footage of the gameplay getting slipped into actual episodes for laughs, but he had left nugget of motive untold as he had not informed the decks were modified. It would be a joke of epic proportions if some controversial card plays happened to appear at prime-time television.
Owen whipped the game out of his baggage and went merrily his way, looking for other teens to join him in his game. He thought about asking at least Noah, but he could not find the guy anywhere.
Feeling little defeated by this setback he returned to the cabin but there he saw Cody and Justin just lounging around.
"Oh! Cody! Justin! My men! Wanna play some cards with me?"
"Yeah? What you got there?" Cody was intrigued.
"Apples to… Apples", Owen read the name of the game from its package. "No idea what it is, but my brother recommended it."
"Oh you mean that silly party game?" Justin actually appeared to know the game.
"You know this?" Owen asked enthusiastically, happy to also get Justin's attention.
"Yeah. It's simple enough as a lighthearted minigame during summer nights at beach", admitted Justin.
"So you'll join us?" Owen asked. He assumed Cody was already on board.
Justin considered the offer for a second.
"Well, why not. I guess I can humor you with my participation for some time. You said you don't know the rules?"
Owen laughed awkwardly. "Guilty as charged!"
"Well, only three of us won't make it a good one. Let me ask if some of the girls would be interested in joining us."
"You would do that? That's so considerate of you."
"No problem, man", Justin smiled widely and went to knock cabin's other door.
He did not step in front of the door so he would not accidentally peek if someone was undressed inside or anything like that. Instead, he stood next to the door and reached his hand to knock the doorframe, informing he was willing to know if anyone was inside.
"Yeah?" it was Leshawna's voice who answered.
"May I come in?"
"Justin? Yeah… yeah. No problem!"
Justin pulled the door open. Communicating door was not closed. He casually leaned against the doorframe with his elbow, putting his left hand's knuckles on his temple and loading his weight onto right leg with other one getting swung into a bent position in front of it. While posing in such a manner, he presented his business.
"We're 'bout to play a party card game. Cody, Owen, and I. Would you girls like to join us?"
He flashed a captivating smile.
Even if girls would not have wanted to play, Justin had that sort of charisma which made it difficult for them to refuse. Leshawna was in as was Beth. Besides them Izzy was the only other girl at the moment in the room. She was also eager to join them.
Six of them in total decided to go to the main lodge to have their game.
Once they were seated around the table and Justin was cluing in novices how the game worked, Cody started to shuffle the cards. He, however, happened to peek what sort of words in general there were in that particular deck. He saw in two cards words which seemed out of place. He paused, flipped the deck over and ran his eyes through few more cards.
"Um… Owen? Are you sure this is Apples to Apples?" Cody asked uncertainly.
"What do you mean?" big guy did not understand.
Cody slipped few examples out of the deck and handed them over.
"I'm pretty sure these are types of cards which you can't find in standard edition."
As Owen read the cards, his eyes widened and horrified look spread on his face.
"Oh my…!"
Izzy reached to take a look as well.
"Hahaha! Now those cards disqualify this game as family friendly", she laughed.
"I… think my brother might have modified the deck…"
"Well…", Cody was thinking quickly. He did not want to ruin get-together and upset Owen by calling the game night off. "Family friendly cards sprinkled with some dark humor. We could give it a try. Everybody okay with it? We can stop if someone gets uncomfortable. Or we can ban those impostors."
"I'm game", Justin did not have a problem the twist. "But I think it all depends on what our lovely female friends here think about it."
"Well, if Justin's okay with it, I think I'm okay with it", Beth blushed as Justin look at her, waiting for the answer. Leshawna was as smitten by Justin as Beth so she did not oppose either.
"Thanks, Justin, and Cody. I think my brother tried to pull a practical on me", Owen thanked boys for their sympathy. He would have felt really bad about himself if boys would not have found a compromise to the situation.
"I guess that's what bros do with each other. No problem, man", Justin assured and flashed a smile to Owen. Big guy in turn could feel how his ears started to feel burn.
Their game went surprisingly well. Additions from Owen's brother added certain spice to gameplay. They started to theorize whenever those extra cards appeared which one of them dared to offer questionable or downright politically incorrect one as their answer. They also got some good laughs out of them as Owen and Beth, more innocent ones, tended to act especially horrified when those popped up from the pack.
Then came the absolute monstrosity as an offered answer to card. Cody, who acted as the judge that round, went silent instantly when it registered in his mind what he just had read out aloud.
"Oh my…"
"Can you even say that?"
"Whoever gave that: shame on you. Shame. On. You."
"How can you even think that as an answer!"
"Someone's going to heck for that."
Argument ensued when they tried to pinpoint the culprit. Collective opinion somehow turned to frame Justin as the one but boy strictly denied the accusation. Granted, he had given some hot ones previously during the game.
"Look at me. Look at me and carefully think the following: do I look like a bad person", Justin urged Owen and Beth, looking intensely them into the eyes and smiling charmingly, yet innocently.
"Well… if you put it like that…"
Both Owen and Beth blushed hard when Justin made his earnest plea.
"Well this gets settled once and for all if ya pick that card. Someone has to confess if they want their point", Leshawna pointed out to Cody.
"But… wouldn't that mean that I… endorse it? Endorse that?" Cody was worried about the well-being of his own soul if he would pick the bad one.
"We won't hold it against ya. But ya better believe we hold it against the person who dared to even submit that card. The audacity!"
"You know what", Cody hovered his hand over the cards. "No! Let the culprit keep their face. I'll pick this one!" He lifted the most unassuming card. Owen took a point from that.
"Well, maybe you really saved your own face with that", Leshawna admitted Cody might have done the right thing. "But that card we're burning tonight!"
"Oh, and we need to clean the table with the finest holy water. You think they have any members of clergy in the staff?" Izzy said frantically.
"Zip it, sis'! All we know, it could have been you so don't ya dare going talkin' about anything 'holy'", Leshawna pointed out.
"Oh please. As if you couldn't be the guilty one trying to shift the blame. All we know for sure is that Owen's the purest of us ' cause he got the point", Izzy defended herself.
They played few more rounds just to drown the memory of horrendous card before quitting and moving on to different things.
Confessional: Leshawna
"Gotta hand it to big guy. It was nice idea to bring some games with him to this island", Leshawna said, smiling softly.
Then her expression turned sour and she stood up.
"But you know what is not nice? This vile piece of paper!"
She lifted up the most problematic card from game night. It was intentionally turned so that its backside was pointing towards camera, making it impossible to say what was actually written on it.
"Owen's brother, you should be ashamed of yourself. You know what we do to cards like this?"
She lighted a match and set the corner of card on fire with it. When fire had consumed half of the card, she dropped it to the toilet's waste tank. After checking it did not cause any fires and burned out properly, she exited confessional with satisfied look on her face.
Some big-sounding animal had rustled bushes in the forest so Noah had decided maybe it was for the better to postpone on later date the scouting of silent retreating nook. He decided to settle for the main dock as a place to read a book he had brought with him to island.
The dock, which had collapsed during the photoshoot the day before, already had been rebuilt much to his surprise. He had to congratulate the builders for their efficiency and discretion because he had not noticed at all any signs of construction work during the day or night. Admittedly, he had not come around the main dock since arrival but he would have thought to hear dock being built. He also thought how ridiculous it was that the show seemed to have money to hire competent builders but not enough dough to make sure they got professional cook or good food.
As he spent his early evening there, he made good progress on his book. He could have gone through several more pages but he was getting little sidetracked because he was also using that time to consider the competition. He was not among even the top half of the physically most capable players so his most valuable weapon in this competition would be his wits.
He needed to network. Finding allies or people who believed him to be an ally had to be of high priority. He believed he was on good standing with Owen. Big guy's silly amiability was a good shield, giving him some protection by association. And should the day come when Owen was out of game and he remained, being friends with big guy would reel in support for him when big guy with that same amiability inevitably would bring that by association.
However, Owen alone would not be enough as an ally if he wanted to make sure he could reach endgame. He needed other support and preferably a scapegoat as well.
As much as he despised the fact how Justin had ridden into people's hearts with mere looks, if harnessed right, pretty boy could be valuable asset. It would be a risky move, but pretty boy could have had this ability to sway the votes of girls in his favor. It was something to perhaps look into.
Outwardly, Leshawna seemed to be the strongest girl on Screaming Gophers. She had picked up and thrown Heather of the cliff. But that also meant it could be hard to deal with her as she appeared to be a person with attitude. She probably would not take any nonsense from anyone.
And considering Heather… she was the hot topic. Since it had only been less than two days, it was impossible to tell for sure, but he knew the type and all the signs were there. She could turn out to be a threat if left unchecked. If she was to go forth as a person Noah expected her to be, getting into an alliance with her would be bold. But benefits would be fantastic. He could get his scapegoat as she was bound to cause troubles with her ego all the while he would fly under the radar and secretly control the game.
Then there were also Jeremy and Izzy. The mute and the lunatic. Both had proven their usefulness to the team the day before meaning they were capable people, but their personalities made them options to manipulate if he could find the right thing to offer for their loyalty.
Sun was about to drop below horizon line, taking away the last lingering light sufficient for reading. Noah kept postponing his departure because he wanted to reach some sort of definitive conclusion which campers he should attempt approaching.
His moment of reflection got disturbed when he started to hear running steps coming down the docks.
"CANNONBALL!"
He turned to look what was going on. Two guys from other team, the one with cowboy hat and the one who was built like a brickhouse, ran in their swimming trunks down the pier, obviously heading for evening swim. Beach party guy jumped first, curling into a ball and flipping into headfirst position going down. Muscleman jumped right behind him but went for normal cannonball dive.
"Aah! So cold!"
"Start swimming! Start swimming! Get the blood rushing!"
Noah closed his book, stood up and prepared to leave. There was no mind staying if he had lost his solitude.
"Oh! Hi there, mate!" one of them noticed Noah as he was passing them, turning to walk the dock to main island.
"Hi there too. Mate", Noah answered somewhat coldly, not really in mood quite just yet to engage in conversation.
"Don't stop swimming! The cold will get you!"
Noah left the beach and headed back to the cabins. Before he managed to reach them as he was walking slowly, two guys who had interrupted his moment ran past him also on their way back to the cabins. leaving trail of cold lake water behind them.
"Get that fireplace glowing like a ripe strawberry! Two cool guys coming in!"
Noah did not know to whom they shouted but then again, he really did not care either.
As boys backs disappeared into Killer Bass cabin and door got slammed shut, Noah stifled a snicker.
"Simple people, indeed."
Campers went to sleep earlier than night before. Warm day was going to get contrasted by cool night so DJ tipped off other rooms to lit up their fireplaces to counter chilliness like their room had done the night before.
Gopher boys forced Owen to stand outside before bedtime so he could let out all the farts he wanted, thus hopefully minimizing the risk of yet another gas attack during the wee hours of the morning.
They could not tell if it actually was any help but they were eager to try at least. It was impossible to tell if it really was the thing to make the difference but that night Owen managed to sleep without gassing the room, granting peaceful night for Gophers.
On the other side of campground, night was not going to be as quiet. Pretty early on Geoff, Tyler, and Duncan woke up when a sound rose from the bunk above Duncan.
Harold was snoring and it was not mild. Every now and then it sounded like orchestra of chainsaws were sawing huge logs full of knotholes.
DJ had not been able to even fall asleep in the first place.
"Did he snore like that last night?" drowsy Geoff asked desperately.
"Hey, doofus!" Duncan stood up and smacked Harold's face with pillow. "Turn the side! You snore like a banshee!"
Abrupt wake-up startled Harold and he backed towards the wall.
"Gosh! What's your problem?"
"Turn the side! You snore like a banshee", Duncan repeated threateningly.
"I can do that but… it does not guarantee… it stops… I can't control it", sleepy Harold tried to form coherent sentence.
"It better help or so help me you'll sleep in toilet stall."
"Now, now, dude. Let's just… let's just go back to sleep. Harold… turn your side", with voice as sleepy as snorer's, Geoff calmed down Duncan and urged Harold to turn side.
Sides were turned and boys headed back to sandman's land. Harold stopped snoring for some time but at some point logging resumed. Although it was not as bad as it was when it woke up the whole room.
Confessional: DJ
Nighttime outside and still in his sleeping attire, DJ leaned against sidewall. Drooping, he made long tired sigh.
"Okay, there are issues with snoring in my family as well but that… was something else."
He tried to sit straight but tiredness got the better of him. He slumped to lean backwards.
"I wonder if I could just sleep here instead", he mumbled tiredly, eyes closing.
Having gone to sleep early the previous evening, Chris was ready to face the new day early. He left from his lodging driving an ATV. One cameraman came with him, driving a different ATV.
It was going to be another beautiful day. Sunshine was infiltrating through the canopy of leaves and branches, making light dance all around all the while they drove through the forest towards the other side of the island. Birds were chirping and soughing of the wind accompanied those notes.
Chris was smiling as chilly morning breeze cooled off his face and the smells of lake air and burning fuel filled his nose.
Campers should not miss such a wonder of a morning.
Host and cameraman left their vehicles behind to traverse final distance between them and the cabins on foot. Remnants of morning haze were lingering on campground when they reached it.
Camera, which had followed host's last walk of twenty yards to the glade, took better focus on him.
Chris smiled and lifted up the equipment he had brought with him: a megaphone and an airhorn.
He was ready to start the new day.
A/N: And like that a day passes and a new one starts. As much as I'd like to cover all the characters and things they do, I think it would be insanity considering how many of them there still are. Hopefully these peeks into the day of some of them suffice.
Mackenzie struggles to understand what happened at first elimination. Tyler's already courting Lindsay. Noah weighs his options while Owen just wants to make friends. No boy seems to catch a good night's sleep except maybe Jeremy, and Chef is not letting anyone to skip a meal.
It remains to be seen what shall the new day bring to the remaining twenty-three campers.
