AN: This chapter is going to be FUN FUN FUN. I am giggling hysterically right now. Literally. Time for the food competition, and this week, the guys are really going to have to work for their food…
Oh…and if anyone is very squeamish, I'm warning that you might want to skip this chapter. It practically made me sick just writing it. If you get sick easily, turn back now. Think fear factor this time. I'm not going to elaborate for fear of giving it away, but when the time comes, you'll know. I am not responsible if you become sick during this chapter!
What a nice note to end on. For all you brave souls, read on!
Mush
"Mush, can I talk to you?"
I turned around, and Toby was standing right behind me. Blink scowled, but he let me speak for myself.
"Sure."
"In private?"
Blink gave me a look that told me he was completely against me being alone in a room with Toby, but I knew better. He may not agree with me, but he was still my brother.
"Yeah. I'll be right back, Blink."
Blink muttered something and dropped onto the couch, crossing his arms to show he was displeased with my decision. I followed Toby into the bedroom, and he shut the door behind us.
"Just what has happened to you?" he asked.
"I fell in love. Isn't it obvious?"
"No, you didn't fall in love. Love does not exist between two men."
"Are you saying you don't love me?"
He growled. "You know what I mean. Don't play naïve with me…you've played it enough on them."
He began to pace, rubbing his chin in obvious frustration.
"Look, Toby, you aren't going to change my mind."
"Oh, I will. I will even if it means making sure you never see him again after you leave here."
"You can't do that!"
"I have authority over you; I can do whatever I want with you!"
That was enough. He was just not going to listen to me at all. I walked to the door, but as I reached for the doorknob, he grabbed my shoulder and slammed me up against the wall.
"You aren't leaving until you've agreed to stop this nonsense." He hissed, his hands gripping my shoulders in a painfully tight lock. I struggled against it, but he only made it more painful.
"I'm in love! Obviously something you'll never know about because you just screw girls and then dump them!" I screamed, and his eyes widened. I had promised to never tell mom and dad about his little secret life as a player- he had to have slept with twenty-five girls by now. And now, not only had I told mom and dad, but I'd told the whole nation.
He let go of me, and at first I thought he would just let me go. But I wasn't that lucky.
His fist connected with my jaw, sending me flying into a table, the wood splintering under the impact. I guess the noise alerted the others, because in two seconds flat Spot and Blink had thrown open the door and were on him.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you little fag!" Toby screamed as they dragged him out. Then Skittery was on the scene.
Need I say more?
Blink ran over to me and helped me out of the pile of wood that used to be a table, and I leaned up against the wall, wiping the blood from my lip.
"Are you alright? Anything broken?" He asked, sitting on the floor in front of me.
"Yeah, I'm okay." I said, my speech slightly altered from the fact that my jaw now hurt like hell. He gently touched my face where Toby had punched me, and I yanked away, pain exploding through my face and neck.
"I never should've left you alone with him." He whispered, so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.
"It's okay. I've had worse."
He arched an eyebrow. "What? Been beat up worse?"
"No. I got kicked by a horse. You don't know pain until you've been kicked by a horse."
He shook his head. "No…seeing you get hurt is worse. No horse could put me through that much pain."
Dutchy
In the backyard sat a long table with six place settings, and at each setting sat a large silver plate that was presently covered. I sat down where it had my name, and the word 'Wednesday'.
I had a feeling that I knew where this was going.
"Hello, house guests."
"Hi Sarah."
"In front of each of you sits a plate and a day of the week. On the plate is a special cuisine baked just for you. If you manage to eat all the food on your plate in under two minutes, then you will have normal food for that day of the week. If not, it's PB+J for that day.
We all groaned. I, personally, would never want to see another peanut butter sandwich in my life.
"If you so choose, once your plate has been revealed, you can switch with the next person. However, you won't know what dish you have switched to until after the switch, and you cannot switch again. The order will go: Spot, Dutchy, Race, Skittery, and Mush, the exact way you are seated. Does everyone understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. Oh, and by the way…there are buckets by your chairs in case you need to throw up. Spot, go ahead and uncover your dish."
Spot lifted up the cover on his dish, and inside sat three large, slimy red balls. Very disgusting looking. Extremely.
Sarah explained further. "Spot, you are competing for normal food on Tuesday. And what you're eating are three scrumptious coagulated cow blood balls. That is, if you don't want to switch with Dutchy."
Spot bit his lower lip, looking from his plate to my covered plate and then back to his. And then he said, "No way. I'm switching, man."
He switched plates with me, and I wasn't too happy about it. Spot uncovered his new dish, and on it sat a very large…egg.
Sarah chuckled. "Your new dish is a duck egg. With a mostly developed duck fetus inside. Good luck. The time begins…now."
Spot cracked open the egg, and I practically gagged as I realized that the embryo was still inside. It had eyes, even starting to develop feet…and Spot had to eat it. At first he looked like he was just going to throw this and walk away, but then he took a bite.
And I felt my stomach flip when I actually heard the half formed skull crunch between his teeth.
He closed his eyes tightly and just kept chewing, swallowing hard and taking another huge bite. I looked away, not able to watch him finish it off. But when the timer went off, I looked back. He had done it. He had eaten that whole thing. And it was my turn now.
I looked down at the plate with absolute disgust. No, worse than disgust. I mean, I was eating clotted cow's blood. You try it someday, you'll see what I mean.
Sarah started the timer, and I shoved the first one in my mouth and just about threw up just from that. It was slimy on the outside, but it was tough, gritty, and dry on the inside. It stuck to my mouth like peanut butter, and I just couldn't seem to swallow. I heard the other guys urging me on, but this was worse than anything I'd ever tasted. And believe me, I've eaten some odd things.
I finally got the first one down, and for a moment, I hovered between getting sick and continuing. But then I thought of the peanut butter and jelly again, and how this temporary torture could be a whole lot better than that. I put the next one in my mouth and started chewing.
It just wasn't going to work. I couldn't swallow it. The timer rang, and I leaned over the bucket and promptly threw up.
They gave me a little time to recover and I quickly drank a glass of water, my knees shaky. I never wanted to look at a cow again. Or a peanut butter sandwich.
"That's normal food for Tuesday, PB+J for Wednesday. Race, uncover your bowl." Saran said, and Race lifted the cover off his dish.
He recoiled in horror and dropped the lid on the ground with a yelp of surprise. I had to look very hard to see if it was actually dead.
Lying on his plate were two raw octopus tentacles, looking as if they could roll off the plate and come to life any second. I mean, for goodness sake, the suckers were still attached!
"Race, do you wish to trade with Blink?" Sarah asked. Race stared at the plate for a moment, and then he surprised me by refusing the switch. The timer started, and he went right at it.
"It's like rubber." He said around a large bite of the stuff. "But not bad."
"Shut up and eat!" Spot yelled, and Race continued at lightening speed.
And he actually got it all down, with only three seconds to spare.
Blink was next. And we all about lost it when he lifted the lid.
On the plate sat two cockroaches the size of my hand. Not alive, but not cooked in any way either. Blink started shaking his head fiercely, and immediately shoved the plate down to Skittery, who was next in line. Skittery handed him the other bowl, and once again, Blink lifted off the lid.
It was a yellowish, thick looking soup with strings of white stuff in it. I would never have known what it was if Sarah hadn't explained.
"Blink, your dish is called haggis. It is raw sheep intestine and stomach ground up into a thick soup. Your time begins now."
"Just chug it, Blink." Race suggested, and Blink shot him a dirty look.
"Easy for you to say!"
He brought the bowl to his lips and took a sip. And it was as if he'd just kissed a hot frying pan. He yanked back, his eyes wide as he stared at the stuff in the bowl.
"Come on. You can do it." I said, and he tried again. He got about three gulps down before he slammed the bowl on the table and started gagging, leaving his seat and walking away.
He let the time just run out as he kneeled in the grass, gasping for air as if he were breathing through a straw. That stuff must have been really awful.
And so now it was Skittery's turn. We had normal food on Tuesday and Thursday, PB+J on Wednesday and Friday. And now Skitts was aiming for Saturday. What was really funny was that he refused to trade, and he didn't seem all that worried about eating roaches. Or, as Sarah so elegantly put it, Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.
The timer began, and Skittery took a huge bite, the sickening crunch bringing up the sick feeling all over again. He chewed a little, swallowed hard, and smirked.
"Not bad. Tastes just like fried chicken."
We all knew he was lying. But he ate both roaches in about one minute without even looking sick, and I began to wonder if they really did taste like fried chicken, or if Skitts could just eat anything. He took a swig of water once he was done, and then he started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Blink muttered.
"That was the most horrible thing I've eaten in my life." Skittery said, still shaking his head and laughing. I didn't see what was quite so funny about that, but he has a weird sense of humor anyway.
Now it was down to Mush for Sunday. Since Monday was already over we got off the hook for that one, but I was still really wanting Mush to get this. But as soon as he pulled the lid off his dish, I knew he wouldn't be able to do it.
Sarah explained as all of us fell silent. "Mush, your cuisine for the evening is two tasty raw cow eyes. And since you can't switch, the timer starts now. Good luck."
Mush looked about ready to lose it, even though he hadn't even touched the things yet. But I wouldn't have touched them either, let alone put them in my mouth. But after a few seconds, he got his courage. He picked one of them up, trying to keep a hold on the slimy eyeball, and then he popped it in his mouth.
And I thought he was going to die. He doubled over and squeezed his eyes shut as he chewed, and then, very slowly, he swallowed. It had taken him a full minute just to down one. He cringed as he put the next one in his mouth, and he was so off-balance about it, I truly thought that he was going to throw up.
But he didn't. And with two seconds to go, he forced himself to swallow.
We had normal food for Sunday.
Blink
Time for nominations. I wasn't worried about who I'd picked this week- I knew everyone would understand. The box of safety only had three keys in it this week- I had my own around my neck, and the two nominees were in the bag.
Haha. In the bag. Yeah…awful, I know.
"Alright, people…let's do this." I pulled the first key out. "Mush, you're safe."
I gave him a quick kiss and put his key around his neck, much to the enragement of Toby. Austin did a very fake, very untalented gag. Believe me, if I pretended to gag or choke, these guys would be calling an ambulance in two seconds flat.
Not that I'm egotistical about my acting talent or anything.
Next key. "Spot, you're safe."
That left Race, Dutchy, and Skittery. If I were going by strategy, I would nominate Race and Skittery.
"Skittery, you're safe."
But this was one instance where going by strategy would be downright cruel to a certain someone who seriously wanted out.
AN: Ew. Please excuse the author while she gags in her chair. Yuck. I'm a very picky eater, so this was an especially hard chapter for me. Hope you guys found it funny, though! Next chapter…is a secret. BWAHAHAHA!!!