Rest day! Thanks for reviewing, AnonBrowser, lordgemini and OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla.

I kind of wished we had a challenge the next day. But, well, at least the day started off okay.

Jo was late meeting up for our run. "I was warming up in my cabin," she explained. "Since I have the girls' side to myself, I don't have to worry about Little Red or the Queen of Hairspray yelling at me to put some clothes on."

I made a face at her. "TMI, girl! I did not need a mental image of your favourite workout outfit! Besides, Anne Maria left ages ago."

"Oh, get over it, Pony," Jo shrugged, "Like your clothes are sewn on. Point is, I get my own space now."

"That doesn't mean I want to think about anyone else!" I shot back. "In case you're wondering, I'm not in the least attracted to you."

"Well, that's a relief," Jo said sarcastically, "I get so worried about girls crushing on me. I actually don't care about girls or guys either way."

I gave a fake sigh. "I think I know someone who's disappointed about that. You know Brick's totally crushing on you?"

Jo grinned this time. "Yeah, I guessed that. It's why I like to stick it to him."
"You're so mean," I teased.

"And you're too nice," she teased back. "But I guess if I was interested in dating and cute holding hands and stuff like that, maybe I could see myself dating him. But I'd be the one in charge, not him." She paused, and added "You know, maybe you should take him. He seems like your type. You like guys who'll run to your side and do whatever you say, right?"

Okay, she was sort of right since I liked the chivalrous type, and Brick was kind of cute when you got past the army clothes, and he took injuries pretty well. But it wasn't that simple. I wanted Mike. Even if Brick was a good match for me, I had to like him first, the same way I felt about Mike. But still, I had to continue on. I'd briefly seen a clip before Dawn was eliminated when she'd said something about Brick wanting to be dominated. Now I wasn't going to share that – Dawn had said it to him, not anyone else. But I wanted to say something. So in the end, I said "Whatever. You know, I have a feeling he wouldn't mind too much knuckling down. Why else would he sign up for cadet camps for at least the last three years?"

Jo laughed. "Yeah, that's the other reason I give him a hard time."

After breakfast, I made good on my promise and made Dakota show me how to make the pigtail buns right. It took me a few tries to get them right, but I eventually managed it.

"Yeah, it works even without the makeup." Dakota commented. "Are you sure the producers wouldn't let you have that instead of the ponytail?"

I held out my phone. "Call them if you want. I bet they'll say that."

They did. One hairstyle change was okay, another was definitely not on the cards. Oh well, a few more weeks and I could wear them all I wanted.

When I came to the mess hall to hang out for lunch, Zoey looked up and instantly said "Are you going to be wearing that style for the rest of the season? It kind of suits you."

I gave a sigh. "Nope, the producers won't let me. I like it better than the ponytail, though. Dakota suggested I wear it this way."
"The ponytail looks good, too." Zoey said quickly. She was getting that puppy-dog-desperate-to-be-liked look about her again. But this time, I found it less endearing than I had at the start of the show. I know the boys had said she thought I'd stopped liking her, but did she have to make it so obvious she was trying to win me back as a friend?

"Anyway," she went on, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this afternoon. I have some other accessories I haven't shown you yet."

My emotions wanted me to get them out and just finish it, let Zoey know why she was getting negative vibes from me. But my rational side pointed out that she wasn't doing anything wrong. The best I could do was get some middle ground.

I looked Zoey straight in the eye and said "Look, Zoey, I'm going to have to say no. It's not that I don't like you. So don't think that. I know that's what you've been thinking, so don't. It's just that…well, you'd probably feel the same way I do if I said why. Nothing personal, honestly."

I think that's the moment where Zoey knew what was going on. I swear, I hadn't meant to let my eyes flick over to Mike, even for a moment. But she must have seen that I did do that.

We made eye contact again. Zoey flushed pink and finished what was on her tray before anyone else had finished half. Then she stood up. "Toni," she said in the most assertive voice I'd ever heard her use, "Can we talk outside? Or at least, somewhere where hundreds of cameras aren't watching our every move?"

"They're not filming rest days," I snapped. "So you can just relax. But if you really feel that way, my trailer's empty."
Actually, when we got there, Dakota was going through my mini-fridge. She looked up and blushed a little. "You said I could get a soda from here.." she murmured.

"I know," I said more evenly, "I'm not mad at you. I just need a bit of privacy at this moment."

"I'm out," Dakota said immediately, pulling out a Coke Zero. "Good luck," she whispered to me as she left the place. I closed the door and turned to my rival.

"So is this thing you have against me totally about Mike?" Zoey began before I could say a word. "Or is there another reason you're giving me a hard time?"

"What, me giving you a hard time?" I retorted. "Doesn't Chrissy put everyone through the wringer?"

"He doesn't act clingy and jealous when he likes one of the contestants, does he?" Zoey shot back.

"That's because he hates teenagers! I am one!"

"And that makes it okay to hate me just because I get on with Mike?"

"I don't hate you, and that's not the point! So do I! I know more about him than you do!" I stopped at that moment, realizing that I'd almost given Mike away.

Zoey didn't seem to notice, still raging away "And so I guess now you're going to disqualify me and kick me off the island, huh?"

"No way!" I said immediately. "Remember, I'm not Chrissy? I would have done that last week if I was that petty. Then I wouldn't have struggled with this whole thing. If I'd had my way, you wouldn't have even known how I saw you. And the sad part is, I liked you. It's only when I realized that you were just as interested in Mike as I was that I stopped feeling that way."

Zoey's face visibly softened. She looked more sad than mad, now. "So now you hate me?"

"No!" How could she even think that? "I've never hated you, just…resented you, I guess," I admitted.

There was a pause. "So, now what?" Zoey asked. She sounded sincere.

I shrugged. "Go do what you want, I guess. This needs to stay between us. If Mike doesn't already know that we both want him, I don't see any reason to make it even harder for him to choose by saying so. For all we know, he might not choose either of us."

"That's fair," Zoey said. "I won't tell him if you don't." She paused. "Um, Toni. What did you mean by you know more about him?"

I frowned. "Oh, that. Just some confessional he made a while ago. But I don't think he wants anyone to know. He'll probably tell you in his own time." If he ever told her, that is.

So yeah, I guess that's something. Almost two weeks in and I had had it out with Zoey. I'd never seen her so angry before that. And I hoped I never would again.

But seriously, people, that kind of luck has had a pretty bad track record, so I suspected I would see it again.

Is it a bit OOC for Zoey to get so cross? She does it to Scott a few times later in the season. If you're wondering why she got so angry there, it was because she realized the whole thing was just a tug-of-war over Mike, and it just seemed so petty and mean. She'd thought Toni was above that until then.