okay I wrote this Friday night, but the server wasn't working so.. yeah. Anyway, It's time for one of my fave episodes. Even though its sad cuz Noah gets voted off (which won't happen here!), it also has some of his best lines. Also in the beginning, Noah and Courtney stand next to each other. CANON!!!!! lol
Disclaimer: I don't own TDI
Walking into the main lodge, I immediately began searching for Noah. I hadn't seen him since I fell asleep during the awake-a-thon, and I was a little worried that he was avoiding me or had been mauled by a bear. Obviously, both of those are cause for worry.
I found him sitting at the Screaming Gophers table. He had dark circles and bags under his eyes, and was poking his bowl of mushy oatmeal unenthusiastically. He looked like he'd been fighting for his life the past three days. Which he kinda had, since Chris seemed to love pushing us to our limits.
"Hey Noah." I ventured sitting down next to him. He didn't acknowledge me in any way. "Um, I haven't seen you for a while. Are you okay?"
"Fine." He muttered, not looking at me at all. He was staring at his oatmeal. Had I done something wrong? He seemed mad at me. I tried to remember anything I'd done to make him mad at me, but I couldn't think of anything.
The door opened, and I looked to see Harold, with a drawn-on mustache on his face. He walked by, not hearing the giggles and snickers coming from both tables. "I guess puberty does happen overnight." I whispered to Noah, hoping for a laugh or an agreement. But he kept on ignoring me.
I didn't like this. I felt… alone. I'd spent all my time with Noah, and I hadn't bothered to make any other friends. Sure, I got along with the rest of the team, minus Heather of course, but Noah was my best friend. My only true friend. And it was starting to occur to me that I might have a crush on him. But just a little one. Nothing major. Unimportant.
"Hey everyone, it's Gwen!" Chris announced as the goth dragged herself through the door, her head hanging. Gwen had won the awake-a-thon, being the last camper to fall asleep. The Killer Bass had been sent to the bonfire, and though I hadn't asked anyone, it was obvious from the lack of fear that Eva had been voted off.
"I'm so tired, I can't feel my face." Gwen announced as she sat down, before her head fell on the table. Everyone around me was talking, having a good time. Most days I chatted with Noah during meals. Discussing Shakespeare and a few other famous authors. But it was obvious that wasn't happening today, so I ate my oatmeal in silence, even though I didn't feel hungry at all. Noah's silence hung over me like a cloud, ripping away my happiness and appetite.
"Okay campers, listen up! Your next challenge begins in ten minutes. And be prepared to bring it!" Chris said, an evil glint appearing in his eyes as he finished.
Oh boy. This oughta be fun.
…
Since breakfast was just so much fun, I was super-excited for the challenge. But before I go on with all the exciting details of the challenge, I'll explain why I'm avoiding Courtney, since all you people can think about is romance.
You see, when you realize you have feelings for someone, and that someone happens to be your best (and only) friend, things tend to get extremely awkward. Well, on your side, anyway. I went to talk to Courtney after the last challenge, but the second I saw her, all I could think about was holding her, touching her, kissing her… Where was I? Oh yeah. Anyway, I felt so…. overwhelmed, I guess. Not bad, but just… strange in a way I've never felt before. It scared me. So, instead of doing something about it, I decided to completely ignore the girl I'm in like with until I get a better idea. God, I'm smart.
A few minutes later, the remaining campers stood in a giant gym on the beach. It brought back memories of gym class at school, of getting pummeled with rubber balls. I just hope the challenge isn't…
"Today's challenge is the classic game of dodge ball." Aw crap. "The first rule of dodge ball is…"
"Do not talk about dodge ball?" I couldn't help but interrupt. I heard a muffled laugh beside me. I saw Courtney trying to stifle a giggle, but she stopped when she saw me looking at her and turned her head away.
"As I was saying, If you get hit with the ball," he paused and threw the ball in my general direction, hitting Courtney in the stomach. "Ow!" she cried, falling backwards. I instinctively putting my arms out and caught her by the arms. I held her for a second. She looked at me, I looked at her, and then I remembered how to breathe and I let go of her arms. Well, that didn't help my silent treatment plot. Stupid instincts.
Courtney angrily threw the ball back to him, glaring and clenching her fists. "You can't do that!" she cried, but it fell on deaf ears, as Chris continued explaining. "If you catch the ball, the thrower gets sent out and the catcher gets to bring in another team member out on the court."
"Throwing balls, gee, another mentally challenging test." I automatically looked to Courtney for her reaction, but she was staring straight ahead with no emotion on her face, not even holding in a laugh that didn't exist. Owen got it though, which was nice, but not as fulfilling as making Courtney laugh.
"Okay, now Geoff, try to hit me." Chris threw the ball to the blond boy. "If you're holding a ball, you can use it to deflect a ball, but if it knocks the ball out of your hand, you're out. Chris and Geoff acted it out as Chris explained. Yeah, Yeah, I get it. Throw the ball, try not to get hit. Hurry up; I'm starting to go gray.
Finally, he was done. Since we had more members, we had to sit one person out each game, along with Gwen, who was still exhausted from the awake-a-thon.
"Alright, I'll volunteer. Now let's see all you keeners get out there and dodge!" I walked over to the bleachers and pulled out a book. I could feel Courtney's glare burning into my head, but when I looked up, she was gone, already on the court waiting to start the challenge.
…
Usually before a challenge, well, before the two that I've had, my mind is focused, on a clear, smooth path to the goal, which is winning. Not this time. Thoughts of Noah were distracting me, as well as the feeling of his eyes boring into my head. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye a few times… okay, all the time. So much that my eyes were starting to hurt. And what I saw was him, constantly staring at me, hardly blinking. I might have taken this as a sign if I wasn't so mad at him for avoiding me. Though I have to admit, I was more hurt then angry. But I was still angry.
"Both teams ready? Best of five games wins." Chris announced. "Now, let's dodge some balls!" Chef blew the whistle, and the game started.
The first round flew by in a daze. I'm not the most athletic person in the world, but I'm pretty good at dodge ball. I got Izzy and Harold out and narrowly avoided being hit by Katie. Fortunately, Owen caught the ball, before it could hit me, getting Katie out and bringing Gwen in. However she was soon hit by Geoff.
"No!" Geoff cried. He ran over to help her up, despite cries of protest of his team. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping her up.
"I'm fine," she said, trying to look annoyed but smiling. "It's just a rubber ball to the gut. No biggie."
"Still, you should probably go to the infirmary. I could walk you there." He smiled at her, and Gwen finally gave in and smiled back.
"There's no way she's leaving. Besides, he's still in the game." Heather protested. In response, I lightly threw the ball at Geoff. Izzy, meanwhile, threw a ball roughly at Heather, hitting her square in the jaw. "Ow!" she grumbled as she walked to the bleachers. Geoff smiled at me, then took Gwen's hand and led her out of the gym. When she passed me, Gwen smiled at me and whispered, "Thanks, Court. I owe you one." It was no problem though. I was just glad someone's love life was on track.
Soon, it was just Cody and I on the Gophers, and DJ and Katie on the Bass. I managed to deflect a ball that Katie threw at me, but a second later, DJ hit me in the stomach. "Good luck, Cody." I whispered as I walked to the bleachers. Not that he needed it. Cody was an amazing dodge ball player, better than DJ and Katie, who were both quite good. We were going to win, without a doubt.
I made sure to sit far away from Noah, and avoided looking at him, though I could feel him still staring at me. I sighed. This was going to be a long challenge.
…
The rest of the game flew by. I sat the next round out, which we lost. In the third round, I was the second one to get out, but Justin caught a ball and brought me back in, and I was the last one in and caught the ball that Bridgette threw, winning the round. I was in the next one too, but I was the third one to get out since Sadie caught a ball that I threw, and we lost the round. Noah didn't participate in any of the rounds.
"Alright guys, listen up," Heather said, gathering us around. "If we lose this last round, we will end our winning streak. We need our best players out there. So that means me, Cody, Owen and Courtney," She paused, then continued, "And Noah."
Noah dropped his book and gaped at her. "What!? Uh, no way. Find someone else, because sports aren't my forte."
"Come on, Noah," I cut in, exasperated. Why was he being so persistent about not playing? If we lost, he would get voted off for sure. However mad at him I was, I didn't want that to happen. "Please at least try." For good measure, I put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at it, then looked at me, then sighed. "Fine, I'll play."
Now, the last round of the dodge ball game was something else, I'll say that much. But I won't go into every detail, so here's a basic summary. The Bass had the same idea as us, having their strongest players trying to win. Katie got Heather out, and then Cody knocked out Tyler. DJ eliminated Cody next, and I managed to get Izzy out. Owen was next after Katie got him, but before he got out, Owen managed to hit Bridgette. During this, Noah stood at the back, not doing anything.
Before I knew it, it was just Noah and I against Katie and DJ. As I picked up a ball, I noticed one flying toward me at record speed. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact, but there was none. I opened an eye, and saw Noah's hand in front of my face, holding the ball. Everyone in the room, even Chris and Chef, gasped. Heather stood up to join the game, but before she could, Noah hurled the ball at Katie, knocking her out.
I shook my head to clear the shock, than grinned. We were so going to win.
I grabbed a ball at the same time as Noah, and chucked it at poor DJ, who didn't stand a chance. The two balls hit him simultaneously, and he went down.
"The Screaming Gophers win! Again!" Chris exclaimed.
…
"Why didn't you tell us you were so good at dodge ball?" Heather demanded when Courtney and I returned to the bleachers.
"I'm supposed to be the smart one. I have a reputation to uphold, you know."
As my team and I filed out of the gym, I saw the Killer Bass glaring at Duncan, the runner-up in the Awake-a-thon who had been asleep through the whole challenge, and had just woken up. His team could have won if they'd had his strength. Even Gwen, who had won the Awake-a-thon, had participated, although she had quickly run off with Geoff. He would definitely be going home tonight. Good riddance.
I caught up to Courtney, and grabbed her arm. "Courtney-"I started, but she yanked her arm away and whirled around, glaring at me.
"What? Know you're speaking to me?" She hissed, looking angrier than I'd ever seen her. "Do you have any idea how scared I was that I'd done something wrong? Do you have any idea how much it hurts to have your best friend ignore you!?"
I felt horrible. She looked so… hurt. Like she was about to cry. I felt like I was dying, like I was practically putting a gun to my own head by making her upset. "Courtney, I-"she interrupted me again.
"You what!? Leave me alone!" She turned around and ran. From me.
Crap. Crap, crap, crap. I had to fix this. Why hadn't I just told her how I felt instead of avoiding her? Even if I hadn't told her, why I couldn't just not hurt her? For some weird reason, I felt hurt too. Like if Courtney was hurt, I was hurt just by seeing her get hurt. Or maybe it was from actually playing a sport.
Well, whatever it was, I had to do something about it. Avoiding her had been a mistake. A mistake I would correct, no matter what.
Hm, I'm hungry. I'll think of how to get Courtney to forgive me over a healthy dinner of slop. Let's roll.
ooh, drama! I added thelast line because I thought it was too sappy and OOC for Noah to end it that way. The next chapter will probably be tomorrow, and after that... I don't know. review!
P.S- you know on TDI Wiki who they used to have the names for every pairing? (e.g- MakeoutShipping= GeoffxBridgette) Well, I've come up with NoahxCourtney's... ClassPresidentShipping. Whaddya'think?