Alright, admit it: how many of you thought I was dead? I'm really sorry; I've been working on this on and off for months, but you know the drill: school, friends, plus the fact that I started to lose interest in TDI (gasp!) However, I still saw the special. Did anyone see how Noah and Courtney always stood next to each other? and how Noah was frowning when Courtney and Duncan got back together? (which I was doing too, by the way) And of course, THEY WERE LEANING ON EACH OTHER WHILE THEY SLEPT!!!!!!!!!!!! That part and all of Noah's lines were the only good things about the special, which, let's face it, is not a good sign for season three. (Though I also caught how they said Total Drama Comeback. Coincedence?) But enough of me talking: On with the story!
Disclaimer: If you have to ask, stab yourself
I don't have a crush on Noah
Sorry to be so direct, but it's true. Ever since the last challenge when Noah saved me from having to eat green jelly, everyone has been misunderstanding our acquaintanceship as something more. And frankly, it's getting on my nerves.
That morning, as we gathered on the shore to hear the next challenge, I stayed as far away as possible from Noah. But not because of those stupid rumors. I would never avoid a friend over something as superficial as that. No, the real reason is...
"Bass, Gophers," Chris began, and I lost my train of thought. Across from us, the Bass stood sullenly, having lost both the last challenge and Katie, something that Sadie won't shut up about. But really, it's her own fault; if Katie hadn't taken off her wig midday, she wouldn't have lost the point and the competition.
"Today's challenge is a true summer camp experience: a canoe trip." Chris gestured to the beach, where there was a row of green and red canoes waiting. "You'll be paddling your canoes across the lake to Boney Island!" He said the last words in a creepy tone. "when you get there, you must portage your canoes to the other side of the island, which is about a two hour trek through treacherous, dense jungle!"
"We've got to por what?"
Ugh. With Geoff around, I bet Trent doesn't miss Lindsay as much. And in fact he hasn't been crying as much. I guess our therapy session last night worked.
"Portage" Chris stressed, looking annoyed. Geoff just stood there with a blank look.
"Dude, walk with your canoe." Trent explained from the spot next to me. After the therapy session I organized last night to stop complaints from those kept awake by tears, Trent and I talked for a bit about different musical instruments. It was quite interesting. I think he might be almost as smart as Noah...
Well, almost. He is dating Lindsay after all.
"When you arrive at the other end of the island, you'll build a rescue fire that will be judged by me. The first team to paddle home and return their canoes to the beach is the winner of invincibility. Move, campers, move!"
A stampede to the beach immediately began. I sprinted to the front, of course. The first key to winning a challenge is to gain a competitive edge. However, Chris called for us to stop with a warning.
"Oh wait! One more thing I should mention," Chris said, "Legend has it, if you take anything off the island, you'll be cursed forever!" There was that creepy tone again. To top it off, a clap of thunder went off right after. Damn those realistic-sounding special effects.
...
Oh great. Our challenge is riding in canoes that look like a 5th grader on crack constructed them. I can hardly wait to see how long it is before Owen's collapses.
Sorry for being crankier than usual. For reasons unknown to me, Courtney has been avoiding me all morning. At breakfast, she sat down with Trent instead of me. Trent. I'm not saying he's stupid, but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, if you catch my drift.
Anyway, for this idiotic attempt at a challenge, Chris instructed us to pick paddle partners from our own team, which meant both Cody and Gwen were disappointed (how subtle). Luckily, Heather and Beth had already grabbed Trent. I was just about to approach Courtney when she caught me looking at her.
Our eyes looked for about two nanoseconds before she ran off to Gwen and LeShawna.
Of course.
"Sup dude," Cody smiled sadly and patted him on the shoulder, "Need a partner?"
God Damn it.
...
"So what's up with you and Noah?"
LeShawna had asked an innocent enough question, but it made me grip my paddle so hard that I swear splinters came off. "What do you mean?" I asked though gritted teeth. It's a good thing I was in the front of the canoe with my back turned to her and Gwen; I'm not sure my facial expression is presentable.
"Don't be playing dumb sister. You and that bookworm have been all over each other since day one, and today you ditched his scrawny butt for Trent."
"Well I had a perfectly good reason! Can you guys keep a secret?"
Both Gwen and LeShawna nodded, and I started the story.
"Alright, so this morning I came back from brushing my teeth..."
Courtney walked to the cabin, her C.I.T senses immediately picking up that something was different. Sure enough, there was a strange, lumpy bulge under her blankets. When she peeled back her covers, there it was:
A pink heart-shaped bowl with a picture of Noah and Courtney, the one of them together in the promo picture.
"Oh no he didn't!"
LeShawna gaped at me, while behind her, Gwen made a gagging gesture. I nodded.
"He did! But it gets worse."
"How?" Gwen asked.
"On the back, there was an inscription."
"Oh God." Gwen slapped her forehead. LeShawna leaned forward.
"What did it say?"
"I hope you think of me whenever you drop lose change into this!"
LeShawna slammed her forehead on her paddle, and Gwen pretended to strangle herself. Funny, that was basically my reaction when I saw it too.
So of course, the only logical explanation after this is to avoid and ignore Noah. Just until I can find out what drugs he was on when he did this. Until then, avoiding him will be easy... it's not like I need him or anything.
...
"So what's up with you and Courtney?"
Huh. It took until we were halfway across the lake for Cody to ask. Actually, I'm surprised it took this long before anybody asked. Too bad I don't know the answer.
"Nothing's up. We just mutually decided to ignore each other. Anyway, shouldn't you be worried about you and Izzy?"
Cody sighed. "Yeah. I'm really sorry about forgetting her, but you know, that girl can really hold a grudge. Like this one time, she was telling me about her old boyfriend Gharam Cracker-"
"Wait a minute. You're actually admitting you like her?" I was expecting more of a struggle. The geek shrugged.
"Yeah. No reason not to. Kinda makes you want to admit you like Courtney, huh?"
I stopped paddling for a second, and whipped around to glare at him. "I don't like Courtney. Why would you say that? I don't like her."
Cody held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, shesh. I get it, you're just friends." He still doesn't sound like he believes me. "I just don't get why she's ignoring you now."
Now I sighed. "I don't know. Yesterday, everything was fine. We were hanging out like usual. Then today at breakfast she was looking at me strangely, and she hasn't talked to me at all."
Cody smiled and puffed out his chest. "Well, with my extensive knowledge of females, I might be able to help you."
"Oh great. Mr. I Left a Girl Buried Under Sand is going to help with with girl troubles. Let the learning commence." Cody glared at me.
"Fine, don't except my help. I'll just tell you though, this may be nothing. It's probably just her time of the m-"
Before Cody could finish that sentence (and thank God he didn't finish it; I don't have enough money for therapy), fog started to roll across the water, and dark clouds covered the previously blue sky. I had to squint to see the dark mass rising out of the fog; it was an island covered in bones. At the center there was a large cave with a rock formation in the shape of a skull on top of it.
I wonder why they call it Boney Island.
...
Ewwww. This island looks totally creepy. And I'm not just saying that because of the bones everywhere; something about this place is just off. Though it probably doesn't help that I have to carry this stupid canoe around; this island is huge! Thank God LeShawna has most of it.
"Okay, did you see that skull?" Izzy cried from her canoe. She was the only one who looked excited instead of scared. Freak.
"I know! It's like this place is haunted or something." Cody piped in. Izzy just ignored him and began picking up her canoe. Trent patted Cody on the shoulder in sympathy.
"Let's just get this over with." Gwen muttered as we lifted our canoe. I couldn't agree more; this place is straight out of a Goosebumps book. I always hated those books.
The teams went their separate ways into the woods. Good thing, too; I don't need Gwen and Cody distracted by their interteam romances. I'm so fortunate that I don't have to worry about such trivial things like romance. Even though Noah is right ahead of me and I could be looking at his adorable butt right now, I won't. Nope... not giving in... uh...
CRASH!!!
Right in front of us, a tree fell, blocking our path.
"Great! Now what!?" I yelled, not really at anyone in particular. However, Trent answered me by pointing shakily at the bushes, which were rustling and glowing slightly in the shapes of eyes. I got the feeling I was being watched...
"I think I saw something..." Cody whispered. Then, some weird, furry beaver things popped out of the bushes. They didn't look very happy.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" The creatures began to chase us as our team sprinted away. How can they move so fast?
"I've read about these!" Noah yelled over the creatures' roaring. "They're Wooly Beavers, native to northern Canada!"
"Yeah, that's great Noah. How is that useful again?" Gwen snapped.
"They're carnivores!"
As soon as he said that, our little group met a large rock behind a big puddle. It was a dead end, and we're screwed. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the end. Instead, I heard Trent.
"Hey, they're leaving." I opened my eyes. Sure enough, the beavers had turned around and were walking away.
"Did anyone pack a change of underwear?" Owen joked. We all started laughing. It wasn't that funny, but they were all probably just as relieved as I was that we were safe.
"No, seriously." Once again, ewwwwwwwwww! If we lose this, I'm so voting him off. I've never met anyone so disgusting.
...
Jeez. I've never been so scared since I saw the Star Wars prequels. Luckily, it's over. And Owen just relieved himself in his pants. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the trip.
But the universe isn't done with us yet, oh no. A few hundred shard-toothed birds just popped out of the surrounding bushes.
Oh great. Another chase.
Well, that was anti-climatic. It turns out that Cody had been planning a romantic 'I'm Sorry' picnic for himself and Izzy. So, he threw bread from his pants to the birds to get them to stop. Record this in your notebooks; the answer to man-eating birds is Cody. And bread from his pants.
Soon, we came across a fork in the road, one side went left, the other right.
"Which way should we go?" Beth asked, spit flying from her teeth. As if this island wasn't inhabited by enough disgusting creatures.
"Right." Heather announced, then looked around, as if daring anyone to question her.
"I don't know. I think we should go left." Courtney piped up, unfazed by Heather's glare.
"The left trail's wider," I agreed, smiling at her. She just stared at me.
"What are you looking at?" she said coldly. I pretended not to hear her. It saved us all from further embarrassment.
"Swing and a miss. Sorry, man." Cody whispered as we took the right trail.
"Call me man one more time and die." I muttered back darkly.
...
Things were going perfectly. The team was making nice progress down the trail I had chosen, and by my estimates, we'd be on the other side of the island shortly. Unfortunately, life can't just give us a break. Something time-consuming had to happen. It came in the form of a sudden sucking sound, and Trent moving downwards.
"Uh, guys? Don't want to panic here, but I'm shrinking!"
"Wow. Brilliant deduction, Einstein." Gwen rolled her eyes. "It's probably quicksand."
"Really? And here I was shooting for a spork." Noah said. Heather snapped at both of them.
"Will you two shut up? We need to get him out. Chris won't count it if we make to the beach without a member!"
"Your concern for your team mate is touching." Noah piped back. I sighed. We didn't have time for this!
By now you may have realized that I was once a C.I.T. Therefore, I am perfectly able get my team out of any predicament, including quicksand. Looking around, I spotted a sturdy looking vine hanging from the nearest tree. It was close enough to be dragged over to the pool of quicksand, where Trent, who was now chest-deep, could grab it and be pulled out.
"Guys! Over here!" I ran over to the vine and started to pull. It didn't budge.
"What are you doing?! Have you finally lost it?" I heard Heather yell behind me. However, I ignored her in favor of the fact that I had some help; Noah was pulling too now, and the vine was staring to move.
When we got it over to the edge of the quicksand pool, Trent's head and hand were all that was left. For some reason, he kept chanting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 over and over again.
"Trent! Grab on!" I said, and we flung the vine out to him. His fingers just barely reached around it, but with Noah and mine's combined strength, Trent was soon sprawled on the ground, eyes wide and covered from head to toe in quicksand, but alive.
"Hey, thanks bro." He said, giving Noah a high five that he unenthusiastically returned. "And you too, Court. You're a lifesaver." He bent down and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I didn't look to see Noah's reaction.
"This is very touching guys, but we've still got a challenge to win!" Heather said. Always the charmer, that Heather.
Huh. I wonder if sarcasm is contagious.
...
Have you ever wanted to punch someone so much that they die? I have, but I'm not strong enough to actually do that. But when Trent kissed Courtney, I felt like it. I glared and stuffed my hands in my pocket to keep from decking him. Or trying to.
That's it. I've had enough of this. As we carried the canoes to the shore, I hightailed mine over to Courtney's, ignoring the protests from Cody. "What's going on, Court?"
She turned away, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Noah." Uh huh. Right. And I'm a freaking Care Bear.
"But if you have to ask," she continued, "Maybe it has something to do with the gift you left me." Who da what now?
"What gift?" I asked, because you know, I'm so tactful that way. Before Courtney could answer, Heather came over. Lucky us.
"Aw, Courtney, did Noah make you something? How sweet."
Courtney stopped dead in her tracks, making everyone behind her crash. I could see the wheels turning in her head before she glared at Heather.
"You made that bowl, didn't you? You were trying to put a rift in our friendship!"
Heather shrugged and smiled. "Wow. Nothing gets past you." By now we were at shore, far ahead of the Killer Bass, so Heather dropped her canoe and started getting firewood.
And I still have no clue what's going on. Just in case anyone feels like telling me.
...
What a bitch! I can't believe her! Well, okay, I can. What I really can't believe is how I didn't see it coming, and actually believed Noah was behind something so..... sweet. Not that Noah wasn't sweet, he is, just not in a mushy pink clay bowl way.
Just so you know, this changes nothing. I still don't have a crush on Noah. Maybe I thought I did in the past, but that's totally over now. And that was what I thought about as I collected wood. Looking over, I saw that the Bass already had a small fire started. Izzy caught me looking, and flipped open her lighter. Why am I not surprised.
I also wasn't surprised to see Cody walking towards the crazy redhead. So much for not being distracted.
"Hey Izzy," he started, but she turned away. "Look, I'm really sorry about the whole burying you alive thing. You're the last person here I'd want to leave buried."
Izzy turned around. "Really?"
"Really."
"Good, because I've been dying to give this to you." She handed him something I couldn't see, then kissed him on the cheek. "Put this in your fire. Trust me."
Cody looked doubtful, but he headed towards the fire. I quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like?" He hissed back in a way that was so uncharacteristically rude it shocked me.
"For all we know, whatever that is could put out our fire. Besides, how can you trust her? She practically screams padded rooms and strait jackets."
He pulled away. "So what? She's my girlfriend and I trust her." Without another word he threw whatever it was into our fire. Izzy barely had time to scream "Stand back!" before it erupted. When it was gone and I could see again, our fire was ginormous.
"Woo-hoo! That was awesome!" Owen screamed, high-fiving Cody. He then turned and offered Noah a high five, which he ignored.
It's nice to know some people never change.
...
Oh my God. If you ever want to know what it's like to stare into the sun for an hour, just buy one of Izzy's exploding fire things. I'm pretty sure they have them at Target.
All jokes aside, things were going pretty well for us. Take Izzy's fire (which her team is not upchucking rainbows about, by the way), and add the fact that Harold threw their oars into their fire, and we were doing okay.
Most of us, anyway. even though we were bound to win and things between Courtney and I were cool, I was still stuck in a canoe with lover boy. Let's take a look at our fascinating conversation, shall we?
"Have you ever really looked at Izzy's hair? It looks just like the sunset." Cody sighed, and I was seriously considering throwing myself off the boat.
"Or cat vomit." I muttered, but he didn't seem to hear me. "How do you even know you're going out?"
He shrugged. "I don't. But even if we're not, we will be soon. Ladies can't resist the Codemiester for long."
Oh Lord take me now. I had just lifted my foot to take the emergency exit when I was distracted by sounds behind. As they got closer, it sounded like a constant chanting of "DJ! DJ!" The wind blew my hair back as DJ, pushing the Killer Bass and all of their canoes stacked on top of each other, swam past us at rapid speed.
Well there's something you don't see everyday.
...
That was so not fair! The rules didn't say anything about a member swimming the group back. as soon as I get off this island, that Jamaican scardy cat is so getting a lawsuit!
Not that I'm worried about getting voted off. as much as I want to see Heather gone, I'd done my best to convince everyone to vote off Owen. Because really, what use was he anyway? It's not like he could even have a shot at winning.
"And now, the always anxiety inducing marshmallow ceremony. When I call your name, come up and get a marshmallow. Beth."
"Trent." Yes! I have to admit, I think I'd miss Trent if he left. There's something so intriguing about him... but he needs to comb his hair. And tuck in his shirt. And...
"Gwen."
"Noah." Phew! Thank God. Now keep in mind, I'm only saying that as a friend.
"Courtney." Yes! Take that!
"Heather." Ugh. Whatever. I could put up with her another week as long as Owen was gone.
"LeShawna."
"One last marshmallow. The person who doesn't get this marshmallow will walk off the Dock of Shame, and take a ride on the Boat of Losers. Who's it gonna be?" Cody looked extremely tense, and was rocking back and forth. Owen, on the other hand, looked completely calm, even when Chris gave Cody the last marshmallow.
"You're not even mad?" Chris asked, appalled. Owen just shrugged and laughed.
"Eh, what can I say? I had a good time." He waved as he walked down the dock. "Goodbye everyone! I'll miss you!"
Most of the team stayed behind to wave goodbye to him. I, however, was not going to be as gracious. Apparently Beth had the same idea, as she was walking ahead of me. Before she turned the corner, I thought I saw a small wooden figure sticking out of her pocket.....
Dun dun dun! Anyway, I make a pledge to try to update this more, because it's starting to get interesting... There's going to be some major NoahxCourtneyxTrent and GwenxGeoff coming up. Even though I love Trent and I love him and Courtney, nothing will ever take the place of ClassPresidentShipping.... which, by the way, I've heard lots of people say on DeviantArt. I'm so honored that my name is catching on! Anyway, until next time, Toodles!