All of the campers were in the dining hall having some breakfast. They were all still tired after last night's awake-a-thon. Caelan scanned the room and saw that Duncan and Gwen had it rough. Caelan tried to find ways to cheer up the Goth girl, but she merely responded with angry growls. It was then that Heather leaned toward Caelan,
"Having fun with sleeping beauty here?" Heather asked. Before Caelan could respond, Heather said, "Listen, I have a once-in-a-lifetime proposition for you. I am thinking of allowing you to join in an alliance with Beth, Lindsay, and I. If you play your cards right, I can get you into the top four."
Caelan was slightly confused by the sudden invitation, but it sounded like a good deal. He nodded and said, "Sure, this alliance might be fun."
"Great, now, join me in a little team gloating."
Heather stood up and started bashing on the Killer Bass for voting of Eva last night. The Bass didn't take the insult well. Courtney retaliated by flinging oatmeal at Heather, who dodged and the oatmeal hit Gwen in the face.
Caelan turned to Gwen and said, "Um, Gwen, you got a little-"
"Shut up, Caelan." Gwen said irritably, "I know."
Confessionals: Heather
"I'm only allowing Caelan into my alliance because his nice guy attitude is easy to manipulate. I can probably even convince him to vote himself off."
Later in the day, all the campers met up at a see-through gym for their next challenge; a dodgeball match. The best of five games would win. The first team for the Gophers was made up of Caelan, Leshawna, Owen, Lindsay, and Heather. The Bass's team comprised of DJ, Courtney, Katie, Tyler, and Harold. After a bit of trash talking, the first round started. It became pretty obvious that Harold and Tyler were one of the worst players on the field.
As Caelan dodged another ball, he noticed that Tyler and Lindsay were staring intimately at each other.
Confessionals: Caelan
"I have always loved to see romance blossom. I think it was because my mom always read to me fairytales as a kid. And since I'm now in an alliance with Lindsay, I figured I should help her with love."
As Caelan pondered what he could do for Lindsay and Tyler, he suddenly realized that he was the last man standing on his team while the Bass still had DJ and Katie.
"Easy out, guys" Courtney told her Bass members. DJ nodded in agreement and threw his ball, but Caelan swiftly dodged it. Katie also threw her ball and Caelan side-stepped it. Caelan then grabbed two balls and started zigzagging in all directions. The Bass members were in total confusion and they failed to notice the two dodgeballs until it was too late.
"The Screaming Gophers take the first round." Chris said as the Gophers cheered Caelan on.
Confessionals: Caelan
"One of my neighbors back home was an old, Russian gymnast. After I helped her with a few errands, she taught me how to be as dexterous as she was in her youth. It was one of the most brutal trainings I've ever had, but looks like it finally paid off."
The next round started and Tyler managed to hit Lindsay in the face. Even from the stands, Caelan was still able to see every last bruise on her face. As Lindsay and Tyler walked out of the gym, Heather tried to stop them. Caelan then stepped in front of Heather and said,
"Don't worry, I'll deal with this."
Heather smiled, "Good. Do it quickly, and I will guarantee you a spot at the top three."
"So now it's top three? Nice."
Caelan than quickly left the gym and caught up with the two love birds.
"Lindsay, Tyler, wait up."
Lindsay saw Caelan and smiled, "Hi, K. Heather told me you're in our alliance now. Congratulations! We're like one big happy family."
"So, did Heather tell you to take Lindsay back?" Tyler said as he puffed out his chest in a threatening manner.
"Simmer down, lover boy." Caelan said, "I'm here to help you."
"Really?" Tyler said, surprised, "Why?"
"Because you two goofs are too cute together. You're like Romeo and Juliet, except without the dying part."
"Aw, thank you." Lindsay said.
Caelan smiled, "Alright, first we need to find you two a good place to hide."
Caelan then led the two to the pier and told them to hide under while he made sure they weren't disturbed. It was going well for a while until Caelan saw Heather approaching. Caelan ran toward her and said, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm wondering where the heck my alliance members went. So, where's Lindsay?"
"Um, I-I don't know." Caelan said. He cursed himself. Lying was one of the things he was terrible at, "I g-guess she might have already returned to the court. We should probably go back and-"
He stopped when Lindsay's giggling reached them both. Heather then kicked Caelan in the jewels and walked past him. As Caelan writhed in pain, he heard a crashing sound and Tyler's cry of pain. Heather then came back with Lindsay behind her, who looked very glum. Heather then knelt down to Caelan's level and said, "If I ever find out you pulled a stunt like this again, you're out of the alliance, got it?"
"Yeah…" Caelan said, "But why did you have to hit me so low?"
"So you could learn. Now get up."
Lindsay and Caelan walked back with Heather to the competition, where it was revealed that the Gophers and Bass were tied. Caelan decided to be one of the first to play. If he won the game, then he might get on Heather's good side again.
The battle raged on for an hour. Caelan was playing his best and he had not been hit by a ball a single time. While impressive, he was dead tired. After what seemed like an hour, it was only him and Gwen on the Gophers, and DJ and Harold on the Bass. DJ threw a ball at Gwen, but Caelan blocked it. Caelan then passed his ball to Gwen, who chucked it at DJ just as DJ threw another ball. The two then ended up hitting each other, leaving only Caelan and Harold. The Gophers all cheered and Caelan smiled gratefully.
"It's been…fun," Caelan panted, "but…it's over…"
Caelan threw the ball with all he had, but Harold gracefully dodged it. Caelan blinked and threw another ball. Once again, Harold's swan like moves saved him from being hit. Tired and furious, Caelan grabbed all of the balls he could and started chucking then as fast as he could, and Harold dodged just as fast.
Everyone was left in awe as the Bass called a time out. Caelan said a silent thanks and walked to his team.
"You got this, man." Owen encouraged.
"Yeah, knock that little string bean out." Leshawna said.
"You better do this or else you'll be voted out." Noah said. He hadn't played all game and he didn't even bother looking up from his book the whole time.
"Ignore him, Caelan." Gwen said, "Just do what you do, and win us the game."
"Alright." Caelan said. The time out was over and Caelan got back onto the court. He stared down Harold and grabbed his dodgeball. The Screaming Gophers were holding their breath as Caelan threw the ball and it hit Harold right in the stomach. Caelan was about to cheer when the worst happened; Harold caught the ball.
"NO!" Caelan said as he fell to the floor, exhausted. The Killer Bass all chanted Harold's name as they carried him off the court.
"What happened, Gophers?" Chris said with his ever present smile.
"Weak effort, Chris." Noah said, finally looking up from his book, "Plus, Caelan didn't even really try."
"Oh shut it, Noah." Gwen said.
"The white girl is right." Leshawna said, "You need to adjust that attitude of yours."
Gwen and Leshawna then helped Caelan to his feet while the rest of the Gophers stared angrily at Noah, who didn't seem too bothered at all.
Caelan sat nervously at his first elimination campfire. He was the one who lost the game, so he was probably the chose to be voted off.
Chris was holding the tray of marshmallows as he explained how once they're voted off, they can never come back.
"When I call your name, come get a marshmallow." Chris said. He then called the first name, "Caelan."
Caelan immediately got up and cheered. He thankfully got his marshmallow as he waited for the rest of the team. In the end, it was Noah who had to go home. Of course, Noah had one last insult to give, but no one bothered to listen as the Gophers all pelted him with marshmallows. As Caelan laughed with the rest of his team, he couldn't help but wonder when his time would come for him to ride the boat of losers.