The next half-hour found me and the Screaming Gophers trekking along the beach. And, thanks to my epic geniusness, nearly everyone on our team had nothing to do. Owen was pulling everything along on a single cart. We'd piled everything in one gigantic mountain. I, along with my edible sidekick Mister Twinky, had the job of sitting on top of said cart and dangling Mr. Twinky in Owen's face using a random stick and string. I cackled evilly with each lunge the large boy made. "HYAH MULE, HYAH!" I crowed happily.

Trent walked beside me, between the cart and Gwen. Is it just me, or have those two become inseparable in the one day we've been here? The musician chuckled at my enthusiasm. "I have to admit, bribing Owen with junk food was actually a pretty good idea." 'Don't sound so surprised…' He directed a thumbs-up to me before Owen finally collapsed. "Easy there, Owen. Here, take a break." He placed a random bucket of water near Owen's head, patting his side like one would do to a horse. But on a more important note, where the hell did that bucket of water come from? Is Trent a mage? A wizard? Dude, maybe he could turn Heather into a toad and we'd send her to France or something…

Ignoring my rather irrelevant thoughts, I snorted and grinned down at Trent. "Hey Trent…" He looked up, only to have the bait bob in front of his face. "Want a treat? Huh, do ya Trent? Who's a good boy, go get the treat!" Trent just gave me a dry look, prompting another laugh before he sighed and shook his head. "Aw, come on, I'm just kiddin'! Lighten up, buddy!" I made Mr. Trinky bop him on the head before retracting him. Looking beyond our team, I caught sight of the Killer Bass. They'd probably gotten a head start while we packed up everything and hooked Owen up.

Now, who would be most up for humiliating my beloved cousin's team? The immediate answer would be Heather. And, though I was loathe to admit it, she would probably be best at it. So I yelled, "Looks like the Pansy Trouts are having some trouble, eh Heather!" Heather's head jerked up from examining her nails to glare/stare at me. I can never tell the difference, her eyes are always in a glare position. "Play along." I mouthed to her.

Evil Bitch- erm, I mean, Heather- mirrored my smirk and responded loudly, "Duh, of course they are! Losers like them always have trouble!" I snickered for a bit before both of us shared an evil laugh that I'm fairly certain made Beth quiver out of the corner of my eye. Poor girl, I'll have to cheer her up later…

Just under my hearing, I heard an enraged snarl coming from the clustered enemy. Probably from the oh-so-darling Juvie Brat. And yay again for me being psychic, because the whispered threat confirmed it. "Just wait until I get my hands on that brat! I'll beat her to a pulp!" That's what you think, Juvie Brat, that's what you think… "DJ, I hope you don't mind if you're minus one relative before this thing is over."

Still on top of my seat, I whirled around and pointed the stick at him. "Just try it, Juvie Brat! I've seen scarier fish than you in a tuna fish sandwich!" We glared at each other for a bit before I suddenly turned to DJ. "Actually, that reminds me. Sorry Deej, but you may need a new pet Starfish after this." Well, it's true! My friends have weird senses of humor, let's leave it at that.

DJ sighed, leaning against the crate he was pushing. "Ember or Ash?" He asked wearily. See, that's how the relationship between my cousin and my friends go. He knows which one of them is more likely to mess with his stuff while he isn't staying with us.

With an apologetic smile, I hunched my shoulders and said, "Ash, actually. But for good reason! That dick down at the park wouldn't leave Ember alone about going out with him, so we both just kind of… put together a… thing to scare him off…" DJ gave me a disapproving stare, and I waved my hands in front of my face. "Hey, don't look at me like that! It was either scare him off or sick the Ninjas of Doom on him." Someone let out a half-snort, half-snicker, but I didn't bother to care who it was. DJ took me seriously, and that's all I cared about. "Yeah, it was that bad."

DJ shuddered for a bit. But before he could speak, Juvie Brat growled. "Stop ignoring me, dammit! I'm a hardened criminal, I've been to Juvie, and I deserve respect."

I flicked my eyes to him, and I'm particularly certain they were as hard as flint. "If you had any sort of brains in that thick head of yours, you'd have attacked me while my guard was down. Just the fact that you didn't take advantage of my lapse of attention leads me to believe you have no idea how to finish a fight. But then again," I switched my expression to a thoughtful one, knowing already that he'd flip out, "the intelligence to do so may have just leaked out from all of those piercings."

And just as I predicted, Juvie Brat gave the most viscous snarl yet and started toward me. I made as if to leap off of my mount to meet him, but then suddenly Owen jumped upward and started running as fast as his fat body could carry him. Seems like Big Guy had suddenly gotten his second wind. Clinging for dear life- though would anyone miss me if I let go?-, I yelled, "DAMMIT OWEN, STOP TRYING TO KILL ME!" Juvie Brat's laughter slowly filtered out behind me, his violence having been overcome by shock in my hour of having to hold on. "THIS ISN'T OVER YET, JUVIE BRAT! NOT BY A LONG SHO-AIEEEE!" Holy fudge monkeys, who knew fat men could run!

Trent's voice near my ear shocked me enough to nearly let go. "That's right, just keep running big guy! You'll get a full plate of brownies soon!" Quieter, he said to me, "Sorry about that, Flare. You looked like you and Duncan were about to duke it out. We can't afford any injuries or risk of disqualification so early in the game." Just then, a red and green blur flung over our heads, cackling psychotically. "Okay, I repeat, bribing Owen was a good idea. But whose idea was it to give Izzy a whip!"

At the mention of a whip, all caution flew from my brain and I sat up. "Aw, no fair! Why did she get a whip and I didn't, I'm the driver here!" My grip slipped from the cart, and I started to slide back. Only Trent's hand on the small of my back kept me from flying. I wonder where that expression came from, anyway. What makes the small any different from the rest of the back? And I REALLY need to stop going off topic with my thoughts…

Trent raised his head enough to peer over both of our shoulders, and the fact that his mouth was right near my ear made me wince when he called to out brownie-driven teammate, "Okay Owen, that's enough! Stop here and we can wait for the others." Owen slowed to a stop again, flopping to the ground and breathing heavily. I will be amazed if Trent pulls another bucket from nowhere… Instead, though, he climbed down the tower of boxes with me following after him. He jumped to the ground with a soft thump and offered a hand to help me down. Instead of taking it, I waved for him to step backward and, once he did, performed a front flip off of the crate. Oh yeah, score for me! When I straightened out, Trent had a raised eyebrow. "Impressive. Gymnastics?"

I laughed nervously for a bit, rubbing the back of neck sheepishly. I didn't normally show off like that, and I'm not entirely sure why I just did. "Nah, I'm just naturally limber. Mum tried to sign me up once, but I got kicked out within a week for making the other girls screw up." I laughed at myself, memories resurfacing from places buried long ago. Cool, zombie thoughts! "I kept leg sweeping them when they tried handstands and cartwheels. It was awesome." His eyebrow went higher. "You know, knocking their legs from under them?" Then I dropped down and flicked my leg out, stopping just short of taking out his knee. "And voila, leg sweep."

Trent stepped back nervously, gulping quietly when I kicked up with no problems. "Eh heh… Remind me not to tick you off in the future, please?" I responded with a chirped, "Mkay!", before he grinned suddenly. "Dude, Duncan has no idea what he's getting into, does he?"

I felt my grin turn slightly evil on my face, like the Grinch's grin does when he's thinking of stealing Christmas. Dude, though, I would so love to be the Grinch. How awesome is he? "Not at all, my friend, not at all. Hopefully DJ won't try to play the 'hero' and warn him of my awesome skills." To emphasize, I punched the air a few times. "I can't wait to see his face when I'm finally allowed to have at him." I dropped into an instinctual fighting stance, imagining Juvie Brat in front of me with arms crossed and smirking. Just doing that made my blood start to boil. "The first bone that will be broken is his nose." I jabbed a fist out quickly to where the fake-Juvie Brat stood and imagined him staggering back and holding his nose. He glared at me from under his nose and I fell back into a defensive stance, too far into my fantasy to notice the rest of my team jogging up to stand behind Trent. "Then he'll lash out with his own attack because the bloody idiot's predictable like that."

Fake-Juvie Brat lunged at me with a soundless roar, his fist pulled back to strike me down. Still narrating my small bout of insanity, I barked, "Dodge!", and then I ducked beneath his punch and drove my left fist upward, toward his chest. My punch connected and, this is the creepy part, the wind blew sharply like his breath had actually been crushed out of him. A right uppercut quickly followed, sending fake-Juvie Brat reeling backwards and off balance.

Quick as a snake, I dropped back down and did another leg sweep, taking him down to the hard-packed earth. I dug the toes of my opposite foot into the ground and, with my incredibly awesome flexibility, lifted myself into the air and brought my heel into his throat, which WOULD have finished the fight… if it been real.

That fact flitted across my mind before my foot passed through where I'd imagined the bastard to be. It crashed into the ground and sent a shockwave of pain up my leg and all the way to my stomach. Yeah, I put THAT much force into the hit. "ITAI!" I yelled and sat on my ass, cradling my wounded appendage and cursing in every language I knew. Which, now that I'm speaking in them all at once, was actually quite a lot. Laughter made its way to my ear, horrible creepy eerie laughter that made children in China cry. I glared balefully up at the person laughing: Heather. Now why doesn't that surprise me?

The first person that made their way toward me was Gwen. Now that DOES surprise me. We haven't known each other for a while, but she so far hasn't made any move to talk to me willingly. "You okay?" She asked, squatting next to me. Quieter, so only I could hear, "Is there something going on between you and Trent, Flare?" I met her gaze curiously. She returned it without flinching. "I want to know, because I won't step into anyone else's boundaries. If you want him, I'll lay off."

Wow. Gwen is made of epic niceness. I don't know if I'd do that for a guy I liked… Luckily for her, I don't like Trent that way. Still, doesn't mean I can't have a bit of fun while I can, right? So I gingerly put my foot down and stood up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Gwen." I pulled her closer under the impression of a one-armed hug. "We'll talk more where we won't be overheard." She gave me a wary look before nodding and pulling away. Hey, I can totally be cryptic when I want to be! I pulled myself up on the cart and faced my team. "Now let's go, we have a hot tub to build!" I pumped my fist in the air, hoping to get everyone psyched up like they do in all the shows where everyone has a common goal to work towards. Unfortunately, the Screaming Gophers only laughed at me or shook their heads in exasperation. "Eh, it was worth a shot." I shrugged and plopped back down. "Alrighty, Owen, time to charge!" Owen stayed still. "… Hey Trent, what did you say to Owen earlier to make him run like the bats of hell were trying to bite his big ass?"

Trent smirked mischievously at me. "I suggest you hang on to something this time." I scowled at him but clung to my crate nonetheless. Bloody smart-ass bastard. "Hey Owen, want some brownies? First one to the camp gets all of them." No reaction. "…Dude, I think we killed him."

Just the matter-of-fact tone he used made me laugh, but the moment Cody pulled out a stick and started poking Owen's flub sent me into hysterics. I was laughing so hard that I at first didn't hear someone calling my name. I jumped, though, when someone slapped my knee. "FLARE!" I looked down at Noah's annoyed face. "About time. Was that Japanese you shouted when you were being stupid earlier?"

Le gasp, the fiend! How dare this lowly cretin insult my awesomeness that is myself! I shall smite him for this! … Okay, no I won't. I just like saying that. Insert smiley emoticon here. Sticking my nose in the air, I said haughtily, "I was not being stupid. I was acting out how I'd beat up Juvie Brat to a bloody mushy pile of goo on the ground." Even as I said it, I knew how stupid it sounded. Noah gave me a dry look. "Yes, it was Japanese." I relented with a sigh. "What of it, short stuff?" Hey, it's not every day I meet someone shorter than myself. I'm going to take as much advantage of it as I can.

His glare hardened at the insult. In a tone that clearly said how TO'd he was, he growled, "Damare.", and walked away. And I just gaped at his back like an idiot. Damn… Score one to the fun-sized nerd… I looked back to Owen to see Trent, Cody, and LeShawna all trying to wake the big guy up. Cody still had the Stick of Awesomeness, but was now directing its all mighty poke to his face.

Trent, bless his determination, took to climbing up Owen's mountainous body and jumping up and down. Judging by his grin, though, he was having far more fun up there than he should be. Makes me wonder if I should join him. You know, for the team, and totally not for my own amusement… "Dude, this guy is like a really squishy trampoline!" He yelled to me, turning around in the air to face me. But he landed at an angle.

Here's a physics lesson: when something lands at an angle, it goes back up in the opposite angle. It doesn't matter who or what you are: a tennis ball, a bowling ball, or even an awesome-haired musician. You will be sent back up into the air and gravity will pwn you. Depending on how high off the ground you are, you may very well find yourself a simple splat on the ground. To quote my physics teacher: "Say hi to my father for me when you lot go to hell." I always KNEW he was related to Satan.

It was with that in mind that I felt no sympathy as I watched the musician go flying and meet solidly with the ground far away. "You okay?" I called, already grinning. Trent's voice was muffled by the ground, so I didn't really know what he said. But the fact that he answered was always a good sign, right? With a thoughtful look, I glanced back and forth from the prone Trent to Owen in front of me. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And that's when it hit me. "WAIT!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. It took me a bit to gain my balance, seeing as how I'd completely forgotten I was on a movable object. When I'd caught myself, I pointed at Noah. "Noah, by your nerd calculations, how much time would it take for all of us to unhook Owen, wheel everything around him, and get to camp?"

The sarcastic scholar didn't even blink at being called a nerd. He's probably heard stuff so much worse than that in the past. "About 20 minutes, 30 tops." He craned his neck behind us all, even going as far as standing on his tip toes. Dude, for a smart guy, the idea of climbing the Mount-o-Boxes for a better view went completely over his head. Yay, another short joke! "And, considering I can't even see the other team," dude, seriously, stop setting yourself up, "we don't have to worry about a time factor."

He looked at me suspiciously and opened his mouth to question me, but instead yelped and stumbled back when I suddenly jumped to the ground and dashed to Trent, who was just beginning to trudge back to the group. Without stopping, I tackled him to the ground and hugged him for all my worth. If my brother were here, he'd say it wasn't a whole lot. "Thank you thank you thank you, Trent! You're a bloody genius!" Then, ignoring his confused look (and Gwen's hurt one, which I'll have to also apologize later for), I sprinted over to Cody and grabbed Noah's scrawny arm on the way. Cody was still poking at Owen when I stopped. With my ninja skills, I snatched his stick from him and threw it into the forest. "You two, work on getting the harness off of him without jostling his body too much."

Both agreed confusedly, though Noah was a tad reluctant. And, hey, the bloody brainiac had a reason to be. Besides my random question, none of them had any idea of my sudden flash of brilliance. And this does not happen often, let me tell you! The others looked just as confused, if not a tad bit annoyed, so I took pity on them all and explained. "It's rather simple, really. We have a cart. They," I thumbed behind us all to where our opponents drifted somewhere, "don't."

Heather was the first to realize where I was going with my scheme. "They'll have to push their boxes around by hand while we can just wheel our stuff to the other side." For the first time since we'd all arrived that morning, She-Bitch looked impressed with one of us. 'Not really sure how much her approval is worth, though…' Then her eyes narrowed in obvious disdain and she scoffed. "I hope you don't actually expect me to help you losers push that thing."

Both Gwen and LeShawna shot her disgruntled and agitated looks behind her back. I'm fairly certain all three of us had the same thought at that moment: 'Why, because you might chip your perfectly manicured nails?' Pah, we would probably be right. But before they could say anything, I was shaking my head. "No, of course not, Heather. You have an important job to do." Her eyebrow went high on her forehead, but her eyes stayed narrow. How she managed to do that, I really don't want to know. "You need to stay here in case Owen wakes up before the Killer Bass get here. He'll need convincing to stay down and pretend to be out cold." I gave a fleeting glance to where Cody and Noah were fast at work. "Though, with the way he's reacting now, that may not be a problem." Then I faced her again and made my expression as sincere and innocent as possible without seeming suspicious. "If that's the case, they need to be persuaded to go the long way instead of cutting through the water.

"The lake would have made the soil loose. All they would have to do is push the crates along and it would be smooth sailing." I cracked a smirk. "Lucky for us none of them are smart enough to figure that out for themselves, eh?" Someone chuckled at the insult, but I didn't care to find out who it was. Then I looked back down at Heather, who hadn't changed her facial expression one bit. "Still, though, you'll need to stay here." She still looked unconvinced, so I motioned with my hand to draw her away from the rest.

Once we were a small distance away, I lowered my voice. When in doubt, stroke the ego. "Listen to me, Heather. You're the only one I can trust with this. The others are either too soft or horrible liars. I mean, look at them." I slid my eyes over to the team without physically moving. "Beth has the make-up of an all-around-friend. She wouldn't be able to stand lying right to their faces. And Lindsay doesn't have a smart bone in her body." I looked back at her to see her staring straight at me. "You, Heather, are not soft, nor are you a bad liar. You're strong, Heather, I can sense it. You aren't one of these," I waved my hand idly behind me, "these weaklings. You're smart; you could easily convince those stupid idiots to go around. If they ask why you're helping them, improvise."

So close, she looks so close to caving. But she really is stronger than her scrawny body makes her look. I'll have to watch for her in the future. For now, though, I've already cornered the target. Time to go for the kill… Oh god, how much more gruesome can I get? I gave Heather the best pleading look I could muster. "Come on, Heather! I'll be in your debt! Anything you want me to do after this, I'll do it!" Or I'll gouge your eyes out with a rusty spork. Depends on my mood when that time comes.

After a moment of mental deliberation, She-Bitch nodded. "Fine, I'll do it." She said with a roll of her eyes. Then, more sharply, she said, "But you so owe me. And I'm never staying near the fat lard in the future, go that?"

I felt the need to throw a 'friendly' arm over her shoulder. But, again, I curse my mother's short genes. So instead I just patted her arm. "Heather, you and I shall do great things together, great things." We rejoined the Screaming Gophers in time for Cody and Noah to announce success. They'd taken the harness off of Owen. Where the harness mysteriously disappeared to, I have no idea. Everyone looked to me to see what to do next and I felt a sudden surge in power. I wanted to see how far I could push my newfound authority, so I quickly dealt out orders. "Trent, Beth, LeShawna. You three are with me in pushing from the back. We'll be serving as the main force of motion." The ones named nodded and got into position, waiting for me.

Heh, this is more fun than I thought it would be… But I shan't let the power get to my head! "Gwen, Justin, Izzy," the three stood straighter with Izzy even going as far as to give me a jaunty salute, "distribute yourselves to the side. You'll be what keeps the cart from going off track. I'll switch back and forth between the back and side to make up for the uneven number of you." Gwen muttered something about a 'bossy rival' before she stood next to a rocking Izzy. The last ones were Noah, Cody, and Lindsay. "Noah and Cody, walk as far ahead as necessary in front of the cart and clear out any debris that may screw with the wheels. Sticks, branches, rocks, shit like that."

Before I could speak again, Lindsay started bouncing excitedly. "Ooh, ooh, what do I get to do, Floor?" Then she looked confused. "Floor is such a weird name. Why would your parents name you that?"

Because they're sick and twisted bastards. "Because my name is Flare, sweetie." I said gently. "And you'll be the relay between the sweepers and the cart." Her confused look heightened and I sighed, trying to think of a way to put it simple enough for her brain to handle without imploding. But I wouldn't put a stunt like that passed Chris, just to make himself the prettiest person on the island. "If Noah or Cody need a message sent back to us, like a log they can't move, you come running back to tell us, okay?" She nodded in understanding, but I had absolutely no faith in her ability to remember her job, let alone any messages she needed to transmit. "Then let's move out!"

Between the seven of us set on cart-duty, it only took five minutes to maneuver the cart around Owen. Noah and Cody were already ahead of away a decent amount of clutter. I kept an eye under my arm to make sure Heather followed my instructions. The only movement she made was to settle her skinny ass against Owen's squishy side. When the large boy was nothing but a blob, I spoke. "How much did you hear?" I asked LeShawna. I had noticed her inching toward me during my 'talk' with Heather.

LeShawna's tone was enough to wish I had chosen to push by Trent's other side. "Depends. Did you mean all that smack you talked back there about the team?"

Half of me wanted to snort in laughter, the other wanted to hide in the sand. I went with the snorting idea, since that didn't make me seem nearly as cowardly. That and I'd look like an idiot trying to hide in the sand. "Psh, hell no." I grinned up at the plus-sized sister, not even concentrating on putting my full strength into pushing. "Hon, anyone that can be bought with that much bull shit flattery is no smarter than a peacock, strutting about because it believes it's the prettiest of the flock. Heather is the type of peacock where, if you painted a turkey and put it next to her, she would never tell the difference."

I could hear Gwen's laughter from the far side of the cart. Little Beth was giggling on LeShawna's other side. The large girl herself was smirking at my analogy. "In that case, hon, I didn't hear a single thing." I would have bumped fists with her, but since both of us kind of had our hands full, we settled with a hip-bump. At least it seems like I'd found allies in her and Beth. Gwen, though, would be a bit harder to win over. She did have reason to be wary, after all.

On my side opposite Leshawna, Trent chuckled lowly. "I admit, that was pretty awesome what you did back there." I gave him a curious look. "The way you took control back there, and everyone listening to you. You had no problems at all with being in charge." I felt his eyes on the top of my head, what with him being taller than me. "You took in everyone's strengths and weaknesses and put them in positions where they'd be most helpful. The moment Heather denied being any part of this plan, you made up something completely on the spot that would get her out of the way. You've got the makings of a great leader, Flare."

I recognized the awed tone in his voice. It was the tone of someone who just found something legendary. And I had to put a stop to it if I wanted to be friends with Gwen. "Don't look at me like that, Trent." I said sharply, cutting my eyes to him. I met his eyes unwaveringly, making sure to get my point across. "You're far too much like the brother I wish I had for me to even think about it. If we're going to be teammates, I'd like for us to remain friends." He nodded, looking like a kicked puppy. If it didn't go completely against what I just said, I'd squeal and hug him. Raising my voice, I said to everyone else, "And that goes for the other guys too. I have no intention of finding a boyfriend during the competition. If you girls want a man, have at him." Not like you'd really need my permission anyway.

Though she tried to mask it with sarcasm, I could hear the relief in Gwen's voice when she answered. "Gee, thanks for that, Flare. Your approval means so much." And to show that we understood each other, we shared a nice laugh.

It took us less than the thirty minutes Noah had predicted to get to the camp. By that time, the ones that I had assigned to walk ahead of us had rejoined the main group. "Hey look, there's the camp!" Beth shouted, pointing out the obvious.

And Noah, the sarcastic bastard that he is, just HAD to comment. "No, really? I thought it was Gotham City."

I gaped at him, my eyes wide. "Dude, don't even joke about that! Do you realize how AWESOME it would be to meet Batman and the Joker when they AREN'T trying to kill each other and/or everyone around them?"

Cody whipped around to glare at me, the gap in his teeth looking like a cave as he curled his lip in disgust. "Screw Batman, Superman could kick his rubber-covered ass! He doesn't even have any powers!"

Oh, he did NOT just insult my favorite hero! I pointed at him, narrowing my eyes accusingly. "Superman is nothing but an arrogant prick! And at least Batman's secret identity REMAINS secret. All Superman would have to do is take off those dorky glasses and people would piss themselves, going 'OH SHIT, ITS SUPERMAN!'"

We glared at each other until very familiar- and oh so irritating- laughter came over us all. As one, the entire group turned their glares/annoyed looks on our beloved host: Christ McClain. He had himself doubled over in laughter, hands on his knees to balance himself and his overly large head. But that's probably just the hair that makes it seem so large. I wonder what he uses on it. Note to self: ask when not consumed by the urge to kick him where it hurts. Once he sorted himself out, he flashed myself and Cody a sparkly little grin. "Well, I wasn't expecting that cozy topic when you came in! Getting to know the ladies already, eh Cody?" Then the bastard waggled his eyebrows at us. Be careful Chris, there might be an 'accidental' explosion and those pretty little eyebrows will 'accidentally' be burned off your face.

At least Cody had the sense to back away from me with a nervous grin on his face. "No, just a friendly debate between teammates." Against my better judgment, I gave him a reassuring smile and patted his arm. And then he went on. "Besides, my heart belongs to another my Mistress of the Night." He gave Gwen a look that I'm sure he thought was sly. I just thought he looked constipated.

You know that voice in your head that tells you that what you're thinking of doing is a bad idea? A conscience, I believe the normal people call it? Yeah, mine was just tied to the figurative railroad tracks and run over by my mischievous side, which I've always oddly enough envisioned as a crossbreed between Santa and a Sour Patch Kid. Since I don't even know why this is, I doubt the world ever will. I gaped at Cody, morphing my features into a look of pure disbelief. "Then you lied to me when we were on the docks?"

A small part of me wanted to laugh at his face right there: half fearful and half confused. "What? What are you-?"

I cut him off. "What about all the time we've shared? Did none of it mean anything to you?" I sniffled a bit, and had to force my lips to stay trembling instead of curling up into a grin when his eyes widened. "I knew it, you never cared about me! You're just a… a… a silly boy!" With practiced ease, I burst out crying. Big globs of tears poured from my eyes, rolling down my face and dropping to the ground.

I wish I had a camera at that moment. Cody's reaction was priceless. You know that weird 'wtf' dance cartoon characters do when they have no idea what's going on? Yeah, that's what Cody was doing. He waved his arms in the air, dancing from one foot to the other like someone was setting off fire-crackers at his feet. Not a bad idea, actually… With pure panic etched onto his face, he said, "No, come on, don't cry! I hate it when girls cry!" After a minute of failing to 'console' me, he turned to our staring audience. "Help me out here, guys! How do my make her stop crying!"

At once, a bombardment of suggestions were hurled at us, only about half of them serious. "Flowers always help!" "Read her a sonnet from Shakespeare!" "Anyone got a whoopy cushion? We could try to make her laugh!" God bless you, Izzy, God bless you and your crazy ideas. It seems Trent really will be my best friend, because he already knows my mind better than the others. He said with a chuckle, "Come on, Flare, you've had your fun. Stop torturing the poor kid already before he pees himself in terror!"

And just like that, the waterworks stopped and I shrugged casually. "Ah well, it was fun while it lasted." Trent and I ignored the gaping teens around us and instead watched the gaping face of Chris. "So we're here. What'cha want with these?" I smacked one of the boxes for emphasis with the side of my fist. "I mean, how we getting them open?" And just to up the creeper factor, I added excitedly, "Do we get to use power tools?"

Chris gave me another weird look but Izzy spoke in the same excited tone. "Oh my gosh, I love power tools! One time, my uncle let me use his chainsaw to cut down an enormous oak tree in his yard- or was it maple? Anyway, it ended up crushing his neighbor's cat instead. It was so sad, but awesome too!" Looks like I'm not the only once that enjoys the creeper factor. Actually, using what I know of Izzy, she's probably related to the guy that CREATED the creeper factor, and I probably owe her thousands and thousands of dollars. Oh, bugger…

But before I could burst into a REAL round of tears, our host cleared his throat irritably. "If you two are quite finished…" He glared at us before saying in a professional tone, "In each box are the tools and supplies you guys will need for the second part of the challenge: building a hot tub." Wait, isn't that exactly what he said on the cliff, word for freaking word? Dude, they must have a copy-and-paste button for real life! "However, you can only open your crate using… your teeth." We gaped while he gave yet another devious grin. "Oops, did I forget to mention that part?"

That… That bloody wanker! He meant to not tell us that! Why I oughta-! And just as I leaped to tip his pretty face off, three bodies from my right, left, and behind me intercepted my bloody rampage. Good, that means they're learning my violent tendencies already. This also means there will be far less dead bodies to worry about in the future. Through the roaring in my ears, I heard the words "amputate", "genitals", and "toothpick". I'm not sure whether they look more amazed at the threats spewing forth or that I knew such big words. It was probably a tiny bit of both.

Once I'd gotten that out of my system, I set to convince them all I was relatively safe to let go. And believe me that was not an easy task to accomplish! "I'm better now! Really, honestly! You can all give me back mobility!" They made no movement to release me and I let out an exaggerated sigh. "I promise, I won't actually-"I blinked before looking at Izzy, who seemed to be gnawing on my arm, "-what did I say I would do?" Izzy shrugged, seeming reluctant to surrender her 'snack' to speak. So I turned to Trent, acting for all the world that someone chewing on my limbs was totally normal. And for all these people know, it is.

Trent, for his part, seemed a bit paler than before my momentary –insert sarcastic snicker here- lapse of sanity. Dude, it couldn't be that bad, could it? "You said you'd amputate his genitals with a toothpick-" I got that so far- "and then carve out his reproductive organs with a rusty spoon." …. That part, I conveniently missed.

For a minute, I just stood and gaped at him in pure disbelief. He just nodded shakily waiting for the full reaction they all knew was coming. When I found my voice, I croaked three simple words. "That. Is. Awesome." Then I started cackling. Izzy let out an 'ah-ha!' at my side. I felt a pressure on my neck and, for lack of a better term, dropped like a sack of potatoes.

When I clawed my way back to consciousness, I took a few seconds to regain my senses and look around me. Owen and Heather had rejoined us, my team was making good progress without me, and the Killer Bass had just arrived. Very coincidentally, they were well within hearing range. And, curious little bitch that I am, I listened in. Courtney was speaking. "... We need a leader. And, as I'm the only one here with actual CIT training, I nominate myself." Arrogant little bitch. I'm going to have to kill myself if she ever strikes up an alliance with Heather.

Not before I kill Juvie Brat, though, of course. And speaking of Juvie Brat, who but he would grace us with his dulcet tones? "Where do we begin, Cyclops?" Wait… What?

His question hadn't registered in my mind before Courtney snapped back, "Like you're much better Duncan!" Oh, now I HAVE to see this. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and glanced back and forth between punk and priss. Courtney's eye was pink and puffy while Juvie Brat's, in quite a contrast, was black and swollen. Dude that is an AWESOME shiner!

And of course, myself being me, I had to cause trouble. So I leaned my elbows on my knees and placed my chin in my hands, saying in an airy tone, "You know," and I took great pleasure that they all jumped in surprise, "if you two worked together, you'd have a normal pair of eyes." I sighed heavily, shaking my head with closed eyes. "It's just such a shame that, even working together, you'd only have half a brain between you two." They had different reactions. Courtney simply glared and stuck her nose in the air with a huff. Juvie Brat's reaction: much more fun to watch. His lipped curled, his eyes narrowed, and a guttural sound that was no doubt a snarl ripped from him. The effect would have been intimidating, even to me, if not for the purplish swelling over his eyebrow. Still with the light and airy tone, I pointed at it. "And, uh, you might want to get that checked out."

If you listened really closely, you could hear the 'snap' of his control and he leaped at me. I simply rolled off of the stairs I had been resting against and scrunched up in the space. Juvie Brat sailed right over my head, a blur of black and green, to land in a crumpled heap in the dirt. I straightened myself with a snort of laughter and sashayed passed him just in time to see Heather and Lindsay walk away from Leshawna. LeShawna saw me first and waved me over. She filled me in on what I'd missed so far. She finished up with, "And Heather just came over to apologize! Do you believe that at all?"

I shook my head and decided to just let them all handle it. I had no idea what was going on now, and so subtly stepped into the background. Just for fun, I climbed onto a roof and surveyed the progress of both teams. Beth and Justin were both hammering the planks into a neat border. Across from them was the biggest atrocity I'd ever laid eyes on. When my team had finished that, three of them made a line to pass a bucket to and fro. And unlike with Trent, I had an idea where this bucket had come from. With the Bass tub, Courtney was using duct tape to stop water from coming out. She's stupider than she looks if she thinks that would work. I should know, since I'd tried to tape something underwater before!

And finally came the time for Chris to judge. He bent down to examine our tub first and I discreetly jumped from my hiding spot, sidling up silently next to Trent. We were all watching in silent anxiousness for a bit before Chris exclaimed, "This is an awesome hot tub!" Some let out cheers, some let out relieved sighs. I was among the latter. And let those who judge me be damned! He walked over to the Killer Bass tub, gave it one tap, and it fell apart. A seagull with a six-pack around its neck slid out with the water. We all watched it before Chris said, "Well, I think we have a winner." Then he looked back and forth, as if it there was actually any question about who won. I mean, their hot tub freaking fell apart. Then he yelled out, "The Screaming Gophers!" After a cheer from us, he said, "You guys also get to rock this hot tub for the rest of the summer. BONUS!"

After a bit more cheering, he turned to the Killer Bass. "Tonight, the Killer Bass will be sending someone home. Choose wisely!" He added a cackle for effect.

-At Dinner-

I refused to eat that slop Chef served us. Dinner was even worse than breakfast! I listened in on the Killer Bass, ignoring my teammates for the sake of my curiosity. I stayed quiet, keeping my opinions to myself, up until Juvie Brat left. Then I let out a cheer. "Yay, Juvie Brat's gone!" People stared. I stared back. "What?" They just shook their heads and went back to their food. I popped up from my seat and skipped over to DJ, plopping down into the spot Juvie Brat had vacated. "'Sup bitches?" I asked with a grin.

To say I was welcomed would be to lie. Courtney glared and huffed. Obviously she hasn't forgiven me for insulting her. Everyone else either glared or ignored me. Ezekiel was among the latter, because he spoke as if I wasn't there. "Well, I don't understand how we lost, eh? They're the ones that have six girls." The horror seeped into the males' faces at the same time anger swept up the females, including myself. He thought we weren't good enough, just because we're girls? The nerve of this pompous, stupid, sexist bastard!

Bridgette and Eva both leaned toward him, anger on their faces as clear as Lindsay's cleavage in her shirt. "What's that suppose to mean?" Bridgette asked menacingly. If I weren't so angry myself, I'd have been impressed with the surfer girl. Who knew she could be so threatening while still being mellow?

Eva spoke from behind Ezekiel, her hands clenched into fists. Though, now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen her fists unclenched yet. "Yeah, home school, enlighten us!" She emphasized everyone's anger by pounding her fist on the table, shaking everyone's drinks and plates. I wouldn't be surprised, actually, if the legs creaked a bit under her weight. Not to say she's fat or anything, just that muscles weigh more than body fat.

Either he didn't realize how much trouble he was in, or he really thought he could take on all the girls at that table. Personally, I think it was a little of both. "Well, guys are much stronger and better at sports then girls are." He shrugged with his hands in the air like it's an undisputed fact, proven by scientists and sciency crap. It might not have been such a good idea for him to say that to a surfer and a fitness buff. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cody and Noah- why the hell are they here too? Did they want to bother the Killer Bass with me? They could have said something! - sidle away from a tweaked looking Katie and Sadie.

Eh, at least Geoff seems to be SOMEWHAT sane, ignoring the fact that he's a party boy who probably gets drunk every weekend in someone's basement. He slapped a hand to his forehead with a disbelieving look, and yet, he still managed a smile. "Oh snap! He did not just say that!"

Ezekiel just continued, acting like he didn't have a horde of angry females getting ready to rip him limb from fucking limb. And I'm fairly certain Eva can do it, too, no problem! "My dad told me to look out for the girls here, eh? And help them in case they can't keep up?" What the HELL in his mind made him look directly at Eva when he spoke the words?

As soon as Eva reared back to lunge, I decided to add my own two cents. I'd give more, but I'm kind of broke. So I stood up and got between the gorilla and the pig, offering up a mischievous but placating smile. "Hey, now, let's not get violent, Eva." I backed up, bumping Ezekiel farther from his team and closer to the garbage cans. "After all, there's really no reason to punish the boy for sharing his opinion." He tried to move from behind me, but I maneuvered myself into blocking him. When I knew we were close to my target and paused, saying with a thoughtful tone, "Though... I am a fan of violence, so..." And then I spun around, picked Ezekiel up, and dumped him head first into the can.

Effect: instantaneous. Everyone on both teams laughed their heads off, including Courtney and Heather. Me thinks they don't care enough to scold me about disrespect/consorting with the other teams. Respectively, of course. The Canadian prick was yelling his head off, kicking his legs into the air to try and right himself. All he managed to do was knock the can onto it's side. A yell from Chef made me look up, and I caught the ladle he threw at me. For a brick house-Rambo wannabe, just that made him pretty cool. Insert evil cackle here. I picked up the trash can, stuffing Zeke further inside of it, and banging the side of it to create loud crashing noises.

His yells were alternating between, "Would you get me out of here, eh?", and, "Quit it, that hurts my ears!" Che, too bad nobody here cares, Zekey buddy! Geoff pulled me back by the collar of my shirt, having DJ wrestle the ladle from my hand. "Aw, come on, just chill Flare! At least he doesn't think guys are smarter than girls, right?"

Ezekiel must be really flexible or something, because his face peaked out from under the garbage can. "But, they are!" Queue Eva smashing fist on garbage, slamming the can all the way to the floor. Muffled through the side, Zeke yelled, "Oh come on, eh? That's even louder than before!" Honestly, all I could do was laugh at him before Geoff handed me off to DJ, who threw me over his shoulder and carried me out.

I spent however much time I was on his shoulder laughing. I just couldn't stop myself. If Eva didn't go home today, I thought we were going to be great friends. She enjoys hurting people, and I enjoy watching people get hurt. Funny how life works like that, right? I did, however, have to stop once DJ dumped me on the steps to the Screaming Gophers cabin. The glare he sent me was not nice, not nice at all. And yet, I still beamed up at him. Does that say something about my mentality? "Flare..." He stopped himself and sighed, plopping down next to me. This was more the DJ I knew. I can handle the softy DJ, it's when he charges that I have to dodge. "Listen, cuz, you need to stop being mean to my teammates."

I dropped my smile. Ah, so it would be one of those types of talks, eh? "I can't help it, Deej." I said, leaning back with my elbows on the stairs. "It's part of my personality to be a bitch. And if you think I'll change just because you ask, then you didn't know me like I thought you did." He just looked at me, and I went on. "You know Mom and Dad have been trying to make me into a spoiled princess since the day I was born, yet Charlie gets full reign and terrorizes everyone he comes into contact with. You're family, DJ, and I will respect that." I stood, on the top stop, glaring down at him with my eyes narrowed. It wasn't one of my 'you will die' glares, or even 'fear me' glares. It was just a 'stay out of my way' glare. "But I don't care what anyone thinks about me, Juvie Brat especially. I'm loud, I'm annoying, I'm obnoxious. I know. But I won't have anyone make me into something I'm not."

He didn't say anything as I leaped from the steps and walked away, my hands into my pockets. I'd dried off from the challenge this morning rather quickly, actually. I walked into the woods, doing nothing but glaring at the ground. I didn't even pay attention to where I was going. I just... walked. I only looked up when the light faded, and the sky was faintly orange. The sun must be setting. Without a second thought, I climbed up a tree and sat near the top, choosing a branch that would allow me to lounge comfortable against the trunk. Aloud, I said, "So, even DJ is against me now..." I just shrugged. "Meh, I'll get through this without his help. And Juvie Brat..." I scowled and held up a fist, shaking it angrily at absolutely nothing. "Juvie Brat is going down, whether DJ wants him to or not."

((I lost motivation after messing with Zeke, if you can't tell.

Special thank you to Wistful Sin, who inspired that Batman/Superman argument with Flare and Cody. LOVE HER! XD

Tell me what you think in a review, please!))