For Want of a Mohawk

by CeruleanSeaScorpion

What difference do our choices make? When Duncan refuses to wake up and help the Killer Bass during the Dodgeball challenge, his decision has consequences that will change the entire outcome of the game. A re-imagining of Total Drama Island where one small change leads to huge differences, and every episode takes the story further away from its original path. Updates weekly.

12. Beyond the Island

Considering she would be spending the next three days without him, Bridgette knew she made the right call kissing Geoff. She was on top of the world, as Noah might have put it, on the open waters of the lake. While Bridgette lingered on who she'd left, the others were fixated on what awaited them.

"First things first, I am so gonna get a gel manicure!"

"Totally!"

Katie and Lindsay had gravitated to each other almost immediately, each having a list of things they wanted to do. Lindsay's was more like a laundry list of luxuries to return to, while Katie's was a bucket list of spa activities she'd always thought looked fun. Her and Sadie would get manicures at the mall all the time, but they had never done anything like hot stones or a seaweed wrap.

Even Noah was excited. He would be waited on hand and foot even before he became some kind of tech mogul in his twenties. Plus he had friends with him, real friends even. Speaking of which, he just missed something Owen said.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Noah raised an eyebrow. Owen's eyes darted around and he would have changed the subject if Katie hadn't stepped in.

"Guys can get manicures too! Then you can try a massage, and maybe a facial."

"You could get a body polish!" Lindsay helpfully chimed in. "Trust me, silky skin feels amazing! And you two are kind of oily."

Katie nudged Lindsay's side.

"From the challenge!" Lindsay clarified.

"Whoa, guys, check this out!"

Bridgette had been staring out of a window while pining for Geoff, but in little time the resort was in sight. This destination for human comfort was carved out of one of many islands surrounding Wawanakwa. Its buildings were styled like rustic cabins, just without any of the bugs, odors, or lack of amenities camping usually entailed. The wood was polished and the pools were a bright blue in contrast to the lake. There were even palm trees thanks to microclimates the campers were unaware of. After over four weeks of painful, humiliating, and demanding challenges they could finally use a bathroom without risking infection and sleep on pillows that didn't make cinderblocks seem appealing in comparison.

Of course, reaching land meant ground rules had to be set. Above deck, Chef stood between them and the ramp to the resort. He cleared his throat and folded his arms behind his back, pulling out a cue card from his pocket.

"The Milton family welcomes you to our Muskoka Spa Resort, the first of its kind on the lake. It is an honor for us to be a part of your journey on Total Drama Island, and we hope you enjoy your stay."

Chef flicked it away and didn't bother to read the contact info. "Listen up! You will spend three days being spoiled and softening up within the confines of your suite. You will have access to the facilities, but any contact with civilians will be a breach of your non disclosure agreement."

"Awww," Lindsay whined. "But I wanted to get a massage!"

Chef crossed his arms. "The staff don't count as civilians! Do you have any more stupid questions before I start my vacation?"

Noah's face tensed as he fought the urge to remark how Lindsay had plenty more where that came from. Owen considered asking Chef to explain the chicken crossing the road, but something told him Chef might not actually want stupid questions. Katie had a passing familiarity with the workings of reality TV from girls' nights with Sadie and had something relevant to ask.

"Are there cameras on us at the resort? How will we know if we violate our NDA?"

That was actually a good point. Chef didn't know whether they had cameras rigged. He wouldn't put it past Chris and the other producers, but he probably wasn't allowed to say anything about it.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you," Chef glared, "And I do not like babysitting, so you had all better be on your best behavior."

With that, they were free to enjoy the resort.

All five of them looked around in delight, it was even more glamorous in person. They hauled their luggage to the two story suite. There was a wide screen TV, chunkier than the ones of the present day but sleek and glamorous by the standards of 2007. The couch, tables, chairs, and kitchen looked so pristine it was like a travel ad brought to life. The pillows were cowhide and the head of a red deer was mounted above the TV. Bridgette frowned, but everyone else was too fixated on their surroundings to notice.

"Awesome!" Owen pumped his fists in the air. "I'm gonna go find the pool."

"Enjoy that." Noah headed towards the stairs with one measly luggage bag. "I'm gonna sleep off the torture we just went through."

"And miss out on all the fun?" Owen asked, disappointed. "At least get room service!"

Katie and Lindsay gasped in unison. Bridgette perked up, smiling at the thought of some good vegetarian food.

"Let's have lunch together!" Lindsay said.

"On the count of three we should say the first food that comes to mind!" Katie suggested.

"Lamb chops!" Owen yelled out, the count of three being far too long of a wait.

"Spring rolls, I make them with my mom all the time." Bridgette said.

"Curry!" Katie said. "That'll really get the tastes from earlier out of my mouth."

"Ooh, exotic!" Lindsay nodded. "Just as long as it's not too spicy, once my old boyfriend had really bad acid reflex and we couldn't kiss for a week!"

Noah would have informed her of how little he needed to know that had he not already gone to his room. Katie frowned at the realization.

"Be right back!" she called out as she ran up the stairs. The rooms were on the top floor, and Noah's door was wide open. Katie entered to find him face down on the bed fully clothed. He hadn't even kicked his shoes off and his suitcase was right next to his head. She snickered, he could be so dramatic.

"Looks like someone's ready for the pool!"

Noah didn't give any response. He was that tired. Katie scoffed.

"Noah, your suitcase is on your pillow! Do you know what kind of germs you're gonna get on your face?"

Noah didn't respond. Katie considered scaring him awake. "You should hear what my brother says about airport floors, you'll never want to put a suitcase on your bed."

He turned over to face her with his eyes even more heavy lidded than usual. "Remind me, what part of the boat ride involved planes?"

Katie rolled her eyes. "The sooner you get out of bed the sooner you can stop feeling itchy and gross."

With that she left. Noah had to admit, she had a point.

---

Dawn broke on Wawanakwa, and most of the campers were fast asleep. Not only would there be no challenge today, but the moment the yacht had left the dock Chris hopped into a helicopter and beelined for a nearby resort to kick back for the weekend. With no host and nothing to do, everyone was more than happy to sleep in.

Almost everyone, to be perfectly correct. Courtney saw no reason to deviate from her perfectly arranged schedule, and was up before sunrise at her usual time. Her half of the cabin was empty for the weekend, granting her a uniquely serene and private start to the day. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.

As she stepped out onto the patio to begin her morning exercises, something stopped her in her tracks. She couldn't believe her eyes. There Geoff was, awake at the crack of dawn and carrying a surfboard. Something had compelled him to wake up before noon, and Courtney took off after him to find out what.

"Hey Geoff." She waved as she came up alongside him. "Nice seeing you finally get up at a decent time."

"Oh hey brah." Geoff waved. "Bridgette says the best waves are at sunrise, and sundown, you dig? Said something about how the wind shifts direction cause of like….temperature stuff."

Of course it was about Bridgette. Ever since the boat pulled off the dock he couldn't stop talking about her. Courtney nodded along. "So you're going surfing."

"Yeah man, wanna get some practice in so I can ride with Bridgette and show her some new moves when she gets back."

"I don't think it's practical to learn a new repertoire of moves in only two days." Courtney said. "But I admire your commitment."

"It's all about attitude, dude. Attidude." Geoff chuckled as they got down to the beach near the dock. Much to his chagrin however, the water there waiting for him was much to calm to get up onto a board in.

"Aw, bogus man!" He snapped his fingers. "Let's check the rest of the island, maybe the winds coming in from like, a different direction."

Courtney shrugged and followed along as he walked up the beach. This was usually the time she went jogging anyways, so a stroll around the island would fit in nicely.

Further down the beach things got quite a bit rougher, and chillier. Stiff winds whipped across the North side of the island, bringing with them white capped waves that lapped aggressively against the rocky debris scattered in the shadow of the cliffside.

"Aw man, this is more like it." Geoff said, tossing the board into the water and laying down on it to paddle out.

"Careful." Courtney called after him, stopping just at the water's edge. "You could seriously hurt yourself on these rocks."

"Relax brah, I am so careful you don't even know."

There he went again, reckless and completely heedless of her warnings. Courtney sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. He only gave her the barest minimum of lip service before returning to whatever ill-advised stunt she was cautioning against. Crashing on the skateboard and the whole trip to Boney island had done little to deter him. If anything, it only encouraged his behavior, as those incidents only brought him closer to Bridgette.

Now Courtney was starting to understand that sometimes she worried too much, and made a lot of fuss over nothing. Watching Geoff stand up on that board and try to ride the little waves rolling in towards the rugged shore however, she felt old habits bubbling to the surface. She tried to stay calm.

"Check it out! Sick flip!" Geoff shouted, right before doing an embarrassing tumble into the water. He barely missed the board coming down on his head.

Courtney was not staying calm. "Knock it off! That's dangerous!" She barked. If he hit his head while in the water, he could be unconscious, and he could drown, and she might get swept away trying to save him and-

He was already back on the board before she could urge him to come to the shore. "Can't keep me down baby! Woo!" He cheered.

"Alright that's enough. Get back here before you get hurt." Courtney yelled.

To say that she was on edge would be an understatement. After what had happened with DJ, watching Geoff mess around in the choppy waters off the island was setting off all kinds of alarm bells. Already she could envision Geoff being carried off the island in a helicopter, his head wrapped in bandages to keep his brains from spilling out on the thin strip of sand they called a beach.

She watched tensely as he ignored her pleas to stop and got the board up on another wave. This time he managed to get his balance, and much to Courtney's surprise he rode it all the way to the shore without incident. He even steered it between a few rocks where he needed to.

"See, no need to worry dudette. Long as you don't freak out and get back on the board, it all works out."

She sighed and her shoulders slackened a little, her hands uncurling. It was fine, he was fine. "Right. It's okay, I need to stop worrying so much." She exhaled slowly. "Enjoy not having Chris breathing down our necks for a change."

"Yeah man, preach!" Geoff gave her a thumbs up, and went out to catch more waves.

Once he got into the rhythm of things Courtney was able to almost relax. Seeing him ride the next couple waves lulled her into a sense of ease. He knew what he was doing, right?

When the wind picked up, and the height of the waves did too, she should have said something. But she didn't, not at first. The bigger waves gave him more height and speed for tricks and stunts, and so he started testing out a few that he'd seen Bridgette do. He was far from the beach by now so when he did wipeout, he fell harmlessly into the water.

The next wave that surged in was much faster than the others, catching him off guard and sweeping him towards the shore. Courtney almost didn't notice it, but when she looked up and saw Geoff tumbling towards the rocks, enveloped in white foam, she sprung into action.

It was knee deep where she saw him go down. She waded through chilly and mucky water, the tide fighting to push her back, and her fighting to push ahead and find Geoff.

Suddenly he burst to the surface right in front of her, emerging from the white capped water clutching his hat. A wave of relief and annoyance hit her simultaneously. If he could worry about his stupid hat, he couldn't possibly be in any real danger.

"There you are!" She said. "Ugh, you almost gave me a heart attack. Let's find the board and get…back…"

She trailed off as the board washed up on the beach beside them. Or rather, part of it did. The splintered midsection came to rest on the sand, and many more pieces followed.

"Oh….shit…" Geoff muttered.

"Okay this is really, really bad. What will Bridgette think?!" Courtney's hands tugged at the end of her hair with anxiety. "She'll probably dump you and blame me for letting you break it!"

"Relax, Bridgette's not gonna dump me." Geoff assured her. "We'll just buy her another board and get squared away."

"Buy another board?" Courtney repeated, incredulously. "Geoff, we're in Muskoka, do you see a Surf Shack?"

"Aw man, you're right." He frowned.

With no clear answer in sight, Courtney trudged out of the water and onto the beach, where she paced back and forth. Her features were absolutely ruined with the stress she was feeling right now, scrunching her brow into all sorts of unflattering shapes.

"What are we going to do?" She groaned, "Those surfboards are priceless to her, she'd be devastated if she found out."

"Oh come on man, it's just like, a plank you ride on right? They sell them at the sports stores all over the place yeah?"

"These aren't just cheap plastic pieces of crap you buy at a store Geoff!" She grabbed a piece off the beach and showed it to him. "Look, see? Bridgette's traveled a lot and collected surfboards from around the world, who knows where she got this one?"

"Fancy. So like, we gotta find a fancy store right?" Geoff asked.

"There are no stores here Geoff, that's the problem. Get it through your thick head."

"Sheesh, no need to get testy." Geoff frowned. "Why don't we just like, go back into town? Toronto's not that far right?"

"Uh, hello, we can't just leave."

"Why not? Chris-meister is gone, Chef ain't here. Who's gonna stop us?"

"One, the whole production crew that lives here and is constantly watching us. Two, we don't have a boat or a plane. Three, neither of us knows how to drive one even if we did have it."

"I got to drive my uncle's boat a few times." Geoff corrected, "We just borrow one of those they use to bring us food and stuff."

"That's called stealing. The word you're looking for is theft." Courtney said. "We are not thieves."

"Dude, it's totally not stealing if you give it back when you're done." Geoff insisted.

"Not like they'd let us take it in the first place. That stuff is for the crew only, they probably have all the keys locked up somewhere."

"So we just like, pretend to be the crew." Geoff said.

"That's preposterous." Courtney stared at him in shock. "You've completely lost your mind."

"Lost my mind with genius!" Geoff countered. "Come on, it's brilliant. We grab some extra intern clothes out of the laundry, grab the keys, get a boat, go to the mainland, buy a surfboard, and return before Bridgette knows anything is wrong."

Courtney was awestruck. "That is the dumbest plan I have ever heard anyone say out loud."

Undeterred, Geoff crossed his arms and took a defensive stance against her. "So what, you got anything better."

"I-"

She cut off as she realized the horrifying truth. She had no better idea, this whole situation was so completely outside what was normal to her she had no bearing on how to approach it. It made her blood boil, just a little bit, but Geoff had a plan and she didn't. No matter how ill-conceived it was at every possible step of it's creation and implementation, it was better than running in blind, and certainly a step above doing nothing.

"Okay genius, what's the first step?"

---

With Noah napping at a massage table, Lindsay and Katie getting their nails painted, and Owen depleting the buffet, Bridgette was left to her own devices at the hot tub. It overlooked a gorgeous lake view with lots of lush scenery. Total Drama did its best to imply they were more isolated in the wilderness than they were, but Bridgette genuinely got the impression that modern development was limited to a handful of islands. Strange, because she could have sworn she heard a classmate talk about owning a summer home on the lake. Bridgette hoped people would leave the other islands alone, she'd cleaned up after plenty of bonfires and knew how careless people could be. Not that she wanted people to stop having fun, they just had to be mindful of consequences.

"Mind if I join?"

Bridgette blinked out of her own thoughts to see Owen in his swim trunks and floaties. She didn't question why he needed floaties in a hot tub.

"No, not at all."

He sighed in delight as he stepped in, it was even better than the hot tub of the first challenge. He almost seemed to deflate a bit as he let out a prolonged sigh of relaxation.

"Isn't this amazing? I can't believe we have it all to ourselves!"

"It's pretty nice," Bridgette agreed. "I wish I could share it with everyone back on the island."

"We could bring some of the food back with us," Owen suggested.

Owen was nice, but Bridgette was skeptical about his ability to delay gratification. No point in hurting his feelings, though. "How about we pack some nonperishables? I brought a can opener so we can totally bring some canned spinach over, we can store it at room temperature." She offered.

"Wow, you're really good with your cans!" Owen flinched as soon as what he said registered. "Er, uh-"

Bridgette snickered and punched him in the arm. "You sound like Geoff. Anyway, I try to give back. Not everyone gets to enjoy stuff like this. Plus, it takes effort and energy to move the food and supplies to the island."

Owen scratched his head.

"Oh, I guess I never thought about that. And I guess the food in the groceries has to be moved from farms and stuff."

Bridgette smiled, seeing the wheels turn in his head. She wasn't expecting an exercise in mindfulness and awareness today. The others had been pretty receptive to her worldview, with Courtney debating the practical aspects of environmentalism but at least considering it. She loved the enthusiasm Katie and Sadie had while backing her causes, although selling pistachio mint gelato wasn't what she had in mind for green activism. What little nuance Bridgette saw in them, Owen lacked. If the food here spoiled easily and there was lots of it, how much would they have to throw away? If he left would he be dooming it to waste?

"I have to go!"

He loudly splashed out of the pool, sending hot water in all directions. Bridgette didn't like jumping to conclusions but she suspected something gastric as Owen ran off.

---

Crawling through vents like some sort of overgrown rodent was not how Courtney thought her day was going to go. How the hell had she ever agreed to this in the first place? Oh, right. After getting a pair of fitting intern uniforms, the next part in Geoff's amazing plan was to obtain keys to a boat. Said keys were kept in a locked office, part of the larger facility that encompassed the boat repair shed and cargo docks. Said office had a large vent leading into it, and Geoff had a eureka moment straight out of Die Hard.

She was only here to make sure he didn't get stuck. He had much wider shoulders than she did, so if he trapped himself in this narrow tube she could still back out and find someone to cut him free. In no way did she approve of this, not only was it potentially dangerous but they were rolling in dust bunnies and rat poop. She hated that.

"I think we're almost there." Geoff whispered.

"We better be." Coutney grumbled.

The vent made a turn up ahead, and they could now see light coming up through the grates. Below them the murmurs of conversation sounded, becoming clearer as they passed overhead of the speakers.

"So, have you finished your thesis yet?" One voice asked.

"Oh no, I'm still outlining my paper. I have a lot of research left before I can start. How about you?" Another responded.

"It's going splendidly. Except for Chase. That charlatan had the nerve to pick the exact same topic for his thesis as I did."

"Didn't we all submit our theses to the teacher directly? I don't think he knew…"

"He knew alright, and I've seen his outline. He's making a mockery of me, coming to the opposite conclusions from every point of data available. I'll show him. I'll get my paper submitted first, then his will look like the derivative dreck it is when the Professor sees it. That will teach him."

"You're being paranoid. Not everyone with a different opinion is out to get you. Just be glad you've actually started, this introduction is kicking my ass."

"I'm sure you'll get a handle on it, you're quite adaptable you know. One thing is for certain. Leslie's probably already finished her thesis by now, and will make a fool of us all when she publishes it."

"Don't remind me. She makes us look like chumps."

"You said it. Wait, did you hear something?"

That something was probably the vents creaking with stress under Courtney and Geoff's combined weight. The vent collapsed and dumped the two errant campers right in front of the people they had been eavesdropping on, who looked at them with a mix of awe and amusement.

"Good god! What are you doing?" One screamed.

Courtney staggered to her feet, coughing and sputtering out dust. Habitually, she tried to brush herself off, but that just kicked up more dust everywhere. When it finally started settling down and she could get a good look, she was greeted by a pair of interns.

One was boy, a stick-thin stringbean around Geoff's height, which was to say imposingly tall. In addition to his regular uniform he wore a black Dickie's jacket over it, giving him a rather distinct appearance.

Beside him was a girl, who was only a little shorter than Courtney. Much like him she had dark hair, but hers was incredibly fluffy. It looked like the wool off the back of a black sheep. She had a white sweater tied around her waist too, giving her uniform a similarly customized look.

"Excuse us we were uh….just checking the vent for rat infestation." Courtney explained to them. "You know how Chris loves to give us newbies the worst jobs."

She froze up as she waited for their response. They looked at her oddly for a bit, then broke out into a fit of laughter. That only served to ratchet up Courtney's anxiety more. Had she said something wrong and they were making fun of her? Did they think she was telling a funny joke? Nervous and uncertain, she began to laugh along with them.

"We get that." The boy said as they finally stopped and caught their breath. "Remember all the cruddy work Chris made us do when we were new?"

"How could I forget?" The girl said. "Ugh, glad we moved to the marine division first chance we got."

"No kidding. Oh, where are my manners. I don't think we've properly met." The boy offered a hand out. "I'm Barney McCready, and this is Belle Shepherd." He gestured to the girl.

Courtney gave each of them a good, firm handshake, wincing at how utterly grimy it felt. Geoff was on his feet by now, and stepped forth to exchange greetings with them.

"Yo, nice to meet you dudes. I'm Ge-"

"-rry!" Courtney cut in quickly, shooting him a side eyed glare. "My friend here is Jerry and I'm…Isabel."

Her mother had always said that naming her had come down to two choices. The name she had now, and Isabel. Well, for today, she could live in an alternate timeline where that had been the final verdict.

"Nice to meet you, Jerry and Isabel." Barney said. "Why don't we forget those vents for a while and give you two a proper tour of the boatyard?"

"Oh radical, I love boats man." Geoff agreed. "Hey can you like, let us borrow one?"

Courtney looked mortified. Was he trying to blow their cover? Belle and Barney gave them odd looks again, and she already felt the ruse melting before her eyes.

"What he means is, our next assignment was to make a run to the mainland for uh….supplies."

"Let me guess." Belle said. "Chris ran out of tomato juice and can't wait for next week's shipment?"

"...yes. That's exactly it." Courtney said. "Uh remember how last week a bunch of food went missing from his pantry?"

"How could we forget? He whined about it for days." Barney said.

"Yes! So, obviously, Chris now wants us to make an emergency run now that his stocks are low of his favorite things." Which apparently included tomato juice. What a weirdo.

"You wanna knock out the supply run first huh? Can't blame you, I'd rather be out on a boat than clearing out vents any day of the week." Barney nodded empathetically.

"Then you'll take us there?" Courtney asked hopefully.

"Sure." Belle gave them a thumbs up. "Right this way."

Under her breath, Courtney uttered a sigh of relief. So far, despite Geoff's best attempts to sabotage them, they were moving along towards their goal. Barney unlocked the office and grabbed the boat keys off the rack, then led them down to the cargo docks. They boarded a decent sized boat, maybe thirty feet long. Barney went up to the wheel and started the engines, while Belle untied it so they could get underway.

For the next few minutes Courtney and Geoff had a moment to breathe, as their companions now preoccupied themselves with getting the vessel safely into open water. The boat had a very lived-in appearance to it, with many odd decorations giving it a sense of home for those that spent many long hours working aboard. A little cactus pot sat nestled in the cup-holder by the steering wheel and a sheepskin cover was draped over Captain's chair.

Once they were well clear of the island and on their way, then conversation could start flowing again. Courtney thought it best she initiate some of it. If she was too quiet, she might come across as a weirdo who was hiding something. As long as she didn't spill too many personal details in conversation, she could keep up the disguise.

"So uh, I heard you two talking about writing papers. Are you going to college together?"

"Oh not together." Belle shook her head. "We go to different schools. We actually met on a MySpace group for Survivor fans."

"It's true." Barney nodded. "We've submitted several audition tapes but never got accepted. When we had the chance to both intern here for the summer well- we had to jump on it!"

"Oh that's rad dudes." Geoff nodded. "Hey I have an older bro who's in college too. He has some crazy stories man. Like this one time, the seniors would take the freshman and hang them upside down by their feet from the dorm roof. Or they'd ride through the car wash in the back of a pickup truck."

Courtney grimaced and shot Geoff an annoyed look. He didn't seem to notice or care.

"Sounds like your older bro is quite the frat boy." Barney chuckled.

"He looks like one in the making." Belle pointed at Geoff. "Ugh I could never. If I had to join a sorority I would literally die." She shuddered.

"Same. If I had to join a frat, I'd jump in front of a bus!"

"I'd push you!"

"No way, that totally reminds me of another time my bros got into some crazy trouble." Geoff said. "So, back when I was little I lived in BC yeah, before we moved out East? They had this bus route that took people to the beach and- owwwwww!"

He was cut off by Courtney grabbing his ear and dragging him to his feet. "Jerry, we need to go get some fresh air."

"We do? But the air is fine here-aaaaah!" He winced as she dragged him more forcefully. "Ow ow ow, alright! Sheesh!"

Barney and Belle watched them go with the sort of latent curiosity of people who had seen a lot of weird stuff and were not going to make a fuss over one more oddity.

"Huh." Belle scratched her head. "Strange people. Hey, you think that Chris was ever in a frat?"

"Him? No way, that guy does not have enough pain tolerance to be in a frat." Barney shook his head. "But I bet he would buy a used letterman on Ebay and pretend he was in one."

"Oh yeah." Belle laughed. "He totally would. What a weenie."

While the interns laughed at their bosses expense, Courtney dragged Geoff to the back of the boat. The churning water at the stern would make it nearly impossible to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Why'd you do that man?" Geoff balked. "We were straight chillin, no need to get all up in my face."

"Have you forgotten everything we went over earlier?" Courtney asked. "We are in disguise. If you keep talking you're gonna blow our cover, if you haven't already!"

"Dude, relax. If you freak out they'll definitely know something is up so like, just take it easy."

"That's what you always say! Take it easy, it's gonna be fine, don't worry man." She rattled off his common mantras mockingly. "Those boards mean a lot to Bridgette, I need to know you're serious about making this up to her and not just using this as an excuse to goof off."

"I am totally serious about it man, I just don't get all wound up about it like you."

"I do not get wound up!" Courtney crossed her arms defensively.

"You so do!" Geoff shot back.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Ugh whatever, it doesn't matter." Courtney shook her head. "We're getting off topic. Just, follow my lead and don't do anything crazy alright? And leave the talking to me."

"Fine, sure. Whatever you say man." Geoff said with all the enthusiasm of a child being told to eat their leafy greens at the dinner table.

It would have to do for now.

---

Katie left Noah undisturbed that morning. He had slept through breakfast and missed Owen's dramatic rendition of the ingredients in a protein bar. It was hard to put into words why it was funny, but soon everyone was joining in. Katie had done the best job, pronouncing Erythritol as if it were a forbidden ingredient in a fate changing brew. Once she and Sadie had found a spellbook at the library and tried to summon a millionaire with a sweet tooth to their ice cream stand. When that didn't work, they tried to cast their own spells with whatever they had around their kitchens. After a week of smelling like star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon, they settled on experimenting with black lipstick and reading about werewolves and vampires.

Anyway, Noah had also missed out on lounging by the pool. He would have loved it, doing nothing was totally his style. Bridgette and Owen were in the hot tub looking like they were sleeping with their eyes open. Lindsay opted for a sunbathing session while Katie took in the scenery around her. Twig Harbour didn't have any islands, the lake was open and sunny every summer. Her and Sadie would people watch, sometimes they saw Sadie's little sister with her friends. It was adorable to see a mini Sadie crushing it at volleyball or kayaking, though she didn't seem to like Katie.

Anyway. They had some delicious muffins for brunch, everyone had been snacking all morning so they didn't really need a full meal. It was like Thanksgiving back home without any of the work of cooking. Sweets and desserts were Katie and Sadie's area of expertise, but with both of their families working on dinner together the kitchen became their very own fusion cuisine restaurant.

A. Ny. Way.

Noah woke up to the sound of knocking.

"Noah, you've got to try these muffins!"

"One minute!" he called out, still groggy.

The warmth of Noah's bed usually confined him to a gilded cage of comfort he lazily fought for hours to get out of. These beds especially. The thread count on those blankets would have his back home fuming with jealousy. Still, this was Katie. Noah's willpower won over the siren call of sleeping through the afternoon, as well as the reluctance of his in arms removing the blanket. For the first time in his life he considered the weight set his dad passive aggressively got him for his birthday. Even if he preferred his gaming dexterity to having the hand of a meathead.

"Sorry, make that five minutes!"

Katie paced as she waited for Noah. She walked down the stairs to peek outside at what the rest were up to, though she kept an ear out in case the door unlocked. Soon her eyes turned to the decorations around the hall. The furniture looked like it had been imported the day before their arrival, and the mounted hunting trophies didn't look like animals that had been shot. With all the lacquer and glass it was like a rich person had been to Wawanakwa for five minutes and immediately decided they could do better. Not that it was a high bar to clear.

Noah's door opened and it took Katie a second to realize what was different. Same clothes, but those layered shirts were tucked in. His bed was actually made, maybe a maid had left it like that? Noah was wringing his hands for some reason.

"Morning."

Katie grinned, everyone was up and accounted for! She eagerly held out the basket of muffins. "Morning!"

Noah furrowed his brow at the basket of banana walnut muffins. Those could kill him.

"Thanks, Katie," he gave his best grin. "Actually, I was thinking we could watch a movie. They have a bunch of DVDs here."

Katie gasped. "They do? They really have everything here!"

She hurried down the steps to the living room with Noah trailing behind. There was a large TV, and it would have had cable if the producers hadn't arranged otherwise. The contestants weren't going to get a sneak peak of how they were edited, or catch a glimpse of anything they weren't already aware of in the competition. Instead, they had spared every expense acquiring teen comedies from the clearance aisle. Noah had hope that Katie might pick out something like Clueless, the best modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. Or she might pick out Mean Girls and both of them could pursue the low hanging fruit of comparing Heather's squad with the Plastics, even if Beth wasn't rich like Gretchen and Heather's veneer of niceness was thinner than Regina's.

"Oh my gosh, Sadie and I saw this in the theater and we loved it!"

Noah hoped to dear god that "From Justin to Kelly" was an underappreciated gem that his chick flick loving siblings had neglected to force him to watch.

That was not the case. The contrived writing and lackluster performances failed to give any sense that these were actual characters and not two teen idols at the mercy of contractual obligations. This might have been worth watching if Katie was having any fun, but she stared wistfully at the screen.

"Want to change the movie?" Noah asked.

Katie shrugged."I think Sadie made this movie more fun than it actually is. Maybe we can do something with everyone else?"

Noah nervously glanced at her. "It's alright, I like it."

Katie raised an eyebrow. Was he patronizing her? Noah's mouth felt dry as he choked out a reply. "It's a bold cinematic choice not to make them look at each other during the romantic duet."

Katie looked a little confused, but it wasn't long before she chuckled. "Or how they're still friends with Alexa somehow."

"Is there some kind of girl rule where you have to keep an evil friend around?" Noah inquired.

"Does Heather count?"

The two of them laughed and kept watching. Even after they finished they replayed it. From the abnormally large typeface of the character's text messages, to the constant continuity errors of the clothing, they were laughing hysterically by the time Katie dropped the bombshell that the actors had started dating during filming.

Bridgette watched from outside, sneaking off to get the others. Owen and Lindsay were happily splashing around in the pool like children by the time she showed up.

"Is Katie coming?" Lindsay whined. They had constantly been doing stuff together, it would be weird to stop out of nowhere. Owen seemed to agree.

"Is my little buddy still sleeping?" He asked.

Bridgette gave a noncommittal shrug.

"They'll be fine. So, who wants to get a seaweed wrap?"

---

Hours after they had departed the island, but not many, Courtney found herself in the driver's seat of a company truck questioning every decision she'd ever made. If it led her here, surely she must have made a mistake somewhere. She clutched the steering wheel with a white-knuckle grip, her eyes scanning the road frantically. She only had a learner's permit, and Geoff sure as hell wasn't qualified to supervise her while driving with one. The fact the other interns even gave her the keys without checking her ID first shocked her, and the surprises didn't stop there. They'd even given her a company card that gave her unlimited latitude with which to purchase all the items she lied about going to get, which she could spend freely so long as there remained money in the account.

Where was the oversight, the strictness, the security, she wondered. Was this just Total Drama being a shoddy production ran carelessly, or was this how the real world worked, and everything she'd been raised to believe was necessary for success a lie? Maybe this was simply how people too dumb to go to law school ran their businesses, and she would see higher standards in her own field. Hopefully that was the case, otherwise her blood pressure might spike to lethal levels if she found her own employees pulling a stunt like this.

In the passenger seat beside her, Geoff had a map of the Toronto area folded out on his lap, not a care in the world. What would they even say if the cops pulled them over? She had no excuse to be doing anything this blatantly illegal and irresponsible, and she could only imagine what Geoff might say to make things worse. So she tried to force it out of her mind and keep her focus on the road. Just drive as normally as possible. Take the middle lane, drive exactly the same speed as everyone else, make no sudden movements, do everything possible to not stand out in any way possible.

When they first started they had sifted through a massive phone book of the Toronto area, and through some trial and error found every sporting good's store within an hour of the drive, marking it down on the map. Like any good planner, Courtney had made a list of these locations on a piece of paper and kept it in her pocket. They were heading to the first one right now, and if all went as she hoped they wouldn't have to cross many off that list before they were done for the day.

Somehow they made it to the parking lot of their first stop without attracting any attention. A Rick's sporting goods, one of those giant emporiums for every sort of sport related thing you could think of. From hockey to football, to hunting, fishing and hiking. They even sold equipment for proper sports that sensible people played, like tennis. Courtney took a deep breath as she put the car in park and shut off the engine.

"Now remember. We're looking for this specific kind of board." She said, fishing one of the fragments out of her pocket, "No cheap substitutes."

"Right. Bridgette deserves the best." He nodded in agreement, holding up his own piece in affirmation. As he stepped out of the car and they started walking, he beheld the store with boyish wonder. "Man, these places are so cool! Haven't been to one in a hot minute, gotta see what I've been missing out on."

"Not much, probably." Courtney shrugged.

"But there's so much good stuff in these places. It's the only place I can find good tough socks that last me the whole football season." Geoff said.

"Well that's great, but I prefer more civilized sports that won't give me a concussion." Courtney said.

"More what sports?" Geoff scratched his head.

"Forget about it." She shook her head. "We're getting off track. Now, if we both cover different areas of the store this should go by quickly. I'm going to need you to…Geoff? Geoff are you listening?"

No response. Courtney turned around, only to see thin air where Geoff had been standing a few minutes ago. She sighed and facepalmed, walking over to the checkout counter nearby.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone." She greeted the employees with the best smile she could muster, given the circumstances. "He's about this tall, wears a garish pink shirt with nothing underneath, blonde hair, big hat."

"Oh yeah I think I saw a guy like that." One of the workers said. "Looked like he was heading to the sunglasses kiosk."

"Of course he was." Courtney's eye twitched. "Say, do you know where you keep the baseball bats? I really, really need a new one."

"Go down aisle 8, they're on the right side." The employee replied, their minimum wage induced apathy blinding them to the seething rage bubbling under Courtney's expression.

"Thanks." She said.

The bats were exactly where they said, and with almost uncanny serenity Courtney plucked one off the rack. Nearby was one of those ball towers, those square plastic frames full of balls, bound together by bungee cord and standing two floors tall. Courtney's fingers tightened and released their grip around the handle of the bat as she breathed deeply. In and out, one breath at a time, just like she'd been taught.

Then she let out a visceral war cry, and raised the bat over her head. With the pent up fury of a thousand suns she began thrashing the poor ball tower. Her strikes were rapid, powerful, aimed at the soft and durable merchandise that could take the abuse of she was dishing out. She was breathing alright, and that breathing was fueling onerous screaming and a sort of violence that bubbled much closer to the surface than she would ever admit.

When her voice had gone hoarse and she finally stepped back from her handiwork, only then did she release her weapon and compose herself. Walking away from it to go find Geoff, she couldn't help but grow a smile of relief.

"Bridgette would be so proud of how far I've come in anger management."

---

For the first time in weeks, Noah wasn't itching. Bug bites, rashes, dryness, he wouldn't have to worry about any of it for three days. He'd forgotten what his nails looked like without dirt under them, they certainly felt better clean. Noah smirked at the thought of Heather on Wawanakwa, if she wanted to get her nails done by someone else she'd have to put up with Lindsay. He nestled underneath the hot towels his masseuse had left him, the massage table was just as comfortable as any bed he could have been on. He drifted in and out of sleep in a comforting limbo. Whether he won Total Drama or managed to build a tech empire, this was what he wanted. That came with a caveat, though. He had read enough about psychology to know that he would acclimate to whatever standard of living he'd achieved. The solution was pretty obvious, though. Changing his environment just before he started taking it for granted. Couldn't be too hard, being on this show made a hot shower feel like heaven.

"Noah!"

Katie's voice. Really? He was enjoying the amenities, pretty much exactly what she told him to do. Their suite had a gazebo where the staff could set up a treatment at a moment's notice. As cold blooded as Noah was, the cool breeze was pretty relaxing. What he didn't like was the public nature of the outdoors when he was trying to avoid being bothered. He'd make a note of that for his future at-home luxuries.

"Noah, buddy!"

"Random question, is Noah short for anything?"

Owen and Lindsay. Playing dead probably wasn't worth it when he was outnumbered. Noah lifted a cucumber off of his eye, perfect for reducing his dark circles as Lindsay helpfully pointed out as if it took a genius to know that a watery vegetable could hydrate.

"Yes?"

He dropped the slice when he saw what Katie and Owen had. Each hand held a plate, each arm balanced a tray. It was a bad sign when Lindsay's single platter of micro portioned health foods was the most sensible option.

"Little buddy, don't let that go to waste."

Noah had no idea what he was talking about until the other cucumber fell off. "... What's going on here?"

"A podunk!" Lindsay said confidently.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Lindsay, we've been over this two times already."

"What happened to room service?" Noah asked.

"I didn't want to have them make new food," Owen explained, "I asked for all the stuff they were gonna throw out."

Now that he mentioned it, the food looked a bit half eaten. About half of it looked ready to serve, the other half had bites missing.

"You cannot be serious."

Katie had enough self restraint not to shrug while precariously carrying the impending buffet. "Noah, all that stuff is perfectly fine! They barely touched it before they sent it back."

"Would you serve that to someone?" Noah asked.

Katie thought about it for a second. She wouldn't, but she wasn't going to let that kill the fun.

"Potluck in the dining room in five minutes!"

---

Bridgette was having a pretty good time, all things considered. Relaxing had taken her mind off of Geoff and let her focus on her vacation. After all, it would only be sweeter to return and make up for lost time. A hot shower, clean clothes, and now lunch with vegetarian options!

The only jarring shift so far was Owen's choice of food. Instead of the sliders and truffle macaroni he had a plate full of kale. Bridgette tentatively approved, but Noah was skeptical. Owen was eating health crap on purpose? It wasn't like Chef was there to force him to. He was eating it bite by bite, grimacing and washing it down with a gulp of soda each time.

"Sudden changes in behavior can be explained by head injuries," Noah subtly pointed out.

Katie nudged him under the table with her leg. Noah's eyebrows shot up. Owen could take a playful ribbing, it's not like he was oblivious to the sarcasm. Katie on the other hand had never said anything she didn't mean about Sadie without regretting it. In a life without her other half, she could have easily turned to bringing others down if it would make her feel better about herself.

Hearing Owen snicker jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Dude, I've gotten hit in the head so many times."

"Enough that you like kale now?"

"I think it's a good thing to eat healthy!" Katie chimed in.

Noah refrained from raising an eyebrow. Katie had stake in Owen's diet for some reason, it was probably for the best not to get involved.

Bridgette, of course, held the opposite opinion. "Um, I don't know if that's gonna…"

Katie narrowed her eyes and Owen looked crestfallen. Bridgette adjusted her words.

"... be easy. But it's all about how you approach it."

"It's actually pretty simple," Lindsay chimed in. "Your nutritionist tells you what to eat and what not to eat."

"I don't have one," Owen pointed out.

Lindsay cocked her head. "Oh. Well there's your problem."

"You don't need a nutritionist," Bridgette assured them. "You can make slow changes over time. That way you can maintain your habits."

Noah figured it was pretty easy for her to say, she seemed well off and comfortable in her own skin. Katie wasn't the only one who could read people, but Noah didn't get the extent that Bridgette valued food. She had met plenty of people who weren't guaranteed any meals a day, both overseas and locally. Her mother instilled the value of dinner as a bonding ritual as much as sustenance. Noah saw food as fuel, fuel that tasted good, or poison that could kill him.

"Wow, Bridgette, have you thought about writing a book?"

Katie tapped her finger on the table, leaving her food untouched. Relative to the state she got it in, at least. "Guys, isn't it a good thing if Owen wants to eat healthy?"

This was supposed to be their three days away from drama, this wasn't a time to argue! Her and Sadie had shown nothing but support for one another whenever they found a new trend to enjoy, but Noah had to be dragged into every activity. She'd managed to make eating other people's food into a lunch party, surely that had to count for something.

Noah's eyes darted from person to person. Words couldn't help him if he didn't know what he was dealing with, he hadn't acted out of the ordinary, right?

"Um, what's going on?" asked Lindsay, voicing thoughts no one else wanted to ask.

"Let's just all take a deep breath," Bridgette urged.

With the exception of Owen's conspicuously loud bite of kale, everyone quieted down. Lindsay made a big show of inhaling and exhaling, successfully remembering the second step of breathing.

"Maybe we should hear what Owen has to say for himself," she whispered to Bridgette at her usual speaking volume.

Owen's eyes darted around the table. What he had to say for himself? Oh no, that could only mean he was in trouble! Before he could blurt out anything compromising, Bridgette cleared her throat.

"Are you feeling okay, Owen? Anything on your mind?"

While Lindsay's phrasing reminded him of the accusatory authority figures he'd encountered, Bridgette reminded him of the nice lifeguard who had been patient all those times he ran on slippery floors and cannonballed in busy waters. He didn't count her reaction to the fudge prank incident, that was premeditated on his part.

"You know what you said about moving the food supplies?"

Only Bridgette knew what he was talking about.

"I just felt so guilty, everyone back at camp is missing out and I didn't want the food here to go in the trash, it's so good! Katie helped me ask them for stuff they were sending back and came up with the potluck, and I was having fun until a few minutes ago!"

Katie rubbed her arm. "Oh. Did I push the diet on you?"

"Diet?" Owen stared in bewilderment. "I was just eating stuff no one else wanted."

"It probably tastes better without pop," Noah added.

Katie sighed. "I might have overreacted. Can I make it up to you guys?"

"There's no hard feelings or anything," Owen said.

"Feel free to ask me if you need any dieting help," Lindsay offered. "Like, I know walnuts are a great source of alpha three."

"Omega three?" asked Bridgette.

"Oops, I'm getting my wires crossed with that book from last night."

Noah blinked slowly and Katie gave a narrow smile.

---

It wasn't often that anything got to Geoff, but as the lock was winding down on their expedition he couldn't hide his growing apprehension. The sun had passed it's noon time apogee and had begun its trek down to the horizon, when he exited yet another store with Courtney. Again they walked out empty handed.

"Man, can you believe it's another bust?" Geoff asked, frustration creeping into his voice.

"Who would have thought that Ontario isn't a hot surfing destination?" Courtney replied, her annoyance much more pronounced. "Shocking."

"I can't go back to Bridge like this." He said. "How many we got left on the list?"

Courtney brought up the list. Her brow furrowed. More than half the addresses were crossed off in stark black ink, and they were still no closer to finding another surfboard that could substitute the one they broke.

"Eight down, six more to go." She sighed.

"That's not so bad right?" Geoff asked, his voice cracking. "Right?"

"It could be worse." Courtney said, biting her lip.

Further attempts at small talk petered out as they walked back to the truck. The door closed with a heavy thud behind Courtney as she settled back into the driver's seat. She took a deep breath of that weird, stale car air and closed her eyes.

"Uh, Courtney, shouldn't we be going to the next one? Courtney?"

"In a minute."

"But we're running out of time man! We gotta-"

"I know!" Courtney snapped nails digging into her pant legs. "I know…"

"It's just…I thought when I got with Bridge things would just kinda fall into place you know? I didn't think there'd be all this heavy stuff to worry about."

The first thing she wanted to say was a classic 'I told you so', but that might have been too cruel for someone already thinking he might lose his girlfriend hours after he got her.

"Welcome to life Geoff." Was as nice as she could say it. "You want something good, you gotta work for it."

He didn't know what to do with that information, so he stared blankly trying to figure it out. Being sociable and having good luck had got him this far in life, but the reality was slowly creeping up on him that it wouldn't be enough if he wanted to make the most of his relationship with Bridgette.

"But it's fine cause like, things will work out okay in the end right? I mean they always do haha." He said, rejecting that reality and substituting it with his own. "We'll find a nice board, I'll explain what happened to Bridgette, and it will all be chill."

Before Courtney could cast doubt on that idea, the bleep of the walky-talky in the cupholder grabbed her attention.

"Hello? Isabel are you there?" Barney's voice crackled through the cheap, tinny speakers.

Courtney fumbled the device into her hands, nearly dropping it three times before finally getting ahold of the right button. "Uh, yeah I'm here, everything's fine."

"Don't be preposterous, nothing here is ever fine. Something is always breaking, deadlines moving…nevermind. Where are you on those supplies?"

"Y-yeah, supplies. That's what we're getting. I uh, we uh, found them, but the line is really long." Courtney lied through her teeth, "And traffic looked pretty bad coming in so, we definitely won't be back for a while."

"Typical. This is why I could never live in the GTA." Barney's pompousness somehow came across even through the speakers. "Well, stick with it Isabel. I'm sure you and Gerry have this one in the bag."

"I always do." Courtney pulled away the microphone so he wouldn't hear her nervous chuckle at the end of that statement. "I'll report back once we're uh…once we're close to the dock, yeah?"

"Sounds good. Don't be afraid to call in for help if you need it. Our shitty budget means we can't do anything, but we can at least cheer you on from over here."

"Thanks." She sighed. The walky talky clattered as she dropped it back into the cupholder. Courtney slumped back in her seat, sweat rolling down in thin little beads from her forehead. How long could she keep this deception up. Every time her heart raced a little faster, and she felt like she was on the edge of being caught. This couldn't go on forever. Something had to give.

---

Noah was fine heading right to the pool after eating. He didn't have any time for that pseudoscientific drivel. The worst was that it had enough logic to fool anyone who didn't question it. No one had to worry about whether eating would divert their blood flow one way or another while swimming in any significant way. Especially not Noah, who didn't plan to get any wetter than having his legs in the pool.

He figured it was a good sign that Bridgette knew better considering she had headed straight to the indoor pool. Apparently even she could have enough of nature. Trying not to seem too obvious, Noah brushed off Katie's offer of wandering as far as they could. He had something else in mind Katie didn't need to know about.

Noah was an expert at looking like he was doing nothing. Absentmindedly checking his nails and staring off into the distance were carefully honed skills, not that he was particularly proud of that. If anything he would think less of someone who couldn't rather than more of someone who could. Sitting with his legs in the water, Noah looked like there was nothing he'd rather do than nothing. That couldn't be further from the truth. Excellent, Bridgette was approaching him. She remained in the water, but leaned against the side of the pool.

"Hey, Noah."

"Hi."

Easy now, don't seem too desperate. Let her lead and gently prod her in the right direction.

"I bet it's a lot nicer to swim here than it is in the lake." He said.

"I don't know." Bridgette replied. "It's a little weird to swim in a heated pool when you have a natural body of water, you know?"

"No, I would not. I'd say Heater might if getting in non chlorinated water wouldn't melt her."

Bridgette snickered. "Yeah, Geoff would just dive in without thinking."

Bingo.

"He'll end up being patient zero for Hepatitis F if he keeps that up. I really don't get what you see in that guy."

Bridgette crossed one arm over the other and leaned to the side coyly. "Since when are you interested in my love life?"

Noah shrugged. "Just curious. I don't get what you see in him beyond abs and the biggest jaw I have ever seen."

"I thought Cody was more your type," Bridgette snickered.

Noah glared at her. "He has sand where his brain should be, forgive me for speculating on what the appeal is."

"For starters he's nice."

Noah blinked slowly. "Okay."

"He cares about other people, and he's super sincere. I always know he's trying his best and he says exactly what he means, even if he's kind of a dummy. Plus he's like six feet tall. Basically what every girl wants."

Noah scoffed and furrowed his brow. "I thought you'd be more mature than to insist all girls are alike."

"I might be if you just asked me for the romantic advice you need."

Noah's face fell flat, while Bridgette looked absolutely diabolical.

"Who says I'm looking for romantic advice?" He backpedaled. "This is reality TV, we're sixteen, which is also the percentage of likelihood that a couple would last."

"You can't distance yourself from your feelings if you want her to take you seriously," Bridgette pointed out.

Noah crossed his arms. He tapped his finger against his elbow and closed his eyes. "Alright, what do I do?"

Bridgette's smirk faded into a more relaxed smile. "You have to dive in. You can't leave any room to chicken out and play it off as a joke."

"Bridgette, a water pun?"

"Noah."

"Sorry."

Bridgette rolled her eyes. "No changing the subject, no hiding behind irony, and no pretending you're above your feelings. Got it?"

Noah gulped and nodded.

"Good. I think you've got this."

And with that, Bridgette dived into the water. She floated a few theories about Noah in her head. Maybe he was prickly to hide a delicate side he was insecure about. Maybe he was cynical and didn't want to get hurt. Maybe his ego was so big that he had no idea how to handle being humbled by sincere feelings. This didn't last for very long and Bridgette was left hoping that he and his crush would work it out, whether they got together or not.

---

Lindsay's beauty rest was vital. It helped with her blood flow, which helped her complication glow. Was that the word? Skin is pretty complicated so it must be! Tonight was especially important since they'd be leaving for Wawanakwa tomorrow, she wanted to leave as rejuvenated as possible. She was gonna be back on tv after all!

Lindsay always slept on her back, it kept everything in place and helped her spine feel better. Unfortunately, she had woken up on her side that night. Ouch! This was just like all those times she had to run for P.E. and her chest hurt. Lindsay took the pillow out from under her knees and set it aside as she got up, walking to the window and opening the curtains.

Disappointingly, it was still nighttime. It was still illuminated nicely, it was plenty brighter than the dark nights of Wawanakwa. The lights were on at the main building, some people lingered outside smoking. Eww, that was terrible for their skin! Lindsay squinted, the doctor told her she had 2015 vision, either getting the year wrong once or her age wrong twice in a row. But anyway, she could see a tall woman with a high bun, a black cocktail dress, and what was probably a string of pearls around her neck. Probably on a smoke break from a fancy dinner party, her dad always told her never to do that because it would dull her taste buds. They probably had some pretty decorations, maybe a nice chandelier or a carved swan. Tasteful minimalism wasn't normally Lindsay's thing, but she could get behind it!

If there were any advantages to be had from her intellect, it would he that she hardly had an imagination to transform the weird shapes of the night into unnerving presences with unclear intents. That weird square thingie against the wall? It wasn't moving or anything. The deer head mounted on the wall? It would be cute if she could see it. That lumbering fat guy outside? That was just Owen!

…

Was he supposed to be outside?

Lindsay knew there must be a rule about that. Chef told them to behave and there was probably a curfew. Owen was wearing a bathrobe, he must have fallen asleep because it was nice and soft and warm. Like Lindsay's bed… but she didn't want poor Owen to get lost! She got lost all the time, so she was probably the most qualified person to bring him back!

Lindsay rummaged through her bag, she didn't have anything that could fit a black tie dress code but she had a plan. She ruffled her hair and pulled it back in a ponytail before putting on a pair of low cut jeans and a red tank top. She had spare clothes in case she needed to stage a candid paparazzi shot for a magazine, but she had packed tons of spares of her usual outfit to craft a signature Total Drama look. That way dressing differently would be an extra special surprise for everyone. It was a weird coincidence that everyone else dressed the same every day, but they must have had the same idea. Even Tyler, and he didn't have any fashion sense beyond knowing brands.

Sneaking out wasn't hard, she had boyfriends before the show. She wasn't going steady with anyone when she left so her situation with Tyler was probably fine. The path from the suite to the party venue was thankfully paved, Lindsay hated the unnatural asymmetry of Wawanakwa's ground. She put on her best confused and concerned face with a surprising amount of ease, risking future wrinkles was worth saving Owen. The woman she saw earlier was still on her smoke break, Lindsay had correctly identified her jewelry as pearl earrings. Good for her!

"Excuse me, have you seen someone sleepwalk in there?"

The woman didn't spare a glance at Lindsay. "The rubenesque one wearing unseasonal sleepwear?"

Lindsay nodded in her peripheral vision. The woman closed her eyes and gave the slightest hint of a single nod.

"Thank you, ma'am!"

The woman's eyes snapped open, but Lindsay had already gone inside. There was a sea of black tie attire. Most of the tables were arranged to leave the center of the room open for mingling. Lindsay didn't want to start with the groups at the tables, most of them looked too busy with whatever they were talking about. It was like her mom talking with her friends, they'd probably send her to someone else who could take care of the emergency. Her only solution? Schmoozing.

Lindsay stepped closer to the center thingie where people talked holding delicate glasses of champagne. Now, who would have seen Owen? Heather was the other fancy person still in the game, what did she think of him? Usually not much, unless it was commenting on his offensive odor. Maybe she could look for offended people?

She walked up to the first scowling person she saw, a tall broad shouldered guy who looked like if Herald ditched the glasses and joined a cross country rowing team. He wore an unmemorable tuxedo with a sloppily adjusted collar. He was alone, so she wasn't interrupting anything.

"Hi, excuse me."

"What?" the man snapped.

"Just wondering if you've seen someone sleepwalking here?"

The man gestured to the rest of the partygoers with a sarcastic flourish. "Aren't we all?"

Lindsay raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I'm pretty sure we're all awake."

The man scoffed and adjusted his tie. "You say that, but when's the last time you've really laughed? Do you even appreciate anything anymore, or has your money dulled you to the joys of life?"

Okay, so he didn't know where Owen was. It was time for Lindsay to excuse herself.

"Um, I'll think about it."

The man stared at her with contempt as she walked away, heading to the next unhappy person she saw. She looked like if Noah were a middle aged woman who loved jewelry. A super hunky guy with a really nice suit and two watches was talking to her, and she would reply with a noncommittal grunt every few seconds.

"Hi there!" Lindsay walked up to the woman.

The bedazzled lady's eyes widened and she turned to the guy. "I'll see what she wants, I think Denise wanted to talk to you anyway."

She turned away from the guy to face Lindsay. "Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem!" Lindsay replied without knowing how she helped. "Have you seen someone sleepwalking around here?"

"Blonde?" the woman asked.

Lindsay nodded.

"Yeah, he was here. Is he your boyfriend?"

Lindsay's eyes widened, she shook her head vigorously.

"Oh, no, I'm dating a guy named Tyler."

"Oh, so that must have been your brother. I don't know where he is, sorry."

Lindsay frowned. "Oh well. Thanks anyway!"

"No problem."

That lady was helpful, she seemed really nice with that guy gone. Why was Lindsay even looking for unhappy people, again? She needed help, she should look for helpful looking people! With this genius plan in mind, she thought to her next course of action. The lady who seemed angry was nice, someone who looked happy might turn out to be mean. But the angry looking guy turned out to be weird. Maybe judging people based on their looks was bad, but how else could she find out who was helpful?

She stood still to think about her conundrum, not noticing as an equally oblivious person with a tray of drinks bumped into her. Both of them gasped as a cocktail glass spilled over, sending a drop of alcohol hurtling at Lindsay's boot. She took a step back and narrowly avoided catastrophe. The man wiped his brow, nearly letting the drinks fall over from holding them one handed.

"I am so sorry."

He looked like her dad's age, wearing a polo shirt and khakis. He must have been some kind of waiter because no one else was dressed like that.

"It's okay," Lindsay assured him.

"Are your boots okay? I can buy you new ones."

Lindsay remembered what her parents had said about older men giving her expensive gifts and glanced around. "Um, you can help me with something else. Have you seen my brother? He's sleepwalking and I can't find him."

"Oh, that's who that was. Huh. You two don't look alike. I think he was trying to get to the bathroom, it's right over there."

"Thank you! You're actually a pretty good waiter!"

The man's jaw dropped. Lindsay faked a laugh.

"Joking! Um, you're some kind of athlete?"

The man nodded, although he still looked hurt. "I was the star of the football team in high school. I was pretty cool."

"Helping me out was pretty cool."

The man smiled. "Thanks, good luck finding your brother."

Lindsay departed for the bathroom and the man cleared his throat.

"It's that way."

It was a short walk to the bathrooms, where Lindsay found Owen leaning against the wall, right next to the women's room. She quickly stepped in and intervened before he could find the door. Somehow, he was still completely asleep, having crossed the entire event without being awoken by any of the commotion.

Gently she steered him towards the exit, trying to look as casual as possible. They got a lot of odd looks but thankfully nobody spoke up or said anything to their face. She could definitely tell though, a lot of them were talking behind their backs. That didn't matter, all she cared about was getting out of here.

With no incidents thus far she finally made it to the main lobby. Lindsay could cheer in triumph, the rescue mission was a success! The door was a meter away, they were-

Oh no. Lindsay wasn't a physics expert, but there was a lady in Owen's way. Lindsay tried to guide him to the side, but Owen was on a fixed path. The lady didn't notice either of them, she was facing away! Lindsay tugged on his arm in a last ditch effort to stop the collision.

Owen bumped into the lady.

She turned to face them, surprised. "Oh, sorry about that."

Lindsay let out a nervous chuckle. "No worries, we were just on our way out."

"I was thinking about leaving myself. My daughter is probably getting restless with me gone. She's having a rebellious phase, she doesn't want to play toy ponies with me anymore."

"Aww, I remember when I grew out of dolls! How old is she?"

"Taylor's fourteen."

Lindsay's brow furrowed. "Oh, um. Okay."

Now that Lindsay had a chance to get a good look at her, Lindsay saw she was dealing with a blonde. Probably not a real one, but the dye job looking convincing enough to pass. The white business suit with shoulder boards and a pencil skirt were such an 80s throwback, Katie would love the look. Lindsay speculated that given her age, she might have been around when that was still the hot style.

"Oh how rude of me, I'm Kelly." The lady introduced herself. "I don't think I've gotten your name but your brother has been the talk of the town!"

Lindsay racked her brain for names. Audrey, Tinsley, Ainsley, Courtney, oh! Brittany worked.

"I'm Lindsay! And this is-"

Quick, which boy name could she use?

"Chef!"

Kelly was intrigued.

"Oh, nice! Good to see occupational names are catching on, I would have named my daughter Archer if she was a boy. Her father was in Beijing when she was born so he wouldn't get the chance to veto it!"

Kelly's self absorbed rambling could have distracted her from the teenagers she was talking to if Owen hadn't chosen that time to snore. She looked at him surprised and noticed their outfits. She glanced to Owen.

"Am I… boring him?"

"Not at all! He's sleepwalking because of his narcotics."

Kelly looked horrified. "You mean narcolepsy?"

Lindsay gasped. "Miss Kelly, we're not allowed to do drugs."

Kelly crossed her arms. She had let her daughter off the hook for plenty of things, but these two? They weren't even her flesh and blood and they were mocking her!

"Were you two invited?"

"We were just on our way out," Lindsay assured.

"Right. Are your parents attending?"

A drop of sweat rolled down Lindsay's forehead. "Well… you see… um…"

Kelly narrowed her eyes. Lindsay had to think fast.

"Our dad is Arnold Conrad." She said.

Kelly mused it over. She had met him at some other parties. Kelly had done enough portraits that she could remember a face pretty well. They didn't look like him at all, but he had some work done so that might be why. There was one final clue, though.

"I thought Mrs. Conrad was a brunette?"

Lindsay grimaced. She looked around nervously to make sure no one was listening. "Don't tell anyone, but I dye my hair."

"And him?"

"Mom used to take pottery classes with a high school friend of hers. A lot of pottery classes."

Kelly's poker face needed some work. "Say no more. Should I escort you two to Arnold's room?"

"That doesn't sound like a good idea. He doesn't want anyone to learn about Chef's sleepwalking, he'd be so embarrassed if he found out about the party. Just make sure no one finds out about any of this."

Kelly tapped her fingertips together and nodded. "Yes. Well, I hope you two have a good night."

"Okay bye!"

Lindsay darted out of the door tugging Owen by the hand. She took him up to his room and pushed him on on his bed. She went went her room and collapsed on her own bed. She was tired but proud. That went flawlessly! Arnold Conrad was a family friend who always went to fancy parties. He was super important, it was super smart of her to name drop him. Plus there was no way Kelly would tell anyone, so he'd probably be okay with it. Crisis totally averted! Her beauty sleep was well earned.

After what felt like five minutes of having her eyes closed, Lindsay's door was shaken by rough knocking.

"Vacation's over! Boat's leaving in twenty minutes, get packed!"

---

Elsewhere, a few hours away and a few hours earlier, Geoff and Courtney found no respite in their quest either. Under the distant gaze of black monoliths in Toronto's center, backlit by the sinking inferno of the sun, they made their last grasp at finding their long sought after board. Soon all the shops would be closed, and more importantly their cover would be blown. The calls from Barney asking where they were grew more frequent and more strained, and Courtney had to make up increasingly implausible stories about wrecks on the highway jamming up traffic to keep him satisfied.

This last store did not look very promising, but it was the only one left on their side of Toronto they hadn't checked yet. As Courtney power-walked up and down the aisles, Geoff trailed behind her in a fretful, nervous zig-zag.

"It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be fine." He muttered his mantra under his breath, increasingly

out of desperation and no true sense of belief.

Courtney did her best to ignore him and concentrate on her mission. This place did at least look promising. There were boats on display in a big garage at the back, fishing poles on racks as they passed, and a whole swimsuit section. This place served aquatic activities quite well. With few employees left in the store this late, they had nobody to pull aside and ask for some help, so all they could do was dash up and down the aisles hoping to spot something

She perked up as she spotted a rack of boards against the back wall of the store. It seemed that Geoff did too, for he bounded ahead of her towards the bounty ahead.

"Aw, sweet!" He exclaimed.

"This better be it." Courtney inhaled deeply as she followed him, uttering a silent prayer. They gad come too far to come back empty handed.

But when Geoff got to the boards and picked up one to inspect it, he was met with the sickening sensation of cheap, rough plastic against his fingers.

"No way!" He tossed it to the floor in rejection. "There's gotta be something better man, don't give me this shit!"

"Easy Geoff." Courtney cautioned, "Let's stay calm about this…"

He did not stay calm. Instead he began grabbing board after board, furiously tossing each aside for failing to meet the standards he expected. It wasn't just about the board anymore, it was about finding something as ideal as the image he'd built up of Bridgette in his head. It had to be perfect, like her, and if he came back to her with anything less, he wasn't good enough for her. He was full of anxieties only the frantic mind of a young man hopelessly in love and in his first relationship could be.

Then things went from bad to worse. Over the speakers, an announcement from an exhausted employee droned through the store.

"Aqua Sports Palace Deluxe will be closing in five minutes. Repeat. Five minutes."

"No way." Geoff stomped angrily. "They can't close, we haven't found it yet! This is bullshit!"

"No time to argue, do you want to be locked in here all night?" She asked rhetorically, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him out towards the parking lot.

Once out there he had a chance to breath and let the cool evening breeze wash over him. His anger morphed into a profound sadness. The empty parking lot seemed to stretch for an eternity in every direction around him.

"What are we going to do?" He asked.

It took a moment for Courtney to find the words herself, though she knew the answer already. "The only thing we can do. Tell the truth." She said.

"No way." Geoff shook his head. "Bridgette will kill me! Even worse, she'll dump me!"

"Bridgette's a nice girl Geoff, she'll forgive you." Courtney assured him. Ironically, that wasn't the truth as she saw it, for she could make no prediction as to what Bridgette's reaction might be. But it was what he needed to hear right now. "But if you lie to her about it and she founds out later, think how much more mad she'll be."

Geoff opened his mouth for a rebuttal but found no words with which to make one. "I…well…you…uh…uhm…" He stammered on like this for a few more seconds, before giving up entirely. His shoulders slumped. "Fine. You're probably right. She is pretty chill…it's one of the hottest things about her." He laughed weakly. "Just like her hair…and her eyes…and her butt…and-"

"Okay, enough of that." Courtney shook her head as they reached the truck, and she hopped in. "Let's get back to the dock."

Thus they embarked on their last drive of the night. Though she had fibbed about traffic many times to explain their tardiness to Barney, those lies had some substantial truth to them once she got back on the highway. Progress was slow, and soon the last orange glimmers of sunset gave way to twilight and encroaching darkness. Daisy chains of red brake lights stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a typical downtown Toronto experience.

"Give me that!"

One too many stops in the traffic finally convinced Courtney to snatch the map off Geoff's lap and start looking for an alternative route back. She flicked one of the overhead lights on, trying to parse which path among the maze-like myriad of options would get them back to the dock quicker.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the blare of a loud honk. She looked up, startled. Traffic had moved far ahead of her while she was reading, now she was holding up all the people behind her. They were not happy about that. Hastily, she began driving again, and picked the first alternative route she could see to get the hell off the highway.

"Are you sure about this?" Geoff asked as they took their exit.

"Positive." Courtney lied.

Their new track took them through the smattering of small towns and suburbs that ringed the Toronto area. More stopsigns and stoplights laid ahead to slow them down, but there was no longer an endless ocean of automobiles between them and their destination.

Courtney's head was constantly on a swivel. New to driving, in the dark in an unfamiliar place, she read each and every street sign as she passed it to make sure they were still where the map said they were. The era of ubiquitous, reliable and accurate handheld navigation was still a few years off, and though her children would live never knowing what it was like to get lost, it was a very real possibility that loomed over her that night.

As they moved away from the more urban areas, they got onto long stretches of quiet roads that linked the more outlying towns. Courtney was so focused on trying to look out ahead and make sure she wasn't driving into the abyss, that she almost didn't catch the big blue glowing neon sign off to their left.

"Woah, dude, it's like a giant surfboard." Geoff gasped as they passed by. "Wish I could bring that back to Bridge…"

"Surfboard?" Courtney shot upright in her seat, looking around until it came into view. Sure enough, a small shack on the side of the road, only marked by a big blue neon sign in the shape of a board, and three words outlined in glowing white letters.

STEVE'S SURF SHOP

"Shit!" She snapped, slamming the brakes and cranking the wheel hard over.

Geoff screamed as she almost took them in front of an oncoming truck, barely missing it as she swerved across the other lane towards the shack. A bit of dubiously legal maneuvering later, and she careened to a stop in a gravel parking lot with no marked spots. Putting the car in park, she stared up at the store like it was a sign from God. The thatched roof and worn wood construction made it look even more out of place. What the hell was this doing out here, in the middle of nowhere Canada?

"Yo, I don't think that was in the phone book." Geoff said as he stepped out of the truck, beholding it with a similar reverence.

"It wasn't…" Courtney said.

Not only was the main sign still on, but inside the windows were lit. They could hear the faint, scratchy sound of old music being played on a record machine. It was slow, smooth, relaxing beach music, the kind with waves and bird calls in the background. It beckoned them inside.

"Think it's worth a shot?" Geoff asked.

"Why not?" Courtney offered a shrug and a weak laugh. "What have we got to lose?"

Indeed, it would have been hard to leave more empty-handed than they already were. So they took the first tentative steps forward. When the door swung open they were greeted by the heavy scent of treating oils and wood shavings, the air filled with the buzz of old incandescent lightbulbs.

"You kids lookin for something?" Called a voice from behind the counter.

They looked up and sure enough, there behind the counter laid a man who had certainly seen better days. His skin was rough and leathery, the sort of deep reddish brown that a fair complexion became after decades under the scorching sun, and wiry hair that had once been blonde but now was bleached white by age and the elements. Were there any remaining doubt that he had once been a surfer himself, the oversized Hawaiian floral shirt and jean shorts made it an absolute certainty.

That could also be discerned by the selection of merchandise that lay before them. Gone were the endless rows of plastic trinkets and kiosks full of junk. The store front was small, with only items that would be useful to surfers. Swimsuits, wetsuits, sunscreen, and against the far wall, surfboards. There were maybe half a dozen, but what they lacked in number they made up for in craftsmanship. Each one was carved from solid wood and gorgeously painted or stained with intricate, unique patterns. Even from a distance Courtney and Geoff knew they were looking at something special.

"Sweet place you got bro." Geoff said, hurrying up to the counter, "Man, where have you been all day?"

The man behind the counter shrugged. "Here, there. I don't go far. Having somewhere to be man, that's for young dudes like you. Me, I got nothing but time and nowhere to be."

All of that went in one ear and out the other for Geoff. "Uh, what dude? We've been looking for some real nice surfboards all day cause…well, it's a long story but it's okay because we're here. You're Steve right?"

"Some people call me that." The man who shall be henceforth referred to as 'Steve' nodded listlessly. "They called me other things too. Back when I rode the waves."

"So like, there was this board right?" Geoff said. "And it belonged to someone really important to me, so I wanted to find one just like it. Think you could help me out man?"

"Was it a girl?" Steve asked.

"The board?"

"The important person man. Why else would you be out here this late if it's not your dudette?"

Geoff nodded silently.

"I'll try my best man. Got a picture of it?"

"No but we did bring this piece." Geoff offered him the largest portion of the board's shattered remnants to inspect.

Steve got up from his chair and took the piece, sitting back down and kicking his feet up as he turned it over in his hands.

"Righteous man, you got yourself one well-traveled dudette." He said. "This here's some real Australian wood, good stuff. I knew the guy that made these, guy called Big Rob. He had a shop all the way down in Sydney."

Geoff perked up, the spark of hope returning to his eyes. "Woah, that's great. So like, you can get us a new one right?"

"Afraid not brother." Steve shook his head.

"Why?" Geoff scratched his head, visibly confused.

"Big Rob passed back in '03, he's making boards on the big beach up in the sky now." Steve shook his head.

The color drained from Geoff's face, and suddenly his knees felt like jelly. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he could understand what that meant, and it hit him like a ton of bricks. There would be never be another board like the one he destroyed.

"I…I gotta get step out dudes…get some fresh air…" He croaked.

Without hesitation, Courtney followed him.

Behind the shop, Geoff was oscillating between despondence and sheer panic. His breathing came in ragged, almost hyperventilating gasps, and he looked on the verge of tears. Courtney approached him carefully.

"Geoff, just calm down now…"

"Calm down? Calm down?!" He cut her off, his voice cracking. "N-no way man! This can't be happening…this can't…she's gonna dump me!"

"Stop acting like a baby and pull yourself together." Courtney gritted her teeth, her words coming out with far more bite than she intended. "She's not going to dump you, alright?"

"No, no." He shook her head. "She can't know. We can't…we'll tell her that it washed out on the lake! Y-yeah, it just got lost, that's it."

Courtney's brow furrowed with anger. "Did you listen to a damn thing I said earlier? You can't lie to her, it's just gonna make things worse! Ugh you never listen, you're always in your own world you big oaf."

"Lay off bossy lady! I seriously don't need this right now! Don't you get it?" Geoff was in tears by this point, struggling to sputter out the words as they came to him. "I'm gonna lose Bridgette and you're just making it worse by being a bitch."

"Fine! If you don't want my help, I'm gonna go wait in the car! Tell me when you're done with your stupid little tantrum." Courtney said, stomping off.

Silence descended on him, only interrupted by his own sobs at first. Moths danced around the flickering light in the back of the shop, crickets screamed endlessly into the night. Then, the back door to the shop swung open.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Geoff huffed.

"Sorry man, thought you might want a shoulder to cry on or, something. Sounds like you're going through rough shit."

Wait, that wasn't Courtney. Geoff spun around to see Steve standing behind him, leaning up against the back wall of the shop.

"Oh, sorry man. Thought you were someone else." Geoff cleared his throat.

"Man I was someone else." Steve shook his head. "I started surfing back in the summer of '65. It was a different world, a different me. I was where you are, you know?"

"No?" Geoff replied uncertainly.

Steve sighed. "What I'm trying to say is, I know what you're going through. You came a long way to find this place didn't you?"

Geoff nodded.

"Well, so did I. I went all around the world looking for the best spots to catch waves, and I blew my chance with some seriously bodacious babes. All of it over dumb shit I feel stupid for worry about now." Steve shook his head, then looked up at Geoff. "So, do you really love this girl?"

"Uhuh. Like, seriously, crazy in love." Geoff nodded frantically.

Steve stared at him unflinching, looking into his eyes as if trying to search his soul for the honest of the answer. Then the old surfer nodded sagely, and opened the back door to his shop.

"Follow me."

Doing as he was told, Geoff walked with him into the back of the shop, behind the counter. Here it was more like a little house, with a kitchen, a lounge, and a few closed doors Geoff couldn't peek through. In the little lounge there were three boards mounted on the wall above a small TV, and Steve took the bottommost one off and brought it over to Geoff.

"Listen, I know we just met…uh, what was your name again?" Steve asked.

"Geoff. It's Geoff." He replied.

"And the girl. What's her name?"

"Bridgette…"

"You deserve a second chance with this Bridgette. Any girl you're willing to come this far for well…"

"She's the coolest dudette I've ever met." Geoff nodded.

Steve held out the board towards Geoff. "Picked this one up in Hawaii, in the 70s. Dude who made it closed up the shop years ago, not sure if he's still around."

Geoff took it gingerly in his hands, carefully managing the heft and balance. His expression was stunned, as if he'd been handed the lost ark of covenant. The board was a deep, stony blue, with golden detailing of an intricate design all along the length.

"They don't make 'em like they used to huh?" He said.

Steve laughed. "Oh, no. Even back then foam and plastic had taken over. Those of us who kept making it the old way weren't in it to make money or sell boards…it was for the art."

"Oh yeah, I dig that." Geoff nodded. "Bridgette loves like, that worldly art stuff. We stayed up late while she told me all about these rugs she wove in Nepal. That was cool."

"If she had one of Big Rob's old boards she knows craft work when she sees it." Steve nodded. "Here. Take it. Bring it back to her, and tell that dudette how much you love her, got it?"

Tears welling in his eyes, Geoff clutched against his chest tightly. "I won't let you down Steve!" He said, turning towards the exit.

"And if she doesn't take you back, keep the board. Learn to surf." Steve said. "You've got the heart of a great surfer in you, kid."

"I will. Thanks Steve, I won't forget you." Geoff waved.

"Now get going. You're a young dude, you got places to be!"

"Right." Geoff nodded, exiting through the back door. Now alone once again, he kept the board cradled in his arms all the way to the truck. He didn't play around or try to do any cool party tricks with it. He just carried it, careful of his every step, until he was at the truck and could gently set it in the back.

He climbed back into the cabin with Courtney, and shut the door behind him.

"So you got the board?" She asked him, her tone tense but not angry.

"Mhm." He nodded. "It's not the same but, it's a really nice board. Bridgette's a really nice girl."

"She is." Courtney said, then sighed deeply before her next words. "I'm uh…I didn't meant to yell. You were just being very frustrating and well…it's been a long day."

"I hear that man." Geoff nodded. "Sorry for starting this whole mess and all, guess I shoulda been more careful."

"Or grabbed a cheaper board." Courtney broke into a fit of involuntary laughter. Geoff joined her, and together they had a bout of laughter, perhaps more at the absurdity of their situation than anything particularly funny that was said.

"Ready to head back?" Geoff asked.

To his surprise, Courtney cracked a slight smile as they pulled out of the parking lot. "I don't know, we could have a little more fun while we're out here."

"Fun?" Geoff raised a brow. "I thought you were like, majorly stressed."

"Don't tell anyone but…I don't think I've ever felt more alive." Courtney laughed weakly. "Sneaking out, disguising ourselves, lying our ass off! Haha. It's way funnier after it all turned out okay."

"Aw man, what are we gonna say to the other interns? We've been gone all day and we didn't get any of the things we said."

"It doesn't matter." Courtney snickered. "What are they gonna do, not bring us back? They'd be fired!"

Geoff had no answer to that, so he chose to simply recline his seat as far back as it would go, place his hat over his face, and take a nap. Thus their little adventure outside the confines of Wawanakwa came to an end. Each of them had learned a valuable lesson, and would return to the island all the wiser for it.

Before closing out this tale however, the narrator wishes to pass on a few words from Belle and Barney to the reader at their request. They say that they knew the entire time that it was Courtney and Geoff in disguise, and they went along with it because they thought it would be hilarious. In the more modern parlance, they did what was called 'a little bit of trolling'. Neither of them regret anything. Oh, and they also would like the viewing world to know they were both opposed to the moose challenge from the beginning, and had a betting pool going on as to how it would go wrong. Barney had this fantastic idea for a much safer challenge involving emus, but Chris shut it down before he could get his hands on the birds. Belle would also like you to know some very interesting facts about sea slugs-

.

.

.

.

Apologies. The previously narrator has been sacked for disorderly conduct. The new narrator shall endeavor to tell the tale of Total Drama Island faithfully, and without any more pointless side tracks. Courtney and Geoff returned there, where their story would continue shortly. As for the others at the resort, they would be back soon as well. Their story on Wawanakwa would continue. For some they would soon return to the lap of luxury, and for others their stay on the island had many more weeks ahead. All could agree however, that getting a chance to get away from the competition, had made it a great weekend for everyone.