How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition
Monday, June 13th, 2011
7:04 a.m.
Kip Daniels paced back and forth his luxurious hotel room, anxiously twisting his microphone wire around his fingers. The show's roughly edited pilot was a big hit with MTV, but they wanted more drama.
More drama.
How the hell was he going to get more drama? In the first week, Drake managed to sabotage a three year relationship with a two minute phone call. It was a really dicky move, but the audience loved villains.
And it was clear that Jenna and Helga didn't have the best relationship, if that hushed pantry talk had clued him into anything. They both had some sort of infatuation with Arnold. Except now Jenna was gone. . .
The entire house was wired and tripped with cameras, except the bathrooms for privacy. The teens knew it too, even if they didn't suspect it to be true.
But how could he use these conflicts to his advantage?
He needed an ally in the house. Someone to be his eyes and ears when the cameras couldn't actually capture anything.
Knock knock.
Kip jumped across the bed and opened the door, confused and relieved to see a competitor's face.
"Is everything okay?"
"I overheard George say to his pretty little make up girl that you need more drama."
"Uh. . ."
Sarah shoved her way into the hotel room, grinning, "Well, I know where you can get it."
Episode Two - Mud Pits
Filmed: Monday, June 13th, 2011 - Friday June 17, 2011
"Welcome back to the second week of How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition," Kip flipped up another index card, "this week we're getting down and dirty in the mud."
Everyone cheered. How dangerous could mud be?
"Before we can start, though, we need to nominate team captains. I will give you two minutes to decide."
The Black Team all shared a short glance before shrugging. They silently agreed that Arnold should be captain. He was level-headed and kept the team's interest at heart more than his own.
The White Team huddled up, Andrew and Drake casting side glances at each other.
"I don't want to do it," Sarah said quickly.
Drake nodded, "Okay, Helga, how do you feel about it?"
"I know for a fact that Black Team chose Arnold. I'm not nice enough to be captain, plus no one listens to me anyway." She shot a glare at her so called team. "And I'd hate having to go against him on who has the better team."
"I'll take that as a no then."
Helga smirked, "Drake, you have some good points about mind games, but when it comes to serious strategies you kind of suck."
"Alright. What do you think, Sarah?"
Sarah lowered her eyes to the sand, "You are kind of a jerk."
Drake sighed angrily, "Alright, so I take it you want to be captain, Andrew?"
"Well, I assumed the choice would be obvious. I am always right."
"I don't appreciate your cocky attitude-"
"Now it not the time to turn on each other," Helga snapped. "Save it for the Black Team, okay?"
"Ten seconds!" Kip announced. The White Team split up. "Do we have an agreement?"
Andrew and Arnold both stepped forwards. Kip smirked, he wasn't too surprised with their choices. "Alright, then, captains, come here and get your bands." George handed the two boys sweatbands, like the kind soccer players wore on their upper arms.
"Good luck today, everyone! And don't forget, White Team, you're a man down."
Challenge One: Tug O' War
Score: White: 2 ~ Black: 3
"We need to set this up with our weight in the back," Andrew began, pointing to Drake. "We're the two strongest, we'll be anchors. Sarah will be in the front and Helga in the middle. We want to beat them."
"Alright, got it!"
The teams quickly wrapped their hands around the dynamic rope, the incredibly thick and durable kind rock climbers used, and tensed. The two teams waited for the count of three before tugging.
Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:
Remember the Name by Fort Minor
"This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain and 100% reason to remember the name."
Black Team had a similar plan, anchoring two men at the base of the rope's end. Except they also put Mark in the front, allowing him to tug with more aggression.
Sarah screamed and flew forwards after Mark's vicious tug. Her face smacked the platform hard, her body teetering over the edge of the middle, where a mud pit sat.
"Sorry, Sarah, you let go," Kip announced, circling the platform. He not-so-subtly pushed Sarah into the mud.
"You prick!" Helga snarled, grip loosening around the rope.
"Pay attention!" Kip replied, drawing Helga's focus back to the competition.
The flag hanging over the middle had only moved a few inches towards the Black Team's side, but that was enough leverage for John and Arnold to tug harder.
"Come on," Kathy hissed through grit teeth. "Just a few more!"
"On the count of three," Arnold shouted. "One. . .two. . . three!" The Black Team leaned forwards before pulling back again. Helga lost her footing and in two seconds she was meeting Sarah in the mud.
Drake and Andrew shared a shrug before letting go, realizing the fight was lost.
White: 2
Black: 4
The Black Team stumbled backwards onto their platform, limbs becoming entangled at the release of weight on the other side.
Drake happily dove face first into the mud pit. Sarah and Helga shrieked as he splashed around.
Helga waded her way through the mud and up to the side. Drake picked her up onto his shoulders and pushed her upwards, "Grab someone's hand! I can't hold you forever, Helga!"
Helga's pained expression changed into a grin when she realized Arnold was walking towards her. I could always use another April Fool's Joke, Helga thought.
Arnold smiled, "Need any help?"
Helga shifted her weight against Drake's shoulders. He winced in pain, "Ow! Fuck, Pataki, do you have cleats on?"
"Can you help a poor girl out?" she asked innocently.
Arnold stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I would, but I know how your devious mind works, Helga. You are going to pull me into the mud."
"I swear on my own life, I would never pull you in."
"Just pick her up, Arnold! My shoulders are breaking under her weight!" Drake pleaded over-dramatically. Helga kicked his head as punishment for calling her fat.
Just as Arnold's large hand wrapped around hers, Helga saw twin figures jump out of nowhere and shove Arnold forwards.
Helga found herself, once again, falling into the mud pit at Arnold's expense.
The pit itself dropped six feet, the height of the platform, and was filled with half a foot of mud.
Arnold groaned when he landed face first into the mud, his ribs feeling as if they had caved in.
"Jeff! Mark! You assholes!" Helga shrieked, wiping the excess mud from her mouth and eyes. Sarah burst into laughter and slid over to Arnold, pouting sympathetically as she wiped some mud off his eyes.
"Thanks," Arnold said between spitting out the dirt and catching his breath.
Sarah subtly slid closer, wiping splatters of mud off his cheeks and lips with her fingers.
Arnold froze, breathing suddenly becoming even more ragged. He found himself staring into her caramel colored eyes, feeling his heart flutter a little bit. He hadn't had any attention like this from another girl in years.
Helga had been hoisted out of the pit by Mark, who apologized again by tipping his leather cowboy hat.
Jeff and Drake suddenly snickered and pointed to the pit. Helga's eyes followed their fingers only to find herself gasp.
Sarah was practically in Arnold's lap!
Helga's blood was beginning to boil. She knew she had a disgusted look on her face and she could feel the camera lens burning into her soul. They were catching everything.
But when Sarah and Arnold separated to a reasonable distance, Helga shrugged her paranoia off as just that, paranoia. Sarah would never do anything like that because she knew that Helga liked him. Right?
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Challenge Two: Flag Finding
Helga tugged her freshly bleached White Team shirt over her head and cracked her neck. She was starting to hate waking up so early and decided to flop back down under her covers.
Ten minutes later a loud grumble erupting from her stomach drove her out of bed. Lifting herself onto the ground, Helga paused to inhale the intoxicating scent of pancakes warming on a grittle.
Helga marched down the stairs, God Bless whoever got up at the ungodly hour to make. . .
Andrew grinned from behind flour covered cheeks, dark eyes lighting up with a childlike-gleam, as if he was excited to be caught cooking. "Morning," he said between whistling as he flipped another pancake.
"Ay, Captain," Helga teased, collapsing down on a bar stool. She waved her hand to signal that she wanted some food.
"Anything you want on your breakfast? I have cherries, whipped cream, syrups galore, strawberries-"
"No strawberries!" Helga shrieked, "I'm deathly allergic."
Andrew shoved the bowl of strawberries as far away as his six foot tall body could reach. He then flipped a fresh batch of pancakes onto a plate and arranged the toppings within Helga's reach.
Helga pointed her fork at Andrew accusingly, "We've been here for almost two weeks and I still don't know anything about you besides your really sick leading skills, Captain."
Andrew tried to hide his satisfied smirk, "Is that my new nickname?"
Helga nodded and shook up the can of aerosol whipped cream, "Would you prefer Andy, Drew, Captain or something incredibly insulting? I mean I am extending a rare hand in friendship here-"
"Captain is good," Andrew mumbled with a mouth full, "but why the sudden friendship?"
"You make food," Helga mumbled.
Andrew tossed his head back and laughed, "Of course. Uh, well, there's not much to tell you. I live in Hartford with my two little brothers and my parents. They don't earn enough collectively to send me to a college like Dartmouth, they can barley afford to pay in-state tuition for me. If I lose, I'm going to Central Connecticut State with a ton of loans."
Helga slowly lowered her fork, eyes falling on her delicious plate of breakfast. She could almost afford going to college. Granted, she'd have to get a small loan, but she was in better shape than everyone else.
Andrew bent down to her eye level, "You okay? Pancakes not cooked enough?"
Helga shook her head, "No. They're delicious. Really," she swirled her finger around the left over whipped cream and wiped it on Andrew's sunburnt cheek.
Andrew's smile widened as he picked up the whipped cream bottle. "Try me, Helga."
"Is that a threat?" Helga countered, lifting up the bowl of unused batter.
Andrew uncapped the sugary topping and pressed the toggle, unleashing a large spray of whipped cream onto Helga's face. She screamed and laughed, throwing the whisk and batter back at Andrew.
Arnold stumbled into the kitchen a few minutes later, shocked to see Andrew standing behind Helga with his arms tight around her waist, both covered in a mixture of food-like substances.
"Arnold!" Helga squeaked, body suddenly slipping slightly on the messy floor. Andrew caught her and held her closer.
Were they just-? he cut that thought immediately, responding with a simple, "Good morning."
"Do you want some pancakes?" Andrew wiped some batter off of his eyelids.
"I'm good," Arnold smiled and picked up a banana out of the fruit bowl. His eyes suddenly turned around the room, "Do I smell strawberries?"
"Yeah, I had them as a topping."
Arnold's eyebrows arched, tone serious, "Are you trying to kill Helga?"
Helga scoffed, "Relax, Football Head. I already told him I'm allergic."
"To all spectrums of human emotion?" Drake asked as he stepped into the kitchen half-naked. Helga rolled her eyes as Drake struck model poses, flexing his arms and showing off his legs.
Helga squared her shoulders before stepping into Drake's personal space, "Get over yourself, you're worse than those jerks on Jersey Shore." Drake only looked Helga up and down, his tongue running out over his lower lip. Helga's lip curled upward in disgust, "In your dreams, asshole."
"My mind's a very naughty place, Helga," he lifted his hand to trail down her whipped cream covered cheek, "and that's not some place someone as-"
Helga abruptly snatched Drake's wrist in her hands, squeezing tightly. She smacked his cheek, but not too hard. Drake flinched, mouth locking tight to keep his scream of pain in. "Touch me one more time and I will make sure you cannot have children."
Jeff and Mark had entered the scene just in time to see Drake get slapped.
Conflict Soundtrack by MTV
That Girl by All Time Low
"That girl, that girl, she's such a bitch, I tell myself I can handle it. . ."
Drake mouthed an apology before returning to his room with his head dropped low like a sad puppy. The guys all burst into laughter, Andrew holding up his glass of milk to toast her.
Kip tugged violently on the end of his pale yellow polo shirt, trying to make the duck tape and microphone pouch more comfortable. "I don't like this mike. What happened to my ear piece?"
George rolled his eyes, "You dropped it in the toilet. Now, hurry up. We have to film before the kids arrive."
Kip filmed his standard introduction, which got to be super repetitive and obnoxious, but he was getting paid to do it, so he couldn't really complain.
The white van rolled up just in time.
There was a large mud pit built in a sunken platform on the beach. Today the kids would have to find ten flags in the mud, but there were also things like t-shirts and pillow cases so it tricked them.
After explaining the premise of the challenge, Kip gave out final instructions. "Only one person from each team can be in the pit at once. You can find up to three flags before coming out, but once you get three you have to leave. . . .And White Team, someone's going to have to get dirty twice today. Good luck."
The standard countdown began, Kathy for the Black Team diving head first into the mud while Sarah took her time getting in.
Helga and Drake started to scream at her, while Captain Andrew said nothing. "Guys, if she goes about this calmly, she'll be able to move easier. Relax!" That plausible reasoning shut them up.
The mud pit was five feet deep, filled up with half a foot of wiggle room between the edge.
Kathy flailed around the surface of the mud, her red hair and pale face completely covered with chunks of the milk chocolate colored dirt.
Sarah continued with her steady pace, hands digging deep within the mud. She gasped loudly when she felt something poke her ankle. After submerging her arm shoulder deep into the goop, she pulled out a piece of fabric.
Kathy watched in anguish as Sarah waded her way back to her edge, screaming triumphantly.
Drake dove in next. Except he was even more determined to find three flags to hurry this game along. Within the first ten minutes he managed to find one.
Kathy was still struggling to find her first flag.
"You think it's easy, or that it only takes a few minutes," Kathy confessed later that evening, "but it doesn't. I was in that mud pit for fifty minutes before I found even one flag. And even then, it was a goddamn white one!"
By the end of the first hour and a half, Kathy had found two black flags and White had an incredible lead with four.
It had been two hours since the game began. Arnold refused to let their team lose hope, so he tried to off words of encouragement. It didn't help much.
Mark, after sadly removing his hat, jumped into the mud. After falling waist deep, he turned back to his team. "Shit! It's getting hard!"
"That's what she said!" Helga shouted. That earned a round of high fives from her teammates as Andrew waded into the mud.
"Funny, Pataki! Let's see you try it!" Mark yelled back.
Andrew swam, as best he could, three feet under the mud. Holding onto a few bits of breath he had, he reemerged to the surface holding another white flag.
White Flags: 5
Black Flags: 2
"Tag me!" Helga screamed, ready to make Mark eat his southern accented words. Helga marched her way through the pudding-like substance and over to Mark.
He was pretty tall and was very muscular, it was clear he worked on a farm, but he didn't look like he would actually hurt Helga.
"Howdy," he grinned.
Helga picked up a large chunk of mud and threw it at him. It landed right in his tanned, smiling face.
Mark shook his head back and forth. "That was a mistake, little lady," he threatened. Helga laughed and picked up more mud, only to feel herself scream when Mark hoisted her above his head.
"Put me down, you jerk!" The White Team and Arnold jumped onto the sides of the mud pit, screaming at Mark to put her down.
"She's fineeeee," Mark drawled out before tossing Helga into a previously untouched area of mud. Helga groaned, the mud was turning into hard clay.
Getting up from the body-shaped indent she had created, Helga noticed a small bit of white fabric poking out. Grinning, Helga picked up another flag, bringing White to six.
Helga tossed it over the side, "Thanks, Mark!"
Sarah, Drake and Andrew started cheering as Helga began digging around again. Helga found one more flag before calling it quits and tagging Sarah back in.
White Flags: 7
Black Flags: 4
At the end of the third hour, Kip had to intervene with a time complaint. "It's taking you guys too long. You have fifteen more minutes."
Drake and Arnold shared a quick stare down before going into overdrive. Drake dug deep into the mud, pushing and shoving as much mud away as he possibly could.
Arnold dug up another white flag.
Hoping to be discreet, he tried to hide it back in the mud. But Drake saw him and immediately snapped.
"Six minutes!" Kip declared.
Drake jumped onto Arnold's back and pulled him downwards into the mud. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"Give me the flag!" Drake screamed.
Arnold rolled over and kicked Drake off, nailing Drake's hip bone with the point of his sneaker.
The two teams rushed to the sidelines of the mud pit, screaming for them to stop.
Kip paid no attention to their fighting, instead he began the final countdown to end the challenge. Drake finally stepped off of Arnold when the buzzer rang.
Arnold remained motionless in the mud, face twisted in disgust when he realized some mud had fallen in his mouth.
"You dick!" Helga shoved Drake's dirty shoulder, "what was that for? We could've gotten all ten flags! You need to stop your 'Roid Rage."
Drake flashed Helga a sweet smile, "Only because you asked nicely, baby." Helga rolled her eyes.
Kip counted the two piles of flags, impressed at the large gap between the two teams team. "White Team wins!"
Sarah and Helga hugged while Andrew and Drake shared a high five.
White: 3
Black: 4
"We'll see you back here at the beach tomorrow for your next challenge," George waved as the van rolled away, "Goodnight."
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Challenge Three: Brick By Brick
"Today, we will be working so hard your backs will break. Literally."
"Shit," Helga groaned.
"Alright, we've paired you up. Jeff and Sarah, Drake and Mark, Andrew and Megan, Arnold and Helga, Kathy and. . .whoever wants to go again. That will be your decision White Team."
"I'll do it!" Sarah offered. "I'll be well rested again, so it'll be fine."
The two teams lined up across the familiar ravine, two thin wooden boards stretching the twenty foot gap. The kids were harnassed in then handed one brick.
Sarah struggled to lift her off the ground. "Holy god, these are heavy! How many do we have to carry over?"
Kip rolled his eyes as he picked at his dirty nail, "Eighteen each. Nine from each side."
"Son of a bitch!" Sarah whined as she hoisted the fist brick up to her back.
George couldn't help but laugh. "On your mark, get set, go!"
Jeff hoisted the fifteen pound brick and carefully scurried across the board. He put one foot in front of the other and basically ran across the giant gap.
"Damn! He's like a freakin' ninja!" Andrew and Drake exchanged worried glances. "He just. . .holy shit!"
"I've already done this," Helga said to her teammates. "Don't worry."
Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:
Big Casino by Jimmy Eat World
"Get up, turn the ignition, get up, fire up the system, play my little part with something big. . ."
"I need to mention," Kip shouted into his megaphone, "if you drop a brick another minute is added to your time! And the team with the least total time wins."
Sarah sighed as she continued to slowly drag the brick across the wood, her body shaking violently as she made it to the halfway point. "Now that Sarah's halfway, she's narrowing the gap between White Team and Black. It's been three minutes so far. Hopefully Sarah will be able to get into the lead. It seems like Sarah's really determined to keep up."
Jeff dropped his brick, picked up a new one, and moonwalked backwards across the platform. The Black Team was in hysterics, cheering Jeffery on and applauding him.
"Goddamn it," Drake mumbled under his breath. "We're screwed."
Jeff: 00:10:18
Sarah: 00:12:30
Andrew: 00:15:01
Megan: 00:29:43
Mark: 00:10:13
Drake: 00:20:38
Arnold and Helga quickly strapped themselves in, prepared for this after their previous barbed wire challenge.
Helga grinned as she picked up her frist brick, "You're as good as dead, Football Head."
"Really?" Arnold asked, inching his way closer to Helga.
Helga smiled, feeling her heart rate increasing already. "Y-y-yeah, really."
Arnold noticed Helga's stutter. Assuming it had to do with nerves (and completely unaware that it was due to the fact he was closing in on her personal space and staring into her eyes), Arnold moved even closer. He figured he was getting to her, that he was finally intimidating. "It's on, Pataki." His face broke out into a relaxed grin, "I'll see you outside the winner's circle."
Helga was practically frozen. What the hell was happening? Did Arnold take crazy pills or something? And oh my god how was it possible his shampoo was even more potent now?
"I just got this surge of confidence, standing on one side of the trench. I had done it before and lost." Arnold grinned at the confessional camera, "But not this time. I was so ready to win it."
"Good luck," Arnold tipped his imaginary hat at Helga as the two prepared to crawl across.
"You're going to need it," Helga shouted back as their buzzer went off.
Both Arnold and Helga were matched throughout the challenge, each taking turns by being behind by five seconds. It wasn't until the sixth brick when Arnold slipped.
He had been so busy staring off into space - to the cameras lens it looked like he was gawking at Helga - and fumbled over his sneakers. The mud brick dropped onto the board, cracked in half, and fell into the water below.
"That's one minute!" Kip yelled, adding the time to Arnold's official clock.
Helga flashed a half-smile at the camera as Arnold ran back towards the end to get a new brick.
Arnold: 00:18:18
Helga: 00:17:10
Kathy: 00:10:12
Sarah: 00:15:06
White Team Total Time: 1:15:32 (74.92)
Black Team Total Time: 1:23:32 (81.92)
"White Team wins!"
White: 4
Black: 4
Helga laughed and hugged Andrew, cheering loudly. "Number One! White Team is totally number one this week!" Helga ran towards Arnold, screaming wildly. "What's that, Arnold?"
Arnold rolled his eyes, playing along with Helga's showboating. "Good job, Helga."
"Sorry, I can't hear you!" she shouted.
"GOOD JOB HELGA," Arnold screamed.
Helga flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and turned away, "That's what I thought you said."
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Challenge Four: Building Bricks
"Good morning competitors!" Kip cheered as the kids stumbled out of the van. "Today we're also working with more mud bricks. The 1,000 bricks were packed last night by our lovely camera crew and left to dry in the humidity."
Kip was met with groans from everyone, and a half-smile from Arnold. These kids, he thought bitterly.
"You will have to work together as a team to build your way up to the flag that's hanging on a wire fifteen feet above you. You can use as many bricks as you need, but you cannot stand on each other. Okay? You have an hour."
The Black Team huddled up, Mark interjecting first, "I know what we need to do. We have to build upwards pyramid style, laying about thirty bricks on the bottom level and decreasing in increments of five. It gives us about six feet We need about 150 inches in height, but whoever we send up there can take away a few feet. "
Kathy was surprised at Mark's immense knowledge. Jeff shrugged, "He's an architect-to-be, we should listen."
"Alright, who wants to climb up?" Arnold asked.
"I will!" Megan offered.
"Do you think you could handle it? I mean, you're not that coordinated. Or tall," Kathy pointed out.
"Neither are you."
Kathy rolled her eyes, "That's why I didn't offer-"
"I'll do it," Mark cut in.
Arnold stepped back from the huddle, "Let's get to work."
The White Team had a different approach. They were going to build a stair case three bricks wide. After some quick calculations they figured they'd need about 100 bricks stacked correctly in order to get into reaching distance. Drake offered to climb up.
"The two teams are working hard shuffling the bricks up and down the beach," Kip narrated, "It seems that White Team has a good handle on team work, everyone doing their equal share. Black Team is taking advantage of their extra person to carry more bricks."
Helga handed her bricks off to Sarah before running back down the beach. She had been able to carry five of six bricks at a time.
Arnold gently added his eighth brick to his stack before turning away from the pile.
At that moment, Helga walked into him. "Son of a bitch!" she hissed, holding her bleeding nose. Arnold fell onto the sand also, the stack of bricks falling on and around him, cracking. After shooting a death glare at Arnold, Helga tipped her head back, eyes shut.
Arnold flashed Helga an unamused glare until he realized she was hurt. "Helga!" he scrambled to his feet, "Are you okay?"
"Back off, Hair Boy," Helga shoved him with her elbow. A trail of blood escaped her nose, trailing down her lips and onto the sand. She pinched her dorsum harder, hoping it would stop the blood loss. It wasn't working. Her nose seemed to be running even harder, gushing out of her nose, down her face and onto her t-shirt.
"Helga, you are not okay."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she mumbled.
"What the hell is going on, Arnold?" Jeff shouted. Arnold picked Helga up off the sand, towing her back towards the group. He held four bricks under his other arm, two for Helga and two for him.
"Sarah, Drake, go get more bricks!" Andrew yelled as he pulled Helga away from Arnold. He stared accusingly at the football headed teen, "Did you hit her?"
"No," Helga seethed, punching Andrew's arm. Arnold would never physically hurt her. "I hit his stack of bricks."
"These are for you," Arnold handed over two molded chunks of mud. He turned back to Helga, "You sure you're okay?"
"Just a little bloody nose. Now get back to the challenge so I can make fun of you for losing."
"Your hour is almost up! Ten minutes!" George called out.
Arnold quickly ran back to his team, only muttering a quick 'sorry' before helping Jeff stack the collected bricks.
At the end of the hour, Drake and Mark were positioned at the bottom of their buildings. Mark was proud of his pyramid, it seemed much more sturdy than the staircase.
"Go!"
The two teen boys clamored upwards quickly. It was an even match. Mark was too scared to move too quick and distribute his weight unevenly and Drake tried so hard to stay balanced.
Suddenly, Mark tripped on a loose brick.
Drake surged forwards at the sound of his teammates obnoxiously loud cheers.
White: 5
Black: 4
Drake cheered triumphantly as he removed the white flag from the clothing line before quickly scurrying back down the unstable steps.
Friday, June 17th, 2011
Challenge Five: Muddy Slippers
"Today, just as last week, the eliminations will occur after this challenge. So good luck!"
The college students to be were submerged calf deep into a large pile of mud, then had one brick placed on their back. The premise of the challenge was to balance as many bricks as possible for as long as possible. Every five minutes a new brick would be added.
The first person to fall would be sent into the elimination challenge, which was still to be determined by a spin of the wheel.
After half an hour of waiting for the mud to dry, the challenge began.
Helga was pumped. Although her nose was still a little sore, she knew this would be easy. She had a strong back, like her dad. No one else on the White Team seemed to be as confident as Helga.
Half an hour in, with six bricks stacked, the first challenger fell.
Jeff moaned in pain as the bricks toppled off his back. The huge weight had been crushing the vertebrae along his spinal cord and left an intense burn in his kidneys. At least now he could relax in the shade.
The summer heat on the beach was brutal. He was getting more and more sunburnt every day, as most other players. And it didn't help that the sand reflected all light rays cast on it.
Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:
Backbone by There For Tomorrow
"Where is your backbone? Cause you're looking very flimsy. . ."
It was pointless to continue, really, since White Team had won. But Helga didn't want to give up.
At the end of the hour, Helga had twelve bricks on her back and was internally screaming in pain. She couldn't feel anything below her neck and her lungs were becoming crushed by the excess weight.
The White Team was cheering loudly for their teammate, encouraging her to stay strong.
Arnold watched her with a new fascination, noticing the look of complete detachment on her usually expressive features. She looked numb, her eyes never wavering from a set point in the sand and showing no pain. Her jaw was locked tight, but other than that she looked calm. Her hair hung loose around her face and blew in the humid wind, but she took no notice. Her nose wasn't swollen, just bruised slightly.
"I give up," she screamed in pain, body collapsing forwards. She wanted to cry, the searing jolts in the base of her spine was bordering on fatal. Some bricks fell off her back as she smacked onto the hardened mud. She didn't care about how badly her body ached, she just wanted to be free from the sixty pounds on her.
White: 6
Black: 4
"White was really on a roll this week. They recovered from their loss and stepped it up, now leading by two points. Black Team will have to work hard next week in order to win. But, unfortunately, Jeffery, you lost today's challenge. Please pick your competition."
Jeffery looked at his team, his glare morphing into a smile when Mark smiled at him.
"Mark."
George stood behind the camera man, snickering, "Oh, brother on brother action. Love it."
"Alright then. Jeff, spin the wheel, please."
The twins held their breath as the wheel spun, the rat tat tat as it passed around the plastic holding was the only sound heard on the beach.
Electric Rodeo.
"Oh, at least give them a challenge," Drake called out.
"Shut up, dude!" Andrew replied.
"You two know the rules, right?" Kip asked the boys as the crew began setting up the electrically charged mechanical bull. "You have to hold on with one hand. Whoever holds on longest wins. If you are on for more than twenty minutes you'll be shocked." The brothers nodded. "Jeff, you're up first."
Jeff strapped a helmet onto his head and rested his right arm behind his back. He was right handed, but found riding a bull easier with his left.
Kip hit the buzzer and the mechanical beast began rocking at a slow and steady pace. Jeff's body followed its movements fluidly. Gradually the bull began rocking at a much faster pace.
"He's just past the ten minute mark," Jeff mumbled to a camera, "I wonder if he'll make it to twenty?"
Sarah was cheering loudly, hoping to encourage Jeffery to stay strong. Ever since their first night drunk hook up the two had become close friends.
Jeff's hand slipped and he fell hard onto the sand at the eighteen minute mark. His body was tossed off the bull like a rag doll, face hitting the sand first. Mark made a motion to run forwards but Arnold pulled him back.
"I'm okay!" Jeffery said as he returned to his feet, sand pouring from his mouth.
"Mark, you're up!" Jeff tossed his brother the helmet, removing Mark's signature cowboy hat.
Mark tensed up as he walked across the beach, feeling the intense weight of the competition weighing him down. If he won this he'd kick his brother out of the game. How could he do that to his brother? They shared DNA. He shouldn't have accepted this. Jeff would win. Jeff always was the better rider. Shit.
"Go Mark!" He didn't even know who was cheering for him, his ears were ringing with an intense blood rush.
The next few minutes were a blur for Mark as he jostled back and forth across the android beast. He felt as if his brain would fall out of his head from the vicious rocking. He didn't know how much time had passed until he felt something burning his hand.
A jolt of electricity shot up his hand's nerve ending, the concentrated volts burning his muscles.
"Son of a bitch!" he hissed and let go of the rein, body jerking backwards into the sand. His hand was inflamed, an imprint of the metal rein burned into his palm.
Mark's head was buzzing, not only due to the lightheadedness and electric shock, but because of what the shock meant. Tears feel freely down his face as he looked across the beach.
"Looks like we have a winner," the far off voice of Kip Daniels announced. Mark slowly returned to his feet, his singed hand twitching.
After everyone hugged Jeff goodbye, Mark clung to his brother's shoulders tightly. "I'm sorry."
Jeff whispered into his brother's ear, "Win this. Not for me, but for yourself. You can do it, Mark. You've always been better."
Mark sat down at the confessional, lower eye lids puffed from crying earlier, "Growing up, I always felt overshadowed by Jeff. He was smarter, faster, cuter. I just can't believe I beat him in this." He released a shaking breath, removing his cowboy hat with his taped hand, "I finally won."
Saturday, June 18th, 2011
12:19 a.m.
Kip bolted up from his Live Feed station outside the house. "Move!" he shouted, nudging a few cameramen aside as he entered the kitchen.
The night had officially descended into chaos.
"Is this the kind of drama you wanted?" George barked as he dodged a weak punch from Drake.
After finally managing to pull Drake off of Arnold, the two boys were put into separate rooms and questioned about what happened. Even though Kip and George knew exactly what happened, the Live Feed never lied, they wanted to see if the boy's stories added up.
Drake was escorted onto the patio while Arnold was forcefully shoved into the confessional. Arnold was still furious and riled up, ready to fight back against whoever touched him.
"Where's Helga?" he demanded to know.
Kip rolled his eyes, "Calm down, your friend is fine. Now, can you tell me what happened?"
Arnold nodded and wiped his dripping bloody nose with the back of his hand. "Megan and Sarah wanted to party, so we decided to go to the club in town around eight."
". . . And while we were there Sarah gets so wasted it's not even funny." Drake laughed. "She was blubbering her speech and practically stripping on the dance floor. I was a little drunk, not too bad, so I decided to put the moves on her." George had to cover his mouth to prevent an audile laugh.
"Drake just grabs her out of nowhere and tries to kiss her! I had been in the middle of trying to calm her down and sober her up. Helga was the first to react, she tried to pry Drake's slimy hands off of her friend. Drake shoved Helga back a little too hard."
"And that's when that football headed freak jumps me!"
"Helga managed to get me off of Drake and decided to drag Sarah home. We all piled into the taxi and sat in silence."
"Once we were back inside, Sarah kept yammering on about some bullshit, saying that she was gonna win the games and everything. Helga tried to put her to bed, but before she could do that, the bitch came up and punched me in the arm!"
"Drake was still clearly drunk because he slapped Helga hard." Arnold's fists coiled. "Jeff and Mark pulled Drake back while Megan examined the red mark on Helga's cheek, but I wasn't going to let him go without talking to him."
"And Arnold thought he could be a hero and he tried to talk to me. Why the fuck would I want to talk to him after he attacked me at the club? It was such shit, so I just shoved out of the twin's grip and beat the shit out of I'm-Holier-Than-Thou-Arnold."
Kip dismissed Arnold and went on a search for George. "Keep an eye on Arnold," Kip whispered to a camera man, who immediately followed Arnold out to the patio and to a very familiar lawn chair.
Helga rolled her eyes when Arnold sat down beside her.
"Hey."
Trying to prevent her previous jealousy about Sarah getting the best of her, Helga reciprocated the greeting, "Hello."
"I'm sorry that Drake slapped you."
Helga laughed, "I wanted to knock his lights out. He tried to kiss me in the bar earlier. Good news was that I wasn't drunk and he was an idiot."
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, I've got tough skin." She pointed to her barely noticeable bruised nose from earlier in the week, "But you should be the one who's worried about being okay." Helga smiled, fingers hesitantly reaching out to tilt Arnold's head. The outdoor bug-killing lights were still shining and provided just enough light to examine the injuries.
Helga took her time, trying to convince herself that this was okay to touch him. He wasn't moving away. "You have a little blood. . ." Her smooth thumb glided across his blood-stained cheek.
Arnold smiled at Helga's shyness. She moved very slowly, almost anxiously. He relaxed into her touch, cheek now fully resting against her palm. She continued to wipe away the blood that had already disappeared. "How bad is it?"
"Well, the good news is you're no uglier than before."
"That's a relief," Arnold laughed.
"You might be a little sore for a while. Drake managed to hit your cheek bone dead on." Helga applied a small amount of pressure onto the wound.
Arnold didn't want to flinch or move away despite the fact that it hurt. Helga's touch felt too comforting and he knew that any jerking movements would scare her off.
Romance Soundtrack by MTV
A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope
"But still, I can't let you be, most nights I hardly sleep,
don't take what you don't need from me.
It's just a drop in the ocean, a change in the weather,
I was praying that you and me might end up together. . . "
Helga's heart was hammering hard against her ribs. Why wasn't he shoving her off, standing up and leaving? Did he like this? No. . .no, that was crazy. Crazier than Sarah liking him. It was. . .
Arnold slowly opened his eyes, cheeks burning red when he realized what he had been doing. He was practically nuzzling Helga's palm with his eyes shut. Arnold jerked himself to his feet, muttering a simple, "Goodnight, Helga." before fleeing the patio.
Thinking quickly, she barked back, "Ice your eye, Hair Boy!"
The camera man grinned as he followed Arnold back inside. He picked up his radio and spoke softly into the mike, "Looks like we found this season's It Couple."