Hiya. Decided to do this challenge in a three part thing, so you all don't have to wait as long. :D Might do that for all of the challenges…
Anyway, I'd just like to thank everybody who has reviewed so far. You guys are the sticky to my buns.
Wow, that sounded really wrong, now that I said it.
It was brought to my attention by b3lla (Thanks a lot for all the reviews, by the way! They've been really helpful!) that I haven't been describing some of the characters as much as I could. I tackled a few of the characters' physical descriptions in this chapter, especially Selena and Marilee, but that's probably because they're two of my top three favorite sisters ((Grace is in first place… XD)) I'll get to the others in the next few chapters. I only described half of Selena's personality, though. Don't jump to conclusions about her, I'll describe her more in the next chappie.
Anyway, this challenge sort of makes the original TDI campers interact more with the new siblings. I've been looking forward to write for this challenge forever. Ever since I first created Selena, I knew that she'd get along well with Trent…
Oops. I might have given too much away.
You all know who belongs to who. You all know that I want you to read, review and enjoy. Don't feel like repeating myself.
Using her hand as a makeshift comb to tame her pink-tipped blonde hair, Selena grabbed her guitar case and swung the screen door of the girl side of the Bear cabin. Cursing under her breath as it squeaked loudly, luckily not waking up any of the other girls who were still happily tucked into their bunks, Selena quietly speed-walked onto the porch, down the wooden stairs and toward the lake to work on her chords.
For as long as she could remember, Selena Caliver had always been a morning person. She just couldn't stay in bed after six thirty in the morning, no matter how little sleep she had gotten the night before. Duncan was used to the early wake-up in Juvy and usually woke her up with whatever shenanigans he was up to when he was home. He was probably wandering around camp, too.
She liked waking up early, anyway. It gave her time to do the stuff she could never finish if she just slept her day away, like practice her guitar. She needed all the practice she could get on that thing.
On her way to the lake, Selena looked down at her outfit. She had on her usual black tank top layered under her off the shoulder pink top. Instead of her also usual tight biker shorts, jean mini skirt, and black combat boots, she decided to pull on a pair of dark blue skinny leg jeans and slip on some bright pink Chucks. It was the perfect outfit for trying to get her stupid guitar to play a decent tune.
Selena set her guitar case on the ground and climbed onto a large boulder, looking at the sunrise and her surroundings. The island hadn't changed one bit, except the washrooms had been expanded a little more to hold more showers and bathroom stalls for the extra campers. She had temporarily forgotten about her faulty instrument, just thinking about stuff. Somehow, the subject of the other campers had gotten on her mind.
Most of the original guys haven't changed that much. The old couples are still going strong, as far as I could tell. I wish I had a boyfriend… Gwen's hair is a little bit longer. It's mid back now. I like it better that way. And Courtney's uptight butt has loosened up a bit. Maybe she'll be less of a killjoy this season. The only one that's drastically changed is Heather. I'll bet my entire collection of Jonas Brothers CDs that that's all just an act…
Selena pulled the case up onto her lap, remembering why she was there in the first place. However, she didn't take the guitar out. She just kept thinking with her chin in her palm, this time about the new guys. Candace seems nice, but she sorta needs to tone the spunk down before somebody decides to kill her. I heard Jovie talking to DJ about some animal fur protest she was part of last summer, so I'm guessing she's one of those activists. She seems pretty nice, too. Grace is flat-out evil. 'nuff said. Marilee's pretty harsh to Duke, but I guess I would be, too. He's not exactly the nicest guy. She's still kinda mean to Geoff, though, and he's nothing but nice to everybody, including her! Well, he doesn't seem to mind, so I guess it's not that big of a deal to him. Marilee can be really nice, though, if she likes you. I'm just glad that she likes me.
She finally unclasped the guitar case, but didn't bother opening it. Keith is cool, too. It's funny how he flirts with Marilee, even though she hates him now… But Zack is so awesome. I have a lot of guy friends, but he is by far the coolest one of mine. She smiled, thinking about him. He's so nice, and he doesn't reek of Axe, like Patrick does. Pat's been my bud since 5th grade, but he seriously needs to stop bathing in the stuff… Crap, I'm getting off topic. On top of all that, Zack's smart, funny, cute-
Oh no. Why did I have to say cute?
Shaking those crushy thoughts out of her head, Selena finally opened her guitar case. But she didn't take it out. She stared at it, a cold sweat starting to creep onto her forehead.
It was a really nice guitar.
Too bad it wasn't her's.
*T*S*R*
Later that day, Trent walked over to LeShawna and Gwen, who were sitting on a picnic table near the Bear cabin. The handle of a guitar case was clutched in his hand. As he sat down with them, Gwen gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Hey, guys. What's up?"
"Not much, hon," LeShawna responded, "Just chillin'."
Seeing the guitar case in Trent's hand, Gwen grinned and asked, "Are you going to play for us? I haven't heard you play in a while."
The musician set the case down on the table and smiled. "Of course, babe." Without looking, he opened the case, pulled the guitar out and held it in his normal playing pose. For some reason, though, Gwen and LeShawna burst out laughing. Trent cocked an eyebrow, thinking they had gone insane. "What's so funny?"
After calming down a little, Gwen wiped a tear away with her finger and managed to say, "Oh, nothing… It's just that you've changed a lot since last year…"
"Yeah," LeShawna exclaimed, "I didn't know you was a fan of the Jonas Brothers!" The girls burst out laughing again.
Trent, totally confused, looked down at his guitar.
It was pink.
And had several Jonas Brothers stickers on it.
It was pretty obvious that that wasn't his guitar.
*T*S*R*
Trent asked around camp all morning, but all of the people he asked claimed that it wasn't their guitar. Though, of course, he had only asked girls. He doubted that any self-respecting dude would have a pink guitar littered with Jonas Brothers stickers. He'd ask around some more during lunch.
*T*S*R*
Near the beach, Selena had somehow managed to find a shovel and was digging a guitar-shaped hole to bury Trent's instrument in. She had dug the hole as deep as her waist when Duncan showed up. Hearing him approaching, Selena turned to face him, said, "Hi, Duncan." and turned back around and continued digging.
After moments of Duncan trying to figure out the scene before him, he finally just asked her, "What the heck are you doing?"
Sticking her shovel in some sand, she wiped the sweat off her brow and said, "I accidentally grabbed Trent's guitar instead of mine. I don't want him to think I stole it, so I'm getting rid of the evidence."
Sitting down, Duncan said, "You know, Trent isn't exactly the most accusing guy. He'll probably understand."
Pulling herself out of the ditch and sitting next to him, Selena said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll tell him sometime during lunch."
The delinquent got up, pulling his sister with him. Looking down at her hole, Duncan shook his head disappointedly. "How many times do I have to tell you not to get rid of the evidence until it's guaranteed that you'll get in trouble?"
The pink lover looked down at her feet, slightly ashamed. "Sorry, Duncan…"
Duncan patted her on the shoulder, saying, "Just as long as you learned your lesson." With that, he left her to refill her hole and get ready for lunch.
*T*S*R*
Later at the mess hall, everybody was poking and prodding their food, trying to identify the items that Chef had thrown onto their trays, especially the Wolves, who had two vegetarians. "Is it broccoli?" Jovie poked the unidentifiable vegetable, fruit, or meat with her finger, making it jiggle like Jell-o.
"Um…" Bridgette stabbed the 'food' with her fork and inspected it. "I don't think broccoli's supposed to be blue…"
Duke sighed and looked down at the dirty wood table, chugging down his third beer of the day.
Marilee glared at her brother, who was sitting across from her, and asked, "What's up with you, Boozy?"
Duke didn't look up at her. He accidentally spilled some Budweiser on his 'Keg Me' t-shirt and slurred, "I mizz Raben."
The fashionista rolled her eyes and said, "You dated the girl for nine hours. You knew the girl for nine hours."
"Luv idn't meazured in hours. Iz meazured in bases… We gotted all duh way to-"
"Ew!" Marilee half-screamed, covering her ears. "I don't want to hear about your wacked-out love life, freak!"
Meanwhile, at the Bears table, Selena had just finished her food and got up to return her tray. She wasn't really that picky of an eater, so she didn't mind having no idea what her meal was. She was the second one finished, after Owen. On her way back to her seat, she was going to tell Trent abut his guitar, but was interrupted by the blow of fog horn, making her flinch and run back to her seat, which was on the opposite end of the table than Trent.
Chris set the fog horn down, grinning his trademark grin. "Enjoying your lunches?"
Gwen glared at her plate of… blue stuff… as it slightly twitched. "I'd enjoy it more if it was dead."
"Great!" Gwen grimaced at him, but he ignored it and continued, "Are you all ready for your first official challenge?"
"…No."
"Not really."
"I wanna go home."
"Awesome!" Chris once again ignored the glares and said, " Don't worry, people. This one's gonna be easy. It's something you've all been going through pretty much your entire lives."
"In Duke's case, it must be bed-wetting…" Marilee mumbled, causing some of her teammates to laugh. Duke didn't hear her comment. He was too busy opening his fourth beer and trying not to throw up.
"Your first challenge is the… Sibling Swap!" The campers looked around at each other, confused.
"What's that supposed to be?" Zoey asked.
"It's pretty easy. Each camper will be paired up with somebody they aren't already related to. The person you are paired with is your 'sibling.' You and your new brother or sister will do various things that normal siblings go through everyday," Chris explained. "Sound simple enough? Probably, yeah. But it sure will cause some drama!" The group looked more comfortable with the upcoming challenge and Chris continued, "Chef and I have already paired you up with the person that we think would… make the best TV." Chris paused and grinned for a second. "Now finish your… chow and meet me at the campfire pit in five!" With that, the host walked out of the mess hall.
Owen and Selena, having nothing better to do since they were done with their meals, went to join Chris at the campfire pit. Since everybody who hadn't eaten their food already decided that it was inedible, they threw their food away and walked out, too. Might as well get the challenge over with.
*T*S*R*
"Okay," Chris looked at the twenty four contestants sitting before him and continued, "You all know the challenge. Now it's time to partner you guys up. And remember, you have to be with your sibling at all times until the challenge is over… except if you have to pee. You can go to the washrooms by yourself, then. Okay, back to business. When I call your names, come up by me and stand with your new brother or sister. First up is… DJ and Jovie."
"DJ's cool," Jovie said, triumphantly grinning. "He cares 'bout the environment, like me and he's an all around nice guy. We've talked before and we're kind of friends. This thang's in the bag!"
"Heather and Herbie." Heather looked down nervously at the little red head. He was currently tugging at one of the straps of his denim overalls, as if pulling it was going to do something exciting. Anybody related to Izzy must be certifiably insane… and lethal… Heather thought quietly to herself as she walked up to Chris with the carrot top. Gwen had almost laughed at Heather getting stuck with one of the psycho hose beast's little brothers, but then Chris called out, "Gwen and Xavier," crushing Gwen's joy. "Bridgette and Zack."
"Zack seems nice." Bridgette grinned at the camera and added, "And he's Gwen's little brother, so he must be cool."
"Courtney and Jamal." The CIT looked at Jamal. He was already up front, looking at his own flexed muscles. He wasn't at all like her brother. Jackson was scrawny; Jamal could lift an elephant. Jackson wore more casual clothes; Jamal wore a tight muscle tee and work out shorts. Jackson wasn't a total jerk; Jamal was. She was not looking forward to the challenge. Sighing, she got up and stood next to him as he kissed his left bicep. Next, Chris called out, "Owen and Zoey."
Zoey straightened her pink skirt, giggled and said, "Owen seems like a lot of fun! He farts a lot, but he's still awesome!"
"Cody and Grace." Cody walked up and Grace followed, silently growling. However, Cody didn't notice. "Duke and LeShawna."
"Oh, great!" LeShawna yelled, throwing her arms in the air. "I get stuck with my sista's drunk white-as-mayonnaise boyfriend!"
Chris grinned as he said the next set of names, knowing how their challenges would end up. "Duncan and Marilee." The two 'siblings' glared at each other, trying to see if looks really could kill. They had already taken a disliking to each other since they first arrived on the island. He was the last person she wanted to spend the entire day with, and the same went for him. However, neither of them wanted to lose, so they walked up to Chris and stood together, shooting dirty looks at each other as they did. "Trent and Selena."
Good, Selena thought as she walked up with Trent. This gives me the perfect opportunity to return his guitar.
"Geoff and Candace." The two, being two of the happiest people on the island, grinned at each other and ran up front.
"And last, but not least… Izzy and Keith!" Keith cringed, being paired up with the crazy girl that already had a boyfriend.
"This is so awesome! I have another brother!" Izzy ran up to Keith, giving him a big bear hug. "We can do all kinds of stuff, like juggle raccoons, have a pinecone-eating contest and- oh! And you can drive the getaway car when we-"
"Just shut up and bring your new perverted brother up here!" Marilee shouted, sick of hearing her blither on. Izzy let go of Keith and the two walked up to Chris with the rest of the campers.
"Now that you all have your new siblings," Chris said, "You all can spend the next hour getting to know each other while the interns set up the challenges. McClean out!" Chris waked away and the new families went their separate ways with each other.
*T*S*R*
Marilee groaned, eyeing Duncan as they walked to nowhere in general. "It's just my luck that I get partnered up with the trouble-making fashion disaster."
Duncan rolled his eyes and replied, "This coming from the girl who looks like a walking black eye…"
The blonde stopped in her tracks, looking down at her outfit. She had on her usual purple sweater dress, black leggings and black and purple platforms. Maybe she did look like a bruised eye, but she still looked good… She started walking again and spat, "What would you know about fashion, Caliver? Newsflash; fauxhawks are soooo tacky."
"Umm, breaking news," Duncan said, trying to mimic the slight valley-girl tone she had used while saying that last sentence, "You look like you put the back of your head in a blender, which is, like, even tackier," referring to how short her hair was in the back and how much longer it was in the front.
Marilee growled and punched him hardly in the arm. Duncan frowned, returning the punch.
She gasped, held the spot on her arm that he hit and screeched, "You can't hit me! I'm a girl!"
The delinquent smirked and faintly said, "Coulda fooled me…"
That earned him a kick in the crotch.
*T*S*R*
Owen was walking toward the Bears cabin, Zoey sitting on his very large shoulder, playing with a stray thread on the sleeve of her purple long-sleeved tee. "Where we goin', Owen?" Thinking for a second, Zoey giggled and added, "Hey, that rhymes! Goin' Owen, goin' Owen, goin' Owen…"
Owen chuckled and replied, "Since you're my new little sis, I'm gonna show you my secret stash. The only other people I trust with knowing where it is are Candace and Izzy."
"Oh, cool!" Zoey exclaimed. "What's in there?"
"All kinds of things!" Owen started counting on his fingers as he listed the food items he had hidden, "There's cookies, candy bars, cheesy pretzels, Fudgy Boos, gummi worms, cho-"
Zoey interrupted by yelling, "Well, what are we waiting for? START RUNNING!"
Owen followed her orders, running toward the cabin as fast as his chubby legs could go.
*T*S*R*
"Trent," Selena started, making Trent focus on her as they walked up the stairs of their cabin. "I think I have something that belongs to you… Wait here."
"Okay." Trent did what he was told, leaning against the railing of the porch while she dashed into her side of the cabin. She came back out the door a second later, carrying the guitar she had previously tried to bury.
Seeing his guitar, he grinned, taking it from Selena. "Hey, thanks! I've been wondering where this went."
Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, she said, "Yeah, sorry for taking it. I must have grabbed it by accident last night. I thought it was mine."
Trent, seeing how much pink she was wearing, asked, "Um… would your guitar be pink, by any chance? Lots of Jonas Brothers stickers on it?"
"Yeah…"
"I'll be right back." Trent walked into his side of the cabin, leaving Selena to wait and twirl a strand of hair patiently. He came back after a few seconds, his guitar in one hand, hers in the other. She grinned as soon as she saw her guitar and he held it out to her. "As pretty as this guitar is, I'm gonna have to give it back to you…"
The blonde laughed, carefully grabbing the guitar. "Guess we both grabbed the wrong cases. Might as well have just lost mine, though…"
He looked at her questioningly and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I can't play it right. I think it's broken. Listen." Selena tried to play a chord, but it came out at a horrible noise.
Trent cringed a little, setting his guitar on the floor. "Let me see it…" She handed him the instrument, hoping he'd figure out if there was something wrong with it or not. After inspecting a few of the strings, he looked up and he and said, "Well, no wonder your guitar doesn't sound right. These strings are too loose." He turned the knobs at the top and strummed the newly-tightened strings. They all sounded perfect.
Taking it back, Selena grinned, embarrassed at her stupidity. "Thanks. I just started playing a few weeks ago. I still don't know the ropes…"
"No problem. I've been playing since I was eight, so I know what's wrong with a guitar just by listening to it."
"Well, at least you knew what was wrong with it. Unlike this lame teach-yourself-guitar book…" Out of nowhere, Selena pulled out a music book.
Trent traded her the guitar for the book and flipped through the pages. He figured out what was wrong with the book, but didn't know how to put it. He was silent for a minute, but eventually said, "Selena… this is a book that teaches you to play the violin…"
"What?" Grabbing the book back and flipping through some more pages with only one hand, Selena felt even stupider. "Oh. No wonder it kept talking about some stupid bow…"
Trent couldn't help but smile a little. She could be a little spacey, but she was really nice. "I could teach you a few things, if you want. Your violin skills are probably good, now, but your guitar skills might need work…"
Selena giggled, clutching the neck of her guitar. "That'd be awesome!" Selena walked into the girls side of the Bear cabin with Trent, tossing the book into a nearby bush.
*T*S*R*
At the amphitheater, Marina was plugging several televisions and video game consoles into a large extension cord, looking like she would have rather gnawed her own hand off. Chris, who had just walked into the amphitheater, saw her face and asked, "What's up with you?"
"Chris," Marina cautiously asked, "Do we have to waste so much electricity with this challenge? Couldn't they do something else?"
"Oh, gee," Chris tapped his chin, as if he was actually giving the idea some thought. "Let me think about it… Uh… no." He walked away, leaving the environmentalist alone with the many plugs she had to plug.
*T*S*R*
Cody and Grace strolled along, Cody leading the two. Grace just followed him, scowling at the back of his head.
"I'm pretty excited about this challenge," Cody coolly said, "I've always wanted to be oldest. And I've always wanted a sister that wasn't insane. Trent said nothing but nice things about Grace last year, so I'm sure this'll be easy!"
Grace turned around, making sure that nobody was following them. She saw a squirrel, but no Trent, which was all that mattered to her. Grabbing a broken-off, sturdy tree branch, she gave Cody a quick blow to the back of the knee, causing him to fall and clutch the injured joint. "Ow!" Cody yelled, "What was that for?"
Grace grabbed a clump of his hair, forced him to look her in the eye, and gnarled, "You're the main reason Trent and Gwen started dating, that's what that was for!"
Flinching at how hard she pulled his hair, Cody asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Does 'Up The Creek' ring a bell?"
Cody took a second to think. He finally realized what she was talking about, but before he could answer, she pulled him closer to him until their noses were practically touching, hatred flaming in her dark brown eyes. "That was the episode where you tried hitting on Gwen. I had been hoping that you'd start dating her, so Trent couldn't, but then you had to wimp out and hook. Them. Up." Grace said the last three words slowly, her voice dripping in anger.
"Um…" Cody cringed nervously, not sure what to say that wouldn't earn him a black eye. "I still don't see why you're-"
"I'm mad," the little demon interrupted, "Because you could have kept that freak away from my brother, but you just HAD to be a wuss and do the exact opposite!"
"I was just trying to make them both happy!"
"Well, guess what?" She flipped him over, pinned his arms against his back and jumped onto him, making him gag a little bit. "You made me very UNhappy." Grace leaned forward, so she could harshly whisper in his ear, "And let me tell you this, buddy: you won't like me when I'm unhappy…"
Le gasp! Are Duncan and Marilee going to make through the challenge? Will Owen and Zoey be too full to do anything? Will Grace beat the crap out of Cody before the challenge even starts? Find out the answers to all these exciting cliffhangers and more in Sibling Swap, Part 2, on TOTAL SIBLING RIVALRY!