The dark room in which the murder victims were trapped in had gained a new member: DJ. That made the room only more crowded.
The dead members of the Fighting Ferrets- sans Selena, who was still under the bucket, trying to get in contact with Zack- were on one side of the room, talking about this and that, which left Gwen and Candace on the other side. Candace shiftily looked over at the guys, then at the bucket. She scooted closer to Gwen and whispered, "Gwen! You'll never guess what I found out about the other team!"
"Wait, you actually found something out?" Gwen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, the Ferrets are up to something… Well, a good five out of eight of them will be!" Candace hissed. "Marilee said-"
A door was kicked open and Chris shone a flashlight in on their shady faces. "Hey there, dead beats!"
"Boooooo!" Tamyra jeered, shaking her head at Chris' extremely lame joke.
Chris ignored her and continued, "Wanna see the sweet, innocent face of your murderer?" Zoey poked her head in and waved at everyone.
"Hi!" she chirped. "Sorry I killed you guys and stuff!"
"I knew you had it in you, kid," Duncan said as he stood up, pride clear in his voice.
Gwen gave the host a strange look. "Okay, I give up. Tell me how you possibly managed to make the sweetest little girl in the world the murderer."
"Why don't you ask Geoff?" Chris suggested, shining the flashlight in Gwen's face, which made her shield her eyes and attempt to glare at him. "He solved the mystery, after all."
"He did?" Candace squealed and clapped with joy. "Yay! My Geoffy-Pop's smart!" When she saw the dark glare Gwen was giving her, she mellowed down and mumbled, "Uh, I mean boo. Yeah. We lost… That sucks."
"Yeah, it does," Gwen grumbled, still glaring at her. "And Geoffy-Pop? Seriously?"
"… Yeah," Candace awkwardly said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Y'see, it's cute because it sounds like Jiffy-Pop and-"
"Yeah, thanks, I got that part," Gwen said, rubbing her forehead and giving up.
*T*S*R*
"Geoff's smarter than you."
"Shut up."
"Geoff's smarter than you."
"Shut UP."
"Geoff's sma-"
"SHUT UP!" Marilee screamed at Duncan, standing up from her rock in the cave, which was temporarily a meeting place for the five contestants. "We didn't come here to talk about Geoff's dumb luck during the challenge!"
"Then would you mind explaining what you did make us come here for?" Duncan asked, referring to himself, Selena and Zoey, who were seated to his right and left.
Marilee sat back down, pointing to Geoff, who was at her left. "Geoff and I were talking earlier about how we're two of the strongest families left on the island."
"And?"
"Will you let me finish, Caliver?" Marilee snapped.
"I didn't say anything!" Selena said, pouting.
"I meant that Caliver," Marilee said, pointing to Duncan.
"Oh."
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted…" She took a second to glare at Duncan and continued, "I was going to say that I thought it would be a good idea to combine forces."
"Like an alliance?" Selena asked. Marilee nodded. "That's not a bad idea," she mused, tapping her chin and looking upwards. "But why'd we have to meet in a smelly cave?"
"Because, this has to be secret. Secret alliances don't work if they're not… secret."
"What's in it for us?" Duncan asked, crossing his arms and looking at Marilee suspiciously.
"I don't keep trying to vote you off," Marilee said, pretty much mimicking Duncan's actions. "And it'll keep you from having to deal with Courtney and Gwen."
"They still at each others' throats?" Marilee nodded and Duncan groaned.
"It's not like you win any popularity contests here, Caliver. You need all the help you can get and…" Marilee groaned, slapping herself on the inside for what she was about to say and admitted, "so do I."
"So, what do you say, dude and dudettes?" Geoff asked, sticking his hand in the middle of their circle. "Anderson-Caliver Alliance?"
Marilee placed her hand on top of Geoff's, then looked up at Selena. She placed her hand over Marilee's and Zoey, after sneaking a quick glance at Duncan's blank expression, put her hand on Selena's.
Duncan, who wasn't showing much emotion, looked like he could go either way. After contemplating everything that could go wrong, he figured there were more pros than cons and placed his hand on top of everybody else's.
*T*S*R*
The sun had just set, which meant it was time for the campfire ceremony. The four remaining Ravens were getting seated in the front row, while everybody from the Fighting Ferrets were in the in the last row, except for Grace and Zoey, who had turned in early… Well, one of them did.
"What are you doing?" Mia asked as she peered into the bush several feet away from Chris' oil drum.
"Shh!" Grace hissed, poking her head out of the bush. "Remember the plan we came up with?"
"Yeah, of course I do," Mia snapped. "Why does that involve you hiding in a bush, though?"
"I wanna see it happen!"
"And you couldn't just join the others?" Mia asked.
"This is more fun!" Grace sunk back into the bush and Mia simply rolled her eyes and walked away.
Gwen looked back at Duncan, as if noticing him and his team for the first time. "Uh, why are you guys here? The other team usually doesn't stay for the losing team's ceremony."
"Don't tell me what to do, Pasty," Duncan said, smirking.
Gwen scoffed, but still grinned a bit. "Oh, right. You have Courtney to do that for you." As she said that, Courtney walked by. She harrumphed at Gwen's comment, but said nothing as she headed toward an empty stump next to Candace.
Candace looked up from her lap, gasping once she saw Courtney. She knew she had to tell her about Marilee's alliance idea, but she hadn't seen the former CIT since she found out. "Courtneeeeeeey!" Candace hissed with her hands cupped around her mouth as Courtney sat down next to her. "Coooooooourtney! Cooooour-"
"I'm right here! What do you want?" Courtney asked, clearly irritated.
"I found out something!" Candace quietly exclaimed. "Something about-"
"Campers," Chris interrupted, making Candace slump back in her seat. "One of the Raving Ravens is about to leave the island for good." He held up the platter of marshmallows in his hand and said, "When I call your name, be ready to catch your marshmallow… Jovie."
"Yes!" Jovie cheered, catching her marshmallow and happily eating it."
"Now… Let's see who the final two marshmallows go to…" Chris reached toward the platter for one of the last marshmallows, but saw something under them. "Huh? What's this junk?"
"Um, Chris?" Courtney asked, sounding irritated. "You were kind of in the middle of something. Something important."
"Yeah, that's great, shut up," Chris dismissively told her, setting the tray down on his oil drum podium. He pulled the item out slowly from underneath the marshmallows. It appeared to be a folded note. The host unfolded it and read it quietly to himself. After reading a certain part of the message, his eyes widened and he quietly muttered, "No… That can't be right… Can it?"
"Chris?" Jovie asked, looking worried. "What's tha-"
"Will you people quit talking while I'm trying to read stuff?" Chris screamed, not taking his eyes off the note as he continued to read.
"At least tell us what the stupid note says," Duncan said, still looking like he could care less. "I'm getting ready to fall asleep here. Maybe that'll make me care more. I'm doubting it will, though." Courtney couldn't help but look hurt for a moment at her boyfriend's lack of concern for her immunity, but quickly went back to glaring at Chris.
Chris continued to stand there and read the letter, his face getting redder with each sentence and his eyebrows furrowing more and more in anger.
Gwen was getting tired of his dismissive attitude towards all of their questions, so she stood up and walked over to where he was standing. "If you won't tell us, I'll just read it myself." She was about to take the letter from Chris, but he crumpled it up in his hand and started storming towards the rest of the Ravens, shoving Gwen harshly to the ground while doing so.
"Gwen!" both Trent and Duncan cried at the same time. Trent went to help Gwen up and Duncan looked like he was going to do the same, but when he saw the blood-curdling glare Courtney shot him, he coughed into his fist and regained his bored demeanor.
After Trent helped Gwen to her feet, he glared at Chris' back. "Chris, dude, what's your problem?"
Chris grabbed a certain member of the losing team by her wrist and yanked her out of her seat. He dragged her over to Trent and Gwen and practically shoved the girl in their faces. "THIS GIRL is my problem!"
"… What do you have against Candace?" Gwen asked. "It can't be as bad as you're making it out to be."
"Oh, it's bad, all right," Chris said, letting Candace's wrist go. "If you call cheating and scandals bad, which I think you would…"
Candace started rubbing her sore wrist as she looked up at Chris nervously, since she had no idea what she had done. "I would never cheat!"
She looked scared, so Geoff placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Dude, we all know Candy. She doesn't have it in her to do any scallops!"
"Scandals," Marilee corrected with a flat tone.
"Saaaame thiiiing," Geoff whined at her.
"You all should be angrier," Chris exclaimed, glaring at the contestants. "She's been trying to cheat you all! You want to know how?"
"I sure do," Candace quietly said.
"You just shut up!" Chris snapped, making her shrink back and hug Geoff for support. "Well, I'll tell you how she's been cheating." Chris threw the paper that had been curled up in his fist at Candace, who began to smooth it out.
"Hmm…" Her dark brown eyes slowly started scanning the typed-out message.
As she began to read the letter, Chris looked back at the crowd and slowly said, "She's been pretending to be something she's not. Owen's sister." He nodded and pointed at the redhead, who was still reading the note and looking very confused. "That's right! Candace. Is. ADOPTED."
He looked at everyone expectantly, like he thought they were going to gasp and faint and make a fuss. Instead, they exchanged confused glances and Courtney asked, "And?"
"And what?" Chris snapped.
"That's what you're so mad about?" DJ asked. "Are you sure you're not forgetting to mention something she did that's actually… bad? Arson?… Murder?… Jaywalking?"
"Why are none of you surprised?" Chris incredulously asked. "I sure didn't know about this!"
"I never really told anyone on the island," Candace admitted. "It's never come up in conversation… until now."
"It's not like it's that much of a shocker," Gwen told Chris. "She looks absolutely nothing like Owen, she's the only one in her family with type one diabetes, which is mostly a genetic condition, and unlike her brother and parents, she's not-" She stopped herself from saying what she wanted to say and Candace was quick to notice it.
Candace gave her a small smile. "You can say it. It's not like they don't already know that they're-"
"- morbidly overweight."
"I thought you were going to say short!" Candace gasped, looking offended. Gwen shrunk back guiltily. "That's my family you're talking about, Gwen!"
"No, they're not!" Chris snapped. "That's the whole point!"
"It's about time you made one," Courtney muttered.
Chris ignored Courtney and continued, "The name of the game is Total Sibling Rivalry, people! Not Total Orphan Rivalry!"
He got a few shocked gasps from that comment and Geoff hugged a sad Candace even tighter while glaring at the furious host. "Not cool, dude. Not cool!"
"If you all will take a look at your TSR contracts, somewhere around page three…" Chris pulled out a stack of papers and flipped past a few pages. His finger scanned the page until he found the statement he was looking for. "They use a bunch of lawyer hoo-ha to describe it, but in layman's terms, it says all new competitors in the game must be blood siblings with a past competitor. Does Little Orphan Annie here fit into that category?" He looked Candace up and down, like he was looking at a dead animal. "No. That means she is hereby disqualified."
"You are being absolutely ridiculous!" Jovie exclaimed, shooting up from her seat. "You can't discriminate against her for being adopted just as much as you can't discriminate against me, my sisters, or DJ for being black!"
"You aren't born without parents! It's impossible!" Chris shouted, glaring at Jovie. "Being an orphan is a lifestyle choice and it is one I do not approve of!"
"Are you being serious?" Marilee asked, throwing her hands up in the air. "I think this idiot is actually serious!"
"Candace is legally a member of Owen's family," Courtney said, trying to snatch Chris' contract away from him. He managed to keep it away from her, though. "There's no way you're allowed to tell her she can't compete just because she isn't related to Owen by blood!"
"Well, I am!" Chris tossed the contract into the fire, then snapped. "Chef, take the interloper out of here."
"I don't want to," Chef barked, crossing his arms. "This is low, even for you, pretty boy!"
"If this was such an issue for you, why did you even let me in this competition?" Candace asked. She had finally stopped trying to look like the names he was calling her didn't hurt her, but she managed to still keep herself from crying.
"Um, I didn't know," Chris said, like it was obvious. "Your files are all so boring and long, like I'm actually going to read them all! I should have known you were an orphan all along! You have no brains and you're always begging for that stupid insulin. It's pathetic how you rely on that stuff just to get through the day! It amazes me that you haven't killed yourself yet!"
"CHRIS!" Courtney screamed, looking ready to rip his head off.
"What the hell is your problem?" Geoff yelled, looking just as furious, even for him.
"Do you seriously think you can get away with saying that?" Gwen asked, and she was about to step forward to add more to that, but Candace separated from Geoff and stopped her.
"Guys… I appreciate you trying to help, but… I can handle this." She turned to the host, glaring at him with misty eyes. "You know, Chris… I was born with diabetes, and I had no say in being put up for adoption, but I control how I look towards things. Some people thinks diabetes makes you weaker, but for me… It's made me stronger, as a person."
Chris scoffed at this, but Candace kept going. "Some kids who have been adopted want to meet their birth parents more than anything." She paused for a moment before adding, "I don't. They gave me up, so I gave up on them. As far as I'm concerned, Edwin and Lisa Coleman are my real parents and Owen is my real brother and nothing you or anybody else says can make me think otherwise." Her breathing was shaky at this point, but she refused to cry. She crossed her arms and asked, "So… Am I still disqualified for something that's beyond my control and only matters to you?"
Chris looked at her for a moment, then pointed toward the Boat of Losers and hissed, "Get off of my island."
Candace nodded, still looking strong. "Fine. I don't want to be on any show you're hosting, anyway." She looked back at the group, especially Geoff, who looked absolutely heartbroken. She gave them all a sad smile and said, "It's been fun, guys. I'll miss you all, but I'll see some of you at Playa de Los-"
"No, you won't!" Chris rudely interrupted. "You weren't even allowed to be in the competition in the first place! You think you can pull the wool over Chris McLean's eyes and then have a free freaking vacation on top of that?"
"Where's she supposed to go then?" Jovie asked, looking concerned.
"Home!" Chris yelled, shoving Candace towards the direction of the dock.
"So, what, that's it?" Marilee asked, incredulous. "You think you can slack off, then kick someone off for a reason that can't possibly be legal? You seriously think-"
"Why are you just standing there?" Chris yelled in Candace's face, completely ignoring Marilee. "Are you too much of an imbecile to follow the simplest of orders? GET ON THE BOAT, YOU LITTLE SLU-"
Candace, who had had all she could take of the host's attitude, spat on Chris' face, and most of the spit ended up going into his screaming mouth. This only made him scream more, but this time in disgust. He ran towards the washrooms to gargle Candace's germs out of his beautiful mouth, which left the campers to give the cheerleader a standing ovation.
"Way to do what I've been wanting to do for two seasons," Gwen said, giving her a hug for her disgusting, yet amazing act.
"Thanks, Gwen," Candace said, hugging her back. "You've been a good friend. The best Goth friend I've ever had. Well, you're the only Goth friend I've ever had, but still-"
"I'll miss you, too," Gwen quietly interrupted.
They separated from their hug, but Candace was quickly engulfed by Jovie. "Girl, this ain't right," Jovie said. "I'd start a petition to get you back on the show, but," she looked around and continued, "I'd need more signatures and since we can't leave the island…"
Candace smiled a sad smile. "You're the sweetest, Jovie."
Jovie let her go, and that left Candace with one more teammate to say goodbye to. She walked over to Courtney, and she was a tad surprised to find her on her cell phone. How could she chat with someone after all that happened. "Courtney?"
"Hold on a second, Michael," Courtney said into the phone. She pulled it away from her ear, then looked at Candace, looking absolutely furious. "Chris cannot do this! I've got my lawyer on the line right now, and I'm going to make him look through every line in that contract! There's no way Chris can really say such things to you, or kick you-"
Candace gently took Courtney's cell phone from her, clicked the 'End' button, and handed it back to her. "Before you get tangled up in that…" Candace spread out her arms and quietly said, "Just give me a hug."
Courtney put her phone in her pocket, then looked at Candace. For the first time since Chris' outburst, instead of being livid, she just looked sad for her friend. She gave her a hug, then quietly said, "It's going to be weird, being team captain without you by my side… You're a wonderful person, Candace. You deserve this the least of anyone, even me."
Candace let out a small laugh at that, then whispered, "That means so much, Courtney. Thank you… And don't worry about Duncan and Gwen." She pulled away and gave her a wink. "Things will work out for the best."
As Candace walked away, Courtney looked back at Gwen. She was quietly talked to Trent, who had his arm wrapped comfortably around her. Then Courtney looked at Duncan. He was consoling poor Geoff, but, being the tough guy that he was, that just meant giving him two pats on the back, nodding and walking off. They weren't showing any signs right then that the two were madly in love… Maybe Candace was possibly maybe kind of right… Maybe.
Geoff, who hadn't really been all that comforted by Duncan's comforting, was the last person Candace needed to say goodbye to. "Geoff," Candace began, looking unsure of what to say. "I'm… I'm going to miss you most of all."
Geoff looked at her for a moment, then pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly. "I'd take your place on that boat if I could," he somberly said.
Candace had remained strong through everything, but that simple statement was what finally made a small tear trickle down her cheek. "You're the sweetest boy I've ever met, Geoff…" She gave him a chaste kiss, then made her way toward the Dock of Shame, where Chef was waiting for her on the Boat of Losers.
Once she got on and the boat pulled away from the dock, the contestants walked up to the shore to wave goodbye to her. As soon as their backs were turned, Grace ran out of the bush and towards her cabin.
Candace waved at her friends with as much energy as she could, though the evening sure had taken a toll on her. The boat was soon out of sight and the waving ended soon after that. One by one, the campers made their way back to their respective cabins, Geoff being the last one to leave the dock.
It was not the smoothest elimination ceremony, to say the least, but it sure was the most unfair. If anything, everybody hoped that Chris would get his just desserts…
*T*S*R*
"Chris can't do this," Selena bluntly said, walking into the washrooms. The only person in there was Courtney, brushing her teeth, already dressed in her pajamas.
She spat into the sink and, seeing that Selena had temporarily forgotten that the two girls hated each other, decided a five-minute truce wouldn't hurt anything. "Tell me about it." She rinsed her toothbrush off and tucked it back into her cosmetics bag. "When my selfish lawyer gets back from visiting his wife in the hospital, I'm calling him and filing a lawsuit against Chris for Candace! If she isn't back on the show in two weeks…" She couldn't even finish her sentence. She was too busy punching and strangling the air in front of her, pretending Chris was there.
"Why don't I like her again?" Selena asked, scratching her head.
Selena started brushing her teeth, still seething over her friend's injustice, while Courtney brushed her hair. After a few minutes of silence, Selena spat out her toothpaste and awkwardly asked, "Um, out of curiosity, what happened to your lawyer's wife?"
After finishing her hundredth brush stroke, Courtney rolled her eyes and said, "She's such a crybaby. She could have snapped her broken rib back in place herself!" She went back to brushing her hair and Selena gave her a strange look before slowly walking away.
"Oh yeah," Selena said, crossing her arms and not looking impressed with Courtney. "That's why."
"So, the Ravens are weaker than ever and everyone hates Chris more than ever…" Grace smirked, crossing her arms. "Wow. You think it'd be harder to get control of this game… But I'm playing these people like Candyland! Gwen will be gone before you know it!" She tapped her chin and evilly grinned. "Just imagine what I could do if I was older…"
*T*S*R*
DJ walked out of the Fighting Ferrets' cabin, seeing that Geoff was sitting on the steps, looking up at the starry sky. "Hey, man… That sucks about Candace." He sat down next to Geoff, who looked back at his friend.
"Yeah," was all he managed to utter, resting his chin in his hand.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah."
"You know I'm here to talk if you need to, right?"
"Yeah."
DJ nodded, looking up at the sky for a minute. He looked back at Geoff, who hadn't moved from his depressed pose.
"It's getting kind of late. You wanna head back inside?"
"Yeah."
"… Can you say anything else other than that?… Or move?"
"No."
DJ nodded sympathetically, then threw the blonde teen over his shoulder and carried him back inside.
*T*S*R*
"I never got to tell Courtney about the alliance… Stupid Chris. I hope he goes bald… So… where are you taking me, specifically?" Candace asked Chef, who was chugging the Boat of Losers along.
"Nearest airport," Chef gruffly said, not turning around to look at her. "Chris really screwed up this time."
Thinking she knew what he meant by that, she nodded. "Yeah. In so many ways." She played around with a loose string on the cushion of her seat and looked at Chef's back again. "Thanks for standing up for me back there."
"Hey, that wasn't about you!" Chef barked. "I'm just sick of that pretty boy snob!"
Candace still smiled. "You know you like me."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"I DO NOT, MAGGOT!"
Candace was unfazed. "You'll miss me every morning. I know I brightened up your morning with my cheerful conversations whenever you'd give me my insulin shot."
Chef grunted, but it didn't sound like it confirmed or denied anything.
"Say you'll miss me or I'm not giving you your gift," she chirped in a sing-song voice, her hands behind her back
Chef turned his head to shot a glance at her. "Gift? … What kind of gift?"
"A yummy one," Candace said, walking towards the wheel he was at, her hands still behind her back. She pulled out a tray behind her back and cried, "Ta-da! Brownies!"
"Brownies? Hot dog!" Chef spun around and gleefully took the brownies from her. His cheer suddenly disappeared and he glared at her. "Waaait just a cotton-pickin' minute! Do you think I was born yesterday? You put laxatives in this, didn't you? Or explosives or poison or-" He looked back at her and her newly gained unimpressed expression, then came to his senses and quietly said, "Oh, right… Forgot who I was talking to… Thank you."
Candace smiled and gave him a hug, which made him stiffen, but he didn't shove her away like he usually would have. "You may not miss me, but I'll miss you, Chef Hatchet…"
As she released him and walked back over to her seat, Chef sat the brownies down and sadly looked at them. When he was sure she was out of eat-shot, he quietly muttered, "I'll miss you, perky girl…"
"I heard that!" Candace squealed delightfully, off-screen.
"Dang it!" Chef exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the steering wheel.
I am prepared. Please kill me. I'd do it myself, but that'd be kind of emo.
It might feel like Chris was TOO mean, even for Chris, but… It will be explained. And this will not be the last you'll see of Candace, but I suppose you all could have guessed that.
Please be gentle in the reviews. I have my reasons… Not that I like them, but…
Grr. I hate this chapter. Not because of what happens, but because it's like I feel like I could have written it better, yet I don't know how… I'm sad :/