This was a request from PinkieScootalooSweetieDash. Hope you enjoy!
She did not build her and Heather's bikes, drive through a tarpit, minefield and a piranha pool, just to get stuck at the very last moment.
Lindsay didn't need to fake the worry on her face. The piranhas were jumping out of the water behind her, trying to take a chomp out of her. And she could hear Heather rapidly approaching the finish line.
The finish line was so close. Only a dozen feet or so, and she would have won. She knew everyone was rooting for her…
For a moment, Lindsay was resigned to her fate. She wasn't winning this one. Heather would inevitably snatch victory right out of Lindsay's more deserving hands. She sighed. She should have seen this coming. Heather had really ramped up her mean streak in the past few weeks, and she would undoubtedly get meaner from here on out. And that meant it was finally Lindsay's turn to be discarded.
Lindsay itched at her scalp. Even though it had been more than a month since she'd applied it, the blonde hair dye still gave off a distinctly cheap odour. She wondered if anyone else had noticed.
Then she remembered why she'd used it in the first place.
Suddenly, a new energy jolted its way through her veins.
What was she doing? She hadn't made it this far on luck alone! She shouldn't just roll over and let bad luck walk all over her.
She's earned her spot in this competition!
And she'll be damned if Heather fucking Mackenzie was just going to get rid of her like that.
Lindsay deftly swung both legs over the frame of her bike and onto solid ground, then yanked the bike out of the pit. She hopped back on and started pedaling right as Heather finally caught up with her, flying clear over the pool with the grace of an angel.
An evil angel.
Lindsay pumped her legs up and down as hard and fast as she could. She'd never felt more determined in her whole life. Those dozen feet seemed to stretch on for miles as time slowed down. She risked a glance at Heather. Heather had beads of sweat running down her face as if they were tears of defeat.
And before she knew it, they were across the finish line.
The brakes groaned as Lindsay halted suddenly. She refused to allow herself a sigh of relief. That would have to come later.
"Wow!" Chris said from underneath the pile of sand in which he'd been buried. He hastily shook it off. "Never before in my life have I seen such a close race! We'll have to check the photo finish!"
Even though Lindsay's back was turned, she could feel Heather's iron gaze burning a hole into her flesh. Whatever. Let Heather sulk.
Chris and Chef were hunched over one of the cameras, studying it intently and murmuring amongst themselves. "Mm-hm, okay…wow…she's not gonna like this, is she?"
The other campers were standing on the grass nearby, fingers crossed. No doubt who'd they want to see gone. Owen and Duncan had picked themselves up and were heading over to hear the final verdict.
Chris smirked at Chef. "Oh man, I can already hear the incoming meltdown-"
"Can you just hurry up and tell us who won?" Heather yelled impatiently, balling her fists.
"Alright, already! Just double-checking the results." Chris' smirk seemed to grow tenfold when he met Heather's gaze.
Lindsay was sure that must be a good sign. She let slip a small smirk of her own.
"I am proud to announce that the winner of today's challenge - and immunity - is…"
Lindsay bit her lip.
More beads of sweat shone on Heather's forehead.
The other campers crossed their fingers so hard that it looked painful.
"Lindsay!"
Lindsay threw her arms into the air. "Yes! I won!"
"Yeah! Go Lindsay!" Owen and DJ cheered.
"What?" Heather's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? How the heck did Lindsiot win? Ugh!"
Gwen chuckled. "Tough luck, Heather!"
Heather rolled her eyes. "Well…second place means I'm not a total loser, at least."
Chris' grin was so wide it practically split apart his face. "Oh man, if that's what you think, then you're gonna hate what I'm about to say next."
And, Lindsay thought to herself, Heather was also gonna hate what she had to say.
"As you may recall," Chris began, "I said earlier that whoever crosses the finish line first wins immunity, and whoever crosses last is immediately eliminated."
"Um, yeah, we were all here when you said that, remember?" Heather said, folding her arms.
Lindsay couldn't wait for the other shoe to drop. It had been a long time coming for everyone here. Including herself.
"Well, since Owen and Duncan both wiped out, they never crossed the finish line, which technically means you came in last. Which means, you're going home!"
Lindsay savoured each and every single millisecond of Heather's slow transformation from confusion, then understanding, to shock, and then horror. She didn't even bother trying to hide the smirk on her face, as large as the one Chris was still wearing.
"WHAT?! Are you kidding-I…I…how could you! Those rules are stupid!"
"I know." Chris responded.
"Tough luck, Heather!" Gwen called, sharing a high-five with Geoff.
Heather then turned her ire towards Lindsay. "Look at what you've done, Lindsiot! If you'd've just been eaten by those piranhas, then I would have won, like I deserved! This is all your fault! I can't believe I'm going home thanks to some dumb blonde who can't even tie her own shoes-"
Speaking of shoes, there was a third one about to drop.
"And what makes you think I would've just let you win?" Lindsay cut in, dropping the high-pitched voice she'd been putting on, and returning to her normal voice.
Just the change of voice alone was enough to stun Heather into silence, along with everyone else watching.
Lindsay continued her well-practiced monologue. "All throughout this game, you've treated each and every single person here like you wouldn't even spend the effort to wipe them off the bottom of your shoe. Everyone here wants to see you go down, and today is finally the day. Karma has finally caught up to you."
A few seconds of stunned silence.
Then Geoff spoke up timidly: "Who is she and what has she done with Lindsay?"
Great segue.
"Do you really think you're some manipulative mastermind?" Lindsay continued. "It only took Beth days to realize how awful you really were. And as for me, I didn't buy it for a second. But that was my whole plan all along."
With those words, it seemed as though the whole world had fallen silent, anticipating what would happen next.
"I'm nowhere near as simple-minded as you all think. But I knew that showing off how smart I was would do me no good. I know how these sort of shows go. The smartest ones are usually among the first to go. And I couldn't just let that happen. My plan was to act as dumb but likable as possible; enough of an idiot that I wouldn't be considered a threat, but also sweet enough that no one could bear to vote me out. But, as we all know, plans can change, and as it happened, Heather, you were a big help to me. You made me look even more pitiable and helpless while also painting a massive target on your back.
"And all those times I disobeyed your orders wasn't just me being stupid. Did you seriously think I just happened to choose the same hiding spot as you by accident? And did you think it was plain bad luck that Chef just happened to find you? Did you think I poured too much flambe oil on your cake by pure stupidity? Did you think me throwing your makeup kit into the freezer afterwards was a spur-of-the-moment thing?"
Lindsay laughed, an ugly, bitter sound.
"It's hilarious when you think about it. You thought you were manipulating me, yet it was actually you who was being manipulated this whole time."
"Wow!" Chris exclaimed. "Now there's a plot twist I sure as heck didn't see coming!"
"Ouch," Chef remarked. "That's cold…"
For the first time in her entire life, Heather was genuinely dumbfounded. Her mouth was hanging open, with only brief, broken-up words emerging from it. She was so attacked by the revelation that she couldn't even form a coherent sentence, or even a coherent word.
It looked as though the weight of all her past decisions had finally caught up to her. They had smashed her over the head until she was rendered completely and utterly helpless to change her own fate. There was nothing she could do. No way to talk or trick her way out of it. She had lost, for good.
That kind of feeling must be absolutely crushing.
But for other campers, another kind of horror was setting in. One of the kindest, sweetest, and dumbest campers had just abruptly shredded all of it off like a second skin, revealing a manipulative core that was not unlike Heather's own.
"Wait, so the whole dumb blonde thing was just an act?" Gwen asked, not believing her own ears.
"All of it. Every single word of it. And for the record, I'm not even a real blonde."
The mood at the dock that afternoon was joyous, at least at first.
Heather marched past everyone, not daring to look them in the eye. She kept on straight ahead and boarded the Boat of Losers without a word. Her face was still broken, like she'd witnessed a murder.
Gwen and Leshawna, on the other hand, were all smiles. "Bye-bye, Heather!" they called. "Don't let the door hit you on your way out!"
DJ acted like he'd just undergone a successful exorcism. "It feels like a huge weight has just been lifted off my chest! Finally, Heather's gone!"
Heather didn't respond to any of it.
Then another figure emerged on the dock. Lindsay. The mood shifted immediately. The smiles dropped away, and another weight was felt.
"You played a good game, Heather. But not good enough." She smirked.
The boat roared away, heading into the sunset.
Only then did Lindsay breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well, today was certainly eventful, wasn't it?"
Gwen and Leshawna glanced at each other nervously. DJ cowered behind Geoff.
Lindsay paid them no mind. "Anyway, I'm exhausted. I'm gonna get an early night."
She headed back towards the cabins, feeling everyone's eyes on her all the while. She knew she should be nervous, having just given away her whole game plan, but all she felt was pride. It only energized her more. She was ready to take them on, one by one, or all at the same time.
Lindsay wasn't stupid, after all. She had more than one trick up her sleeve.