Chapter Eight – At Your Own Risk
The first order of business after breakfast the next morning is a counselling session between Harold and Duncan. The rest of the class spends their time relaxing around the camp.
"Can either of you tell me why you're here?" Chef asks.
"Because Harold's a huge dweeb, probably," Duncan responds.
"Gosh!" Harold protests.
"No, it's 'cause you let him fall into a creek!" Chef informs Duncan.
"Oh come on, it was funny!" Duncan claims.
"Harold, did you think it was funny?" Chef asks.
"Not really," says Harold. "I got a bruise."
"Harold, you are such a nerd!" Duncan says.
"It really hurts my feelings when you say things like that, Duncan," Harold says.
"Are you for real?" Duncan asks incredulously. Harold nods.
"Duncan, I think you should apologise to Harold," says Chef.
"Why should I?" Duncan asks.
"Because you're a big bully! Now apologise, or face the consequences!" Chef shouts.
"Sorry, Harold." Duncan spits.
"I think these counselling sessions are going great!" Chef grins.
"Time for this morning's activity! We're going canoeing! So everybody grab a partner. Don't bother picking your best friend because I'll find out and make you switch," Chris says.
"Now that Gwen and Trent are together, it's time for you and Justin to hook up," Heather tells Courtney.
"Seriously, Heather? I don't even like him, all he cares about is his hair and his fake tan," Courtney rolls her eyes. Heather ignores her and calls Justin over.
"Justin, be Courtney's partner," Heather says sweetly.
"Okay, sure," Justin agrees. "Just let me get my mirror and comb, you know, in case something happens while we're gone." Justin flits off to his cabin to get his comb and pocket mirror. Courtney rolls her eyes.
"Wanna be my partner, Princess?" Duncan asks, sidling up to her.
"Ew, no," Heather answers for her. "She's with Justin. Go find someone else to be creepy with." Duncan scowls at her and wanders off. "You're welcome," Heather says to Courtney. Courtney watches Duncan go, hoping he'll turn around so she can mouth an apology to him, but he doesn't. Why do you care, you hate him, remember? Courtney reminds herself.
"Everyone got a partner?" Chris calls out.
"No!" says Heather, looking around.
"Me either," Alejandro says.
"Looks like you two are a pair!" Chris confirms.
"What? No!" Heather protests. Chris glowers at her until she joins Alejandro by a canoe.
"What you have to do is canoe across to BoneyIsland! Once you get there you must portage your canoes to the middle of the island where we will meet for a picnic lunch!" Chris informs them. "Off you go!"
"Justin, do you think you could actually try paddling?" Courtney snaps at him, as she's doing all the work.
"I would, but I'm not supposed to do any exercise that isn't my mandatory workout, otherwise I might strain myself," Justin explains. Courtney huffs. I don't know why Heather thinks Justin and I would make a good couple, Courtney thinks. He's totally incapable of thinking of anyone but himself!
"You know, Courtney, Alejandro was saying something the other day," Justin begins.
"Really, what?" Courtney asks, not curious in slightest, but going along with Justin anyway.
"He said you might like me," Justin says. "Totally understandable of course, but I feel it's my duty to tell you that I think I'm out of your league," Justin says sympathetically. Despite the fact that Courtney doesn't have any feelings for Justin, she feels annoyed that he would suggest such a thing.
"Out of my league? Justin, for one thing, I don't like you at all, not that you'd notice because you like yourself enough for everyone. And for another thing, you said I was the hottest chick in our class, so what gives?" Courtney demands.
"Oh yeah, I forgot all you girls heard that conversation. I still think you're the hottest girl in our class, but that doesn't mean you're good enough for me," Justin shrugs.
"So who is good enough for you then? Do you like someone back at school?" Courtney asks, curious now.
"No," Justin responds. Courtney feels like there is something more to it, but Justin doesn't seem to want to talk anymore so she drops the subject.
"Ugh, canoeing is so lame!" Heather complains.
"Heather, you aren't even rowing so I do not know what you are complaining about," Alejandro points out.
"And why did I have to be paired with you?" Heather continues, ignoring Alejandro.
"Because you were too busy worrying about your friend's love life to find yourself another partner… or maybe because you subconsciously wanted to be paired with me," Alejandro suggests flirtatiously.
"I am very selfless in that way," Heather says, choosing not to hear the second part of Alejandro's sentence. "I hope Courtney appreciates it."
Alejandro looks behind him at Courtney and Justin's canoe and can tell by the look on Courtney's face that she does not appreciate it at all.
"I hate to tell you this Heather, but I don't think Courtney likes Justin," Alejandro says.
"That's ridiculous, everyone likes Justin. He's extremely attractive, probably the hottest guy here," Heather says.
"Hmph. I don't know about that," Alejandro dissents.
"What you think you are?" Heather scoffs.
"Well…" Alejandro starts. Heather laughs and Alejandro stops rowing, annoyed. "You can row the rest of the way," he says.
Geoff can't believe his luck that he managed to get Bridgette as his canoeing partner. He's been trying for at least a month to impress her, but nothing seems to be working. He stares at the back of her head as he rows, trying to think of something to say.
"You have a lot of hair," he says finally.
"Uh, what?" Bridgette asks, bewildered.
"I mean… it's nice. I like your hair," Geoff manages to get out. He nods to himself proudly.
"Oh, thanks," Bridgette smiles, holding back laughter. Geoff really is kind of adorable, she thinks, is it weird that I find his inability to string a sentence together endearing?
"We're totally going to be the first ones to the island," Bridgette says.
"Cool! You're a really good canoer," Geoff says. Bridgette can't stop herself from laughing this time.
"What?" Geoff asks, afraid he's said something stupid.
"Nothing. You're just cute," Bridgette replies. Geoff smiles bashfully, her words making him feel all warm inside. It isn't long till the two of them are pulling their canoe onto the shore of BoneyIsland.
"Should we wait for the others?" Bridgette asks.
"Nah, they could take forever, let's just go. Chris said to meet in the middle of the island anyway. Time to portage!" Geoff grabs one end of the canoe and Bridgette gets the other and they lift it over their heads and start off into the forest.
The other pairs eventually find their way to BoneyIsland and begin their trek to the middle of the island. Lindsay directs the canoe that she and Beth are carrying over to Justin and Courtney.
"When are we doing the thing for Sierra and Cody?" Lindsay whispers.
"My original plan was to do it at lunch time but since we're going to be on this island for lunch I guess we'll have to do it this afternoon or tomorrow. Did you talk to Chef?" Courtney asks.
"Yeah but he didn't really seem to want to help," Lindsay says sadly.
"Okay, well try Owen then," Courtney suggests. "Or else we'll have to think up something else." Lindsay nods and continues on, overtaking Courtney and Justin.
"Don't you think it's odd that no one has caught up to us yet?" Bridgette asks Geoff.
"Not really, we had a fairly big lead on them," Geoff shrugs, or tries to but he is carrying a canoe above his head.
"I guess you're right… but do you have any idea where we are?" Bridgette presses. Geoff stops for a second and Bridgette nearly drops the canoe.
"Come to think of it, I don't know where we are… are we going in the right direction?" Geoff wonders.
"I have no idea," Bridgette replies, worriedly. The two of them look around, searching for any sign of the rest of the group, or even a trail. "I'm really glad I'm with you, I hate being alone in the woods…" Bridgette says nervously.
"Do you hear that?" Geoff asks. Bridgette listens and sure enough she can hear what sounds like the gush of a waterfall. "Let's go check it out, maybe it's the middle of the island," Geoff proposes. Bridgette nods and they follow the sound of the waterfall, crashing through the underbrush and hitting branches with the canoe.
"You know, I really don't think this is the way, it doesn't seem like anyone's ever been through here…" Bridgette says dubiously.
"We're nearly there," Geoff assures her. Eventually the trees thin out and the two of them find themselves on the edge of a sparkling blue lake with a huge waterfall crashing down from the cliff on the other side. "Whoa!" says Geoff, impressed.
"Wow, this is beautiful," Bridgette agrees. They put the canoe down and look around, admiring the beautiful simplicity of the place. Geoff spots a sign a few metres away and goes to read it. The sign is at the start of a track that leads off in two different directions.
"I guess this is how you're supposed to get to this place," Geoff observes. On the side of the sign facing the lake it reads;
Welcome to Skull Falls
Enter at your own risk
On the other side, facing the forest, it reads;
Lookout Point (exact centre of island): 1.5km
Camp Wawanakwa (via canoe): 5km
Death Trap Mountain: 7km
"I guess this isn't the centre of the island then," Geoff sighs. "I guess we should get going." He walks back over to where Bridgette is standing by the canoe.
"We could stay a while," Bridgette proposes. "It's really nice here. And the water looks so inviting…"
"The sign says enter at your own risk," Geoff points out.
"It's probably just so they don't have millions of tourists here," Bridgette says knowingly. She pulls off her blue hoody and denim shorts, as well as the singlet she's wearing under the hoody. Geoff stares at her in amazement. Bridgette winks and laughs at his dumbfounded expression. She unhooks her bra and throws it to the ground.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Geoff asks, looking away, embarrassed.
"Haven't you ever seen a naked girl before, Geoff?" Bridgette laughs. She removes her underwear and dives into the lake. Geoff looks up carefully, making sure she's covered by the water.
"Well, yeah, but… I kinda thought we'd be dating or I'd have at least kissed you before I saw you naked," Geoff says, turning red. Bridgette laughs again.
"Well come on then," she says.
"What?" Geoff asks.
"Come and kiss me," she purrs. Geoff stares at her in wonderment for a second before hurriedly throwing his clothes to the stony ground and diving in after her. Bridgette swims out a little further so her feet can no longer touch the bottom, but when Geoff reaches her, he is still tall enough to have his feet on the ground and his head above the water.
"You swim like a mermaid," Geoff whispers huskily.
"You're getting better at this compliment thing," Bridgette replies. Geoff grins goofily before grabbing her and pulling her close. She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist for support as he draws her in, closing his eyes as he gently kisses her. He pulls away and they look into each others eyes, and Geoff realises, startlingly that he's already in love with her.
"Bridgette…" he starts. Don't be an idiot, Geoff, you'll scare her off, he tells himself. For once his brain tells him the right thing, so he finishes with, "I like you a lot." Bridgette smiles genuinely and dips her head to kiss him again, this time with a lot more vigour, her tongue darting out of her mouth to touch his.
"Geoff?" she says, still kissing him.
"Yeah?" he replies breathlessly.
"Have you ever had sex under a waterfall?" Bridgette asks, pulling away for a second. Geoff shakes his head, his long wet hair flicking water droplets at her. Bridgette smirks seductively, falling back into the water. She takes his hand and they swim towards the waterfall.
Heather and Alejandro drop the canoe on the ground and join the rest of the group who are situated on picnic rugs on the grass at Lookout Point.
"How did we get here last?" Heather complains.
"Because you are terrible at rowing," Alejandro tells her.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't forced me to row by myself for half the time!" Heather stamps her foot. She stalks away before Alejandro can come up with a response. She flops down on a picnic mat next to where Courtney, Justin, Gwen and Trent sit.
"Where's Geoff?" Alejandro asks as he follows her over and sits down beside her.
"We think he and Bridgette got lost," Gwen says.
"So why is no one looking for them?" Alejandro wonders.
"We think they need some time alone together," Trent shrugs.
"Very wise, my friend," Alejandro nods and puts his hand into his pack to pull out a sandwich.
"So, Courtney, Justin, how was your canoe ride?" Heather asks.
"Oh yeah, it was great," Courtney says sarcastically. "We discussed our future relationship, which by the way is non-existent!"
"But why?" Heather says.
"Because we have absolutely nothing in common," Courtney rolls her eyes.
"It's true, we don't," Justin nods sadly. "And… well there's probably something else you should know. I've been meaning to tell you guys, but I wasn't really sure how…" Justin says mysteriously.
"What is it?" Heather asks suspiciously.
"I'm gay," Justin reveals.
Geoff gets out of the water first, quite reluctantly, but they both know they have to return to camp eventually. He puts his clothes back on as Bridgette swims around the lake for another minute. Finally she makes her way to the edge and walks out of the water. Geoff watches her in awe as she walks over to where he stands beside her clothes. She picks up her underwear and is about to put it on when Geoff snatches it from her.
"Geoff!" she laughs, "what are you doing? I need to get dressed so we can go back to camp!"
"You don't need these, babe," he grins. "I'm going to keep them." He shoves them into his pocket. Bridgette raises an eyebrow at him, but goes along with it, putting the rest of her clothes on. Geoff does feel slightly guilty about what he's going to do with the underwear, but he just really hopes she can find the funny side when she sees it hanging on the flagpole with all the other girls' underwear.
"Let's go!" Bridgette says once she's dressed, and they grab the canoe and leave the secluded lake and follow the trail out.
"Alright, people, time to head back to camp!" Chris declares. Everyone starts packing up the food and picnic blankets, putting them into their packs. Canoes above their heads, the group makes their way back to the beach.
"Where's Owen?" Noah asks.
"Izzy's gone too," Leshawna points out.
"Oh," says Noah, catching on. Suddenly Izzy bursts through the trees.
"Oh my god you guys, I thought you were going to leave without us!" she laughs. "Hurry up Owen!" she walks over to their canoe to wait for him. Soon enough Owen appears, puffing from exertion. When Izzy's back his turned he grins at Duncan and holds up a green thong, which presumably belongs to Izzy. Duncan nods approvingly and Owen stashes the thong in his back pocket.
"Is he the first one?" DJ asks. Duncan nods.
"How is it that Owen is the only guy getting any on this island?" Duncan shakes his head.
"I think you forgot…" DJ nods his head in the direction of Tyler and Lindsay who are trying to make out while carrying their canoes above their heads, their partners getting irritated.
"Let's go already!" Chris shouts and the convoy begins its journey back to camp.
Note- Hope y'all liked the chapter and I haven't let you down too much. Sorry about there not being like any Duncney but basically there is like 3 chapters coming up focused solely on them. Thanks for reading and reviewing! xx