Chapter Fourteen – You Suck Too
After dinner everyone goes to their cabins to make themselves pretty for the talent show. They then make their way over to the stage where they'll be performing.
"Hey, Leshawna," Harold says nervously as he sits beside her in the seating.
"Hey, Harold, what's up sugar?" Leshawna responds. Harold gulps.
"Do you know the difference between frogs and toads?" he asks. Leshawna looks at him strangely.
"Uh… no?" she replies.
"Well, frogs are usually found in moist climates while toads are usually found in a drier habitat. Also frogs have bulging eyes and long legs with webbed feet. They lay their eggs in clusters and…"
"Harold, honey, that's interesting and all, but why don't we talk about something else?" Leshawna interrupts.
"Oh okay," Harold says and goes to leave.
"Where you going?" Leshawna asks.
"I thought…" Harold starts.
"I actually meant let's talk about something different!" Leshawna laughs. "What's your talent again?" she questions.
"Beatboxing," Harold says proudly.
"Okay this is how this show is going to run!" Chris announces from the stage. All the students and Blaineley and Chef are sitting in the stands watching him. "We'll be going backwards in cabin order, but we'll have a group of boys then a group of girls, so the boys in cabin eight will go first, then the girls in cabin four. You can decide between you who goes first out of your cabin. Make sure you get backstage in time to go on because I want to get through this as fast as possible before it rains. Cabin eight, get up there!"
Tyler is the first to perform and his yoyo tricks don't exactly go according to plan as he hits himself in the face and falls off the stage. Ezekiel's talent is break dancing which goes horribly but everyone claps politely, and Geoff manages to break his skateboard before getting to go on stage.
Next is Eva who shows off her strength by weightlifting, causing everyone to fear her more than they already do. Katie and Sadie do their Spice Girls routine about a decade too late and everyone cringes at their bad dance moves.
Cody borrows Harold's miniature keyboard on which he has a repeated track playing while he presses keys at random intervals that make different noises such as a car horn and a helicopter, finishing with an explosion. Izzy claps enthusiastically at the end.
"Oh my god you guys, wasn't he good?" she says to Lindsay and Beth where they stand backstage.
"Uh, Izzy? Cody sucks," Beth points out. Lindsay nods in agreement.
"Oh my god, he isn't appreciated in his own time! I'd give anything not to be appreciated in my own time!" Izzy says dreamily.
"Umm… Izzy?" Beth starts, glancing at Lindsay. "You suck too."
"Yeah," Lindsay agrees.
"Oh you guys are so sweet!" Izzy gushes.
Trent takes the stage with his guitar.
"I'd like to dedicate this song to my girlfriend Gwen," he says. "It's called Midnight Blue." He strums a chord and begins to play. "Blue, oh blue, that's what I am without you. 'Cause at the stroke of midnight you always disappear, like Cinderella into the night so clear. But the difference is I always know you'll return, when I see the sun starting to burn. So midnight won't seem so blue because I know I'll be seeing you again, I'll be seeing you."
There is a thunderous applause for the song and Leshawna congratulates Gwen on having such a great boyfriend.
Izzy performs The Dance of the Rattle Snake, trying to hypnotise the people in the front row.
"Ooh, she's good!" Owen giggles. Lindsay sings a Taylor Swift song next, although no on is quite sure which one because she's so out of tune. Beth manages not to burn anyone with her fire baton twirling.
Harold's beatboxing is a huge success, and he blows a kiss to Leshawna when he's done. She rolls her eyes but giggles a little at the display of affection. DJ's ribbon twirling is masculine yet graceful and everyone claps in confusion at Duncan's carving of his own skull into a tree.
"He's a catch," Bridgette says to Courtney backstage as Sierra goes on to do her yodelling.
"Could you not?" Courtney rolls her eyes.
"I'm just kidding," Bridgette assures her. "I think you two would make a cute couple."
"We aren't a couple," Courtney affirms.
"But you had sex, right?" Bridgette presses.
"No!" Courtney denies, turning red. Bridgette raises her eyebrows. "We didn't!" Courtney repeats. Bridgette doesn't say anything, just watches Courtney expectantly. It's obvious to Bridgette that Courtney needs someone to talk to about it, and obviously she can't talk to Heather or Gwen who would definitely judge her.
"We didn't have sex," Courtney says finally. "He just…" she trails off, not sure how to say it.
"He just got you off?" Bridgette says bluntly. Courtney blushes again.
"Oh my god. Yes, okay? Don't say it so loud!" she hisses.
"Relax, no one can hear us over Sierra's yodelling. I know you want to talk about him. I can see it all over your face," Bridgette says knowingly. Courtney gives her a pained expression. "So was he good? Did he know what he was doing?" Bridgette prompts.
"Oh god. Yes." Courtney gives in. "He knew exactly what he was doing and he was very good at it. I feel like I'm on fire when he touches me, or even when he's near me. When I'm with him I can hardly think of anything but how much I want him to kiss me," Courtney admits.
"You really like him, don't try to deny it this time," Bridgette teases.
"I don't like him! I don't like him at all. I hate his guts. I hate him so much!" Courtney cries.
"Really, why?" Bridgette asks sceptically.
"Because he's ridiculous! He's a smug bastard and a total creep, not to mention a criminal. And his stupid tattoo and hair and piercings are so cliché and I hate that I find them sexy and I hate him because he makes me crazy, but mostly hate him because I'm so completely head over heels in love with him and there's nothing I can do about it!" Courtney rants, finally getting all her feelings out.
"Wow," is all Bridgette can say.
"I want to hold his hand and have him put his arms around me and I want to sleep in his bed and talk to him about dumb stuff and…"
"And you want to bang him." Bridgette finishes for her.
"Yes," Courtney cries hopelessly.
"Basically you want him to be your boyfriend, but you're scared of what your friends will think, am I right?" Bridgette guesses.
"I don't want him to be my boyfriend!" Courtney denies.
"Courtney, what you just described is basically a boyfriend," Bridgette points out. "And you just told me you're in love with him." Is it? Courtney wonders. Do I want him to be my boyfriend?
"I guess I do..." Courtney finally admits. "But he thinks I'm a stuck up bitch! Remember what we overheard him saying? He doesn't want me, he just wants to… bang me, as you so eloquently put it." Courtney says bitterly.
"So why didn't he?" Bridgette questions.
"He didn't have a condom," Courtney sighs. Bridgette considers her for a moment.
"Did you do anything for him?" she asks.
"No… I offered but he declined… do you think he thinks I wouldn't be any good at it?" Courtney wonders.
"I really don't think so." Bridgette smirks.
"What?" Courtney asks. Bridgette shakes her head with a small laugh.
"The way I see it you have two options," Bridgette advises. "You can either bang him and forget about it and act like nothing happened once we get back to school. Or, and this is what I suggest you do, you can tell him how you really feel and you never know, maybe he'll feel the same. Screw what Heather thinks. Maybe she'd be nicer if she and Alejandro just did it already." Bridgette rolls her eyes. Courtney gives a small smile.
"It's easy for you to say. Geoff's popular and he's totally in love with you." Courtney says. Bridgette grins. She pulls something out of her pocket and hands it to Courtney.
"You might need this," she whispers as she puts the condom in Courtney's hand. Courtney quickly shoves it in her bra, since she doesn't have any pockets as she's wearing a dress.
"Bridgette… I was just wondering about something Duncan said. He said I was in total control of the situation… what do you think he meant?" Courtney asks. Bridgette nods as if this confirms something for her. She looks at Courtney seriously, as if deciding whether or not to tell her a very important piece of information. But Sierra has stopped yodelling and Chris is yelling for the next act.
"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Bridgette says as she heads on stage to walk on her hands for twenty minutes. Chris stops her after five and says he's had enough, and Courtney goes out to play her violin. She plays flawlessly of course and gives a self-satisfied curtsey after she finishes.
Justin goes next and it appears his talent is just being hot as he flashes his best smiles and takes his shirt off for everyone to admire his abs. Everyone appreciates the display immensely. Owen belches the alphabet next which impresses the guys but the girls are less impressed.
"Ew, that's so disgusting," says Heather from backstage.
"You didn't have to share a cabin with him," Alejandro shudders.
"Yeah but I did have to share with that," Heather points her thumb at Leshawna who is just about to walk on stage.
"You're lucky I have to perform now or I would not hesitate to whip your ass again!" Leshawna scowls, leaving the wings and standing centre stage. Heather flinches slightly as Leshawna pretends to swing a punch at her before going on stage. She dances horribly to Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'. Harold gives her a standing ovation while everyone else just gives her a courtesy clap.
"Ready?" Alejandro asks Heather, holding his hand out to her. Heather nods and takes his hand and he leads her out onto the stage. They take their position centre stage, ready for the music to start. Heather's heart pounds unusually loudly as Alejandro takes her hand and places his other hand on her waist. It's not like me to get nervous in front of a crowd, she thinks, trying to shake off the weird feeling. Alejandro smiles encouragingly as the music starts and they begin to dance.
Their audience is in awe of the way they move, totally in sync with each other and the music.
"I hate to say it but that girl is good…" Leshawna admits grudgingly.
"Those two were made for each other. Look at them up there, it's like we don't even exist," Gwen observes.
"Well, they both think of themselves very highly, I'll give you that," Leshawna agrees.
Alejandro spins Heather out and back into him and he so enjoys the sensation of her in his arms he almost forgets to let her go so they can continue the routine. He recovers quickly, hoping she didn't notice his moment of hesitation. It was a bad idea to choose Heather for my partner, he thinks, as he realises the passion of the dance isn't faked at all, and it's probably obvious to all their classmates. Is it obvious to Heather? He wonders. His heart races and despite his physical fitness, he finds himself short of breath.
The music comes to and end and Alejandro and Heather finish the dance, their faces close together. Alejandro's hands are on Heather's hips while hers are around his neck and they are both breathing heavily. For once in her life Heather gives a genuine smile, pleased at how well they'd danced. Alejandro's wits leave him and he dips his head to press his lips against hers. Heather, totally thrown by this development, doesn't even try to resist, just hungrily devours his mouth with her own, and they are gripping onto each other like their lives depend on it.
Their classmates stare in shock as Heather and Alejandro make out on stage in front of them. After what seems like an eternity Chris stands up.
"That's enough people!" he shouts. Heather and Alejandro break apart and look at each other questioningly for a moment before returning to their seats like nothing has happened.
"What?" Heather snaps at Courtney who is staring at her still. Courtney shrugs and turns back to Chris. There is a crash of thunder and Chris looks toward the sky.
"Great performances everyone. It's going to rain soon, so why don't you all just go to bed and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning," Chris tells them.