Chapter 4: Teamwork Rules

A horn was blared over the intercom three days after the dodgeball challenge, followed by Chris saying "Alright, campers, enough beauty sleep! Time to show us what you're made of! Everyone report to the amphitheater!" They all arrived before Chris did. "Are we gonna see a musical?", Lindsay asked. "I love musicals, especially the ones with singing and dancing." Katie smiled. "Oh my gosh, me too!" Then Trent and Gwen began flirting, while Lindsay blew a kiss to Tyler from across the bleachers. Heather was not amused, and hit Lindsay with her hair. Chris walked onto the stage. "Welcome to our brand new, deluxe, state of the art outdoor amphitheater. This week's challenge is a summer camp favorite: a talent contest! Each team has eight hours to pick their three most talented acts. These three will represent them in the show tonight. Sing, dance, juggle, anything goes as long as it's legal. You'll be judged by our resident talent scout, former DJ, VJ and rap legend, Grand Master Chef, who will show is approval via the chef-o-meter. The team that loses will send one camper home tonight. Good luck!"

The teams started auditions outside their cabins. Heather stood in front of her team with a clip board. "Okay, I'm the team captain so here's how it's going to work..." "Wait, who said you were team captain?", Gwen asked. "She did, just now", Lindsay replied. Heather nodded. "Lindsay, Beth, Katie and I took a vote, and I won." "Threatening them to vote for you isn't very democratic." Heather rolled her eyes. "Trent, you're cool with me leading this project, aren't you?" He shrugged. "Right on. Go for it." Gwen sighed and walked off. "Whatever..." "Where are you going?" "Anywhere that's not here."

Heather and Katie showed off their dancing skills, then Lindsay raised her hand. "I vote for you guys to be in the contest!" Beth nodded. "I second that!" Katie giggled and Heather bowed, then walked up to Lindsay. "I need you to do something. Can you keep a secret?" Lindsay nodded. "Gwen's up to something serious. I want you to follow her and report back to me." She shoved Lindsay away and went back to judging the other Gophers. Lindsay soon forgot her job and went to make out with Tyler instead.

Meanwhile, auditions had already started at the Bass cabin. No one was doing well. Sadie's dancing sucked, Harold didn't get a chance to audition, Duncan's carving took too long, Bridgette didn't do well enough and only Geoff seemed to like Izzy's dance of the rattlesnake. They settled on the other three campers in the end. Bridgette sighed. "Well, I guess my hand stand wasn't quite fancy enough. So it looks like it's Geoff, DJ's ribbon thing and your solo." Courtney smiled. "Yep. I think we have a good chance of winning this one." Geoff cheered. "I'm gonna be on TV, man!" Izzy laughed. "You're already on TV, Geoff!" "Oh yeah." He ran up to the nearest camera guy and yelled "Hello out there, dudes!" Meanwhile, at the Gopher cabin, Beth set some bushes on fire with her flaming batons. Justin jumped out of nowhere with a fire extinguisher to take care of it, and all the girls cheered. He may have put out the flame, but he only increased the heat. Heather stared at him. "Okay... so I think it's me, Trent and... Justin. Any objections?" The girls and Owen shook their heads.

Cody walked up to Gwen, who was writing. "Whatcha got there, a journal?" She didn't look up. "Beat it." "Oh, I get it. It's private, huh? I'm down with that, yeah. It's cool, brah." He sat down on her stump and leaned toward her. "What part of beat it don't you understand?" He leaned closer and sniffed her hair. She got up and glared at him. "What are you, some kind of freak?" Cody looked away. "You just... smell really pretty..." "It's just... soap..." She walked away, and Cody followed her back to the cabin. She went to the girls' side and changed into her swim suit, then slammed the door in Cody's face on her way out. "I need a swim." Trent put down his guitar and stood up. "Hey, wait up, I'll come with you." Gwen smiled. "Sure. I mean, whatever..." She turned away and walked off, with Trent and Cody trailing behind. Heather and Katie walked up to the cabin. Heather turned to her minion and said "you stay here. I've got a diary to find. You stand guard, and if you see Gwen coming, warn me." She went into the cabin and began rummaging through drawers and bags for Gwen's book. Meanwhile, at the dock, Gwen was sitting with Trent. "Sometimes I just need to get away from everyone here, you know? It's like they're all driving me crazy... Well. Almost everyone." She smiled at Trent and scooted closer to him, but then Owen and Cody jumped off the dock and soaked Gwen. She got up and stormed off. "Ugh, I hate this place!" Trent glared at Owen and Cody. "Nice going, guys."

Before the contest, the Killer Bass went behind the stage to practice. Courtney was playing her violin, and Geoff was adjusting the wheels on his skateboard. "So", he asked Bridgette, "Can you really stand on your hands for twenty minutes?" She smirked. "Wanna bet that I can't?" "Oh, you're on!" The Bass placed their bets and Bridgette started walking on her hands. "Okay, twenty minutes starting now!" She walked to the edge of the stage, then turned back and caught her leg on a rope. It came loose and a spotlight fell. "OH CRAP!" When the dust settled, Courtney's violin was in pieces. "You... killed my violin!" Bridgette winced. "I didn't mean to! There must be something we can do..." She took the pieces and shoved them together, which only broke them apart further. Courtney ran off crying.

Gwen got back to the cabin just as Heather found her diary. Katie tried to stall her, but Gwen growled at her and she stepped aside. Heather had barely stashed the diary in time to avoid being caught. "Hey, Gwen. Did you have a good swim?" Gwen looked at the mess on the floor. "What is going on in here?" Heather yawned, and stretched... "Oh, nothing. Just resting before the big show. Are you always so paranoid?" Katie nodded. "Yeah, really." They walked out, and Katie hugged Heather. "Oh my gosh, I am so excited! Thanks for letting me dance with you in the talent contest, I hate dancing by myself. Usually I have Sadie with me, but..." Heather smirked. "I know what you mean. Don't worry, you're safe with me. Now let's go kick some Bass butt."

Confession Cam: Heather
"Katie may not be the best dancer, but she does have her uses. Thanks to her, I got this diary! Let's see what it says... 'Okay. So I'm trying to ignore him, but he's just so cute. If they had custom ordered a guy to be a distraction for me here, it would've been McHottie. We just totally connect. He's pretty much the only person I can relate to here, and I know it's a cliché, but I love guys who play guitar.' Now who could that be? Oh, I'm going to enjoy using this against Gwen."

It was time for the show, with the performers back stage and the rest of the campers cheering in the bleachers. Bridgette ate some chips and talked to Courtney. "Okay, I know my talent isn't as great as yours, but I can do this." Courtney rubbed her bandaged head. "You sure? Normally I could just sing, but I'm a little out of it..." Bridgette nodded. "Trust me." Heather walked up. "Bridgette, too bad about the accident! I guess you're gonna get your fifteen seconds of fame after all, huh?" Bridgette glared at her and stopped eating. "What is that supposed to mean?" "Oh, nothing, no one would sabotage their own teammate. Unless they maybe felt threatened..." "Hey, maybe that's how you Gophers operate, but the Killer Bass have more class than that. We're a team!" "Well I guess you'll go down as a team too. Oh, and easy on the chips. You don't wanna sink that surfboard of yours, do you?" Bridgette threw the bag and hit Heather in the face.

Confession Cam: Heather
"What a bunch of losers. It's so easy it's almost not fun... almost."

"It's the TDI challenge extravaganza! Welcome", Chris said, "to the very first camp Wawanakwa talent contest, where seven campers will showcase their mad skills and desperately try not to be humiliated. First up, for the Screaming Gophers, is Justin!" The Gophers cheered as Justin took the stage and did some modeling poses. "Okay, I don't know what that was, but dang, you've got some moves, dude! And it looks like Chef thought so too." The Gopher girls cheered louder.

Confession Cam: Owen
"There are two syllables for hot: Jus and Tin. Man, that guy is just so hot I could kiss him! ...Because he's a good teammate! Gah, why'd I say that?"

"First up for the Killer Bass, make some noise for the big guy, DJ!" DJ pranced onto the stage and twirled his ribbon for a while, but tied up his leg by mistake and tripped. Chris nodded. "Dainty, and yet masculine. Let's see what grand master Chef thinks... apparently not much. So, with two down and four acts to go, it's the Screaming Gophers screaming ahead. Next on deck, Trent. Take it away, my bro."

Trent walked on stage with his guitar and sat down. "This one goes out to someone special here at camp." He began playing guitar and singing, and Gwen smiled. After he was done, Chris ran on stage. "Nice work! I'm liking your style, dude, and so does grand master Chef!" Trent smiled and waved at the camera. "Alright, quit hogging my light, buddy." He pushed Trent off the stage. "Alright, three down and three to go and the Killer Bass are totally sucking so far. Let's see if Bridgette can change that." She walked onto the stage on her hands, then started belching and vomiting all over the place. The campers gasped and screamed as they got covered in it, and Bridgette slid off the stage into Tyler's arms. Lindsay ran up angrily. "Hey, puke on your own boyfriend!" Heather crossed her arms. "On your own what, Lindsay?" "I didn't say boyfriend!"

Confession Cam: Bridgette
"Going home won't be so bad... I can always work at the surf shack..."

After Chef cleaned up the stage, Chris walked back onto it. "Welcome back to the TDI talent extravaganza! Okay. So in a strange turn of events, Bridgette's vomit spewing performance scored two thumbs up from grand master Chef. But, it's not enough to pull ahead of the Screaming Gophers who hold the lead with Trent's love song. So, without further delay, here's the last act for the leaders, Heather and Katie!" "YEAH, GO KATIE!", Sadie yelled. Katie smiled and waved. "Hi, Sadie!" Sadie waved back, and then the Gopher girls began dancing. After they were done, the audience applauded and Heather bowed while Katie waved. "Well", Chris said, "that was better than I expected! Well, it's down to the final act of the night. Can Geoff and his rad stunts turn it around? I seriously doubt it. Let's find out." Geoff jumped on his board and it broke in half. "Whoa, that kinda wrecks the ride." Courtney started freaking out. "What are we going to do now!" Bridgette sighed. "Okay. Sadie and Tyler stink, Duncan's carving is boring, so... um... Harold?" She ran to get him. "Okay, you're our last chance." Courtney nodded. "Just go for it, Harold. What have you got to lose?" He walked up the mic on stage and began beat boxing. After he finished, the campers cheered like crazy. "Wicked beat boxing, dude!", Chris said. "Sadly, the rest of your team kinda sucked, so you still lose. But, I'll give you immunity for tonight. So, see you all at the campfire later!"

After voting, the Killer Bass huddled around the campfire. "Kudos to you all for an incredible night of entertainment", Chris said. "Music, drama, barfing! Sadly, one of you has to go. The lucky campers who get to stay are Harold, Courtney, Duncan, Sadie, Tyler, DJ, Izzy, and one more of you. Bridgette, you did good, but you made one heck of a mess. Geoff, you didn't perform at all because you broke your skateboard! There is only one marshmallow left on this plate. And the receiver is... Geoff." Bridgette sighed. "Time to catch the boat of losers, surfer girl." "Okay... well, bye guys!" Geoff waved. "Sorry, Bridgette! Enjoy the rest of your summer!" She smiled. "It's been great so far, even though I lost. Thanks, Geoff." Then she ran off to the boat.