Bridgette's mind was in a very low place. Calling today a bad one would be a enormous understatement, even by Total Drama standards. It started out cold, with the frigid temperatures of the Yukon making room for immediate displeasure. Things quickly heated up though, in the form of the Hispanic hunk Alejandro. What started out as a crush led to responsive flirting, and eventually full encapsulation into Alejandro's basket.
Bridgette didn't understand why she let things get to that point. She had never crushed so hard on another guy while she was with Geoff. In fact, she gave Geoff an earful if his eyes started wondering too far away from hers. But for whatever reason, she had completely gone head over heels for Alejandro.
This led to predicament number two on the day; 'accidentally' kissing Alejandro. Deep down, she knew that kiss was intentional on her end. You don't just fall onto someone and kiss them by accident. Less then an hour into the challenge, Bridgette had cheated on her boyfriend and fallen into Alejandro's trance. She should've seen his next move coming. But obviously she didn't hence why she was currently still attached to a pole while voting in the confessional.
For whatever reason, Chris had not allowed the pole to become removed from her tongue once she was back on the plane. It was almost like Chris was trying to censor her. It'd make sense, as Alejandro had just pulled off a really risky move to try and get her eliminated, and Bridgette ratting out Alejandro would probably hurt the drama Chris was trying the steer the show into.
Bridgette sighed and stamped DJ's passport. DJ had voted for himself in the last challenge, and had more issues with hurting animals during today's challenge. It wasn't out the realm of possibility that the vote could end in a two-two tie. She personally knew Lindsay's vote could go any direction, although Bridgette was pretty sure that Leshawna was in Lindsay's ear about voting her off. Leshawna was extremely frustrated that Bridgette had lost team victory the challenge, and didn't bother talking to her before elimination.
The thought of voting herself off and not leaving things up to DJ and Lindsay crossed the blonde's mind. She knew she had A LOT of issues to deal with back at the aftermath studio. The main issue being Geoff. How would he respond to her after cheating on him on national television? If she didn't leave now to get things resolved, would her relationships and remaining integrity crumble completely?
Maybe it would be an escape to remain on the show. She could at the very least go for revenge on Alejandro. That was a low thought for Bridgette, she was not a vengeful person. But she wasn't sure who she was as a person after what happened today. Bridgette stared into the confessional cam and took a deep breath.
"Geoff, I'm so sorry... I never thought I'd do what I did today. I don't deserve to be here, and I don't deserve to be with you. Hopefully we can fix things soon."
Of course, with her tongue still being attached to the pole, it came out extremely muffled and in borderline gibberish.
Shortly afterwards, team victory was gathered in the elimination room. Bridgette looked at DJ, who just kept avoiding eye contact and looking ahead. Bridgette also saw Lindsay and Leshawna chatting quietly, another sign that Bridgette was getting the boot.
Bridgette wasn't sure if the feeling of impending doom was from the elimination, or knowing she would be falling through the sky in a couple seconds.
"Wow! What a day! You guys really put on a show today. DJ continues his animal rampage, while Bridgette taught us how to make out with a pole! Classic material!" Chris announced, smiling and grinning as usual during an elimination ceremony.
DJ sighed in disappointment, while Bridgette really couldn't move her head around much because of the pole. All she could really do was pinch her eyebrows down in a frown.
"Now onto the votes! To start things out we have two votes for Bridgette." Chris announced. Reality was settling in deeply for Bridgette.
"A vote for DJ. One vote left."
A slight amount of hope returned, but only a fraction.
"With three votes, the fourth person taking the drop of shame is our residential surfer chick, Bridgette. Not a huge surprise. Bridgette, if you'd please?"
An surge of anger struck Bridgette as Chris tossed her a parachute. Chris wasn't even going to remove the pole before taking the drop of shame. This was terrible, even by Chris' standards.
Bridgette took a step towards the exit, and thought at the very least she could try to warn her team about Alejandro. Of course with the pole, it was not an option. As Bridgette got ready to jump, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It belonged to Chris.
"Just one piece of advice Bridgette..." Chris began. Bridgette awaited another humiliating comment from the host. Chris grabbed the parachute back from her.
"You won't be needing this as it's a non elimination round! Surprise!"
The rest of the team was just as shocked as Bridgette. Bridgette couldn't didn't even consider the possibility of this being a non elimination round. Chris analyzed Bridgette's face.
"I guess we can remove that pole from your tongue now. Chef!" Yelled Chris, getting the pilot's attention. Chef grumbled, but made his way over to Bridgette with a pitcher of water and poured it on Bridgette's face, freeing the blonde from the pole.
"We're gonna keep the pole if that's cool with you Bridgette. We can auction this thing off for a fortune!" Chris explained, grabbing the pole and taking it into the next room.
Bridgette rubbed her tongue and stared at her team. No one seemed upset by her staying, but at the same time it didn't seem like she was getting a warm welcome back.
"So Bridgette, what happened out there?" Asked Leshawna, finally speaking up.
Bridgette didn't know where to start. All she could do was try to piece things together bit by bit.
"Alejandro. He left me stuck to that pole! He's evil Leshawna! He's playing us!" Bridgette exclaimed. Lindsay gasped while Leshawna seemed skeptical. DJ trusted Bridgette's word, but also had a hard time picturing Alejandro being evil.
"Are you sure about that?" Asked Leshawna. Bridgette nodded.
"Well he is a newbie who knows all about us while we know very little about him. It wouldn't hurt to be cautious. Bridgette isn't a liar either." DJ reasoned, trying to be reasonable.
"Alright, I don't mind keeping a eye on him. But I just don't see it. Bridgette, let's just regroup and win the next challenge." Leshawna responded, to which Bridgette meekly nodded along to.
"I'm sure Alberto and you just had a misunderstanding. Happens to me all the time!" Lindsay suggested, trying to lighten the mood.
"No, I think I saw things pretty clearly today. Very clearly." Bridgette told Lindsay, as the other blonde walked away, leaving just Bridgette and DJ left in the elimination room.
Bridgette needed some alone time to process everything. She didn't tell her team the whole story about the kiss and the attempted kiss which was the real reason she ended up where she did. If she just remained loyal and headstrong, none of this would of happened.
Team CIRRRRH was enjoying cookies and milk in first class. For Alejandro, the day went about as smoothly as it could. He had perfectly manipulated Bridgette into her elimination. Bridgette being unable to rat him out with her tongue stuck to the pole was the icing on the cake. The next step in the game was now to get Leshawna booted off the plane. Alejandro pondered how to do this, when Tyler came back from taking a peak into the elimination room.
"Welp, that was anti-climatic. Non-elimination round." The jock told his team.
Noah shrugged his shoulders, while Owen and Izzy seemed content with no one leaving the game. Alejandro was sweating bullets.
"What?!"
Alejandro yelled so loud that his entire team stared at him like he grew five feet taller.
"I mean... cool, whatever. Back to the drawing board." Alejandro commented as he fidgeted a bit in his seat. Noah took notice of this.
"I didn't realize you were so invested into who went home today. Did Bridgette have dirt on you or something?" Noah asked. Alejandro started tapping his finger on the chair rest.
"No, I just thought we got lucky... and wouldn't have to deal with a really talented player like Bridgette any longer." Alejandro struggled to find an excuse.
"I'm not sure I view Bridgette in the same powerhouse light you do. Sure, she's attractive and has a good social game, but besides being talented at water challenges she doesn't bring much to the table." Noah replied, analyzing Alejandro's face. He knew something, and wasn't telling the team.
"Yeah, I could've overestimated her, newbie mistake." Alejandro said as he stood up. "I'm going to the confessional. Catch you guys later."
"No problem Al! Take your time." Owen told the Latin young man. Alejandro cringed.
With no time to waste, Alejandro slid out of first class, and headed off to brood in the cockpit confessional.
Bridgette had made her way to economy with the rest of the team. She had to tell the rest of the cast about Alejandro. Bridgette could've suffered from hypothermia, and Alejandro just left her stuck with no regard for her own life. That was part of the truth, and a very dangerous thing to do on his end.
As this realization set in more and more, the guilt of trying to kiss Alejandro disappeared, and the anger of being left to die in the Yukon came storming in. Bridgette couldn't remember anyone ever caring so little about another person's life in game. Even Heather was never that ruthless before. Maybe Courtney when she threatened to send Cody, DJ, Tyler, and Owen to their doom over the million dollar case at the end of season one. Courtney. The Amazons.
The Amazons could've at least detached her tongue from the pole. But they didn't. They also left her behind without a thought. To add insult to injury, they danced and sung around her in a pretty cheery manner. If anything, they were just as bad as he was today.
Bridgette glared down Team Amazon. Her so called friends, Gwen and Courtney had left her to freeze. Did everyone's moral compass (including her own) just disappear? As she looked at the other Amazons, Bridgette wasn't surprised to see Heather on her own frowning, probably scheming. No surprise there.
She looked over and saw Cody having his feet touched by Sierra. Not only was his skin still blue from falling into Artic water, but he was shivering and clearly uncomfortable with the way Sierra was touching him.
More anger set in. Team Amazon had been condoning Sierra's harassment of Cody. It had been bad before, but she figured the team would deal with the crazy fan girl and set things straight. It looked like Sierra had become more daring on what she could get away with, and Cody was suffering for it. Disgusting.
Bridgette lost it when Sierra forced Cody into a hug that he was trying to pull out of, but not strong enough to.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" Bridgette yelled louder than she probably ever had on the show.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to the surfer chick, who was practically steaming out the ears.
"There's so many different ways I can answer that question." Heather chimed in, half caring. Gwen showed some interest now, but didn't seem concerned.
"Is something wrong Bridgette?" Gwen asked, not sure why the blonde yelled so loud.
"Are you serious? Open your eyes!" Bridgette yelled, and pointed to Sierra abusing Cody's personal space. Sierra stopped to acknowledge the surfer.
"What? I'm just showing affection to my Codykins! Mind your own business!" Sierra mouthed back at Bridgette.
"Sierra is just being Sierra. No reason to do anything about it." Courtney reasoned, clearly not caring about Cody's well being.
"Maybe you could let Cody have his personal space, he doesn't look very comfortable." DJ meekly suggested, not very confident in speaking up.
"I'm... not." Cody weakly stated, shivering.
"I just don't understand why you care so much all of the sudden? We've gotten used to it." Gwen replied back, not really seeing the issue. Bridgette blew a fuse.
"So to start things out, you don't help me out when hypothermia could've set in at any minute! Some friends you two are!" Bridgette yelled at Courtney and Gwen. "And you refuse to do anything about Sierra's harassment to Cody! Did all your morality just fly the coop?!"
Courtney and Gwen stared at each other. Gwen seemed to take on some partial guilt, while Courtney developed an angry look on her face.
"It's a game Bridgette! You don't help the competition!" Courtney yelled at the blonde.
"Are the challenges more important than your friend's life? Huh Courtney?" Bridgette snarled.
"Uh, yeah. And who said we were friends? I didn't realize that we were!" Courtney snapped at Bridgette.
Tears were forming rapidly in Bridgette's eyes, while Gwen seemed shocked by Courtney's harsh words.
"You got some serious issues girl. You're colder then the last challenge was." Leshawna commented, now taking offense to Courtney's comments.
"Oh grow up! We're here to win money, not make friends!" Courtney yelled.
Team CIRRRRH had now shown up except for Alejandro, was plotting in the cockpit confessional with Chef.
"Hey that's not cool! We're all people here Courtney! I personally view everyone here as a friend of mine." Tyler told the group, trying to spread positivity.
"I love you guys! We're like one big family!" Owen told the group, clearly speaking from the heart.
"I don't like people, but I've become fond with a few people here. You're better than the people I go to school with." Noah spoke up, somewhat complimenting the cast.
A silence rolled over the group, in which a lot of the stares and glares moved back to Courtney.
"What? At least I'm being honest! I'm not the bad guy here for being competitive!" Courtney yelled, now also getting a bit teary eyed.
Bridgette realized this conversation was spiraling out of control onto Courtney, when she had came over to warn everyone about Alejandro. Part of her hated how this was going, while a part of her felt some anger being relieved by addressing the carelessness by some of the cast.
"Well, while we're on this topic, Alejandro was the one who left me stuck to the pole to begin with. I think he's full of it and you guys need to watch out for him." Bridgette barely managed to get off, through tears.
"Alejandro left you out there? That's horrible!" Tyler yelled. He seemed genuinely pissed off. Noah was rubbing his chin, as if confirming a suspicion he had about Alejandro. Izzy was completely indifferent, while Owen gasped and shook his head in disappointment.
"So the main issue here is that quite a few people here are extremely negligent and uncaring of others beyond reasonability. That's the general gist?" Noah asked Bridgette, looking for conformation. Bridgette nodded.
"And some are just evil." Bridgette quietly added, jerking her head to where Alejandro would be... and then straight at Courtney.
"Hmmmph!" Courtney looked away from Bridgette, clearly angry but also starting to shed a couple tears at the allegations.
Gwen looked extremely guilty now, and stared down into her lap, not wanting to look at anyone else for a bit. Even Sierra had slightly cooled down her personal space violation of Cody.
"Wow! I'm so glad I made this a non-elimination round! That's what you call return on investment! Haha!" Chris barged into economy, giddy.
"I should've known you would have your hand in this." Leshawna told the host, unsurprised. Chris just kept on smiling.
"The ratings are gonna be off the charts! I got to hand it to you Bridgette, I was really tempted to move the non elimination round to after the next episode because I thought you were extremely vanilla! Boy was I wrong!"
Bridgette glared at the host and took a seat down. She really needed to think things over. Chris continued with his outro.
"Things got heated after our coldest challenge, who saw that coming? Anyway, what will happen next? Will Bridgette bounce back after a total meltdown? Will Courtney find her soul at some point?"
"Hey! I have a soul!" Courtney yelled, ticked off. Chris smiled cheekily.
"How much hot water is Alejandro in after his actions today? Will Cody's teammates stand up for him against Sierra?"
Courtney and Heather rolled their eyes while Gwen bit her tongue.
"And will DJ stop hurting animals?"
DJ teared up at Chris' words.
"Find out next time on... TOTAL DRAMA: WORLD TOUR!"
Just testing the waters with this idea, it does not affect the progress on my main story (TDTUB) which will soon have a new chapter dropping. That's right, turtle pace, but it's coming. I'd say within the next two weeks or so, depends on work.
Thank you, and stay tuned for more juice from this story!