All right. Let's move on! Thanks for reviewing, The Radioactive Cupcake.

The next day was a break, and as promised, people got care packages and letters. Mom even sent me some of her awesome sugar cookies. There were ten, so I gave one to the rest of my team members and ate the extra one myself.

I had a letter, too. Lisa had sent it, of course – Mom would probably send a few, too, but Bart and Dad never bothered to write – I don't think Dad even remembered how to.

Dear Stephanie,

I miss you already. It's only been a week, and I still really miss you. Tomorrow night is when the next episode is coming, but there's only one every two to three days, so I won't see much of you.

I saw a girl on the show who looks a lot like you, but you guys are on different teams. Are you still going to be friends? I could see that. And you should make friends with that girl Courtney on your team – she seems nice so far. (I scoffed at that, but Lisa could be bossy herself at times. Then again, she'd only seen the first episode – she hadn't seen what Courtney was like during challenges).

There was a "next time" scene which showed everyone jumping off the cliff. I know you're not allowed to answer this, but I really want to know if everyone survived.

Anything else...well, Mom started crying when she saw it. I guess you've got those cookies she sent now. I know she was being all nice and supportive, and she's just as hopeful as the rest of us that you come back with money, but she misses you more than anyone else, except maybe Maggie. She keeps asking when you're coming home, Steph. And you should've seen the way she grinned when she saw you on TV! (I was closer to Maggie than to anyone else in my family – my adorable, preschool-age, dangerous little sister who could aim a gun, organize a heist, and make wise cracks without even opening her mouth.)

Dad got bored with the first episode because he wants to see someone get hurt or someone defy death. You would not believe the way he started cheering when that one boy took the dive. Bart did too. But I think they both miss you too...

Don't forget, we're counting on you to bring back the American equivalent of one hundred thousand Canadian dollars. Good luck!

Love, Lisa

Bridgette also had a letter from her mom, and we compared them, talking about our families. We got on pretty well. Courtney didn't have any letters. "I told my parents that I didn't want them to send any." she explained. "It would just make me miss home and distract me from the competition."

"And...you don't miss them anyhow?" I asked.

"Of course I do!" Courtney said quickly. "But not enough for it to distract me. But you'd be surprised – if I get too emotional, I can't concentrate. And if I can't concentrate, I can't win."

The very next day, Chris called us all to a little outdoor amphitheatre. There were two sets of benches, just like in the stadium (which had been taken down), so the teams sat separately.

"Are we gonna see a musical?" Lindsay asked. "I love musicals, especially the ones with singing and dancing!"

"Gwen, saved you a seat." Trent called over to the other goth girl. Gwen smiled and sat down next to him. Quite a turnaround from the way she'd refused to look at him on the first day.

Lindsay waved to Tyler, who was sitting with my group.

Finally, Chris arrived and told us what our challenge was – a talent contest! "Each team has eight hours to pick their three most talented campers. These three will represent them in the show tonight. Sing, dance, juggle – anything goes, as long as it's legal."

Chris gave Duncan the "I'm watching you" sign and Duncan snapped his fingers in reply.

"You'll be judged by our resident talent scout." Chris told us. He meant Chef. Apparently, he'd been a star decades ago. Chef would judge on a scale of one to nine, and the contestant with the highest score would win for their team.

Our team each took turns, conducted by Courtney. She herself had already decided to play violin for her turn, but we needed two more acts. First, Katie and Sadie did a dance routine. They'd obviously tried hard and practised several times, but being airheads, their choreography was worse than Spice Girls. Which is to say, useless. And outdated.

Tyler tried to do yo-yo tricks. He ended up getting tangled in the string. When we took a short break, I saw Lindsay watching a still-tangled Tyler through binoculars. "Ooh, that's not boring." I heard her say out loud. Why didn't she just go up to him?

After the break, DJ did a ribbon dance, and he was actually very graceful. We all clapped, although Courtney was scowling.

"Fine." she sighed. "Sign him up. Next!"

"Me!" Bridgette volunteered. "I can stand on my hands for twenty minutes. Watch!" She flipped to stand on her hands.

"Okay, that would be cute if you were a monkey." Courtney said bluntly. "I just don't think it's quite what we're looking for. Next!"

I actually felt a bit sorry for Harold, who went up, took a deep breath...and didn't get to do anything. Courtney immediately called out "Next!"

I went up. Back when we were stranded on an island, I'd begged everyone to do a bit of a talent show, and my voice had attracted a crazy jungle boy who wanted me to be the Christine to his Phantom of the Opera. But I wasn't going to play Christine...no. I had a better idea. I wanted to sing a Wicked song, but not one of the big ones, like Defying Gravity or Popular. Even after all these years, I loved all the songs, but in this game, it would be about ambition, and there was one song that was more about ambition than even the big showstopper.

I began. "Did that really just happen? Have I actually understood?

This weird quirk I've tried to suppress or hide, is a talent that could help me meet the Wizard?
If I make good, so I'll make good..." I held my audience, and only wobbled once, at the end.

I was going well, singing "Held in such high esteem, when people see me they will scream,

For half of Oz's favourite team...

The Wizard...and IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Then I lost my voice and found it again halfway through. But my team seemed to like it, at least. Even Courtney looked a bit impressed. I was in!

Well, maybe. Apart from Courtney's violin and DJ's ribbon dance, Geoff did some awesome stunts with a skateboard. In the end, I decided to act as understudy. Something might well go wrong.

As Courtney took a turn to practise her violin, Geoff asked Bridgette a question. "So, can you really stand on your hands for twenty minutes?"

"Wanna bet that I can't?" Bridgette challenged, holding up a bar of chocolate. All the boys made bets on it, sure that she couldn't do it. I hung back, watching.

What a shock, something happened. Bridgette's ankle got caught in the light fixture right above Courtney, and it fell. Courtney herself survived. Her violin didn't.

"You... you killed my violin!" cried Courtney tearfully.

"I didn't mean to!" Bridgette said. "There must be something we can do." But it was busted. I'd get to sing after all.

I was going to go on second, so I was standing backstage with Geoff, DJ, and the Gophers' talents – Justin, Trent and Heather. Courtney and Bridgette were also with me. Courtney wanted to advise me, and if something went wrong, Bridgette would have to do her trick, so she was the next understudy. But right now, she was just scoffing potato chips. No wonder – dinner was more disgusting than usual.

Justin went out first, and just...modelled. That was it. And poured water on himself. Chef gave him a six.

DJ accidentally got caught in the ribbon and ended up with a two.

I got a bit worried after Trent performed. He played his guitar and sang something he'd written himself. Chef gave him an eight, and I noticed Gwen staring at Trent dreamily. Also, he dedicated it to someone at camp. I was willing to bet he meant her.

"Three down and three to go and the Killer Bass are totally sucking so far!" Chris said brightly as Trent went back. "Let's hear it for Stephanie!"

I came out, and I sang my heart out, but Chef only gave me a seven.

"Not so bad, but the Screaming Gophers hold the lead with Trent's love song." Chris updated it. Then he introduced Heather. She came out in a pink leotard and toe shoes, with her hair in a ponytail.

"Originally, I was going to dance for you." she said. "But instead, I want to celebrate team spirit with a collaboration." I was still backstage, watching with the other girls.

"So," continued Heather, holding a little black book, "With words by Gwen, performance by me, enjoy." She then proceeded to read out a passage about some cute guy who played guitar.

Yes, you got that. She read out a piece of Gwen's secret diary about how she had a crush on Trent. Seriously! Look, I could be mean, but I'd never do that. Even if someone deserved it, I wouldn't do something that heartless. Okay, in Hillwood, I did take a girl's diary(well, it was all poetry, but it was still a diary) and read about her secret crush, but I didn't show it to anyone except my siblings, and they weren't going to tell. How dare Heather do that!

"That was so mean." Courtney commented to Bridgette and I.

"Seriously." Bridgette agreed.

"Why would anyone do that?" I wondered.

And then Geoff broke his skateboard, and Bridgette turned out to be feeling too sick to perform. She hadn't wanted to say anything, but when she barfed up the chips, we knew she wouldn't be able to perform.

"I guess I'm not used to potato chips with a lot of chemicals." she admitted. "I usually only buy ones with natural ingredients. I thought these ones tasted a bit different."

"What are we going to do?" I asked. "We have to send someone out! Not Katie and Sadie – they can't get nine points. And not Tyler."

"What can Duncan do again?" Bridgette asked.

"Carve a picture of his own skull into a tree!" Courtney answered, panicking.

"That only leaves Harold." I said. "We've got to let him do this. You passed over his audition, but he's our only hope to get a good score.

I regretted persuading Courtney to let him, at first. He looked so unassuming and unaware of what he was doing.

"Just...go for it, Harold!" called Courtney. "What have you got to lose?"

And Harold...just...went for it. And he did...the most amazing beatboxing routine I'd EVER seen! Chef gave him a perfect score, and we stayed a strong team.

Weird thing was, Heather wasn't the one sent home. Somehow, Justin was the one who got eliminated! Weird, huh?

The one good thing about the day was that Courtney didn't annoy me so much. Up until that day, I'd hated her the most on the island. Although I was still gunning for her next, I decided that it could definitely be worse. Although I wished I was on the same team as Gwen, since she was fun to talk to, I count my blessings that Heather wasn't on my team.

That evening, I was sitting out on the steps when Gwen came up. "Hey." I said. "What's up?"

Gwen didn't seem to notice me as she knocked on the boys' door. Harold answered.

"Did you say you brought a red ant farm with you?" Gwen asked.

"Yes."

"Could I borrow it?"

When Harold went in to retrieve it, I flashed a grin at Gwen and gave her the thumbs up, knowing what she was planning to do. About twenty minutes later, I heard screaming, and Heather burst out of her cabin, covered in red ants.

Well, that's the talent show done. Next up is one of my favourite challenges. Granted, that is because it has my favourite Duncney moment...