Hm, I don't know if I should like or dislike this next episode. Thanks for reviewing, Gage the Hedgehog.
We took a break the next day. I spent it with Gwen and Leshawna, chilling out. I'd hung out with Gwen before, but I didn't know Leshawna so well, so it was a good chance to get to know her.
She turned out to be great – a bit bossy, but one of the nicest people on the island if you were on her good side. It had been her idea to lock Heather in the fridge during the cooking challenge, which also got her a few points in my estimation.
Meanwhile, Geoff and Duncan hadn't given up on playing tricks on Harold. After the trust challenge, I had decided that Harold was actually okay, but that didn't mean I couldn't join in.
"What about fishing for briefs?" I suggested to the guys. "Just get a rod, and hook it!"
The boys liked my idea, and resolved to use it when they could. And they got the chance at the next challenge.
Chef called us to the dock in the morning, and then made us stand to attention, hitting us if we didn't get it right. "Feet together!" he barked at Geoff. "Arms down!" to Duncan. "Eyes forward!" to DJ. "Head up!" to Heather.
He moved on to me. "Stop smirking! Does this look like fun and games to you?" he bellowed. The hit from his cane wiped the smile off my face, but it came back when he hit Harold for no reason.
"Oh, this is going to be a fun day." I heard Gwen mutter to Trent.
"What did you say to me, soldier?" Chef bellowed at her.
"Uh...nothing."
"And you will continue to say nothing until I tell you that you can say something!"
Chef kept yelling out orders. The challenge was his boot camp. We all had to call him Master Chief, and we would follow all of his orders. Each of us would drop out, and no day would end until someone dropped out. Last camper staying in boot camp won.
The way to quit was to go to the end of the dock and ring the bell.
Well, I could endure. I was tough. I'd faced off a psycho ventriloquist dummy and a psycho stalker crazier than Izzy. I could do this.
Geoff played the fishing trick on Harold that day. We were standing around, holding canoes above us for hours. We even missed lunch, listening to Chef tell some random war stories that sounded less plausible than Izzy's crazy stories. Anyway, Geoff risked taking his hands off the canoe to hook Harold's briefs, with Duncan and I watching.
"Time to land that fish." Duncan whispered. Geoff reeled the hook in, and Harold felt his briefs tear.
"Ow!" He looked over. I hid my smirk, but the boys didn't bother. "Idiots!"
No one dropped out until it got dark. Finally, Lindsay whimpered "Guys, I can't do this anymore. I have no more feeling in my arms!" She rang the bell, first to drop out. We threw the canoe aside.
Chef told her quietly that she had nothing to be ashamed of. "EXCEPT BEING A LITTLE BABY WHO LET YOUR TEAM DOWN! The rest of you, head to the mess hall! Dinner is served."
Dinner was trash, and we only had ten minutes before night training. I'm serious.
"Oh, I am not eating this." Heather scowled as I picked pieces off a fish carcass and swallowed without letting it hit my tongue.
"Me neither." Courtney agreed.
"Don't care for today's specials, Princess?" Duncan teased her as he passed with a glass of some kind of pale substance.
"I am going to be running for office someday and no one is going to pull up a photo of me eating garbage."
As it turned out, the pale substance was kitchen grease. Duncan told Harold it was apple juice, though, so he tried to drink it. Geoff started laughing, too, so I guessed he was in on it. I couldn't help giggling, too.
"You three are so immature." Courtney scowled. "I hope you're proud of yourselves."
"Hey, don't look at me." I laughed. "I'm not the mastermind here."
"And whose idea was the fishing incident?" Geoff laughed.
"True." I admitted. "Sorry, Harold – really. Feel free to prank me just once, if you want. If you can – my little brother is pranks-crazy, so I can usually spot one."
Duncan was smirking at Courtney. "Okay, look. I know you like me, they know you like me – everyone knows it, so here's a tip: If you wanna kiss me, I might let you."
"And to think I actually thought you were nice!" Courtney scowled.
A look of fear flashed across Duncan's face for a moment. "Me, nice? Yeah, right."
"Why'd you think that?" Geoff asked her.
"Never mind, I was wrong." Courtney said quickly. "He's just as gross and annoying as he wants you to believe. Enjoy your garbage." She flounced off.
Night training involved copying Chef's moves to music that I swear was the karaoke for Thriller.
"It's close to midnight, and something evil is lurking in the dark." I murmured to Gwen. She gave me a tiny smile, just as Duncan switched off the music.
"One of us drops out, we're done for the day." he told Chef.
"We're done when I say we're done!" Chef roared. "Now drop and give me twenty!" Duncan didn't even complain about the push-ups. "Anyone else got anything they want to say?"
Gwen raised her hand. "Uh, yeah. Can I go to the bathroom?" Chef sent her there with a mop and bucket.
The rest of us went back to the cafeteria. "For your next challenge," Chef said, "you will write a three hundred word essay about how much you love me. Anyone who falls asleep or fails to complete the challenge will be eliminated!"
Duncan, who was sitting next to me, began writing "I love Master Chief Hatchet, because he is very very very very..." Oh, "very" smart move. But don't let anyone call me a copycat.
I began writing: Master Chief Hatchet is one of the toughest, strongest, craziest dudes I've ever met. And I'm not gonna lie, that's what I love about him...
I just rambled on about stuff until I'd written three hundred words, and made sure I stayed awake. Harold didn't finish, and Trent and DJ fell asleep, but I was still in. Then Chef slipped on some of Owen's drool that had dripped onto the floor, before telling us we could go to bed. Duncan made some crack.
"Do you want to run fifty laps around around this camp right now?" Chef bellowed.
"No thanks!" Courtney said, pulling Duncan away. "He's going straight to bed, aren't you?" She cornered him and whispered "What are you trying to do, get eliminated?"
"I didn't know you cared."
"I don't! I just don't want to lose this challenge! So stop being such a screw up and do what you're told for once, okay?"
Courtney left, and I stepped next to Duncan. Geoff was on the other side of him.
"She wants me." Duncan remarked.
"No doubt." agreed Geoff, bumping fists with him.
"It's so obvious." I finished, doing my own fist bump with him. On our team, it was definitely more fun to be one of the guys.
Finished or not, we were all woken up two hours after Chef let us go to bed, to do a stupid obstacle course. Chef made us go on it until we could finish it in under one minute. "Is that clear?" He got up in Duncan's face.
"Crystal."
"If you lose this for us, I'm gonna make you so miserable!" Courtney hissed.
The obstacle course was where I quit. I went around three times, and didn't get any better. I got worse, so I figured I was too tired to go on.
On the other hand, Duncan got in worse trouble. He ended up sent to the boathouse that night.
Courtney started getting worried when we were eating gruel at dinner. "I'm going to check on him." she decided.
"You like him!" Geoff and I said at the same time.
"I do not like him!"
"Yes, you do." Geoff told her.
"Not only do I not like him, I can't stand him! He's rude, he's rebellious, and he's totally annoying!...I'm gonna go check on him."
Geoff and I exchanged glances as she left. "She likes him." we agreed, in unison again.
"Though I personally think he could do better than her." I sighed.
Geoff gave me an amused look. "You like him too."
"What?" I frowned. "No, I don't."
"I think you do. You just don't know it yet."
I gave another sigh. "Wait a minute, why am I listening to you talking about liking people, anyway? You're the one that's screwed up on flirting with Bridgette, like, three times."
"Hey, she likes me now!" Geoff defended. "It's only a matter of time before we hook up."
As a matter of fact, that evening was fun. Courtney helped Duncan escape, then both of them – yes, both – stole a bunch of Chef's snacks and brought them back. The girls and guys from both teams all sat in the same cabin together, eating.
"I think I have jungle rot from that obstacle course." Owen commented.
"Ew!" squealed Lindsay. "Owen, we're eating here!"
"And what was with all those lame war stories?" Gwen laughed. "He is so demented."
"Girl, these nails were not meant for combat training, know what I'm saying?" Leshawna agreed.
"It's all crazy, this challenge." I commented. "I didn't come here to do drills."
"Seriously, if I wanted to join the army, I would have." Bridgette added.
Courtney grabbed the last ice cream sandwich, although Bridgette tried to take it off her. "Okay, I think you've had enough."
Courtney giggled, and said "Oh, no, just – just one more!" She ate it in one bite, and then groaned. "Oh. Yeah – yeah, that one was a mistake." She ran outside to be sick. Duncan followed her.
I didn't follow, but I looked out the window. Duncan and Courtney had a conversation, and then I saw it.
Courtney turned, cupped Duncan's face in her hands, and then leant in to kiss him. After she left, Geoff went out to congratulate him, and I heard a gasp beside me.
Harold was standing there, and he'd seen the kiss. "What's wrong?" I asked. "You like Courtney too?"
Harold shook his head. "The fair lady my heart belongs to knows of my affections, but she does not yet know it is me. But she will, someday soon." he said with dramatics. "No, it is not Courtney. But I am going to stand up to the injustice Duncan has inflicted on me, in the only way I know how."
To be honest, I felt like gasping, too. I'd lost that bet – Duncan had won Courtney pre-merge. And I felt a burning feeling in the pit of my stomach, rising up and becoming sour and cold. Was Geoff right – did I have a crush on Duncan and not realize it? Was I simply jealous of Courtney?
I didn't find out what happened until the third night. Gwen had eventually been the last one to drop out of boot camp. The last six had had to hang on a tree by their knees. Duncan had fallen, then Heather had quit. Owen fell on her, then Courtney couldn't stop laughing and fell. She then proceeded to tell Chef that he should take a chill pill, and continued to laugh. Finally, the head rush got to be too much for Geoff, our last player, and he fell. So we went to elimination. I had a hard time choosing who to vote for, so I picked DJ. Not because I wanted to lose him, but I didn't want to lose our new carefree Courtney, and he'd lost a challenge before.
Chris called our names, as usual. "Duncan. DJ. Stephanie. Bridgette. Geoff." There was only one marshmallow left. Harold or Courtney...
"Harold."
Courtney gasped, and shot to her feet. "What?! You guys voted for Harold, over me?" All the boys looked shocked, though. I was sure I did, too.
"This is impossible! I demand a recount!" Courtney raged.
"Seriously, dude, I know for a fact there were four of us who didn't vote her off!" added Duncan.
Chris and Chef ended up having to drag Courtney down the dock as she yelled out things. "I do not concede! I do not concede!"
"Oh man, this sucks!" complained Duncan.
"I was your only hope!" cried Courtney. "I was a counsellor in training!"
But as the boat began moving, Duncan ran down the dock. "Courtney, wait!" He threw a little object to her. "I made this for you!"
"Duncan!" Courtney called out, smiling back. She looked at the object. "Okay, this is really weird and creepy, but I love it! I'll never forget you!"
I was kind of glad to be rid of Courtney, when I went back to the bunks. Not as glad as I'd thought I'd be, though. It's just...I needed to sort out if what Geoff said was right, and I'd feel weird doing that when Duncan's girlfriend was sleeping in the same room as me. But I was able to do it peacefully, and Bridgette tactfully didn't say anything to me.
So what do you think? Is Geoff right?