Let's continue! Also, the mention of Survivor...I don't own it. And the person Stephanie is talking about is Sandra Diaz-Twine, winner of Pearl Islands and Heroes vs Villains. Gotta love the only contestant to win two seasons! Thanks for reviewing, Gage the Hedgehog.

There was another break the next day. It was the end of the fourh week, halfway through. I got another care package, this one with stuff from every member of my family: A little bag of Doritos from Dad (which I saved for a time when Chef's food was particularly unbearable), a package of macaroons from Mom (those I shared with the other campers, although Heather refused), a tube of M&Ms from Bart (again, I saved those), a compilation CD of jazz and pop music from Lisa (including a recorded track she'd played herself), and one of my diamante hairslides I'd passed on to my sisters from Maggie (I put it in, although I didn't wear hairslides much nowadays, hence why I'd given them to her).

Lisa sent my letter: Dear Stephanie,

We just saw the cooking episode. Bart loved seeing you guys covered in custard! By the way, in the confessionals, we heard that Duncan really likes both you and Courtney. He thinks Courtney's more attractive, but he's definitely into you, at least a little bit. What he said was that Courtney creases him, and he likes that. But he says he also likes a girl who's not afraid to break the rules, and who doesn't try to tell him what to do – that's the one thing he doesn't like about Courtney. It's very interesting.

We saw the canoeing challenge. Just to let you know, Cody was hitting on Gwen the whole way there, but when she shot him down, he tried to set her up with Trent because he knew she liked him. And DJ was giving Geoff dating advice – speaking of which, I like DJ! It's weird, though – you talk to Duncan and Geoff a lot, but DJ not so much. How come?

So I was kind of right about Cody leaving, but with Izzy...I didn't see that coming. I'm guessing that in the last few challenges – if the Gophers have lost, they might finally have gotten rid of Heather, or Lindsay. If your team lost, I'm guessing Sadie's gone.

Mom says to tell you she's very proud of how long you've stuck it out, but she disapproves of the custard food fight. Dad's stopped remembering to root for you and is now cheering every time Owen appears onscreen. Bart teased him after he was actually looking at the screen, rooting for Owen to eat the plate of ribs. You can guess what Dad's reaction was.

Speaking of Bart, he wants you to win, but he thinks Duncan should be in the final two – he keeps saying Duncan is like the ultimate older brother. I personally think he's scary. How can you be so friendly with him?

Maggie wants you to come home. She won't quit asking when you're coming back. I can tell you haven't been eliminated yet, because you would've called, right? We'll get a message to send you a video message if you're in the final five, but apart from that, where are you going to go after you get eliminated?

We're still rooting for you. We miss you!

Love, Lisa

What Lisa had written about Maggie made me feel homesick. "I guess I know what Courtney meant by getting homesick with letters." I confided to Bridgette. "My little sister Maggie keeps asking when I'm coming home, and Mom sometimes cries."

"I miss home too." Bridgette admitted. "I keep thinking of the day I made my audition tape, when all my friends were around." She smiled. "But this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm going to stick it out, and to be honest, even if I lose, I'll know that I made it at least halfway and I'll have done my best, and I have a ton of friends and a great family to go home to."

I sighed. "You're so cool, Bridge. How do you do it? I'm here to win. Second place is just the first loser. Just because I make friends – that's not first priority in this game. Did you ever watch Survivor before now?" Bridgette nodded.

"Pearl Islands?" I asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, the winner had a good strategy. Do you remember her?" Bridgette shook her head. "The thing is, what she did was fly under the radar. If someone wanted her to vote with them, she would. She never won a single immunity challenge. She'd make friends, but she'd backstab anyone in a second to save herself. Like when one of her friends got voted off, she dumped all the fish he'd caught because she felt her team didn't deserve to eat the food he'd gotten for them after they kicked him off. Then she let her other good friend take the blame. So as long as it's not me, I'm going to vote how she did. It's basically the same thing, but without the backstabbing. I'll leave that to Heather."

I said nothing about what Lisa had said about Duncan's confessionals. He was with Courtney, and I couldn't change that.

The fifth week of challenges began, and it began with no breakfast. Chris told us that after the challenge of the day, we'd merge. And today, no one would be kicked off – and there would be a reward for this challenge. "But first, all the girls will be moved to the Gopher cabin, and all the guys will stay in the Bass cabin. Today's challenge is as old as history itself – a battle of the sexes!"

Duncan winked at the girls. Lindsay stuck her tongue out at the boys. Chris explained that once we were settled in, we'd begin the challenge, and then we'd get to eat (at which point he and Chef began snickering).

"Time to relocate! Let's move!"

Bridgette and I had to go and pack to move our stuff. As we walked along, Heather walked with us. "Wow, Bridgette, your hair looks great today, so natural! And Stephanie, you have this natural glow to your skin, it's really beautiful and makes you look so healthy."

"Thanks." Bridgette and I said in unison. "I-"

"How do you guys take care of yourselves?" Heather interrupted. "You have to share your secrets."

I fell silent, while Bridgette answered "Oh, it's nothing really..."

Gwen joined us. "Watch it with this one." she warned us, narrowing her eyes at Heather. "She's trouble." Heather shot a death glare at her.

After I packed, I went to say goodbye to the guys. I knocked on their door. "Hey, guys, open up!"

Duncan answered the door, and I grinned as I spoke. "Guess I'm going to be free of you guys, now. Don't cry too hard when we beat you this week."

"You chicks'll be the ones crying tonight." Duncan said with a smirk. "You're going down."

"I'd like to see you try!" I shot back. Finally, I smiled genuinely. "It was fun while it lasted, though. Don't tell anyone I said this, but you were my favourite teammate. And don't worry, it's a compliment, I'm not saying it makes you any less of a threat to the general public."

Duncan grinned. "Okay, Steph, I get you. You were my favourite teammate, too. But it didn't make you any less of a snarky brat."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't lie, I wasn't your favourite."

"Actually, you were. What, you think I'd tell you Courtney was my favourite? She wasn't exactly the most fun to have around for most of the challenges."

I laughed. "True. Well, see you later, rival."

While I was exchanging banter with one of my ex-teammates, Bridgette was exchanging awkward goodbyes with another. Geoff had gone to the girls' side of the cabins to let her know that he'd enjoyed working with her on the team.

As the two of us walked to the Gopher cabin, we talked. "Are you worried about being new to the group?" I asked. "It's like we're the outsiders."

Bridgette shrugged. "I think we'll be okay. I don't believe in all that stuff about how well guys get along and how girls can be really catty and cliquey."

"Yeah, I agree." I said. "Well, I don't know about Heather, but Gwen and Leshawna are really nice and friendly, aren't they?"

Bridgette nodded.

"I don't know about Lindsay." I continued. "She seems nice, I guess."

But you wouldn't know how nice anyone was when we first walked in.

Sorry, this was mainly filler leading up to the Brunch of Disgustingness. I hope you liked it, anyway!