Okay, last chapter was breaks. Now we have bikes! Thank you, Gage the Hedgehog, duskrider (thanks) and the guest reviewer (saying that doesn't make me update earlier – three days is the shortest).

In the morning, Geoff locked himself in the confessional again and was crying, half singing something. Everyone could hear him. "Baby come back? Any kind of fool can see...something...about you! Hey Bridge, sending out mucho love to...wherever it is the Boat of Losers takes you..."

Lindsay and Heather were sitting around on the dock together, and the rest of us were playing Frisbee. I'd made it clear to the guys that my voting with them wasn't a one-time thing. I'd vote with them for as long as their alliance stayed a part of the game. Now that it was the final ten, half of us being in a group would make it almost sure that we stayed strong. I was no idiot. I knew that the minute all the other girls were gone, Duncan would tell the other guys to kick me off too – he was the clear leader of the alliance. But meanwhile, if we voted off a few girls, who was I to stop them? Maybe I'd disband later. Or better, convince Owen and DJ – and Geoff, if I could – to vote with me instead.

After hearing Geoff's crying, Duncan said "We better go check on him." Me, DJ and Owen followed him.

"Wait, what about our game?" Leshawna called after us, but we didn't listen.

Owen gave Geoff a huge hug the minute he stepped out of the confessional.

"Look, man, voting Bridgette off was just a strategic move." Duncan said reasonably. "If the guys' ...and you, Steph's...alliance stands strong, we can win this!"

We all put a fist into the middle of our circle, and although Geoff didn't, it was only because he got distracted. He was still in our group.

At that moment, Chris called us to the "arts and crafts" centre, ie: a place where Chef kept a motorbike. As for us, we were meant to make bicycles. "Best bike design wins!"

So we had a ton of parts. Izzy was done first. "Hey, Steph, come on a ride with me!" she called.

I smiled at her. "Sorry, Iz. I need to build mine." So she took Leshawna instead.

By the time everyone had finished their bikes, Izzy and Leshawna still weren't back, but I didn't care. I wanted to win this challenge.

Chris looked at each of them. "Excellent aerodynamics, Heather." he said. She'd made Lindsay build hers, but it looked pretty good.

"It only weighs two ounces." Heather said proudly.

"Like her brain." Gwen and I muttered in perfect synchronization.

Chris moved on to hers. "Spooky, yet practical. Well done." He looked at mine next.

My bike was painted black, and I'd stolen one of the skulls Duncan was going to put on his bike and hung it on the handlebars. The seat was more comfortable, too – padded and wide, with the pedals slightly further ahead so you could still reach them.

"Not something I'd like to encounter on a dark night, but apart from that, very good." Chris approved. He looked at Duncan's. "Wicked Mad Max mobile, dude!"

Lindsay's was a copy of this girly kid's bike she'd wanted when she was a little girl. "Go ahead, ring her bell!" she encouraged Chris. He did, and Lindsay explained that the real one made horse sounds. That explained the horse head on her bike.

DJ had spent more time on armour than his bike, and Chris didn't approve of the training wheels. "Dude, seriously? This is lame."

Geoff's bike was skinny, with a very accurate sketch of Bridgette pinned to the front. "Now this is a hot rod." Chris grinned. "Nice!"

"I call her...Bridgette." Geoff said, his voice slightly thick with held-back tears.

Owen's bike was low to the ground, and again, Chris approved of it. But no one won...we had to race the bikes next.

"Awesome, because my bike is built for speed!" Heather smiled. "Right, Lindsay?"

"Totally!" her slave agreed.

"Yeah..." Chris said, "Unfortunately, you won't be riding it, Heather." He explained that we'd pick a person's name out of a helmet and ride their bike. If their bike crossed the finish line, the person who built it got to ride for invincibility.

I ended up with Geoff's bike. OK, that seemed like a pretty good one. DJ had mine. Geoff had Gwen's, Gwen had Owen's, Owen had Duncan's, Duncan had Lindsay's, Lindsay has Heather's, and Heather had DJ's.

"Now, before we start, has anyone seen Leshawna or Izzy?" Chris asked.

I shrugged. "I haven't seen them since Izzy took Leshawna for a test ride on her bike."

So I thought I was going pretty well in the race. I rode as fast as I could. Duncan, ahead of me, looking worried at riding such a girly childish bike, remarked "Okay, this is messed up, but YEE HAH, this is one movin' ride!"

"I know, right?" Lindsay said, passing him on Heather's bike.

That was when "Bridgette" started coming apart. Geoff was just behind me on Gwen's bike and I started yelling. "Geoff, you are SO dead! What did you forget on this thing?"

"Sorry!" he called. "Forgot the bolts!" Well, the joke was on him, because not only did I crash, but so did he – into mine. Heather, who had to push DJ's bike because it wouldn't go, didn't see where she was going and crashed into both of us, and then DJ, who'd been riding mine very slowly and carefully, also crashed into ours, although luckily, it wasn't as badly broken as the other ones. I couldn't ride for invincibility, but I could fix it up enough to take it home with me and ride it when I liked. Even if I didn't win, at least I'd go home with something to show for the summer.

Four bikes survived – Heather's, Lindsay's, Duncan's and Owen's.

But when Chris explained what happened next, I was kind of relieved I didn't have to do this race. The landmines weren't the problem. Or the oil slick. Or the pirahna pool. No, the thing was, the last one to cross the finish line got voted off the island. First to cross got invincibility...not that there was any point in that if the last one to cross was already gone.

Heather started muttering orders to Lindsay. Then, I heard Lindsay's answer. "I was thinking it would be really fun if I won a challenge for myself for once!" Heather brushed off what she was saying, although I couldn't hear what she was saying, since she was talking quietly and quickly.

I ran to the confessional before the race, since I wanted to say something. "First, my friends, you guys are awesome! And second, I hope Heather comes last in this race. Lindsay actually said something intelligent – she should win a challenge for herself."

None of this happened. Owen wiped out at the landmines, and Duncan did the same at the oil slick. Heather soared over the pirahna pool, but Lindsay got stuck for a while. Eventually, she got passed, coming in second, and she hugged Heather. "We did it! We're safe!"

"That's not exactly true." Chris interrupted. "Heather is safe, because her bike crossed the line first. But since Duncan and Owen wiped out and didn't complete the race, they technically didn't cross the line at all. Which makes you the last one to cross the line. Which means, it's Dock of Shame time, baby!"

I couldn't help a gasp escape. Lindsay, out?

"Okay, I'm so confused." Lindsay said. What a shocker.

"It means I can't save you unless I give you my invincibility." Heather explained. "But I can't do that! Too risky. You understand."

Lindsay frowned. "But I won! I even built your bike!"

Heather laughed nervously. "I don't know what she's talking about." She turned to her ally. "You should just leave with your dignity intact. It will make you seem much more cuter in the instant replays."

"But we were going to the final three together!"

"Guess we're not!"

"Aren't you even sad? We're BFFs!"

"Yeah, for the contest. I mean, it's not like we're gonna be best friends for life or anything."

Lindsay gasped, seeing Heather's true colours for the first time. "I can't believe you just said that! But we pinky swore! You mean-" Her eyes narrowed, and I couldn't help smiling. I liked that Lindsay was finally standing up for herself. "I've been helping you all this time and you didn't even like me?"

"Truth?" Heather asked. Lindsay nodded. "Not really, no. What? We're not here to make friends. We're here to become celebrities, remember?"

"That's cold." Duncan remarked.

"Oh, like you're such a team player!" Heather retorted. "All you do is go around scaring the crap out of everyone."

"At least I'm straight with people."

"You gonna explain why I'm not a good team player too, Heather?" I called out from the bank. "Cause I'm weird and I'm goth? You haven't called me that name since the first week!"

"Whatever." shrugged Heather. "I have invincibility. No one can touch me."

"This week." Gwen muttered, giving me a weird look.

I laughed. "Hey, I try to be weird and goth. If you don't like her calling you that, she can call me that instead." It might have sounded like it didn't make any sense out loud, but who cared? I wouldn't mind Heather calling me that, Gwen obviously did mind.

Lindsay was looking angry now. "You really are mean!" she cried, glaring at Heather. "And all that bad stuff people say about you is true, like how you're a two-faced, backstabbing, lying little-"

HOLY CRAP, DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? Lindsay said so many curse words I couldn't keep track of them. All I knew is that she was cussing like crazy as she flipped Heather the bird. And it was AWESOME!
"I always told them they were wrong." Lindsay continued. "I stood up for you because I thought we were BFFs! But they're right! You really are a two-faced, backstabbing, lying little-" I didn't get too shocked when she repeated everything, just enjoying it. "And guess what? I don't wanna be BFFs any more. I'd rather spend the days staring at Owen's butt than shopping with you! And PS: Your shoes are tacky!"

We all burst out laughing, except for Heather. "Oh, go jump in the pirahna pool!" she snapped.

I remember hearing Lindsay in the confessional that evening, making her last one of the season. "I don't know what came over me. Oh wait, yes I do! Heather's a total ****!"

That evening, at sunset, Lindsay took her bags and said goodbye to each of us, getting names wrong. "Thanks for all your support, Greta." she said to Gwen. And to Leshawna, "I love you, Lequisha."

Leshawna gave her a hug. "See you, girlfriend. If it makes you feel better, we would've kept you on."

"Really?" Lindsay smiled. "Thanks. Kick Heather's butt for me." She stopped in front of me. "I'll miss you, Stephie."

I didn't bother to correct her. "Stephie" was pretty close, and it was also something Mom used to call me when I was very little. I'd refused to let her call me that after I turned seven and only accepted "Steph" as a nickname, but from Lindsay...

Well, I gave her an unusually warm hug. "What you said to Heather was awesome." I whispered. "I'll miss you too."

Lindsay continued on, saying her goodbyes to Izzy, and then the boys. "Bye, guys, see you at the finale!" she stopped at Owen. "Aww, I think I'm gonna miss you the most."

Owen burst into tears and hugged her. "Me too! Bye!"

Finally, Lindsay got to the last person. She smiled sweetly. "Good luck, Heather. I hope you get everything your karma owes you. Okay, I'm ready." She stepped onto the Boat of Losers, her head held high.

Despite Lindsay's frustrating stupidity, I really was going to miss her.

I really love the end of this episode, and I had so much fun writing it! And that's a new piece of backstory – Stephanie's childhood nickname was Stephie! OK, so I kind of stole that from a girl in my American Short Story class who has that nickname, but I don't know...I like it.