DISCLAIMER:
Hello, I wrote this story as part of Gwent Week 2023 (from October 16-22), so I decided to rewrite one of my least favorite episodes from Action. As always, that I like one ship doesn't mean we have to hate other ships. The world is big enough for all of them. And if you're interested in the Gwent week, go to the Total drama Reddit to check on the other stories and pictures.
Also, thanks to ACE_TD for commissioning the cover, to SIMGArt for the art, and to just-a-bite for helping beta read the story, this story is also for you.
Total Drama belongs to Fresh TV, its creators, and distributors. I don't own anything from the properties used in this fic.
Beach Blanket Surprise.
It was early in the morning, and Trent woke up pretty annoyed. Between Harold's snoring and Owen's legendary BO, he couldn't sleep at all.
Okay, maybe that wasn't the full truth... What truly kept Trent awake last night was something different and far more complicated, namely his new girlfriend, Gwen.
The musician started dating the Goth girl some days ago, and everything seemed pretty great, but the fact that she was on a different team with Duncan rubbed him the wrong way. Was it a coincidence? Or fate? Or another one of Chris's schemes? No matter the answer, none of them sat well in his gut.
Grabbing his toiletries, Trent headed for the showers; he'd usually shower at night but felt that dried sweat from last night's tossing and turning and wanted to wash it off badly.
"Good Morning DJ," greeted the musician after seeing just who had beaten him to the communal bathroom.
DJ startled, almost dropping his soap, but recovered quickly. "Oh, it's you, Trent."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, man."
"Oh, don't worry, I'm just a bit jumpy in the morning," half-lied DJ. Unknown to the other contestants, DJ was 'convinced' into forming a secret pact with a scheming Chef Hatchet, which made him pretty nervous. "And usually nobody else uses the showers this early."
Trent chuckled, enjoying the small talk as he picked a stall. "Yeah, I prefer to shower at night. I don't know why I felt like coming this morning, but hey, why not, right?" He set his stuff down, stepped in, and stripped down but could still hear his friend's hum of agreement over the water running.
"Me too man. I usually shower after breakfast or the challenge, but I felt like coming early today," DJ smiled, "What are the odds?"
Two rival campers who never showered in the morning met up by chance. Could this be some kind of twist of fate? None of the guys knew it, but this harmless encounter would trigger the events on this day.
"That's true," Trent remarked, raking his shampoo-covered fingers through his unruly black mop. "Also, nice hair. I think it's the first time I saw you without your hat."
DJ raised an eyebrow. "Really? I take it off a lot. Maybe it's cuz we've never been on the same team for too long..."
"You didn't take it off when we won that cruise holiday," stated Trent, raising an eyebrow even with his eyes closed. No way was he gonna start another day in this hell hole with something as lame as getting soap in them.
"I didn't?" DJ rubbed his chin. "Huh... Well, those days were so AWESOME, maybe I forgot to take it off."
Trent nodded. "Totally - I haven't eaten that well in ages." He half-sighed at the memory, earning a laugh, before dipping his head under the water from the showerhead and counting from 1 to 9.
"Man, what was that?" said DJ, his small eyes wide as plates.
"W-what, the counting?" Trent's eyes darted back and forth nervously. "It's…"
"It's weird man, and honestly, a bit unsettling…" said the Brickhouse with a heart. "Are you ok, bro?
Trent wanted to run away, but he was naked and wasn't about to give this show any more humiliating footage, so he chewed on his lip and thought fast.
"It's a … tick, yes, when I'm stressed, I count to nine to relax," the musician lied.
"Really, because it seemed like something more serious than that, like a compulsion, man. Maybe the game is going to your head," said DJ, washing his arms.
"How do you…"
"My momma has an OCD with the things in her kitchen. If she can't find the grinder or strainer in their place, she gets pretty upset," said DJ with another shrug. "And you just gave me the same vibe."
The musician sighed. "It's not the game… It's Gwen." Trent closed the hot water, letting only cold water on his head, "Since we started the season, I feel we're growing distant from each other… and that Duncan is getting in the way." This comment made DJ laugh.
"I don't see what's so funny, Deej!" Trent glared at the Brickhouse, offended by the sudden hard laughter and half-suspicious as he knew that DJ was pretty tight with the Juvie returnee.
"Sorry man," DJ sighed deeply and sniffled, "but Duncan would never poach your girl," said the Jamaican guy, drying a tear. "He's head over heels for Courtney, so unless they break up, he isn't a threat."
Trent grew quiet, the only sounds being the showers and scratching of DJ's loofah when he finally voiced his other worry.
"But... what if it's Gwen the one who likes him...?" The musician soughed and began to hit his forehead nine times.
"Dude, STOP!" shouted DJ, chucking a rubber duck at the musician's back. "Do you trust her?"
Trent slowly nodded, hesitating only for a second.
"Then stop stressing over it, man, or talk with her and tell her how you feel." DJ pressed, pointing his loofah like it was a ruler against a board. "But either way, Trent, you need to drop the counting. Gwen fell in love with you too, so be a bit confident," said DJ, turning off his shower with a squeak, "and please, STOP the counting."
"Is it that bad?" Trent asked timidly, rubbing his neck.
"Man, believe me, it is."
Trent stopped momentarily, thinking about what DJ told him, when suddenly the Brickhouse returned.
"And man, can you pass me Mr. Duck?" said DJ, rubbing his neck.
The musician sighed and continued washing after tossing the Brickhouse his duck back. DJ was right. He was letting his compulsion take control again, and that was bad.
"Grandpa, it seems I'm making a fool of myself again," he muttered, shaking his head. "But DJ's right, I need to trust Gwen."
Trent took Gwen's pendant out from under the towel he set aside and began to tap it against his forehead while counting. "One, two, three… darn it, I really need to stop doing this, but it's gonna be harder than I thought..."
Gradually, the rest of the contestants began to wake up and made their way to the craft services tent for whatever passed as breakfast that morning.
Trent automatically took nine scrambled egg pieces, but after seeing DJ helping in the kitchen, he decided to take 2 more while keeping his advice in mind.
"This somehow feels wrong," murmured the musician to himself before seating himself opposite Justin, waving at his once-silent teammate. Justin winked back at him, but Beth and Lindsay quickly surrounded the Hawaiian Heartthrob before they could talk.
"Juuustin, look, I brought you bacon," said Lindsay in a sing-song voice, giving him a plate filled with greasy bacon.
"And I brought you facon," Beth said, interrupting Lindsay. "Tofu's good for your heart."
Lindsay frowned at her best friend, "Pig's good for his hair!"
"Holy crap, I love his hair!" Beth jumped and hugged Justin, which made Trent chuckle a little in amused disbelief.
"Ladies, please," said Justin, casually pulling Beth away. "I accept both your offerings. Join me for breakfast?"
Both girls blushed and laughed. Justin faced the musician. "You can join us too if you want, Trent."
"Thanks, but I don't want to be the third… I mean the fourth wheel," said Trent, raising a hand.
Confessional: Beth
"Justin is so gorgeous, watch how easily he makes friends," said Beth, sighing. "If I could only make friends as easily as I made these bracelets."
Trent ignored his teammates and put some salt in his breakfast, but as soon as he moved the shaker, the top fell and half-buried the eggs. It wasn't hard to guess who was behind this from the obnoxious laughter coming from the other table.
"Ahh, sorry about the morning as-salt!" Duncan dried a tear while mocking the musician.
Gwen swiftly coldcocked the punk to the back of the head. "Third grade called. You're due back in class."
"How mature, Duncan," Trent rolled his eyes and threw salt over his shoulder. "Don't you know it's bad luck to spill salt?"
Speaking of bad luck, the flung salt flew directly at the usually alert Heather's face and caused the Queen Bee to shriek as she stood up with watery eyes.
"Nothing, a bit of pepper, wouldn't fix," said Trent, but the pepper shaker top also fell, pulling half of the content in his breakfast. "Really?" He deadpanned at the snickering punk and without much thought, threw some pepper over his shoulder, hitting Heather dead on and giving her a sneezing fit that sent her frantically running out of there to the nearest bathroom.
"Maybe I should stop throwing spices over my shoulder," voiced a flustered Trent, covering his mouth in embarrassment at the spectacle he caused. Granted, Heather certainly wasn't on his favorite people list, but even that seemed a bit much so early in the morning.
Duncan stood up, laughing at his prank and the side effects. He went next to the musician with a big smirk on his face. "Uh, you still gonna finish those eggs, bro?" Then, the punk unceremoniously ate a piece of Trent's breakfast.
"I planned to do it as soon as I get off the bad luck I got for spilling the salt," said Trent, glaring at Duncan.
"Hahaha, dude, you don't really believe in that mumbo jumbo about luck and whatnot, right?" said Duncan, raising a side of his unibrow. "That's weird, even for my standards."
Gwen hugged Trent from behind and put her head on his shoulder. "Which is good, because I happen to really like weird. Also, believing in luck is kind of romantic."
"Abso-Gwen-ly," said Trent with dreamy eyes.
Duncan shook his head, thinking the scene was too weird, but before he could come up with a snarky response, he was interrupted by a whistle.
It was Chris McLean, Smiling proudly after startling the contestants, he was wearing sunglasses and holding a surf table under his arm.
"Hang on to your coconuts, players! We're going back to the beach!" said the host with the most, in an excited tone.
"WOO-HOO," shouted Owen, the only contestant who didn't seem annoyed at the host's entrance.
"Ever seen one of those 50's surfer movies where the kids get up to neato fun before the big bonfire Twist-a-thon?" Chris said, trying to sound cool. After the contestants' lack of reaction, he continued. "And the bully kicks the sandcastle in the nerdy guy's face…"
DJ and LeShawna rolled their eyes, Harold nodded with a neutral expression, Heather sneezed, and Trent and Gwen looked at each other, not knowing what Chris was talking about.
"Sorry Grandpa, we haven't," said Duncan, folding his arms.
Chris did his best to keep his smile after the insult. "Well, get ready to recreate one, junior. We have two challenges followed by a tiebreaker, if necessary. So get your swimsuits and get groovy!"
"Well then, it's a challenge. Good luck," said Trent, kissing Gwen's cheek.
The goth girl winked and followed Duncan. None of the challengers noticed DJ standing behind, talking with Chef.
xxxxxx
The 11 contestants were shivering in their swimsuits, while Chris was in a thermic suit with a thick jacket. They were in a studio, but the temperature was so low that icicles were growing from the equipment. In the middle was a small pool filled with water and a surfing board balancing in the middle.
"Chris, I think the studio A/C is broken," said Harold, raising a finger.
"And also it is pretty cold," Beth added, making Harold roll his eyes.
The host chuckled. "The recording equipment gets too hot and may melt Chef's frozen heart." Chef waved with a ridiculously out-of-place 'innocent smile.' "And also, I don't look good while sweating."
"Sweating or not sweating, you can't hide your crow feet," said Heather in a mischievous tone.
"Ok, let's start the challenge before I disqualify the Gaffers," said Chris, covering the sides of his eyes. "You just need to hang ten this deck into the big blue without swallowing tail in the soup."
LeShawna glared and pointed at the host. "What did you ask me to do?!"
"He means whoever stays on the surfboard longest wins," said Trent, putting a hand on LeShawna's shoulder.
"Exactamundo, groovy cats." Chris made finger guns at the contestants, showing a big smile. "So, who's going first?"
Both teams were shivering and looking at each other. None of them wanted to surf and potentially fell in the icy pool. Only Justin seemed to be fine with the freezing weather.
"J-Justin, aren't you cold?" asked Owen, who was carrying a plate with what remained of Justin's breakfast. "If you want, we can hug each other to stay warm."
Lindsay and Beth gasped. How they didn't think about that?
"Don't worry I'm fine," said Justin raising an arm. "And I feel the cold but can endure it, especially because I don't look hot while shivering."
"That makes sense," said Lindsay, who was trying to get some sunscreen from a bottle.
Chris tapped his foot impatiently. "The team that wins will get a half-hour head start on the next challenge, and given tonight's reward, you should be fighting harder than Justin's abs over who gets the first shot."
Trent thought about what DJ told him but decided he couldn't trust Duncan after all and needed to impress Gwen.
"I'll go first," said Trent, raising an arm.
"Really?" asked Gwen, lowering her eyebrows. "I mean, break a leg."
"Wow, Good luck boy, don't get a cold," shouted LeShawna.
Harold groaned. "Gosh, you're in different teams, remember?" he folded his arms, glaring at the musician. "And I was about to volunteer myself."
"Hey, even if he's a Grip, Trent is still my friend, and I can encourage him if I want," said LeShawna, winking at Gwen, who nodded gratefully.
Trent stood over the surfer board, trying to keep his balance and smiling confidently.
Confessional: Trent
"This is easy, I stay in the surfboard, beat the challenge, and show Gwen how skilled and manly I am, two birds with one stone," said Trent, winking. "This will be easy."
Trent waved to his girlfriend, while Chris added with a big smile, "And please welcome the return of some season one fan favorites! The sharks."
As if waiting for his queue, a shark jumped and tried to bite Trent, making the musician walk backward.
Confessional: Trent
"And I just jinxed it. Why can't I keep my mouth shut?"
Trent did his best to stay on the surfboard, but the sharks were jumping and getting closer and closer. Even then the musician stood in place.
"Hey! That Elvis had some good moves," said Duncan, smirking.
"Of course he does," said Gwen, elbowing the punk playfully.
However, Trent just saw that, without hearing what they were talking about, and felt distraught falling into the pool.
"TRENT!" shouted Gwen, running toward the pool.
"HEY fat tunas, take some bacon," Duncan quickly took Owen's plate and threw it into the pool.
"NOOOO!" shouted Owen, but it was too late. The sharks ignored the musician and ate the bacon and fakon while Gwen rescued Trent.
Trent looked at her with wide eyes. "Thanks."
"What happened? You basically have the challenge in your pocket," said Gwen, hugging him.
"I got distracted," Trent looked ashamed at the ground. "Sorry."
Gwen let him go. "The important thing is that you're ok. Now, don't blame us if we just win the challenge," said the Goth in a playful tone.
"Get a room," said Duncan, interrupting the moment.
"Duncan, I…"
"Save it Elvis, you're welcome," said Duncan, walking away with Gwen.
Trent smiled sadly and walked toward his team, unsure about what to do after failing the challenge and about the anxiety he felt in his chest.
"That was sad man," said Owen.
"I know," Trent sighed, "but I couldn't avoid it."
"I'm sure there should be a different way, we just don't think hard enough."
Trent tapped his chin. "I need a way to remind myself to stay calm, maybe write on my hand."
"I think it's a bit late for that," replied the big guy.
Confessional: Owen
"I didn't think Trent cared so much about my bacon. He's a great friend," said Owen, taking a chocolate bar from his pants. "And that Fakon too, just thinking about it makes me hungry." The blond guy opened the chocolate and ate it in a single bite.
As Trent was thinking, Beth walked toward him with a huge smile.
"Friendship bracelet?" said Beth, giving him a purple bead bracelet.
"Beth, you're a genius!" said Trent enthusiastically. "Thanks a lot."
The brunette girl chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about it." She then walked toward Lindsay, a bit surprised. "I didn't expect Trent would be so hyped."
"Did you say there is Tyler? Where?" asked Lindsay, looking around excitedly.
"Linds, Tyler isn't in the game anymore," Said Beth for the nth time.
"Oh, right. I must have a dental block about the whole thing," said the blonde girl. Beth just walked away slowly, weirded out by her bestie.
The next camper to try was DJ for the Gaffers. He did well at first until a shark stole his swimming trunks, making him run out of the set embarrassed and screaming like a girl.
"The body's a beautiful thing. You don't need a suit!" shouted Chef, annoyed because his protegé failed the challenge.
Then the Grips chose Owen. The huge guy jumped nervously on the surfing board. He couldn't keep his balance and, in less than a minute, broke the table, falling into the pool.
However, the pool's water splashed everywhere, throwing the sharks out on the floor.
"Oh darn it," said Owen, walking out of the pool. "Sorry sharks, I'm really sorry,"
Chris blew a whistle. "Break time! Union rules!"
"About bloody time," said Heather, glaring at the host.
"Not for you shark bait, for them," Chris said as Chef took care of the fish.
After replacing the surfing board, Gwen was chosen by the Gaffers to try to win the challenge. Luckily for her, the sharks sat outside the pool, resting and having some refreshments.
"No sharks equals no problem," said Gwen, smirking confidently.
However, as soon as she stood on the table, she began to hear the sound of a drill. To her surprise, Chris had a seagull minigun and began to shoot birds at her.
"NO! STOP!" shouted the Goth, trying to avoid the seagulls.
"Hahaha I love this game," said Chris, shooting more seagulls until one got on Gwen's hair.
"Ahh! Sky rat! Get it out! Get it out!" Gwen panicked and fell into the water. Duncan and Trent hurried to help her out.
"Darn it was so close," said Chris, who was still laughing. "Ok the shark break is over. Who is next, Grips?"
Lindsay and Beth looked at Justin with dreamy eyes. The Hawaiian just sighed and went to stand on the surfing table.
"YAY! Go Justin!" shouted Lindsay enthusiastically.
"Yeah, go!" shouted Beth in the same tone.
Lindsay put her hands on her hips. "Copycat."
"Tanorexic!" Beth said in the heat of the moment, gasping as soon as she realized how much her words hurt Lindsay. "Sorry! Friendship bracelet?"
Justin ignored the drama among his teammates, flipped his hair and smiled. The sharks and even Chris were charmed by his looks.
"So perfect. Almost makes me believe in the inherent goodness of the human race." Chris said, and then chuckled mischievously. "Almost." Saying this, he put more seagulls in the minigun and began to shoot at Justin.
Lindsay and Beth gasped as the seagulls were shot toward the male model.
Confessional: Lindsay
"Chris is a brute," said the blonde girl. "Everyone knows birds aren't good for your face, only for your weight."
"Your face! Watch your beautiful face!" shouted Beth, hysterically.
"What?" Justin asked, but it was too late. A seagull hit him in the middle of the forehead and knocked him into the pool, falling like a brick.
The sharks flinched at the handsome model accident, and one of them took him out of the pool, carefully putting Justin on the floor. After giving him some CPR, Justin threw up the water and woke up, he and the shark hugging happily. When Lindsay and Beth ran toward them, the shark hit the girls with its fin, not stopping the hug.
"Love's a beautiful thing," said Chris, drying a tear. "So Gaffers, who's next?"
Duncan unceremoniously went over the surfboard.
"Finally, we have Duncan! Try not to get your piercings wet," said Chris mockingly, putting a new batch of seagulls in his weapon.
Duncan didn't fall into the host's provocation and just rolled his eyes.
Chris frowned and began to shoot at Duncan, but the punk avoided the birds, even punching some that went directly against him.
The host shot all the birds he had but didn't give up on taking out the contestant, throwing what he could at Duncan: chairs, cups, and even some stage lights, although none of them were enough to knock down the punk. The host basically threw everything he had at hand.
"Ouch my head," Lindsay complained after recovering from the shark attack.
Well, Almost everything.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Duncan's eyes widened as Chris lifted and threw Lindsay against him. Luckily, the punk ducked, and Lindsay's feet only touched his mohawk.
"And with that, Duncan secures victory for the Screaming Gaffers," said Chris, giving up.
"Gnarly!" Duncan said emotionlessly while LeShawna, Heather, DJ, and Harold cheered. Duncan then gave Gwen a fist bump and a hug.
The Killer grips just saw their opponents, frowning sadly.
"Man, Gwen's team is unstoppable!" said Owen, sadly.
"Try unstable!" shouted Trent, who then saw his friendship bracelet. "Sorry, forget what I said."
Owen shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm a pro at forgetting things."
"But we can beat them. Let's do our best at the next challenge," said Trent, forcing a smile.
"AK-WARD!" said Chris in a loud voice. "But if you like drama, you'll love what we have coming next! Stay tuned."
After the break, the teams were all dressed in front of the studio. Trent was behind his whole team on the opposite side from Gwen, something the Goth noticed, but before she could do anything, Chris interrupted them.
"Welcome back to Total Drama Action, where against all advice to the contrary, our players have changed out of their bathing suits. Hope you like swimming in your jeans," said Chris in a mocking tone,
Heather rolled her eyes "Right, because we're totally going to the beach for real this time. The bus is just late."
And as if to prove her wrong, the bus just arrived and honked. It was an old bus, but good enough to take them to the beach.
"You were saying?" asked the host, enjoying his small victory.
Confessional: Harold
"Chris saying the truth is uncommon but not impossible," said the nerd, rubbing his chin. "It means he probably is preparing a pretty mean challenge and is too distracted to think a good lie." Harold then smiled. "This works in my favor because my mad skills were developed for pretty mean challenges."
The Gaffers went inside the bus first, and Beth gave friendship bracelets to the Grips as they entered the bus.
"A blue bracelet for Lindsay to match her still frozen lips," Beth gave her friend the bracelet as the blonde walked onto the bus. "A green one for Owen because he's a giant human composter."
Owen ate it and burped. "Oh, Thanks."
"What you got there Beth?" said Justin, making a charming smile.
Beth panicked and began to walk backward. "Heh. A whole lot of car sickness. I'll blow chunks if I don't get the front seat. Barf. Barf. Barf."
Justin looked at Trent with a confused expression. The musician just shrugged. The model noticed Trent was wearing a friendship bracelet.
"Want to sit together?" asked Trent, noticing Justin was looking at him.
"Why not," replied the model. "I'll pick the window."
The last two grips went inside the bus. Gwen noticed Trent was sitting with Justin and not with her.
"Hey LeShawna," asked the Goth. "Do you think Trent is acting weird?"
"Trent?" LeShawna laughed. "That guy's weirdest part is he likes goth girls."
Gwen smirked and lightly punched her friend's arm.
"Now seriously, no, I haven't noticed anything," said the sista, shrugging. "But I was freezing in the last challenge, so I didn't pay too much attention to anyone."
The Goth nodded. Maybe it was her imagination.
The bus arrived at a familiar island, and after some groans, the contestants went to the beach. Each team had a corded zone in the sand with plastic shovels and buckets. Chris was standing between them with a huge smile.
"Yes, campers. We're actually back at your old stomping grounds. Total. Drama. Island!" Chris said, opening his arms. "If you need to take a moment and reminisce about the great times you had here…"
The ten contestants burst into laughter, some of them holding their sides. It was just too funny someone could think there were "good" memories on Wawanakwa Island.
"Fine. We'll skip the 'good memories' montage," said Chris, rolling his eyes. "It's a sand castle-building contest! To be judged by our resident King o' the Dunes." Chef took off his cook hat and put on a sand crown. "Make like prop masters, guys, and give me something awesome. Especially you Grips, because I want to test THIS tiebreaker."
The contestant looked at a crash dummy under a huge anvil, resting on three poles. Suddenly, it crushed the dummy, the poles fell over it and everything burst into flames.
"Mmm, it wasn't supposed to be like that," said the host shrugging. "Anyway good luck, Gaffers, you've got a thirty-minute head start on…"
The Gaffers didn't waste time, with Harold building the castle and instructing the other contestants.
"Heather, bring the sand wet by the waves. LeShawna, you need to pack it firmer," said Harold while building his team castle.
"HEY! Who died and made you Bossy McPushy?" said the sista, putting a hand on her hip.
"I'm a bit of a Gehry buff," said Harold, smiling proudly, but LeShawna just looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Frank Gehry? Greatest architect of our time?"
"And I care about this because…?" said LeShawna, tilting her head.
Harold pointed at his castle, which was pretty impressive, looking like a small palace. Leshawna's jaw dropped.
"Now, how about some props for my fine buttresses?" said Harold winking.
DJ brought a new bucket and looked around. "Did Duncan and Gwen go to get more buckets?"
"Knowing them, they're probably flirting," said Heather loudly so Trent could listen to her.
Trent sighed sadly. Justin put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, your girlfriend won't cheat with someone uglier than you. Especially having someone like me here," said the model smiling.
"Thanks?" said Trent, not sure about Justin's intentions.
Meanwhile, Gwen and Ducan went to the beach entrance, messing with the bus engine.
"There. If we're stuck at the beach, at least we can stay in the cabins. I never thought I'd miss them," said Gwen, taking a piece of the engine and throwing it toward Duncan.
The punk then walked toward the bus. "I've always been more of a dismantler than a builder anyway."
"No, you just love to stir up the-"
But Gwen was interrupted by the horn of the bus, honking loudly after Duncan messed with it.
"Stuff! I was gonna say stuff!" shouted Gwen, covering her ears.
"We should disconnect the horn too," said Duncan, smirking. He noticed something was wrong with Gwen but decided to not say anything.
Back to the beach, the Gaffers had more than half of their castle built. Chris smiled at the Grips as Chef blew a trumpet.
"Thank you, Chef. Screaming Gaffers. Your thirty-minute lead is over. So, Trent, dude. Get castling."
As soon as Chris said that, the Killer Grips panicked.
"Water, where do we get water!?" Owen carried two buckets and began to run, so stressed that he ignored the sea.
"Maybe we can, like, use a mountain stream," said Lindasy raising a hand.
Beth nodded. "Or maybe we can carry it from the lake."
Owen kept screaming while Justin looked at his reflection in his hand mirror.
"Hey, team," said Trent, but was ignored. The musician frowned and raised his voice. "QUIET! We need a plan. And I've got one. First, we can get water from the sea…"
Confessional: Owen
"Wow, Trent scared me for a moment," said the blond guy, fidgeting his fingers. "I wonder why he is angry?" Owen put a thoughtful expression. "I hope it's not because I ate his dessert."
"Justin, you build a moat around the castle, Owen we need more sand, Beth we need another tower…" said Trent, breathing quicker than before.
Beth looked at him worried. "Trent, are you ok? You seem tired."
"I'm ok," said Trent, smiling. "Just trying to not obsess over numerology."
"Oook," said Beth, looking at the musician with wide eyes.
However, Trent ignored her. He was more worried about the castle; it was fine, but the Gaffers one was like nine times better, looking like a palace.
"The Taj Ma-Harold. It's perfect," said Harold, looking at his creation.
Ignoring the musician's worries, Lindsay was building a tower, which was a bit uglier than the others. But she took a shell from a hermit crab, painted the Grips symbol with nail polish, and put it on the tower.
"Now we have a flag!" said Lindsay, clapping happily.
Trent's eyes beamed. "That's a great idea! We can try to improve it with some decoration."
"And we can use the bracelets to keep the tower's shapes," said Beth, loving the idea.
Justin rolled his eyes. "It's a sandcastle building contest, Beth."
"No. It's a prop sandcastle building contest. Anything goes," said Beth, chuckling. "Also, we're just using this to improve our castle."
"Ooh! Uh, I have some anything," said Lindsay, opening her bag and throwing some makeup, spray cans, magazines, and a bandana on the sand.
Beth took a magazine, her smile growing wider "We can make it even better! Everybody! Tear up these magazines!"
The Grips followed Beth's instructions and put the pieces in a bucket.
"Now we mix some hairspray, and voila! Paper Mache," said Beth proudly.
"Crafty!" said Justin, giving finger guns to the wannabe. Beth blushed at the sudden compliment.
Trent nodded."As Justin said, that's awesome. Now let's start covering the weaker sides of the castle."
After a time, the Killer Grips castle was more paper than sand, but it was pretty well done. Looked like a castle, and the walls and towers had small details like windows or arcs.
"I dub thee Casa Beth," said Trent, clapping.
"Agree, great idea," said Justin, winking at Beth, who blushed, chuckling.
From the side, Gwen and Duncan had come back.
"Casa Beth?" asked Gwen aloud.
"Jealous?" Duncan smirked, waiting for the Goth's reaction.
Gwen rolled her eyes and said in a bitter tone. "at least it wasn't Casa beautiful Lindsay."
"Are you ok?" asked Duncan, raising a side of his unibrow.
"Me? Yes, is Trent the one acting weird," said the Goth, folding her arms. "We haven't talked today. He ignored me on the bus, and even now, he hasn't looked in this direction at all. I think he's avoiding me."
Harold cleared his throat. "Trent is probably giving you the cold shoulder because you spend much time with Duncan."
"Duncan is only a friend," said Gwen in a harsh tone.
"Yes, but we're mammals, and the competition for our female partners is ingrained into our DNA," said Harold, raising a finger. "It's probably the first step before he starts looking for a different partner."
Gwen's eyes widened. "Are you saying Trent will break up with me!?"
"No, I'm just saying if he acts like other hominids, it's probably he will do it, or maybe he acts like this because he ate something from the floor," said Harold, shrugging, "Mammals are pretty complex organisms."
"Hahaha, You're going back to singletown eh patsy?" Said Duncan, laughing, but Gwen ignored him, frowning at the musician. "HEY! You're not taking seriously what that dork said, do you?"
"Of course not," said Gwen, forcing a smile, "of course not."
"Hey, can you give us a hand! We're in trouble!" shouted Heather, interrupting the trio.
When the three arrived, they noticed both sandcastles had a dozen seagulls standing over them, but the Grips didn't seem to care.
"No! There's birds in my belfry!" shouted Harold, waving at the seagulls.
Heather, DJ, and LeShawna also tried to shoo the birds away.
"Go away, winged rats!"
"Shoo, Shoo."
"Fly, fly!"
But all was in vain. Suddenly, the castle collapsed under the birds' weight.
"Dang. They busted my buttresses," said Harold in a sad tone, looking at the broken structure.
Chef pointed back with his thumb, like an umpire during a baseball game, while Chris laughed and announced the end of the challenge.
"We have a winner! Beth and the Killer Grip's clever prop, Casa dos Paper Mache!" said Chris, pointing at the "sand castle."
The grips cheered and danced while Beth corrected Chris. "It's also made of friendship bracelets."
"Which means we need a new tiebreaker!" Chris unceremoniously ignored and pushed Beth away. "And I was hoping for the evening off. Instead, gather some wood, campers, for a fire of the bon variety."
The teams went into the forest to collect sticks. Trent was with Owen, as the girls wanted to spend the afternoon with Justin. The guys were walking when they found Gwen alone.
"Hey Gwen," said Trent, waving at her.
"Hello Trent," said Gwen, making a small smile. "Congratz winning the challenge."
Trent smiled. "Thanks. It's been a while since we talked."
"Yes, in fact…" Gwen looked at Trent and then glared at Owen, who was making kissing sounds.
"Ehem," Trent cleared his throat and glared at the blond guy.
"Check," said Owen, saluting and walking away.
Gwen sighed "I kinda wanna talk to you about…" she then rolled her eyes. "Owen! I can see you."
"Do you mind speaking up? I don't wanna miss all the juicy bits," Owen chuckled. Gwen then threw a stick against his face. "Ouch! Ok I understood."
"Sorry, he sometimes is too stubborn," said Trent, rubbing his neck. "What do you want to talk about?"
Gwen crossed her arms. "Are you avoiding me?"
"Eh?" Trent panicked. "No, I'm actually…" he averted his girlfriend's eyes and looked at the friendship bracelet.
"Because it's the first time we talked since you fell into the pool. I know we're in a challenge, but you didn't sit with me on the bus. I'm sure you didn't even notice I wasn't with my team during the sand castle contest."
Trent looked at her with wide eyes. "You weren't?"
"SEE?" Gwen groaned with frustration. "Trent, we're a couple, so if there is a problem, I want to know about it so we can look for a solution. But I can't read your mind."
"I…" Trent looked at her and sighed. "Sorry, It's my first relationship, and I was obsessing about you and Duncan, so I wanted to give you some space."
Gwen raised her hands. "Wait, wait, wait. I'm your first girlfriend?"
"Yes, I thought I was also your first boyfriend."
"Yes, but you're handsome, smart, and cool, and… I can't believe you never dated anyone before," said Gwen, blushing.
The musician blushed. "Thanks, but yes, you're my first, so I don't know how to avoid losing you."
"Trent, I don't know what will happen in the future, but I love you." Gwen walked and held his boyfriend's hands. "And thank you for giving me my space, but if you're afraid, talk with me instead of obsessing over it. I'm sure together we can solve anything,"
"Gwen…" Trent gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Thanks, you're right. With our love, we can solve anything."
The Goth giggled. "That was too cheesy."
"Really?"
"Yes, but I don't hate it," said Gwen, taking the stick she threw at Owen. "See you after kicking your ass in the tiebreaker.
Trent chuckled. "You wish." He then counted his sticks. "Hey, I got nine, pretty lucky. I think we will win that tiebreaker after all."
After that, he returned to the beach, not noticing someone watching him… someone besides Owen.
It was already night, the beach was only illuminated by the stars and the moon.
Chris clapped, there were many torches around the teams and a small bonfire at the center. The contestant watched him with a mix of surprise and disappointment.
"And you made us waste time in the woods because…" said Duncan, crossing his arms and glaring at the host.
"I needed some alone time. Do you think these hands manicure themselves?" Chris showed his hand to the Gaffers and then smiled at the camera. "Which brings us to… the tie-breaking challenge! A watusi twist, mashed potato, dorky, old-school dance contest!" The host danced while talking, then pointed at both sides, "Teams! Choose your best boogier for battle."
The Gaffers were the first to choose.
"Ooh! You've got to pick me!" said LeShawna, jumping excitedly. "My nickname back home? La-shake-in-it"
And the Grips also had already decided who should be their dancer.
"I vote for Trent!" said Lindsay, jumping excitedly.
Justin made finger guns at the musician. "We heard you got some fly moves."
"Hehehe, I'm not sure," said Trent, rubbing his neck.
"C'mon Trent, don't be modest," said Beth, making a big smile. "We won't blame you if we lose."
"Even if we will," said Owen, raising a finger.
"Ok, I will do it," Trent walked toward the Gaffers, meeting LeShawna in the middle of the way.
The music started. It was that classic guitar and drums of the surfing songs from the 60s. LeShawna and Trent face each other, smiling but with fierce glares.
"Prepare for a world of pain, son," said LeShawna, filled with confidence.
"Bring it," replied the musician.
Both began to dance. LeShawna was… unique, mixing some old moves like the cabbage patch or moving her arms up and down. Her team looked at her in horror.
Confessional DJ
"Yeah. I bet I know Leshawna's real nickname back home. La bomba!" said DJ, opening his arms and making an impish smile.
Confessional Heather
"Prima balleriNOOO!" said the Queen Bee, her voice filled with sarcasm.
Confessional: Harold
"Two words, fun-ky!" said Harold, excited. He then made an innocent smile at the camera. "What? I loved it."
On the other hand, Trent seemed more relaxed and showed more rhythm in his dancing. The Grips supported him with enthusiasm.
"Go, Trent!" shouted Beth.
"Shake your lady lumps!" said Lindsay excitedly.
"You look great," shouted Justin, cupping his mouth. "Not as great as me, but you got this."
Trent then looked at Gwen, who seemed as disappointed as the rest of the Gaffers, but when their eyes crossed, Gwen winked at him. The musician felt filled with energy and began to move even better, moonwalking and doing the robot.
"Damn, well done Gwen, your boyfriend is destroying us," said Duncan in a snarky tone.
"Be grateful it wasn't a singing competition," said Gwen, smirking.
Duncan rolled his eyes but chuckled.
Confessional: Gwen
"Ok, we may have lost, but Trent was amazing, so I guess it wasn't a complete loss, at least for me."
"Ok, enough, the result is clear," said Chris, stopping the music. "Trent and the Killer Grips are the winners."
"WHAT?" shouted LeShawna, "how can you say he danced better than me? Are you blind or something?"
Chris glared at her. "Please LeShawna, just stop. If you have any questions, talk with your team," the host then made finger guns to the Killer grips. "And the Grips won the greatest beach party ever picked!"
The Grips cheered cheerfully while the Gaffers groaned. Trent looked at Gwen, and the Goth pointed at her side. She walked into the forest with the musician following her.
"I'm sorry," said Trent, rubbing his neck.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because I beat your team?"
Gwen chuckled. "Trent, it's a game show, we're competing against each other so don't overthink. I won't have hard feelings over that."
"Oh," Trent said with a small smile.
"And you know, you're a really good dancer. You deserve to win," said Gwen, blushing.
Trent also blushed, rubbing his neck, "Yeah? You like that?"
"I like it a lot," Gwen hugged him. "But remember, next time something is bothering you, talk instead of ignoring me, ok?"
"Promise," said Trent, kissing her on the lips. Sadly, their intimate moment was too short.
"Woohoo, go for it Trent," shouted Owen, laughing excitedly. He was then hit by many branches on his face.
Back on the beach, the Grips celebrated, danced, and ate while the Gaffers stood gloomily beside Chris.
"If the losing team could just follow me to the bus…" as Chris talked, Chef, covered in oil, walked toward him, whispering.
The host glared, "…which is broken. Which means the losers will have to stay and watch their rivals gorge on victory."
The Gaffers groaned again as the Grips celebrated.
The grips were celebrating and cheering as Lindsay was making some nice dancing moves.
"Hey Lindsay, you could also win the competition," said Beth, clapping.
"Oh, c'mon, I'm sure Trent and Justin can dance better than me," said Lindsay, chuckling.
"Don't be so sure. I have beautiful feet, but even if it sounds incredible, I'm not a great dancer," said Justin, making a wonderful smile. Then he whispered to the brunette. "By the way, Beth, can you come with me for a minute?"
Beth smiled goofily. "Of cooourse."
Justin walked far enough so the others couldn't listen to him.
"I just wanted to thank you for winning the sandcastle contest, especially after I blew the surfing challenge. You really saved my bacon. Or… should I say… facon?" Justin's voice was mellow, and gave her another beautiful smile.
"Oh, don't worry, also, Trent was the one winning the tiebreaker," said Beth, chuckling and snorting, kicking some sand.
"Talking about Trent, I kinda noticed you gave him and everyone on the team friendship bracelets. Everyone… but me. Aren't we friends, Beth?" Justin's voice was lower than before and sounded hurt.
Beth made a huge smile and quickly took her red friendship bracelet, "Course! Here, it's kinda wet! My palm's a little sweaty!"
"Red. Nice." Justin then looked at Beth. "thanks."
The brunette girl blushed a lot, and both returned to their team. Justin wasn't smiling confidently.
The Gaffers, meanwhile, were on the beach. Harold was dancing, and suddenly Duncan kicked some sand toward the nerd's face.
"What was that for?" asked Harold in an angry tone.
"Cause you actually have dancing mad skills, and we sent LeShawna instead of you," said Duncan, frowning.
LeShawna glared at the punk. "Hey! No matter who danced, it was impossible to beat Trent. That boy was in the zone."
"Yes, that dude can really dance," said DJ, smiling. "I can't believe he was so worried this morning."
"He was worried?" asked Gwen.
DJ nodded. "A lot, he was pretty stressed about you. I'm glad my advice helped him. He seemed a lot more relaxed right now."
"Thanks for helping the enemy beat us DJ," said Duncan, folding his arms.
"Hey bro, don't be like that. It's not as if my advice changed anything. Trent would have stood on his own feet alone," said DJ, folding his arms.
Gwen stood on her toes and hugged the Jamaican guy. "Anyway, thanks for helping him DJ."
Confessional: DJ
"Man, now I understand why Trent is dating her," said DJ, blushing.
Confessional: Trent
"You know, after today's challenge, I realized that I don't need to be worried. My relationship with Gwen isn't that feeble, and we can survive a little competition," said Trent confidently.
Confessional: Justin
The model was looking at his friendship bracelet. "Let's just say I'll do anything to win. Anything. Heh." He then smiled and said in a fake tone "Ooh, Beth, I love it. I was thinking, Beth. It could be really good for us if we were in an alliance."
Thanks to Duncan and Gwen, the teams didn't return to the studio and spent the night on Wawanakwa. Instead of sleeping together, each team occupied a set of cabins. DJ couldn't sleep thanks to Harold's snorts so he went for a walk, finding someone he didn't expect-
"Hey man, what a coincidence. You can't sleep?" said DJ, waving.
"No, Owen is snoring pretty loudly. He probably ate too much," said Trent, he gave a small fist bump to DJ. "By the way, I wanted to thank you?"
"Thank me?" DJ raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, for the advice you gave me this morning," said Trent, smiling. "I was… pretty upset, and you were right, maybe I was just overthinking."
DJ chuckled, rubbing his neck. "C'mon man, you would be ok even without the advice."
"Hahaha, I don't think so. I was really at a low point, so if you need help sometimes, just tell me," Trent pointed at DJ.
"Ok, maybe we can dine together once I win the prize money," said DJ, smirking confidently.
Trent laughed. "Hahaha, I didn't expect you wanted the million."
"Man, is there someone in this show that doesn't want to win the money?"
"Touche," said Trent, smiling.
Both then returned to their cabins. Trent was grateful to the Jamaican guy, but DJ didn't feel he did anything special, not realizing that his kindness may change things more than he could imagine.
I was storm-brained about what to do for Gwent week this year, and a friend asked me if I would write and alternate for Action, which is why I wrote this episode.
I chose Beach Blanket Bogus because when rewriting Action, many people chose 3:10 to Crazytown as the episode to improve/change. But I feel It would be better to write it from Beach Blanket Bogus because is a fun episode that most people ignore because it's the beginning of Gwent's end.
This episode is supposed to be a standalone, but if enough people want it, I may write a full rewrite of Action.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you like it.