'Now for the Talent Show.'

Chris introduced the challenge with all the same fanfare as last time, to the same amount of fanfare as last time. Cody would never describe himself as particularly talented, despite what several fanblogs had attested when his audition tape got leaked. Behind the scenes at the Drama Brothers, his role was keyboard and song writing, but song writing was shared between all four of them. Trent wrote the base, Harold added a greater flow with where he inserted his beatboxing, Justin knew just what to say to get to the heart of a girl, and Cody would punch up the text.

So, sure he could play keyboard and kind of write songs, but his talents barely existed beyond that. He wasn't really a computer hacker, just intuitive. He wasn't really a geek, just friends with the CS Club. He wasn't really a gamer, just fond of Pokemon. So, this was another challenge where he would play an ultimately pedestrian role.

'You gonna creep out Gwen again?'

Huh. Gwen.

This was a big day for her, Heather reading her diary and all. Perhaps he could stop it, it was the right thing to do after all. Hey, it might even get him in good with Gwen if the situation came to light, maybe he could go on a date with her! That kind of desperation made Cody whine internally.

"Hey, earth to dweeb!" That was of course, Heather's obnoxious voice shouting down at him. Looking up, he saw her glaring down at him, the (almost) softness of World Tour nowhere to be seen in her gaze. It was like she was looking at a cockroach. "Not that I'm expecting anything, but do you have a talent?"

'I can play the keyboard!' "Uh, no, I don't. Sorry Heather." Heather just glowered at him, before turning on her heel and returning to the main group. This made him remember why it was somewhat important Heather got to read the diary- it made everyone fully aware of how dangerous she was. Sure, she made it to the final three, but people tried to cut her off at every turn. One could only imagine how the game would change in a world where she failed. Sure, Heather was mean, but the guys were content to ignore her, and as long as she played on the ego of the girls who didn't like her, she'd be fine.

It was a small difference, but it was admittance of the fact that Cody didn't want to acknowledge- that he was scared. He was terrified of changing anything, which is why his attempts up until now had been so half-hearted. To change would be to kill everyone he knew with his own hands, all on a selfish whim that change mattered.

But, what was his plan then? To leave things as they were? Would he be content in the mouth of that bear, knowing he did nothing to change his fate? Cody scoffed at this thought, but deep down, he recognized those painful maws as another form of comfort.

Cody didn't bother following Gwen, instead, he hid himself by the treeline to keep an eye on Heather. Internally he still didn't know if it was a good thing to protect Gwen or target Heather, and he had to make his choice now . Gwen had already gone in to dry off and rest, and Heather would be leaving any moment.

Cody made his way from the treeline to intercept her as Heather finally left the cabin, seeing the diary not-so-subtly poking out of her back pocket. He had to either take her down now, or leave things to pass as is. So, he made his choice.

"Heather!" Cody shouted, catching the girl's attention. His shout shook her up a bit, but she quickly returned to her dismissive state.

"What do you want, dork? I have a talent show to practice for." Cody honestly wasn't sure if she was lying- another skill of Heather's. The queen of deceit.

"I think you have something that isn't yours'." Cody tried to muster up his toughest sounding voice, but it obviously came off as lame if Heather's smirk was anything to go by. "Just put the diary back, and it'll be like nothing ever happened."

"How did you know it was a diary, Cody? " Heather using his actual name, wasn't a good sign. Equally bad was her leaning down to his ear, her soft tones tickling his earlobe. "My, I can only imagine how you could've found out, our sweet little stalker ." Memories of an impossibly tall girl flooded through Cody's mind. "No wonder you havent' talked to anyone, you've been keeping your eye on the prize all this time. I admire that, you're not too different from me. But, I, unlike you, hold the leverage in this game." She pulled away, and stared at him, her eyes boring into his own, leaving Cody in a terrified trance, as if he would be swallowed up by her at any moment.

"Keep quiet about this, or I'll expose every last dirty secret you have. People would sooner vote for the stalker nobody than the popular girl anyways."

Heather turned to leave, but Cody mustered up the last bit of courage he had.

"I-I'll tell Gwen! I'll tell everyone what your doing!"

"No, you won't." Heather replied simply, knocking Cody's spirits down once more. "You won't do anything like that, because if you do, it's sayonara dweeb. No romance with the goth on the beach, no hundred thousand."

Cody grimaced at this. The threat was clear. Tell on Heather, she tells the world and everyone here that he's a stalker , that he's a creep , and she gets him voted out to rub salt in the wound.

Rationally, none of this mattered. It seemed the mechanics of this game would only pull him back in should he get removed, but Cody was terrified of Heather at this moment. He had forgotten why she was such a threat on the Island, he only remembered the competitive, if a bit mean spirited, girl who pushed her team to the end with only one true loss. This Heather would damn her team if it meant getting a leg up on someone else.

Cody pathetically fell to his knees.

The talent show went on as normal, Cody having done nothing to truly change it. He could only hold his head in his hands, waiting for Heather to pull off her scheme and leave his friend embarrassed once more.

"This one is a collaboration." Cody knew this line, he looked up and saw Heather pull out Gwen's diary, and heard the goth's shocked gasp nearby. What he didn't recognize was what Heather said after that.

"Read by myself, words by Gwen, and… a special thanks to Cody for encouraging me." Cody felt the blood drain from his face, as the others around him leveled confused, hurt, or even angry stares. It was too late to do anything now, all he could do was shrink back in shame.

'Always the coward.'

Heather read out Gwen's entry about Trent, leaving the goth to run away in shame. Cody hoped this would all be over soon, but Heather continued to a new entry.

"One guy on the island really creeps me out. I know CS kids don't have a lot of friends, but all he's done is stare silently at people ever since the first challenge, and when he does talk, it's incredibly artificial. I can only hope he gets kicked off soon."

Oh.

Oh.

'She hates me.'

Deep down, Cody knew Gwen would never reciprocate his feelings. Her relationship with Duncan was a heavy indication of that, but he was at least happy they were friends. But, what he had done so far had only managed to make him an object of her disdain. An unmoving, artificial, creep. His attempts to relish in his true past only made for this scenario. He could only accept what was to come as punishment for wanting to drown in nostalgia.

With no other recourse, he wandered off into the forest. Clearly he would be unwanted among his peers, so he wandered to the sole remaining piece of nostalgic comfort… however painful it may be.

"Heather, Cody, this last marshmallow can only go to one of you. While I disagree with this personally, the votes were near unanimous… Heather." The girl's eyes never held an ounce of fear in them, as the last marshmallow was flicked to her. Why would she be scared? Even if Cody was never implicated here, who would choose her over someone on the brink of death?

"Cody, the dock of shame awaits. I'd ask someone to help you, but I think nobody here feels up to that task." Cody's broken body was once again trapped in this crummy chair, though the feeling of being trapped and needing someone else to push you forward… that was painfully familiar. "Gwen, how about you?"

The goth girl stood with an angered expression on her face, before roughly grabbing the handles on Cody's chair, wheeling him to the dock of shame.

The trip was quiet, though that was to be expected. Bandages covered Cody's mouth once more, and even if they weren't, he had nothing to say. He could only gaze at the approaching lake forlornly, the darkness of the water reflecting the full moon above. He almost wanted to reach out and grasp it with his own hands, but his full body cast prevented could only gaze wistfully at the reflection.

"You know, I never did like you." Gwen started, her tone flat, almost apathetic, causing Cody to turn his head in shame. "But, you didn't deserve this. You might be as bad as Heather, but you-"

It took Cody a moment to realize Gwen had never been talking. Her breathing had disappeared, and while he couldn't turn around, he knew the footsteps were far too distant to have been right behind him only a moment ago.

He could only ponder what that voice had been, as the gentle splash of water took him. Slowly sinking into the abyss that he so desperately wanted to reach out to earlier. He thought back on the day's events, on what everyone had done. Then, he thought about the future. On Heather, Duncan, Courtney, Alejandro . What made them so much better? Why had he been locked out of the final two in favor of true villains?

Cody's muffled laugh could only come out as small bubbles, rising to the top of the lake. Of course that's why they won. They lied, manipulated, tricked, bullied- they played the game Chris wanted it to be played. They played to the drama of it all.

As Cody's mind slipped further, the shouting above completely blocked out of his head, he had only one realization.

He would have to leave the past behind, and build a new world for himself, and everyone who antagonized him showed him just how to do that.

Confessional

Cody

A horribly injured Cody stared into the camera, his body cast thankfully covering the more severe injuries. He sat for over a minute, before finally deciding on what to say.

"I'm awful."

END OF PART 1