"Hey Beth, how's it going?"
The chubby girl blushed at Cody's sudden appearance next to her, and she even giggled a bit. She was a romantic at heart the same way Romeo and Juliet could be described as 'somewhat tragic', and Cody was all for it.
"Oh, nothing much Cody. " She chirped, a smile on her lips as she stirred Chef's usual slop around in its bowl. "Just thinking about what Heather has been saying lately."
"Oh?" Cody said in mock interest- he was already sure what it would be about, but that didn't mean he should just not care. If she wants to get comfortable giving him the other team's information, then let her. More useful that way. "What did she tell you?"
Beth squirmed, hey eyes darting around, as if expecting Heather to have some kind of wire set up. She gulped, before facing Cody again, worry clear on her face.
"She, uh, she said that she was the reason Eva left. Stole her MP3 player." Beth said in a tone of voice she probably believed to be a whisper, but since her usual tone was that of an outdoor voice, the attempt at secrecy didn't help that much. "She also said a lot of mean things about you."
"DId she?" Cody mumbled. That was also standard whenever he did the team swap and won the first challenge- if Heather hated anything, it was being upstaged. She probably hated every member of the Killer Bass, but Cody was the easiest target given how he got on the team. "Well, that's her issue then." He recognized a brief opportunity to get himself in deeper with Beth, and took it. "If it ever becomes your issue though, just let me know. I'll always help out my friends. "
That initiated some swooning from Beth, and Cody admired his handiwork, only to be roughly pulled by his shirt collar by a rather dainty hand. The hand then roughly snapped him around, revealing the culprit was Courtney, who proceeded to roughly drag him over to the Bass side.
"What do you think you're doing!" She half-shouted, not wanting to appear unhinged this early in the morning. "Fraternizing with the enemy!? We just lost yesterday, and if this losing streak continues, I'm not going to keep around dead weight that just wants to flirt! "
"Oh." Cody just said the one syllable as he sized Courtney up. Occasionally the girl would interrogate him, and it had taken him many loops to figure out how to placate her ego. Thankfully, once you learn, it's hard to unlearn it. "I'm sorry about that Courtney, I was just being friendly with my old team! I'm glad you're in charge and constantly looking out for us, otherwise we'd probably be dead meat for the Gophers!"
Courtney had a somewhat shocked expression in response, but it was quickly switched out for one of smug self-satisfaction. The girl certainly wasn't as crazy as later on, but she definitely was still as egotistical. Cody could only offer what he felt was a genuine smile at her.
"A… leader!" Courtney cheered herself slightly, gaining a bit of attention from the rest of the team. "Yes, you're right… I need to take more charge in this group to ensure we don't end up on a losing streak! It's only been one loss, but we can't get complacent!"
Cody adored the few withering glares sent the girl's way. He wouldn't be letting her go just yet- but give her enough time, and she'll send herself packing.
The dodgeball game went as expected. Despite the change in teams, the Gophers still dominated the first two rounds- though that was in part due to Cody not using some of his more well practiced techniques. Despite the Gophers having the local ditz population, they also had powerhouses like Owen, Trent, and LeShawna. With Duncan currently MIA, the Bass were taking a beating, and Cody did his part to ensure that beating was continued and directed in the right places.
"Ouch!" Chris shouted as Cody dodged a ball that sailed right past him, and into Duncan's face, knocking the delinquent off the bench. "That one's gotta hurt! Duncan, my man, how are you feeling?"
The boy in question stood, glaring at practically everyone in the room. "I'm feeling just great McLean. So great, I think I need to go sleep on a bed instead of a bench." He made his way for the exit but was halted by Courtney grabbing his arm.
"Hey, you can't just leave! We're losing badly, and need all the help we can get!" She chides him, giving the strongest glare she could muster- and it admittedly threw Duncan off a bit. But, he just shook her off and resumed his prior glare, albeit softer.
"Sorry tuts, I made my contribution the last few nights, and I'm in no mood to be taking balls to the face. Wouldn't mind seeing you do that though." His sly smirk was matched by Courtney's infuriated growl, and he made his way out of the gymnasium.
"Y-you know what!? Fine!" Courtney shouted at the closed door, as if expecting her words to reach the delinquent. "See how funny it is when you get voted off tonight!"
Cody decided that would be the best moment to dodge another ball, and let it sail right into the back of Courtney's head, leading to another frustrated tirade from the CIT. He smiled happily at this.
"Ah man!" Cody rubbed the back of his neck as he settled into the showers. Everyone else had decided to go rest up in the cabins, so it seemed to just be him and Noah in here. He caught Noah's eye and smiled at his fellow nerd, who responded with a dismissive stare from his section of the showers. "You're lucky Duncan and Courtney had that big fight. If you guys lost, I bet your lazy butt would've been sent right back home."
Noah scoffed, turning the dial under his shower head, letting the water fall freely on him. It was an odd sight, since most people would be put off by the typically cold water in the showers, but Noah seemed to embrace it. "All tactical. I had a bet that we would win in a contest of physical strength given how almost all of our strongest players dropped out of the last challenge fairly early. Though, even on the off chance we did lose, I doubt I would've been eliminated. The wonder twins are doing their fair share of annoying everyone already."
Cody smiled- if there was anyone he missed, it was Noah. Despite all the sarcasm and potentially genuine hatred at times the boy held, he was at least a voice of reason. Albeit, in the most unreasonable of places, but the voice was welcome either way.
"Pretty risky play, but I feel ya'." Cody chuckled, turning on his own shower, but tactically ducking out of the way of the cold water. He preferred to let it warm up a bit first, after all. "So, any girls you're interested in?"
Noah pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Cody imagined if his mind got flooded with all of the loops thus far, he would have a brain aneurysm from all the dumb questions Cody had asked him, this one in particular having been asked several dozen times by now.
"Even if I were interested in girls, none of the ones here even remotely appeal to me." Noah sighed, rubbing shampoo into his hair. "Before you ask, none of the boys interest me either." He glanced over at Cody dismissively. "I see what you've been doing though, playing with poor little Beth's heart. Are you gonna man up and ask her out, or just string her along to your perverted fantasies?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The feeling of shampoo dripping down Cody's face made him aware of how clammy his body felt.
"Don't be coy." Noah spat out, whipping his hair under the water for a bit before leveling another look in Cody's direction. "You've been playing that girl like a fiddle, all she ever does now is look at you or pretend to like listening to Heather. You're like a parasite, and I would hope you either ask her out or let her off easily." Noah then paused to think, ducking his head out of the water to rub conditioner into his hair. "Or maybe, this is your first time a girl has ever shown any genuine interest in you, is that it?"
Cody just smiled. The first time Noah had gotten accusatory with him in the loops, he felt like he was going to be sick, but now he had suppressed that feeling far enough to enjoy the accusations. He could easily pick apart each and every one of Noah's rationalizations as mere projection or just a buildup of sheer annoyance drawing him towards the most confrontational conclusion- and to be fair, he was right.
"I thought I was just treating her nicely." Cody lied, looking at Noah with a smile that could almost be mistaken for predatory, if it wasn't coming from the lamest boy on the campground. "You're not jealous, are you?"
Noah blew some hair out of his face in response. "Midgets aren't my type. Neither are non-committal pieces of crap like you. "
Cody laughed in response. "Fine, I'll ask her out at the next challenge. Happy?"
Noah turned the shower off and grabbed his towel he left on the wall. "Nope." He ducked out of the showers, leaving Cody to finish up on his own.
As he left, he noticed Cody's pile of clothes and saw something glinting out of his pants pocket. Looking around, Noah decided to reach in and grab whatever it was, and much to his disappointment, it was just a loonie.
"Who the hell brings money to camp?" Noah scoffed. Sure, tuck shops were a thing at overnight camps, but only the richest of rich kids would keep that money on them. Flipping it over though, he saw neatly printed black text, as if it had been manufactured as part of the coin. His eyes widened briefly, taking in just what the text had said, before he pocketed the coin and left.
"And tonight's final marshmallow goes to… Tyler." Tyler ran up and grabbed the marshmallow from the plate, whooping and cheering as he did so. Chris looked over at Duncan, disappointed. "Duncan, my man, I gotta say. I expected a lot more from our junior criminal." Duncan just rolled his eyes. "Ah well. Dock of shame is thataway."
Cody smugly chewed on his marshmallow as the delinquent walked past him. Duncan didn't even spare Cody a glance, the short boy being a complete non-factor in his mind, despite him being the orchestrator of his elimination.
Confessional
Cody
"Chris was getting on my butt about doing these, said the show would be boring if they just showed what I was doing with none of my thoughts, so I figured it would be a fun tell-all. Yep, I am the reason Gwen and Duncan got eliminated. I didn't plan for Eva, that was all Heather. Let prom queen think she's got this one for now, but I've already got something set up to get rid of her.
"As for Beth, she's my strongest ally. I have myself on the Bass laying low, and her on the Gophers, in with the popular crew. I just let her do her thing, and we'll make it to the merge together. Final two though? We'll see."
Loop 0009
Cody and Noah were sitting in the Bass cabin, alone. The two glared at each other silently, both clearly measuring the situation they were in. It was Noah who broke the silence.
"So, all those past eliminations… you?" Noah interrogated, an edge to his voice not typically present.
"Yeah…" Cody said, a bit forlornly. It was odd to see him hold remorse for merely playing the game as it were, even if he played like a devious little snake. "The only eliminations I wasn't responsible for were Ezekiel and LeShawna, everyone else was mine though." If he was trying to sound smug, he failed horribly. He just sounded like a child admitting to dumping a roll of toilet paper in the school toilet.
"You're like an eel." Noah said simply. Cody blinked at the metaphor, recalling Owen had said that's what Noah thought Alejandro was. Was he really that bad? "Good strategy, but I can't respect someone like you. "
Cody sighed, and rubbed his forehead. "I figured you would say that. So, that's a 'no' to an alliance?"
Noah glared sharply. "If I have my way, you'll never see past the final four." Cody just softly smiled at the floor, and it unnerved Noah a lot. "What's with the smile? Got another plan to ruin someone and take zero responsibility for it?"
"No, you just… remind me of someone I knew." Cody said softly. It was these rare moments where Noah got a glimpse into the genuine article of Cody, rather than one of his many personas. He didn't care at all for it though.
"Great. I hope that poor guy isn't watching this show, otherwise he might puke. I can't imagine you getting any friends if this is how you act outside the show."
Cody just continued to smile softly, even as Noah left the cabin in frustration.
Noah sat up, his mind hazy and brain pounding. That… was not a dream.
"What the heck was that?" Noah mumbled, his small form clattering against the wall of the cabin. Slowly though, realizations were made. He thought back to Cody's precise dodges earlier today, or his odd relationship with Beth. He felt himself get cold with worry, as if his blood was vacating his body. There's no way he could've been responsible for Gwen too, right?
Thinking back, he tried to remember what happened to the goth. How everything was fine until she… tripped. On a protruding root, on a cleared path, a path the show would likely have interns double check the day before the first challenge, and the way her ankle was injured… that couldn't have come from just the trip.
"Cody… is behind all of that?" Noah felt a small sense of smug satisfaction at the thought. Even if he didn't know what to do with this information yet… he knew just who to target.