Cody looked on in apathy as Chris' cannonball destroyed his reward. He was a bit upset the first time he managed to win the trailer in the loops, but a review of the contracts stated that "Any prizes won outside the $100 000 Grand Prize can still be used in the competition." Legally, this was signifying the start of the challenge, so Chris was in the clear. It still made Cody a bit upset.

Not too upset though, as he fingered a makeshift keyring, holding four of the challenge keys. He'd grabbed various ones during the night, the ones he knew would lead to good rewards, and prior experiences taught him that Chris didn't mind stealing them- made the game funnier if anything.

His focus for today's challenge would be on other factors.

As everyone ran off with their challenge cards, Cody went to the cabins he'd been exiled from. He needed to put in some legwork to take a bit of the heat off himself and control who would be eliminated, and he had no time to feel bad about doing this. He's made it this far, he may as well go all the way.

"Cody?" He jolted at the familiar lisp ridden voice. Turning slowly, he saw Beth approaching, confused. "Can we talk?"

"S-sure Beth!" Cody smiled, not wanting to alienate the sole ally he had in this game. "What did you want to talk about? We all have our own challenges to run off to, so we can't spend too much time together, as much as I'd love to." He walked over to Beth and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, causing her to shrink in embarrassment.

"It's not that, I just want to hear the truth." Beth asked, rubbing her head against Cody's chest. "We're dating right? So, we shouldn't keep secrets, we should be working together! Like you said back in the second challenge."

"Beth, I…" Cody didn't actually know what to say. In the prior loops, none of his plans had gone as badly as this one, so he never had to properly explain himself to someone that trusts him. Her downcast eyes prodded at a mixture of sickness at his own actions and shame for how he's lived the past few loops, but he knew he couldn't just fold over. He had to play into her, whether he would like that or not. "I… love you." It was difficult to not choke on those words. "I didn't want to get you involved because if it failed, all that would do is paint a big target on both of our backs!"

"Going out with you has done that though. Everyone thinks I'm just going to let you walk all over me, and I have to wonder if that's true."

"Beth, I would never do that." An idea sprung to his mind. "Not like Tyler, at least."

Beth looked up at the offhand mention of Lindsey's boyfriend. "What about Tyler? He seems pretty nice."

Cody feigned pity, allowing this makeshift plan to come together. "I shouldn't have mentioned it. Well, I saw Tyler… makingoutwithheather."

"What did you say?" Beth looked worried now, Cody knew he'd lured her into his trap, and it was difficult to suppress a smirk from rising.

"I saw him make out with Heather last night. Turns out the reason why she was so mad at Lindsey early on was because Tyler was playing both of them."

"No- but, Tyler would- he'd never!" Beth stumbled over her words at the shocking revelation. If there was one thing he could count on the girl for (besides her loyalty), it was her desire to gossip. Cody decided now was the time to hug her, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Don't tell anyone I said that though. It'd paint an even bigger target on my back if the guy's alliance knew I outed one of their members as a cheater ."

The joy he felt when Beth inquired about the guy's alliance was only rivaled by the sickening guilt he felt for what he just did.

"Chris!" Heather growled as she strolled up to the host, fury in her eyes. "I spent the last two hours watching that awful kitchen, waiting for the… barbarian you call a chef to look away, I got into his fridge and there was nothing there ." She flung her arms in the air in frustration. "No key, no nothing!"

"I hate to agree with her, but my spot had nothing either." Trent added, rolling up his sleeve to reveal several bee stings. "Did you forget to set up the challenge?"

A few other voices murmured in agreement. Chris looked at all of them in confusion, before giggling at the scene.

"Well, it seems like one of your fellow campers noticed some of our setups and decided to get a little trigger happy ." The glee evident in his voice aggravated Heather and Gwen. "Surprised he got Chef's key though, guy must be insane."

"Not insane, just resourceful." The glares leveled at Cody as he arrived at the scene, now with an additional two keys added to his collection, only strengthened his resolve. "So, do I get all six rewards Chris?"

"Don't see why not!" Chris laughed, walking past Cody and the other contestants. Cody just strode forward towards the chest with the invincibility token. He jammed each key in until on the fourth one, it clicked open.

"Would you look at that!" Cody laughed, making sure all eyes were on him. "Free invincibility. Lucky me ."

Tyler was voted out to minimal fanfare. Beth had done a good job at spreading the rumour, and the girls had clearly decided Heather was a better player to keep rather than a cheat. This served to help balance the group out a bit, now with five boys (Cody, Owen, Trent, Justin, and Geoff) and five girls (Beth, Gwen, Heather, Courtney, and Lindsey). Thinking on that, he decided to check in on a certain CIT tonight.

"Hey Courtney!" Cody smiled as he spotted her, sitting on the steps to the girl's cabin. The CIT looked up, her eyes seemed to be in a state of uncertainty. There was a softness she had for the one boy that rooted for her, but there was also an air of suspicion. Couldn't blame her, not like Gwen and Heather's accusations were wrong after all.

"What do you need Cody? This is solo now, I'm not going to carry you through a challenge or something." Cody tried not to frown at the light jab, and just continued on.

"I was wondering how things have been going with the girls' side. I figured there'd be some conflict with Beth, and was hoping someone would look out for her."

Courtney smiled softly- had he done this before the merge she might've bitten his head off, but she understood the current concern. "Don't worry. Heather hates her guts, but Gwen just sees Beth as a victim. Your victim, to be precise."

"Oh, you believe all of that too huh?"

Courtney sighed, and rubbed at her temples. "All I know is that you were a good team player on the Killer Bass, and my plan was always to go on my own once the team's dissolved. I'll reserve any judgments regarding harsh play for after the game is over." She smiled at Cody. "Thanks for always believing I could be a good leader though. Even if everything said about you is true, you could see the value a leader like me had, even when others didn't." Cody didn't have to guess to know she meant a certain delinquent when she said Duncan.

He was surprised at how well stroking the girl's ego worked though. Sure, Alejandro had done it, but Alejandro was also hot. He played on her flaws expertly, and used her when she was at her most vulnerable. He guessed removing her relationship with Duncan made her significantly less invested in the game, and left room to exploit her insecurities about being an effective leader. It was almost time to cut her strings though.

"Thanks for being a good friend Courtney." Cody smiled, a typical false smile that so many here had believed. If anyone deserved all of his spite, it was this girl.

Loop 0107

"And then Reaper was like 'dude!' and flipped the preppy kids' cafeteria table. He's a pretty small guy, so it was weird to see, and he got suspended for a week because of it." Gwen laughed as she recounted a story about one of her friends. Cody joined in with her.

It was so… nice. Nice to finally be able to have a friendly conversation with the girl of his dreams, nice to not be so focused on the competition, nice to just… live the life he wanted to live. Not having to worry about the constant drama or big competition, just hang out with Gwen. Reading her diary, studying everything about her, had been worth it for all of this.

Looking at her smile, he thought about how he had finally become a man she would like. Maybe even love. Why did it make him feel so terrible?

The hide and seek challenge went as expected. No LeShawna meant it was easy to steal her original plan, and thankfully Beth had managed to secure invincibility as well. It wasn't surprising when Justin just volunteered to leave, Chris explaining that he needed to "leave for vocal cord therapy" (apparently he had undergone some kind of surgery during the original competition? Weird guy).

The glares sent his way from nearly everyone when he sat on the lifeguard's chair had slowly become something he was used to.

Loop 0107

"Cody, you're like the one guy who actually gets me." Gwen vented as the pair sat on the bleachers, watching the talent show. "You think we could maybe… hook up?"

Cody wanted nothing more.

"I… I thought you loved me!" Beth cried as Cody made his way to the finish line. "You told me we would make it to the final two together!"

Cody looked away in shame. He had led the poor girl on, and just now had used her. When he saw Heather's bike would be the one crossing the finish line, he'd used a secret mechanism he installed- one that would pop the front tire of his bike and automatically eliminate him. Sadly, the person who received last place instead was Beth, who was in tears after Chris explained what happened.

Cody decided it would be best to tell the truth. Leave no love loss in this relationship. "I used you the exact same way Heather was going to use you." That was a lie he told to comfort himself. What he did was far worse than what Heather did. "You made it so easy, and for my plan to work I needed at least one ally. Sorry, Beth."

Everyone else looked at the scene in shock, all except Gwen. Cody smiled when he saw her focused glare, knowing the girl had figured out it was all an act on his part. That was one of the things he truly loved about her.

A firm slap snapped him out of his daze, and he saw Beth tearfully looking up at him. "How could you!?"

Beth ran off to the comfort of the other girls- even Heather and Courtney were giving their own support. Was he really that bad?

Yeah, you are.

"Sociopath." Gwen said as she walked past Cody, going to join the girls in comforting the wannabe.

Loop 0107

"Despite looking so dorky, I've never met anyone who gets me the way he does. He's no McHottie, but I don't mind it. The cute smile he has, the little gap in his teeth, and the exaggerated way he reacts to everything. I think I may have fallen for him."

Gwen made to run, but Cody grasped her hand, looking at the embarrassed goth. She looked like she wanted to cry, and Cody couldn't blame her, but he had to have this moment.

"Thank you for saying all of that about me!" Cody cheered, smiling. "If it means anything, what I think about you would be far more embarrassing."

Her shy smile stabbed at his heart.

"Sorry Owen, since you were the first 'kill' of the night, you'll be going home!" Chris clapped the big guy on his shoulder, guiding him down the dock of shame. Owen, in typical fashion, made to say goodbye to every individual player remaining- the guy was just a big ball of love, what could he say?

He pulled every passerby into a bone crushing hug (though Heather managed to dodge her own), until finally reaching Cody.

"Goodbye Cody. Sorry, but I don't think I really like you that much. No offense."

Cody briefly stared at the ground in shock, before forcing a smile. "None taken."

Loop 0107

"Aww, you guys are so cute together!" Owen squealed like a schoolgirl when he found Cody and Gwen laying on the grass together. Turns out their secluded spot in the forest wasn't so secluded after all.

"Owen, it's not-" Cody began, but was hushed by a quick kiss from Gwen. A kiss from Gwen!

"Owen, it's exactly what it looks like." Gwen said in her usual smug and dismissive tone, shooing the large boy away. Gwen looked at Cody's shocked face. "What, a girl can't kiss her boyfriend?"

Cody's lip quivered in ecstasy. Her boyfriend.

"What the heck is this!" Courtney shouted, worry etched all over her face. The hunting challenge hadn't gone well for anyone, but Courtney certainly wasn't expecting a mob when she came back, let alone the journal she was presented with- her journal.

"Your little game plan. Smooth moves by the way, teaming with Cody like that." Heather snarled, grabbing the book from Courtney and reading out a passage. "Cody says we should target Tyler next, all we need to do is get Beth to spread a rumour that doesn't trace back to us. If we're lucky, Heather will be voted out after the next challenge."

"Can't say I'm surprised, you two were always buddy buddy." Gwen dryly stated, with small bits of suspicion in her eyes.

"Yeah, you two were always like, close on the Bass!" Geoff chimed in, one of the few remaining Bass members still in the game. It seemed Courtney's fate was sealed.

"Cody's a pissant, but nobody knew about you. You're going first, then him." Trent snarled, leaving the CIT to shout out counter arguments that nobody bothered listening to.

As the realization came, that she had been played by the one person she thought truly trusted her in this game, she cried out in frustration and tore her gameplay book apart.

Loop 0107

Cody and Gwen were sitting on the edge of the dock, like they had the first time they truly connected in this loop. Their hands clasped together, gazing at the moon reflected off the lake.

"Even if I don't win, at least I'll have met you." Cody smiled, for once happy in these loops. Finally, something had gone right. He obtained the unobtainable… Gwen. He smiled wistfully, thinking about how much he struggled to finally appeal to her, all the hardship and studying just to win her over. Why did he feel sick about all of this though?

Gwen came closer to him, nuzzling her head in his soft hair. "I'm surprised I managed to meet someone who knows me so well. Nobody back home really gets me, and while I wouldn't mind a more handsome guy, I can do with 'cute'." She pinched his cheek with her free hand at that, causing Cody to laugh.

"We do know each other pretty well, huh?" Cody said, smiling up at the goth.

"Yeah. We both love slashers and black metal, absolutely hate preppy kids like Heather, and I just like a guy who's as open and honest as you."

Cody felt himself shudder. He pushed away from Gwen, causing her to stumble a bit in shock, but Cody didn't care. Only one thing was in his mind after hearing all of that.

It took him a moment to realize why he was upset. This was the universe's- no, this was Gwen's way of calling him a liar. She may not have even conceptualized it, but deep down, her statements were equivalent to that idea.

He was a liar. A creep. A stalker. He was the worst kind of person, someone who had to form an entire new personality just to get a girl to like him, a girl who treated him perfectly fine before, but he just couldn't have enough.

His breathing became harsher, shallower, it picked up its pace as he felt how cold his body was.

"Cody?" Gwen's concerned voice only caused his mental state to weaken further. She was concerned for someone as awful as him.

And, looking on tauntingly at all of this, was the moon. Cody looked at the moon's reflection from the dock, his body numb, his breathing erratic, heart pounding harder than it ever has before. As his mind deteriorated at the realization of just what he had done, he could only see the moon's reflection.

Gwen's screams as he dived into the waters below welcomed him into the domain he and the girl had created. He wanted to escape all of that and just run to the beautiful seclusion of his own memories.