(Trent's POV)
"...Well, seems like the other guys are off at that party Owen's throwing, now that he's got a new trailer all to himself."
"Not that I really blame them, or anything; Owen won that challenge fair and square, so if he wants to celebrate, then why not let him celebrate?"
"Still, I hadn't expected for everyone else to join in on his festivities..."
"Ugh, I'm putting too much thought into this. So what if they all went out to celebrate with Owen? It just means I'll have the cabin to myself for a while, instead of needing to deal with any of Geoff and Duncan's usual shenanigans, or having to hope my sleep isn't thrown off by Owen stink-bombing the entire cabin."
"Maybe I could spend a bit of time writing out a new song? It's been a little while since I've gotten a real moment to myself here at camp. There is always the song I played during the talent show...that could use some more refinement. I mean, sure, it scored big for the talent show, but it still wasn't that great; There was definitely room for improvement in there, so maybe if I just-"
My thoughts get cut short by a knocking at the cabin door, and considering I'm the only one here, that means I've got to be the one who answers it. Opening the door, a soft smile makes its way to my face as I find myself standing across from perhaps one of the only really decent people on this island.
"Hey Gwen." I greet my former teammate and current...friend, waving to her with whatever energy I have left in the tank.
"H-Hi, Trent..." Gwen responds, sighing as she tries to look around the rest of the cabin. "So, I was wondering, could we...talk for a bit?" Gwen asks, and I step back, keeping hold of the door.
"Sure, come on in." I tell her, yet she hesitates for a second. "Nobody else is in there, if that's what you're worried about; The rest of the guys went off to Owen's trailer. Something about a party to celebrate his win in today's challenge?" I offer, only for her to remain on the porch...and it's in that moment I realize just how bad things sound at this point in time; "She's asking me to talk this late at night, and my response is that the cabin's empty? Idiot!"
"Uh, it's okay, Trent, I'm fine just...staying out here." Gwen responds, leading me to step out of the cabin with her, closing the door behind me.
As the screen door shuts, I immediately give the handle a tug, making sure I hadn't just locked myself out of the cabin, before promptly taking a seat on the cabin steps, sitting down right next to Gwen.
"So...what do you want to talk about?" I ask her, before nearly slapping my forehead in annoyance over just how cliche that sounded; Thankfully, Gwen doesn't seem to care about it as much as I do, as she lets out a soft sigh before answering.
"...I don't know, Trent." She states, her onyx eyes glancing downwards. "I'm just bummed that Leshawna got voted off tonight." Gwen says, reminding me of the night's earlier events, making me look away as well.
"Yeah, I feel you, Gwen." I reply, trying to comfort her, but she shakes her head.
"It just...we had Heather right there!" She cries out. "We finally had a good chance to get Heather out of here, and not only did she manage to slip away without getting voted off, but I lose one of my closest friends on the island as well!"
As she says this, I can both hear and feel the tension levels rising in Gwen, her anger starting to make itself more and more prevalent within her, and within myself, I can hear alarm bells ringing, blaring out that I need to do something, even if it's just to make sure Gwen doesn't do anything stupid, be it to Heather or to herself. Grabbing hold of Gwen, I pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly, and just as it's happened most other times, Gwen's anger dissipates as tears begin rolling down her face, my shoulder getting dampened by her own crying.
"I know Gwen, I know," I speak softly, trying my hardest to comfort her after what transpired tonight, "It sucks that Leshawna got voted off; I know how close the two of you were, so for her to get voted off-" I try to continue, but Gwen cuts me short, her crying only getting worse.
"It's not fair!" She chokes out, her head firmly planted on my shoulder, and I try to do my best to comfort her, running my fingers through her black-and-teal hair while shushing her.
"That's just how this game is, Gwen..." I tell her, letting her continue to cry onto my shoulder. "It's cold, and bitter, and some of the people playing it are going to try and suck the soul out of you, but you've got to push forward." I tell her, before pulling her gently off my shoulder, looking at her red, puffy eyes. "You remember what Leshawna told you, didn't you?" I ask, and after a few seconds, she nods.
"She..." Gwen snivels, "She wanted me to win for her..."
"Yeah...Yeah, she did," I nod my head, "Leshawna wanted you to win the game, Gwen. She didn't want you to be moping around and crying about her getting voted off, and neither do I." I state, watching intently as Gwen wipes the tears from her eyes.
While Gwen doesn't quite give the smile I was hoping to see out of her, she does manage to stand up from the porch. "Thanks, Trent." She says, nodding her head. "I don't know what I'd do here without you." She tells me, and for a moment, I feel my heart skip a beat, heat rushing to my face as I stumble over my words.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I uh, I don't know either, Gwen. I'd probably go crazy without you by my side." I reply, immediately cringing at my own words, but Gwen thankfully doesn't seem to notice as she goes to walk off.
"Night, Trent!" She calls out, heading back over towards the girls' cabin; For a moment, I consider stopping her, letting the two of us simply bask in the moment together, giving me the perfect opportunity to pull her in close to me, watching as her onyx eyes twinkle from the reflection of the moonlight shining down from above, before then leaning in close...
"Whoo! What a par-TAY!"
Suddenly, I am shaken from my thoughts, as my glimpse of Gwen's retreating form is cut off by the sight of Geoff, DJ, Duncan, and Noah all returning to the guys' cabin, presumably from their party at Owen's new trailer.
Standing up from the porch, I feel a smile creep onto my face as I give a nod of acknowledgement towards the four of them. "So, the party went well, I take it?" I ask, only for Geoff to wrap an arm around my shoulder.
"Dude...it, was, AWESOME~!" He yells out, making me flinch at his loud exclamation while Duncan starts chuckling at his friend's antics.
"Relax, Geoff, we heard you the first fifty times about how awesome the party was." Noah drawls, rolling his eyes; At first, I can feel my own annoyance towards him rise, having already dealt with more than enough of this type of behavior from him back in the beginning of the game, but before anyone else can chip in, DJ looks at Noah with a smile on his face.
"Hey, you weren't complaining earlier when you downed that entire bottle of soda pop in one go?" DJ chimes in, and Noah turns away, folding his arms with an embarrassed expression on his face.
"I only did that because if I didn't, Owen would've drank all of the soda before I got the chance to have any..." Noah grumbles, and DJ claps him on the back, almost knocking him over in the process, causing Duncan to let out another laugh.
"Ah, lighten up, dorkwad." Duncan chuckles, "It's okay to admit that you had some fun doing something that didn't involve reading or sitting at a computer." He jokes, and while Noah grumbles once more, he still relaxes, heading into the cabin, with Duncan following him inside.
Geoff, meanwhile, remains draped around my shoulders, which finally causes me to look over...only to find that Geoff's cowboy hat has turned downwards, hiding his eyes. What it isn't hiding, however, are his snores, as the party boy seems to have passed out while still on his feet.
"Uh...DJ? A little help here?" I ask, getting the gentle giant's attention, causing him to let out a small gasp upon seeing that Geoff had indeed fallen asleep.
"Oh, sorry man, let me just-" He starts, before suddenly lifting Geoff right off his feet and carrying him with surprising ease, almost cradling him in his arms as he moves towards the door.
Jumping to open the door, I watch as DJ brings the party boy towards his bunk and drops him gently onto the mattress, before he turns to me.
"Sorry 'bout that, man. I told Geoff to take it easy with the pop back there; Guy's got a nasty habit of drinking too much of it, and then crashing big time." DJ explains, to which I wave it off.
"Ah, no big deal, man. Glad that he at least was leaning on me when he fell asleep. Don't think it would've gone well for him otherwise." I joke, causing DJ to let out a soft laugh.
"Yeah, man..." He says, sighing as he sits down onto his bunk, whilst I crawl into my own; Before I can close my eyes, though, DJ speaks up once more. "So...you and Gwen, huh?" He asks, causing me to jolt up.
"What? What about us?" I ask, raising my voice involuntarily in response to his comment.
"Woah, take it easy man. I just saw that the two of you were talking while me and the others were heading back from the party." He explains, leading me to sigh in relief.
"Yeah...sorry, man. Just...really worried about her, y'know?" I state, to which DJ nods in response. "Seeing Leshawna get voted off tonight, it really messed with both of us." I continue, my head turning up towards the ceiling. "It really hit Gwen hard though, seeing her friend get voted off. I mean, I kind of figured that Heather was going to worm her way out of elimination again somehow, but I didn't think it'd be Leshawna who got the boot because of it."
For a few seconds, the room remains silent, neither DJ nor I having anything to add onto what was said, until finally, DJ breaks this silence.
"You really care about her, don't you?" He asks, leading me to cock an eyebrow in response, my head turning back towards him.
Letting out a sigh, a smile forms on my face. "I'm totally crazy about her, DJ. Everything about her is just...there's so much of her to love, man. Her beautiful onyx eyes, the way her hair flutters in the breeze, her brilliant smile..." I exhale again, only to see DJ with a knowing smile on his face. "What? Is there a roach or something?" I ask, nearly jumping out of my bunk, before DJ lets out an amused chuckle.
"Nah man, it's just..." He pauses, wiping a tear out of his eye, "It's good to know how much you love her, man." He tells me, giving me pause as I get back into my bunk. "Don't forget that feeling, okay?" He says, and I nod my head, chuckling.
"I won't, man, so don't worry about that." I tell him, before finally getting myself as comfortable as these beds allow me to me.
"Have a good night, Trent." I hear DJ call out, and after giving a small reply of my own, I find myself staring back up at the ceiling, my mind wandering once more.
"...I won't forget that feeling, DJ. Not for a single moment in my life..."
(Noah's POV)
God...morning already...how I long for the time I could sleep until the afternoon and not need to worry about things like McLean screaming into a megaphone about it being challenge time, or any of the other annoyances this island has to offer. Still, I know that if I don't get up, I'll wind up having someone inevitably drag me out of bed, more likely than not Owen, and help 'guide me' through the rest of the day.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I take a moment to stretch out my extremities, including a few torso twists to try and knock any kinks out of my back from being forced into that pillory during the challenge. "Stupid, petty, spiteful McLean..."
After I finish stretching out, I turn towards the door, looking to take my leave to head off to the mess hall, even if it's just to check if Chef's cooking has gotten any better in the time that I was gone.
However, just as I am heading out, I find that Duncan is on his way in, and the two of us bump into each other, quite literally. While Duncan barely steps backwards from this, I find myself nearly knocked over from the impact, stumbling and staggering as I try to get out the doorway...only for a hand to fall onto my shoulder. Turning my head, I take note of the expression on Duncan's face, and I force myself to keep calm at the way he seems to be glaring my way.
"What do you want, Duncan?" I ask, hoping this isn't of any real importance and that he can just let me go put my own stomach to the test again, but there's no such luck on my side, as Duncan pulls me back into the cabin.
"Hold up a second, dork. What's the hurry?" He asks me, and I roll my eyes.
"Oh, no, I'm not in a hurry. After all, I'm sure I haven't been missing out on much when it comes to Chef's so-called cooking." I tell him, keeping my voice level.
"Well, if you're not in a hurry then, mind if we have ourselves a little chat?" Duncan asks...and from how his hand rests on my shoulder, I already have the feeling this chat isn't one that he sees as optional.
Sighing, I turn back towards Duncan, brushing his hand off my shoulder. "Fine, whatever, we can chat, Duncan." I tell him, walking with him back into the cabin, where he guides me over towards his bunk.
Looking around the room, I notice that most of the other guys have already gotten up and started their days, with the only person still sleeping being Geoff, unsurprisingly. As we both sit down, I let my gaze fall on Duncan, fighting the urge to roll my eyes again at...whatever this is meant to be, exactly.
"So..." I begin, prompting for him to speak up...but he doesn't do so; Instead, he seems almost...contemplative, lost in thought of some kind, causing me to let out a sigh. "Hello? Earth to Duncan? You still with us?" I ask, hoping inside that his consciousness had somehow faded into his own thoughts, that way I could have a chance to rush off and get out of this situation, but alas, luck refuses to shine down on me in such a way.
"So, last night." Duncan starts, looking straight at me, his expression neutral. "We both know what happened last night, right?" He asks, and I cock my eyebrow at this, unsure of where he's going with this.
"What, you mean at the party? The same one where party boy over there thought it'd be a great idea to guzzle down two full bottles of soda and barely make it back to the cabin because of it?" I drawl, but Duncan shakes his head.
"No, nerdling, I'm talking about the elimination ceremony." He says, and this grabs my attention in full. "Seems like you got exactly what you wanted last night, didn't you?" He asks, leading me to scoff at this.
"Leshawna's gone, isn't she?" I sarcastically reply, with Duncan nodding in response.
"Right...but you see, dorkus, that's the problem. Leshawna got voted off last night, and what I want to know is, how was she the one who got the most votes to be sent off this island?" He asks, before following his question up immediately afterwards. "I was never too good at math like you are, nerd, but last time I checked, two votes out of twelve doesn't make a majority, does it?"
Feeling nerves creeping up on me, I shake my head, before replying. "N-No, it doesn't, Duncan. That'd be about 1/6th of the voting, an extremely unlikely, if not impossible way to secure the majority." I admit, and Duncan...grins at me.
"So then, MODOK, I want you to run it down for me, and make it real simple...how was it that Leshawna got the boot last night, instead of, oh, let's say...you?" He asks me, his tone making it more than clear this is no mere question; It is a demand for knowledge, and one he expects me to fulfill, lest he need to cash in on what I told him yesterday after the challenge...
I feel myself gulp, before sighing to try and shake off the nerves. As I go to speak, however, I find myself freezing up, stuck with a branching path in front of me: Do I tell him the truth about what I did after the challenge? Do I dare tell him that Heather and I...worked together? Instinctually, I want to give a resounding 'NO' to this train of thought; If I tell him that he isn't the only one I went to in hopes of my own survival on the island, then not only would I be throwing out any chance of me working alongside Duncan in the next vote, if that proved to be something I needed, but I would be painting a MASSIVE target on my back, which could wind up seeing me getting sent off the island for the second time in this show. That begs the question, however, how exactly do I get out of this situation?
"Well...obviously, I voted for Leshawna," I state, trying to keep my sarcastic tone intact, that way Duncan doesn't catch onto the fear coursing through my mind, "and if you held up your end of our conversation," I continue, before finding myself needing to course correct immediately afterwards, "not that I doubt you did; I'm not calling you untrustworthy, just...hypothesizing. This is all theoretic, after all."
After a few moments, Duncan gives a nod, giving me another non-verbal command, this one telling me to relax, which I do so after a sigh escapes my lips. "That leaves Gwen and her friend group, Heather and Lindsay, Geoff and DJ, Bridgette, Courtney, and Owen." I start once more, before our conversation is abruptly interrupted, the movement of Geoff's sleeping form catching our eyes.
After a few seconds, though, Geoff shifts his positioning, remaining fast asleep, and I decide to continue on, putting my worries of Geoff eavesdropping in on this conversation in the back of my mind. "Now, I will admit, you weren't the only person who I wound up talking to when it came to the vote last night." I admit, trying to tread as carefully as possible, especially as Duncan perks his head upwards in response to my admission. "I...met up with Owen, about fifteen minutes or so before the ceremony started, and the two of us got to talking. He mentioned to me that he didn't know who to vote for tonight, and...and I told him that my vote was on Leshawna, before doing some slight convincing so that Owen would vote for her too." At this, Duncan's eyes narrow at me, and I feel fear gripping at my shoulders, its strength causing me to hastily add onto my own point in a desperate attempt to shake it free from my form. "B-But, that still leaves nine votes on the table, s-so there has to be other people that voted for Leshawna alongside us two!"
"Relax, geekwad." Duncan says, nodding along with what I've said so far. "So we've got three votes confirmed so far, all of them for Leshawna. What else do you got?" He asks, giving me a moment to collect my thoughts...and at that, a pathway opens for me.
"Well...there is one thing I have been considering, but...I'm not exactly sure." I say, before turning to Duncan, an unsure expression on my face. "Do you..." I start, stopping myself purposefully as I turn towards Geoff's sleeping form, before then looking back to Duncan. "Do you know who DJ and Geoff voted for?" I ask, and in that moment, I can feel fear's grip strengthening on my shoulders from the glare Duncan gives me.
"What's that question supposed to mean, geek?" He asks, an air of menace filling the cabin, as I force myself to drain the sarcasm well once more just to keep my wits about me.
"It's just a question, Duncan. I watched all the previous episodes, remember? I know you, Geoff and DJ have been pretty close these past couple of weeks, so I figured I'd take a shot in the dark." I state, forcing myself to shrug as I await Duncan's answer.
After a few moments, Duncan smirks, giving me either a glimpse of hope or a confirmation of my own failure, before he starts to talk once more. "Y'know, you're pretty smart when you want to be, nerdling." He states, before nodding his head. "Yeah, DJ, Geoff, and I? We're pretty close, so when you came and convinced me to vote off Leshawna, I told the two of them to do the same thing, just to be sure we got her out of here." He admits, and I breathe a huge sigh of relief at this information. "So that makes, what, five votes?" He asks, and I nod in response.
"Yeah, just seven left..." As soon as I say this, I find myself hesitating, looking aside for a moment, realizing that there was another vote I knew about...but was it worth divulging that information to him?
"Hmm? Something on that freakish mind of yours, MODOK?" Duncan taunts, and I exhale once more.
"Just..." I start, trying to stall as best I can, considering the pros and cons of revealing this vote...before finally determining that, for the sake of my own game, I needed to make it known. "There is another vote I know about, but it doesn't exactly matter too much, since it wasn't someone voting for Leshawna, Heather, or I." I reply, piquing Duncan's curiosity.
"Oh? Please, do tell..." Duncan says, that menacing air returning to the room, albeit in a lesser state this time, which makes keeping my calm easier than before.
"So, after the elimination ceremony, I hung around a bit longer than the rest of you. It was the first time I was ever actually safe from a vote, you know, so I think I deserved to celebrate that." I comment, smirking as the feeling from that night returns to me once more. "But as I was going to walk off, Courtney started talking to me-" I start, only to stop at how deathly serious Duncan's expression becomes, an inscrutable look taking over him; Clearing my throat, I continue on. "Er, Courtney and I started talking, and..." I pause once more, letting out a sigh as I mentally note to apologize to Courtney for revealing this bit of information she told me. "She revealed how she had voted for you during the ceremony, Duncan."
As that information finally settles into his mind, I feel my body tense up, as Duncan remains silent for the next minute and a half. For each of the ninety seconds that passes us by, I can feel that grip shifting around, slowly creeping up from my shoulders, gradually making its way around my neck...but then, Duncan's face softens, and an expression forms that I had not thought Duncan was even capable of understanding: Heartbreak.
"...Really?" He starts, his shoulders slumping forwards. "After all we've been through together, all it took for us two to fall apart was a two week break?" He asks aloud, his question not requiring an answer, as he shakes his head slowly. "I mean, I knew things would be difficult after she got voted off the island, but ever since she came back, it just hasn't been the same as before. It's like she's become a completely different person!" He exclaims, throwing me off-guard with the emotional output coming from the delinquent sat next to me. "I keep trying to talk with her like normal, and it's like I don't even exist to her!" He angrily states, slamming his fist onto the bunk we're both sat upon, causing me to flinch back in response.
As soon as I jump back, however, Duncan seems to remember that there is someone sat right next to him, listening to what he is saying, and suddenly, he throws his facade back on, wasting no time in covering up his own words. "I mean, it's not like I really need her anyways! After all, this game is still every camper for themselves, and I'm going to be the one walking off this island with that hundred grand in my pocket!" He states, false confidence and bravado on full display, to which I force myself to nod.
"Yeah...but you do have to remember how fierce of a competitor Courtney is, Duncan." I tell him, before giving a small smirk towards what I'm about to add on. "And I hate to say this, but if there was anyone you'd have to cheat against in order to eliminate them from the game, it would be her." I state, if only to gauge Duncan's reaction to such a comment...and to my surprise, he nods his head in response.
"Yeah, she really did get screwed over." He states, sighing. "At least she got the second chance she deserves, though..." The two of us fall silent for a few moments afterwards, before Duncan snaps his attention back over towards myself. "Oh, so where were we? Six votes in, five of them for Leshawna, and one for me?" He asks, which snaps me back to the present moment as well.
"Right, the vote." I re-iterate, trying to get my mind back on track with the current objective, that being to survive Duncan's wrath and not get pummeled into oblivion by the delinquent sat next to me. "So, we've got Gwen's group, Heather's group, and Bridgette left over. Truth be told, Bridgette probably threw her vote onto me out of sheer indecisiveness, so that just leaves Gwen and Heather's respective factions." I state matter-of-factly, and Duncan nods.
"Yeah, so that just means Gwen's group voted for Heather, and then Heather and Lindsay voted for you." Duncan says, seeming to have come to his own conclusion on how this vote turned out...but something about what he said doesn't quite sit right with me; Obviously, I knew who Heather and Lindsay voted for, but I couldn't out-and-out reveal that I knew about this, so now I'm left having to come up with a way to spin this tale, that way Duncan and I seem to come to the same conclusion on who Heather voted for, while also having it make sense with how the votes turned out at the end of the night.
"Okay, Noah, time to put those school play skills to use..."
"Wait, Duncan," I start, looking to correct him without giving away more knowledge than I have to, "I'm not sure about that." I tell him, and Duncan turns to me, both confused and a touch irritated at being corrected.
"Oh? Well then, brainiac, enlighten me." He says, and I roll my eyes at the attempted intimidation.
"Fine..." I huff, before continuing on. "So, Gwen and Heather have been at each other's throats all season long, right?" I state, to which it is now Duncan's turn to roll his eyes.
"Pfft, tell me something I don't already know, genius." He snarks, to which I force myself to bite my tongue in reply.
"So...if those two have been rivals since the literal first day on the island, it's more likely than not that they would vote for each other...or, at the very least, Gwen would target someone in Heather's camp, and Heather would target someone in Gwen's. If that's to be believed, then that means Heather and Lindsay wouldn't vote for me in the ceremony, but I was still put into the bottom two of the ceremony. That means that either Chris just decided to mess with me by putting me into the bottom two despite not having the second-most votes, or..."
"Or...?" Duncan plays straight into my hand, causing me to smirk internally at how easily he took to the bait left on my verbal hook.
"Or...somebody in Gwen's group decided to vote me instead of Heather." I tell Duncan, and this seems to actually surprise the delinquent, his eyes widening for a moment before a grin settles onto his face.
"Wow...someone woke up today and decided they wanted to try in this game this time around." Duncan quips, to which I finally let my internal smirk become external.
"Hey, I always was someone who prided myself on strategy more than any physical strength." I jokingly laud myself.
"Right, just like how it was all part of your grand strategy to get yourself eliminated during the dodgeball challenge?" Duncan verbally jabs, and I do not hesitate in taking the opportunity for a counter-punch.
"Yeah, the same way as how your strategy was to sleep through the entire challenge while my team crushed yours without your guidance." I reply, and at this, Duncan seems shocked by the quickfire verbal retaliation, before he starts to chuckle, prompting me to do the same.
After a few moments of this, the two of us settle down, and a final conclusion is reached on what we both believe the votes to be:
Bridgette: Noah
Courtney: Duncan
DJ: Leshawna
Duncan: Leshawna
Geoff: Leshawna
Gwen: Heather
Heather: Leshawna
Leshawna: Noah
Lindsay: Leshawna
Noah: Leshawna
Owen: Leshawna
Trent: Heather
Leshawna: 7 votes
Noah: 2 votes
Heather: 2 votes
Duncan: 1 vote
With a smile on my face and my thoughts confirmed, I look back at Duncan, his own face sporting a small smirk as he lays back on his bed, looking towards the bottom of the bunk above his. "Well...it's nice to know that one of the Gophers' better competitors is gone now." He states. "Makes winning that hundred grand a hell of a lot easier..." He says, as he turns his attention towards me, "now to just figure out how I'm getting rid of you the second time around, brainiac." The delinquent quips, and while at first I take offense, his subsequent laughter makes me realize that he was simply joking around; Still, I roll my eyes, standing up from his bunk as he sprawls out on the bed as best he can with its limited size.
"Well, as long as there isn't another dodgeball challenge..." I snark, before looking back to him, a smirk now lining my own face. "You, on the other hand...I'll have to figure it out one way or another." I state, a half-joking tone to my statement, which gets his laughter to stop; Before I can leave, however, he calls back out to me.
"Nerdling! Before you head off-" Duncan says, waiting for me to turn around, before looking me in the eye from his lounging position. "You're welcome."
Taken aback, my brow furrows. "I..." I stop, confused by what was meant by this. "You're welcome?" I halfheartedly tell him, and Duncan intertwines his hands and rests them behind his head.
"Yeah, for saving your ass at the last elimination ceremony." He states, before continuing on. "And uh, thanks for tipping me off about Leshawna, dorkus. I knew she wasn't exactly my biggest fan on the island, but I wasn't going to let the gossip queen go around spreading the word of me going soft to anyone and everyone on the island. People back at juvie know who the big dog of the pound is, and I ain't letting them think otherwise." He explains, to which I halfheartedly nod my head, turning to leave.
As I make it to the door, however, I find a repeat of the situation that got me into this mess in the first place, as once I try to leave, I find Trent bumping into me, knocking me to the floor this time thanks to his carelessness.
"Good grief, can people not have some courtesy when it comes to people coming and going around here?" I ask, annoyance quite visible on my face, as I pull myself up, not even noticing Trent's attempt to help me to my feet until it was rescinded. "So what, you going to ask me to have a chat like Duncan did?" I snark, causing a confused look to cross Trent's expression.
"What? No, I just needed to get my guitar. Sorry about that, man." He offers, and I roll my eyes at his weak apology.
"Sure, whatever. I'm going out to finally get some fresh air, don't wait up for me." I state, not even bothering to wait for a reply as I head out the cabin.
As I walk off, I start at first to head for the mess hall to finally get some 'food' in my system, but as I walk past the confessional, I let out a small sigh, before heading inside...
(CONFESSIONAL)
Sitting down in front of the camera, I brush a bit of hair out of my eyes before folding my arms.
"So, did I let Duncan know everything about how the last vote went?" I rhetorically ask to the camera, smirking. "Not exactly. But he doesn't need to know that." I state, before looking down at my own nails out of immediate boredom. "See, it's like I said during my audition tape to get on here: I've got a strategy when it comes to this game, and now that I'm not getting voted off for some arbitrary reason like not being good at sports, I've actually got a chance to put this strategy to good use."
With a small pause, I give a show of looking around the enclosed walls of the confessional, acting as though I'm checking for if anyone is listening in to what I am saying, before then looking back to the camera.
"See, the thing with games like these is that there are strength in numbers. The majority rules around here, and so, if I'm going to survive till the end and get that hundred thousand dollars, all I've got to do is stick to the majority. As long as people like Duncan or Heather think I'm going to be of use to them, they won't vote me out, and that means I keep getting closer and closer to winning this whole entire show. Then, when the time is right, all I've got to do is set the biggest factions against one another, get them to dwindle their own numbers down to nothing, and then? I'll strike, taking out every last one of those who survive the initial faction warfare, until I'm the last one standing." I explain, grinning at my own brilliance, before looking back to the camera for a split second. "And the best part is? Nobody's even going to see it coming, especially since I've gotten this second chance here. Outside of Heather and Duncan, everyone else on the island thinks I'm still the same lazy know-it-all from before...and they have no idea just how wrong they are."
With that final statement, I opt to take my leave from the confessional, standing up and heading out, closing the door behind me...
(CONFESSIONAL END)
(Narrator's POV)
(CONFESSIONAL)
Just mere minutes before Noah had come in to make his confessional, there was another confessional being recorded, one being done by a certain guitar-playing ex-gopher, who is sat in front of the camera, a knee up to his chest.
"So, I thought a bit more about what DJ and I talked about last night, and I think I'm finally ready." Trent states, pausing for a moment. "I think it's finally time I tell Gwen how I feel, and move up from just being friends to truly being with each other."
After a second, Trent sighs, dropping his leg back to the floor. "I just wish that it didn't take Leshawna getting voted off for this to happen, man. I mean, I know how much it hurt Gwen to see her go, but in the long run, her being out of the way helped make things a lot clearer for us-, I mean, for Gwen, for me, together-" Trent stops himself smacking himself on the forehead, before continuing on. "You know what I mean."
A silence falls over the confessional for a few seconds, before Trent looks to one of the side walls of the confessional. "I wonder if Gwen's still upset that Heather didn't get voted out last night." He idly asks. "I mean, I know she was really pushing to get her out since she didn't win immunity, but I'm certain she won't mind that I didn't vote alongside her and Leshawna this time around!" He optimistically states, looking back to the camera. "Besides, Noah was clearly the bigger target, considering he just returned from being eliminated; Chris must have given him some crazy advantages or something to convince him to come back, given how lazy he is, so the sooner he's gone, the better." Trent explains, before then continuing on. "Then again, it's not like he can even win this game, anyways; Knowing Chris, he'll probably eliminate him and Courtney before the finale once they're no longer providing drama for him, or whatever it is he brought them back for. Then the finale can be me and Gwen, splitting the hundred grand with each other fifty-fifty and taking the first steps into the rest of our lives, together." Trent boldly claims, smiling towards the camera as the feed cuts from there...
(END CONFESSIONAL)
REMAINING CONTESTANTS: Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Geoff, Gwen, Heather, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent
ELIMINATED CONTESTANTS: Ezekiel, Eva, Justin, Katie, Tyler, Izzy, Cody, Beth, Sadie, Harold, Leshawna