(Courtney's POV)

"Why are you even still awake?"

"You know that there's going to be another challenge in the coming days. You should be resting up, that way you're on your A-game for whatever Chris throws at you."

"Everyone else is already asleep, so why can't you just close your eyes and drift off like the others?"

These were the sort of thoughts that had been lodged in my mind ever since making my way back to the girls' cabin after...what he did for me.

"Why are you still hung up on that? So what if he gave you that pen, or whatever it was? It belonged to you rightfully, anyways; You earned that key, that pen was in the chest your key would've opened, therefore it was rightfully yours."

Holding onto the boxed fountain pen that he gave me, I let out another sigh before setting it behind my pillow. I can't exactly put it on the floor beneath me; One of the few downsides to having a top bunk is that there's no real storage space for stuff like this, at least not without waking up the rest of the cabin by taking the ladder down and trying to move Bridgette's stuff around to find a place to put this for now. Still, with every attempt to fall asleep for the night, I only wind up becoming more restless, tossing and turning in my bunk in a feeble attempt to drift off like the others have already done.

Admittedly, I should just put the boxed pen away anyways, regardless of if I wake up the others or not. They are still my competition, after all, and if I have to go into the next challenge at a disadvantage due to lack of sleep, then it would be in my best interest to make sure the others do the same...

But still, something stops me from doing such. Maybe it's because I know that winning in such a fashion wouldn't be the decisive victory that is expected of me from the others. Maybe it's because I'm getting soft. Regardless, I stay in my bunk, tossing and turning, until finally settling down into a rather light slumber...

(Noah's POV)

Waking up once again and still being here on the island...feels weird, in a sense. Sure, the first night here was fine enough; It gave me a chance to get over the whole "Was it just a dream?" thing that I had been thinking about pretty much the entire night after the bonfire ceremony, and also let me come to terms with the prior elimination, but now...now I'm not sure about this. It feels different, somehow, although I'm not entirely sure how, or why I'm even noticing this difference.

"Maybe it has to do with the cabin being quieter..." I think to myself, wearily blinking away the last vestiges of slumber. As I get out of my bunk and stretch my arms, though, I am met with the sight of one of my fellow cabin mates heading inside, and I immediately feel myself grow ever so slightly more weary, watching as the resident musician of the island comes closer.

"What do you want, Trent?" I ask, my voice an octave lower than normal due to having just awoken.

"Well, I had just come in here to grab something for Gwen ahead of our time together later this afternoon, but seeing as you're up..." Trent starts, leading me to roll my eyes at his poor excuse, "do you mind if we talk a little?" He asks, and I let out a sigh of annoyance at his proposition.

I already have a feeling about what he's going to want to talk about; What happened yesterday. More specifically, what happened with Duncan, and everything involving both him and Gwen, as well as my perceived involvement in all of this. Still, I suppose that it is better to talk to him about this now and nip it in the bud before his suspicion of my supposed planning can grow any further, so I sit back down on my bunk, folding my arms.

"Sure, Trent. Not like I'm hungry after having just woken up or anything," I snark, before quickly adding onto my own reply. "Then again, given that it's more of Chef Hatchet's cooking...I guess I've got some time to kill before I'm forced to deal with whatever it is that man thinks is edible enough to serve to us teenagers."

Seemingly ignoring my snide comments, Trent sits across from me on his own bunk, his glance shifting askew of my own. As the seconds tick by, I find myself growing more and more impatient with the musician, not just from him failing to start off our own conversation, but also from how I find myself struggling to get a true read on him. At least with the likes of Heather or Duncan, the way they approach their conversations and the way they carry themselves with their body language makes dealing with them a tad easier; Most of the time, they're extremely easy to read, to the point that I'm sure even a child could understand their motives with every interaction that they have. With Trent, though...I'm not entirely sure if he is just naturally reclusive around others, or if this is some sort of defense mechanism built into his mind. Either way, it makes things a lot more difficult when it comes to dealing with him, because I can never truly tell if he is angry, or trying to be friendly, or...well, my point's been made.

Cutting through the tension, Trent finally turns to me, his glance suddenly narrowed in onto me. "Was what Duncan said yesterday true?" He asks, his tone as blunt as it is cutting; Another piece to the puzzle that is trying to understand this man. "At the elimination ceremony, I mean. Was what he said true?" He elaborates, leading me to smirk at him, a defense of my own to try and diffuse the situation.

"What, that I somehow put him up to kissing your girlfriend?" I sarcastically reply, only for Trent to give me a curt nod, showing to me that he doesn't seem to be in the mood for any charades; Sighing, I roll my eyes at what I perceive to be his 'tough guy' act, before turning my attention back his way. "Look, Trent, I don't know how to make it any clearer to you, so I'll just have to repeat myself again from yesterday: Whatever it was that went through Duncan's mind yesterday, that was firmly on him, not me." I reiterate, but seeing as how Trent isn't buying it the second time around, my gaze turns away from his. "All I tried talking to him about was how he could try and win back Courtney."

"And you were talking to him about this why exactly?" Trent asks, a hint of malice flashing in his eyes...at least, it did from my point of view, but truth be told, with how fast it faded, I'm not even sure if I truly did see that or not.

Chalking it up to me still being tired, I continue on. "Because he was upset about Courtney giving him the cold shoulder. I don't exactly know what he was expecting when she returned, but apparently he was certain things were going to go right back to how they were between himself and Courtney, so when she started rejecting his advances, it really did a number on him." I sigh, looking back at Trent once more. "It was bad enough that he came to me for advice; He even gave me his key from the challenge as 'payment', despite the fact I never once asked for it." I explained, trying to squash any of Trent's questions and concerns before they can be vocalized. "So, with the infinite wealth of wisdom that has come from me never being in a romantic relationship in my entire life, I asked him what he thought drew Courtney towards him in the first place. After he told me that it was because of his bad boy persona, I gave what I thought was some reasonable advice, and told him that he needed to show off that bad boy side of his to win her heart back once more."

A few seconds of silence follow, neither Trent nor I opting to say anything more on the matter, until finally, one of Trent's concerns is voiced out in the open.

"So...you told him this, and Duncan took it as you telling him to...go kiss another girl?" He questions, his emerald eyes filled with confusion, and I bring my palm to my face out of exasperation.

"Yes!" I exclaim, throwing my arms in the air for further emphasis. "For God's sake, this is DUNCAN we're talking about, Trent! How difficult can it be to believe that the guy with the criminal record would turn something as simple as showing off his bad boy reputation to making out with another girl on the island?!" I call out, but in my own irritated state, I start to mumble to myself for...whatever reason I might have. "God, I just wanted to make my run on this island a tad bit easier, make good with one of the big dogs left in the game and, maybe down the line, secure a vote or two in case I'm on the cusp of getting eliminated..."

Unfortunately for me, my own annoyance caused me to say this a touch louder than intended, and Trent's expression turns to a mixture of shock and suspicion, as his gaze narrows into a soft glare.

"So you were just trying to use him?" Trent asks, and while I feel myself grow shocked for a moment, that soon turns into self-annoyance at allowing him to hear my plan, and then into some mental calculations on how to get myself out of another hole that I've dug myself into.

"It'd really help if I could find a way to just stop digging these holes in the first place..." I think to myself, before giving a look of faux-confusion the musician's way.

"Not really?" I reply, my own unknowing tone allowing my voice to rise a pitch higher than normal, just to further add onto my own 'confusion' before continuing on. "I mean, I'm not going to lie, would it be nice to have gotten some help in a vote later on in the game? Yeah, absolutely it would have." I state, dropping my shoulders to a more relaxed posture. "But my main intention wasn't to 'use him', as you called me out on. I was just..." I pause, trying to figure out which avenue to take this in, before inspiration hits me, "trying to establish a friendship with the guy. After all, my only options were to either try and buddy up to him or wind up as the next Harold; Between you and me, I would rather not have to deal with being pranked any more than I already am back at home." I jokingly add, before an opportunity arises in my mind; What better way to get out of one set of accusations than to turn it around onto the accused? "Besides, wasn't that what Duncan basically did when he allied up with DJ and Geoff?" I ask, with an expression of confusion appearing on the visage of the musician.

Unsure of how to respond, Trent shrugs his shoulders at first, before finally seeming to come up with a reply to my own call-out, trying to label him as a hypocrite over his own response. "Yeah? Those three were tight, though. It seemed like they were really close to each other, a couple of good friends, man." Trent answers, forcing me to hide my smirk as I conjure my reply.

"Well, you see Trent, the keywords there are 'seemed like'. I figured that you would know Duncan better than I would, given how you were on the island with him longer than I was, but doesn't he seem like the type to abandon his friends as soon as they stop being useful to him?" I ask, before another burst of inspiration shines through. "Say, like what he did to Tyler, or what he planned on doing to Courtney?"

"No way, man!" Trent exclaims, shaking his head in the process. "Duncan...he wouldn't do that." Trent says, his tone making it out that he is trying to convince himself more than he is trying to convince me of his claim.

"But how can you be so sure, Trent?" I ask, a smug grin forming on my face at how I've managed to reverse this makeshift interrogation. "How can you be so sure that Duncan wasn't going to leave Courtney behind after she got voted off? Maybe...it's because he was getting closer to you and Gwen?" I ask, knowing that if this were to backfire, it would leave me in a hole of my own design once more, without any way of getting out of there; Right now, though, I truly don't care, because as long as Trent is stuck down here with me, I won't need to worry about getting myself out, I'd just need to focus on making sure Trent's down here too.

After a few moments, Trent's eyes widen in disbelief, as if the effects of my own accusations were finally hitting his mind in full, before his gaze fell to the floor. "...Damn, man..." Trent mutters, as if in realization that I might just be correct in these wild guesses of mine.

As his line of sight rises once more, I stand up from my bunk, and opt to extend a hand out his way, as if signaling for him to admit defeat in this verbal joust of ours. As he takes it, I help him up to his feet, my own lack of strength nearly sending me face-first onto his bunk in the process, before he looks at the ground once more. Grabbing the two bottles of soda he won back in the challenge, he looks towards the door, but I put my hand on his shoulder, preventing him from leaving.

"Listen, man," I start, sighing as he turns around, "I get it. You and Duncan were probably getting pretty tight, so it must be real disheartening to hear all this come out about him." I explain, to which Trent nods his head in reply. "But...let me help you out a bit here, okay?" I offer, before turning back to my bunk; Grabbing the bag of chips I won from my reward, I offer it off to the musician, who looks at it in surprise. "You and Gwen probably haven't had the best past couple of nights, between Leshawna getting voted out and now this. So, why don't you and Gwen...I don't know, I'm not too familiar with this whole 'romance' thing, but...I guess you could go out on a picnic, or something?" I suggest, suddenly sounding far less confident in this idea than I was when I first had it.

To Trent, though, this turns out to be a rather valuable suggestion, as his eyes brighten along with a smile forming on his face. "Aw, really? Thanks, Noah, you're the best!" He exclaims, to which I roll my eyes in response.

"Oh, sure, I must be the nicest guy on the island now, ever since I came back here. Oh, how I've sorely missed this place." I quip, before pulling my hand off of him. "Just don't go mentioning this to anyone, okay? I don't need everyone coming to me like I'm some sort of charity." I tell him, to which he nods, racing off with chips and pop in hand, leaving me to my own devices once more...

(Courtney's POV)

"God, why does this thing keep drying up? Chris couldn't have gotten anything better as a prize?"

Having to plunge the nib of my dip pen - "Not a fountain pen...there's a huge difference there, Noah..." - into the ink once more, I continue on with the list that's formulating in my mind, knowing that it will be better to write it down now while it is fresh in my mind rather than just let it fester up there and take away valuable time from my own game-planning for whatever the next challenge may be.

Hit List

1. Heather - Leads alliance with Lindsay, able to manipulate others
2. Gwen - Relationship/alliance with Trent, more competitive of the two
3. Noah - Manipulative, can prove to be a threat in menta-

Crossing out my recent entry, I let a small groan escape my lips as I try to wrack my mind as to why I even did so in the first place. "After all, he IS still an enemy in this game, even if he did do something nice for me...or even if he said a couple nice things to me..." Of course, as per usual with how my mind seems to be working as of late, any time I wind up getting on this train of thought, I find myself mentally rambling on, arguing against myself on this...this enigma of a man that stands in the way between me and the hundred thousand dollar grand prize.

Taking a glance around the mess hall, I spot Geoff and DJ talking about...something or another, and while it would be interesting to listen in on them, even if just to see if I have to yell at them for being too loud or too weird or too...whatever else those two, primarily Geoff, can possibly be when it comes to their conversations, I draw my attention away back to the list in front of me, trying to cling to these thoughts of mine before they slip away, making my work here completely pointless in the process.

"Hey, Courtney." I hear call from somewhere behind me, and while I immediately go on the defense, covering up my list as best I can, I take a breath upon seeing it was Bridgette who greeted me, my former Killer Bass teammate walking over just as I set down my list face-down, knowing that the ink had dried enough to not stain the tabletop beneath it.

"Hello, Bridgette." I reply curtly, setting my list aside within the corner of my mind, knowing that it will have to wait for the time being. "I presume that you are doing well?" I ask, trying to get myself into a more social state of mind.

Bridgette looks off to the side for a second, taking a glance over towards Geoff and DJ as they continue their socialization, before turning back to me. "Yeah, I'm doing alright." She says, her voice hesitating for a second before resetting back to neutrality. "How about you? Are things doing better after...uh," Bridgette hesitates once more, for longer this time, and before she can continue on, I catch onto her meaning.

A small scoff escapes from my lips as I turn my head away from her, refusing to let myself dwell any further on...him, at least for any longer than I truly have to. "Like I have anything to be feeling bad about when it comes to that ogre." I state, letting my own confidence shine through with such a response.

Bridgette, however, seems to see my reply differently than I do, as she sits down besides me, placing one of her hands onto the back of one of my own whilst it rests upon the table in front of us. "Courtney, it's okay to feel hurt about what he did, okay?" She offers with a gentle tone to her voice, to which I pull my hand away from hers in response.

"Believe me, Bridgette, I'm not hurt by that stunt that he pulled." I nod my head, reaffirming my own words. "I might not have ever said it to him directly, but I was pretty much over him, anyways." I tack on, attempting to drive the conversation away from the subject at hand.

Bridgette, however, proves to be far more stubborn than I initially gave her credit for, as she grasps my hand once more, a touch firmer this time. "I mean it, Courtney, it's okay to feel hurt by this!" She restates. "What he did was wrong and really messed up, and I know how close you two were before you got voted off, so-"

"I wasn't voted off, Bridgette." I interrupt, a tingling of indignation forming in the back of my mind at such a silly notion. "You heard McLean, what happened to me was a travesty. If I should be hurting over anything, then that would be a lot more understandable than some..." I pause for a second, having to fight against my own inner self so as not to cry in front of the competition; Bridgette may be my friend here, but it is every camper for herself now after all, and letting myself be seen as vulnerable in any way, shape, or form is just another weakness that others can exploit for their own gain. "Some punk, thinking that the best way to win me over is to go and cheat on me with another girl!" I call out, my voice a pitch higher and just a smidge louder than I had intended.

As Bridgette's gaze softens onto my own, I force myself to turn my head away from her, letting out a deep breath and following up by feigning a cough, that way I have an excuse to wipe my eyes clear of any wet spots that may or may not have formed, before then turning back towards Bridgette. Expecting her to move on with the conversation, instead she gives a more hardened gaze than I had expected, giving me a moment's pause, before it softens once more.

"Look, Court," She sighs, "I'm not going to make you talk about anything that you're not ready to, okay? I just wanted to try to help you out here, because we're friends."

A beat passes, the two of us locked in some awkward silence, until finally one of us is forced to break it off. To my surprise, though, I'm not the one having to drive the conversation away from him this time, as Bridgette's eyes flicker over to the dip pen left laid on its side.

"Wow, didn't know you came that prepared to the island, Court." Bridgette joked, and while it took a second, a soft chuckle does escape my lips as I shake my head at her confusion.

"Oh, no, I didn't pack this, Bridgette." I state, picking up the pen from its resting place. "This was my so-called 'reward' from the last challenge." I inform her, but this only seems to leave her more confused than before.

"Wait, but I didn't see you at the amphitheater?" She says, "Or at the ceremony, for that matter. What, did Chris give it to you this morning to try and avoid any further legal threats?" She quips, another attempt at humor that falls flat from her as my lips twitch downward.

"No, actually." I reply curtly, "It was actually given to me by Noah, of all people." This seems to catch Bridgette's intention; Either because his name had a touch more venom to it than I wanted it to or, more likely, just because of the information being exchanged at this point in the conversation. "Before I wound up going to bed, I made my way here to try and clear my head, only for him, of all people, to come by and give this to me. Apparently, it was the prize that was in the chest my key would have opened, and he felt the need to make sure I got it for...whatever reason he had."

With a more sour tone taken at the end, I already know that Bridgette's going to have a thousand and one questions about what Noah's intentions were, or what I thought of his attempt at buddying up with me, or how long I would wait before taking him out of this game, or if I viewed him as a big enough threat to place alongside the other two most powerful players remaining in this game...but those questions never come.

"What?" I ask, curious as to why Bridgette's remained silent all this time. "Is it really that hard to believe that that...that know-it-all is trying to partner up with me, especially when we are this late in the game, and both share the same common denominator of being prior eliminations that returned to the show?" I ask, but as my friend remains silent once more, the gleam in her eyes starts giving me some weird vibes, and I resort to snapping my fingers in front of her face, trying to shake her free of any daydreams she was having at the time. "Bridgette? Hello? Earth to Bridgette." I snap, and finally she is shaken free from her thoughts, the gleam in her eye dissipating, although not as fast as I would have liked it to. "What was up with that? Were you daydreaming about going surfing with Geoff or something?" I ask, but the response I receive from my friend is...not what I was expecting, not even in the slightest.

"...Oh my God, Courtney, you like him, don't you?"

For a moment, I am simply left stunned by her abrupt jump to such an illogical conclusion. I mean, was she really insinuating that I had feelings for...for Noah?! That was absolutely ridiculous! Of course, once I got over my own stunned state, I finally managed to refute these claims with the same sense of poise and rationality that is to be expected out of a Counselor-in-Training.

"W-What?!"

...Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly the same sense as what was expected, but still...

As Bridgette recoils back from my own shriek, my gaze goes past her at first, watching as Geoff and DJ's attentions are turned towards the two of us. After a few seconds pass though, DJ stands up and, with a quick word to Geoff, the two of them head out of the mess hall, leaving Bridgette and I by ourselves, with my friend having repositioned herself after my...rather shocked response.

"I..." Bridgette hesitates, seeming to be half-expecting another shriek to come out of me, but once she notes my silence, she swallows down some air and continues on. "I just...heard the way you were talking about him, and-"

"And what?" I ask, steeling my gaze towards the surfer girl sat next to me.

"And it...reminded me of how you would talk about Duncan, back when the two of you were first getting together?" Bridgette suggests, her tone coming across as if she was unsure of herself as she spoke such vile things out into the ethos.

Scoffing this off, as to be expected from such a ridiculous claim, I find myself having to be forced to look Bridgette in the eyes as I go to reply. "Are you crazy, Bridgette? Do you really think I would lower myself even further than whatever it is you think you saw forming between me and that...that ogre, by instead going for some lazy smart aleck?" I scoff once more, to further emphasize just how ludicrous these...these allegations being thrown at my feet truly are, and manage to cut off Bridgette before she gets to try and push this farfetched hypothetical any further than she already has.

"First of all, I have absolutely zero interest in that know-it-all, especially considering that, outside of his abysmal personality, he is nowhere even close to my type physically." I state, closing my eyes to help formulate the perfect response to Bridgette's lofty daydreaming. "And second of all, everyone knows that relationships on this show are nothing more than another term for alliances."

As I open my eyes, letting a small dosage of pride swell through me at my point being made, I find Bridgette giving me a rather scornful look, her eyes narrowed as she takes a moment for a deep breath.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Courtney?" Bridgette asks me, and a pang of annoyance hits my brain, feeling frustrated with her clearly not listening to what I had just explained.

"Well, it's not like any of these so-called 'romances' being formed throughout the challenges are even going to last past the summer; Most of the ones formed are going to wind up crashing and burning due to them being over long distances, and the ones that don't will inevitably break apart anyways. That's just how these sorts of things go, Bridgette." I elaborate, making sure that my point is as clear as possible for her, but this seems to only get her even angrier, for whatever reason.

"So what, you think that Gwen and Trent are going to break up once this show is over? Despite everything they've already been through as a couple, you think that just because of their relationship forming on this show, that means they aren't going to stay together?" Bridgette counters, raising her voice in the process.

"I'm not saying it is a guarantee that they'll break up," I reply, raising my own voice to match her own, "but going off the statistics of other reality shows, it's far more likely that they'll split than it is them staying together!"

"Oh, so does that mean people should just not even try to find romance in these sorts of shows? Because some statistics say that they're more likely to break up than stay together?" Bridgette asks me, leading me to let out a huff of breath in annoyance at her refusal to understand my point.

"Yes! That's what I'm trying to explain to you, Bridgette, but you just keep being difficult about this!" I exclaim, and once more, Bridgette seems to take offense to this.

"Difficult?!" Bridgette calls out, but before I can respond, her huffing cuts me off. "Oh, my bad, I guess I should have just left you to your own devices, instead of trying to come over here like a good friend would and try to console you after Duncan cheated on you! After all, according to statistics, you two were likely to break up anyhow, right?" She adds on sarcastically, which only serves to exacerbate my own frustrations with this conversation.

"I already told you, Bridgette, there was never anything between me and that ogre! That delusional delinquent kept trying to go after me, and I was the one who was staying strong and keeping my eyes on the prize!" I explain for what now feels like the umpteenth time in this discussion, yet still she refuses to comprehend what I am trying to tell her.

"Okay, sure, there was never anything between you two, Courtney! Because you keeping me awake night after night with your constant complaints about his attitude and your constant fretting about how you were going to keep him under control was just about you being the team leader, wasn't it?"

"YES! Exactly! That's what I've been saying for weeks now!"

"God, you are so stubborn! Do you seriously not see how much you and Duncan clicked together?! Do you not get just how much he loved you?!"

"Loved me?! As if! He was just using me for a vote, just like what he was doing to Geoff and DJ! And besides, even if he really did love me, it's not like I ever felt the same way towards him!"

"SAYS THE WOMAN WHO KISSED HIM FIRST!"

SLAP!

...

...

...

A few moments pass once my hand winds up making contact with Bridgette's face, and in those few seconds that tick by, an overwhelming tsunami of regret crashes into and consumes my mind whole. I watch as a pained look crosses Bridgette's face, her own hand rubbing the now sore spot on her cheek where I had hit her, and while a thousand words race through my mind to try and form an apology to give to my lone friend on the island, they just don't come out fast enough.

"...Alright, if that's how it is, then so be it." Bridgette states, her tone now cold and uncaring as she turns away from me. "Enjoy your reward from the challenge, Courtney." With that, she stands up and begins to walk out from the mess hall, and while her name does escape from my lips, she either doesn't hear it, or simply doesn't acknowledge my call, leaving me now completely alone.

Feeling tears beginning to prickle at my eyes once more, I once more refuse to allow myself to shed a single tear, utilizing the whole of my willpower to withstand the emotional torment cascading inside of me at this moment in time, and turn my attention back to the list that, this entire time, had been flipped face-down on the table. Gazing down at the piece of paper, I watch as one wet spot forms, close to the middle of the sheet, then a second one. In a hurry, I crumple it up, haphazardly tossing it across the room towards the furthest garbage bin, before tearing out another blank sheet from one of the many notebooks I had packed with me, just like my mom and dad had wanted me to. With my thoughts muddier than ever before, I begin working on a revamped form of the list, one that has somehow formed in my mind, clearer than ever, with two names positioned directly at numbers one and two, above all else when it comes to those who need to be eliminated ASAP.

Hit List

1. Bridgette - biggest enemy on the island
2. Noah - ENIGMA

(Noah's POV)

"Looking up from my spot underneath one of the trees just on the outskirts of the forest, I raise an eyebrow at the sight of Bridgette stomping off from the mess hall, tears streaming down her face, before returning my focus back to my book.

"'What a strange thing to have happen,' he thought (just as you must be thinking right now). 'This game is much more serious than I thought, for here I am riding on a road I've never seen, going to a place I've never heard of, and all because of a tollbooth which came from nowhere. I'm certainly glad that it's a nice day for a trip.' he concluded hopefully, for, at the moment, this was the one thing he definitely knew."

"The sun sparkled, the sky was clear, and all the colors-"

Before I am able to continue on in my reading, some shade suddenly blocks the light I was using to read, causing me to look up towards its source; Letting out a sigh, my neck cranes upwards to find DJ standing before me, his turned back marking him unaware of my presence.

"A-hem," I clear my throat, causing DJ to finally turn around and realize that I was even here in the first place.

"Oh hey, what's up Noah? Sorry, I didn't notice you sitting there." DJ states, still not stepping out from where he is stood, leading me to let out another sigh as I close my book, having the last page I'd read memorized in my mind, before standing up.

"Of course you didn't." I drawl, before looking inquisitively towards the gentle giant. "Why are you even standing here, anyways? Figured you and Geoff were doing a good enough job taking the place of the two insufferable 'besties' that got kicked off." I snark, only for DJ's face to fall; Not out of anger, but...something else.

"Nah, Geoff had to go take care of some business. Something got Bridgette really worked up apparently, so he wanted to go make sure she was okay." He responds, avoiding my question in the process, which isn't exactly lost on me.

"...Okay. Again, why are you here?" I ask, putting a bit more emphasis on the point of the question so it isn't lost on the big man.

Even with said emphasis, it takes a couple of seconds for DJ to answer me, as if he is hesitating on something. "Oh, I just needed to clear my head a bit. Thought the woods would make for a good place."

"Well, I guess you need to find somewhere else, then." I retort, and once more, DJ's face falls.

"Yeah...guess so." He mutters, but rather than leaving, he hesitates once more; This time, it's gotten to be enough to irritate me, as I come to the realization that I'm not going to get my reading spot back anytime soon. Before I can make my way elsewhere, however, DJ lets out a sigh, and turns his gaze towards mine.

"Hey, Noah, you're trustworthy enough, right?" DJ suddenly asks, giving me pause to my escape from this rather awkward moment of socialization.

"...Sure, DJ, why not?" I sarcastically reply.

"Good," DJ says, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as the meaning of my prior statement is either completely lost on him, or just ignored. "Because I've been...having some trouble keeping this from the others. Can I trust you to keep a secret for me, Noah?"

Suddenly, the lightbulb of opportunity is lit up in my mind, filled with enough juice to power an entire lighthouse. It takes every fiber of my being to not let a smirk form on my face as I nod my head, folding my arms to feign disinterest.

"Sure, DJ, you can trust me. Who would I even tell anyways?" I remark, trying to aide DJ in getting this secret of his off his chest as soon as possible, to which he gives a fleeting smile.

"Alright, well..." DJ pauses, taking a breath, before continuing on. "It's about last night's ceremony." He begins, somehow further piquing my interest, as if I couldn't be any more invested in this strategical gold mine laid before me. "Before the votes got cast, Duncan gathered up most the other guys. Geoff, Owen, myself, he gathered us out by the beachfront and told us who to vote for in the ceremony." After another breath, DJ's resolve seems to falter. "He...he wanted to stick around, no matter what, so...the plan was, he was going to go to Heather and..." Another pause, before a more shaky exhale comes from the gentle giant. "And try to get you voted out at the elimination ceremony."

For a few seconds, my mind is the one that pauses at this. I had been shaky during the elimination ceremony, yes, but it was primarily due to the fact I was put into the bottom two again...but if what DJ is telling me is true, then that means...

"He was going to work with Heather to get rid of me?" I question, my own voice quivering slightly, to which DJ nods.

"Y-Yeah, that was the plan, anyways, but things...things got messed up, man." DJ admits, another inhale following it up, before it escapes as a shoddy attempt to calm his nerves. "First, Owen flat out refused to vote you off." DJ states, bringing a smile both to his face and my own, albeit my side of things is involuntary. "He might not be the smartest or the strongest on the island, but you got to respect the man for having the heart to call Duncan out on his plans. He said something about you being his...little buddy?" DJ trails off, which gives me the chance to finally stop smirking upon hearing such a ridiculous nickname being given to me by him; 'little buddy'...it sounds so childish, but then again, what am I supposed to expect from a big oaf like him?

"But once Owen spoke up, suddenly both Duncan and Geoff were all up in his face, yelling at him for siding with you over them, threatening to get him kicked off the island. If it wasn't for Bridgette walking by to head for the ceremony, I think something real bad would've happened to the guy." DJ shudders, but as he pauses once more, I roll my eyes, forcing disinterest as I pretend not to be utterly captivated by such a story being told.

"Okay, I get it, Owen stood up for me as a friend or whatever." I drawl, forcing a scowl to form on command; Just one of my many talents, of course. "Can you get to the secret already?" I ask, putting some impatience in my tone, which forces DJ to hesitate once more, before swallowing down a gulp of air.

"S-So, Duncan went off to Heather, trying to secure the votes needed to get you out of here...b-but when it came time to cast our votes, I..." DJ once more pauses, and with another roll of my eyes, a legitimate one this time, I start counting up in my mind the seconds it takes for him to speak again.

"One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds, six seconds, seven seconds, eight-"

"I...couldn't vote for you, man." DJ admits, and while at first it takes me a second to get what was meant by this statement, when the implications of it hit me? They strike at full force, and leave me stunned.

"Wait, wait, wait," I blurt out, getting DJ to look me in the eye once more. "You mean to tell me that you, the guy who's been one of that delinquent's biggest running buddies for the whole damn game, defied his plans and helped vote him off?" I ask, incredulous, only for DJ to clamp a hand on my mouth.

"Shush!" DJ hushes me, turning around to look around the more open area behind us, checking for if anyone is listening in...but when nobody is seen, he lets go of my mouth, to which I begin spitting out any of the germs he had just contaminated me with. "S-Sorry, Noah, but...I wanted to make sure that Geoff wasn't around to hear that, alright?" He offers, to which I finally return his gaze with my own.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I reply, my face still a mix of disgust and annoyance, but once that fades, a smirk forms on my face as I look over DJ once more, my mind awash with thoughts about just how valuable this information could prove to be.

"Hoo," DJ huffs, a breath of relief escaping him and allowing a weight to be lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you, man. I'm glad I could trust you with that." He says, a genuine smile forming onto his face, and while I cannot return the same level of sincerity to him, there is a smile nonetheless as I nod my head.

"Of course, DJ. After all, what are friends for?" I suggest, before offering a hand DJ's way.

As DJ takes the handshake, I force myself to put the fictional 'one hundred and ten percent' into keeping up this facade, trying desperately not to let a single thought slip through this proverbial mask of mine. Once the handshake ends, though, I look up at him, giving as close to an honest grin as I can muster to him.

"By the way, I know I'm not normally one to comment about this type of stuff, but what you did for me? That was really kind of you, DJ. It really shows your character, and I'm sure it's something your family would be proud of." I state, and as some tears of happiness begin to form in DJ's eyes, I take that as my cue to start to walk off...but after only about a half dozen steps, DJ calls out to me once more.

"Hey, Noah, remember: This is a secret between us, alright?"

With a sly grin, I nod my head, pulling up my book and burying my face in it to hide it from DJ as I glance back his way without turning myself fully around.

"Of course, DJ." I drawl, "As far as this dirty little secret of yours goes, who has to know?" I add, smug as can be whilst walking away from him...and the moment he is out of sight? I am making my way to the confessional, wasting little-to-no time in getting there, all while keeping my book up for both a physical as well as mental defense against anyone else whose gazes are turning my way.

(CONFESSIONAL)

"As soon as the door is closed behind me, I sit down at the bench, giving about five seconds or so of looking at a random page in my book to allow for the editing team to do their job just like Chris instructed us back on the first day at camp, before turning my gaze up to the camera.

"So, DJ just told me something that's rather interesting to know about..." I state, before lowering my book, letting the camera see my smirk in full force, hiding nothing about it to the outside world. "Turns out, he decided to deceive our his delinquent buddy by voting him off in the last ceremony, thus rendering his little plotting with the resident queen bee completely useless in the process." I re-iterate, making sure the people at home know exactly what just went down. "And not just that, but he decided that, out of everyone here on the island, I was the only one trustworthy enough to keep his secret." If my grin had been viewed as scheming before, now it was downright villainous, as I chuckle to myself in a fit of devilish delight.

"So...now the question is, how exactly do I handle this information? After all, this game's got quite a power vacuum to fill, now that the two-timing punk got booted off. With him out of the picture, the queen bee's alliance is as fragile as ever, the goth girl's romance isn't strong enough to truly sway the votes, and the little bromance between DJ and the party cowboy looks to be done and dusted...so, the question becomes this: Who do I decide to bring with me along the ride to the grand prize?" With an all too smug smirk lining my face, I set down my book to count out the options. "I could keep this secret exactly what it is, and earn myself the undying loyalty of DJ in the process. I could bring this to Heather, and give it to her in exchange for immunity from any of her own schemes. I could let Geoff know about his friend's betrayal, and cause a new wave of chaos to take the island by storm..." Another laugh escapes from the bottom of my stomach, rumbling its way through my entire form and giving me the privilege of basking in this fleeting sense of mirth for a couple seconds longer than even I could have planned, before finally I settle myself down, and give a knowing grin to the camera, grabbing my book in one arm. "Oh, the possibilities are endless..."

(CONFESSIONAL END)

A/N: Well...here we are. The true beginnings of Noah formally embracing his title as "The Schemer". Sure, before this he had been playing the field, working alongside Heather and Duncan to get Leshawna out of the game, but other than that first elimination, most of what happened on the island was merely incidental, or even completely outside of his control. Now, though? Well...you'll have to wait and see what happens next~.

Remember to leave a favorite, follow the story for future updates, and/or to leave a review to provide your thoughts thus far, be it on the story as a whole or just this chapter, and until then, this is MrLeedles, signing off~!

REMAINING CONTESTANTS: Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Geoff, Gwen, Heather, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent
ELIMINATED CONTESTANTS: strong Ezekiel, Eva, Justin, Katie, Tyler, Izzy, Cody, Beth, Sadie, Harold, Leshawna, Duncan