Basic Straining
POV. Third person
Chris is standing on the Pier of Shame, "the last time on Total Drama Island. The teams were given three challenges that tested their trust in their teammates," Courtney pushes Duncan on the dock, "the rock climbing challenge served to test Noah's confidence in Cody despite all the doubts and insecurities," Cody climbs the slope while Noah holds on to the rope, "on the other hand, Lindsay managed not to poison Gwen with pufferfish, but ended up giving her a stomach infection due to the other expired ingredients hahahaha, maybe next time you should paint something more than a protest against the host," Gwen vomits into a bucket, "Bridgette and Geoff managed to overcome their awkward tension, thus taking their relationship one step higher," She teaches him how to surf, " Some other campers got dropped on their butts and Duncan shocked Courtney by showing her his softer side," she confronts him about it, "in the end Noah broke his arm in the last challenge, thus marking his end in the competition. But he didn't leave without first confronting his geeky friend about all the skeletons inside his closet," Noah and Cody talk on the dock, "unfortunately those skeletons will stay in the closet for a while longer, a real shame, I'm dying to know what that guy is hiding. Stick around for the most dramatic bonfire ceremony yet, at TOTAL... DRAMA... ISLAND!"
-0-
POV. Cody
I woke up early in the morning like I usually do now, only Owen was left on the boys' side with me, and he's not one to get up early, it was a bit annoying that two of my best friends were already gone, but they would all leave eventually, that's how the competition worked. It was a lot less dramatic when you knew they were about an hour away from here and having a great time at a luxury resort, maybe I could make Heather drop out of the competition if I told her where the losers were going, who knows?
I came out of the cabin and to my surprise the aforementioned one was on the porch, leaning against the railing.
"Wow, you're really an early riser," he said when he saw me.
"Hi Heather, what are you doing here so early? Don't you need your beauty sleep?" I joked.
"Miss Goth reeked of vomit in our cabin," she said with disgust, but not with resentment thankfully, "Lindsay was taking care of her last night along with LeShawna, fortunately, she stopped vomiting almost at midnight, but the smell stayed, so I went outside to get some fresh air."
"I see, I hope she feels better soon, today is a day of challenge," Heather wrinkled her nose a little at this.
"We lost four games in a row, that's humiliating. My only consolations are that we've only tied with the Bass in terms of team members and that the cynical Noah is now out of the competition," she said calmly.
"Hey, it's my friend you're talking about," I said.
She rolled her eyes, "name me someone from here who isn't your friend."
"... That's a good point," I realized.
"We have to win this challenge at all costs, I don't want to be behind the catfish. I'll be counting on your help this time, you did very well in the previous challenge," she leaned even more against the railing looking thoughtful, "How are you such a good climber now that I think about it?" she asked me.
"It's just a hobby, I wasn't someone who went outside a lot, so when I did, I tried all kinds of things," I knew people would start asking questions when the scrawny geek started excelling in physical challenges, luckily, I was prepared.
"... that's why you're so good at challenges," she realized, she looked straight at me this time, "the know-it-all once asked me about what your secret was, do you know what he meant?"
I tried my best not to react when she told me that, I should have suspected that Noah would ask her, he probably asked others too, I need to be careful here, if Heather gets interested in the subject, I'm going to have a lot of trouble.
"Wasn't it about the rumor that you and I, we're secretly dating, I know he bothered me a couple of times about it," I asked back.
She didn't say anything for a moment, just staring at me, looking for anything in my expression that might give me away. Finally, she closed her eyes and looked straight ahead again.
"That's what I asked him, he just told me that, as your girlfriend, maybe he would know some embarrassing secret that I could tell him," she said.
"I see, yes, it sounds like something he'd try to figure out," I was relieved when she didn't ask any more questions. Keeping secrets around Heather is like dancing on a tightrope over a volcano, you can watch out for a misstep, but you're still not safe. I looked at her body leaning over the railing, and then there's the matter of heat. Because she seriously is hot.
"Take a picture, it will last longer," she told me, noticing where she was looking, but unlike all the previous times, she had no fire in her words. I think she's gotten used to me looking at her from time to time. It's not like she's ever been a shameful person.
"Well since you insist", I took out my camera and photographed her, it was a good photo I must admit, I thought she would get angry and break my camera, but she just sighed a little and stood there doing nothing. She also didn't protest when he took pictures of the girls during Duncan's joke now that I think about it, "we're almost at the ten camper mark, the merger is very close," I commented.
"... our agreement was that you would leave the alliance when the merger came, right?" she reminded me.
"Yes, are you going to miss me?" I asked jokingly.
But she didn't answer, she just laid there on the railing with her eyes closed. I wonder if she didn't hear my question.
"Okay! Who's made s'mores out of my underwear?!" asked Harold from the catfish hut. It seems that many woke up while Heather and I were talking.
Duncan and Geoff who were outside just laughed, he pulled out one of the panties full of chocolate and threw it on the floor. But this time Courtney was nowhere to be disgusted, she must be on her morning run.
"Disgusting," Heather said next to me.
"Listen up, you little cockroaches! I want all campers to report to the Dock of Shame at 0900 hours!" no one understood what he was talking about, "That means now, soldiers! Now!", we all ran off to the docks after the chef yelled through the megaphones. It's time for some basic straining.
-0-
We were standing in formation on the dock, Chef Hatchet looking like a military sergeant and holding a megaphone was in front of us. Come to think of it, Izzy said that he was with the reservations, and he seemed to have a personal rivalry with the chef during the hide and seek challenge, was there anything I was missing here?
" Lone up and stand at attention! You call this proper formation?!", while I was distracted the chef walked past us correcting the posture of several, " Knees together, arms down, eyes forward, head up", He passed by Harold hitting him in several places to correct his posture, I was one of the few I don't look at twice, as I stood firm from the beginning.
"Oh, this is going to be a fun day," Gwen said sarcastically.
"What did you say to me, soldier?" The chef asked with the megaphone in her face.
"E-eh, nothing?" she replied nervously.
" And you'll continue to say nothing until I tell you that you can say something! Today's challenge will not be an easy one. In fact, I do not expect everyone to come out alive," a bit of an exaggeration.
"Hahahahaha, Ouch! That hurts," Owen said after the chef hit him with his baton for laughing.
" My orders are to make sure that all of the babies in front of me drop out of my boot camp except one. The last one standing wins immunity for their team," Heather was about to ask about Chris, but I shook my head to silence her, " Rule number one! You will address me as Master Chief! Have you got that?"
"Yes, I Master Chief."
" You will sleep when I tell you to sleep! And you will eat only when I tell you to eat! Is that clear?!" He asked as he looked directly at Geoff.
"Yes, Master Chief", Said nerviously.
" Rule number two! When you are ready to give up, you will walk to the end of the dock and ring the bell. Which brings me to rule number three! I'll have to get one quitter before the end of the first day! And that day will not end until someone drops out! Now get your butts down to the beach, soldiers! Now, now, now," he said as we ran scared of the consequences.
Confessional.
Gwen
" Okay, whoever's sick, twisted idea this was to put him in charge of this challenge, I have to say… I'm a little bit impressed."
End of the confessional.
-0-
"Listen up! Each team will hold a canoe over their heads! I catch you taking your hands off the canoe, and you will be eliminated. And no one eats lunch until someone drops out hehehe. Canoes up".
Both teams raised our canoes, good thing Noah left. I would not have survived this challenge.
"Pff, this isn't that hard," Owen said.
"It's a piece of cake," Geoff commented, just wait you two.
...
Time passed and many of us were already tired, chef and Chris were sitting in the canoes tempting us to give up at once. Owen's stomach began to rumble.
"Don't even think about it, Owen," Gwen warned.
As time went on, I could see Geoff hooking Harold's underwear with a fishing rod.
I had thought a lot about what I was supposed to do with Harold. It was one of the first things that ended badly due to Duncan and Courtney's relationship. I understand why he did it, but the jokes were his and Duncan's problem, involving her, not only wasn't fair, but it was also the trigger that started Courtney's descent into obscurity. This was the first betrayal against him and for a matter in which he had nothing to do. This caused her to act much fiercer and spiteful during Action, becoming recognized as a villain. And just as things start to go well on the World Tour, Duncan and Gwen, her boyfriend and her friend, betray her again.
Gwen believed that Courtney's grudge was an exaggeration, but the truth is that that grudge was simmering since Island and eventually exploded on World Tour, the Courtney that was left of it, was someone who could no longer go back to what she was before, even if she accepted Gwen's apology, she still betrayed her afterwards as well as Scott and his other allies.
I know she wasn't really the good person she was trying to project, but that's the point, she tries to act like someone decent, she genuinely wanted to help her friends, she got frustrated when things didn't go her way and she was very competitive, but there was no one here who didn't have flaws, future Duncan and Courtney were full of regrets, That means they may actually feel guilty about their actions. I don't know what I could do to stop her from walking that path of darkness, but I do know that if I want to help her, then it all starts in Harold and Duncan's enmity, it will be difficult, I'm not a manipulative genius like Heather or Alejandro after all and my intervention could lead to more problems than it might solve.
As for Duncan... Well, just keep him away from any mansion.
...
"Twenty-five of us went to the jungle that night... Only five came back out...", it was already dark, and Chef was telling us his supposed war stories. Keeping the canoe aloft was becoming very difficult.
Gwen yawned, " What war were you in, anyway?".
"¿¡Te dije que hablaras!? ¡Porque no recuerdo haberte dicho que hablaras!", Chef yelled at her.
" Whatever. He so wasn't in a war", I really wouldn't know how to respond to that.
"Guys, I can't do this anymore," Lindsay said releasing the canoe, " I have no more feeling in my arms," she said wretchedly as she made her way to the bell.
"Lindsay," I called out to her, she stood still, then turned to look at me worriedly, but I just smiled at her, "You know? I'm pretty hungry right now," I said.
She widened her eyes, "yes, we couldn't eat anything today, I think I could use a nice dinner," Gwen said, understanding what I was trying to do.
Owen's stomach growled, "ah, what the hell, ring that bell Lindsay."
Lindsay smiled at our support and walked to the end of the dock, curiously the chef didn't say anything to her this time, he just watched her walk, she reached the bell and touched it with her head.
Both teams tossed our canoes to the sides, but we approached Lindsay, "sorry guys," she apologized for her weakness.
"Okay, you know something? That wasn't a challenge worth prolonging," Gwen comforted her.
Confessional.
Gwen
"Yes, she may have caused me food poisoning, but she also stayed with me during my illness, I'm not going to abandon her now."
End of the confessional.
"Hahahahaha, yes, I was starving," Owen said with his stomach growling.
She looked at me, "this challenge is like the Awake-A-Ton, Lindsay, we just need one to go all the way, your sacrifice is not going to be in vain, I promise," I told my friend.
"Thank you, guys," she said pleased.
The chef stood in front of us, "being the first to desert is considered the greatest act of cowardice in the forces", he turned and started to leave, Lindsay lowered her head in despondency, "however, sacrificing yourself for your platoon is priceless in war, well done soldier".
That last thing he said surprised us all.
Confessional.
LeShawna
"Who knew, the guy actually has a heart."
End of the confessional.
"Very well worms, to the dining room, dinner is served," the chef announced through the megaphone.
"Yes, finally," Owen said excitedly, sorry buddy there's no reason to be happy.
-0-
"All right, maggots! Open your ears! You've got ten minutes to eat before night training begins! Get to it!"
After everyone protested the news, and Gwen asked about the food, we proceeded to search through the trash cans for anything that was moderately edible, some things could be eaten luckily, I know the next challenge would be pretty intense.
"Agh, I am not eating this," Heather complained.
"Agh, me neither," Courtney followed.
"Don't care for today's specials, Princess?" Duncan said, walking past her.
"I am going to be running for office one day, and no one is going to pull up a file of me eating garbage," she replied. You certainly didn't seem to care how you were viewed later on.
"Hey, Harold? We felt really bad about the whole underwear fishing incident thing. So here, we found you some apple juice," he said.
"Thank you," Harold replied.
"Wait a minute, isn't that chicken fat?" I point to the glass, with feigned suspicion.
"Ah," Harold dropped it and gave Duncan a bad look.
"Agh, come on old man, that was a good joke," the offender said while laughing.
Before Courtney could scold him, Owen had an epiphany, "Sweet boiled eggplant! Cody, the cereal bars," he told me.
"Oh shit," I checked my pockets and pulled out a lot of cereal bars, I always had them with me, but I had forgotten them the last few days.
"You got to be kidding," Heather said in surprise.
"Do you have real food?" said Duncan, surprised.
I distributed the bars among everyone and we started chewing, it wasn't much, but it would serve us better than garbage.
I sat down next to Heather at the table, "So how has my help been so far?"I whispered mockingly.
"Hmm," she just rolled her eyes and nudged me slightly.
*Clank*
"Owen, you don't have to eat from the trash anymore," Bridgette told him as she saw him rummaging through the trash cans.
"Oh, I know," he still kept digging through the garbage. Well, I guess his help came in handy this time, I thought as I looked at Duncan and Courtney.
-0-
The chef was standing on a podium dancing, our challenge was to follow the dance steps, the challenge ended when someone gave up.
Many of us were sweaty at this point, but I have to admit two things, the first, the chef has good dance moves, and the second, as hellish as this challenge was, it did serve to get in shape, I wasn't going to be at the same level of fitness that I had in the future, but it would be quite useful, So I was going to take advantage of it as much as I could.
Because I helped us feed ourselves, the challenge lasted a little longer than before, but it wasn't really a big change.
Finally, I saw Duncan get fed up and walk up to the chef's radio turning it off. Many breathed a sigh of relief.
"Duncan, what are you doing?" Courtney asked nervously.
"One of us drops out, we're done for the day," he told the chef in defiance. That attitude is why he always fights Courtney.
"We're done when I say we're done!" the chef replied, "Now drop and give me twenty!", Duncan threw himself on the floor and started doing push-ups, "Anyone else got anything they want to say?".
Gwen was about to ask if she could go to the bathroom, but I stopped her hand and shook my head. She just sighed, tiredly.
-0-
"For your next challenge, you will complete a three-hundred-word essay about how much you love… me. Anyone who falls asleep or fails to complete the challenge will be eliminate," the chef warned us, then left.
We all proceeded to write our essay, I wrote mine pointing out what the chef was like in the kitchen and as a sergeant, filling in the blanks with many words that I know he wasn't going to understand, but he wasn't going to point it out in front of everyone, so he probably wasn't going to think twice before moving on to the next one.
...
I finished first, with a couple of hours to spare, no DJ or Trent, the only one who fell asleep was Sadie, and I don't blame her, she wasn't one of the best in the Awake-A-Ton.
I took advantage of the extra time to give some advice to my friends and think about what I was going to do about Courtney and Duncan's situation. If I was successful, I could delay the issues another season, because at this point I know I can't cut their chemistry right away, they've already been hanging around each other for quite a few challenges, it's been less noticeable than last time, but those two are going to end up together sooner or later, as they're the type that doesn't need to take their time. When it happens, it will be like an outburst, without warning, direct and to the point, that's what makes it so difficult.
The chef came back and started picking up the rehearsals. Duncan looked very confident, chef began to read his essay first, " I love Master Chief Hatchet because he is very very very very very very very very very very very very very very…" This is just one sentence with five pages of "very"s in between," he complained.
"It's three hundred words exactly! You can count them if you want," I'll never really understand Duncan's need to go against people. You could tell the guy not to jump into a volcano and he'd do it just because he was told no.
It seems that chef really intended to read every word, "woah", but slipped on a puddle of Owen's drool, disgusting, "Wipe up that drool, you little baby!", then banged on the table waking Sadie, "You're out!", he said, "The rest of you, get to bed and report to the playing field at 0500 hours".
"Uh, missed a spot there, General," Duncan told him with a handkerchief, making him angry.
"Boy! Do you wanna run fifty laps around this camp right now?!"
"No thanks," Courtney said interjecting, "he's going straight to bed. Aren't you?" she threatened, then pulled him away to scold him. It's definitely going to be a headache to separate those two, "Why do you keep provoking him? You don't make it easy for anyone but yourself," she scolded.
"Are you saying you care about me?" he sneered.
To my surprise she grabbed him by her shirt and held it up to her face, "listen and listen to me closely, caveman", Duncan looked a little scared now, "we finally managed to tie things up with the other team, and I'm not going to let them take the lead again just because you can't pretend to be a teenager your age, instead of a spoiled kid who keeps going against everyone because he thinks it's funny... Have I been clear?", ended with a grunt.
We all opened our mouths to that exchange, including me. That was quite different from last time, I guess Heather isn't the only one who had an interesting reaction to both teams' draw. Courtney has been much more focused on the competition since our conversation, Duncan's attitude not something she's going to tolerate as easily as she did last time. The chef watched the whole exchange with amusement.
"Crystal," said the nervous delinquent. She dropped him to the floor and left the room, "she definitely cares about me," she said when she got up.
"Definitely," Geoff agreed.
I shook my head, of course he liked that.
Confessional.
Duncan
"That woman is an obsessive uptight and she's completely crazy...", he was now smiling, "I think I like her".
End of the confessional.
-0-
The chef brought us outside to run on the obstacle course now.
After Courtney threatened Duncan if he did any other stupid thing, we all proceeded to run down the obstacle course. We'd have to be like this until we can complete it in less than a minute or until we give up.
The truth is that the track was quite fun with mud and all. I guess after traversing an actual minefield, something like this seems pretty entertaining in comparison. Oh yes, Lindsay said she was afraid of walking through a minefield in heels, I didn't remember it at the time.
...
We continued to walk the track several times, in that time Harold walked out for swallowing too much mud and Duncan kept bothering the chef. Many were caught up in several of the obstacles.
"Pff", I had to hold back my laughter when I got to the rope swings, where somehow Heather had tangled upside down like a bat with one of the ropes. The funny thing wasn't his situation itself, but the fact that he was with her arms folded with her usual grumpiness even in that position. "Do you need help?" I asked as I cheekily snapped a photo.
"If it wasn't for Lindsay, you'd be the worst ally anyone could have," she told me.
"You're only saying it because you're angry," I replied as I took her hands, "well just be careful when-", she untangled her foot before she finished, "woah!", and ended up falling forward right on top of me, taking us both into the mud. Something soft and warm was crushed over my face, I didn't need to see to know what it was.
Heather stood up, removing what were effectively her breasts from my face and looked down at me, but the other way around, "I'm sorry," she said.
"You lovebirds! I didn't tell you you could rest!" the chef yelled at us, so we continued down the track.
"That never happened, is that clear to you?" she told me.
"Crystal clear," I replied, but he was smiling, which annoyed her a little. However, she didn't realize that she actually said "I'm sorry" to me.
Confessional.
Heather
"That was an accident, hear me," she said, looking into the camera angrily, "ac-cid-ent."
Cody
He looked up dreamily, "they were so soft," he said in a trance.
End of the confessional.
"Fallen soldier, I salute you," Duncan said as he walked past LeShawna, who was sinking into the mud.
The chef stood in front of him, "You just bought yourself twenty more push-ups," he said.
"Thanks, muack," but Duncan kissed him on the nose, that guy really has a death wish. The chef looked very, very furious.
" I think you may have pushed him over the edge, bro," Geoff told him.
"I think... you're right," Duncan said somewhat worried now.
" One-night solitary confinement... in the boat house," the chef whispered ominously, many were surprised by that, although I personally don't know why, I've been to the boat house before and I don't find it so scary.
"Big deal, how scary can it be?" didn't scare me, but I'm pretty sure he was a little scared the first time.
-0-
We were in the main parlor getting a horrible snack of porridge, while Duncan served his sentence in the boat house.
Courtney looked out the window from time to time, but she still didn't look eager to get out, I had to do something to make her stay, but what?
"Uff, this porridge is awful, Cody, don't you have any cereal bars left?" asked Gwen.
"Sorry, those were all the food I had," It's not like Duncan and Courtney... weren't going to bring us... more.
Suddenly I had a brilliant idea, if it worked, I would fix several problems at the same time. It's worth a try.
I reached out to people who I knew would help me without asking too many questions, "Lindsay, Owen I want to ask you a favor," I said quietly.
"What's up, dude?" asked Owen.
"I have an idea."
"Oh, I love your ideas, they always solve problems," Lindsay said excitedly.
"Sssshh," I gestured for them to lower their voices, "I know where to get real food."
"Really?" asked Owen in surprise.
"yes, but I need you to distract Courtney and keep her here, you know how she gets with that rules," I told them.
"Don't worry, you can count on us," Lindsay told me, I never thought I'd ever believe those words coming from these two, but desperate times desperate measures.
"I'm going to see how it is," Courtney said finally stopping.
"You like him," Geoff told her.
"I do not like him," she told him to his face.
"Yes you do," he insisted.
"Not only do I not like him, I can't stand him. He's rude, he's rebellious, and he's totally annoying," at which point Owen and Lindsay sprang into action.
"Wow, Courtney, your hair has been messed up by the race," Lindsay told her.
"Huh, really?" he said, touching her hair.
"I'll fix it for you," Linds told her, pulling out her trusty brush.
"Okay, you don't have to," she said, trying to go on her way, but this time she ran into Owen head-on.
"Hi Courtney, I once told you about the time I caught a shark while fishing. Let me show you the scar it left me," then he turned around and pulled down his pants in front of her.
"Oh my," Courtney said, her eyes wide in surprise and bewilderment.
Lindsay took her arm and sat her down in a chair while brushing her hair.
"Don't resist Courtney, that only makes it worse," Gwen said mockingly.
Seeing that this was taken care of for the time being, I slipped out of the room without anyone seeing me.
Confessional.
Cody
"I came up with an idea to get food, but I couldn't do it without the help of a certain person with a grudge against the chef."
Courtney
Her hair was much smoother and neater, "I'm sure shark bites don't look like that."
End of the confessional.
-0-
After walking for a while, I finally arrived at the boat house.
"Duncan?"
"Oh, vein tú".
"Why were you sweeping?" that's something I never understood.
"I was bored, there's not much to do around here," he replied, "What do you want?"
"I came up with an idea and I need your help," I said. He just raised his eyebrow.
I told him the idea that had originally occurred to him, but that I now stole.
"Heck, why didn't I think of it?" yes, he did.
"Then will you help me?" I asked.
"Hey, why not, I'm in," he said excitedly.
...
We arrived at the tent that Chris and the chef had just outside the camp disguised as bushes.
"Ok, it's here, don't make any noise," Duncan said.
We sneaked inside while they talked nonsense, got to a refrigerator and started emptying it.
"Do you want to take credit for this?" I asked the criminal, offering him a catfish.
"Of course I do," he said, picking up the fish and putting it in the refrigerator.
After that we left the tent and ran to the camp.
~0~
"Well, well, well, but what do we have here? The techno-geek grew up a little bit and thinks he can come and challenge me?"
"Duncan... Are you sure you can be here? I mean, visits are only for well-behaved convicts," I returned fire.
We both looked at each other badly for a while.
"Hahahahahaha", and then we laughed like old friends.
"Good to see you, nerd, Owen."
"Hi Duncan, we brought you cake," Owen said with a small cake.
"Wow, thank you, brother," he picked up a spoon and began to eat, "so how did the trial go? Did that stupid presenter get what he deserves?" he asked.
Owen and I looked at each other, not knowing what to say, but eventually we told him everything that had happened.
"Shit! That stupid little man got away with it... Courtney and the others... Agh, I'm sorry for you guys."
"Yes, things ended this bad, some of us still keep in touch, but everyone is afraid to see each other and that the drama will continue," I told him.
The sigh, "yes, I understand that, look where I ended up, and all because I didn't want the world to think I was a good boy... because I didn't want the people watching me on that silly show to think I'm vulnerable, in the end being badass didn't do me any good either, people couldn't care less about how you are while you're in here, Courtney was right, being stupid leads you to end up locked up. And by acting like a jerk, I lost the only two people who thought I was worth it, not to mention a good friend, I didn't value what I had siblings, I haven't seen Courtney, Gwen or Zoey since I was locked up."
We both listened to the ex-delinquent's thoughts of total drama, he looked as exhausted as the others the last time we saw them.
"Heh, you know? It's funny nerd, you were actually the only person who ever put me in my shoes," he said, which surprised us.
"Remember when you knocked me out in Greece, that time I thought maybe it was karma that allowed you to knock me down... but then you made it to the semi-final, with two monsters like Heather and Alejandro, yes, you didn't win, but you lived to tell the tale."
"That was mostly luck... and Sierra," I said with a shrug.
"Rather it was the fact that no one ever had a reason to eliminate you," he told me surprising me, "you were always the person everyone wishes they had as a friend, I don't remember anyone on the show who didn't like you... apart from me and Courtney, of course."
"Oh yes, many of us shared that thought during the Hawaii sequel, I remember, you weren't there, so you couldn't know," Owen told me.
"Wow, I had no idea, yes, I knew a lot of people liked me, but I thought the rest of me just saw me as the normal, dumb geek who pretended to be cool and was terrible with women."
"You were, and that's what made you so loved, in that crazy circus that we all were, you were the normal guy who tried to fit in, and that's why you were such a good person, you helped a lot of people get normal, fuck, you were friends with Heather."
I didn't know what to say to that. Even if what they said was true, it didn't do to keep everyone together.
"I knew you were the one who brought Gwen and Trent together on the island, I imagine if we'd ever been friends, you probably would have stopped me from ending up here," he joked.
"That would be giving me too much credit," I said, the three of us laughing about this.
*Alarm*
"Looks like time is up, thanks for the cake guys, I'll see you later I guess," he said as he got up.
"Yes, take care of yourself, dude," Owen said goodbye. We both watched him leave the visiting area, "Do you think he'll ever come out?" asked Owen.
"I don't know."
-0-
"Ha, I wish I could see Chef Hatchet's face when he finds out we robbed his pantry," Duncan said on the way to camp, "I must admit, I didn't think you had the balls to come up with something like that," he told me.
"Well, anything to get decent food for everyone for once," I said.
"You're too considerate, I wouldn't really care, but why did you take so much candy? What are you a child?"
"It's a guilty pleasure, don't judge me."
I never thought the day would come when the teenage Duncan and I would talk like friends, I really couldn't stand the guy, but that was because he was a bad person in my eyes and yet everyone wanted to be with him. If Justin was the anti Noah then Duncan was my anti me, we couldn't be more different, and yet, deep down he can be a good guy, now I know that better than anyone.
"Tell me Duncan, why did you go against the chef to that point? You didn't gain anything from that as I see it," I asked.
"Why? Hmm...", he thought for a moment, "agh, no idea, I guess I thought it was funny, his face when I couldn't get him to obey it was hilarious", was his reply.
"Is that why you annoy Courtney so much?"
"That's... different, she's a total stuck-up, I mean, what teenager is talking about running for president right now? She needs a little chaos in her life, it will do her good", you don't know how wrong those words are, my friend.
"Well, that's what she likes, yes, she can be intense many times, I've seen her, but... I think it's because she's passionate about what she does, that's why she doesn't like to lose, she doesn't want to show weakness," I told him.
Duncan was silent, I know he identified with that.
"You know? Being the good guy isn't that bad, it can be a lot of fun sometimes."
"Yes? How?"
"Well, we just stole the chef to feed the others."
"..."
"..."
"Pff, it's okay you caught me this time," he told me while laughing, "I guess you're right, it's not that bad sometimes." I think I've gotten somewhere with him here.
-0-
We took everyone to the Bass' huts and distributed the food among our surprised friends.
"I think I have jungle rot from that obstacle course," Owen said with his hands (and feet) full of jam, in front of Lindsay's face.
"Owen! We're eating here!" she said disgusted.
"Wow, I have to say that now I understand why your ideas are so popular at Camp Cody, this is delicious," Bridgette told me.
"Thank you," I replied.
I hadn't interacted much with Bridgette during the competition, not because I didn't want to, but because the situation never happened, neither now nor before, besides, I don't know how to help her and Geoff with their future breakup, I don't even know if I can do anything to begin with, since I don't know what happened.
"guys, Gross," Harold found a little smiley face drawn with peanut butter on his bed. When did Duncan put it there? I couldn't see when he did.
" That's a waste of good peanut butter," Duncan said as Geoff laughed, "What's up Princess? Aren't you hungry?" he asked Courtney, who had her arms folded in disapproval, oh, oh, a scolding is coming.
"Of course not, it's stolen food, do you know what the chef will do to us if he finds out what happened? You'll get us in trouble," she told him, but then turned on me, "and you, I can't believe you came up with this plan, I thought you were saner," she told me. It was like watching Heather, she got prettier when she was angry.
"Relax a little Courtney, they brought us food," Bridgette told her.
"Hey Courtney, I know you're upset because I sneaked out and because I went after Duncan when he was grounded and... because Owen pulled down his pants in front of you..."
"I'm sorry about that," Owen said.
"So... I got you something very special just for you as an apology, Ta-dah!", I said showing her a whole tray with...
"Are those... marshmallow sandwiches?" she asked with a trickle of drool dripping from her lips, I remember these were her favorites, she ate half of it by herself last time.
"Yes, I'll give you this one if you'll forgive us," I held out one, but I pulled my hand away before she took it, "of course, if you accept it, you'll be breaking the rules," I said temptingly as I offered the sandwich again.
I know trying to awaken Courtney's wild side seemed like a bad idea, no, I correct myself, it's a bad idea, but Duncan is right about one thing, she needs to open up more to life's experiences. As long as he's not the one there is when she wakes up, then there won't be a problem.
Courtney seemed hesitant to take the delicious marshmallow-flavored dessert, the others were encouraging her to do so.
"Come on princess, break the rules for once in your life, you know you want to do it, or are you a coward?" said Duncan, that did it.
"I'm not a coward!" she grabbed the dessert and swallowed it all at once with her eyes closed.
We all waited expectantly for her reaction, then she opened her eyes wide, then snatched the tray of sandwiches from me and began to devour them all with a voracious and childlike hunger.
Confessional.
Courtney
Her mouth was smeared with chocolate, and she looked a little hyperactive, "okay, I'll admit, breaking the rules felt so good, and so sweet," she said, licking her lips excitedly.
End of the confessional.
Courtney finished the whole tray to the applause of the boys, "uff, that felt so good," she said excitedly, but her stomach growled some time later, "uh, now it feels so bad."
She ran outside to vomit on the porch, Duncan went to check on her, I just hope I had done enough, I approached Harold to prevent him from looking out the window.
"Hey Harold, do you want me to help you change your sheets?"
"Would you? Thank you, dude."
-0-
POV. Courtney
I threw up quite a bit from the porch of the cabin, I can't believe those two convinced me to break the rules, but I thank them for doing it, that had felt so liberating that I couldn't help but want more, which led me to finish a whole tray of sandwiches, which wasn't the best idea, But at least they were delicious.
"Enjoying your first crime princess?" Duncan asked me.
"To tell you the truth, despite the vomiting and everything, it was very exciting and cathartic... I don't think I'll do it again anytime soon... But I think I'm starting to understand why you do it, this feeling is liberating, exciting, fantastic... Even though I still think you're a caveman," I replied, I think he still needed to learn restraint.
"Hmph, think what you want of me, but if you're really looking for a real thrill, don't hesitate to come get me, this," he said pointing to my chocolate-stained face, "it's just a small sample of what's out there," he told me.
"And what makes you think I'd turn to you?" I scoffed, "after all, there's someone else here who's good at breaking rules," I said.
We both looked inside the cabin at the geeky boy with feathers in his hair helping Harold change his sheets.
"You wouldn't think the guy is smarter than he looks, would you?" he asked me.
"If I'm being honest, at first I thought he would be the first one to leave the competition... Now I realize how wrong I was, he's even an amazing friend."
"Yeah, but the guy can be quite weird sometimes, we were talking when we were coming back to camp and I can't explain it, but it felt strange, it was like I was talking to someone I'd known my whole life, rather than someone I barely give a second look at during the day."
That's weird, "I... I've felt the same thing, he seems so confident when he talks to me, but not the kind of confidence of someone looking to flirt, but the confidence of someone who knows you as a friend, someone who makes fun of you because they know you're not going to be mad at them, I thought I was the only one who felt it." Cody is a very mysterious person now that I think about it, I don't know anything about him, just that he likes to help people and has good ideas. I guess I need to be more attentive to him from now on.
"Well, there's no point in thinking about it, my offer still stands princess, I know you like me, so it's only a matter of time before you come to me," he said trying to be funny.
"Ha, in your dreams... But if it's to break the rules, I guess I can consider it," I replied, it felt pretty good after all.
"I guess that's the best I'll get out of you," he said happily.
"I have to use the bathroom, I'll see you later," I said, those sandwiches did more than make me nauseous.
"I'll be waiting for you right here princess," he sneered.
"Stop calling me that," I said as I left, as it turned out that he wasn't so bad after all.
-0-
POV. Cody
I smiled as I watched Courtney leave without kissing Duncan this time, they were talking for quite a long time, I wonder what they were talking about.
" Attention, all remaining boot camp recruits, the next evolution of your training begins tomorrow morning at 0700 hours! And if I catch the sucker that took my desserts, your butt is mine".
Parece que se dio cuenta.
-0-
Duncan, Courtney, Geoff, Owen, Heather and I were hanging upside down in the branches of a tree, the last one standing wins for the team. Gwen quit first as being upside down made her nauseous, she had barely recovered from her stomach infection, it seems like it would be up to me to win the challenge, I just hope to outlast Geoff.
The chef was telling us what all the symptoms we could experience when Duncan fell.
"¡Duncan!", Courtney is declining.
"Don't worry, it's okay," Bridgette said after checking it out.
I put my hands on the branch, as well as Geoff and Courtney. Owen was trying, but he couldn't reach the branch. In the end he just farted and laughed.
"Okay, that's it. I'm done," Heather told me before getting off fed up, "Ouch!", but Owen fell on top of her. Yes, I was able to warn her, but she left me here alone, karma is a bitch... just like you, darling, "Off of me, you big ox!" she said angrily.
"I'm sorry," Owen replied.
"Hahahahahahahahaha", Courtney suddenly had a fit of laughter, it seems that eating all those desserts at once along with the blood on her head made her very giggly, finally she let go and fell to the floor laughing.
The chef stood in front of her, "I expected more from you, soldier."
"Hahahaha, I don't care, hahahaha, that was so funny, hahahaha," she said while still laughing.
"It all depends on Geoff's assets," Sadie said.
"Cody, you can do it," Lindsay said.
"Don't worry, I've got it," I replied, I didn't feel bad at least.
"Rock on, dude, I live for the head rush!," Geoff said swaying a little, bad idea, "It feels… so… good," then fell to the floor with a heavy blow.
"Uh, that's going to leave a mark," said Courtney, who was back to normal.
I finally got down from the tree, "woah", although I was a little dizzy, Lindsay came running to give me a hug, then Owen put me on his shoulders while everyone celebrated our victory.
"Cody!", the chef stopped us, "Congratulations, soldier. I'd go to war with you anytime", he said with a wave, I just gave it back, then we went to celebrate.
-0-
Era hora de la ceremonia de eliminación de los bagres, me escondí en el mismo lugar que durante su primera ceremonia, hora de ver si pude cambiar las cosas.
" I only have five marshmallows on my plate... and these marshmallows represent the campers that will continue to be campers", said Chris, " you've all cast your ballots in the confession can, if I do not call your name, you must immediately go down to the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and go home And you can't come back, Ever!".
All the Bass looked at each other, things were much more divided this time.
"... Bridgette... Geoff... Sadie... Courtney," I breathe a sigh of relief at that, it looks like this will be between... "Campers, this is the last marshmallow of the night...
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...Harold", Chris said, surprising everyone.
"What? You've got to be kidding old man," Duncan told him angrily.
"I'm sorry, but no jokes this time, oh~ chef~," the big man stood behind Duncan and carried him on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, thus carrying him towards the boat.
Yes! I got it, I started to go back to the cabins. With Duncan off the island, I wouldn't have to worry about the boys' alliance, or one of the tougher competitors. In the same way Courtney was still in the competition fairly, so she wouldn't freak out like she did during the season of action, not to mention that with them separated and with their not-so-advanced relationship, it had bought me a lot of time, this was the best possible outcome. But I know this doesn't solve the problem, it just puts it off for a while.
-0-
POV. Third person
The chef tossed Duncan into the boat of losers.
"Duncan," Courtney came running, "I don't know what happened, I swear I didn't vote for you."
"Don't worry, princess, I know you didn't, it's not your style," he told her, "It looks like I'm finally getting out of this dump," the criminal said.
"I swear I'll find out what happened," Courtney promised.
"Don't bother, anyone could do this, you focus on winning this competition, you're the most passionate here after all," Duncan told her.
"Thank you," Courtney replied with a blush.
"By the way, you never answered me when I asked you if you were going to kiss me or not, now seems like the best time for an answer," he said as he approached her, but Courtney put her hand in the middle.
"Maybe a date first?" he said, smiling.
"I can live with that," the boat started to leave, "hey princess catch. It's so you remember me," Duncan threw a wood-carved skull at him.
" Okay, this is really weird and creepy, but I love it, I hope we see each other soon," Courtney told him as the boat pulled away.
She looked at the skull in her hand, "squawking," but was snatched away by a well-known seagull.
"What!? No! Give it back to me, feathered demon!" she shouted to the departing seagull.
Chris appeared out of nowhere watching the whole scene, "oh dude, that's unfortunate, will Courtney get back Duncan's gift or it will abandon her like the real one did?"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Courtney accused.
"A little bit, yes, will Courtney find out what happened? What will happen now that everyone's favorite delinquent is gone? Find out next week on TOTAL... DRAMA... ISLAND!"
-0-
Harold is at the campfire toasting his marshmallow.
Confessional.
Harold
He uses a pocket tool to open the ballot box, "let's see if my joke is funny to you, Duncan", he proceeds to change the votes.
End of the confessional.
He finishes roasting his marshmallow looking into the camera with a soap opera villain look, "yes."