Settling in. Challenge number one. Will we fit it all in? Thanks for reviewing, iwashere01 and OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla.

Emma grabbed a top bunk as soon as we got into the cabins, so I plonked my bag on the bottom bunk seconds before MK, who was headed for the same one, took it.

"Sorry," I said quickly and awkwardly, "I just…really wanted this bunk. No hard feelings?"

MK smiled and shrugged, taking the bunk opposite mine. "I don't really care. As long as you're not going to change your mind and push me out of this one," she said dryly. Well, I hadn't expected that, but I smiled back, assuming she was making a joke.

Meanwhile, Julia had the top bunk above MK, while Nichelle got the last bunk to herself. While Julia was arranging flowers on the night table between bunks and the others were making small talk, I decided to try talking to my YouTube idol.

"Hey, Emma?' I said shyly, looking up at her. "Sorry in advance for this pun, but…I really look up to you. Like, on those livestreams. I used to catch up on any I hadn't seen live every weekend. Once you left, it wasn't even half as good. Have you started your own channel?"

Emma smiled. "Come on up," she invited. "Yeah, I've made an account and I'm experimenting, but I'm still thinking about how to start my own series. I need to decide what to do with it first." She scowled suddenly. "Not pulling pranks. I can't believe Chase is here!"

I nodded sympathetically as I pulled myself up the ladder and sat down next to her, cross-legged. Then I changed the subject. "So what have you been trying out with videos? And what's the name of your channel? I want to look it up when I get home."

Emma stopped looking annoyed again and nodded. "At the moment, it's just SingleMeansHappy3to0, but I'm going to change it once I figure out what I'm doing. I've thought about doing health recipes, or trampolining, or just unusual sports. Like darts or archery. I haven't decided yet. Maybe the show will give me a bit of inspiration." She smiled at me. "So, you used to watch our channel? Did you see the one at the rodeo? That was brutal!"

I grimaced. "Yeah, I remember that. I want to be honest, it wasn't my favourite. Rodeos kind of make me feel sick. Mistreating animals, that kind of thing. I can't stand anyone bullying, and that includes if animals are the victims. Especially if it's animals who are the victims."

Emma sobered up immediately. "Oh. Sorry. Yeah, I see what you mean. It was a popular video, but afterwards, we sort of agreed not to do anything else with animals. I have a cat at home and I would seriously maim anyone if they tried to hurt her. So are you a vegetarian as well? I mean, I'm not, but I don't mind if you are."

I smiled, trying not to think about poor Nefi. "Actually, I am, but I'm not out to convert anyone. As long as no one tries to convert me."

Despite her rage fit on the dock, Emma seemed pretty nice when Chase wasn't around. If anything, she seemed the friendliest one in our cabin. I mean, I was dying to find out why they broke up, but I was too shy to start asking probing questions straight away, especially since I worried they might come out wrong. Maybe when I felt we were proper friends. It was too early. At least, I thought so.

Not everyone felt the same way as me.

We were getting well acquainted when Bowie came in. It wasn't exactly unheard of for a guy to visit the girls' cabin, I guessed, but it did make me wonder if the other guys would want to. Oh well, I guessed it didn't matter as long as we were all decently dressed.

"Hey," he said, looking up at us, "Any room for me up there?"

Emma nodded at him, and I shrugged agreeably. Emma was the heaviest of the three of us. I was average, just with slightly less coverage than her, and Bowie was tall, but super-skinny. The three of us could fit easily. He climbed up gracefully and perched on the end with his legs dangling.

I smiled nervously, and said the first thing I could think of. "Cool shades. Shame I can't wear that colour, but you know…my hair." I had to start somewhere, and I couldn't stop admiring those sunglasses. I mean, a compliment never hurt.

Bowie just grinned and said "I don't blame you. But if I had your hair, I wouldn't keep it restrained like that. That shade is so good on you, and I can tell it's usually long."

"It's only to keep it out of my eyes for the show," I admitted. "I usually just braid it loosely. I was thinking ahead for a game like this. I don't want to be in the perfect position to win and then have my hair ruin it."

Bowie gave me an approving look. "Smart move." Then he turned to Emma, asking "So, your ex – what's with that?"

Emma scowled, arms folded, just repeating that she couldn't believe Chase was here. "This is my competition."

"Let it out," Bowie pressed. "What did he do to you? Tell me everything."

Okay, I wanted to know too, but I thought that was a little bit too forceful. We'd only just met! Maybe it was just a guy thing, being super direct to get gossip. I loved gossip too, but I usually tried to pull it out of my friends more gently than that. I wouldn't have known how guys did it, since I didn't know any guys who were into gossip at home.

"I don't want to get into it," Emma insisted. "When I win the million, I'm donating half to an animal shelter."

Okay, I wasn't sure how that had anything to do with Chase, but I approved. I gave Emma my nicest smile and told her, "I would absolutely be behind that. When I win, I'm going to the local animal shelter in my town to adopt a dog. Then I'm going to make sure it has the best of everything and pay for any shots and vet bills and such. I'm hoping for a puppy, but if I click with an older dog who's already got its shots, I can put the rest away for college. Maybe donate a bit of it to the shelter, like you, for helping me find my soul mate."

"Awww, those are both things I would never do," Bowie commented. I wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to say – was it that we were being selfless or naïve? Smart or stupid? He seemed to think our choices were cute, but I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.

I leaned over to Emma and whispered, "Does that have another meaning to you? I can't read his tone."

She shrugged in reply. Still, at least I was getting on with my teammates so far, even the one I'd been sure I wouldn't be able to talk to. And I did want to form an alliance…

I made a quick confessional just before we had to be at the beach. I'd already consciously decided not to give away any secrets in the confessionals because I'd seen someone eavesdrop on another contestant before, and I didn't want that to happen to me. But thinking about alliances and making friendships wasn't a secret. "Emma seems a bit hot-headed and angry, but that's probably just because she was surprised to find Chase here. She'll probably calm down soon. They broke up a while ago, after all. Apart from that, she seems nice. She'll probably be good at challenges from all the crazy things she took on in their series. I don't know if Bowie will be good at challenges or not, but he seems really interested in that drama and pretty friendly. I mean, he seems to like both of us, so I can work with that. Sometimes you have to let your friends pick you. I might need to hang out with them more before I decide whether to work with them."

Just as I was walking out, I heard the intercom squeak. "Hey, campers!" Chris' voice blared. "It's challenge time!"

The challenge was pretty short, probably to ease everyone into the game. Two members of each team had to be blindfolded, tied together at the waist, charge through a booby-trapped area, pick up two buckets of chum, and bring them back. Then they'd place it on a platform in a tower with the team icon on it. Two more team members – three for our team, Chef ordered – would call out navigation to help our blindfolded teammates. When the chum was on the platforms, four team members would pull on the ropes to get the chum to the top of the tower for the navigators to grab.

I immediately opted to be one of the three playing navigator. I wasn't bad at giving instructions and projecting, and as I hoped they would, Emma and Bowie volunteered to be the other two as soon as I jumped in. I mean, it could have been coincidence, but I didn't think so. I wasn't sure what Bowie was thinking just yet, but Emma definitely seemed to like me. Them wanting to work with me made me feel very hopeful about making an alliance with them. Maybe we would be able to become friends along the way. Meanwhile, we had MK and Raj waiting at one rope, with Caleb and Julia on the other to do the pulling. That left Nichelle and Wayne to retrieve the chum.

There were way too many traps to make sure we got through it without the duo hitting at least one. From what I knew about Total Drama, I suspected that it was intentional. I remembered one episode where Chris said he was hoping some people got really hurt because wishing them good luck was detrimental to the ratings.

"We need to make sure we have one consistent voice," I whispered to my teammates. "That way, they know what to listen for. Then we can pass on instructions through them."

Emma had the clearest voice, so Bowie and I agreed to pass on our points through her. At least that helped. The other team had Chase and Ripper blindfolded, and Ripper insisted on running through a pyramid of crabs because he thought Millie's left was their right and ended up ripping the seat of his pants. Damien and Millie, who were both navigating, were so horrified I just kept my eyes off their team.

I spotted the trap right ahead of our own team and nudged Emma, pointing. "Stop!" she called out. "There's a hornet's nest right above you!"

"A line of them!" I hissed to her, but her call made them duck on time and continue staying low. It wouldn't stop the hornets from landing on them, but there was a much lower chance of getting stung.

"If I get stung," I heard Nichelle call, "Can you make sure it's not on my face?"

Um, it was far more likely that she'd get stung there. Her face was the closest to the nests.

As it was, one of the hornets stung Wayne and he reacted, ending up with a hive getting stuck on his head, so Nichelle got stung almost as badly as he did. They had red weals all over their faces and arms for the rest of the day.

Ripper ended up running into a rake, which made him double over again, giving everyone a view I wasn't prepared for. I caught a glimpse of it just before Bowie flung out his arms to cover my eyes on one side and Emma's on the other. "Whoa! Do not look at Ripper right now."

"Thanks, but too late, and I wish it wasn't," I muttered under my breath. As it was, the sight had been so bad that Bowie's sunglasses shattered. Still, I wanted to find out where they came from so I could go looking for my own in blue when the season was over.

Our teammates also hit a rake. We called out to them to just slow down, at least until Caleb spoke up, and said "Nah, we should pick up the pace."

Bowie gazed at him for a moment, and then agreed "Caleb's right. Move!" Yeah, like he didn't just agree with that because Caleb was hot. I saw that look.

Wayne hit a pole next, but at least he wasn't badly hurt. Apparently his hockey uniform included a cup for such situations. The other team hit a mud puddle, but we were looking good by this point.

"You got this!" Emma called. "Straight forward!"

Chase, now muddy, interpreted this as being for him and called out "Thanks for the help, babe!"
"I wasn't talking to you!" Emma shouted back at him, her face going pink with fury. "You are doing horrible! And you don't get to call me babe anymore!"

"Why are you so mad at me?" Chase asked, looking genuinely confused. How had he not worked it out, whatever it was? Hadn't it been months?

Emma's face reddened even more. "Are you kidding?!"

Bowie and I exchanged glances. I might have waited for Emma to feel like telling me and he might have tried to ask within half an hour of meeting, but we were both desperate to know.

"You cut the brakes on my car!" Emma shrieked.

Another glance with Bowie. Neither of us had expected something like that. Bowie later on admitted to me he thought Chase had kissed another girl or something like that. I thought he'd probably done some kind of dangerous prank, knowing their videos, but I hadn't expected him to go as far as cutting her brakes. That video hadn't been uploaded. It turned out it had caused Emma to crash into a pet store, which was why she wanted to donate her money to a cause for animals. Well, she said 25% this time, but I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for MK pointing out that she'd said half before.

I guess it was our fault we lost, with all that drama on our minds. Ripper and Chase somehow got back before us, their team pulled at the ropes, and Millie and Damien had their chum just as Wayne accidentally landed on a pit of hot coals (Emma managed to get them to jump the first one, but they landed wrong) and dropped one bucket on the ground and the other on Nichelle. We'd be the first ones to vote someone off, and I was terrified it could be me. I hadn't done anything in the challenge apart from whisper a couple of commands for Emma to call out.

Either way, in case I went home, I had something to do.

Before the elimination, I thought I'd give Tansy some extra material, related to what she's already tried. Guessed what it is?