If you know me, you know I like break days. So here's one for you.

The next day was actually a break. We were going to have a few between some challenges, although not all of them would have a break.

I mostly stuck with Emma and Bowie. It seemed to be a given that the three of us were going to be staying as a trio until one of us got eliminated, and even though none of us called it an alliance, it definitely was one. But we were going to be friends, too, so the three of us spent the day mostly getting to know each other, not talking too much about the game. Emma had lots of funny stories about the stunts on the videos she'd done and dared the guys to do. I told them all about Nefi (although I didn't tell them she'd been put down – I wasn't ready to say that yet) and talked a bit more about why I wanted a dog and the reason I loved animals so much. Bowie told us about how he'd won Prom King and Queen at his school and how he was on a mission to get as many crowns as possible. He didn't say anything about it being the reason he was on Total Drama, but I guessed.

"You know you don't get a crown for winning this, right?" I said with an awkward laugh. "I mean, the prize is a million dollars."

Bowie waved a hand. "It's not like I don't want to be a millionaire. I mean, I might buy some kind of crown as a symbol. If I use the prize money, it means I did win a crown on here, pretty much."

I grinned, seeing the logic. "Smart. I'm pretty worried about what will happen once we're in competition with each other, even before the finals."

"Well, we can still stick together until there's no one left to stand against," Emma chipped in. "At least, I'll stand by both of you. Once there's no one left but us, may the best girl – or guy – win. For the moment, let's just not worry about that."

We agreed.

I did, however, visit the confessional to talk about it. "I think I've chosen the right alliance. I mean, I always liked Emma. She's just like she was in the videos – adventurous, funny and passionate. I like Bowie's commitment to winning, even if it makes me wonder if teaming up with a determined winner is good, because I get the feeling he will get ruthless as soon as he has to. Oh well," I smiled as brightly as I could, "It might never happen. As long as I go home with these two as friends, I guess something was worth coming here for."

And as we got to know each other better, it seemed like I'd chosen the right people. Emma loved animals almost as much as I did and in spite of her hostility towards Chase, she had this vibe of warmth and expressive friendliness. She was more of a cat person than a dog person, but there wasn't really much of a difference when you were sympathetic towards all animals. I didn't have as much in common with Bowie, but he was so outgoing and seemed genuinely interested in getting to know us that it was hard not to warm to him. I even discovered a few things we did have in common, like we both liked high school movies. "I guess I just like the petty drama," Bowie admitted. "It's so predictable, but the jokes aren't. Have you seen the one from the 80s about the girl who starts dating a homicidal psychopath?"

I looked at him, wide-eyed. "That's a high school movie? I mean, I was thinking more of comedies like Mean Girls. I liked that one so much that I watched Vampire Academy just because it was the same creators. And it was OK. I read the book after that, and I'm glad I did, because I liked it even better."

Bowie laughed at my comment. "Mean Girls wouldn't exist if not for this one. It invented the trio of popular girls thing, and it's a comedy, too, just with a lot of dark humour. I'd love to see your reaction to it – you think it's going to be a normal teen movie and then one of the main characters pulls a gun on the jocks. I couldn't stop laughing. Especially on the rewatch when I knew what was going to happen."

I shrugged. "As long as you're not going to pull a gun on Wayne and Raj…maybe you can get me to watch the movie when the season's over. I mean, if we keep in touch."

"Well," Emma said, "I'd like to keep in touch with both of you. I haven't seen that movie, either, but I like pretty much all movies." She giggled. "Romcoms, mostly, but my second favourite genre is horror movies, because those were good inspiration for dares and stunts. I even like that trope where no one ever listens to the teens because they're just kids and they always wind up saving their town single-handedly. It just proves that we're powerful." She mimed a karate kick, almost making contact with my knee. "Oops!" She stopped when I flinched away. "Sorry, Tansy."

The only thing I didn't like about Emma was that she tended to go on about Chase quite a lot. She had nothing good to say about him. I mean, it was fine for a little bit, and sure, he sounded terrible from the stories she told (although I knew she was telling it from a biased standpoint), but she went on much longer tangents than she needed to. I mostly said nothing, just trying to be a good listener, nodding and keeping my eyes on her. Bowie was better than me at listening supportively, affirming and validating most of what she said, almost encouraging her to vent. To be fair, it was really about ten minutes of complaining that morning, before Emma finally said "Okay. Rant over. Not talking about him anymore."

But inevitably, Chase came up a few more times, and each time, it would take a while before Emma could get back to whatever we were talking about before she brought him up. Like he knew she preferred horror movies or romcoms, but he always took her to action movies on their dates, or he always dismissed her suggestions for background music in their videos but always agreed to the music his friends suggested. I'm not even sure how we got onto the complaint that she couldn't even order pizzas with him because he'd inhale his, get sauce all over his face in the process, and then eat all of hers too – although she did sometimes manage to get one slice before he attacked her pie. I think we were talking about favourite foods, but Emma was the one who brought up pizza when it wasn't even her favourite – my top pick was a vegetarian pasta bake I'd found online (something I'd learned to cook on my own), Bowie was into creating his own salad recipes so they actually tasted interesting (combining different ingredients that actually worked, including some proteins and carbs as well as the usual vegetables and such) and Emma's all-time favourite was white chocolate…but as soon as she'd said that, she started telling us about Chase's pizza obsession.

I quickly changed the subject at that point, saying "Okay, so that relationship was never going to end well, I guess. Never steal your partner's pizza. Have you dated anyone else?"

That distracted Emma, who sighed and admitted. "Not seriously. I wasted a whole year on that one. I wish I'd seen what a jerk he was sooner. I mean, we had some good times, but now I look back and realize that I could have done so much better and I was wasting my time with him." She looked at me and asked, "How about you?"

I shrugged. "People don't really notice me. Soon as they get used to my hair, I'm invisible girl. I don't mind too much. I've got friends to hang out with. I mean, not that Whitney or Cory aren't cute, but she's got a boyfriend and I've been friends with him since I was in preschool and dating him would be like dating a cousin or brother. Still, it would be nice to have someone special who makes me feel valued. If I do get my dog, maybe that'll be enough – I'll feel valued without having to worry about all the human stuff." I paused, then asking "What about you, Bowie?"

Bowie shrugged too. "I've been on some dates," he admitted. "Nothing serious. I mean, come on, we're still in high school. Most people don't come out until college. I mean, no one picks on me for it or anything, and I've got tons of friends, it's just that I'm the only one in our grade who's openly gay. I went on some online dates because it was the only way I could find anyone, but there was no one who really got me. I'm like you, Tansy – I'm not actively looking right now. If it happens, it happens."

Well, that was confirmation for me after the way he'd looked at Caleb yesterday. I wondered if that was an ulterior motive – that he didn't want to get distracted and that's why he wanted Caleb gone. Oh well, the reasoning was solid. Caleb's good looks were distracting to me, too.

Emma smiled slyly. "Maybe I should try setting you guys up on dates. That could be a good series, me setting up my friends and analysing the results. Permission essential, of course."

That sounded amusing. A little awkward, but so was I. So I said "I can be your guinea pig, if you want, Emma. So if you like the results from me, you have a premiere. But, um, if I don't like the results, I'll only do it once."

Emma shrugged, looking totally calm. "Sure. One date, unless you want me to try again. If you want, I can check out the island first, whenever we're not working on challenges or voting strategy."

I nodded, adding "Just don't pair me with Damien. I said I'd be friends with him and I don't want him to think I want anything more from him. He's hot and all, but Chris already tried to convince him I had ulterior motives and I'd rather prove I'm innocent."

Emma nodded. "You give me permission to set you up, I respect your vetoes. I'll see what I can do. Oh – do you date girls as well as guys?"

I thought about it, and shrugged. "It's never really come up for me before. I guess."

Emma grinned. "Okay. Leave it to me. Next rest day."

Not much else happened during the rest day, except that I got everyone's names committed to memory by the end of it. Well, and the fact that everyone on the other team had dubbed Lauren "Scary Girl". Even Chris had started calling her that, so our team did too. She didn't act like she minded – if anything, she seemed to like the name. Oh well. I'd probably keep calling her Lauren in my head, but if she preferred people to call her Scary Girl, I'd call her that out loud.

I think Emma's a romantic at heart. It explains why she stayed with Chase so long. Whether she gets back with him this time…maybe. As for Bowie never having a serious boyfriend before… think about it. How many high school kids act like themselves? Bowie's an unusually confident person. There are probably a few closeted people in his school. Oh, and favourite foods for characters? They're headcanons. I'm not vegetarian, but vegetarian pasta bakes can be amazing. Emma and white chocolate just seems to fit, and…okay, I'm not saying Bowie likes salads because he's thin. It's because I see him as pretty healthy (you have to be when you're that active) and I can imagine him being experimental with flavour pairing. His salads probably would have some carbs and protein, like fish or chicken, and probably a lot of colour, too.