Episode 3? Or a break day? Let's find out. Thanks for reviewing, OnmiIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla.

I wasn't sure if we were going to get a break or not the next day, but when it was announced that the next challenge was going to take a while to set up and it would take most of the day, we knew that this was pretty much a break for us.

Since I'd spent most of the last break day with Emz and Bowie, I only spent the afternoon with them. In the morning, I sought out Damien. "How was the last challenge for you?" I asked him.

He grimaced. "Thanks for warning me," was his reply. "Those sharks freaked me out. It was just lucky that Scary Girl saved me. No wonder she likes that name – she scares me almost as much as the sharks did."

"What's she like most of the time?" I asked. "I know she likes macabre stuff, but how far does she go with that?"

Damien shrugged. "Priya told me she asked her if she screams in her sleep. Apparently she likes it when people scream. I'm terrified of her. I think she's been following me a bit, actually."

"Show no fear," I suggested. "If she likes making people scream, just stop reacting whenever she shows up. If she thinks you're not afraid of her, she might leave you alone. You could even start calling her Lauren, because that shows that you don't think she's scary like the name says."

Damien shrugged. "I'll try. I know that's the tactic for bullies, but I'm worried that'll make her try harder because she already knows I'm scared of her. I guess that's the thing – I'm used to bullies. I used to get called a nerd when I was a kid. I started making more of an effort to fit in from middle school and now I still get considered a bit of a nerd, butbecause I know how to dress and my studies aren't the only thing I'm interested in, no one gives me a hard time about it anymore. Some people who started out teasing me left me alone when I ignored them, but a few of them just tried to wind me up more. I'm worried because Scary Girl knows she can scare me, so if I stop looking scared now, she might go further with trying to scare me. It's an equal chance and I'm not sure I wanna risk her going further. "

I nodded, sighing. "I don't know how else you deal with someone like her. Apart from scare her back, and I don't see how you do that. Unless you can get a bunch of the most kawaii things imaginable."

Damien frowned a little. "Cute things? Why would that scare her?"

I shrugged. "Macabre things don't. I figured cutesy things would scare her more than things that are supposed to scare people. You should ask Priya or Millie – they might have brought a few things. I'll ask the girls in my cabin, if you like."

Damien only managed a wobbly smile, so I changed the subject and he started to cheer up properly. I told him about my plans for the money, which he supported me about. "I've never actually had a pet," he said, "Cause I was more interested in reading, science, all that kind of thing. Lots of solitary things where I had to concentrate. Animals didn't really fit in. But some of my friends had pets, and, you know, it seemed like if it was a dog, it was like them having another friend. So I get the appeal."

"So what do you want to do with the money?" I asked automatically.

Damien shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I'm only here because my friends dared me to audition. Maybe just college. I want to go into chemistry, or maybe biology. Something science-y. I would probably do one or two papers in something from a technical standpoint as an elective. Maybe something more creative. I've looked at music from a technical standpoint, so if there's a paper on that, that could work."

I smiled. "You know how you said you got picked on for being a nerd? I mean, you don't look nerdy, but I guess that's the thing. Nowadays, nerdiness isn't the opposite of cool and you can be both. I saw this study on high school hierarchies, and the people that are academic are much higher on the social totem than they were, like, ten years ago. I think you're a cool nerd."

Damien grinned at me. "Awww, thanks, Tanz. You're cool, too. I get this feeling that you're trying hard to fit in with everyone, but you know, you don't have to. I like who you are – just be natural."

I giggled out of anxiety. "You know my label is the Awkward Animals' Friend on here? I'm awkward."

"Only when you first start getting to know someone," Damien said, and I could tell he was being honest. "As soon as I opened up, you opened up, too. You stopped trying so hard and the real you was coming through. I liked her, and she wasn't awkward. Just be yourself and stop worrying about it. The real you is much more interesting and likeable than the try-hard."

I couldn't help blushing a little. I knew my cheeks were going pink, but I managed a smile ."Well, thanks. I'll try…um, not try…and be myself, but I might be more awkward than you think."

Because of that, I was a little more myself with my teammates. It was easier to be myself around them, now I knew them better. Emz wasn't talking as much about Chase as she had before, but she told us some behind-the-scenes stories of the pranks she'd pulled on him and his friends during the livestreams and the dares they'd taken (but they'd had all the information, whereas Chase had not given her that when he cut her brakes). Bowie, meanwhile, told us about some of the other competitions he'd been in, mainly the ones he won. He was particularly proud of a difficult win in Little Miss/Mr Fabulous, which he'd won when he was eight.

"Even when things look hopeless, I never give up," he told us. "I haven't won everything, but I know how to deal with it. I just pick up and move on, and work on whatever I didn't do well enough. Did you two watch the spin-off of the old show with those Olympians who were obsessed with gold medals? I don't waste energy hating people who want the same thing I do. I go in, try to do better than them, and if one of them does beat me, then fine, they earned it and I have something to work on."

That was a mature way to handle losing, and I actually didn't think I would be that graceful a loser. I didn't necessarily think I'd win Total Drama, and nor was I mega-competitive, but if I had been, I wasn't sure I'd be that generous.

I shook my head at the question about the spin-off. "So did they win that show?"

Bowie smirked a little. "Nope, they came third at the very end, and came pretty close to getting further, although they almost got eliminated in the middle of the game. One of them started screaming and almost threw a hot dog cart across Central Park before her partner stopped her. Then they went on about how both teams in the finale were terrible. I mean, talk about sore losers."

Emz giggled. "I watched that spin-off, actually. I remember those two – they were way obnoxious. The teams in the finale were both really good, actually, but I wish that sister team had won. They were cool and interesting."

I couldn't join in with that conversation, since I hadn't seen it, but I listened. Emz insisted her pick had absolutely nothing to do with the older sister having the same name as her, stating that she liked the younger sister more anyway. Bowie admitted that he didn't really have a favourite team, but his least favourite was a couple of stepbrothers who had no strategy and just got through half the show without even trying.

Nothing much else happened, except that I noticed Zee had swapped to wearing cargo shorts instead of the baggy long pants he'd been wearing at first. They suited him better, actually, and I started getting used to seeing his prosthetic. He was already animatedly telling people all about how he lost his leg. I'd assumed it was some kind of infection or just something that happened when he was born, but his stories said otherwise.

Still, I was glad of the break. I felt a lot more relaxed now that my team had won a challenge, and ready for the next one.

I'll admit I have something special planned for the next one. Tansy has some teammates she hasn't interacted with much yet. As for Zee, as we know, he tells a lot of wild stories about losing his leg, even though he never had more than one.