Not So Happy Campers, Part 1
Carrie White sighed to herself as the admittedly very nice speedboat she was on rocked violently once again due to hitting a wave or something. She doubted the rest of the contestants boat rides were this bumpy; just something else to chalk up to the old Carrie White luck.
Carrie, for the umpteenth time this morning, looked around the cabin of the boat. The ride to the resort hotel waiting for the contestants was apparently a long one, as it had taken all morning just to get there. The inside of the boat was nice, as she stated before, but it was incredibly sparse, leaving not much to occupy the mind with.
She apparently wasn't allowed to look at the lake scenery zooming by the boat, nor was the boat driver dressed in flannel shirt and khakis allowed to talk to her. Carrie, however, suspected that the driver simply didn't want to talk to any of the teenage contestants… or, at the very least, her.
Carrie tried to think of something to occupy her mind with, but the only thing she could think of was her last few moments in home town of Chamberlain, Maine. Her mother's voice, fresh off the rage of finding out her daughter had signed up for a Canadian reality show, still echoed throughout her mind. "Never darken my doorstep again, Carrietta!", she had bellowed, then slammed the door in her daughter's face.
Carrie bit back tears at the memory of that awful day, before steeling herself. All she had to do was fly under the radar of everyone else, and then win the game. Doubt, however, began to creep into her skull. She didn't know exactly how the reality show competition would be played; the online application forms had been oddly vague on that subject. And, besides, how in the world was Carrie White supposed to win a popular, reality TV competition?
She sighed once again. Well, at the very least, it got her away from her dreaded life back in Maine for a summer.
It was then she noticed that the boat seemed to be slowing down. "We're here.", said the driver, tersely. "Please make your way to the front of the boat."
Carrie obediently grabbed her suitcase (a bulky, box-like thing that had once belonged to her father), and began to lug it to the front of the boat. She exited the cabin, and entered into the sunlight of the bow of the boat.
She felt her jaw drop at the sight of what awaited her for the summer. The 'five-star resort' they were to be staying at was in fact a run-down summer camp. Though, they were on an island; at least that was accurate to the application forms, she thought bitterly. Carrie forced back more tears once again; the good ol' Carrie White luck.
She then tried to haul her gigantic suitcase over the railing of the boat… and failed. She tripped over her own feet due to the weight of the damned thing, and feel on her knee onto the dock.
She heard a couple of the other teenagers who were already here snicker at her escapade as she got back up on her feet. She looked around at the myriad of teenagers looking at her; the cameraman nearby filming everything, no doubt being broadcast to her laughing classmates back at Chamberlain; and a rickety old sign on the dock that read, 'Camp Wawanawkwa."
There was also a man there; a man who made Carrie embarrassingly blush when she caught sight of him. She recognized the face from a lot of tabloid magazines she had smuggled into her house under Mama's nose. She fought back the blush, as Chris McLean himself introduced her.
"And our final contestant is Carrie.", said Chris, motioning to her. "How does it feel to be here?"
Carrie looked down, lest she blush again. "Good.", she muttered.
Chris, who was apparently expecting exuberance, frowned slightly. He shrugged, then pulled out a disposable camera. "Whatever. Before we actually begin the competition, we need to take a pic for the promos. Everyone to the end of the dock." Chris proceeded to jump on to Carrie's still docked boat, and angle the camera's shot.
The rest of the contestants filed over to where Carrie was, most of them keeping a wide berth between them and her freaky demeanor and clothes. Only an Asian girl wearing what Mama would call 'devil clothes' outright sneered at her and bumped into her.
Carrie herself made herself as discreet as possible at the very edge of the picture's frame. She then tried her best to smile.
It looked like her luck had one last surprise for her that morning. As soon as Chris stopped fiddling with the camera, the dock all twenty-three campers were standing on gave completely out. She, as well as the rest of her now fellow campers, were dunked into lake.
Chris then gave them the chance to use ten minutes to dry off, then meet at the campfire pit to do some sort of opening introductions.
Of course, with everyone scrambling for a towel from a group of interns dressed in the same flannel and khakis of Carrie's boat driver, Carrie was only able to dry herself off in three minutes.
Not that this did anything for her still soaked clothes. She was forced to trudge in her drenched shoes up to the campfire pit, squelching all the way.
She thought back on this as she looked in the cracked mirror of the communal bathrooms. She was busy drying her still dripping hair with some of the paper towels provided in the restroom.
At least at the campfire pit, Carrie was able to find out a little about the game she was playing. There would be two teams, and ever day there would be a challenge. The team that loses the challenge will have to vote someone off the island.
This will presumably continue until only one camper was remaining, who would win the cash prize.
Carrie had been put on the Screaming Gophers team; no doubt this will cause a lot of laughter from the Ultras back in Chamberlain High.
Carrie finished drying her hair. She turned to leave seeing a large rat scamper across the concrete floor. She shuddered in disgust, then left the building.
She walked back to the Gopher cabin, and entered the girls' side. Most of the other girls paid her no mind, except for Heather who whispered something in Lindsay's ear.
It was undoubtedly some kind of insult, as Lindsay snickered and said, "Stop it. That's mean."
Carrie sighed internally, then walked towards the bunk bed she had previously picked out. She passed by a scowling Gwen and a sniffling Katie, before she made it to her bunk.
She stopped for a moment; someone's suitcase was sitting on her bunk bed. Carrie looked over and cringed; she had put that bulky suitcase in a place where it wouldn't be easily seen.
Leshawna walked up to the bunk bed, as the unfamiliar suitcase was apparently hers.
"What's wrong?", said the girl, looking deceptively concerned. She then finally took notice of Carrie's suitcase.
"Oh, sorry, girl.", said Leshawna, waving her hand casually. "I didn't know this was your bunk."
Carrie looked down, and muttered, "It's OK. I'll move."
"Oh, no, it's fine. Leshawna ain't going to kick someone out of their own bed."
Carrie edged towards the bed. Why is she being so nice to me? Isn't she weirded out by me?
Convinced now that this was some sort of trick, that a prank was waiting on the bed, she hefted up her suitcase and muttered again, "I don't want any trouble."
She then left a highly confused Leshawna to find another bunk.
"Listen up! I serve it three times a day, and you will eat it three times a day! So grab a tray, get your food, and sit your butts down now!"
After the camp cook's opening monologue, Carrie din't cause trouble with him. Some, like Gwen or Beth, openly questioned the food's actual edibility… and got screamed at.
Carrie took her tray silently, and sat down by herself at the edge of the Gopher's table. The sloppy joes provided for them were disgusting, but she forced it down anyway.
After a while, Chris came in to tell them that their first challenge will be in twenty minutes. As everyone got up to follow the host, she heard Katie mutter, "What do you think they'll make us do?"
A big, black teen from the Bass who's name Carrie didn't get said, "It's our first challenge, how hard can it be?"
Everyone else seemed to take comfort in this, except Carrie.
The good ol' Carrie luck, was her only thought…
Like my other fic, Killer Bass Victorious!, this is a fanfic that I've been trying to get off the ground off and on for a while now.
Now that I've finally completed the Killer Bass fic, I thought this idea was worth another shot as well.
Please make sure to fav and follow this fanfic, as well as leave a lot of reviews.
Not So Happy Campers, Part 2
Carrie shivered slightly to herself, as she and her new-found fellow campers waited with baited breath on the top of the tallest cliff in Wawanawkwa.
Chris was there as well, watching them, as if letting their imaginations picture the horrible fate that awaited them in their first challenge.
"Your first challenge is to jump off this one thousand foot high cliff into the lake.", said Chris, finally.
Carrie sucked on her bottom lip nervously. She had suspected as much; why else had Chris brought them to the top of the cliff?
How was she supposed to jump off this cliff? She could barely stand up to any of her bullies back in Chamberlain, so how could she make this leap?
Although several of the other campers looked nervous about this as well, one blonde girl from the bass actually smiled. "Piece of cake.", Carrie distinctly heard her say.
Carrie almost laughed in incredulity, as Chris went on with his explanation. "If you will look down into the lake, there are three rings in the water. The smaller ring is your target area; the larger one is not. That's because we have stocked that ring with giant… ravenous… sharks!"
Carrie didn't look down the cliff like the rest of the campers (she would've most likely thrown up if she had), but for some reason she didn't doubt Chris' words. Something about him said that, although he lied a lot, he didn't lie about challenges.
As Chris continued with saying something about the second part of their challenge, Carrie backed to the edge of the group, determined to be as far away from the cliff's edge as possible.
The Killer Bass were soon called to perform their jumps first, which the blonde girl from before (Bridgette) did with some reluctance. Geoff, Eva, and Duncan soon followed.
Every time someone jumped and disappeared down the cliff, Carrie felt her stomach lurch up, almost as if she were the one jumping at that moment.
Eventually, the Bass finished, with only DJ and Courtney refusing to jump. Chris apparently liked humiliation as well, because the two of them were forced to wear a chicken hat to signify their cowardice.
Carrie did get a new teammate when Katie switched with Izzy over to the Killer Bass. The red-haired girl looked positively thrilled to be jumping off this cliff, judging by how she was hopping up and down in anticipation.
Carrie continued to stew in her own fear of jumping off the cliff, even ignoring Heather being thrown off the cliff by Leshawna.
Eventually, after an ungodly short amount of time, it seemed there were only three people left on the top of the cliff: herself, Trent, and Owen.
"Let's do this, guys!", Trent said to the two others, high-fived Owen, then jumped off the cliff.
"All right, you guys.", Chris said through a bullhorn to the campers who were already at the bottom. "There's just two campers left who haven't jumped. The Gophers need this for the win."
He put down the megaphone, and smiled a fake smile at Owen and Carrie. "No pressure, dudes.", he said, reassuringly.
"OK, there's pressure!", said Chris, now back through the megaphone.
Carrie was white with fear as she closed her eyes. Owen was slipping on water wings, so he would most likely go next. Which would just leave Carrie.
Carrie knew what was going to happen. She wouldn't be able to make the leap. She would be voted out first thing tonight. She would have to go home to face the ridicule of her fellow teenagers in Chamberlain… and her mother.
As Carrie tried to control her breathing, a large shape appeared in front of tentatively opened her eyes to see Owen now in front of her.
"Hey, it's OK.", said Owen, not unkindly. "I see that your scared to jump off, like me. Do you want to do it together?" He held out his hand.
Carrie stared at him. Was he being serious? Why was he being… nice to her?
For half a second, Carrie thought that he might throw her over the cliff as a prank when she took his hand, much like Leshawna did to Heather.
But she looked into his happy-go-lucky face, and… couldn't help but trust him. Her hand shakily rose up to take his.
Without another thought, Owen turned and pretty much dragged Carrie to the edge of the cliff, due to his weight. For a wild moment, Carrie thought her fears were being proven true, when Owen jumped off as well.
The air stung Carrie's eyes as she fell down. Finally she opened her eyes a fraction of a second to see she and Owen were headed straight for the shark filled ring.
Not seeing any alternative she reached out and…
Flex…
They hit the water in the safe zone. Carrie soon surfaced, rubbing her eyes of water, as Owen surfaced as well just a few feet away.
"Woo-hoo!", said Owen, pumping his fist in the air. "I thought we were goners!"
We were goners, thought Carrie to herself, as she stared down at her hands.
Pretty soon, the Gophers were basking in the joy of victory in the first part of the challenge.
They even began singing one hundred bottles of pop on the wall as they pulled their carts.
Carrie however had more on her mind then victory.
She thought back to herself telekinetically nudging Owen and her into the safe zone. She had moved stuff with her mind before in Chamberlain, but not stuff that size.
She just hoped the cameras hadn't caught any of it.
She also looked to Owen. The big guy had paired up with Carrie to pull a cart, but due to his big size and strength, he was easily able to pull it himself. Carrie simply walked beside his load.
She was still slightly confused by his kindness to her. While she believed it was genuine, the cynical part of her brain said that it wouldn't be long before he started laughing at her.
Then again, not everyone in the world could be dead-set on making Carrie White miserable.
As she turned this new thought over in her mind, she couldn't help but sense that someone was watching her.
She turned to see one of the two scrawny guys of her team (Was Noah his name? No, it was Cody.) was watching her. Watching her with a very strange, but curious, stare.
She looked away from him as a sign that he should stop, but all throughout the rest of the day she felt his stare on her.
The day was hot, so, even though the Gophers had it better than the Bass, they were still pretty tired and sweaty when they finally returned to camp.
Carrie knew she wouldn't be much help when Chris announced they could only use their teeth to open their crates, so she just hung back while Owen or Izzy tried their hand.
Eventually, after the Bass had made it to camp much later in the day, the Gophers were finished somewhat early with their hot tub.
"This is an excellent hot tub.", Chris himself said when he was judging the above-ground pools near suppertime.
Even Carrie, despite her outwardly mopey exterior, felt a measure of pride for all the hard work the team had done. Even more-so when Chris said that they would be able to keep this hot tub for the rest of the summer.
Carrie looked at her team throwing, in Chris' words, a wicked party with their hot tub from the cabin window. Even though she had been excited that they got to keep the pool, she knew she would not be participating in any parties.
Parties and Carrie White just didn't mix.
So, ignoring Owen's beckoning hand, she made her way to bed for the night. As she stared up at the moldy ceiling, she thought that maybe this summer wouldn't be as bad as she previously thought…
The Big Sleep
"Good morning, campers! Rise and shine for your second challenge!", blared Chris' voice from outside the cabin. Carrie woke up with a start, immediately shielding her head and torso with her arms. Breathing heavily, she realized that the shout wasn't Mama's voice, and she wasn't about to drag Carrie into her closet.
She lowered her arms and saw that her fellow teammates were staring at her in confusion. Carrie ignored them and began rummaging through her suitcase for her clothes for the day. Pretty soon, as Carrie looked up again after getting dressed, the rest of the girls had gone back to ignoring her. That is, except Gwen, who was giving a very strange look at Carrie.
Carrie flipped her necklace, with a cross dangling on the end, out from under her shirt, and then left the cabin. As she pondered why Gwen was giving her that weird look, she found herself thinking of her teammates.
Ever since the first challenge, Heather had contented herself with ignoring Carrie's general presence, something that Lindsay dutifully followed suit on. Izzy proved herself to be an even bigger challenge to live with than Katie ever was, considering her practically insane characteristics.
Leshawna, Gwen, and Beth also pretty much ignored Carrie, letting the shy girl fade into the background, just as she preferred it.
As for the boys on her team, Carrie hadn't really interacted with any of them since the first challenge, except for Owen that is. Speaking of which…
Owen's rather large form walked up to Carrie, smiling at her through his own drowsiness. "Morning.", he said, stretching and yawning.
Carrie gave a tight, but somewhat affectionate, smile. "Good morning.", she said.
As Owen began talking about what they were going to eat for breakfast, Carrie turned to the Bass' side of the yard. There, Cody was trying to take a look at Eva's MP3 player, only for the jockette to bite at him.
Cody continued to be somewhat of an enigma to Carrie. Many times, over the past three days, she had caught him staring thoughtfully at him. Whenever she had caught him doing this, he would walk off nervously, innocently whistling.
Carrie was becoming almost annoyed at this behavior, but chose not to confront Cody about this. She had never been particularly good at confrontation.
"I Wonder what the challenge is going to be today?", said Owen, innocently. Carrie shrugged, as Chris walked back into frame.
"Woah, Chris.", said Heather, in a simpering voice. "Those new shorts make you look really hot."
Carrie could at least say this about Chris Hargenson back in Chamberlain; she didn't try to hide her toxic personality, even from the teachers.
"Thank you, Heather.", said Chris. "Your next challenge will begin with a run around the island." This wiped the smirk off of Heather's face.
"Um, Chris, I don't think that leaves enough time for breakfast.", said Owen, looking genuinely worried.
"Breakfast is reserved for those who complete the challenge, Owen."
"Oh, so your funny now?", said Eva from the other team. As she tried to pummel their beloved host, Carrie sighed in relief.
She was pretty good at track and field back home so she thought that this challenge would be a cakewalk.
Carrie breathed in and out, as she jogged along the shoreline of the island. It had been a while now that she had seen or heard any of the other campers. She had previously been running alongside the likes of Noah and Beth, but she had eventually left them behind when she caught her second wind.
She was now running all by herself, between the campers who were actually good at running and those who were quite terrible, not to mention those who chose to walk instead of run.
She did feel bad at leaving Owen behind, but it was blatantly obvious he wouldn't have been capable of keeping up with herself. She grunted to herself, as a sharp pain ran up her leg. A blister was forming on her heel.
She stopped for a moment, bent over to adjust her shoe, then stood back up to continue her run. She was just looking back to see if any of her fellow Gophers had caught up, when she was suddenly face to face with Cody.
Carrie yelped in surprise and fell backwards onto the ground, her hands already shielding her face from harm.
"Woah, woah, woah!", said Cody, surprised at Carrie's over the top reaction to his sudden appearance. "I'm not going to hurt you. I couldn't even if I tried." Carrie lowered her hands, and saw that Cody was right.
He looked downright exhausted, sweat caking his red face and his chest heaving with effort. Cody reached out a hand, and Carrie reluctantly took it. Well, as long as he's here… "Why do you keep following me around, watching me?", she said, her voice rising slightly.
Cody looked around nervously, his chest still heaving from the effort of running. He must have used all his energy just to run up to Carrie's position… but why?
Cody finally looked Carrie dead in the eye. Carrie immediately dropped eye contact, only to look back up sharply at Cody's question. "Are you psychic?"
Carrie's eyes bugged out; so, he had seen it when she had flexed Owen and her into safety last challenge. Carrie began to back away, breathing heavily. "You are, aren't you?", he said, excitedly, reading her nervous expression like an open book. "Man, that is so co…"
"Just leave me alone!", Carrie managed to yell, and she darted away, heading up the shoreline back to camp.
Carrie eventually made it back to the campgrounds. Another flannel-shirt wearing intern directed her too the mess hall. Outside the building, Bridgette, Geoff, and DJ were doing stretches, after having been among the first to arrive. Bridgette tried to wave at Carrie, only for the latter to ignore her and head inside.
Eva, who Carrie wouldn't be surprised if she had been the first to arrive, gave her a sour look from one of the tables, then went back to her music. Carrie plopped down into one of the seats at the Gopher table, thinking hard. Despite what Chris had said, any kind of breakfast wasn't here. Her stomach gave a low growl of hunger, but she ignored it.
So, someone knew her carefully kept secret. It was inevitable that someone would find out, but why did it have to be here, in this carefully monitored environment. Carrie's breathing became erratic. What if the cameras had already caught her bit of psychic pushing in the first challenge? What if copies of the recording of Cody asking if she was psychic were already being made?
The cameras that Chris employed were always either held by a cameraman or conspicuously taped to an object, like a tree. Carrie hadn't seen any of the type when Cody had talked to her, but what if Chris had more subtler ways of getting his precious footage?
As more and more people arrived from the run, Carrie tried to control her anxiety: We'll deal with it later. We'll deal with it later!
Eventually, Owen, a seemingly unconscious Noah, Leshawna, and Harold walked through the doors, the last four to arrive. Since the three Gophers had arrived before Harold, everyone assumed that the Gophers had indeed won. Carrie however was more skeptical; if last challenge was any indication, then Chris wouldn't have a mile long run be the challenge for the day.
"Who's hungry?!", said Chris, walking up to a conspicuous looking curtain. He pulled the curtain back to reveal a veritable feast of food. Even Carrie's mouth began to water at the sight, and, like everyone else, she rushed to grab a plate.
However, as she was waiting, she realized that this must be some sort of ploy on Chris' part. Looking around at everyone gorging themselves on food, she grabbed a small turkey leg, and sneaked off from the buffet.
"The Awake-a-thon!", said Chris. "Whoever's the last awake during the challenge will win for their team."
Ah, that was his game; the running and eating of the Thanksgiving meal was just to make it harder for them to complete the challenge. She looked around to see everyone else looking admittedly impressed at the depths of Chris' deviousness.
As the campers were herded towards the campfire pit, Carrie saw that Owen was already looking like he might pass out at any minute. As she proceeded to shoulder Owen along, Carrie thought to herself about what Chris had said about this challenge. This'll be an easy one, my ass.
Carrie managed to last the rest of the day and the following night, pretty miraculously. As she yawned to herself, she scooted herself around the stump of wood she had claimed for herself the day before. They had not been allowed to leave their chosen seat in the campfire pit since yesterday afternoon, except for the occasional bathroom break; most likely so it would be easier to keep track of who had and hadn't fallen asleep.
Every other camper was still awake at this moment in time, including Owen. In fact, the party guy was practically brimming with energy. "Woo-hoo! Staying awake for twenty-four hours?!", yelled out Owen. "I could do that in my sleep!"
No one pointed out the lack of logic in that statement, as Owen moved next to Carrie. "Are you ready to win this thing with me, Carrie? Woo-hoo!", he said, holding up a hand for a high five.
Carrie smiled, gave a weak, "Woo-hoo.", and placed her hand on Owen's own. No sooner had she done that, then Owen toppled over, fast asleep.
"And we have our first camper to take a trip to unconscious-ville.", announced Chris, from behind his podium.
Carrie sighed to herself. Now, she was truly alone in the crowd. As the day wore on, Carrie's eyes became steadily more and more droopy. She struggled to stay awake second by second, until finally she…
"Oh, Beth, Lindsay, Carrie? Can you come over here please?" Carrie blinked her eyes open, and shuddered noiselessly to wake herself up. She began making her way over to Chris, assuming he had been the one to request their presence. She was mildly surprised, however, when she saw Lindsay and Beth moving in the opposite direction. She turned, and saw that it was Heather who had asked for them.
Carrie's mouth went dry. Heather reminded her all too well of Chris back at home, so she had tried to stay out of her way since arriving on the island. Look's like her luck in that department had finally run out, she thought as she made her way over to the queen bee.
"Hey, guys, thanks for coming.", said Heather, a fake smile plastered on her face. "So, I've got this plan to take me and three other girls into the final four of the competition, and I chose you guys."
Lindsay and Beth both gasped dramatically, while Carrie just kept her face blank. "Unfortunately, if I'm going to take you guys to the final four, you'll need to do whatever I say from here on out.", continued Heather, now glaring at the three other girls.
Lindsay and Beth both nodded their heads vigorously, giving spoken assurances that they would, while Carrie found herself looking down at her old, ratty shoes. "No… no, thank you.", she said, quietly and meekly.
Lindsay and Beth didn't hear her, so excited that they were going to the final four, but Heather did. "Um, excuse me?", she said, incredulously.
Carrie managed to look up into Heather's face. "I don't really want to be in an alliance with you."
"Why not?", said Beth, who was now listening.
Carrie, who didn't have a good enough reason besides not liking Heather all that much, could only shrug in response.
"Cassie, I think you should, like, think about this first.", said Lindsay. "Heather's really smart; if she says she can get you to the final four, you should listen."
"She's right you know.", said Heather, a dangerous look on her face. "Do you really think you could make it all the way to the final four with just… well…" Heather left the last part of the sentence unspoken.
Carrie already knew that she wasn't the prettiest, richest, or smartest contestant on the island. Heather was probably right in that regard; there was no way she would make it without a stronger camper helping her. But, even so…
"I'm sorry, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to…", Carrie trailed off as she began backing away.
For a second, Carrie was sure Heather would hit her. Then, she smiled that obnoxious fake smile. "Fine, have it your way. Just don't come crawling back to me when you need a vote."
She then turned back to Lindsay and Beth, effectively cutting Carrie off from the 'friend' group. Carrie breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to her seat.
Carrie awoke with a groan. She sat up off the ground, stretching and smacking her lips. She rubbed her eyes, then looked about her general vicinity. She was still in the campfire pit, lying down next to the stump she had chosen for herself. She must have fallen off it when she had finally fell asleep.
She looked around at her teammates, trying to get a gauge on whether or not they were winning. Many of the remaining campers, both Gopher and Bass, were picking themselves off the ground, as Chris stood among them. "You five stay with me.", said Chris, pointing to Gwen, Trent, Heather, Duncan, and Eva. "The rest of you, hit the showers. For goodness sakes, you stink."
As Harold zipped out of the pit, for some reason holding his crotch, Carrie saw a shadow loom over her. She looked up, startled, to see Cody. He lowered his hand down to help her up, which she awkwardly took. As she brushed dirt off her backside, Cody said, "I'm sorry if I startled you earlier during the run. I know your shy, and I guess it was kind of silly of me to believe you had psychic powers." He chuckled, and Carrie nodded her head mutely.
"I just really thought something strange had happened when you and Owen had jumped from the cliff, but it happened so fast I must have been mistaken." He chuckled again, and Carrie gave a small smile, partly out of relief.
"Do you want to walk back to camp together, or…?", said Cody. Carrie shook her head, and Cody shrugged and walked away.
Carrie looked back to the five remaining campers. At least we have the numbers advantage, she thought, looking at Gwen, Heather (who kept shooting her spiteful looks), and Trent (who looked incredibly glazed over).
After Gwen managed to win the challenge for the Gophers, Carrie walked back to her cabin after brushing her teeth for the night. Looking forward to a nice night's rest, she looked back momentarily to see the Bass returning from the elimination ceremony. Eva was not with them. Carrie was somewhat grateful for that; Eva was another camper that Carrie usually avoided, after she saw her break one of the bathroom stalls' locks.
Carrie quietly slipped into the Gopher cabin. It was already dark inside, so Carrie tiptoed silently to her bunk. However, once she got to her bunk, a loud scream erupted from her bed. The lights flew on, and an extremely tired looking Gwen was glaring at her.
"Look, I need my rest after sticking my neck out for this team today.", said Gwen, dangerously. "I don't know what you're playing at, but do it silently."
Growling at Carrie, she strode back to her bunk. Carrie looked around for the source of the noise she had heard, only to see most of the other girls glaring at her.
Carrie sighed, then pulled up her bunk covers. Sitting on her bed was a walkie-talkie. She picked it up, then heard a whistle from nearby. Heather's bunk with Lindsay was nearby, and Carrie could see Heather triumphantly waving another walkie-talkie with a rotten grin on her face.
Carrie got into bed nervously. Once the lights turned back off, she stared back up at the now dark bottom of the upper bunk. Chris had done far worse to her back in Chamberlain than Heather had just done, but Carrie had a feeling that Heather was just getting started with her…
So, it's been an unspeakably long and terrible hiatus since I last wrote on this story, but I'm back now! Hope you all continue to enjoy!
Dodgebrawl
Scrape, scrape, scrape…
"Could you please stop that?", said Noah, glaring over at Carrie.
Carrie jumped, and immediately stopped scraping her plate against the plate in front of her.
Noah rolled his eyes, then turned back to his book. Like Carrie, Noah saw no reason to socialize with the other Gophers, though this was more out of distaste for other people than Carrie's timidness.
Thus, Carrie often found herself sitting with Noah at the Gopher table. While Carrie wished for a nicer companion at meals, Noah did mostly leave her alone on these occasions.
Carrie went back to eating her white paste for breakfast. Truth be told, Carrie seemed to have a lot on her plate.
Heather, Lindsay, and Beth now openly sneered at her. Heather's anger at her for rejecting the alliance, coupled with Lindsay and Beth's devotion to her, had caused a number of pranks to be directed at the quiet girl.
Carrie's eyes moved down to the table, resting on Cody. She still wasn't entirely sure Cody had believed that she wasn't telekinetic. Each time he had tried to start a conversation with her over the last few days since the Awake-a-thon, Carrie had brushed him off.
The doors to the mess hall opened up, and Gwen walked in. She still looked dead tired, as she strode to the Gopher table amidst applause from her team.
Carrie didn't join in the applause, and certainly didn't join in the jeering Heather did to the Bass. This earned Gwen some paste in her face, courtesy of Courtney. Soon, Chris walked into the building. "Duncan, you look like crap, man.", he said, smiling down on the punk. Immediately, the other Bass campers backed in way in fear of Duncan's reprisal.
Duncan, however, just muttered, "Bite me."
Carrie turned back to her food, managing to finish off the sticky, paste like substance. The mess hall doors opened once again, and Harold walked in. Carrie couldn't help but snicker with the rest of her teammates, as Harold didn't realize that a fake moustache had been drawn on his upper lip. There were worse pranks that can happen to somebody; just ask Carrie…
Chris soon announced that the next challenge would be happening in ten minutes and to meet on the beach. Carrie dutifully carried her bowl back to Chef to clean (the cook in question gave her his signature scowl), and began to join the crowd of contestants headed for the beach.
As she walked to the beach, her cross necklace jingling back and forth on her chest, she heard a pair of footsteps walking behind her. She looked back to see Cody walking up to her, along with Noah. The two seemed to be becoming good friends over these last few days on the island.
"So, what do you think the challenge is going to be?", said Cody, casually.
Carrie shrugged nonchalantly. "I hope it's something that uses a bit of brainpower.", continued Cody. "I could probably best any of these people in a movie trivia competition."
"Good thing no audience wants to watch us do something so lame.", came a voice from behind, and Heather appeared, shouldering Carrie out of the way. Carrie tripped but caught herself just in time to not fall on the sand. Heather chuckled darkly, as Lindsay and Beth followed her.
"What's her damage?", said Cody, looking uncharacteristically frustrated. "Why's she got to be such a bit…" Cody winced, as his eyes briefly looked at Carrie.
"… so nasty.", he corrected himself, looking momentarily ashamed. Carrie, for her part, felt kind of good that Cody chose not to use an expletive near her.
"Dunno.", said Noah. Carrie wasn't sure he was paying attention that much, as his eyes were fixed on his book that he was reading as he walked.
Soon, Cody bent down to tie his shoes, leaving Carrie and Noah to continue on. Noah glanced back at Cody, then sideways at Carrie. "He's so obvious, isn't he?", said Noah.
Carrie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?", she said quietly.
Noah frowned. "Cody. Y'know, he has a crush on you."
Carrie stopped dead in her tracks, shock clearly written on her face. Noah looked back at her as he walked, momentarily confused, then continued on.
Cody? Having a crush… on Carrie White?
All Carrie could imagine was her schoolmates laughing incredulously at the statement back home; she had little doubt that they would tune into the show to see her fail.
"Out of the way." Duncan, who had been walking behind, pushed her out of the way. She stumbled and fell to her knees on the rough sand. Duncan merely yawned when a nearby Courtney reprimanded him.
Carrie, however, was barely paying attention to the world around her…
Inside a giant, glass dodgeball court erected on the beach (a court that sure as hell hadn't been here during the first or second challenges), Carrie once again had a lot of thoughts buzzing around her head.
As Chris droned on about the specifics of the game of dodgeball, Carrie looked at Cody and Noah. Could Noah have been telling the truth? Could Cody really have a crush on her? A romantic crush? And, if so, why? Why in God's green earth would anyone have romantic feelings for Carrie White?
The sounds of a ball smacking against Lindsay's face interrupted Carrie's thoughts. "You were supposed to dodge.", said Chris, irritably.
"Right.", said Lindsay, now with a gigantic bruise on her forehead.
Carrie went back to her thoughts. No, Noah was always messing with people, mostly through being sarcastic. This was just… a trick Noah was playing on her. Cody was probably disgusted by her in terms of romantic feelings.
Oddly enough, this thought did nothing to cheer her up.
The crowd began to disperse, which meant Chris had probably stopped with the rules. Carrie followed her teammates to the left-hand set of bleachers, where Heather was speaking.
"All right, so I know most of us aren't the most athletic types around, but we've already won two times already. We've got the numbers advantage. I'm thinking me, Trent, Justin, Cody, and Carrie should go out first." At the mention of Carrie's name, Heather gave her a blink and you'll miss it smirk. Carrie swallowed at this, and was about to offer to change to a benchwarmer, when Noah said, "Great, now let's see you keeners go out to dodge."
He rolled his eyes, sat with a still sleepy Gwen, and pulled out his book. And, before she knew it, Carrie was being led out onto the court.
Tweet!
The game had started, and Carrie was bravely at the back of her team's side of the court. The Killer Bass were soon lobbing balls at the other side of the court, and the Gophers began dodging. Carrie did as well, before she noticed Heather doing something rather odd. Any way in which Carrie dodged, Heather dodged in the same direction.
Carrie narrowed her eyes at Heather. It was almost as if the popular girl was waiting for…
Heather suddenly dodged in a different direction. Carrie had only a moment to see a red dodgeball pelting for her before it hit her square in the nose. Carrie fell to the ground, grasping at her painful nose. "Oh my God, Carrie, are you OK?", said Cody, running up beside her. Carrie looked up at Cody, taking her hand away from her nose. Both she and him could see the bright red blood glistening on her palm.
"Sorry, Carrie.", came a voice from the other end of the court. They both looked to see DJ, who had thrown the ball, looking deeply guilty.
"Yeah, sorry, Carrie.", said Heather, also looking genuinely remorseful. However, there was a sing-song aspect to her apology that made it clear it was no accident.
Cody, meanwhile, growled, picked up a dodgeball, and flung it at DJ. The gentle giant was hit in the chest, actually managing to knock him back a few paces.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?", said DJ, as Chris walked up to Carrie.
"You might want to head to the infirmary, Carrie.", said Chris. "Just come back as soon as you're done."
Carrie got up off the hard floor and began trudging to the glass door. As she exited the building, however, Carrie turned back to see the game resuming, with Heather dodging balls.
Flex…
Heather's foot suddenly slipped on the polished, hard wood floor. A ball she should have dodged easily pelted her full on the face.
Carrie was soon in the infirmary, wads of tissues stuck up her bloody nose as she lay on the small cot provided for her. She looked once again in the mirror also provided for her to see the bruising forming on the sides of her nose. Gentle giant he may be, but DJ could still pack a wallop…
Carrie sighed, as the intern running the infirmary walked up to her. "Well, the game's about almost over, but Chris was pretty clear on you being sent back when we're done here, so…"
Carrie obediently began to rise from her cot, until the intern stopped her with a raised hand. "However, when it comes to the health of the campers, I have the last say, lest there be a lawsuit, so if you'd like to take the day off in your cabin?"
Carrie nodded her head vigorously, as the intern gave her a kind smile and a wink.
Later that afternoon, Carrie was seated on the porch steps to the cabin, waiting for her teammates to come back. The first sign of trouble was the Bass walking up to their cabin, cheering Harold of all people on.
Heather, Lindsay, and Beth were the first Gophers to return. Heather gave her a cool look. "Way to come back and help us, faker.", she said.
"Yeah, like, what is wrong with you?", said Lindsay, clearly parroting what Heather told her to say.
If Heather had also told Beth to say something derogatory, she didn't to her credit. As Heather and Lindsay entered the cabin, Beth leaned and said, "Sorry."
The Gophers soon all returned, with Gwen, Justin, and Noah in particular giving her dirty looks. Carrie soon put her head on her knees, blocking out her teammates, until a large shadow appeared over her. It was Owen.
"Hey, you OK?", he said, concerned. She looked up at him, revealing her now larger bruises. "Great Scott, that looks bad!", blurted out Owen.
An awkward pause followed. "Um, I mean, you can hardly notice it?" He chuckled nervously, then swept up Carrie in a large bear hug. "Oh, I'm just so glad my little buddy is OK."
Although the hug was spine cracking, Carrie still gave Owen a warm smile as he walked away. Behind him, Cody and Trent walked up to Carrie. "Hey, Carrie, are you OK?", said Trent, looking at her bruised face.
Carrie nodded yes, as she finally noticed that Cody seemed to be drenched with sweat. At Carrie's questioning look, Trent said excitedly, "Oh, you should've seen it, Carrie. Cody was like a monster on the court after you left. He basically dominated the game."
"Did we win?", asked Carrie.
Trent sighed. "No. Duncan pulled out this master strategy to beat us, and Harold caught the last dodgeball thrown. Harold, am I right?" Trent then looked awkward. "I guess I'll see you guys at our first elimination." He then walked off, leaving Carrie alone with Cody.
Cody tried to speak, but only a wheeze came out, due to being so tired. "I'll… get you a glass of water.", said Carrie, making her way to the mess hall.
It was later that evening after the ceremony that Carrie found herself in the bathroom. Over the course of the evening she found out that while some of the Gophers were annoyed at her for ducking out of the challenge, they were outright angry at Noah for having the opportunity to play and who didn't.
When it came time to vote, Carrie, happy to be out of the crosshairs of the team, wrote Noah on the little slip of paper provided to them and slipped it into a wooden box in the outhouse confessional. She was supposed to say who she was voting for and why on camera as well, but just muttered, "I vote Noah." to the confessional cam and left.
In the end, Noah was voted off, and now Carrie was going to the bathroom before bed. The door to the communal bathroom opened up and a pair of legs moved to the sink. Carrie realized from the laid-back voice and the snide voice that it was Bridgette and Courtney respectively.
They talked for a couple of minutes about some typical teenager stuff, then Bridgette asked, "What do you think about that Carrie girl?"
"Honestly, I think she's a bit of a crybaby.", came Courtney's high-pitched voice. "I mean, who sits out an entire challenge just for a nose bleed?"
"She looked like she was really hurt, though.", said Bridgette.
"She just needs to learn to toughen up.", said an uncompassionate Courtney. "My Mom never let me get away with that sort of thing growing up."
The legs turned to the stalls and Carrie hastily pulled her legs up on the commode. Luckily, they hadn't seen her.
As Courtney continued to bad mouth her, the two legs exit the building, leaving Carrie to herself.
So Carrie's growing somewhat closer to Owen and Cody, but she's still making enemies and unintentionally annoying people at Wawanawkwa. How will this fic end? Will Carrie grow as a person among people who finally like her? Or will this end badly for everyone involved? Even I don't know for sure… and I'm writing the dang thing! Stay tuned for the talent show next chapter.
Not Quite Famous
Carrie rubbed her bruised nose as she walked with her team through the woods. Although the bruising had gone down over the last three days, it still hurt whenever she touched it.
They had been called by Chris to come to some new area of the camp located in the woods.
Soon, they turned a corner, and Carrie's eyes widened. Sitting in a small clearing in the woods was a large stage and two pairs of wooden bleachers set up in front of it.
Chris was onstage, waving his subjects to sit on the bleachers. Carrie obediently did so. As the rest of her fellow campers got themselves settled, she heard a small yelp from beside her.
She turned to see Cody had fallen in between the bleachers. He saw her looking, then adopted a cool as ice pose, as if he had planned this.
Carrie couldn't help it; she snickered. Cody began to snicker as well, as he righted himself on the bleacher.
Carrie looked to her left to see Gwen and Trent seated nearby, Trent having the same pose as he stared at Gwen.
Of course, thought Carrie, Cody was trying to impress his true crush, Gwen. She didn't believe Noah's claim that Cody had romantic feelings for her; nevertheless, this thought ceased her snickering.
"Today's challenge will be a summer camp classic.", announced Chris. "A talent show!" As Chris explained further about the challenge, Carrie fought the urge to roll her eyes. Great, another challenge I won't be able to help with…
Joining in with Ewen High School's annual talent show had never crossed Carrie's mind; besides, her mother had never allowed to attend it even as an audience member, citing the sinfulness prevalent in high school.
Once Chris was done explaining the process of choosing whom on each team would be performing tonight, he sent them all off with a wave of his hand. As Carrie walked off with the rest of her team, she noticed that most of the other campers seemed pretty happy with the choice of challenges today. This is probably what they were hoping for when they signed up for this show; a chance to show off their awesome talents in front of the viewing audience of Canada.
Minutes later, Carrie was seated with her fellow team members on the porch of their cabin. Heather had managed to procure a clipboard, and was smiling falsely at her team. "So, I nominate myself, Beth, and Lindsay to be the judges of who gets to represent our team tonight."
"I second that!", said Lindsay quickly, followed by Beth yelling, "I second that as well!"
"And what if we don't want to be judged by the likes of you?", said Gwen, hotly, from beside Carrie.
Heather scowled, but quickly brightened up when Trent appeared from his bathroom break. "Trent, you're cool with me judging who gets to be in the show, right?"
Trent shrugged. "Uh, yeah, sure, go for it."
"Awesome.", said Heather, giving a sneer to Gwen. "I hope that everyone will participate in this important challenge.", Heather continued, staring pointedly at Carrie.
"Hey, give Carrie a break, will you?", said a nearby Leshawna. "DJ practically took her head off with that dodgeball last challenge."
"Oh, puh-lease…", said Heather. "She just got a nosebleed, and Chris told her to come back as soon as she was better."
Carrie blushed under Heather's glare, as the latter motioned for them to begin the auditions.
The auditions pulled through until the late afternoon. Owen managed to burp his ABC's (Carrie was understandably grossed out by this, but Owen seemed pretty proud of himself), Heather performed a ballet solo (a solo so good that even Leshawna clapped), Izzy performed some sort of snakedance that would've made Momma's eyes pop out in shock, Trent sang and played his guitar, Beth performed some rather dangerous baton twirls accompanied with fire, and Justin… well, Justin didn't so much as perform as he did put out a fire caused by Beth.
However, most of the team's girls agreed that Justin could pull off some impressive modeling techniques at tonight's show. Carrie, who was more into the classic 'boy next door' good looks seen in Tommy Ross back home, still agreed that Justin could give us the win.
Carrie was about to slip quietly away (like Gwen had done a few hours previously) when the auditions seemed about over, when Heather turned to her. "Carrie, do you want to actually try something useful for once?"
Carrie stopped dead. She turned back to her team, who were looking at her expectantly. Carrie however dully shook her head. "I don't think so…", she said quietly.
"Oh, c'mon, Carrie.", said Trent, giving her a kind smile. "I'm sure you can really knock our socks off."
"Yeah, I've heard you singing in the shower once.", said Cody, then blushed like he had given too much away.
"I've heard you, too.", said Owen, walking up. "I'm not much for church hymns, but what you sang was really good."
Carrie blushed fiercely at all these compliments. She really didn't want to sing, but she knew if she refused she might be seen as a detriment to her team. So, breathing steadily in and out, she walked in front of the group.
Shakily at first, but gaining confidence when she closed her eyes, she sang a rendition of the 'Old-Rugged Cross'. Once she opened her eyes after finishing the song, she saw everyone looking at her in shock. Carrie backed away, ready for them to hurl insults at her, but they all began to clap.
"OK, well that settles it.", said Heather, walking up to Carrie, who was smiling uncertainly. "Me, Justin, and Carrie will be performing in tonight's show. Everyone OK with that?" As everyone nodded their heads, Carrie was in no way OK with performing in front of the rest of the camp.
She was about to talk to Heather about this, when Lindsay and Beth suddenly looped their arms around Carrie's. "Lindsay and Beth are going to take you to the bathroom to put some… makeup on you. Can't have you going up on stage looking like that can we?", said Heather, smiling a queer smile at Carrie.
"But…", began Carrie, only for Heather to silence her. "Don't worry, this is just to make up to you for how mean I've been over the last few days.", said Heather, still smiling a very strange, almost cruel, smile. "You really did impress me today."
"We're going to make you look so pretty!", said Lindsay, as she and Beth herded Carrie to the bathrooms. Carrie looked back momentarily at Heather. Her smile was almost predatory…
The crowd was cheering excitedly, as Justin walked backstage, dripping wet after his performance for some reason.
Carrie, meanwhile, was looking at herself in a mirror given to her by Lindsay. Lindsay and Beth had been good to their words in making Carrie look pretty. Lipstick shone on her lips, while her hair had been combed and glossed to perfection. Carrie had briefly tried out some subtle make up back home, but this amount would've caused her mother to have a conniption.
Carrie looked at her reflection with both interest and trepidation. Interest, because she had never seen herself done up like the Ultras back home. Trepidation, because she still did not know what Heather's game plan for was.
DJ hobbled back from the stage, his feet wrapped around his gymnastics ribbon. As Courtney and Bridgette both walked over to untie the gentle giant, Chris came back from onstage. "Carrie, you're next up.", he said, before disappearing.
Carrie gave a shaky breath, but got herself up off the stage and walked in front of the curtain.
Carrie breathed a sigh of relief as she reentered the backstage area. The song had gone really well with the audience and Carrie, despite herself, couldn't help smiling and feeling proud of herself.
"Great job, Carrie!", said a nearby Bridgette. "That song was really good."
As Carrie smiled gratefully at her (Courtney, however, softly reprimanded Bridgette for complimenting the other team), she sat back down on the stage, feeling for one of the only times in her life really good about herself.
Unfortunately, things were about to change for the worse. After cleaning up Bridgette's mess on the stage, Heather was next to go. She walked out onto the stage, dressed in her pink tutu, but didn't dance. She walked towards a small stool set up in the middle, and sat down.
"Tonight, I was going to perform a ballet solo for you all, but instead I'd like to celebrate our team with a piece written by… Carrie." She then held up a frayed book that Carrie immediately recognized: her diary…
She cleared her throat and began to read, but Carrie didn't stick around to hear the humiliating passage that Heather had chosen. She bolted from the backstage area, tears falling from her face.
Her makeup was undoubtedly smeared beyond salvage now. She had been crying silently to herself in the communal bathrooms for an hour now. And just when she thought things were looking up for her on this show…
The doors to the communal bathroom opened up and two pairs of feet stopped in front the stall Carrie had locked herself in. "Carrie, c'mon.", said Owen. "What Heather read wasn't so bad. Just come out now, and everything will be all right."
Carrie didn't answer. "Yeah, just because Heather did that, doesn't mean we aren't still fri…", began Cody, only for Carrie to shout, "Just leave me alone!" A single ceiling light suddenly flared brighter, then went out with a pop and some sparks.
Owen and Cody both jumped at the sudden shout and sparks, then left the bathroom slowly. It was just as well; Carrie did not have any friends, despite what Cody was attempting to say.
The doors to the bathroom creeped open, and a new pair of legs (these ones wearing black, combat boots) entered the building.
"Carrie, can you come out?", said Gwen from just outside.
Surprised by Gwen's appearance, Carrie shakily opened the stall and walked out.
"I'm sorry Heather did that to you.", said Gwen, her voice full of sympathy.
"It… It's OK…", said Carrie, looking at her dollar-bin shoes.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "No, it's not OK, Carrie! What Heather did was a very shitty thing to do!", she said harshly. Carrie glared at her, as she often involuntarily did when someone cursed.
Gwen's eyes flitted to Carrie's cross necklace. "Sorry.", she muttered.
"Was it… was it really bad?", asked Carrie, barely more than a whisper.
"It was pretty bad.", conceded Gwen. "She read some entries about… about how bad your periods have been."
Carrie winced. "Is it… true that you had your first one a few months ago?", asked Gwen.
Carrie nodded miserably. "And your mother… never told you?", said Gwen.
"My mother is very… opinionated.", said Carrie, fingering her cross necklace.
"Yeah, I'll bet.", said Gwen, darkly. "Look, Carrie, you need to stand up for yourself sometimes. Or, at least, not run off crying at every sign of trouble."
"There is one good thing that came out of this.", continued Gwen. Carrie raised an eyebrow. "Heather will be going home tonight. I've talked to Trent and Leshawna, and they're definitely voting for her. I can't see anyone voting for anyone else but her, besides Lindsay and Beth."
Carrie avoided the rest of her teammates (and, indeed, any living person on the island) all evening, leading up to the vote. Heather's brazen humiliation of Carrie, as well as Harold sweeping in at the last minute performing for the Bass, cost the Gophers the win and basically cemented Heather as the next person voted off.
Carrie, dressed in her bulky swimsuit and clutching a towel, dipped into the hot tub. It was nearing time for the elimination ceremony, and Carrie wanted a quick soak in the tub to somewhat relieve herself from the night's events.
She closed her eyes, only opening them again when another body slipped into the tub. It was Heather.
Carrie nearly jumped from the tub in astonishment, only for Heather to stop her with a firm hand to the shoulder. Heather glanced around, apparently checking that there weren't cameras being trained on them. There weren't, so Heather leaned into Carrie, her face just as predatory as before.
"Your nasty periods weren't the only things I read in that diary of yours. There were also some interesting passages about your mother. Stuff that would, unfortunately, have her thrown in prison. So, if you don't want that info to get leaked out, you're going to vote with me tonight… and perhaps the next few nights.", said Heather, in a low and quick murmur.
As Heather leaned back from Carrie, Carrie felt a cold chill run up her spine. She feared her mother, yes, but she also loved her. Even after all the horrible things Momma had done to her, did Carrie really want to put her behind bars? Heather stared at Carrie, waiting for an answer.
"The final marshmallow of the evening goes to… Heather.", said Chris, handing the treat to the queen bee, much to the empty-handed Justin's shock. As everyone stared in incredulous anger at a victorious Heather, Carrie stared once again at her feet in shame.
So, I'm guessing a lot of you are probably wondering: how did Justin get eliminated again? Well, let's go through the votes, shall we?
Heather, Carrie, Lindsay, Beth, and Izzy (who was convinced by Heather just like in canon) voted for Justin. 5
Gwen, Leshawna, Trent, Owen, and Cody definitely voted for Heather. 5 again; that makes it a tie.
Justin is the odd one out in this situation, but I couldn't come up with a logical reason he could vote for any other person than Heather.
So, after careful consideration, I've decided that Owen will still, like canon, be convinced to vote Justin by Heather, through the promise of sweet food.
I know this is somewhat a long shot in terms of logical storytelling, but this is the way I want the story to progress. Just repeat the MST3K Mantra (Just repeat to yourself, it's just a show, I should really just relax) and continue to enjoy this fic.
The Sucky Outdoors
Over the next few days, Heather's actions in the talent show challenge dominated Carrie's thoughts. Not only had she been utterly humiliated by Heather on national TV (she could just imagine the Ultras back home cackling with laughter when Heather's recitation of her diary was on TV), but she was now being blackmailed by the queen bee to basically vote whichever way she wanted.
Carrie generally avoided people over the next three days before the next challenge, even Cody and Owen. She felt too guilty over what happened with Justin and the fact that she was (however involuntarily) working with her worst enemy on the island.
On the afternoon of the third day after the talent show, all nineteen remaining campers were called to the campfire pit, where Chris was waiting. He explained that today's challenge will be all about camping in the wilderness for a night. Carrie half-listened to the vain hosts' spiel, her eyes drifting lazily to Heather's seat a few feet away. Heather gave her a rather mocking smile and winked at her.
Carrie looked away, and her eyes now came to rest on Gwen, who was looking at Carrie's silent exchange with Heather with suspicion. Carrie blushed in shame, and looked down at her feet as Chris announced that the first team back from camping the next morning would win.
Soon, the Screaming Gophers were walking through the woods. Heather was in the lead, looking at the map and compass provided by Chris to reach their campsite.
As Carrie walked across the path, occasionally tripping on the uneven ground, Cody came up from behind to walk beside her. "Hey, I know we haven't talked much since after the talent show.", said Cody, hesitantly. "But I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry Heather did that to you."
Carrie shrugged nonchalantly. She didn't really want to get into that with Cody, but she had missed his company over the last three days. "So, are you missing Noah any?", she asked.
"Not as much as I thought I would.", said Cody, a little bitterly. "I thought he was the only person on this team I could relate to, but after the dodgeball episode…"
Carrie nodded her head. It would be hard to like Noah after how she was told he acted in the third challenge.
Without thinking, Carrie casually said, ""He told me the weirdest thing that challenge." She then closed her mouth with a snap.
"Really? What?", said Cody, chuckling slightly.
Carrie, more than a little nervous how he would react, said quickly, "He told me that you had a crush on me."
Cody stared at her, then grunted in frustration. "Oh, Noah… Look, Carrie, the truth is…"
A large groan of frustration interrupted Cody. "This stupid compass isn't working correctly.", said Heather, throwing the glass device to the ground.
Cody sighed. "Guess I'd better go help her, unless we all want to be lost in the woods all night."
He then left, leaving Carrie to wonder just what he was going to say. As the rest of the team also took a break as Cody tried to decipher the compass and map as Heather snarled at him, Carrie looked off into the woods and saw an unusual sight.
She saw two of the Bass girls (Katie and Sadie? Carrie didn't know them all that well) eating from a blueberry bush as their teammates left them behind. Carrie looked back at her team, then walked across the forest grounds to the best friends.
"Hey.", she said, quietly. Not quietly enough, as Katie and Sadie jumped a little.
"Oh, it's you.", said Sadie, politely. "What's your name? Cassie?"
"Carrie.", she said, then pointed at the retreating Killer Bass. "Your team is almost gone."
"OMG!", said Katie, looking over at the distant team. "Thank you so much, Carrie!"
The duo then hugged Carrie rather tightly around the middle and raced off for their team. Carrie soon made her way back to her team.
After Cody managed to finally make sense of the map, it was almost evening before the Gophers made it to their campsite. Carrie, dog-tired from hiking through the woods all day, flopped down on a nearby stump. She wasn't the only one; many of her fellow teammates were stretching their aching muscles from walking through the rough terrain.
"All right.", said Heather, looking around at the campsite. "We should start setting up our camp. I'm, not seeing any food anywhere."
"Chris did say we had to survive in the wilderness.", said an irritated Trent. "He probably meant we had to hunt and gather for food."
Heather grunted in frustration. "Are you serious? And where is Owen?" Carrie looked around; true enough, Owen had completely disappeared. Carrie remembered him telling a tale about defeating a grizzly bear with his grandfather while hunting, but that was the last time she could remember hearing of him.
Heather meanwhile stomped off in frustration. The rest of the team rolled their eyes at her antics, then began setting up the camp without her.
As Carrie got up to help some, Gwen sidled up to her from nearby. "We need to talk.", she said, in a low murmur, then headed straight to set up one of the tents. When Carrie hesitated, Gwen motioned irritably for her to come over.
"Interesting how Heather stayed and Justin got eliminated, huh?", said Gwen, casually but with a dangerous hint to her voice.
Carrie couldn't help it; she blushed heavily. Gwen noticed, and glared at her, "Did you vote for Justin over Heather?", she hissed at her.
Carrie didn't see any need to lie in this situation; she nodded silently.
"Why?", said Gwen, looking both shocked and angry. "Heather read your diary out loud to the whole world."
Carrie mumbled something that Gwen couldn't hear. "Did she threaten you or something?", continued Gwen.
Carrie nodded miserably.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Oh, grow a backbone, Carrie! She couldn't have threatened you with anything too bad."
Carrie didn't reply, so Gwen huffed and walked away. Carrie watched her go with miserable tears in her eyes. "Hello.", came a silky voice from behind her. Carrie jumped and yelped, turning to see Heather standing behind her.
"I would be more careful if I were you, Carrie.", said Heather. She leaned into Carrie, so that the cameras couldn't see. "Remember, your mother's freedom is in my hands."
It was dark soon, and Carrie was starving. Truth be told, the whole camp was starving; they had only been able to find a few nuts and berries. Owen was still missing, leading Heather to cruelly joke that he had been eaten by a bear on the way here. Carrie certainly didn't hope so; at the moment, she was short on friends on the island.
"Hey, guys, I'm back!", said Owen, as he suddenly appeared from the woods, carrying a row of caught fish.
"You're alive!", said Carrie, overjoyed.
"And you brought dinner? Nice!", said Trent, examining the fish hanging from Owen's arm.
"Did I tell you I was a good hunter or what?", said Owen.
Soon, the Gophers were seated around the campfire, happily eating the now cooked fish. Even Carrie, seated beside Cody and Owen, smiled when jokes and funny stories were passed around the campfire.
It was just when Carrie started to notice that their group seemed a little smaller than usual, when the sounds of scuffling and growling came from the woods.
Everyone froze as, to their horror, a gigantic grizzly bear appeared from behind a bush.
"Run!", said Owen, after a few moments when the bear and the Gophers were awkwardly staring at each other. He then leaped to his feet and dashed for the nearest tree.
Everyone began running to the tree as well. Carrie, showing her usual grace on her feet, stumbled so much in her fear that she ran right into Cody. As they lied on the ground, Cody blushed in shame, as Carrie noticed a surprising amount of warmth around Cody's crotch.
Realizing that Cody had pissed himself at the sight of the bear, Carrie scrambled up and dashed back for the tree. As she climbed up the tree, she managed to spot a sturdy looking branch that could support her weight. Soon, she was sitting there, clutching the trunk of the tree.
The branch shook as Cody also climbed up to Carrie's branch, giving her an apologetic smile, then turning back with fear at the campsite.
"Hey, great white hunter, what do we do now?", yelled Heather up to Owen.
"How should I know?", yelled back Owen.
"Dude, you said you killed a grizzly bear while hunting.", said Trent.
"I was exaggerating!", said Owen.
"Well, that's just great.", said Heather. "All we can do now is pee our pants in fright like Cody and Carrie!"
Carrie, realizing that Cody's urine must have stained the front of her dress as well, began to nod her head, memories of past humiliations at Ewen High swimming in her head.
However, her vigorous shaking ended up causing her to lose her balance on the limb. RIP! Her dress caught on a tree limb as she fell to the ground on her face. Carrie barely had time to process Heather laughing ecstatically at her underwear, when the grizzly bear began to advance on her.
Carrie scooted back to the tree trunk, waiting for the end…
"Hey, like, are you all right?"
Carrie opened one eye at the bear. It proceeded to stand on its hind legs and took off its own head to reveal…
"Izzy?", asked everyone incredulously.
"Hey, guys, cool prank, right?", said Izzy, as the rest of the Gophers climbed down the tree.
"Oh, the coolest!", agreed Owen, as Heather glared.
"Are you kidding me, crazy girl!?", yelled Heather, who then went into a tirade against the red head.
Carrie, meanwhile, was relieved that she wasn't about to get eaten, but half her dress was still gone, leaving her undergarments totally exposed.
She kept her backside planted firmly on the tree trunk, as Cody came up to her. "Hey, Carrie? You can move now; Izzy's not going to eat you… I think."
Carrie shook her head, blushing fiercely. Cody looked at her curiously for a moment, then said, "Oh!"
He then hopped into a tree for a few moments, then came back down with the rest of Carrie's tattered dress. "You can probably still use that to cover yourself.", said Cody, awkwardly, blushing just as badly as Carrie.
Carrie didn't know how this night could get any worse.
Turns out, it could've. Izzy's ruckus with the bear costume had in fact attracted a real bear, and the Gophers spent a sleepless night in the trees again, this time complete with a downpour of rain.
By the time the dog tired Gophers made it back to camp, the Bass were already all there, costing the Gophers the win.
"Seriously, guys, three in a row?", said Heather, incredulously, at the campfire ceremony later that night.
Chris soon called the names of the people who were safe, Carrie included. Soon, only Owen and Izzy remained without a marshmallow. Carrie knew they had been the 'favorites' to go home tonight, but there was no way in hell Carrie would vote for Owen, so…
"Owen, you're safe!", said Chris, throwing the marshmallow at the big guy.
"Sorry, Izzy.", said Owen, as Izzy stood up. She waved happily at her former teammates, then threw something to the ground. A puff of pink smoke later, and Izzy was gone.
Now that some significant changes to the elimination order are happening, I thought it would be prudent to start a tally on who's taken the boat of losers.
23rd Place- Ezekiel
22nd Place- Eva
21st Place- Noah
20th Place- Justin
19th Place- Izzy