Cody flinched back as another growl rang through the jungle, another apex predator making itself known to the group of teens.
Up until now, Cody had thought this season was pretty tame. Maybe the race in the Yukon got a bit too dangerous, but all it really ended up doing was giving Sierra the chance to get way too close to him.
He shuddered at the thought. That girl was next level crazy.
Cody sped up a bit, trying to catch up with the rest of Team Amazon as they hurried their way through the Amazon rainforest, keeping his eyes trained on a certain goth girl. Heather and Courtney were actually half-decent people once he got to know them, but they were slave drivers during challenges. Besides, he only had eyes for Gwen.
"Hey, Gwen, thanks again for taking my epipen," Cody said, trying to make small talk, "You know how to use it, right?"
"Not a clue." She idly swatted at some of the black flies that were harassing them, her response causing Cody to grimace.
"Heh, uh, funny story actually," Cody stammered out, causing Gwen to raise an eyebrow at him, "If I get bit by something, you have to, uh, -"
"Jam it into his naked buttcheek!"
Sierra giggled at the thought while Gwen wretched, immediately dropping his epipen in disgust.
"You're on your own, Cody."
Cody moved quickly to grab his epipen before it landed in the underbrush, where it could easily disappear thanks to the lack of light and speed at which they were moving.
He just barely caught it, before looking up to see…
Wait, where was everyone?
Cody glanced around frantically, for any sign of the rest of the team, but it was in vain.
They were gone.
Why did this always happen? Why did he always end up alone, no matter what he did?
"Oh, Cody!"
His heart sank even further.
How could he forget? He'd never be truly alone. Not anymore.
Sierra appeared in front of him, her smile wider than Cody thought possible. Her eyes raked over his scrawny frame, and he suddenly wished he had an extra layer of clothes.
Or five.
"Don't worry Codykins!" She cooed, causing Cody to take a step back in concern, "I'll never leave you!"
She scooped him up in her arms easily despite his struggle, hugging him really tight. Cody could barely breathe as her arms squeezed him even harder, and he screamed out in pain in a desperate attempt to make Sierra stop.
And somehow, it worked. Sierra was gone, just like the rest of the Amazons. He was alone again.
He could breathe.
That was when the Amazon rainforest burst into flames.
It was like Cody was in a horror movie. Orange exploded across his vision, the fire prohibiting any chance of escape from this hell that he still had, and then slowly surrounded him. He screamed, but no sound came out.
As Cody was engulfed in the fire and flames, he heard a haunting laugh that made his blood run cold despite the heat from the conflagration.
It seemed to have no end, but when it finally did, it left him one final haunting message.
I know your secret.
–
Cody's eyes shot open as he lurched forward in bed, furiously hurling his comforter off in panic as his chest heaved, gasping for breath.
That was far too realistic for Cody to pass off as just another dream. Not in the sense that he really thought he was back in the Amazon or anything - he could tell that much was just part of the dream. But the crushing pain he felt as Sierra squeezed the life out of him? The pain and heat from being burned alive?
Both were things that just felt so real.
And what about that last line?
How could anyone possibly know?
Cody held his head in his hands as he tried to take a few breaths to steady himself. He looked around the cabin, realizing that he was still the first one up again despite going the last two days without any sleep.
Teenagers were weird.
Oh well. There was no point in dwelling on a dream that he had no chance of deciphering. Maybe it really was just a dream!
Something told him it wasn't.
Cody sighed, jumping out of bed and beginning to get ready for the day. They had another challenge today, and he still didn't know what he was going to do about Noah.
Besides, there was no chance he was going to fall asleep again.
Not after that.
As he exited the cabin, Cody failed to realize that there was, in fact, one member of his team that was wide awake, and had seen pretty much everything.
—
Confessional: Trent
"I'll be honest, I'm a bit worried about Cody," Trent explained, still shirtless and in his pajama shorts, "That dream that he was having spooked me, and all I was doing was watching him! He was tossing and turning for a while, before screaming and waking up looking like he had seen a ghost. Or maybe a mime."
Trent shuddered.
—
Cody was still rather early to the main lodge, sitting down with his food before most other campers had woken up.
In fact, the only people even there besides himself were Chef Hatchet, Leshawna, DJ, and surprisingly enough, Duncan, but he had passed out with his head down on the table so Cody didn't really count him.
Leshawna offered him a wave as he sat down with his food, which he returned with a tired smile on his face.
"Not much sleep, string bean?" She asked jokingly, laughing slightly as he nodded his head in agreement. "Don't worry, you ain't alone there. Gwen's usually the first one up outta us girls, but today the poor thing was out cold."
Cody just nodded again in understanding. "That challenge sucked."
Leshawna just laughed in agreement, before slowly taking the first bite of her food. She froze, before looking down at her bowl of paste in amazement, and then glancing back to Cody, who was just confused.
"Is it just me, or does Chef's food taste better than usual?" She asked quietly, not wanting the burly cook to overhear her.
Cody looked down at his own bowl of 'oatmeal', before shrugging and putting a spoonful in his mouth. His eyes widened as, for the first time in a week, he tasted food that wasn't just okay at best, but an actual quality meal!
Leshawna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I just said it tasted better than usual, but you look like you're about to cry. You really love kissing up to Chef, huh?"
"You don't think this is good?" Cody whisper-shouted, still in shock from the taste of actual food, "This is amazing!"
Leshawna looked at Cody, who had turned back to his meal, eating with renewed vigor, and then at each of their bowls. Her eyes widened.
"Cody," she said quietly, making the geek pause, "Your food is definitely not the same as mine. Look at them!"
Cody took a glance at each, and dimly realized that Leshawna was right. While hers looked similar to the white paste Cody had become accustomed to over the course of the show, his looked like, well, actual oatmeal!
–
Chef Hatchet is seen in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for the twenty remaining campers.
He sighed, muttering about ungrateful brats as he mixed the crappy instant oatmeal the show provided for the campers together with water, quickly finishing the bland, stale meal.
Well, almost.
One single serving of actual oatmeal was being prepared, resting in the slow cooker Chef had taken from the crew's mess hall.
Hey, it was still his. He cooked for everyone on this damn island!
And only one person was grateful.
Chef sighed again. Maybe he could put a tiny bit more effort into the kids' meals.
Then they'd show him the respect he deserved!
–
Cody looked awkwardly at Leshawna, who was glaring at his serving of oatmeal with no small amount of contempt.
"Uh, do you want the rest?" He offered, leaning away from the table a tad, "I don't know why I'm getting special treatment, but I don't mind -"
He was cut off as Leshawna quickly grabbed Cody's bowl with a squeal, causing Duncan to briefly raise his head off the table to glare at her before dropping it right back down. DJ gave him a gentle pat on the back, and turned to the two Gophers with a curious gaze that Cody could only shrug in response to.
Leshawna moaned at the taste of the oatmeal, something that made Cody visibly uncomfortable. She somehow savored every spoonful while also shoveling it down with speed rivaling Owen, while Cody just took a few bites of Leshawna's actual food. Like she said, it was better than usual, but it still paled in comparison to the meal Chef had prepared for him.
"Thanks Sugar," Leshawna said, pausing to scrape the last bits of oatmeal from the side of the bowl, "That hit the spot."
Cody waved off her thanks with a blush. "No worries."
Honestly, he was just glad the rest of the cast wasn't there to see that.
Cody really didn't need to have another target on his back because he was being shown favoritism. The one Heather had likely put on him was enough.
"Can you keep this on the down low?" He nervously asked Leshawna, who had resorted to licking her spoon and bowl clean, "I don't want people to think I'm getting special treatment or anything."
Leshawna just smirked deviously. "I think I can keep this little secret between us," she started, before pointing her spoon at Cody, "So long as you trade breakfasts with me every once in a while."
Cody nodded, sagging in relief.
That was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
–
Around an hour later, everyone but Harold and Gwen had finally arrived to receive their own slightly improved meal.
The Gophers were clearly in higher spirits, enjoying the feeling of victory two challenges in a row over the Bass. The table was alight with chatter, laughter, and even Owen singing his praises to Chef Hatchet's slightly improved meal.
The cook noticed this from the kitchen, and allowed himself a small smile.
Meanwhile, the Bass just looked tired. Duncan was still down for the count, and the rest of the team wasn't faring much better. The only exception was Courtney, who was trying her best to rally the team.
Cody felt a bit bad for her - she was clearly trying her best, but it seemed like no one was interested.
The Bass did react to Duncan when he threatened Chris, all jumping underneath the table in fear, but Chris just played it off nervously.
Fortunately for everyone, that was when Harold decided to show up, sharpied-on mustache and all.
Everyone immediately burst into stifled laughter, but Harold was seemingly oblivious to it until Geoff pointed it out. Somehow, he found it cool, which raised a few eyebrows, but Cody just laughed harder.
Same old Harold.
The Gophers all cheered when Chris announced Gwen's arrival, while Courtney just glared. She cracked a small smile when Gwen face planted onto the table in a manner similar to Duncan, something the more observant Gophers (Cody and Heather) took notice of.
—
Confessional: Heather
"On one hand, that Courtney girl is really annoying." She filed her nails idly, not bothering to look at the camera. "On the other hand, it's even more fun to watch her get angry. Maybe if we win again today, she'll snap like Eva!"
For emphasis, Heather broke her nail file clean in two, before realizing what she did.
"Ugh," she said distastefully, "Lindsay better have brought one too."
—
"Wanna have some fun?" Heather asked Lindsay and Beth, who nodded enthusiastically beside her. She smirked dangerously, before turning to the Bass table.
"Hey fishheads!" She taunted, "Way to kick out your strongest player! Why don't you just give up now?"
Courtney snarled, before throwing her entire bowl of paste at Heather, who simply sidestepped it and allowed it to hit Gwen in the face. Leshawna, who was sitting next to Gwen, just rolled her eyes at the two of them before picking up a napkin and helping to wipe Gwen's face off.
"Missed me!" Heather taunted again, sounding even more condescending than before.
Courtney looked a tiny bit guilty, before covering it up with a scowl and settling for a harsh glare.
Cody just watched, exasperated. This wasn't anything new, and it would just lead to the same rivalry the two teams had last time. Courtney was taking a more active role as leader, though, but Cody wasn't sure it would mean anything.
"Alright campers, listen up!" Chris announced, breaking both Cody out of his thoughts and Heather and Courtney's glaring contest, "Your next challenge begins in ten minutes. And be prepared to bring it!"
Well there went any chance Cody had to talk to Noah before the challenge started. It looked like he'd just have to wing it.
For some reason, Cody didn't exactly have high hopes for the bookworm's chances.
–
Chef's whistle cut through any conversation that had been going on, allowing Chris to calmly explain the rules to the nineteen campers gathered around him (Duncan had fallen asleep on the bleachers already).
Cody already knew them by heart, however, thanks to his several dozen rewatches of the episode once it had aired. Could you blame him though? It contained some of his finest moments from the first season! In fact, it probably contained his only fine moment.
He didn't really get a lot of screen time originally.
Cody allowed his thoughts to wander for a moment as Chris droned on, thinking about what his plan for the challenge would be.
Knowing what he knew, Cody and Owen alone could likely beat the entire Bass lineup singlehandedly, thanks to Owen's power and Cody's unheard of ability to manipulate the balls (he really hated his thoughts sometimes). He also knew the Bass would finally wake Duncan up once they got desperate enough, and therein layed the problem.
Could Cody get his team over the hump against the Bass thanks to his knowledge of what they were planning? Maybe.
Would he then have to explain how he knew what their strategy was? Probably.
Did he have any clue what kind of excuse he could conjure up to cover himself? Not at all.
Besides, did he even want to win?
Assuming the Gophers pulled a win out, who would go home for the Bass? Tyler or Duncan were both likely candidates, as well as Courtney and Harold. Hell, maybe Katie or Sadie were given the boot, based on how annoying they had apparently been so far.
There was too much risk there. Too much could change based on so many factors. If the Gophers happened to win anyways, that would be that, but Cody decided on not exploiting his knowledge of the future. Again, though, there was still the chance the Gophers won regardless.
Maybe Noah would play and be able to think up a strategy in the third or fourth round?
Cody somehow doubted it. He'd still try to help him, though.
He zoned back in just in time to watch Chris deflect a ball Geoff had thrown at him, and winced as it pelted Lindsay in the face and knocked her over. She pulled herself up with a groan, and with a brand new welt on her forehead.
"You have one minute until game time! Gophers, you'll have to sit an extra person out each game!"
With that, Heather began making her move towards becoming team captain, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Okay, we can't get lazy," she encouraged, making Cody raise an eyebrow, "The Killer Bass are going to be trying extra hard to catch up. Who wants to sit the first one out with Sleeping Beauty here?"
Cody realized this was a great chance to actually force Noah to play by volunteering first, but he was beaten to the punch.
"Alright, I'll volunteer," Noah said drily, a smirk on his face as he pulled out a book, "Now let's see all you keeners get out there and dodge!"
A few people rolled their eyes at him, but no one cared enough to say anything about his sarcastic comment.
Cody was one of them.
–
"Bring it on, fishes." Heather jeered, waggling her finger at them mockingly, "Otherwise winning three in a row just won't be as satisfying!"
"Oh, you're going down!" Tyler shot back, clearly offended, "We're gonna bring the dinner to the table, and then we're gonna eat it!"
Everyone on the Bass just sighed.
"Both teams ready?" Chris asked, "Best of five games wins! Now, let's dodge some balls!"
Chef's whistle sounded, and Cody, Heather, Owen, Leshawna, and Lindsay all rushed to the line to grab a dodgeball. Cody made it first, followed by Owen, Tyler, and Courtney, leaving each side of the court with three balls each.
The first time around, Cody had thrown first, missing Tyler barely, but this time his aim was true and Tyler was the first one out thanks to a quick dodgeball to the head.
It was a kinder fate than allowing Owen to flatten him against the wall a few seconds later.
Chef blew his whistle, signaling that Tyler was out, which led to Harold attempting to throw out Leshawna and failing miserably - getting eliminated in the exact same way he had beforehand.
The Gophers all cheered, which was a brief enough distraction for Katie to launch a ball at a confused Lindsay, giving her another brief makeout session with the wooden floor, as well as a second major bruise.
Cody dimly realized that Lindsay was probably not going to enjoy the rest of this challenge very much. Maybe that was why she ran away from it with Tyler later on.
Speaking of which, Heather noticed the duo waving at each other, and decided to nail Tyler in the crotch with a ball, causing every guy to wince and cover their nether regions in solidarity for the poor jock.
Courtney, already enraged by Heather, didn't bother complaining about it to Chef, and decided now was the perfect chance to launch a ball at the current target of her ire. Owen wasn't quick enough to notice, and Courtney grinned as she caught Heather off guard with an unexpected dodgeball to the face.
—
Confessional: Courtney
"I'm not normally a violent person," Courtney began flatly, before smirking, "But the look on Heather's face as she was sent flying made me feel really good."
—
Just like last time, Cody ended up alone against DJ and Katie. He wasn't nervous, but he gulped and pretended to shake a bit to keep things the same.
"Easy out guys, easy out!" Courtney called from the bench, causing Cody to frown. He twirled the dodgeball around in his hands and aimed high, causing DJ to duck confidently before it rebounded midair and hit him from behind.
Everyone froze, clearly not understanding what had just happened. Cody didn't either, but he wasn't going to let anybody know that.
He smirked as Katie missed, and built up a static charge with his t-shirt, before letting it go and watching in amusement as Katie tried, and failed, to escape the inevitable. She ended up running into a wall, allowing the ball to freely hit her in the back as Chef signaled the end of the game.
The cheers that came from the bleachers made him feel really good.
–
Cody sat out the next game, finally giving him a chance to talk to Noah. Heather and Leshawna were too focused on the game to notice them talking, and he was pretty sure Lindsay was too busy staring at Tyler to even recognize where she was.
Good. No interruptions.
"Hey, Noah," Cody began, "What's up?"
Noah just ignored him, either too focused on his book or uncaring that Cody had tried to strike up a conversation with him.
Cody was unsure which was worse. Maybe it was both.
"Uh, Noah?" Cody repeated, tapping Noah on the shoulder for emphasis.
Noah finally turned to him with a flat stare, rolling his eyes. "Can I help you?"
Cody was briefly taken aback by his dismissive tone, but tried to remember that this wasn't the same Noah he knew and was friends with. This was someone who he had barely talked to at this point, and would need to be patient with.
"Hey, glad you decided to rejoin us in the land of the living!" Cody tried to joke, only for Noah to just roll his eyes at him and turn back to his book, "Sorry, sorry. I was just -
One of Tyler's dodgeballs suddenly rocketed towards the bleachers, cutting Cody off and causing everyone to frantically scatter. Once they were safe from any more of Tyler's shenanigans thanks to Trent, Cody continued.
"Anyways, what do you say to playing the next game?" Cody asked, somewhat hopeful.
Noah just scoffed. "In case you haven't noticed somehow, sports aren't exactly my forte."
"But you should still at least try!" Cody insisted, "If you don't play and we lose, you -"
Noah cut him off with another eye roll. "If we lose, it's because the rest of you can't play dodgeball to save your life. I contribute nothing to this challenge."
Cody was starting to get annoyed. "That's my point!" He threw his hands up in for emphasis. "If you don't contribute, you'll be on the chopping block because of it!"
"Oh, what ever shall I do?" Noah's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. "Get over yourself. Maybe if you were as concerned over winning as you were flirting with me, then you wouldn't have to worry your pretty little head, okay?"
By this point, their little argument had gathered the attention of most of the teens in the building - aside from Owen, who decided enough was enough, and took out the rest of the Killer Bass with ease, securing a second straight win for the Gophers.
Not that anyone noticed.
Cody's face burned in embarrassment. "You know what?" He hissed, trying his best not to cause an even bigger scene, "Fine. Suit yourself. Just know that if we do lose, I know who I'll be voting for."
Noah merely smirked. "Ditto."
With that, he returned to his book, uncaring of the stares he was receiving. Cody certainly did, however, and stomped right out of the court, head hung low in embarrassment and anger.
–
Cody, despite really not wanting to get into another argument, sat on the Dock of Shame, silently brewing as he awaited Heather's arrival.
He knew she would come looking for Lindsay, knowing full well that she was out here with Tyler.
She was gonna be pissed.
Cody hoped Tyler appreciated what he was doing for him.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, a furious Heather stomped over to him, eyes darting around as she looked around for the pair.
"Any idea where those two idiots ran off?" She questioned him, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Of course, Cody being Cody, he made the dumb decision that he would argue anyways.
"You really should just leave them be," he tried, "And why do you even care? They aren't hurting anyone."
Heather growled at him, before squatting down to look him in the eyes.
"Does it look like I'm in the mood for games, dweeb?" She hissed, "As team captain, it most certainly is my business to know whether or not one of my members is running around with the enemy."
Cody scoffed. "Please, it's just Lindsay. What would she possibly do to hurt the team?"
Heather poked him in the chest, getting right up in his face. "Stop trying to cover for her, geekwad! She'd never date a loser like you, so just fess up!"
Cody froze at the insinuation, causing Heather to smirk.
"Aww, did I strike a nerve?" Heather asked condescendingly, a sickeningly sweet smile appearing on her lips, "Don't think I haven't noticed you cozying up to those two Bass girls. Why, I'd almost say you -"
"Shut up."
Heather blinked in surprise, before opening her mouth in defiance and -
"I don't give a shit about what you think of me, and I really don't care about your alliance with Lindsay and Beth," Cody growled out, causing Heather to freeze like a deer in headlights, "But when you start acting like an entitled bitch and going after me just for trying to be a decent person, I'm not just going to sit here and take it."
Cody was seething at this point. Noah, Courtney, Heather - it was all getting to be too much. Things had been going so smoothly before today, and look at what happened.
He stomped away, uncaring of the new enemy he had likely made, possibly for the rest of the game.
Hell, if they lost it might be him going home tonight.
That thought lingered in his mind long after the challenge ended.
Meanwhile, a certain couple sat under the dock, quiet as they awkwardly listened in on Heather and Cody's argument.
–
Cody arrived back at the court just in time to witness Leshawna going down in a flurry of dodgeballs, tying up the score at 2-2.
Unfortunately for Cody, that meant he had arrived just in time to be dragged into the final match.
Unfortunately for everyone on the Bass, this meant that they now had to deal with an extremely pent up Cody throwing dodgeballs around like homing missiles.
This being the game deciding match, Chris decided to make it a seven versus seven, instead of the normal five on five that had been the norm for the past four games.
Since Heather and Lindsay were gone, and Gwen was still half asleep, that left one spot open for someone to sit out.
Three guesses as to who took it.
Cody and Owen were like machines on the field, dancing around dodgeballs like no one's business before throwing them back twice as hard.
They were pretty evenly matched by the Bass, though, who's strategy let them pick off a member of the Gophers everytime they received enough ammo from the other side of the court.
At least this time Cody got to enjoy Leshawna hurling a ball at Noah hard enough that it knocked him off the stands once one of his sarcastic cheers pushed her off the edge.
That felt nice.
The game went on for a long while, players constantly shifting around, with the exceptions of Owen, Cody, and Harold, who got to sit on the bench for ninety percent of the game, and then stand at the back of the court awkwardly for the other ten percent.
Eventually, DJ and Owen finally threw each other out, causing the final two to be Harold and Cody.
Joy. At least this time he wasn't taken out by protecting Gwen. That dodgeball to the nuts had hurt.
He looked Harold down with a critical eye, as the dweeb stared back.
Cody heard a few cheers from the Gopher bench, but tuned them out.
Fuck Heather.
Fuck Noah.
Fuck this show.
Fuck his plan of letting Harold win.
Cody saw red.
Chef blew the whistle.
Cody was like a man possessed on the field, launching balls at Mach 2 that turned on a dime midair to fly back at Harold, and if they hit the wall they bounced back hard enough to land right at his feet. He barely stopped moving after the first dodgeball was thrown, not that it mattered. Harold didn't have a chance to breathe, let alone retaliate.
And yet, Harold stood his ground. He ducked under rockets, bent backwards at some downright unnatural degrees to avoid the rebounds, did a clean split to avoid two balls Cody had thrown at the same time, he wasn't going down without a fight.
This lasted for several nerve-wracking minutes, before Cody realized something.
He was having fun.
Most of the pent up rage that had been brewing in him over the past hour had slowly melted away, before Cody was simply playing for the thrill of the game.
He was still pissed, mind you, but not pissed enough that he was actively trying to pulverize Harold.
Once Courtney called a timeout, Cody knew what was going to happen.
He didn't bother going back to the bleachers - he merely picked up the final dodgeball at his feet and waited for Harold's return.
Chef blew the whistle, and Cody pelted Harold with the toughest ball he could throw, sending him straight into the wall.
Cody knew from the moment of impact that Harold had caught that ball. It probably wasn't even as powerful a throw as Owen's was originally.
The Killer Bass erupted into cheers.
Cody just sighed. While he was happy for Harold - the guy had earned that win - he knew that he had just cost his team the challenge.
And that there were at least two people who would likely be gunning for his elimination.
He looked over to the rest of the Screaming Gophers despondently as the Bass carried Harold away to victory. Some of them looked understanding, some just disappointed.
"Gophers, what happened?" Chris asked, almost sounding confused.
"What can I say?" Noah snarked back, smirking, "Some of us just weren't concerned enough with winning."
Cody knew that last bit was directed at himself.
–
"Campers, you've all placed your votes and made your decision," Chris narrated, "One of you will be going home. And you can't come back. Ever. When you hear me call out your name, come pick up a marshmallow."
Cody sat silently as the names began being called.
"Owen."
"Gwen."
"Trent."
The roll call continued slowly, until it was just himself and Noah left sitting in front of the fire. He just curled even deeper into himself.
Was he really about to get voted out so early?
What a loser he was. He had the chance to change the future, and all he got to do was get humiliated even more than last time.
He just wanted this day to be over.
"Here we are, the final marshmallow." Chris smiled brightly at the two scrawny teens, teeth glowing in the darkness. "Let's go over why each of you are here."
"Firstly, Cody." His gaze shifted to the downtrodden geek, who just looked up miserably. "You picked a fight with Noah over not playing, and then stormed off for two rounds! Worse yet, you cost your team the challenge in a very winnable moment!"
"And as for Noah, you didn't even try to participate! You just avoided playing the whole time. Talk about not being concerned with winning, huh?"
If Chris's statement worried Noah, the boy didn't show it. Instead he just smirked at Cody, who was too exhausted to care.
"Anywho, the camper who will be taking a sweet ride on the Boat of Losers tonight is…"
Cody just glared at his feet in shame.
"Noah!"
"What?!" Noah stood up quickly, shocked, as Cody slowly trotted over to Chris to receive his marshmallow. "Are you kidding me?! He cost us the challenge! I'm the smartest one here!"
"Yeah, I don't think they really care," Chris responded, amused, "Especially since this vote was nine to two."
Everyone (minus Cody and Noah) immediately shifted their glares to Heather, who merely raised her eyebrow, challenging anyone to dare call her out.
"Whatever!" Noah sneered, "See if I care! You just voted out the only person with any brains on this team!"
The Gophers merely responded by hurling their marshmallows at Noah (except Owen, who had already eaten his), who flinched back in pain.
Everyone laughed at the bookworm's misfortune, except for Cody, who continued to stare at the ground, his face stone. He ignored Leshawna's barbs that she threw at Noah, and ignored the subsequent cheers from the rest of the Screaming Gophers as he walked off to the Dock of Shame.
He had failed. Failed in helping Noah, failed in even befriending the guy, failed in keeping himself under the radar, failed in steering clear of Heather, failed at winning the challenge.
It always ended in failure for Cody, didn't it?
Island, World Tour, the rest of his life, it was always a failure.
What made Cody think this time around would be any different?
–
Bridgette was pretty happy with how today had turned out.
The Killer Bass had finally won a challenge, she and Geoff seemed to be hitting it off even better, Chef Hatchet's food was becoming more bearable, life was pretty good.
She just hoped Cody wasn't voted out. That would kinda suck.
That Noah guy had painted a pretty big target on his back though, so she wasn't too worried -
"Hey, Bridgette? Can we talk?"
Bridgette turned around, seeing Courtney smiling politely at her.
"Sure!" Bridgette shrugged, smiling back, "What's up?"
"Not here," Courtney insisted, glancing nervously at the wall of the cabin that separated the boys and girls, "Outside."
Bridgette didn't know what had gotten her new friend so worked up, but she acquiesced, following Courtney out a decent distance behind the cabin.
"So," Bridgette asked, "What's so secretive that we have to talk about it outside?"
Courtney's mouth thinned. "It's about Cody."
Now that piqued Bridgette's interest.
"What about him?" She asked, curious.
"I caught you staring at him a few times during the challenge," Courtney said bluntly, "You really shouldn't be getting distracted by someone on the other team. Just look at Tyler."
Bridgette blinked. She wasn't expecting… whatever this was.
"So?" She questioned, "He's my friend. After he stormed off, I think I was pretty reasonably concerned for him. Why does it matter -"
"It matters because he's an enemy!" Courtney grabbed Bridgette by the shoulders, but she shrugged the C.I.T. off. "He's one of the Gopher's strongest players! At least Tyler's only got a hard on for the dumbest one on their team. What if he's just manipulating you?!"
"Okay, I don't know where all of this is coming from, but that's enough." Bridgette put her hand up to stop Courtney from trying to respond. "Cody's my friend, and you can't tell me who to talk to and who not to. He's a sweet guy, and I don't need you bossing me around. I don't know why you hate Tyler so much either, he and Lindsay are cute together."
"But Bridgette -"
"Save it!"
With that, Bridgette stomped back to the cabin, leaving Courtney alone and upset in the dark of night.
Who did she think she was, acting all high and mighty like that?
Speaking of Cody, Bridgette just so happened to catch him sitting alone in the super hot tub the Gophers had built during the first challenge. He was staring out at the lake, looking rather melancholy, likely still upset over the events that had transpired today.
She smiled to herself as she made her way back to the girl's side of the Bass cabin, already reaching for her wetsuit.
Maybe he could use some company?
–
"And there you have it folks! The most dramatic episode of Total Drama Island yet!"
Chris grinned into the camera, knowing just how high the ratings would be for this one.
"After three fights and the most intense game of dodgeball ever, the Bass just barely managed to eke out a win over the Gophers, who had been completely dominating them up until now! Even more interesting was the fact that Cody had been involved in two of those fights, and was the reason the third one even happened! It would've been a shame to see him sent home so soon, but the Gophers used their noggins and sent Noah packing!"
Chris took a step back, and raised his hands dramatically.
"Will Cody ever stop being the audience's, Chef's, and my favorite? Will Courtney and Heather actually start trying to kill each other? Will Harold carry the Killer Bass to another win? All these questions and more will be answered next time!"
"On Total!"
"Drama!"
"Island!"
—
A/N:
Not much to say this time! Hope you enjoyed it, and reviews are always appreciated!
Would've been two chapters in two days, but FFN was down so I had to wait an hour. RIP :/