So…break day and challenge. Fun fact: I have been literally a foot away from a real cassowary more than once, and never got attacked. They left me alone, but they do sort of stare at you with this very bad-tempered look, stalking around like a moody teenager.

The break day was sorely needed after yesterday's heavy elimination. I spent most of it with Damien this time. I was still thinking about how Priya had said that she thought he might like me while I just considered him a friend, so I wanted to see if I could figure things out either way without asking straight out. I mean, I didn't want to embarrass both of us by getting things wrong.

Unfortunately, it didn't really work. Damien was as natural and friendly to me as usual. We chatted a little bit about our teammates, and I told him about our confessional eavesdropper. "To be honest, I wasn't totally sure it was MK at first," I confided, "But then Emz pointed out Julia would never have posted that video herself, so it's not too much of a stretch that she was watching our confessionals."

"I'm glad she's gone, then," Damien admitted. "I'd never feel safe making a confessional again if you'd kept her."

"I'm not sorry she's gone," I said carefully, "But I am sorry we didn't take Julia out. I hate to admit it, but she's actually okay at challenges when she's not looking at her phone. And she's not going to risk that while she's on the chopping block. She knows if we lose again, she's going home."

Damien nodded. "Yeah. To be honest, I feel that way a bit about Priya. I like her and all, but the merge has to be soon. She's really good at challenges, so she'll be a major threat."

I suddenly laughed. "Did you realize we're just swapping team strategy? I don't think I was supposed to tell you where our team's going, but you just gave me similar info!"

Damien laughed with me. "I didn't even realize!" he said, chuckling. "Don't worry, though, I won't tell if you won't."

I smiled. "Sure." I was naturally honest, but I didn't have to tell my teammates anything I didn't want to. "But speaking of our strongest teammates, I'm actually starting to be less happy about you guys taking Ripper out. I mean, I didn't like him, but now I've found out how much worse it can be. He was small-time mean compared to Julia. She makes fun of everyone, but she's really got her knife into me. She called me a clingy suck-up and tried to insult my skin condition when I lost my moisturizer."

Damien smiled reassuringly. "Not gonna lie – your skin doesn't need moisturizer. I mean, you can still wear it and it might stop your skin from drying up because that's what it's for, but in general, your skin is really good. Do you know what chemicals are in it? Some work better than others."

I hadn't even thought about the chemical content, and I said so. "But thanks for saying I don't need it. Bowie said the same a couple days ago when I first mentioned it was missing."

Damien nodded. "Well, I don't know him that well, but I know he cares about that kind of stuff, so I'd say you're in the clear on that."

I spent the evening with my allies. Bowie finally confided in Emz and I about what we hadn't seen in the tapioca pit. Raj had unexpectedly kissed him, which made both Emz and I excited for him. They hadn't talked about it yet. As far as we knew, Raj hadn't told Wayne, and he was a bit shy about it anyway, "So I'm going to wait until I can get a moment with him," Bowie told us. "I didn't give him an answer at the time because of the sharks."

"So are you going to ask him out?" Emz asked excitedly.

"Because I know he's liked you for a while," I added. "Like, at least since last week. To be honest, with what the hockey bros are like, I'm surprised it took him so long to kiss you."

"Oh, I noticed," Bowie grinned, "But I wanted to focus on the game. I really like Raj, but he's not going to make me lose focus. That's what I need to tell him – I want to put it on hold until the game's over. Then I'll actually ask him out properly."

But really, the break day seemed to go by in a flash. Maybe because Chris called us practically at the crack of dawn. Well, everyone was awake, but I hadn't even had breakfast. I had just finished putting on foundation when the horn sounded. Julia had it worse – she was putting on lip gloss and ended up scribbling it across her face.

"Challenge time!"

Everyone walked in a little clump, since we were all in the cabins and mess hall. Well, mostly.

Millie was rubbing her face. "It still hurts!" she complained. Apparently she'd been working with Priya on agility and had ended up getting hit in the face.

"I said duck!" Priya told her impatiently. I mean, I liked Priya, but she seemed to be pushing Millie a little too far too fast.

The hockey bros were chatting about how crazy the last challenge was, and Wayne straight out asked Raj what the craziest thing was. "I guess the pudding shark," his friend replied.

I'm not sure if it was just me who caught the flash of confused hurt on Wayne's face before he straightened it. He clearly knew his friend wasn't telling him something. Did he have some idea about Raj's crush on Bowie? Why hadn't Raj told him? It was so clear just by listening to them that they'd stand by each other no matter what, and one of them being gay wasn't even close to being a problem.

When we finally reached the small fire pit where Chris and Chef were waiting for us, Chris told us we had to hand in our team flags, which were instantly thrown on the fire.

"No more Trout, no more Frogs!" Chef announced. "The teams are now merged!"

I couldn't help letting out a gasp. The merge already? There were still eleven people left. I'd seen merge episodes. Even the first season had twelve eliminations before the merge, and that was a much bigger cast than ours. The smaller casts had six or seven people in the merge.

Chase looked the most excited. "Awesome!" He ran towards us. "Ems, we're finally on the same team!"

Before Emz could reply, I stepped in front of her. "There are no teams, and even if there was, Emz doesn't want you on her team. Just get lost, Chase, and move on. Emz has. Right, Emz?"

Emma shot me a grateful look, as she hadn't wanted to give him any more attention, because just about anything she could do would have Chase interpret as hope. She just agreed with me. "Tansy's right. Get lost!"

The challenge was simple, but pretty deadly. Chris had apparently brought cassowaries to the island this time. All right, they weren't extinct like raptors, supposedly, but they WERE vicious, considered the most dangerous bird in the world. They only lived in two places in the Southern Hemisphere, as well, and I was pretty sure they were a protected species. Yet Chris expected us to steal their eggs!

Chef told us what cassowaries were like in detail, so we knew exactly how strong their kicks were, how sharp their talons were, how fast they could run and everything else. I guess it was perfect for Total Drama. It even looked a little scary, with beady eyes and a bad-tempered expression.

"So," said Chris, "Given how dangerous cassowaries are, I'm gonna suggest you partner up – or work in a trio," he added, "Since there's an odd number. That way, if one of you gets 'cassowaried', the other can tell production where to find your remains."

I teamed up with Emz and Bowie, of course. No question about it. It was also a given that Wayne was going to team up with Raj and Priya with Millie. Damien took pity on a hiccupping Zee, which left Julia with Chase – two horrible influencers together. Chase actually did try to tag after us, wanting Emz to be his partner, but she yelled at him before I could stop her.

Maybe that helped, because Chase actually seemed to understand that she wasn't playing hard to get at that point, stating that it sounded like she was saying they were over.

Emz was so mad she pushed him into a bush headfirst. "We've been over for months!" It wasn't like she was the one in danger of ending up the gooseberry, considering Bowie and I weren't going to ditch her. She was still angry as we began the challenge, ranting about stuff Chase had done all over again. Bowie and I exchanged glances over her head, but we said nothing. If Emz needed to vent, she needed to vent.
However, she shut up pretty quickly when we ran into Raj – alone. "Oh, hey," he said, smiling shyly.

"Hey to you too," Bowie responded. The way they looked at each other made me feel like I was intruding. I'm not even positive Raj could see me – or Emz, come to that. Talk about only having eyes for one person.

"We'll give you a minute," I offered, pulling Emz away. As soon as we were far enough away not to eavesdrop, I couldn't help squeeing a bit. "They are such a sweet couple! The way they look at each other – it's like-"
"There's only them in the world," Emz said, grinning. "I know, I felt it too. But we are so going to make sure Bowie gives us all the details about it. And hey," she added, nudging me a little too hard, "Maybe you can tell me about you and Damien, huh?"

I frowned. "What?"

Emz laughed. "Tansy, seriously. I've seen you guys talking, and I don't think I need to play matchmaker with you after all. He's so crushing on you. Don't tell me you haven't noticed! I know he's good at keeping quiet about it, but don't you think it's a little odd he's never hanging out with anyone on his team? He gets on with almost everyone, but I don't think he had any teammates he made friends with like you did. It's-" Emz was cut off. We'd almost walked right into an irate cassowary.

We ran back to where we'd left Bowie and Raj, both screaming "Move! Move, quick!"

Bowie joined us in running and Raj dived behind a bush. But at least I got an image I wanted. Just as we were running back, we caught the end of a kiss. It was just as cute as I'd imagined.

Eventually, we lost the cassowary, and Emz started asking the question we both had. "So, what was that all about with Raj?" she asked, punching Bowie playfully, although it looked a bit more forceful than it needed to be. "Huh? Huh?"

"Seriously, tell us!" I joined in. "You can't leave us hanging!"

"We still need to find eggs," Bowie pointed out. "I'll fill you both in while we walk."

Emz started one of her happy dances, and I had to tug on her arm before she came with me.

Actually, that evening, we made a joint confessional. Luckily the toilet lid was wide enough that we could both just about fit. "I think it's great that Bowie and Raj found each other," Emz said.

"I mean, it was getting kind of obvious that they were into each other," I remarked. "And once the kiss in the tapioca pit happened – well, we're just lucky we got to be the first two to hear all about it."

"Like me and Bowie are going to be the first to hear about it when you finally get with Damien?" Emz teased, giggling.

I knew I was flushing as red as my hair. "Emz – stop! What if someone else is downloading these? Not to mention everyone watching this on TV!"

But back to the challenge.

As we were walking and talking, we heard a voice calling out "Bowie! And Tansy!" Suddenly, Julia practically bounded in front of us, a smile on her face. "A word with both of you in private?" she said.

Bowie and I looked at each other. I looked over at Emz. Chase, Julia's partner, had been trailing behind her, and he gave me a pleading look. One that didn't affect me.

"No thanks, Julia," I said straight out. "I would, but I'm not leaving Emz alone with someone who almost killed her. Who knows what he'll do this time?"

Julia's eyes flashed with anger, but she straightened her face quickly enough, still smiling. "It'll only take a minute, honestly! Come on, sooner you listen to me, sooner you can go on your way."

I shrugged apologetically at Emz and went with Bowie and Julia in the end.

"I saw an abandoned nest with three eggs in it!" Julia told us excitedly. "I'll ditch Chase so we can have them – if you promise to vote for Chase."

I looked at her suspiciously. "Why are you helping us to get rid of him? Are you just doing this to make sure we don't vote you out?"

Julia kept smiling. "Look, I know you don't like me, but do you really like Chase any more than me? This is just a one-time deal. You're safe for another round, I'm safe for another round. We want the same thing, right? Why not?"

I looked at Bowie. I was going to leave it up to him for this. That was my strategy – let my allies pick who I voted for. He made the decision in a second. "Lead the way!"

I was just surprised that Julia was being honest. Within five minutes, we all had eggs, and we were talking about what to do if we were the first back when only one of us could get immunity. Bowie suggested playing rock-paper-scissors.

"I'm fine with that," Julia said brightly, "Or…" then she shoved both of us to the ground. "We could race!" we heard her yelling as she left.

"That's not fair!" Bowie yelled after her. He got up immediately and even hauled me up before running after her.

As it was, none of us won. Priya and Millie were the first back, and for whatever reason, Millie was the one who had immunity. Surprising, considering it was obvious Priya was the more competent of the two. Maybe she'd let Millie have it for some reason.

Damien returned with an egg afterwards, but he had to bolt after giving it to Chris, because an angry cassowary was still chasing him. Eventually he managed to get back unscathed, pulling a more worried-looking Zee with him. Emma and Chase arrived after that, without eggs.

"Emz," I said quickly, "I'm so sorry we ditched you. I should have known better than to listen to Julia, and I'm sorry I left you with –"

"It's fine!" Emz said breezily. "It actually worked out really well." She took hold of Chase's hand. He smiled too.

I saw Julia scowling, and to be honest, I felt like it too. They were back together? How on earth had that happened? I knew I shouldn't have left Emz alone with him. If they went back on the livestream together – yeah, I was seriously worried Chase might kill her. He wouldn't mean to, I knew that much, but it was obvious he didn't know what he'd done wrong last time. He'd probably do it again for views.

The hockey bros finally arrived last. They were in absolutely terrible shape.

Bowie was the first to approach them. "Raj, what happened?"

The boys could barely say anything coherent.

I might as well say it – although Emz and I made that confessional, we never did get the chance to vote. I'd decided to leave voting for Chase another time, because Julia was a threat.

"I know it's not a good idea to keep Chase," I admitted to Bowie when I managed to get a moment with just us while Emz was making a confessional, "But he's not as good at challenges as she is, so we'll probably have the chance to get rid of him next."

"I mean, I understand," Bowie admitted. "I don't want her either, especially after what she did to us. But I don't want Emma to just get her heart broken again. Besides, from a game standpoint, having them back together is going to split her loyalties between us and Chase. We don't have any guarantee she'll choose us over him."

That was true too. "But Julia is still the bigger threat," I pointed out. "We don't really have to fear Chase voting for us because Emz will still have some loyalty to us and she won't vote with him, and I don't think the rest of his team is that friendly with him. Even if he does try to vote us off, we don't have any enemies. I'm on pretty good terms with the rest of them, and I don't think they see me as a threat."

"Fair point," Bowie conceded. "Okay, Tansy, you win. Chase next. Julia this time."

But as I said, we never got to vote. Chef told Julia, Chase and Emma why they could be targets to go home, but when he found out what happened to the boys, he told Chris that Wayne and Raj were too injured to compete and should go to hospital. We didn't get to say a proper goodbye, but despite how sad it was, I was glad they were getting the help they needed.

We didn't have a break tomorrow. Oh well.

The merge was way early this season. Hopefully you don't mind another canon elimination, but really, there was no way not to do it this time. Tansy had no control over the cassowary that was chasing Raj.