(Noah's POV)
"...Was what happened last night real?"
This is the question that I have been asking myself for the past couple of hours now, after having woken up to find myself laid just behind the confessional outhouse, all alone. Admittedly, it had taken a few minutes for my brain to truly start working as per my typical standards, thanks in part to my sleeping arrangements for the night. Mentally noting how I'll have to go and thank Trent for giving me this opportunity, I slowly pull myself up to my feet, feeling groggier than normal; Again, more likely than not due to the nature of how I slept the night prior.
"At least I had a good dream to make up for it..."
Stretching, I start to make my way towards the mess hall to see if I can somehow stomach whatever rancid meal that Chef Hatchet has butchered this fine morning. However, before I can enter, I find my attention caught by something rather...intriguing. That being the sight of Courtney, having quite clearly had a better night's sleep than myself, considering the fact she had an actual bed and all, walking towards...the boys cabin?
Finding myself perhaps too curious for my own good, I try to sneak my way over there as well, wanting to find out just what business the C.I.T. had to deal with that involved the boys cabin...
(Courtney's POV)
Huffing in annoyance, I knock on the door to the boys cabin once more, not wanting to waste any more time on this than I have to. Thankfully, after the second attempt at getting somebody's attention inside, the door is unlocked, and subsequently opened, by just the person I had wanted to speak with.
"Ugh, who is-" Trent cuts himself off, clearly catching his tone as he realizes who he's speaking to. "Oh, hey, Courtney." Trent says, still clearly in the process of waking up, judging by the bags under his eyes and the way he looks about ready to keel over where he stands. "Do you need something?"
Letting a small grin cross my face, I shake my head, doing my best to hide my intentions from him until the right moment.
"No, Trent, I don't need anything from you, specifically. I just have to ask you a question." Trent nods his head, making this a lot easier for myself, thankfully. "Last night, did you happen to lock a certain know-it-all out of the boys cabin, leaving him stuck outdoors for the night?"
After a couple moments, Trent's eyebrows furrow, as he pauses - clearly, a stall tactic.
"What? What are you talking about, Courtney-" He attempts to deflect, clearly pretending to be innocent in this endeavor, but I deny him any opportunity of denial, prodding him in the chest.
"You know what I'm talking about, Trent! The know-it-all, Noah." I force myself to say his name with far more vitriol than I truly want to, all in effort to keep what occurred last night a secret from Trent, and by conjunction, everyone else. "I saw him sleeping out in the woods earlier this morning. You obviously had something to do with it, being an associate to the crime at minimum, so just spit it out already." I demand, leading Trent to huff in annoyance; Taking a couple of moments, Trent once again stalls, as my glare narrows in on him, giving a non-verbal demand for him to hurry up with whatever it is he's thinking about, before finally he lets his shoulders drop, his posture taking a more defeated position.
"...Okay, so I locked him out of the cabin. So what?" He asks, an accusatory tone to his voice; Once more, I shake my head, shrugging my shoulders in a pseudo-defensive maneuver.
"Oh, no reason, I just wanted to let you know-" At that moment, I drop all pretenses and take the opportunity presented to me, slapping the musician right across the face, waking him right up with such a strike as his eyes widen in surprise.
Trent remains shellshocked by the slap for a few seconds, before finally snapping back to reality, glowering at me for the sudden strike to his face.
"What was that for, huh?! Didn't you hear what Lindsay said after yesterday's challenge? He brought it unto himself-" He tries to explain, only for his response to be met with another slap, cutting him off once more.
"No! I don't care what he did - which, by the way, I wasn't there for whatever that ditz said about him. But regardless of whatever it is that she said, I'm sure that whatever that lazy little know-it-all did was nowhere near bad enough for him to be made to sleep out in the woods for the night!" I exclaim, shooting my own glare at Trent once more - one that is much harsher than anything he can manage, which does get his own mean look to quickly dissipate. "I mean, did you even think about what could have happened to him out there? He could've gotten mauled by a bear, Trent!" That seems to snap some sense into the musician, as the mention of bodily harm via bear mauling causes him to not just lose whatever semblance of disdain he had left in him, but take a shocked expression for a couple seconds, as he realizes the ramifications of what he's done to the know-it-all - too little, too late. "You should consider yourself lucky that I'm the one confronting you over this, by the way. If Chef, or God forbid Chris, managed to find out about this?" I question, letting it hang in the air for a few seconds, before dropping my glare, and simply folding my arms in disapproval. "Well, I'm sure someone as smart as you can figure out how badly that could have gone for both you and the show as a whole." I say, before turning around, ready to walk off.
"Courtney, wait!" Trent calls out, but as I continue walking off, the musician makes no attempt at catching up with me, as instead, I hear the door to the boys cabin close - this time, without it being locked behind him.
Putting enough distance between me and the boys cabin, I finally exhale as my eyes settle down onto the ground for a second, before closing, allowing me to mentally tabulate what needs to be done next on my mental to-do list.
"Well, that's one part of this whole issue taken care of. Now time to go find-"
(Noah's POV)
"...Noah?"
Jolting up from my hiding spot, I both physically and mentally freeze as Courtney comes walking over towards me, a thankfully neutral expression lining her beautiful face-
"Not the time, Noah!"
Snapping back to reality, I stay completely still as Courtney completes her approach, with half of me expecting to be verbally berated, and the other half thinking I'm about to be on the receiving end of a slap across the face just like what happened with Trent. However, I find myself surprised as, before I can even get a word in, Courtney is taking me by the wrist and dragging me off a touch deeper into the forest, keeping me and her out of eyesight from the cabins. Once she lets me go, I stumble backwards, my back hitting a tree as I shake some feeling back into my wrist - that girl has a tight grip on her...
"Courtney-" I try to start, but before I can get anything more out than her name, the chestnut-haired C.I.T. is standing right in front of me, lips mere inches away from mine...and just when I think that things can't get any more astounding, she presses her lips to mine, slipping her tongue into my mouth and taking full control of the kiss we now share.
My mind jolts with ecstasy - the same type that I had experienced in that "dream" of mine, and it is then I finally connect the dots: What happened last night...that wasn't just a dream. That was real. This was real! Courtney and I...we were actually together! As a couple! We were together as a couple!
"Jeez, for such a brainiac, you can sure be dense sometimes..."
With my inner voice taking a more feminine, distinctly more Courtney-sounding tone to it, I finally decide to give into my own desire, and reciprocate the kiss, catching Courtney by surprise for a brief moment, before things intensify; Nothing more physical than a kiss, of course - I'm not like that blonde bimbo, okay?! Still though, it is...decidedly nice, all things considered, as the two of us tongue-wrestle for dominance...for all of a couple seconds, before I simply let Courtney win out, knowing that putting up any more resistance could lead to some disastrous repercussions.
After a few more seconds of our breathless kissing, Courtney is the one who breaks off first, a victorious grin on her face. Sputtering for a few seconds in order to catch my breath, I try to get my thoughts back in order so that way I can actually speak to the mocha-skinned beauty who just dragged me off to the forest for an impromptu makeout session, but the results are...not exactly on par with my usual quality, so to speak.
"Wh-huh?! Courtney, you-, us-, kiss-, we-,"
At this, Courtney's grin fades, her eyes rolling in response.
"Uh, hello? I told you, Noah, we're going to be doing that every single day. Last I checked, that means every. single. day." Courtney explains, further cementing into my mind that what happened last night was, in fact, not a dream. "God, would it kill you boys to listen every once in a while?"
"So...us two are...actually together?" I question, unknowingly speaking out loud rather than keeping it up in my mind, causing Courtney to scowl at me in annoyance. "I-I mean...of course. Of course we're together, Courtney. Not exactly easy to forget that. Heh..." I let out a humorless chuckle, hoping that my course correction was enough to avoid the C.I.T.'s ire; Thankfully for me, all she does is let out a huff of breath and fold her arms, giving me a look that, while not quite all-forgiving, is a lot less judgmental than I had expected it to be.
"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was because of you being made to sleep outside last night that you had trouble remembering our relationship forming." Courtney says, providing me some mental relief at being let off the hook by her. "Don't let that happen again, though. You got that, Noah?" Only for that relief to slip away as I quickly nod my head, not wanting to piss off my...girlfriend.
For a few seconds, the two of us stand in awkward silence, neither of us seeming to have anything else to say, after the way we just greeted each other. Thankfully though, Courtney speaks up first:
"So, care to fill me in on what exactly it was that Trent meant by 'what Lindsay said in yesterday's challenge'?"
Unfortunately for me though...she decides to ask about the one thing I really didn't want to explain to her.
Struggling for a couple seconds on how this can be worded to not sound bad, I try to formulate my words carefully in my mind...only to be met with a glare from Courtney that ruins any plotting I had come up with before it could even truly get started. Left with no choice but to just wing it and hope she doesn't break up with me before our relationship could really get started, I shake off her gaze and fold my arms.
"Do you want the long version of it, or the short version?" I ask, giving a slight smirk towards the C.I.T.
"Just tell me what she said, Noah!" Courtney barks out, her voice a touch louder this time.
"Alright, alright, fine." I say, gesturing in a placating manner towards her. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."
With that, I begin to regale Courtney with the details of Lindsay's outburst against the 'queen bee' of the island, sparing no details on what was said, especially the more...colorful aspects of her tirade. With each insult from Lindsay that I manage to remember enough to repeat to Courtney, her face blanches just a touch more than before, with a couple of them even getting her body to start shaking, some laughter being poorly restrained inside of her, perhaps only being kept back for the fact that I still wasn't done with my explanation.
"...And then, she told Heather that the two weren't friends anymore, said something about a crush or whatever," I wave my hand at this, dismissing its importance, or lack thereof, "and then she decided to call out to the whole entire island about how Heather and I were working together in an alliance." I conclude, my gaze turning up with its typical disinterest as the jubilation from my secondhand re-telling of Lindsay's rant wears of near-instantaneously upon being met with the closing statement. "So...does that about cover it, Courtney?" I ask, looking back down at the ground once more.
"So...you and Heather were...?"
"In an alliance, yes." I state, rolling my eyes at her insipid questioning. "But it wasn't because I like her or something to that effect, I was just using her to make sure I stayed in the game, just as she was using me to keep herself in the game. You know, like how most alliances work on shows like these?"
For a couple seconds, things remain silent between the both of us. As the time keeps ticking by, and Courtney remains without a response, I find myself growing more and more anxious by her lack of reply, my eyes remaining firmly locked onto anything but her, as if afraid of what she has to think about this, especially considering the nature of our short-tenured relationship together, but then...
"...That's it?"
Perking my head up, I look quizzically at Courtney, noticing her almost...apathetic response to this information.
"Uh...yeah," I state, somehow feeling even more on edge than I was before. "That's it. Heather and I were working together in an alliance. That's...about all there is to it."
Courtney takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she does so, before looking towards me with...a look of annoyance?
"So, you're saying that Trent locked you out of the cabin, forcing you to sleep outside for the night, which completely violates part of the contracts that the producers made us sign to be on this show...all because you and Heather had an alliance?"
Not wanting to risk further annoying Courtney, I nod in response...and Courtney then grabs hold of my hand, squeezing it rather tightly as she looks towards me, a look in her eye that can only be described as downright murderous.
"...Noah, I need to go have a chat really quickly. Would you mind if-"
"No, no, by all means!" I quickly sputter out, not even wanting to let her finish whatever it is she was going to say. "Do what you have to do, Court." With that assurance, Courtney lets a smirk form on her face for a brief moment, before she shakes it off just as quickly as it appeared, and heads off from the forest, leaving me behind with my own thoughts, as I slump down against the tree that stands behind me, my gaze looking upwards towards the roof of the forest.
"...What the Hell have I gotten myself into?"
(Heather's POV)
...So, remember how I said that the other day, the day I had to beg Noah to let me join his alliance, was the worst day of my life here on Total Drama Island?
Well, it got worse.
Everything was going fine! Everything was good! I had won immunity, proving that I didn't need Noah's help after all, and then...and then karma happened.
Now, I'm not a moron; I know that I've done some messed up things here over the course of the game. I lied to Beth and Lindsay to get them to join my alliance from the very beginning; I stole Eva's MP3 player, causing her to go berserk and force her team to eliminate her; I read the weird goth-uh, I mean, Gwen's diary out loud to everyone on the island; I orchestrated three out of the five eliminations my team faced before the merge; I...well, I accidentally caused that dweeb off the Killer Bass to get eliminated before the merge hit. I've done some bad things, okay? But...but it was all for the sake of the game. Every single thing I did, I did it for the sake of winning this...this show, this competition. I mean, hello, a hundred grand is on the line, people! How was I not going to try and do everything in my power to win that?
But then the merge hit, and since then, everything has just...fallen apart. I let that know-it-all play me into eliminating Leshawna - something that I don't regret, by the way. My only regret with voting her off the island was that I had to get Noah's help to do so. But it feels like since then, everything's been out to get me! Even when I win, it feels like I lose, somehow!
I earn immunity in the treasure hunt challenge? Duncan suddenly goes off the deep end and ruins my plans to eliminate Trent by instead getting himself voted off for kissing Gwen. Then I have to...I have to beg Noah to help me out, and go along with his plan to eliminate Bridgette, and how am I rewarded? I earn immunity once again, and in the process, lose one of my closest friends on the island, thanks to some stupid twist that McLean probably came up with last minute just because he wanted to mess with us! And now, because of that...because of that I'm stuck with this awful feeling in my stomach that just refuses to go away, no matter what I do, or think, or...or whatever else!
"Was what Lindsay said to me...was all of that...true?"
...I already knew the answer to that question. That's what made this feeling inside of me feel all the more sickening. I knew that what she said was true, every last word of it. I am spineless, and heartless, and ruthless, and mean, and...and all of those other things she called me out on. All of it and then some. And even worse than that? I could've avoided this.
All I needed to do was give up my immunity. To give up one simple immunity, and hope that one good deed could protect me, even if just for a single extra day on this island. Had I just done that, I'd be in a position of pure power: A three-person alliance on an island of seven people, just one swing vote away from the majority...and with how Noah hung around Owen so much, it would have been easy to just get him onto our side, and rule the roost. I could've ruled this island if I wanted to...and I threw it all away. I threw it all away, just because I couldn't risk-, no, because I didn't want to risk going without an immunity.
"Spineless. Heartless. Ruthless. Antagonistic. Bitchy. Callous."
Those words were circling around my mind like vultures, ready to pick at the corpse of what I once was. Once the next challenge comes around, I already know I'm going to be dead meat. Nobody gets immunity twice in a row around here, lightning never strikes twice. I'm going to go down, and once I do? It'll be the easiest vote in the history of Total Drama Island. Nobody's going to be there to protect me. Nobody's going to hand me immunity on a silver platter. I'm going to be sent home a loser, just like everyone before me.
At that point, a thought re-appears inside of my mind, having been hiding away this whole time, until finally showing itself here and now...and while it makes my stomach churn, reminding myself of a conversation from the other day, its meaning isn't lost upon me:
"You got lucky."
...Wonderwall was right. I really did just get lucky back then, didn't I? Lucky to have Lindsay around to boss around, lucky to have Noah be willing to take me in, lucky to have Bridgette get thrown under the bus instead of me, lucky to-
Wait.
Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waitwaitwaitwaitwait-
"...If I did get lucky after all..."
"...Then that means Noah DID in fact save me."
Jolting to my feet, I just barely miss hitting my head on the underside of the bunk above me, as I stand up on wobbly legs, forcing myself to rush to the cabin door...only for it to swing open, startling me for a moment, before I re-focus and force myself to act the same as I always am.
"Oh, if it isn't miss Psychopath-In-Training." I state, looking at Courtney with feigned disinterest, before she abruptly brushes past me, closing and locking the cabin door behind her. "Ugh, watch where you're going! And why are you locking the door, anyways? Some of us have important business to attend to-" I don't get to finish that thought before Courtney suddenly grabs hold of my shoulders, pulling me back towards my bunk bed, and forcibly seats me down as she takes the one across from me. "Hey, what's the big idea, huh?!" I blurt out, only to silence myself as I finally catch the look in Courtney's eyes, which is enough for me to bite my tongue for any further comment.
"...You and I need to have a little chat, Heather."
(Noah's POV)
Looking back down at my watch-less wrist, I let out a small groan of boredom as I look around the still-empty cafeteria, mentally withholding another sigh from escaping my lips for what would have been the nineteenth time in the past ten minutes and counting. What was taking Courtney so long with her "quick" chat of hers, anyhow? It'd been nearly thirty minutes since we met up out in the woods and she was still nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, great, now I'm sounding like one of those lovestruck morons from back in school..."
preventing that nineteenth sigh from escaping, I consider heading back to the cabin to grab one of my books when suddenly the door to the mess hall opens, and in walks...
"...Oh, great."
...Trent and Gwen, the latter of whom shoots me a nasty glare as she heads to the opposite table from me, art supplies in hand. Trent, however, seems a lot less spiteful towards me than he was the night prior-
"Probably because my girlfriend slapped the taste out of his mouth not once, but twice."
And that memory brings a slight smirk to my face, before I divert my attention back to the entrance of the mess hall. However, a few minutes later, and I can't help but overhear some hushed whispers being traded back-and-forth between the musician and his girlfriend; Whispers that sound to be a bit too reactive to be anything good. Immediately, I begin to tune them out, not needing to get into any more trouble with the other people around here than I already have, but after a couple seconds - as well as a gasp from Gwen, for some reason? - my attention is diverted over to Trent, as he makes his way towards me, eyes looking anywhere except for my own.
Finally letting the nineteenth sigh free, I look up at Trent with disinterest, hands folded together on the table, like a principal being forced to attend their upteenth meeting with an unruly child.
"So, music man, what is it that you want from me this time?" I ask, feeling no need to hold myself back this time around. "Want to put a beating on me because I offended your precious girlfriend?" I ask, pointedly turning my gaze at Gwen as she, as opposed to Trent, watches this with vested interest. "Want to tell me I'm not allowed to sleep in the cabin anymore after what I did, after my big betrayal of your guys' trust in this game of social connections and deception?"
"...Look, Noah-" Trent starts to defend himself, but this time, I'm having none of it, cutting him short before he can even get the chance.
"Oh, no, Trent, I totally get why you did it. Your little girlfriend there got offended by the fact that I, heaven forbid, wanted to actually stay in the game and, you know, try to win a hundred thousand dollars." I let out a faux gasp to further prove my point. "How dare I try to win this game, when it's so clearly meant for you and your girlfriend to win, right? After all, it doesn't matter what I want, or what anyone else wants around here, right? All that matters is you and your precious goth girlfriend, the one who you're meant to protect from all the big bad wolves on the prowl around here, especially after what one of them did to her behind your back." Feeling my words bubbling with venom, I decide to just go full force with it, and really twist the dagger into his heart, to try and prove my point as effectively as possible.
"...Wow, Courtney is rubbing off on me already, isn't she?"
"Let me ask you something here, music man: Did you ask the others if they were okay with this? Did you ask Geoff if I deserved to be kicked out? Did you make sure that DJ agreed with me sleeping outside for the night, huh? Did you get verbal goddamn confirmation from Owen that he was okay with me potentially getting mauled by a bear out there last night, all because I had the audacity to align with the queen bee of the island because she was desperate enough to work with me to secure her own placement in this game that we play?! Does me offending your precious girlfriend make it okay for you to play judge, jury, and executioner against my own wellbeing?!"
"Look man, I'm sorry, alright?!"
"Yeah, you're damn right that you-, wait, what?" I ask, the anger slipping away from me at Trent's sudden apology, as he sits down across from me, head firmly placed in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Noah...I am," Trent's own frustration dissipates, as he looks up to meet my perplexed gaze, "I just...I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that, man. I should've just listened to you, and let you explain yourself, instead of just...shutting you out like that." Trent firmly admits, before falling silent.
The two of us sit like this for a couple of seconds, neither of us seeming ready to make the next move, until finally, Trent takes the initiative.
"I just..." A deep breath follows from the musician, as he steadies himself physically, "after what Lindsay said, I couldn't stop myself from getting worried. For Gwen." He quickly adds on, not wanting to look back at her, despite how she is quite blatantly staring at the both of us - not that I blame her. "I knew that Heather was already making her life here a living hell as it was, so...so I thought that, i-if you started dating her-"
"Trent." I cut him off right then and there, forcing myself to not perform my own live re-enactment of what Courtney put him through earlier this morning. "I'm only going to tell you this one more time, okay?" The musician nods his head, giving me time to take a deep breath, before... "I. AM. NOT. IN. LOVE. WITH. HEATHER!"
My scream catches both Trent and Gwen off-guard, as the musician flinches back from the force behind my words. Still though, I'm not finished, as I manage my best Courtney-esque glare at the musician, causing him to flinch once more, visibly re-living this morning's events from my attempt at recreating it.
"I told you last night - before you went ahead and locked me out of the cabin, by the way - Heather has not spoken to me once about romance, or anything close to it. For all I know, Lindsay might have just made it up in that cotton candy mind of hers because the two of us spent a lot of time together because, y'know, we were in an alliance together?" I fold my arms, turning my head away from the musician. "Shocking, I know, but think about it: What was I supposed to do in that sort of situation?"
Looking at me in confusion, I let out sigh number twenty at Trent's lack of understanding, before realizing I'm going to have to lay it out for this man like I'm in another sibling tutoring session.
"Think about it, Trent. Courtney and I are both back for the merge, both of us got huge targets on our backs. Courtney's got Duncan, though, which guarantees at least three votes aren't going her way. I, meanwhile, left on bad terms with everyone on the island - save for Owen - and started my second go-around by getting snarky with the guy who led the biggest - and thus, most powerful - alliance on the entire island. What was I supposed to do? Hope that Owen would protect me from the vote? Go to you guys and beg on my hands and knees for forgiveness after what happened at the dodgeball challenge? You guys would've laughed right in my face and left me to face the consequences of my own actions." I state with a rather bitter tone to my voice, before getting back to the point. "I had no other choice, Trent. I had to work with Heather, or get sent back there all over again."
After a few seconds, the two of us simply remain in silence together - Trent processing what I said, while I calm myself to prevent me from saying anything more than I already had. These seconds soon turn to minutes, with neither of us having anything further to add to this. However, what I didn't account for is seeing Gwen get up from her seat, and walk over to the both of us. Of course, she opts to sit next to her boyfriend, no surprise there, but rather than console him, her attention is solely on me, which both surprises and worries me.
"...I'm sorry for slapping you last night, Noah." And now that worry's been replaced with more surprise, as Gwen gives a wistful look off away from the both of us. "I think both of us should have just heard you out, but...me especially." Gwen states, garnering a confused look from Trent, who goes to speak up, but Gwen cuts him off before he gets the chance. "I know we haven't exactly talked all that much, but I...I thought that you were actually...kind of cool, in a weird way?"
A few seconds of silence and an unimpressed look on my face follow that statement, as Gwen realizes the need to rephrase what she had just said, which she does so before I can cut in with a remark.
"I mean, okay, it's not that you're cool, but...you're really smart, and witty, and I was hoping that we could've been friends, before Lindsay went ahead and spouted off that stuff about you and Heather. I know, I know, stupid of me to believe her, but I just...I felt so betrayed, Noah. Hearing that, it made me think that I had lost another friend here, right after Bridgette and Leshawna had both gotten voted off."
Gwen looks away from me once more, giving me the perfect cover for the sudden intake of breath that comes over me at those two names being mentioned; She knew that I had worked alongside Heather, yes, but...that doesn't mean she knew I orchestrated those two eliminations, did it? Thankfully, by the time she turns around, it seems that neither she nor Trent noticed my involuntary reaction, much to my internal relief.
"But now after hearing what you said, and realizing what we did to you-, what I did to you...it just makes me feel like a jerk." Gwen states, finally giving time for one of us to respond, to which Trent decides to jump in ahead of me.
"We both were acting like jerks to you, man. You willing to forgive us for this?" Trent asks...and in that moment, a swarm of possibilities pop up in the back, sides, and forefront of my mind.
All at once, hundreds of ideas begin to form: Ways I could use this to my advantage; Ways I could manipulate them, subtly pitting them against each other and forming a rift between them; Ways I could take full control of the game, securing immunity after immunity, while eliminating my enemies, one at a time. And yet...rather than take advantage of this, I just let out a sigh - twenty one, overall, today - and give an annoyed glance at the both of them.
"Normally, I'd be telling the both of you to go and get lost..." I start, the both of them flinching ever so slightly at my harsh choice of words. "But," I cut them off, internally sighing before continuing on, "I'm willing to forgive the two of you for this, given that you both realize just how stupid you had been acting towards me."
At that, it seems that the dam bursts open for them, relief washing over their faces as they can't help but smile; Trent especially so, as he shoots to his feet, gently yet forcibly grabbing one of my arms to pull it into a fist bump.
"Right on, man! I promise you, something like this? It won't happen again!" Trent exclaims, thankfully letting go of me as I roll my eyes at the two of them.
"Right, right, now can you please get going? I've got some reading to catch up on, now that I'm actually allowed into the cabin again." I state, and immediately, Trent is nodding his head, not even saying another word as he rushes off from the mess hall.
Gwen, however, sticks behind for a few seconds, watching Trent go before she turns back towards me, a smile lining her face.
"Thanks a lot, Noah. You didn't have to forgive us, but-" She starts, before I roll my eyes.
"Ugh, don't get all sappy on me over this. You two made a stupid mistake, and you both owned up to it. It'd be equally as foolish for me to hold a grudge over it, especially in a game that's all about social connections." I state in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'd basically be locking myself out of the finale if I didn't forgive you two for this, especially after what you've been through this season."
Expecting Gwen to leave after this, the goth actually sticks around, annoying me ever-so-slightly, as she turns on her heel, facing me once more.
"You know, funny thing is? Things have actually been getting better around here, ever since Duncan got sent home." The goth says, catching my attention. "I've been able to focus on the game more, Trent and I are stronger than ever before-, Hell, Heather even stopped going after me as much as she used to!"
Now that was new information for me. Heather, the queen of mean herself, the one who claimed that the 'weird goth girl' had been a thorn in her side for the entirety of this season...was actually leaving the poor girl alone? I can't help but to look gobsmacked at this, which Gwen easily picks up on...yet she says nothing further about it, instead turning away and walking off, leaving me alone in the mess hall once more-, or rather, alone with my thoughts.
"I was hoping that we could've been friends..."
For some reason, those words hung over me as I exited the mess hall, and headed for the cabins. Gwen, of all people, actually wanted to be my friend? Despite the two of us having the same amount of conversations as Lindsay has brain cells? What would the two of us even have in common, anyhow? Sure, we both have the same dry, sarcastic wit, but...there's not much else to it, is there? I just simply can't imagine a friendship between us working out...especially now that Courtney is probably going to be watching over me like a hawk at every moment possible.
...Oh well. I've got some reading to catch up on, so might as well get on that, and worry about the rest of the game later. After all, it's not like things are going to get any easier for me around here...
A/N: ...Okay, so it has been quite a while. Let me explain first, before I get into detail about this chapter in particular. This year has been...extremely troublesome for me, from a mental health standpoint. I have a horrible sleep schedule, I'm struggling to find work, and my creativity flickers like a candle put out during a hurricane. Somedays, I'll be able to hyper-fixate onto a project and get a crap ton of work done in the span of a few hours! Then there's some days where I literally can't focus on anything for longer than 15 minutes and trying to exert myself on a specific project gives me a migraine that shuts me down for the whole rest of the day. Combine that with my tendency to overwork myself to the point of complete burnout and shutdown. Case in point here, where I have this fanfic to work on, two TTRPGs that I am the DM of, two TTRPGs that I am actively playing in, two TTRPGs that I am looking to join in the coming weeks, and not to mention my other assorted projects that either have weekly or monthly deadlines...yeah, suffice to say, I did not allow myself to have the time to truly work on this until literally just about three hours ago, when I got a burst of inspiration while reading other fanfics as I was lying in bed, and just said to myself "...to hell with this. Go write the next chapter." And so, I did, and...well, I've got to say? A lot has changed.
Compared to the original story, a LOT about this chapter wound up being re-done or workshopped. First and foremost, the Trent confrontation at the beginning of the chapter! In the original story, it was Noah who confronted Trent over what happened on the night prior, and tore into him over what he did to the point of making him cry...but this time around? I felt it would be more fitting for Courtney to do so, and give Trent a real reason to regret what he did, rather than have Trent abruptly come to his senses like he seemed to do in the original version of this story. Plus, this also opened the door to the Noah/Trent/Gwen scene that closed things out, which also fixed one of my biggest blunders of the original story - the Noah/Gwen "conversation" that I, for whatever reason that it was I had, decided to leave completely off-screen, and only alluded to later on as part of the overarching plot. This, I fully admit, was a BONEHEADED decision...so? I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and fix it here by ensuring that Gwen actually had good, on-screen reason to still associate with Noah. And finally, there's Heather's mental breakdown over her queendom coming crashing down, and the setup of Heather and Courtney having a discussion. NOW, I KNOW WHAT I JUST SAID ABOUT THE NOAH/GWEN SCENE, AND I KNOW THIS ALSO HAS OFF-SCREEN IMPLICATIONS, BUT ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN: Courtney and Heather's discussion WILL become known over the next couple of chapters, as it essentially serves as Courtney gathering intel. The reason I didn't include it here in full is that...simply put? It's not actually all that important right now. Heather already got yelled at by Trent for Bridgette's elim, and she already had her breakdown over what Lindsay said, so showing Courtney go into her as well? That's...just a bit much, for my tastes. Hence, the actual conversation gets handled primarily off-screen while Trent and Gwen hash things out with Noah, and we get to explore the effects of said conversation in the next chapter.
Speaking of next chapter...it's finally time. My single favorite challenge chapter in the original story is finally getting re-made, and quite frankly? I am excited. I typically don't tend to big myself up like this, or let myself actually feel pride in my work to this degree, but I personally thought that the challenge I came up with as a replacement to the standard horror challenge was one of my personal favorite writing ideas, so to be able to get the chance to re-write it and fix a few minor issues I found with it in the original story...that's going to be fun as all get out. I hope that y'all feel the same way, once it winds up getting posted! No promises on when that will happen, thanks to my aforementioned mental health difficulties, but I hope that, once it does get released, y'all enjoy it as much as I am enjoying the potential of it now!
Other than that, though, I thank you all for reading and for having the patience to wait on this next chapter. Once again, I ask that you please remember to leave a favorite on this story if you've enjoyed it thus far, follow the story for any future updates, and/or drop a review down below to share your thoughts! Until then, this is MrLeedles, signing off~!
REMAINING CONTESTANTS: Courtney, DJ, Geoff, Gwen, Heather, Noah, Owen, Trent
ELIMINATED CONTESTANTS: Ezekiel, Eva, Justin, Katie, Tyler, Izzy, Cody, Beth, Sadie, Harold, Leshawna, Duncan, Bridgette, Lindsay
