Waking up, Cody found himself as one of the earlier ones in his cabin to awaken. Of course, he'd likely never be first, what with Ezekiel the farmer still in the game. It'd be hard to keep up with him. Throwing on a familiar pair of jeans and his sweater, Cody quietly snuck out of the cabin to not wake the others. A wave of cold air struck him as he left. It seemed that the summer heat had not yet followed the sun, which could be seen at a distance, a fair bit above the horizon. He looked around, hoping to spot one of his fellow campers, but was unable to find anyone, so resigned to going to the mess hall to warm his stomach with… food. Cody shrugged. It may be awful, but it was the only thing they had to eat.
The day moved on, as people slowly began to file out of their cabins. Some went straight to the dining hall, some to the bathroom, and some to the forest. When Izzy ran into the forest, Cody thought nothing of it. While not typical behavior of the redhead, what was typical behavior for her? However, it was when Heather, Lindsay, and Beth all went into the woods that Cody began to question them. Keeping a close eye on where the three disappeared between the tree line, Cody didn't exactly have to wonder why they were there. Heather at least had some foresight in hiding her alliance, as opposed to showing it off.
A few minutes went by before Beth and Lindsay both walked out of the woods. The two were chatting, oblivious to the world around them. However, when Heather came out, her eyes darted around, looking for any unwanted spectators. Her eyes locked with Cody's, who quickly tried to look away. When his eyes returned to Heather's location after taking a quick detour to anywhere else, he found her walking directly to him. Cody sighed. "No point in walking away, I suppose," he thought.
"What's your problem?" Heather spat out. "First the jock, now staring at me. Keep your nose out of places it doesn't belong, and you might actually survive this game, twerp."
"I wasn't sticking my nose anywhere, Heather. I'm just people-watching. It's important in a game like this. Wouldn't you agree?" Cody reasoned. Heather stuck her nose up at him and turned away. She couldn't refute the logic, but she knew it was all an act. Cody knew he wasn't the best at lying either. He had been looking directly at her, and he knew that there was no way Heather believed him. But at the very least, it did get her off his back.
About an hour later, Chris called for the campers to meet with him. Chris announced that the next challenge would be a talent contest, with each team sending up three members to compete.
"Alright losers, after being nominated as team captain-" Heather said once the two teams had separated.
"Who nominated you as team captain?" Gwen asked.
Heather shot her a glare before regaining her composure. "Well, we need a team captain. So we have someone to have the final say in who gets to compete."
"That doesn't mean it has to be you though, right?" Ezekiel asked.
"Listen, dweebs, we don't have time to argue about this. We need to see who actually has good talents." Although some still wanted to debate, Lindsay volunteered to start, putting an end to their thoughts. She began to perform a cheer, one she had likely learned from her high school. This was confirmed when she cheered her school's name, rather than anything relevant. Lindsay's dance, specifically whenever she would bounce around and shake her arms, enamored the boys. Try as they might, none could look away. Not that any of them particularly wanted to. However, she was cut short when all the girls shouted "NO!" at the same time. The boys and Lindsay were all disappointed, but Lindsay still sat down.
Next, Ezekiel offered to show off his archery skills. This resulted in Gwen, who had been sitting behind Zeke and completely out of his range, nearly being shot in the hand. Instead, the sketchbook she had been doodling in was pinned to a tree. The goth retrieved her book and stormed off, not willing to put herself in more possible danger from rogue acts. As she walked away, Trent offered to play his guitar.
Cody took a look back at Gwen and decided to follow her. He found her sitting down on a tree stump, writing something in a book.
"Whatcha got there?" Cody asked her, sitting on the ground next to her.
"Beat it," she said without even looking up.
"I was just wondering if you were going to audit-"
"I said, beat it." Gwen slammed her book, finally looking up at the geek. There was no fire in her eyes, but Cody could still tell she meant it. "I don't know what you're trying here. Whether it's to get in my pants or just to annoy me, I don't care either way. Leave me alone." Gwen shoved her book under her arm and began to walk back to camp.
Cody stood shocked as he watched her walk away. He hadn't been expecting a long conversation, but that was not what he thought would happen. After taking a few seconds to compose himself, he started in the direction that Gwen had stormed off in. He found himself back at the cabins in a few minutes, just in time to see Gwen walk out of her cabin in her swimsuit. Cody's eyes darted around in a desperate attempt to not look creepy to his crush. When he glanced back, he was relieved to discover Trent alongside Gwen, as they walked towards the beach.
Sensing his opportunity, with Gwen, Trent, and the rest of the team distracted, Cody silently slipped into the girl's side of the cabin in hopes of finding Gwen's diary. Taking a look around the room, he quickly spotted Gwen's bag and began to rifle through it. As guilty as this made him feel, Cody knew it was the right thing to do. However, as the door screeched open, Cody froze.
"And just what do you think you're doing in here?" Cody whipped his head around only to find Izzy.
"I-I came here to, uh…" Cody stammered, before correcting himself. "What are you doing here? This is the Screaming Gophers' cabin."
"Oh, that's right! I was looking for ants for my performance!"
"Izzy, isn't your performance a dance?"
"Well, it's the dance of the rattlesnake, duh! Rattlesnakes need ants to eat!" Cody wanted to correct her that snakes, in fact, did not typically eat ants, however stopped himself after realizing that eating ants during a dance was already insane enough.
"Ugh! Why'd Owen have to jump right where we were sitting?" Gwen's voice rang out. Before he could do anything, Cody heard another voice.
"Lindsay, keep goth girl busy while I'm in there."
"Crap. Both of them want to come in here. I'm screwed! And I didn't even find the diary!" he thought frantically.
Cody's eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape plan. He found one in the window. He rushed over and pushed it open, pulling himself out of it just in time for Heather to open the door.
"Cody?"
Cody spun around to see Ezekiel standing behind the cabin. "Why'd you jus-MMPH" Cody rushed over to Ezekiel and put his hand over his mouth. Before he could try to say anything else, Cody rushed the homeschooled boy away. He dared to take a glance back to see if any of Heather, Lindsay, Gwen, or Trent had noticed them. Luckily, the latter three hadn't, and Heather wasn't looking out the window.
Cody sighed to himself. "I couldn't get the diary," he thought. "Although not getting caught and being branded a peeping tom is a silver lining".
"So, why were you in the girl's cabin, eh?" Zeke questioned. Cody thought to himself for a moment, wondering what he should tell his friend. On one hand, he obviously couldn't tell him the exact truth, since that would either break his brain or make him not trust Cody anymore. However, the two were close, and telling him a twisted truth could get him out of this.
"Okay, it's Heather. She doesn't strike me as someone to be trusted. In fact, I think she could do a lot of harm. I wanted to stop her from doing anything awful, but I didn't really have time to do anything in particular." Ezekiel accepted this answer, before telling Cody that the talent show was about to start.
The two made their way towards the stage and took a seat before anyone else. In a few minutes, all but the competing contestants had found their places in the theater. As Chris began his hosting, Cody nervously tapped his foot. He tried to calm himself down by reasoning that it worked out normally, so the diary shouldn't be a big deal. But after he failed to save Noah, his anxiety was spiking.
"First up for the Screaming Gophers, Justin!" The Gophers cheered for their teammate, despite his lack of talent. He began to pose, doing a few different ones, before sitting down on a chair and letting water fall on him. With a swish of his hair, Justin was done. Despite knowing his score already, Cody clapped alongside the rest of his team. A six out of nine wasn't too shabby.
"I don't know what that was, but dang, you've got some moves," Chris said loudly. In a hushed tone, he slid his arm around Justin and whispered, "You've gotta teach me some moves, man." The teen looked a bit confused but nodded all the same.
"And first for the Killer Bass…" Chris brought his announcer voice back. "DJ!". Just as Chris finished, DJ tip-toed gracefully out, his ribbon flying above. His act continued until the end of his ribbon snagged his legs and culminated in him falling down. Scoring two out of nine, DJ hung his head in shame as he joined his teammates in the theater.
Trent came out next to sing his song. As he did, Cody looked over at Gwen, who was blushing with her head in her hands. But when Cody looked back at Trent, he wasn't staring straight at Gwen as he had done last time. No, this time he was looking around the crowd as a whole. Cody raised his eyebrow at this but ended up chalking it up to his faulty memory. As Chef announced Trent's score of five out of nine, Cody questioned the man's taste in Justin's "performance". Although he may not have won Chef's approval, Gwen looked smitten. He sat down next to her as they talked about his song.
Bridgette walked out on her hands, as Cody subconsciously moved back a few rows. Sensing what was coming, he closed his eyes and hoped for a clean future. Luckily for him, he did not take the brunt of the attack, as both Owen and Ezekiel ended up getting soaked in Bridgette's vomit. Slipping on her own puke, Bridgette somehow ended up in Tyler's arms, before Lindsay stormed over there and pushed her out of them. She yelled, "Puke on your own boyfrieee… oh no."
"Your what?!" Heather yelled. She glared at Lindsay for a moment, then turned to Cody. "This is your fault!", she accused. Cody shrugged before Heather ran back behind the stage. Chris looked at the camera and announced they would go on a commercial break as they cleaned up the mess. Lindsay returned to the Screaming Gopher's side, sitting down near Cody, being that that was one of the only places still clean.
"Boyfriend?" Cody slyly asked her.
She stumbled on her words for a moment before finding her voice. "N-no. That's not what we are. Not that we are anything!"
"Mhm. So how were you exactly planning on hiding this from Heather?" Lindsay thought about this for a moment before being hosed down by Chef, even though she had no vomit on her. Cody barely managed to duck, as Chef narrowly missed him. After waiting another minute, the geek returned to his now-drenched seat, next to a dripping Ezekiel.
When Heather appeared on stage, all of Cody's thoughts left his brain. He desperately wanted to do something, anything, but resigned himself. He knew there was nothing he could do without being suspicious. And so Cody let the hell he knew was coming break loose.
"Originally, I was going to dance for you, but instead, I want to celebrate team spirit with a collaboration." Heather raised her hand to reveal Gwen's diary.
"No… she wouldn't," Gwen muttered, her face redder than it had ever been. "So with words by Gwen, performance by me, enjoy."
Cody remembered himself when this first happened. As Heather read out the words, Cody felt confident that this was his time to shine. She'd remark on how cool he was, and how badly she wanted to be with him. She'd be uncomfortable, but Cody would be able to calm her down, take down Heather, and get the girl. But as Heather read out how her dream boy had been playing guitar, his hopes were crushed. Sitting right beside him was Trent, his friend, his rival. Sure, he had seen the two talking, more than normal friends. But surely Cody would be the one to woo the girl of his dreams. After that, he wanted to hate Trent. He was the one that stole her away from him.
But he didn't. Trent didn't steal anything, as Gwen was never Cody's to begin with. So, instead of a hateful fire inside, Cody resolved to make her as happy as possible, even if that meant sacrificing his feelings. Not that they'd go away anytime soon. Rather, he'd bury them deep down enough to not interfere with their friendship.
So Cody steeled himself. He thought himself lucky; he wouldn't have to feel the shock of Heather's "betrayal". And then, Heather began to read.
"Okay, so I'm trying to ignore him, but I just can't! This guy is SO annoying. Like, can the dude get a hint? His stupid songs aren't winning anyone over, they're so corny they're still growing in a field!" A shock rang out through the entire audience, including Cody.
"No no no no, this isn't what's supposed to happen. What?!"
Before getting that lost in his thoughts, Cody saw Trent look sorrowfully at Gwen before running off. "Trent, wait!" Gwen called out, but it was too late. Her crush believed her to hate him.
"And that's where I'll stop!" Heather announced, closing the diary with an evil smile etched on her face. Gwen walked away as fast as she could, tears welling up in her eyes. Cody began to follow as Heather's eyes narrowed on him.
"Gwen!" he yelled, chasing after the goth, finally catching up to her. "I know you didn-"
"Oh, there you are, Cody!" Heather interrupted in a bubbly voice. The two whipped their heads around in anger.
"What the hell do you want from me?"
"I just wanted to give you your five bucks."
"Five… bucks?"
"Yeah, for writing that stuff about Trent for me. That was such a good idea!"
"What?" Gwen whispered.
Cody was about to defend himself when Izzy appeared out of nowhere. "Ohh, is that why you were in the girl's cabin?
*SLAP*
A pain shot across Cody's face, a red handmark printed onto his cheek. Gwen had slapped him. She stared at him in hateful disbelief for a few moments, then ran away. Izzy disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared, with Heather standing there in triumph.
"Don't you ever mess with my plans again, you hear me?" she said before walking off to join her teammates for Harold's performance. Cody remained frozen. He would remain in that position for another ten minutes before Chris announced that it was time for the elimination ceremony. Just as he had before, Harold saved his team from losing.
Cody trudged towards the confessional, ready to vote. He looked up at the camera before looking back down. "It's over, I guess," he muttered, before voting for himself. "Just get me off this damn show." He joined the rest of his team, with Gwen's glare piercing the back of his head. Chris announced the safe campers, leaving only Justin and Cody.
"With three votes against them…"
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"Cody, you are safe." He didn't even catch his marshmallow. It bounced off his shocked face, straight onto the ground. Justin began to walk towards the Dock of Shame.
"W-what? You guys didn't vote me out?" Cody asked, his voice barely audible.
"Huh? Why would we?" Beth asked, as the others confusedly nodded alongside her. Nobody had told them. Cody was stuck on this island for even longer.
Gwen began to explain everything. Their faces of confusion suddenly dropped, replaced by unbridled anger. Heather, naturally, got some looks. But they were nothing compared to the ones Cody got.
"What the hell, man?"
"That's so wrong!"
"Get a grip dude, hurting Trent isn't gonna help your chances in getting in her skirt."
This went on for a few minutes before they tired themselves out, leaving only Cody and Ezekiel still at the campfire.
"Cody?"
"Just, leave me alone Zeke. Don't talk to me anymore."
"You didn't do this, did you?"
"If you're seen with me from now on, you'll be the next one gone, you hear?
"We can prove you didn't somehow. Can't we?"
Cody just sighed before going back to his cabin. Ezekiel would return to the cabin soon too, as he looked through his bags to find something.
Cody would not sleep well that night. During his dream, he felt a bit uncomfortable, before that turned into burning. Waking up, he felt maybe a hundred fire ants swarming his body, biting everywhere. He screamed and ran outside, rolling around in the dirt hoping to get them off. He could hear a few laughs from inside the cabins. Cody knew he wasn't welcome back in the cabins, and so he walked off into the woods. He'd never felt so alone.
A/N: This chapter took so long to write, and now I literally hate "Not Quite Famous" after having to rewatch it so many times.
But there's a reason I spent so much time on this chapter. It is really important for Cody's relationships with Gwen, Trent, Heather, and Ezekiel. We'll see the effects of the diary plot affecting Cody/Trent and Cody/Ezekiel later, but we only see the effects of Heather and Gwen in this chapter.
This chapter finally shows Heather as the current main antagonist. The Awake-a-thon saw her being evil against Eva, but our protagonist was okay with that. And the last chapter saw her as a menace to Tyler and Lindsay's love, but not much else. Finally, Heather shows how mean she can be, ruining both Gwen's chances with Trent and ruining Cody's reputation.
Honestly, there's no reason for Justin to be voted off, but there wasn't one in canon so hey, what the hell?