Chapter Text
Has Noah ever mentioned how much he loves sleeping?
However, this time he couldn't sleep at all. A rare circumstance. Yesterday sucked, to say the least. He wouldn't say this to anyone, but he enjoys Izzy's company. Like, a lot. Sure, strategically, she's incredibly unpredictable and unreliable, but Noah doesn't only care about his strategy. He also cares about his sanity. Which is slowly depleting every day. 'Time for another fun day.' Noah thought as he entered the Crafts Services Tent where he noticed Chef putting… brown mush (?) on Heather’s plate. "Now I know how starlets stay thin." she said in disgust.
"Must have a lot of protein." Noah drowzily replied as he got a tray with eggs.
"Wish Chef would let me in the kitchen. I’ve got me some mad culinary skills." Harold said.
"You mind? I was talking to the slop." Heather said as she looked at Noah. "Oh, and to my tray, too." Heather smirked as she sat down.
"How charming." Noah rolled his eyes as he walked away.
Heather waved at Lindsay and Beth, but they both walked away. Heather looked genuinely upset.
Cut to Justin drinking some juice, when Beth and Lindsay came over to him. "Justin! Look, I brought you bacon!" Beth said. "I brought you facon too! Tofu’s good for your heart!" she added.
"But pig’s good for his hair!" Lindsay said, as she ate a piece of bacon.
"Holy moly, I love his hair!" Beth yelled as she jumped on Justin’s head and hugged him.
"Beth, please, I accept both of your offerings." Justin said as he took Beth off of his head. "Join me for breakfast?" Justin smiled as the two girls laughed. "Aren't you eating?" Justin asked Beth in concern.
"When you can gorge your soul on a hunk like you, who needs food?" Beth smiled. Justin winked at her and she... fainted. Wow. Okay.
"Seriously?" Noah mumbled as Eva walked up to him.
"Izzy's gone?" Eva raised an eyebrow. Noah just sighed and nodded. "Shit."
"I'm just as happy as you are." Noah scowled.
-Confessional: Beth-
"If only making with friends with a guy as gorgeous as Justin was as easy as making these bracelets." Beth said while trying to make a friendship bracelet, only for it to burst apart and one piece go down her throat as she started choking.
Cut to Trent trying to salt his eggs, only for the lid to come off and completely cover his plate with salt.
Duncan laughed. "Sorry about the morning a-salt!"
"Nice one." Eva rolled her eyes.
Gwen smacked his shoulder. "Third grade called, you’re due back in class."
"Real mature. Don’t you know it’s bad luck to spill salt?" Trent asked as he picked up some of the salt and tossed it over his shoulder, accidentally hitting Heather's eyes, causing her to scream.
"N-nothing a little pepper won’t fix!" Trent said as he tried to sprinkle some pepper onto his eggs, only for the cap to fall off of that as well. He tossed some pepper over his shoulder as well, which hit Heather's face. Making her sneeze and yell again.
"Nice aim." Noah, who was sitting across from Trent, snickered. Duncan walked over to them while laughing.
"You still gonna finish those eggs, bros?" Duncan asked as he just took a piece from both Noah's and Trent's plate.
"You truly are a paragon of kindness." Noah rolled his eyes as he pushed his plate away in disgust. No way was he eating that anymore. He'd rather starve. Literally.
"Yeah, we weren't gonna finish them anyway. Whatever." Trent frowned.
"Okay, weirdos. Calm down."
"Them being weirdos is good! I happen to really like weird." Gwen smiled as she hugged Trent, with them both smiling.
"Gee, you're making me blush." Noah raised an eyebrow as Gwen just blew a raspberry at him, before looking at Trent again.
"Can we talk after the challenge?" She whispered as Trent got a small look of panic.
"Totally."
Chris blew a whistle as he walked while carrying a surfboard. "Hang onto your coconuts, players, we’re going back to the beach!"
"Woohoo!" Owen cheered.
"Ever seen one of those 1950’s surfer movies where the kids get up to neato fun before the big bonfire twist-a-thon, and the bully kicks the sandcastle in the nerdy guy’s face?"
Everyone just looked confused, with the exception of Harold, who nodded in understandment. Heather was still sneezing.
"No, we haven’t." Eva said.
"Well, get ready to recreate one, junior! Two challenges, followed by a tiebreaker if necessary, so grab your swimsuits!" Chris said as everyone walked back to their trailers to do just that.
Chef grabbed DJ before he could leave and whispered. "If the sandcastle thing goes down, make sure you’re the kicker, not the kick-ee." DJ nodded worriedly.
Cut to everyone in their bathing suits in a freezing cold stage, except for Chris in a parka. The contestants were all shivering.
"When d-did you guys move the beach to A-Antarctica?" Lindsay said.
"As.. some of you can see, we're actually in the shooting studio." Chris said.
"A-and the AC's on max, why?" Noah glared, annoyed.
"All the cameras and lights get so hot they could melt Chef’s heart.." Chris explained as Chef smiled and waved at the camera. "..and the network told my agents that sweaty wasn’t a good look for me. Your first challenge is to hang ten this deck into the big blue without swallowing tail in the soup." Chris said as he pointed to a pool with a raised surfboard and a green screen behind it.
"What did you just ask me to do!?" Leshawna asked.
"He means that whoever stays in the surfboard longest wins." Trent explained, still looking a bit nervous from before.
"Correctamundo, groovy cats! So, who’s going first?" Chris asked. Nobody moved. Everybody just shivered.
"The team that wins will get a half hour head start on the next challenge, and given tonight’s reward, you should be fighting harder than Justin’s abs over who gets first shot." Chris said, as Noah rolled his eyes at the last sentence.
"Speaking of rock-hard abs, have you ever seen my ten pack?" Harold asked Leshawna as he tried to make said abs stick out. Just then, Lindsay managed to get some of her sunscreen out of the bottle, only for it to immediately freeze into an icicle and get launched at Harold, poking his butt and pushing him forward.
"And we have a volunteer!" Chris said as Harold facepalmed.
Cut to Harold standing atop the board. "Mad surfing skills, activate!"
"And, please welcome the return of some season 1 fan favorites, the sharks!" Chris said as a shark hopped out of the pool and tried to bite Harold’s butt. Harold yelped in a girly voice.
-Confessional: Harold-
"I’m very protective of my buttocks. They provide me with the low center of gravity that is the key to my many mad skills. You could say they’re my hugest... asset. Check it, I can juggle my Magic Steve’s Magical Trading Cards!" Harold managed to juggle a card between his back pockets.
Cut to Harold holding onto the rafters to avoid the sharks. "My booty and I are out!"
"Your booty has an opinion!?" Leshawna asked.
"That’s a big job for such a saggy, sad, little thing." Heather said.
"I’ll have you know this is a selfless act! My lady fans couldn’t handle the loss of such a perfect behind!" Harold said.
"And by lady fans, he means his mother." Heather said as Noah smirked.
"Hey, sharks, look! Bacon and facon!" Harold yelled as he pointed to Owen, who indeed had a plate with bacon and facon.
"Breakfast should last all day, no?" Owen said. The sharks tried to reach for it as Harold slipped from the rafters and fell on the pool’s balance board.
"Ooh, way to stick the dismount, bro." Chris said as he winced. The others laughed, with Gwen and Duncan fist bumping as Trent looked on in worry. Noah nudged him.
"Trust me man. Don't worry." Noah reassured the musician as he nodded and smiled, slightly better than before.
"Friendship bracelet?" Beth asked as she handed Trent and Noah a bracelet each.
"Uh, yeah. Why not." the former shrugged as he took it.
The latter seemed much more reluctant. "Meh, I guess." he said as he took his as well.
-Confessional: Noah-
"I'm assuming Gwen hasn't talked to Trent yet about..." Noah said as he trailed off. "Yeah. Anyways, this thing is horrible." Noah had a disgusted look on his face as he held Beth's bracelet. "Only reason I took it is so I wouldn't upset her or whatever. Trying is hard."
Cut to Lindsay on the surfboard as it rocked back and forth. Chris pressed a button to change the green screen to a background of a farm with a tornado while Chef turned on a giant fan, causing Lindsay to get blown into the screen.
DJ went up next, only for a shark to bite his trunks off, causing him to run off to get new trunks.
"Don't feel shame, soldier! Accidents happen!" Chef called out.
Owen went next and immediately snapped the board in half and fell into the pool, causing the water and all the sharks to go flying out.
"Oh man, oh crud, sorry shark dudes, really, I’m so sorry!" Owen said.
"Break time, union rules." Chris said.
"Finally." Noah sighed in relief.
"I don’t mean you, shark bait." Chris said.
Cut to the sharks relaxing and drinking tea with Chef serving them as Gwen got onto the board. "No sharks equals no problem." Gwen said, only for Chris to load up a seagull cannon.
"I love this game!" Chris said as he began firing seagulls, with one getting stuck in Gwen’s hair.
"Agh! Sky rat! Get it out, get it out!" Gwen yelled as she fell in.
"Yay! Go Justin!" Lindsay yelled as Justin got onto the board.
"Yeah! Go!" Beth said.
"Copycat."
"Tanorexic!" Beth said before quickly apologizing. "Sorry... Friendship bracelet?"
Justin got on the board and did a hair flip, causing the sharks to fall in love with him. Noah felt stunned for a bit, before shaking his head and scowling. Stupid pretty boy.
Noah looked over at Eva, who was basically ogling Justin. She quickly slapped herself (literally) out of the hypnosis. He nudged her.
"Focus. He could be a problem later on if you lose your cool so easily like last time." Noah whispered. Eva nodded.
"So perfect. Almost makes me believe in the inherent goodness of the human race. Almost." Chris said as he loaded the gull cannon.
"Justin!" Beth yelled.
-Confessional: Beth-
"I wanted to tell him he looked like a surfing God. Instead, I said..." Beth looked down in embarassment.
"Your face! Watch your beautiful face!" Beth yelled out.
"What?" Justin's eyes widened as he turned around and immediately got hit in the face, falling. The sharks immediately winced and pulled him out of the pool and began giving him CPR. He spat out the water and the shark hugged him. What in the black magic is this?
"Oh my gosh Justin, are you okay?" Beth asked before the shark punched her.
Next was Noah's turn. Yikes. He managed to dodge a few seagulls, but one was too fast for him to dodge as his torso was hit and he fell. Well, at least he managed to get a better time than Justin.
Eva then got on the surfboard, and it wasn't even close. She dodged every single seagull, even punched a few, as Chris ran out. He looked next to him as he threw a chair at her, only for her to catch it and break it. The light that he threw next shared the same fate.
"My head.." Lindsay complained as she walked over. Chris picked her up and threw her.
"Seriously?" Eva's eyebrows raised as she dodged Lindsay too.
"Okay, I don't think there's a reason for anyone else to compete. Eva wins it for the Screaming Gaffers!" Chris said.
"Gnarly." Eva merely nodded as the Gaffers cheered. Eva walked up to DJ and fistbumped him. Noah facepalmed. What happened to him telling Eva to stay under the radar? Well, I guess she's in her team's good graces, at least. Noah hopes this doesn't come back to bite them.
"Man, Gwen's team is unstoppable!" Owen sighed.
"Try unstable." Trent said as he glared at Duncan. "A ticking time bomb of betrayal! We have to stop them!"
"With what, a freight train?" Noah asked sarcastically, as Owen chuckled and mimicked a train sound. "I told you to calm down. Even if Duncan is an asshole, he does not go that low." Noah added.
"It's not that! He's just weird. A weird asshole." Trent replied.
"If anyone's being weird about this, it's you." Justin added as Noah gritted his teeth. He was handling Trent just fine without Justin's input, thank you. Justin looked at the bookworm and smirked.
"If being weird is bringing us good luck then yeah, I'm weird! Besides, Gwen likes weird." Trent smiled as his team shared concerned glances.
-Confessional: Owen-
"I don't think Trent's really... all there." Owen said.
"Come meet me up at the film lot everyone! This time, we're actually going to the beach!" Chris said as everyone looked at him in doubt and went to go change first.
-Confessional: Eva-
"Either he's punking us, or he's actually telling the truth. Knowing him, it's usually the first." Eva explained.
Cut to everyone at the front of the film lot. "Welcome back to Total Drama Action, where against all advice to the contrary, the players have changed out of their bathing suits. Hope you like swimming in your jeans." Chris said.
"Right, because you’re actually taking us to a beach this time." Noah said.
"The bus just happens to be late." Heather added, rolling her eyes. Just then, a bus pulled up.
"You were saying?" Chris smirked smugly, as the two antagonists shared surprised glances.
-Confessional: Heather-
"Chris actually told the truth for once? What’s next, being treated with actual respect?"
Beth was handing out friendship bracelets to her teammates who hadn’t gotten one yet as they boarded the bus. "A green bracelet for Owen because he's a human composter." Beth said as Owen ate his and thanked her.
"Whatcha got there, Beth?" Justin asked.
"A-a whole lotta car sickness! I-I’ll blow chunks if I don’t get the front seat!" she said as she nervously ran into the bus.
Cut to everyone on a beach, where Chris said. "Yes, campers, we’re actually back at your old stomping grounds: Total Drama Island! If you need to take a moment and reminisce about the good times you had here-"
Everyone immediately began laughing.
"Fine, we’ll skip the good memories montage. Screaming Gaffers, you’ve got a thirty minute head start on the sandcastle building contest, to be judged by our resident king o’ the dunes!" Chris said as Chef put on a sandcastle hat. "Make like prop masters guys, and give me something awesome! I really don’t want the tie breaker to have to go down, I don’t think legal’s quite approved it yet."
Chris pointed at a mannequin that got crushed by a boulder, then a tree... and then a car.
Cut to Harold taking charge of his team while working on the sandcastle. "DJ! Wetter sand in that bucket! Leshawna, pack it firmer!”
"Who died and made you Bossy McPushy?" Leshawna asked.
"I’m a bit of a Gary-buff. .....Y’know, Frank Gary? The greatest architect of our time?"
"And I care about this because…?"
Harold just smirked and pointed at the sandcastle to reveal an almost finished perfect replica of the Taj Mahal. "Now, how about some props for my fine buttresses?"
"...What?" Eva raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever you say, nerdling." Duncan rolled his eyes as he and Gwen brought more buckets.
-Confessional: Duncan-
"Gwen said something about Trent being paranoid about us. She didn't really go deep into it, which is fair. Still, it kind of sucks that people think I'd cheat on Courtney. Like yeah, I'm a deliquent but come on!" Duncan facepalmed.
Cut to Chef blowing a trumpet. "Thank you, Chef! Screaming Gaffers, your thirty minute lead is over! So Trent, dudes and dudettes, get castling."
"Water! We need Water!" Owen yelled as he grabbed 2 buckets and ran.
"I'll get some water from the stream!" Lindsay said.
"Or we could get some from the lake." Beth suggested as Owen was still running and yelling.
"Quiet!" Trent yelled as his team looked at him. "Beth, Owen and Lindsay, get some water from the lake. Noah, Justin, get some decorations." Trent said as Noah smirked at him, with Trent nodding at him and smiling. Noah's eyes then widened after realizing who he's paired up with.
-Confessional: Noah-
"..Seriously?"
-Confessional: Justin-
"Little Trent mans up, wow! Even I had goosebumps! And there wasn't a mirror for miles!" Justin smirked.
"Let's just get this over with." Noah muttered as he and Justin went to look for mainly sticks and seashells.
"Excuse me? Noah, you should be happy to be paired up with someone as gorgeous as me!" Justin said as he put a hand on his chest.
"Please, I've seen ogres more flattering than you." Noah scoffed as he started to pick up seashells from the shore.
"Don't act so innocent. I've seen you look at me." Justin winked at him, as Noah (despite trying his best not to), turned bright red.
"Whatever, just because you're attractive doesn't mean I'm into you."
"Oh, so you admit I'm attractive?" Justin raised one eyebrow and grinned.
"Yeah yeah. Suck it up. It'll help boost your ego. Like it isn't bloated already." Noah rolled his eyes.
"I think you're just jealous of me." Justin said as Noah was genuinely shocked at his audacity to accuse him of such a thing.
"Fuck off Keahi." Noah scowled as he uttered his enemy's last name, with Justin consequently glaring at him.
"I'd watch my tone if I were you, Mudaliar." Justin scowled as he got closer to him, Noah's face burning. (much to his chagrin.) "My last name in my native tongue refers to flames. And when you play with fire, you get burned." Justin said as he smirked. "You don't want the same thing as last time to happen again, right?" Justin said as Noah's eyes widened.
"Fuck. You." Noah spat, words laced with venom as they continued to collect decorations without speaking.
'Who does he think he is?' Noah scoffed. Like he's better because he's more physically appealing? Because he gets more attention? ....So what if he does? Noah doesn't care. In fact, Noah couldn't care. less. Looks can't and won't carry you to the end. Eventually, people see through the extremely shallow surface. Eventually.
If Justin thinks Noah's intimidated by his little threat, then he's got another thing coming. Bring. It. On.
"Justin, keep working on the moat! Noah work on the doors! Owen bring more water!" Trent ordered his teammates as Lindsay noticed a hermit crab passing their sandcastle. She smiled and picked it up, painting the Killer Grips' logo on it as she placed it ontop of the castle.
"Now we have a flag!" Lindsay cheered.
"Huh, that's actually quite charming." Trent smiled.
Cut to the Gaffers looking at their completed castle. "The Taj MaHarold! It’s perfect!" Harold said as his teammates smiled in awe at what he created.
"Not bad, chicken legs." Eva complimented.
Cut to the Grips still working on their castle, when Owen ran over with 3 buckets of water. "I am man! Man bring water!" Owen yelled as he chuckled. However, him being distracted by his own joke (somehow), caused him to trip and dump the water buckets onto the sandcastle, destroying it.
"Owen!" Noah yelled. He couldn't say what he actually wanted to say without it being censored and looking bad in front of his team.
"It's over." Justin held his head in his hand.
"What if I tie these bracelets to the sandcastle to keep them up?" Beth suggested.
"It's a sandcastle building contest, Beth." Justin pointed out as Beth giggled.
"No, it's a prop sandcastle building contest. Anything goes!"
"Ooh! I have some anything!" Lindsay said as she pulled out her bag.
"Why did you bring that here?" Noah asked.
Lindsay just shrugged and smiled. "You never know, y'know?"
"Uh... sure."
"We can make it even better! Everyone tear up these magazines and put them in the bucket! I'll mix the pieces with some hairspray and voila! Paper maché!"
"Crafty." Justin complimented, making Beth blush.
"We don't have time! Let's hurry up!" Trent ordered.
Cut to after everyone had finished the prop.
"What's is its name.. oh wise leader?" Owen asked.
"Uh.... I don't think Chris told us to name it." Trent replied as Owen deflated. (metaphorically speaking, of course.)
Cut to the Gaffers, who were dealing with seagulls that are on the 'Taj MaHarold.' "No! There’s birds in my belries!" Harold yelled out.
Everyone tried to stop the birds, but the seagulls ended up drstroying the castle. "Dang. They busted my buttresses!" Harold cried.
"Stop talking about your butt!" Eva yelled.
"That's not what that means!" Harold raised his finger.
"We have a winner! Beth and the Grips' clever prop!" Chris said as he pointed at the Grips, who cheered.
"And friendship bracelets!" Beth added as Chris pushed her away from the camera.
"Which means, we need a new tiebreaker! And I was hoping for the evening off." Chris said as he looked at Chef's direction. "Instead, gather ye some wood, campers! For a fire, of the bon variety."
Cut to Trent, Noah and Justin walking through the woods with some twigs when they ran into Gwen.
"Oh, h-hey Gwen! You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Trent smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, you're right. I did want to talk to you about something." Gwen said as she looked at Justin and Noah.
"Yes of course, go ahead." Justin smiled as he grabbed Noah's arm, despite his protests. Justin (with Noah, without Noah's consent) hid behind a tree.
"Hey smart guy, we can still hear th-" Noah snarked as Justin put his hand over his mouth as he was trying to hear Trent and Gwen's conversation.
"Listen, your paranoia is making me feel really bad. You know me as a person and that I would never do that." Gwen frowned as Trent's eyes widened.
"Oh.. I'm so sorry Gwen. I don't want and don't mean to hurt you, I just have a real problem with overthinking. I know you would never hurt me, but I still get nervous when I think about you and Duncan. I can't help it." Trent explained. "It's not you, I'm just really not fond of Duncan. He's a deliquent, you know? I have no problem with you hanging out with Noah, he seems like a good guy deep down."
Justin and Noah exchanged glances at Trent's last sentence. Noah shrugged, basically saying 'I don't know either.'
"I know, Trent. That's why I think you need to see a therapist." Gwen said rather bluntly. But her tone was deeply covered with concern for her partner. Justin smirked and raised an eyebrow as Noah looked concerned. (As much as you can see his face when his mouth is covered by Justin's hand.)
"...You mean?" Trent eyes widened, even further.
"No, no!" Gwen waved her hands. "I'm not breaking up with you, I still really like you Trent. But, maybe we should take a break until this competition is over. It's clearly getting to you."
"I guess you're right." Trent sighed as Gwen hugged him.
"We'll talk about all of this when the season is over okay? Right now, just focus on yourself and winning." Gwen grinned as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and left. Trent waved sadly.
-Confessional: Justin-
"This has certaintly been, interesting. Very, Very interesting." Justin chuckled to himself.
"Maybe this was for the best." Trent muttered to himself as Justin hastily threw Noah away like a piece of chewed gum, causing him to grunt in pain. The former walked up to Trent.
"May I offer some charming advice?" Justin offered. "I'm sorry dude, but I accidentally overheard your little chat."
"It's okay...." Trent trailed off before realizing the first part of Justin's little speech. "What's your advice exactly?" Trent raised his eyebrow.
"Gwen's just going through some tough times. She must be bummed about losing this part of the challenge. Some winning will ease her up, no?"
"Uh... but didn't she say that I should focus on winning?" Trent raised an eyebrow.
"Girls will often mean the opposite of what they say, Trent. It's just something to think about." Justin smirked as he walked away.
"....I'm not so sure about this. But maybe he's right." Trent muttered as he slowly followed Justin's direction. Noah tried to call Trent, but Justin's push dazed and hurt him really badly. So bad that he didn't even hear most of the conversation. What else can you expect from those hot, strong muscl- Noah stop talking. He sighed as he slowly got up. First his hands... 'Ow.'
Then he pushed himself slightly up... 'Ow.'
Then to his knees... 'Ow.'
And he's up! 'I hate life.'
-Confessional: Trent-
"Justin's a pretty attractive guy. He's probably been with a good amount of women. So he should know about this subject better than me, right? ....Right?" Trent asked himself as he looked concerned.
Cut to everyone at the beach at night.
"If you had torches, why’d you bother sending us out to get firewood?" Heather asked.
"I needed some alone time. You think these hands manicure themselves? Which brings us to the tie breaking challenge! A watoozy twist mashed potato dorky old school dance contest! Teams, choose your best boogier for battle!" Chris said.
"Ooh! You’ve got to pick me! My nickname back home? Leshakin it!" Leshawna said.
"I heard Trent's really good at dancing." Justin whispered to Lindsay as she perked up.
"I vote for Trent!" Lindsay raised her hand.
"Oh, what?" Trent looked at her.
"We heard you have some killer moves, man." Justin put his hand on Trent's shoulder.
"Alright, I'll do it." Trent said.
Chris began the music.
"Prepare for a world of pain, son!" Leshawna said.
"Bring it." Trent replied.
They both began dancing, but Trent stopped almost instantly at the sight of Leshawna’s dancing. Everyone watched on in horror as Leshawna shook those hips and arms like there's no tomorrow. Everyone was terrified... with the sole exception of Harold, of course.
"What." Eva said blankly.
-Confessional: DJ-
"Tsh-yeah. I bet I know Leshawna's real name back home. Le-BOMB-a."
-Confessional: Heather-
"Prima balleri-no."
-Confessional: Eva-
"I regret coming back to this crummy show."
-Confessional: Harold-
"Two words. Fun-ky! What? I loved it!"
Trent, now out of his stunned stupor, continued to dance, as the Grips cheered him on.
"Go Trent!" Beth said.
"Shake those hips!" Lindsay added.
"Woo. Go, Trent." Noah said as Owen and Beth looked at him. "That's the best you're getting out of me." He shrugged.
Trent looked over to Gwen, who looked away from him, clearly feeling a bit guilty over what happened. He turned to Justin, who shrugged. Noah caught this and narrowed his eyes.
-Confessional: Trent-
"Gwen's still my girlfriend even if we're taking a break, so I should help her win, right? Even if she said to focus on myself. So why do I feel like it's unethical for me to help her? I'm Trent first and a Killer Grip second. ...Oh, can we erase that? Confessional might be good for the soul, it's not so good for the teamwork."
Seeing a twig in the ground, Trent winked at the camera, before intentionally tripping.
"Dude, get up!" Noah yelled. 'There is no way that was on purpose. What the hell happened?'
"Agh! I think I turned my ankle!" Trent said.
"Do something!" Owen yelled.
Trent did.... whatever that move is.. (is that a shimmy?) while on the ground.
"That's not dancing!" Chris said.
"It's uh.. modern! Interpretive!"
"I interpret it as sucking." Duncan said.
"Shut it, Duncan!" Gwen said as she hit his elbow. Duncan winced.
-Confessional: Gwen-
"Ugh, I didn't think he'd take my words so badly!" Gwen facepalmed. "I don't wanna cause him any more mental distress!"
-Confessional: Justin-
"Perfect. Now if Trent goes home next, I can be the team's leader and have full control. I'm so good at this game." Justin smirked.
"I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Leshawna and the Screaming Gaffers are the winners! And your reward? The greatest beach party ever pitched!" Chris said as the Gaffers cheered. Noah looked at Trent and pointed to the woods. Trent nodded and followed him.
"Dude, what happened?" Noah raised his hands up to further show his frustration.
"I looked at Gwen and she distracted me. Sorry." Trent sighed.
"Dude, I get it, somewhat at least." 'Watch your tone, Noah.' "You love her, and it hurts hearing her say that she wants to take a break.. But you can't let those feelings affect you during the competition!" Noah explained.
"I'm sorry man. How can I just ignore my feelings, though?"
"You can't. But I'm telling you not to let those feelings interfere with the challenges. You're our team leader. You can deal with them after the show." Noah said before wincing, thinking that sounded rude. "Uh... no offense?"
"No, you're right Noah. Thanks for being honest with me." Trent smiled as he offered a fistbump, which Noah begrudgingly accepted.
"Are you guys gonna make out now?" Owen asked as he appeared from behind a tree. "Because like, I don't think Gw-" Owen was interrupted by being pelted with sticks, courtesy of the know-it-all and the musician.
"I have a hunch about your little conversation with Justin." Noah said as he started walking away. "Don't trust him. He's a sea snake."
"A sea snake?"
"Think of it like the opposite of an eel. A reptile that has scales and uses paddle-like tails for swimming."
"Huh?" Trent was confused as Noah had already walked away.
"Whew! I sure am glad you guys didn't make out!" Owen wiped sweat off his forehead as he walked up to Trent. "I don't think I would be able to keep it a secret!" Owen chuckled as Trent facepalmed.
"I sometimes wonder how you won last season."
"Me like beans."
Cut to the Gaffers dancing and enjoying their party while the Grips looked on sadly.
"If the losers could just follow me to the bus…." Chris said, as Chef came up and whispered in his ear. "...which is broken.." Duncan smirked at this. "...which means the losers have to stay and watch the rivals gourge on victory! And poi!"
-Confessional: Duncan-
"I may or may not have been the culprit of the bus tampering." Duncan whistled.
Cut to Harold dancing astoningishly well before Eva kicked sand in his face. "What was that for!?" he asked.
"Because you actually have mad skills in dance!" Duncan replied as Eva nodded.
"Good thing we didn’t need them thanks to my smooth moves." Leshawna said as Duncan, Gwen, Heather and Eva laughed.
-Confessional: Heather-
"Even if her dancing is completely terrible, I can't admit but admire how confident she is in it." Heather shrugged. "If that sounded nice, it wasn't." She quickly added.
The Grips meanwhile were sitting on the beach. Owen took a bite out of the paper maché sandcastle.
"How is it, Omar?" Lindsay asked.
"As good as a dirt encrusted magazine can be." Owen replied before throwing up, getting some on Noah.
"Owen!" Noah yelled and glared at him.
"Oops, sorry little buddy." Owen smiled sheepishly while Noah's eye slightly twitched and tried to keep a neutral face.
"Yeah whatever, it's fine." Noah said as he walked away.
-Confessional: Noah-
His hair is wet and he has a towel on his shoulder. "It's NOT fine, it's NOT fine, it's NOT fine!" Noah yelled. "He is so repulsing! How is he so well-liked? I can barely keep my composure around him!" Noah held his head in his hands.
Justin went over to Beth. "Thanks for winning us the sandcastle contest, especially since I blew the surfing challenge. You really saved my bacon. Or, should I say, facon?" Justin smiled as Beth giggled. "Except... I kinda noticed you gave everyone on the team friendship bracelets. Everyone but me, aren’t we friends, Beth?"
O-of course! H-here, it’s a bit wet, my palms are a little sweaty!" Beth said as she handed him one.
"Red. Nice." Justin replied as Beth smiled.
-Confessional: Justin-
"Let’s just say I’ll do anything to win. Anything. 'Ooh, Beth, I love it! I was thinking Beth, it could be really good for us if we were in an alliance.'" Justin smirked. "I'm gonna be unstoppable."
Ugh, Trent is a mess right now. Noah knows he should feel bad, and he does (kind of), but it's mostly because he cares about Gwen, he thinks. Why was caring so exhausting? He sighed and looked down.
"Someone's already feeling the effects of actually playing the game." A voice was heard while Noah looked up. It was Heather.
"Oh. Hello, honey." Noah said as Heather had an amused look on her face.
"I sense quite a bit of turmoil between your team. I guess you're gonna have to actually try harder, hm?" Heather smirked.
"Well I sure do hope said trying doesn't end with my hair being shaved off." Noah bit back while Heather scoffed.
"Scrawny nerd."
"Queen bee-itch."
"Narcissistic asshole."
"Diary reader."
"Ear kisser."
"Jealous of Cody, are we?"
"Are you jealous of Harold when he accidentally saw my chest?" Heather smirked as her face got close to Noah's.
Noah quickly backed away. "I wish I eliminated you when I had the chance." He was not flustered, thank you.
"No you don't." Heather replied as Noah started blanking. He felt dazed again.
"Earth to Noah-it-all. Are you there?" Heather raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Just tired." Noah quickly replied. Heather analyzed his face, and he was afraid his cracks would show. Thankfully Noah's poker face always saves him.
..Nevermind. It doesn't. He saw the doubt on Heather's face.
"Uh huh." Heather hummed. "Hey, if I convince Harold, should I tell him about our alliance?"
"Ugh, no. I don't like Harold and he could blab about us to Leshawna under zero pressure. That would screw us over when we reach the merge."
"The... merge? You want to bring me to the merge?" Heather asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Noah shrugged as Heather's eyes widened a bit, before quickly gaining her composure. The change on her facial expression was incredibly subtle, but Noah caught it.
Heather scoffed, going back to her usual demeanor. "Whatever. I hope you fall off your bed tonight."
"Goodnight to you too, Heather." Noah snorted slightly when he entered the trailer. He knows he should check up on Gwen. He knows he should wash up before going to sleep, but he's too tired. When he got on his bed face down on the pillow, he felt a sharp pain. 'What now?' He groaned as he got up his bed and started walking to the washrooms like a zombie. He's sure he got some weird looks, but he doesn't care. Noah doesn't do caring... right?
He quickly removed his plain white t-shirt (he at least had the decency to put something less stuffy than his usual attire before sleeping), and saw some bruises starting from his torso and ending in his stomach. It must have been when Justin pushed him. He does remember being face down on the ground in his daze. He looked at the bruises. Ouch. They hurt. A lot. ....How did he not notice these while showering?
Noah really wished he listened to Nishka when she told him to work out. She was a gym trainer, being close to Eva in strength. Well, Noah doesn't think anyone can beat Eva. No offense, sis. But still, a simple push causing this amount of bruises is concerning. He'll check into the medical tent first thing tomorrow morning.
Noah will get eliminated if he loses his composure so easily. He's aware this competition is more physical than mental. He won't win with just smarts. He's intelligent enough to know that now. Ugh, Noah feels like fainting.
Noah's eyes lost focus just for a bit, as the bruises took a different form. They looked kind of like.. scars. Scars from being struck with... electricity? It reminded him of electric eels. He hated them. They were slippery. Even worse, they can incapacitate a human. The thought was terrifying. Imagine thousands of volts entering your body, feeling a sharp pain as you lose your brea-
Noah shook his head, seeing that the bruises were normal. He's too tired. He hastily goes to bed, ignoring Owen's apologizing about puking on him. He was at his limit and didn't want to snap. (Even if he doesn't have the strength to snap.)
He plopped on his bed on his back this time around, so his bruises didn't feel as uncomfortable. Feeling the surprisingly soft and feathery pillow, Noah sighed in relief.
Has Noah ever mentioned how much he loves sleeping?