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Two other people had arrived, Heather’s hair was soaked and she already felt as if she made a fool of herself on international television. She squeezed the salty water out of her hair, already feeling it get matted. She wanted to scream and wail her legs around as she smashed her fists into the wooden planking, but she resisted, acting as if she wasn’t bothered.
The next person stepped off the boat, a large orange and red surfboard in her hands. Heather looked up, her eyes widening slightly and her hands becoming loose in her hair. Reserved and confidently, she walked up towards Chris.
" Hey, what’s up? " A small, gentle smile made its way to her face. Heather sighed, her voice was as smooth and easygoing as she was, it felt like syrup had been poured all over her. She had a sense of vanilla-ey cake to her, a smell that dazed Heather off to sleep in moment. It was irritating.
" Our Surfer Chick, Bridgette, is here! "
" Nice surfboard, honey. This isn’t Malibu. " Heather didn’t know why, but when Duncan scoffed all she felt like doing was ringing his neck. She shivered, blaming it on the cool liquid drenching her bare skin.
" I thought we were gonna be on a beach. " Bridgette shrugged, and Heather couldn’t take her eyes away. Her siren, olive green eyes were breathtaking, her barley cropped teal hoodie and her jorts felt like the opposite to Heather. Her cheeks tinted pink the longer she stared at her. The heat, maybe? She reasoned.
" Alright ! that makes — " Chris was cut off when Bridgette bent down to pick up her duffel bag and bonked him on the head with the tip of her surfboard. She suppressed a laugh, continuing to try squeeze the water out of her hair.
She didn’t know why, but the overbearing need to look presentable was just turned up to the max. She made sure to look herself up and down before Miss. Summers could get a glance at her.
Everyone started greeting her, and the look in Geoffs eyes made Heather grit her teeth. Everything about Bridgette made her jealous, everyone fawned over her and she was filled with an eye piercing rage. How could everyone already want to be hers?
" Alright, we’ve all met Surfer Girl. Can we get on with the show, please? " Heather squeezed her hair once more, her side bangs still sticking to her damp forehead. Her clothes were still drenched, but she looked heavenly still. Jutting her hip out and giving Bridgette a sly finger wave.
" Someone missed their double cappuccino macchiato this morning? " Duncan commented, Bridgette walking over to stand by Heather.
" Get bent. " Heather seethed, not noticing Bridgette looking her up and down as she stuck her board between two panels.
" You shouldn’t do that. " Bridgette commented, and Heather turned towards her , still angered about Duncan’s comment.
" Do what, Blondie? " Heather assumed Bridgette would back off from the nickname, but she just laughed. And everything stopped for Heather.
Her laugh was like being bathed in sunlight, feeling warmth spread throughout her icy body. Like being in the sun, her cheeks depended in red pigment. Heather despised the way a simple laugh could do this to her, she despised her.
" You should carefully brush your fingers through your hair, otherwise it’ll get worse as it drys. And then you need to shower with warm, clean water. " Bridgette advised, bringing her fingers carelessly to Heathers hair. Carding her slim fingers through the ends of her hair, sometimes tickling the back of her spine.
Heathers brain screamed and begged for her to shove the girl off, yell at her for touching her hair. But her heart melted into the feeling, the feeling of someone brushing their fingers delicately with sense of comfort, she hadn’t experienced it in forever. It was torture. The sweetest torture she had ever gone through.
" What even happened? Someone shove you off the dock? " Bridgette whispered, a sly smile pulling at her pink, full lips. Heather admired her face, she was like Bardot. Fuck, even her name was Bridgette.
Everything about her annoyed her, twisting her in ways she couldn’t describe. Her rotten mind worshipped everything that she did. How she moved, dressed, looked and talked. Bridgette was effortlessly beautiful, and Heather wanted to destroy and bask in it forever. She couldn’t decide.
" Some idiot came in on water skis and fell into my luggage, got me soaked in the process. " Heather looked over at Tyler angered, before turning back to Bridgette. She glanced at her leopard print, pink rimmed bags and giggled.
" How much did you back for ? A years stay? " Bridgette joked, looking back at Heather with her god-awful, angelic face.
Her eye twitched, usually she’d slap, ridicule or insult whoever said that to her. But as she looked into Bridgette’s calming, collected iris’ everything was sucked right out of her. She couldn’t find the words to yell at her, instead laughing airly and looking away. When Bridgette’s nails made it to her scalp, softly scraping against it as she ran her fingers through her hair from root to ends, everything in Heather crumbled. She loathed every second that ticked by, begging the cameras hadn't panned over to them once during this, focusing on the new arrivers.
" Funny and pretty, what don’t you have? " The words slipped out of Heathers mouth before she could gulp them back down. Bridgette’s eyes widened, revealing the viridescent shine and her tanned cheeks becoming pink.
" Oh, come on . . . "
" Heather. "
" Heather! You’re gorgeous, the clothes you wear shine confidence, you’re hot and everyone would kill to be with you. Your name just screams popular girl, you have it all. " Her compliments felt like bullets on her fair skin, reddening her complexion with every sweet word. She wanted to knock every word out of Bridgette mouth, but at the same time lock her heart shaped lips with Bridgette round ones.
" Thanks, Bridgette. Surprisingly, that means a lot. " Heather whispered, still feeling her soft, moisturised fingers on her scalp as she riddled all of the matty, ocean water from her now damp, silky smooth ravenette locks.
" You’re welcome. " She removed her hands from her hair, giving her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. " I have a hair mask in my bag, good for getting rid of salt water. You can borrow it tonight. " She removed her hand from her shoulder, digging them deep in her pockets.
Heather longed for her touch back, her gaze lingering on Bridgette for too long not to seem a little queer. She swallowed, nodding, feeling the ghost of Bridgette’s fingers in her hair. She looked down at her hands, her nails being filed, cut, painted and even they didn’t look perfect. Bridgette’s felt like buttons as they carved through her hair, brushing softly against her scalp. Looked as if she didn’t do anything to them, they were naturally round. Envy rushed through Heathers veins, sighing and looking through all the campers she missed when being brought into a Bridgette filled haze.
Next was an embarrassingly confident dork, strutting across the dock giving finger guns to all the women. Beside her, Bridgette giggled at his antics. Her laugh was like being bathed in sunlight, reddening every fibre of her fair skin. Her laugh was like being soaked in honey, melting everything inside her. Drowning her with the thick, goodness.
The campers passed her, but nothing could stop her thought process of Bridgette. She wanted to rip her hair from her scalp, trying to get the thoughts out her head. She didn’t come here for friends, she didn’t come here for anything. She just wanted to win the 100,000 bucks, no friends, no strings attached. But she couldn’t help but cloud her memory with thoughts of her and Bridgette on stupid dates.
Shaking her head free of those thoughts, she pushed herself to the other end of the dock when Chris requested a group photo. She folded her arms over her stomach, giving a faux smile to the camera. As he jumbled over the camera, Heathers eyes cascaded towards Bridgette and Courtney sitting besides eachother, whispering to eachother with hushed laughs. Something fired up in Heather, feeling and aversion to the Type-A.
She was revolted with herself, already feeling jealous of anyone who looked Bridgette’s way. Bridgette was an outgoing beauty, drop dead gorgeous without even trying, she was kind without trying, drawing people into her shine. Heather could never compete with her, she almost thought Bridgette was out to get her with the amount she infiltrated her mind.
Her jealous thoughts were soon put to a stop when the docks collapsed in on themself, submerging the campers into the ocean again. Once Heather resurfaced, she yelled out at Chris, calling him a bunch of curses that the network would have to cut out completely or blur over. Chris just showed her a condescending smile and snapped a picture of her rampage.
Fury filled her body as she treaded water, pulling her hair out of her face. She wanted to rip the botox right out of Chris’ face, she swam to shore and fiddled with strings of her hair. She looked over at Bridgette who also stood at the shore, looking down at herself happily as she braided her fingers through her blonde ponytail. She looked like a soggy cat, her jumper deep blue on her body and her jean shorts being pulled down revealing the lining of her underwear.
Heathers cheeks dusted pink at the sight, looking away and wrapping her fingers around a strand of her ravenette hair. Chris instructed them all to go back to their cabins and meet him at the fireplace in ten minutes. She wondered if Bridgette would run her fingers delicately through her hair once more, ridding her of the infectious water.
— 🦂🌊 —
She did. As soon as they got back to the cabins, Bridgette was already done with brushing her fingers through her blonde locks. She looked effortlessly gorgeous, despite having just been thrown into a body of water without her knowledge 5 minutes ago. Heather hated it. She was so beautiful, it poisoned Heathers mind.
Even though she ran her dainty fingers through Heathers hair, instructing the other girls to do the same, Heather felt butterflies swoop out of a cocoon in her stomach, fluttering their wings at her lining making a sickly feeling rise. Out of everyone, she chose to fix her hair. She knew Heather knew what to do now, but still decided to fix it for her.
Sitting on a bunk as Bridgette kneeled behind her, both dripping onto the sheets as the rest of the girls in the cabin giggled about whatever. All Heather could focus on was the fact Bridgette was breathing on the back of her neck, her warm breath sending shivers through the coldness she felt due to the salty water. For once, Heather Kasuga was silent for a whole ten minutes.
As they walked to the fire pit, she silently hoped the blonde would be on her team. Again, she almost considered jumping into the roaring fire just to rid herself of these thoughts. She didn’t come here to make alliances or friends, she came here to win. She stared at Bridgette the whole time, stared at the side of her head, admiring the curves of her nose, the freckles on her face and the slight curl of her fringe.
She was always comfortable in her sexuality, she was pretty, tall and popular. But she never had a girlfriend, just admiring photos of Sarah Michelle Geller, Alicia Silverstone and Gemma ward she had hung up in her locker at school. She never hired her standards from something more than Adriana Lima, but now she laid her eyes on Bridgette. And deep in her stomach, she knew she’d pick her over Adriana anyday.
Sadly, her newfound crush was picked to be on the killer bass. She tried not to act too upset with her team, unimpressed maybe, but she refused to look sad. From the tree stump, Bridgette sent her a sad smile and a little shrug before walking over to stand by Courtney. Heather felt something warm in her smile at the action, but the warmth was soon for rage when Courtney smiled at her presence.
Declaring they already had to do a water challenge, Chris sent them to their cabins to go change into their swimsuits. When Heather for to the screaming gopher bunks, she smiled seeing the water stain on the bed she chose. The smell of Bridgette perfume still lingered, Vanilla and seashell engulfed Heather as she pulled out her bikini.
It was then revealed that the challenge was up a steep, 1,000 foot cliff. They all audibly groaned, Heather flipping off Chris once more and started to make her way up the hill, in her bikini. Atleast it was summer, she supposed. As she walked in her marron bikini, Lindsay in tow, rambling about something — lipgloss, maybe? Or her bikini collection. — she started to wander her eyes, admiring all the girls walking by in their bikinis or swimsuits.
She couldn’t help it, she loved women. She loved admiring woman from afar, gawking at magazines in ships as her parents shopped for groceries. Staring abit too long at lingerie shops, getting a smack on the back of her head from her mother. Either way, Heather found it hard to draw her eyes away from women.
Her eyes eventually found their way to Bridgette again, and if she was in a cartoon, her tongue would roll out and comically large hearts would fill the holes in her eyes. Her body shook as she laughed at something Gwen said, her delicate hand covering her lips that Heather longed to attach hers to.
She balled her fists at her side, her unannounced hatred for the weird goth girl grew. She considered on bashing her head into one of the trees she passed — again, to get rid of the jealous feelings — but she opted for the latter and moved her eyes over to Bridgette. The wetsuit tugged at her body, making Heather blush on impact. Confused on why she’d wear one, and not chose to wear a bikini considering her figure. Heather had always been insecure of her own body, going on insane diets, taking pills and working out just to be socially acceptable.
Heathers rotten mind despised how easily Bridgette was so content in her body, doing whatever she pleased with not a care in the world. She was effortlessly perfect and Heather hated and loved every moment she got to admire it. Having a newfound crush wasn’t something Heather assumed would happen to her on this show, and she was slowly coming to terms with the torture.
Turning away, torn between crush or be crushed, and told Lindsay to keep rambling about her lipgloss collection ( she just figured out. ) And even though she wanted to keep up a mean popular girl persona, hearing Lindsay’s excited squeal when she wasn’t told to shut up it was almost irresistible to tell her to shut up.
Once they had made it to the top, Chris then decided to tell them they’d be jumping off the top. Heather insides flipped around, looking over the edge at the crashing waves against the yellow shore.
" Piece of cake. " Is what Heather heard Bridgette mutter to Tyler from the other edge of the cliff. She smiled slightly, her confidence was something Heather loved about her. It was something that she had to fake, something she had mastered over the past few years, but to Bridgette, it was like figuring out 2+2. It was infuriating and infiltrating on how easy everything came to Bridgette, Heather was jealous of that. Heather was jealous of a lot of stuff Bridgette had, she wanted to be her. She wanted to be with her.
But when it was revealed that there were psychotic, man eating sharks at the bottom everything stopped. Fear welled up inside her, looking uneasy at the floor, digging her flip flopped feet into the ground. Atleast the killer bass were chosen to go first, she assumed. That was until she heard Bridgette’s sweet voice say “I’ll go first.”
Her head shot up fast, silently hoping Bridgette would wear that stupid chicken hat. She watched in fear as her newfound crush dived elegantly off the edge of the cliff, only spitting out a few sarcastic comments. Heather held her breath as she heard the splash, leaning over the edge to see her mop of wet blonde hair poke out the centre of the safe zone.
She smiled brightly, waving an enthusiastic hand up to the top to show she had made it. Heather let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, giving a light tipped smile back and a small finger wave. Once she leaned back, she saw Lindsay giving her a knowing look.
" What? " Heathers face went back to stoic, folding her arms over her stomach in annoyance. Lindsay just gave her a know-it-all smile and pointed her red acrylic nail into her dimples.
" I know that smile. " She prompted, and Heather scoffed in return. Lindsay wrapped her arms around Heathers head, pulling her close to her. " I’ve always wanted a gay best friend!" Lindsay squealed, and Heather sputtered out incoherent noises that sounded like a rusty car that wouldn’t start.
" That’s if we’re best friends? " Lindsay pulled away, giving Heather puppy dog eyes. Heather sighed and nodded, rolling her eyes as the rest of the killer bass jumped off the cliff. Only leaving Courtney and DJ with the chicken hat of shame on their heads.
" Yeah, yeah. Whatever. " Heather tried to hide her smile, but her lips betrayed her once Lindsay pulled her into another bear hug. She sighed, reciprocating with a pat on the back.
Her smile soon became a smile of sadness, looking down at the girl in her arms. She didn’t want to make friendships for this exact reason, she knew she’d have to betray them both later in the game. She knew herself all too well, she knew her narcissism could get the best of her. Heather didn’t want to get close to people because she knew she’d hurt them in some way, she didn’t want to hurt Lindsay. Fuck, she didn’t want to hurt Bridgette. But this was a competition, she needed that money. She hated herself for it, really.
Again, knowing herself, she stated that she didn’t want to jump in immediately. She claimed it’s because she didn’t want to get her hair wet on national television, but secretly she hoped she would. Hoping that maybe Bridgette would brush her fingers through her hair for the third time that day.
" If she’s not doing it i’m not doing it! " Lindsay announced, smiling sweetly at Heather. The ravenette smiled back, before Leshawna fought back. She hoped maybe claiming she didn’t want to do it would let her off, already stating she’s a queen bee.
In all honesty, Heather didn’t mean the things she said to Leshawna. Sometimes anger got ahold of her, mushing her in ways she couldn’t explain, hurtful words spewing out of her like an enraged, erupted volcano. Every word that came out of her mouth ran Leshawna on, and every word that spewed out of her mouth only angered Heather even more. She’s sure Leshawna didn’t mean any of it either, or maybe she did. Either way she didn’t care, people hating her wasn’t a new thing she discovered.
Secretly she wanted everyone to love her, and half did, half worshiped the ground she walked on and kissed it straight after. Others claimed she was a stuck up, obnoxious bitch with no social skills. She guessed the last part was true, resorting to bitterness when she wasn’t taught how to act growing up. Rage and hurtful words were the only thing she grew up with, her parents were cruel selfish people, so she guessed that was what everyone was like. Once you start, it’s hard to stop.
Eventually, Heather was picked up and launched off the cliff by Leshawna. In all fairness, maybe she shouldn’t have said the words ‘make me.’ Threatening her life as she resurfaced, she looked over and saw Bridgette giving her a shy thumbs up. She really hoped she didn’t hear what she said up the top, it was 1,000 feet in the air. Surely no one had that good hearing, right?
Her face softened, her anger drowning out and being replaced with pining. Smiling back, her eyes squinting as she did. She didn’t want to, but she also noticed how the corners of Bridgette eyes creased when she smiled. Her smile was also gorgeous, the beauty Bridgette bestowed upon her made her stomach knot up like elegant bows, making her want nothing more but her. She was like an angel, always calling Heather to look over at her with nothing but her ethereal glow. She would jump off that cliff a million times if it meant she could see that smile once more.
Heather was totally, embarrassingly, relentlessly, incredibly, crazily head over heels for Bridgette Summers. Having only known her for half a day it was pretty embarrassing. But how could no one fall inlove with her at first sight? How was no one else fawning all over her, she was everything a girl could ever want.
Want to be her or be with her, she didn’t know, but every girl should feel a want over Bridgette Summers. Maybe she was just crazy, maybe she had never felt the feeling of longing before. Either way, she hated it. She had thought that a lot, hating the way she felt about some girl. It was embarrassing and definitely didn’t hold up with her reputation.
But maybe she didn’t want that reputation?
— 🦂🌊 —
In the end, the Screaming Gophers won. Heather cheered, high giving Lindsay with glee. But when she looked over at the Killer Bass, a wave of worry washed over her. Bridgette was at risk of being voted and it killed her knowing she could be off tonight, barley having stricken up a conversation with her that well.
Throughout dinner, Heather poked at her mush with a fork, staring at the back of Bridgette’s head. Her head was rested on her palm, trying to focus on the Killer Bass and what they were saying. It was hard with Lindsay telling a story about her cat, muffins, and giggling the whole time. Clearly Lindsay was paying attention, because when Courtney said Tyler is of who should be voted off she stood up immediately and threw her hands in the air.
" No! " She yelled, and Heather was now the one with the knowing look on her face. " Uh, no . . no salt! There’s no salt. " she tried saving herself, looking sillily over at Heather.
" Mhm. " Heather smiled, shoving a forkful of her meal into her mouth. No matter how gross it tasted, her stomach was grumbling and that was pretty embarrassing. To her it was, anyways.
Heather didn’t would never admit it to anyone, but seeing Bridgette slam her fist down on the table and get in that sexist, homeschooled jerks face was pretty hot. She watched with wide eyes and flushed cheeks as she yelled at him. She kind of wished Geoff didn’t stop them, because it was embarrassing to admit that side of Bridgette was what sparked something inside her like a roaring flame.
Every moment the Killer Bass was at the fireplace, she bit at the whites of her nails, tapping her foot against the wooden planks of the cabin as she wrapped the blanket around her. She didn’t change out of her bikini, knowing that the Screaming Gophers was going to have a ‘jacuzzi party later’ and she was never one to miss out on a party. Even if it was with some lame, pathetic kids from this summer camp.
She sat there for nearly half an hour, waiting for someone to come announce that Bridgette was safe or wasn’t. Lindsay was sat next to her on her bed, painting her toe nails and once more rambling about something from her home life, giggling to herself every once in a while.
" Aww, Heather are you worried about Birdie? " Lindsay smiled, placing the pink nail polish back into the bottle. Heather snapped her head over to her, an astonished look plaster on her face.
" It’s Bridgette. And, no. I’m just thinking of strategies we can use to get other people out. " Heather lied through her teeth, and obviously it wasn’t working because Lindsay still smiled happily.
" It’s okay, Heather! I’m worried about Tyler! Courtly said they should vote him, what if they listened to her? " Lindsay frowned, and Heather rolled her eyes before deciding to comfort her.
" Tyler is fine. They’re probably voting the sexist freak. " Heather patted her shoulder, and Lindsay nodded. " Oh! Right! Blonde moment. " Lindsay giggled, taking out the divider out between her toes.
" What do you think? "
" Gorgeous, Linds. " Heather mumbled, only sparing them a glance. Lindsay clapped her hands happily, now waiting for them to dry. She was humming the tune of a Britney Spears song before the door was knocked on, and Heather sprung to her feet to see who it was.
" Hello?! " She opened the door, maybe a-bit too desperately, seeing Bridgette on the other side in her pyjamas. It was just a baggy t-shirt with a pink Hawaiian flower in the centre and some black basketball shorts.
But again, in Heathers eyes, she had just opened the door looking like Jessica Rabbit. She flushed from embarrassment, smiling widely at the girl before her. She gawked at Bridgette like she was the greatest thing to ever exist.
" Hey, Bridge! " Heather tried to hide her excitement, but it was too obvious. Hopefully, Bridgette didn’t catch on.
" Hey, Heather! I just came by to give you this before i go to sleep. " From behind her back, Bridgette pulled up a pink tub with a seashell on it. It was small, fitting into the palm of her hand easily.
" It’s the mask from earlier, please don’t let anyone else use it. It’s kind of my special thing. " Bridgette laughed, shyly placing her hands back behind her and itching at her wrists.
Heather lifted up her hand, taking the small pot from her. Her fingertips brushed against Bridgette palm, sending flames through her insides. The redness flamed to her cheeks, holding the hair mask as if it was a porcelain doll. As if it could break in any second if she didn’t hold it with ease. If anything Bridgette gave her was made out of rubber, she’d treat it like a glass ornament.
The special feeling rose to Heathers head again, the feeling of Bridgette giving her attention. Something inside her grew, as if she wasn’t the popular girl she once was, not fawning and fighting back kicking her feet as her eyes drew around the shiny pot.
" I won’t. I promise, thank you, Bridgette. You’re a lifesaver. " Heather looked up at her, and there was something between them that Heather couldn’t deny.
If it was awkward or romantic tension, both made Heather want to slam the door and scream into her pillow. Bridgette nodded, etching her feet closer to the frame. Heather rolled her eyes, giving in and wrapping her arms around Bridgette’s waist. The blondes eyes widened, already getting a hug on the first day.
Heather despised herself for how much she worshipped her, it was embarrassing. She begged no one from home was watching the show. Maybe it was good she finally found someone, instead of flaunting around her lesbianism like a trophy but refusing a date from any girl. It was for the better, she surmised.
Bridgette slowly wrapped her arms around her, too, pulling back and smiling sweetly. Bridgette stammered out a few words, trying to form them into a sentence. She soon just decided on bye, running down the steps, past the jacuzzi and to her own cabin. Heather watched her walk away, staring at her in plain sight, before turning around once hearing light snickering.
" Not a word out of you, missy. " Heather pointed a threatening finger Lindsay’s way, But Linds just held her hands up in a fake surrender; a playful smile still on her face.
" Okay, okay! But there’s a jacuzzi waiting for me! It’s calling my name, baby! " Lindsay flung a towel over her shoulder, making Heather laugh involuntary.
Heather looked down at the hair mask in her hands with admiration. She placed it down delicately on her pillow before following Lindsay out the door. The whole time she was in the jacuzzi, she figured it would be better if Bridgette was there.
To her, everything would be better with Bridgette flush against her side.