Chapter Text
Noah had made a mistake.
A big mistake.
A mistake that would leave him trapped on an island for eight weeks.
He would be surrounded by a group of people he didn’t know anything about, being forced to endure cruel challenges and dealing with a careless, sadistic host whose idea of fun was torture and mind games.
He had no idea this was going to happen. How did he even get here in the first place? He never, not in a million years, expected to be picked out of thousands of teenagers around Canada for a reality TV show.
He had plenty of thoughts and ideas for what was going to happen. But unfortunately, unbeknownst to Noah, it was something he couldn’t of ever predicted.
Noah grabbed his suitcase as the boat slowly drifted closer to the docks, taking a look at what was awaiting him.
This isn’t what he signed up for… right?
Noah had heard about an upcoming reality show, set in a big resort, with a chance to win a cash prize of $100,000. It didn’t sound too bad at all; it was a chance to show his expertise in video gaming, applying it to whatever challenges he was going to participate in for the show.
The brochure describing the show seemed to make out ‘Total Drama Island’ as a Big Brother clone; not that he actually tuned in to what he called ‘garbage television’ each week but the kids at school talked about how they’d just sit around and do minuscule challenges.
The only difference was that the brochure described the challenges as easy and simple, with a chance to meet new people and have fun. Meeting new people wasn’t something Noah was interested. But everything else?
Easy. A show set in a large resort with the occasional challenge and a chance to win a lot of money?
What a piece of cake.
Or so he thought.
As the boat got closer to the dock, he groaned in frustration as to what was awaiting him;
It was a summer camp.
A crappy Summer camp.
Not that he had ever been to Summer camp, he couldn’t afford it, but everything he knew about them flooded his thoughts.
Summer camp… unedible camp food? No fans or air conditioning in sticky, blazing hot weather? Sports and physical activity?
Noah was getting ill already just thinking about it.
Realising the brochure lied, he sighed, picking up his suitcase and walking on the dock.
He immediately noticed the dock was old and worn out, creaking with each step, gulping as he knew it wasn’t going to last much longer.
‘Our next camper is Noah!’ the cheery host, Chris Mcclean, announced.
Noah had heard of the guy before, but knew nothing about him.
All he knew was what the producers had said regarding Chris before being pushed on the boat Noah had arrived on; he was the host. And that was pretty much it.
Truthfully, it made Noah a little suspicious. Wouldn’t they get any further information? Don’t people on reality shows get prepared for these sort of things?
Whatever, he wasn’t an expert on something as pointless as reality TV, but still… something seemed off.
It was as if they were trying to rush and get the show started, or maybe they were trying to surprise the contestants as soon as possible but dumping them on the island instead of a resort. Seeing the location, Noah was definitely surprised, but not in a good way, at all.
‘You got my memo about my life threatening allergies?’ Noah asked dryly.
He may as well ask…
… just in case.
‘Sure someone did,’
‘Good. Is this where we’re staying?’ Noah questioned, confirming that this really was where going to be staying at.
He wanted to make sure; there was a teeny little something inside of him saying it could be a really late April Fools prank.
‘No, it’s your mother’s house. And we’re throwing a party!’ a punk contestant replied with a devilish smile.
He had dyed green hair and plenty of piercings; Noah almost gawked at him.
He immediately knew the type of guy he was dealing with; a wannabe punk who tried to act edgy and dangerous, the complete opposite of whatever ‘cool’ was.
‘Cute. Nice piercings, original. Do them yourself?’ Noah asked with a dead-panned expression.
Even though the punk tried to look slightly threatening, Noah wasn’t worried in the slightest; he always had his wit and sarcasm to back him up if anyone was to ever approach him.
‘Yeah! You want one?’
The punk grabbed onto his lips, looking into his eyes as he showed off a piercing.
Noah scoffed at the guy’s actions; how pathetic. He already knew the guy was a straight up loser. Noah wasn’t looking forward to being around him for the rest of the Summer.
‘No thanks, can I have my lip back please?’
The punk let go and Noah let out an unimpressed ‘thanks’ as he walked down the dock to stand with the other contestants.
Where did producers find these teens anyways?
Noah noted they all looked like blatant teen stereotypes, a diverse group for sure but definitely the kind of people Noah would never hang out with.
As Chris introduced more contestants, Noah was beginning to feel bored and tired.
He hated standing for too long.
Scratch that.
He hated standing, period.
His legs were already getting getting worn and he couldn’t wait to sit down. But as his impatience was wearing thin, his focus soon changed to the latest contestant who arrived on the dock.
He was a short guy; upon seeing, Noah sighed in relief. Up until now, he was the shortest male contestant standing on the dock.
He had shaggy, chestnut brown hair and was already smiling, with a relax expression.
Noah had to admit, he did look kinda cute, but his admiration for the boy disappeared as soon as he started speaking.
‘Cody. The Codester. The Codemeister!’
‘Dude, psyched to be here, man. I see the ladies have totally arrived, alright,’ Cody boasted with finger guns.
Noah almost groaned out loud, feeling second hand embarrassment for Cody. He rolled his eyes as Cody made his way down the dock, trying his best to be cool for the ‘ladies’.
The girls weren’t affected by his ‘flirty’ charms in the slightest.
He smirked when Cody approached one of the girls, LeShawna and shut him down.
Cody didn’t look too upset about it though, he just nodded and made his way down the dock.
The rest of the contestants arrived, with Noah mostly not paying too much attention. Chris encouraged everyone near the end of the dock to take a photo. Unfortunately, the worn wood collapsed under everyone’s weight and each teen fell into the water.
This was going to be a fun 8 weeks.
After being placed into two teams, Chris announced the team names.
Their team was called ‘The Screaming Gopher’s’ and the big guy on his team was ecstatic about it. He held onto the team flag with pride, beaming as he proudly stated ‘I’m a gopher!’
Noah didn’t care for the team name, or the people on his team for that matter. Gopher’s weren’t known for being threatening, powerful or strong.
Wouldn’t it be more ideal for their team name to be something more… competent?
Not that Noah really cared about it, but it was silly.
Did the host come up with the team names?
Probably.
Watching Chris smirk announce the team names, Noah look at him and could immediately tell he didn’t know anything about animals. How hard was it for him to do a little bit of research?
You know… pick up a book? Browse the web? At least find a more suitable strong-willed animal for a team name.
The more Noah thought about it, the more he realised that maybe Chris chose the unthreatening gopher as their team name as an embarrassment of sorts, so that their team would look unskilled and weak.
Hm… even Noah had to admit, that was somewhat smart.
Noah grabbed his bags, along with the rest of his team as they were allowed to make their way to the cabins and begin to unpack.
He made his way to the Gopher’s cabin, opening the screen door. The first thing he noticed was the smell; as he took his first breath inside the cabin, Noah sniffed and winced, already feeling sick in the stomach.
As he made his way over to one of the bunk beds, the smell only got worse. Trying to stop himself from gagging, he distracted himself, leaning over to his suitcase and zipping it open, until he heard footsteps behind him.
The other members of his team had arrived, making their way over to the spare bunk beds.
‘Hey, nice to meet you, name’s Trent,’ a guy with dark hair carrying a guitar approached him.
Noah, getting back up again took a moment before greeting the guy. He immediately noted the guitar, forcing himself back from rolling his eyes; he absolutely couldn’t wait for this guy to whip out his guitar and start playing Wonderwall by the campfire.
‘Noah,’ Noah responded, looking a bit too unimpressed. Trent slightly shrugged his shoulders, noting the teen’s quiet demeanour and took the top bunk on the left, with the big guy from earlier following him behind and placing his bags on the bottom bunk.
‘Whoa, that is a lot of books!’
Cody, the teen from earlier trying to flirt with the ladies on the dock, stood behind Noah and stared down at his open suitcase.
It was full of books; Cody had wondered if the guy had brought any clothes, all he could see were novels pouring out of the suitcase.
It was like a library in there.
‘Yeah, well… I thought I’d get bored, considering we were supposed to be staying at a resort,’ Noah scoffed.
‘Oh, dude, you saw that brochure too?’ Trent asked sympathetically, sitting down on the bed across from Noah. ‘Can’t believe they lied to us. Although, it could be worse,’
Noah took a look around the cabin and saw that the beds were barely holding up, the wood being tied together with rope, eyeing a stain filled rug and the general smell that lingered. Not only that but they had to sleep in the beds too and who knows how long it had been since the sheets were washed?
‘It could be a lot better too,’ Noah mumbled softly with a sour expression.
Cody, the only one hearing the remark, chuckled softly and smiled at him with a grin.
‘Anyways, sup! I’m Cody!’ the brown haired teen beamed, holding out his hand. Noah shook it back, still sporting an unimpressed expression but while he shook his hand, he took a closer look at the boy.
Cody had very faint brown freckles across his cheeks and his crooked smile showed a gap between his teeth. He had bright blue eyes with long eyelashes which made the size of his eyes even bigger than they already were.
Was it weird for Noah to admit that he found him oddly… pretty?
Even if he was kind of annoying; Cody was already chatting the rest of the cabin’s ear off and everyone seemed ok with it, except Noah who tried to tune him out. It’s too bad his pretty face came with a very loud and talkative personality.
Noah was an introvert by nature and he sometimes couldn’t deal with overly boisterous and chatty people.
After meeting Owen and the other member, Justin, Cody took the top bunk above him. That was when they all heard a high pitched whine from outside; Lindsay, a blonde haired girl, making the high pitched noises.
‘I’m glad we’re in our own cabin with just guys!’ Know what I mean?’ Owen laughed.
Wow.
Noah was surprised, he thought he’d be the first one to say something pretty gay and accidentally spill the beans on his sexuality, but it was the first day and Owen was already pretty open about himself.
Or so Noah thought.
‘I mean no! I didn’t mean it like that, I love chicks,’ Owen defended himself. ‘I just don’t want to sleep near them! Ahh! I mean-‘
The guys in the cabin who had all heard Owen’s comment began to laugh with one another, then continued back to chatting. Owen, who was bright red, stood in the corner of the room until he slyly made his way out the door.
What the others didn’t know was that Owen was bisexual but he hadn’t come out to anyone yet; he had a habit of accidentally making comments though, within which he’d always get worried about, especially since most people laughed at him for it.
Noah, feeling a tinge of sympathy for Owen, followed him.
Owen was out the front on the deck of the cabin, nervously biting his lips. He was leaning against the rail, looking out into the forest nearby, sighing not noticing Noah approaching.
‘It’s ok, dude, I get it,’ Noah whispered to him. ‘You’re not alone in thinking that,’
‘Wait.. you mean-? You’re also?’ Owen whispered back with wide eyes. He completely understood what Noah was trying to say; they both got each other.
They both weren’t straight.
Owen immediately felt the nervousness go away and relaxed, smiling brightly at Noah who nodded in response.
‘Oh good!’ Owen chuckled. ‘I sometimes accidentally sorta slip out things like that, but I’m not ready to come out. Promise you won’t tell?’
‘Yeah, promise. As long as you don’t tell anyone else about my sexuality either. Rather not spread any rumours,’ Noah replied in a low tone, crossing his arms over his chest.
Noah was gay.
He was out to his parents and his older siblings, all eight of them and they were all accepting. He didn’t make it a big deal; when coming out a year ago, he was pretty casual about it and everyone in his family accepted him with open arms.
All of his older siblings would occasionally make jokes and tease him, asking Noah questions and if there were any boys he were interested in. His mama would join in, too, hyping his son up and telling him that any boy would be lucky to have him.
He had to admit, he was very lucky.
However, he wasn’t formally out amongst his peers at school. His close friends knew and they were ok with it but a lot of people did ask him questions about it. Noah usually responded with a quick ambiguous response, usually something sarcastic or jokey, leaving a lot of his peers confused.
He wasn’t exactly trying to hide it but he didn’t want to have a big ‘coming out’ either. Sure, he wasn’t stereotypically masculine, especially in comparison to the majority of guys at his school, but he didn’t really want to focus on it too much.
Of course, not all gay people were the complete opposite of masculinity and there were plenty of straight, feminine people too.
Noah knew this.
But, regardless, when he realised he was gay, it didn’t really come as a shock.
His mannerisms and interests aligned very well with a stereotypical gay person, at least, stereotypical when asking a straight person about it.
He didn’t feel the same way about girls his peers did; he never did. Those feelings he thought he was supposed to feel for girls just never came to him. Those feelings for boys on the other hand… sometimes he would get embarrassed and flushed thinking about an attractive guy.
That feeling though? When it came it girls?
Nope, never happened.
Noah glanced back at the blonde haired boy who was smiling with joy.
‘Deal!’ Owen agreed, attacking Noah with a bear hug.
It was only the first day and he was already getting touched by someone he just met. He appreciated the sentiment from Owen and it was nice to know he wasn’t alone, but he definitely wasn’t comfortable yet being squished up against his chest.
After all, he wasn’t a touchy-feely person.
Noah, trying to gasp for air, was interrupted by the loud speaker which blared loudly through the whole camp.
‘Alright, campers! Time to head to the main lodge! Where you’ll be meeting our wonderful Chef; Chef Hatchet!’ Chris announced over the loud speaker. ‘He will be serving you nutritious meals three times a day,’
‘Oh boy! Food!’ Owen screamed in excitement, letting go of the shorter boy.
Noah felt relieved after escaping his hug but that didn’t last for too long as Owen grabbed tightly onto his hand.
‘Let’s go, little buddy!’ Owen exclaimed excitedly dragging Noah out the cabin.
He didn’t think it could possibly get any worse, right?
Right?
What else was supposed to come with Summer camp again? Besides dirty cabins, lacklustre activities and being forced to spend hours outside in the blaring sun… oh yes;
Camp food.
Noah poked and prodded at the sludge on his tray, trying to make any sense of what it was; he couldn’t really come to a decisive conclusion. He wasn’t even sure it was edible; it was a pile of brown, slimey chunks of meat blended together in a disgusting mess.
‘Ok, I’ve never been to a Summer camp before but surely the food isn’t THIS bad, is it?’ Cody spoke up weakly.
‘I can’t even tell what it is.. it’s not human food, that’s for sure,’ Noah said wincing back at him.
‘I have a lot of allergies but good thing I’m not allergic to food, heh, they’re all nature related,’ Cody chuckled.
‘Unfortunately, I am,’ Noah muttered, pushing the tray away.
‘Oh shit, really? I can try it for you, maybe try and find out what it is… somehow?’ Cody asked feeling sympathetic.
Cody knew how bad allergies were; he had a lot of bug allergies and kept an epipen with him at all times. At least he wasn’t allergic to any foods; that he knew of.
There was no way Noah could even ask the Chef, Chef Hatchet, who they met earlier about what was in it. Noah had overheard some of the other teens at the front of the line asking him about it but Chef just screamed, leaving everyone to just guess what he had made. Chef was a large man, with a bushy unibrow and plenty of wrinkles. He had strong muscles and his hands were huge; covered in scars.
His first impression with the teens left them all feeling too scared and frightened to even approach him again.
Noah looked around watching everyone poking at the food; no one had dared taken a bite yet.
‘If you want to possibly poison yourself then sure, be my guest,’ Noah said raising his brows at Cody.
‘I’ll do it,’ Cody proudly boasted.
‘Oh, my hero,’ Noah sarcastically chuckled, elating a small chuckle from Cody.
Cody shoved his fork into the meat, bringing it closer to his mouth as it wobbled almost like jelly. The others around him started to pay attention, noticing Cody take a bite, awaiting his response.
Cody sat there for a moment, slowly chewing on the meat as the Gopher’s table watched with anticipation.
‘Gross!’ Cody sputtered, coughing loudly. ‘I don’t know how but… it was the driest chicken I’ve ever tasted, even though it looks so wet! I don’t understand, how is that possible? T-that just defies science!’
The rest of campers at the table winced as Cody continued to cough and gag.
‘Ugh.. but the good news is… it’s just chicken and salt. But… it’s just dry, really really dry, somehow,’ Cody reassured everyone.
A few of the gopher members, some of the braver ones like Trent and Owen, attempted to try the food. Trent was struggling with great difficulty to keep it down, but Owen gulped down his meal in seconds.
‘Dry? Are you kidding?! This is the best chicken I’ve ever tasted!’ Owen spoke in between bites.
Noah and Cody both gave each other worried looks, as Owen practically finished the entire plate of sludge.
‘Ok, mental note to never, ever trust that guy’s judgement of food,’ Cody whispered, with Noah nodding in agreement.
‘By the way, thanks for trying it for me,’ Noah whispered back, giving the boy next to him a nudge.
Cody beamed at him with a wide smile and felt proud of himself.
‘No prob! Yeah, I’m pretty cool like that, ya know?’ Cody boasted.
And immediately Noah’s respect for him almost disappeared.
Almost.
‘At least I have some Tic-Tacs in my pockets, you want some?’ Cody asked.
‘Excellent choice, must be the Chef’s special of the day,’ Noah quipped with a smile. Cody let out a loud laugh, with the others at the table taking notice for a second until they continued back to chatting.
Cute.
Yeah, okay… Noah thought Cody’s laugh was pretty cute. It was the first thing that came to his mind as soon as he heard him laugh. He had just met the guy, so he didn’t like him that way or anything, but he couldn’t help but think Cody’s laugh was sweet.
‘Welcome to the main lodge!’ Chris McClean announced walking through the door’s entrance.
‘Yo, my man. Can we order pizza?’ one of the contestants from the other team, Geoff, called out. Everyone nodded in agreement; pizza sounded really good right now.
Geoff received an answer right away; Chef flung his cleaver towards his way, just barely missing him.
What kind of camp was this?!
Noah was pretty sure the head cook of Summer Camps don’t wield around kitchen utensils like weapons in a fighting game.
‘Whoa! It’s cool, G! Brown slop is cool. Haha, right guys?’ Geoff yelped.
Everyone on his table nodded in agreement with fake smiles on encouragement.
‘Your first challenge begins.. in one hour at the top of the cliff,’ Chris declared in a cheery tone, walking out the door. ‘Oh yeah… wear your swimsuits,’
Great. First challenge and they had to wear their swimsuits? Noah wasn’t not looking forward to it; he hated swimming, let alone any physical activity. He was hoping the first challenge would be something to test everyone’s mind, an intellectual one that he could win easily.
Although… it technically wouldn’t be too much of challenge.
Whenever they had swim class in school, Noah would bring a note from his parents, declaring that he wasn’t going to swim. Instead of arguing, the teachers just approved of it and he got to sit on the sidelines and read; it happened whenever any sort of physical activity was involved at school. He would save himself the real work for exams and tests, things he thought were far more important.
During ‘physical education’, he would spend his time relaxing with a novel. So, afterwards, when going back to class, he was still energised and ready to go while the rest of his classmates lagged behind, still tired from sports.
There he would focus on his school work; things that actually mattered, not silly water activities or ball dribbling or whatever it is that the sports teacher demanded.
‘S-swimming?’ Cody quivered, biting his lip.
‘Yeah, I know… sounds fun,’ Noah scoffed, already dreading the challenge.
‘Um… yeah.. W-well, anyways, I’m done with the Tic-Tags. I gotta go… to the bathroom,’ Cody stammered, darting his eyes back and forth before running off out of the lodge.
While most people didn’t pay attention; Noah did.
That was… weird.
‘What’s his deal?’ Noah wondered to himself. But then he shrugged.
It’s not like he cared; he just met the guy, why would he ever overthink about Cody at all? But still; Cody rushing off like that right after Chris mentioned swimming… he still couldn’t help but find it really strange.
Returning back to his cabin, Noah pulled out a pair of blue and red swim trunks, as well as a loose, black top from his bag full of books.
The Gopher boys were getting ready for the challenge. After attempting to eat their so called ‘lunch’, they all came back to the cabin and grabbed their swimsuits, preparing to get changed.
Noah still hadn’t run into Cody; however, when walking into the cabin he saw his bag and the contents from it scattered all over the floor. Noah rolled his eyes at the mess he made, already considering bunking with Justin on the other side of the cabin; if Cody was going to make a mess like this for the rest of the camp, he would not be able to stand it.
‘A swimming challenge? Man, I’m kinda nervous!’ Owen awkwardly chuckled.
‘Hey, it’s ok, big guy. You’ve got this,’ Trent encouraged Owen, grabbing a pair of swimming trunks.
‘Where are you going?’ Justin asked suspiciously from the back end of the cabin. Immediately Noah stopped as the other three boy’s eyes all laid on him; he was hoping to grab his stuff and quietly dash out of the cabin to the bathroom.
‘Oh, uh, I’m just going to the bathroom to change,’ Noah explained, calm and collected.
‘Hey man, we’re all guys here,’ Trent reassured him.
‘Yeah! You’ve got nothing to worry about,’ Owen said politely with a big smile, already getting changed in front of the other guys.
Noah looked away and rolled his eyes.
‘Yeah, I’m not comfortable with taking off my clothes in front of people I just met,’ Noah defended in a dry tone. ‘No offence,’
‘Hm, whatever man,’ Justin responded with a nod, shrugging his shoulders.
Noah walked out the front door to the bathroom across the way, letting out a big sigh of relief.
Sure, what he said wasn’t inherently wrong; he technically was not comfortable with stripping down in front of the other guys. He had only just met them all this morning, with brief conversation; logically most people would feel that way
But, there was something else, another reason he really couldn’t just dress down in front of everyone…
Noah was transgender.
He had come out a few years ago and had been on hormone replacement treatment for 14 months now. His parents were very accepting and treated him with respect and love, along with his siblings.
It was a relief his family were ok with things like this. Once again, he was very lucky, with every single family member behind him in support and never being ‘uncomfortable’. They were always there for him from the day he had come out to them as a boy; Noah was so appreciative of their love, even if he didn’t publicly show it.
He didn’t wear a binder; he found them too uncomfortable sensory wise so he decided to layer clothing over his chest instead, with a long shirt, a a collared shirt and a sweater vest over the top.
Yes, it was a lot, with layer upon layer upon layer but it came helpful; he actually came up with the idea and it worked. He eventually wanted top surgery but the age of 16 with no money and living with eight other siblings… it wasn’t going to happen for a long time. But, no matter, eventually down the line, it was going to happen, one day. He was certainly looking forward to it, but, at the same time, he felt happy knowing his chest dysphoria wasn’t too dire.
Yes, he didn’t really like his chest but he was alright waiting for the time being. Not that he really had a choice; being in a big family with no many to his name and all, but it was just something he lived with and he had already accepted that.
He wasn’t comfortable telling the rest of his team mates he was trans. Absolutely no way.
He barely knew any of them and, unfortunately to his dismay, there were plenty of people who seemed lovely and kind but had discriminatory views. Noah didn’t really want to put a target on his back at the beginning of the competition.
As well as the whole world finding out… even if the cameras weren’t around to expose him as a trans man; if a fellow team mate found out.. they could blurt it out to anyone, pass it on and spread it all over the camp, right as cameras are filming.
Of course, there was the fact that he didn’t want to start getting undressed in front of the guys with his chest visible for all to see either, so, to the bathroom to get changed he went.
When arriving in the bathroom, he peeked inside, looking towards the cubicles. Getting ready to dart towards one of them, one of the doors to a nearby cubicle unlocked and out walked Cody who’s hair was mess and sporting a baggy shirt and yellow and blue swim shorts.
‘Oh! H-hey, Noah!’ Cody greeted with his toothy grin, patting down his hair.
Looks as if he had the same idea as him; getting changed in the bathroom.
‘…Hi,’ Noah replied, awkwardly standing there with his pile of clothes in hand.
Truthfully, he was hoping no one else was going to be in the bathroom. He didn’t want to have to explain why he was there with his clothes. Sure, he could easily just tell whoever would ask that it was none of their business but he was lucky it was just Cody. For some reason, he felt like he didn’t have to explain anything about himself around him.
‘So… you getting changed in the bathroom too?’ Cody asked. ‘Yeah, I getcha, I didn’t want to change in front of the other guys you know? N-not that I’m insecure about my body or anything!’
That was awkward.
Cody chuckled nervously and looked down, feeling embarrassed, mumbling to himself. Noah did hear the word ‘stupid’ under his breath.
‘…. Right,’ Noah stated.
Cody recovered quickly, smiling back at him once again.
‘Hey, wanna walk together to the challenge after you’re done?’ Cody asked enthusiastically.
‘Meh, why not,’ Noah responded with a shrug.
Cody gave him a thumbs up and walked past him.
‘I’ll wait outside for you!’ Cody’s voice echoed in the bathroom.
Noah paused for a moment before getting changed. There was something up about Cody, but Noah couldn’t put his finger on it. He was a pretty perceptive person and could usually tell things about people right away.
The guy was already pretty annoying and very talkative. The little mumble he made to himself had Noah thinking that his ‘cool guy’ persona was an act. Or maybe he was really like that.
Who knows?
Noah didn’t really care too much about other people but his classmates who were legitmately popular for some reason were considered cool by everybody, even if Noah didn’t think so. Something Noah could immediately tell already was that Cody wasn’t cool by any means, he was the complete and total opposite.
He was definitely awkward but Noah had a feeling that Cody was hiding something. Despite being a know it all, he wouldn’t be able to figure it out for a while. Secretly, not that he would ever admit it to himself, it was something that would continue to plague his mind for a while.
Noah just didn’t know it yet.
‘
And that’s how I became the president of the Einstein fan club at my school!’
‘You’re kidding?’
Noah assumed walking up a grassy hill on a steep incline with scattered rocks, as well as being the least athletic person he knew, would be difficult.
Unfortunately, listening to Cody was almost downright painful.
Ok, maybe not painful, but the boy had talked his ear off the entire trek, blabbing on about things Noah didn’t care about; th is guy was a complete geek.
Sure, Noah was a nerd himself, but he wasn’t open about it and was at least well liked by some people; he knew how to lay low. He loved to read, but reading wasn’t embarrassing. It wasn’t very popular but he knew plenty of people that read literature.
Cody bragging about his hi-tech gadgets, the way he’d try and fail flirting with girls at the mall, he was the president of an Einstein fan club as his high school for crying out loud, what’s more geeky than that?
‘Not kidding!’ Cody beamed with pride.
Noah, dragging his feet lazily across the rough terrain, continually rolled his eyes throughout the whole conversation.
‘Uh-huh. I mean, I admit, Einstein was an influential and important figure to the world but… really? A fan club?’ Noah asked, in case the guy was joking around.
Cody wasn’t joking.
Cody continued to chat; something about how his three equally nerdy friends started the group and they all looked up to him like Cody was the cool guy, or something. Honestly, Noah struggled to follow.
Cody and cool… something Noah realised as he got to know the guy more; that wasn’t possible. Cody and coolness was certainly not compatible at all in the slightest.
Noah shook his head and breathed heavily, trying to make it up the hill without it showing he was already exhausted. He feared getting too tired and passing out in front of everyone due to his inability to walk upwards on hill this steep.
How much further?
‘Finally! I thought this hill would never end,’ Cody cheered.
All of the contestants, following the two and those who were ahead, arrived at the top of a cliff. Standing there was Chris Mcclean with a devilish, but excited smile. The group of contestants were already beginning the murmur; why was everyone here? This couldn’t possibly be the first challenge, right?
Unfortunately, it was. And everyone was terrified.
The host had explained in detail that they were to dive from the top of the cliff into the lake below, which was filled with sharks. There was a safe zone in the middle, where they had to land. If not… it would be lunch time for the sharks.
The team with the most jumpers would win a major advantage for the second part of the challenge; building a hot tub.
So, building a hot tub wasn’t something Noah was too thrilled about but that seemed very anticlimactic to the challenge as a whole; they were beginning the competition jumping one thousand feet into deep water which contained a very dangerous creature that could tear them to pieces.
Noah was taken a back… this couldn’t be the challenge right?
There’s no way… far too dangerous! These shows had to have regulations, right?
Right!
Even though the challenge sounded terrifying and was ridiculously extreme on a whole other level, it definitely had to be tested first. That did give Noah a little bit of relief, placing his hand on his chest to slow his heart down.
It was still scary, yes, but at least their cliff dive jump was actually possible. Who knows? Maybe Chris was joking about the sharks.
After Chris went over the rules and almost all the members of the opposite team, the Bass, completed the challenge. Two of the contestants on their team, LeShawna and Heather, had started a fight which intrigued Noah. Even though he was still feeling nervous, he smirked at the argument.
It was pretty hilarious, watching them bicker back and forth while everyone else stood there in shock as the two continued to insult each other. Noah, on the other hand, couldn’t stop grinning; watching something like this was so entertaining.
After the argument, LeShawna threw Heather off the edge of the cliff and jumped, allowing the rest of the team to follow.
Was that allowed? Guess it was. Chris was certainly enjoying it too and didn’t interject.
‘I… I don’t know if I can do this,’ Cody whispered to Noah.
The geek had gone pale and his legs were shaking wildly. He chewed hard on his fingernails, going by each finger one at a time, with some sweat rolling down his forehead.
That all immediately changed once one of the contestants Gwen, walked near the edge of the cliff. It was a light switch flicked on inside of him, the change was that drastic.
Cody’s nervousness disappeared as he stared at the girl in awe. Immediately it felt as if little cartoon hearts bloomed in his eyes as he watched her short, teal and black hair bounce as she took a step, in her dark, heeled shoes, walking to the cliff’s edge. She looked back at the rest of the term with a worried glance, getting ready to jump, while Cody continued to stare, spying her blue lipstick and dark eyeliner.
Cody’s heart skipped a beat as the two made eye contact for a moment.
Noah glanced at Cody, who’s mouth was agape and there was a certain twinkle in his eyes.
Before Noah could stop him, Cody was already making his way up to Gwen with a spring in his step and a flirty smile; his nervousness disappeared completely.
‘Heh, this challenge will be a piece of cake!’ Cody flirted with a smile, trying to impress the goth girl.
‘You’re kidding, right? I can’t believe we have to do something like this,’ Gwen replied, looking down to the water below. ‘It’s terrifying,’
‘Oh, yeah, totally! Wow, you’re so smart, I like that,’ Cody blurted.
Gwen looked back at Cody, raising her eyebrows as she stared back at him with confusion.
‘….. Okay then,’ Gwen replied.
Immediately feeling uncomfortable, Gwen took the plunge, taking a leap off the cliff and jumping into the lake below, screaming out in fear as she plummeted down.
‘Wow, she’s so cool,’ Cody sighed, watching her fall.
Noah watched Cody closely, rolling his eyes as the guy just stood there at the edge of the cliff with a love-struck, goofy smile on his face. The goth girl, Gwen, clearly wasn’t interested. Even though it was technically a part of the challenge, Cody had only said two things to her before she wanted to jump off the cliff; Noah couldn’t help but laugh at the awkward attitude Cody had already brought with himself so far.
It was endearing and he had to give props to the guy for trying, but he was going in full force, ready to make his move on a girl he had just met. Noah certainly didn’t have the tenacity, nor did he think it was a good way to get a girlfriend. Not that he knew everything about getting a girlfriend, or rather a boyfriend, himself.
But, the way Cody was trying with Gwen… he was sure, with all certainty, that wasn’t the right way to do it.
Before Noah got lost in thought thinking about Cody, he watched the gap-toothed teen start to sway as he placed his hands on his chest, still looking down at the water below watching Gwen land in the safe zone.
Cody was already in love, feeling warm and fuzzy, along with relief as the goth girl made her way out of the water. Continually watching, he started to feel his body lean forward, arching his neck to get a better look at Gwen.
Before realising and saving himself, Cody’s whole body gravitated down. His panic came back once again, completely forgetting about Gwen and his feet lost their grip.
With a high pitched squeal, Cody fell off the cliff, screaming as he dropped into the water.
‘That’s one way to complete the challenge,’ Noah laughed to himself.
Poor guy was so love stuck and distracted, he actually completed the challenge, merely by accident, too focused on Gwen.
At least it was a success, with Noah getting closer to the edge, making sure the guy landed in the safe zone.
Not like he cared for Cody or anything…
Okay, maybe he cared a little, he wasn’t so cynical that he wouldn’t bat an eye if he fell into the lake surrounded by sharks, that would be too cruel, even by Noah’s standards.
So, yeah, he did care and had a little soft spot for the guy. Maybe just a little, but that’s all it was.
And for Noah, there was no way in telling how much more he was going to care about Cody over the next few days; something not even the smart, know it all could’ve ever predicted ever happening.