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Noah’s not exactly sure how he got into this situation. The situation in question being at the merge with Ezekiel of all people. Ezekiel was a homeschooled boy with an extremely sheltered upbringing. Something that Noah quickly found out when he asked why they were losing when they had more boys. Luckily they were in the middle of attempting to build a hot tub so everyone was busy.
After telling him to keep his mouth shut and try to learn something they had lost. That night Courtney was eliminated. Good riddance, she was way too uptight anyway. The next challenge was called the awakeathon, and it was exactly what it sounded like. Stay up as late as possible.
Noah had ended up falling sleep pretty early and when he woke he was snuggling with Ezekiel. Thankfully the homeschooled boy had been awake. Which did make Noah wonder why he hadn’t moved him. After he ran away he decided to shower. Soon enough the challenge was over and thanks to Ezekiel they won. The Gopher’s eliminated Owen that night.
“So, uh, do you remember earlier?” Ezekiel asked.
Noah sighed. “Yes. Look, it didn't mean anything. I have a habit of sleep cuddling and you were the nearest body. I should count myself lucky I didn’t end up cuddling Duncan.”
“Oh, okay.” The homeschooled boy accepted.
“You know homeschool, I appreciate you taking me at my word.” Noah smiled.
The next challenge was a slam dunk for their team. Maybe that was the wrong metaphor considering they were playing dodgeball but Noah was never the best at sports. Luckily he didn’t need to be because Eva owned everyone. It helped that Justin didn’t want to risk his face. So Noah wasn’t too surprised that the model left that night.
After that they had to choose three acts for a talent show. DJ turned out to be good at rhythmic gymnastics, Geoff could skateboard, and Eva could lift an insane amount of weight. So they got their acts soon enough. Because of this they had the rest of the day to do whatever.
Noah decided to read under the dock. From there he had a pretty good view of the other people there. Harold and Lashawna were hanging out. An unusual pair. Though Gwen and Trent were also quite the pair, although they seemed to have a third wheel.
“Noah? Why are you down there?” Ezekiel asked.
“Because I’m trying to get some alone time.” He remarked pointedly.
“Oh.” The homeschooled boy replied. He seemed to have completely missed the point though because he sat down next to Noah. “What are you doing?”
“I have a book in my hands.” Noah rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“I mean, you could be journaling.” Ezekiel said. “I like to journal. Ma and Pa said its a good way to remember things.”
Noah rubbed his temples. “Look homeschool, I’m gonna give you some advice. Don’t tell anyone about that journal they might try to use the information inside against you.”
Ezekiel smirked looking prideful. “Unless they know how to read German they won’t be able to.”
Noah blinked. “You know German?”
“I know a lot of languages. I love to learn them.” The homeschooled boy said.
“Huh. You’re smarter than I thought.” Noah said in German, testing his claim.
“Thanks eh, I’m proud of it.” He replied back in German.
From there Noah decided spending time with Ezekiel wasn’t too bad.
That night the talent show went horribly for them. DJ choked, Geoff’s skateboard broke and he had to be replaced with Bridgette, who threw up on the entire crowd, and Eva’s went pretty well actually.
Not that the Gopher’s needed it, because Trent’s song was great, and while Heather wasted her time by reading Gwen’s diary, Harold’s beatboxing was amazing. Ezekiel turned to him. “Noah, did you know? Is that why you warned me about my journal?”
“I didn’t know. I just know Heather’s type.” Noah whispered back.
That night Bridgette was eliminated. Noah knew for a fact that he, Katie, Sadie, Eva, and Tyler had all voted her out. Mostly because she threw up on them. Ezekiel and Geoff both seemed disappointed that night.
Noah was pretty hyped for the next challenge, they were going to be camping in the woods. This was more of what he’d thought the game would be like. He’d signed on to try out his in game survival skills in the real world.
Everyone made it to camp mostly. Noah had no idea where Katie and Sadie went, but he’s also way too lazy to look for them. The others started to set up camp while Noah volunteered to look for food. Ezekiel did as well.
“So homeschool do you actually have any idea how to forage or did you just tag along?” Noah asked.
“Oh I know how to forage. My pa taught me. Said it’d be useful if I got lost. But I was actually planning to fish.” The homeschooled boy said.
Noah smirked. “Alright then, you fish and I’ll forage.”
It wasn’t even that hard to find things to eat in the forest. Ezekiel turned out to have a knack for fishing, and Noah was able to find several blueberry bushes not too far away from his fishing site. Within a couple hours they had more than enough to bring back.
When they returned to camp Noah couldn’t help but laugh. Duncan had a black eye. “Who gave you the shiner? I should thank them.”
Duncan picked him up by the back of his collars. “You want a shiner of your own smartass?”
“Hey, lay off him! We brought food back!” Ezekiel told him.
“So?” The punk scoffed.
“Dude, quit harshing the vibe. Besides we all know you deserved that punch.” Geoff told him.
Duncan huffed and dropped Noah to the ground. “Nerd’s not worth it anyway.”
Noah made a big deal of straightening his clothes. “So who clocked Duncan?”
“Eva, Duncan made the mistake of commenting about her making dinner because she’s the only girl here at the moment.” DJ explained.
“Should we go look for… what were their names again? Satie and Kadie?” Ezekiel asked.
“Nah. They’ll find us eventually.” The punk replied.
As Ezekeil set things up to cook his fish over the fire, he whispered to Noah. “I can see why you stopped me from saying anything at the beginning of the season. Eva would have killed me.”
They all started eating the berries Noah had brought back while Ezekiel cooked the fish he caught. By the time he was finished it was getting dark and everyone sat around the campfire eating.
“You know this reminds me of a story.” Duncan said.
"Awesome, tell it man!" Geoff said.
"Are you sure? The story I'm thinking of is pretty hardcore." Duncan said
“Please I doubt you can even scare me.” Noah scoffed.
“Okay but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The punk smirked. “One night, a lot like this one…"
The story was so stupid and inane. The most predictable story beats. Yet despite this, he and Eva seemed to be the only ones unaffected. Noah can see the tension building in everyone as Duncan’s story reaches its climax.
"So suddenly… They-they heard this tap-tap-tapping on the side of the car. The girl started to freak out, and by this time, even the guy was getting a bit scared.” At this Noah sees Eva roll her eyes.
“So he turned the car on and he stepped on it. When they got back to the girl's house, she opened the door and screamed!” Geoff, DJ, and Tyler are all wide eyed and shaking.
“Because there, hanging from the door handle… Was the bloody hook.” Noah was surprised to find Ezekiel had drawn close to him. He was clearly terrified. “ They say that this killer is still alive, wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere, really. Maybe even right here!" At this he pulled out a hook hand. Geoff and DJ screamed, Tyler jumped back, hitting his head against Eva’s shoulder, and Ezekiel jumped into Noah’s lap.
Duncan laughed evilly, but it wasn’t for long as Eva hit him in the back of the head. “OW! What was that for?!”
“Making the girl in the story pathetic. By the way, I’ll have you know I wasn’t affected by your stupid story.” Eva scoffed.
“Nor should she be, the killer should be scared of her.” Noah smirked.
Everyone settled down to try and sleep but Noah could see that most of them were not going to be able to. Duncan easily slept, as did Eva. And Noah himself was going to drift off, when Ezekiel settled down next to him. “N-noah. You’re smart. Do you think there’s a killer in the woods?”
“No, I think Duncan was talking out of his ass.” Noah told him.
“But I saw his mouth moving?” Ezekiel frowned.
“I keep forgetting you’re sarcasm illiterate. I mean Duncan made it up. We’re fine.” He replied.
The homeschooled boy nodded. “Okay, but uh, can I sleep next to you in case?”
Noah rolled his eyes. “One, I am probably the single worst person to defend you from a killer, and two, I sleep cuddle, remember?”
Ezekiel nodded. “That’s okay, I won’t take it the wrong way.”
“Then whatever I guess.” The cynic agreed.
It rained that night, but luckily they all got to sleep in the tent. Eva had been the one to drive the tent stakes into the ground. It’d probably take a hurricane to dislodge them. Naturally when he woke up he was indeed cuddling with Ezekiel. To be honest it was kind of strange, in a nice way. Ezekiel was actually a little smaller than him.
Luckily everyone was asleep. Noah could see the sun was coming up so he got everyone in gear.
Unfortunately thanks to not having Katie and Sadie with them, they lost. Noah voted for one of them randomly, as he assumed everyone else did. In the end Sadie went home. They all hung out around the fire waiting for DJ to come back with Katie. Eventually he did. “She needed a moment.”
That was when the Gophers showed up with green jelly that had a gummy worm in it. They were offering it to them. As it turned out, a skunk had snuck into their cabin so they needed a place to wait for it to air out.
DJ freaked when the jelly was offered to him as he thought the gummy worm was a snake. Leading to him admitting he was scared of them. From there everyone proved what colossal idiots they were as they all began to admit their fears.
There were the common fears. Tyler was afraid of chickens, Beth of bugs, Gwen of being buried alive, Trent of mines, Cody of having to defuse a bomb, Izzy of flying, and Lashawna of Spiders. That seemed like a common enough fear that no one would question if Noah claimed it was his too.
Then there were the weirder fears. Sumo wrestlers, ninjas, hail, bad haircuts, and strangest of all was Duncan’s fear of Celine Dion music store standees. Upon pressure from Duncan Eva revelied a fear of dolls. Ezekiel was afraid of moose.
What do you know the next day they’re being forced to face those fears. Noah saw Beth and Heather win against their fears. Then it was his and Lashwana’s turn. It was just Chef in a spider suit so Noah had no issues. Lashawna on the other hand was terrified which resulted in Harold forgetting himself and hitting Chef on her behalf. He ran away quickly.
Gwen is buried and Trent agrees to stay behind with her. Cody is left alone with a garbage bomb. DJ is faced with a snake and Eva threatens him into touching it. Later they’re all preparing for Duncan’s fear and Noah sees Trent running away from a mime.
At first he thinks Duncan’s gonna fail, but Eva calls him a chicken. Naturally Duncan couldn’t let that slide so he hugged the cut out. Eva’s quickly faced with a doll and in order to avoid showing weakness to Duncan she passed.
Eventually there are only two left. Tyler and Ezekiel. At the moment they’re down one. Heather, Beth, Lindsay, Trent, Izzy, and Gwen had all passed on the Gophers. Noah, Eva, Duncan, DJ, and Katie have passed on the Bass. They still had a chance.
Or so Noah thought because Tyler decidedly lost his challenge against the chickens. So Chris gave them all the ultimatum. If Ezekiel can pass his challenge he’ll get two points. Enough to give the bass a win.
Ezekiel was clearly nervous as he faced down the moose in the pen. At the moment it was eating. “All you have to do is pet it once.” Chris explained.
Noah wasn’t the most supportive teammate, but he knows Ezekiel needs the encouragement. “You can do it.” At this the rest of the team followed suit. So Ezekiel managed to pet the moose, winning them the challenge.
The next time Noah saw the Gophers Cody was gone.
Their next challenge was going to require a lot of work. Noah’s favorite. Canoe over to Boney Island, portage them across it, build a fire and race back. Since both teams had eight members they were all pairing in one of four canoes. DJ and Katie pair off, as does Duncan and Geoff. Noah was considering Eva but she paired with Tyler.
“Looks like we’re paired homeschool.” Noah sighed. “I’m going to be as useful as a piece of tissue paper.”
“That’s okay! I’ve got farmer strength.” Ezekiel said.
As they all rowed the Boney island Noah noticed Ezekiel was staring at him. “Is something on my face?”
The homeschooled boy flushed with embarrassment. “No, no. I was just, Never mind.”
Noah blinked. Well that was weird. As was the island they arrived at. Despite the oppressive atmosphere though, the challenge went well. Except for the part where Geoff got the world’s smallest splinter in his leg and everyone over reacted.
Noah's team won in the end. Mostly due to the boat containing Heather, Lindsay, and Beth springing a leak. The revelation that Beth had brought back some tiki thing from the island thus, ‘cursing’ the team caused her to be eliminated.
The next challenge was much simpler. A game of paintball with some having guns and others dressed like deer. Noah, Ezekiel, Duncan, and DJ were all deer, with the rest of their team being hunters.
Noah spent the challenge hanging out in a tree. Eventually Ezekiel found him. “Hey Noah, I think the challenge is almost over.”
“Fine, I’m coming down.” He replied. Of course his climbing skills were never the best, so due to falling out of the tree he landed on Ezekiel. As it turned out, they somehow got their antlers twisted together. So they had no choice but to make their way to the others that way.
Noah noticed Ezekiel was staring again. “What?”
“Nothing. You uh, you have dark brown eyes.” The homeschooled boy swallowed.
Noah had no idea what was up with Ezekiel but he dropped it. He ignored Duncan’s jeers as they were untangled. Noah wasn’t sure what happened, but the Gophers were absolutely covered in paint. Trent was very hurt, apparently he and Gwen had run into a bear and it mauled him after he pushed her out of the way. So he wasn’t surprised when the guitarist got eliminated.
It was the morning of their next challenge that Noah overheard Duncan, DJ, and Geoff talking. Apparently they were sick of Ezekiel not brushing his teeth. Noah wasn’t fond of his halitosis either, but he’s more than a little concerned.
The challenge is revealed to be a cooking challenge, and Geoff gets to be head chef. Noah paired off with Ezekiel quickly, not trusting the other boys to leave him alone. Of course this didn’t stop them.
First Duncan ‘accidently’ put a rotten vegetable in with the rest of their antipasto ingredients. The result not only ruined what they’d done so far, but caused Ezekiel to end up with nasty juice all over his hands.
“And while you're in the bathroom cleaning up, you mind brushing your teeth?” The punk said.
When Ezekiel came back to help Noah he kept itching his lips. “Dude, you okay?”
“I dunno.” The homeschooled boy said. “Ever since I brushed my teeth I’ve been all itchy.”
Noah examined his mouth closely. He scowled. “That’s because someone put itching powder on your toothbrush.”
He helped Ezekiel swish it out of his mouth. From there they finished their new antipasto. Noah thought that was the end of it, but when Geoff made sandwiches the one he gave Ezekiel was full of toothpaste.
That was enough. “Okay look! I hate his stank breath as much as you do, but this is going too far!” Noah snapped.
DJ looked ashamed, and Geoff seemed a little put out, but Duncan sneered. “Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?”
Noah was going to snark back but Eva interrupted. “Everyone shut up! I don’t care! Let’s just get this challenge done!”
It was close, but in the end the Gophers won thanks to a delicious rack of ribs. Noah knew exactly who he was voting for. He got Eva, Tyler, and Katie to help him vote out Duncan. Ezekiel seemed pretty happy about it.
The next challenge was a series of trust exercises. The first one was rock climbing, with Heather and Gwen being paired up, as well as Geoff and Ezekiel. Noah had a good feeling about it, until Heather flashed Gwen’s underwear to the entire viewing world. He wasn’t too surprised when Ezekiel fell after that.
DJ and Katie did the next challenge against Lindsay and Izzy. From what Noah heard they were preparing fugu. He knew his team had won because he saw DJ and Katie hanging out at the dock. He’s not surprised to hear that Izzy was poisoned. Knowing her, it was intentional.
The last point would be best of three starting with blind william tell. Aka Eva and Harold would be using apples to hit an arrow off of his and Lashawna’s heads respectively. Noah didn’t really have a chance considering the circumstances. He was hit with several apples as Eva raged. Eventually he was knocked out.
He didn’t come to until much later. Chef guided them to everyone else and Noah could see his team had won. “Nice.”
“Noah!” He was startled when Ezekiel ran to him and hugged him tightly. “I was so worried about you! You’re okay right?”
Noah felt something inside of him. A light fluffy feeling that he didn’t recognize. It was nice. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just surprised someone cares that much about me.”
To no one’s surprise Izzy was eliminated. Hopefully she’d get her stomach pumped.
The next challenge was a boot camp run by Chef, and Noah wasn’t putting up with this shit. He gave it a few hours then gave up. While everyone else continued the challenge Noah read in the bass cabin. Until later that night when everyone showed up with a ton of food Eva and Geoff had smuggled.
He indulged in some of the food and then went out to the porch. He was opening his book in an attempt to read again when Ezekiel joined him. “Oh. Are you, planning to read? Cause I can leave…”
“Nah, it’s really too loud anyway.” Noah noted.
Ezekiel moved forward and leaned against the railing. “So, it's a nice night right?”
“Yeah. Stars are clear.” He replied.
Silence for a moment. “So uh, you’re smart right? I uh, need some advice.” Ezekiel said.
Noah sighed. “Hit me.”
“Why? You haven’t done anything?” Ezekiel said.
Noah face palmed. “I mean I’m listening.
“Okay, so. When we were all in the mess hall picking through garbage to eat, Geoff apologized to me for the whole picking on me thing. He asked if there was any way he could help me. And I told him how I was feeling about this one guy. Geoff thinks it's a crush. And Like I don’t know what to do? Geoff said it was fine, but like…is it?” Ezekiel asked.
Noah took a deep breath. “Of course it's fine. I mean, some people will try to convince you it isn’t, but you can’t help how you feel. And who knows. Maybe he’s into that?”
Silence between them. Then slowly Ezekiel nodded. “I’ve learned lots of stuff here. Girls can be strong and scary like Eva. Slang is really weird, and people get really mad if you don’t brush your teeth. I guess this is another thing.”
Silence again, this time thick with a strange tension. Noah feels that strange glowy thing again, and he can feel some kind of energy running through his body. He’s more pent up than a dog tied to a stake, surrounded by a ten foot fence with deadly volts of electricity running through and a foot of barbed wire at its peak.
Ezekiel leaned forward, and that was when Chef called everyone back to the challenge. Noah doesn’t know why, but he’s really annoyed by that. They end up losing the challenge to Gwen. That night Eva ends up eliminated due to her anger issues. Noah’s pretty disappointed by that.
The last challenge so far was a series of extreme sports. Best of three won. Noah was lucky enough to not have to do anything. DJ had to jump out of a plane. Which he succeeded in, whereas Gwen didn’t. Geoff had to ride a moose longer than Lashawna. He failed. Which left the final challenge as the tie breaker. Water Skiing across a muddy course with no water and collecting flags. It ends up being Tyler vs Lindsay. So to no one’s surprise they lose. It was clearly between Tyler and Geoff to leave and in the end Tyler lost.
Which leads us back to now. Noah is standing in the cabin at the merge waiting for Harold to join them. Geoff is off somewhere, and DJ is having a heartwarming goodbye with Katie. Noah wondered when they’d kiss.
Ezekiel swallowed. “So uh, I guess we made it.”
“Yeah.” Noah nodded. “We did.”
The homeschooled boy took a deep breath. “Noah, remember our conversation on the porch a few nights ago?”
“Yeah. It was strange. I felt like something was building and we didn’t get to act on it.” Noah said.
“You felt it too?” Ezekiel smiled.
“Yeah. I’m not sure what it is.” He admitted.
“I think I might know.” The homeschooled boy said. “The guy I was talking about that night was you.”
Noah blinked. Him? Ezekiel had fallen for him? He was stunned for a moment, but quickly broke out of it when Ezekiel moved to leave. “Sorry I’ll leave.”
He grabbed the other boy’s arm on instinct. “Wait. Don’t leave. I was just surprised. You know, I think I might feel the same.”
Ezekiel leaned forward again and they kissed.
Noah was pleasantly surprised to find his breath smelled nice. Guess he really did learn from that whole experience. His lips are chapped and Noah doesn’t know if he likes that or not.
They jolt away from each other at the sound of clapping and cheering. “Alright bro! I knew you could do it!” Geoff said.
Noah blushed. “Were you waiting outside or something?!”
“Yeah, kind of. I figured I’d get out of the way so Zeke could make his move.” Geoff smirked.
Noah huffed and walked over to his bed. “If you’ll excuse me I’m going to smother myself in blankets until I’m done dying of embarressment.” As he began to do so he couldn't help but smile as he watched Ezekiel talking to Geoff.
He’d really come a long way since he first came here.