Chapter Text
Luck had never been his best friend. Sure, his life wasn't awful; it was actually rather mediocre, but Owen Klein hadn't ever been the kind to come out on top for anything. With schoolwork, he was mid; dating was a bust; sports were a hazard for him and others; his social standing might as well be that of a well-liked NPC; and he had a few… issues with eating. That said, he had always been the kind to have boundless hope that somehow, someway, he'd be someone worth remembering. So, when he saw the fliers at his school for a teen reality show, he didn't really think he was going to get in, but then again, you definitely couldn't if you didn't try! Sticking out his tongue as he adjusted his parents' camcorder, he bounced back away from it, the motion jostling the camera a tad sideways once again, before waving enthusiastically.
“Hello there, TV people! I'm Owen! And I would totally rock as part of the cast of your show!” He lifts his hand to tick up fingers. “I can eat almost anything, been braving the wild all my life with my grandpa, I'm suuuper friendly and down for anything! Oh, hahaha, and I can do this-”
With that, he grabbed the two-liter he'd saved for this audition tape, swirled it, and downed the whole thing in seconds. The resulting belch knocked the camera clear off his dresser, causing the blonde teen to laugh hysterically as he picked it up. No way was this getting him on a show, but man, had that been funny. Putting his face back into frame, he grinned into the camera to sign off.
“Haha! Yeah! So that's me! Hope you wanna see more! Bye!”
He giggled at the envelope as he stuck it in the mail, chuckled in class at the thought of producers watching that mess, snorted when he got a reply letter expecting a copy-paste rejection, then froze, blinking.
There, at the top of the page, was a big “CONGRATULATIONS”. Quickly, his eyes scanned the rest of the document, getting wider with each line. They'd… liked it? They wanted him on their show?? Oh wow!! Wow wow wow wow!! From the sound of it, there were gonna be twenty-one other teens his age hanging out at some resort with him, doing some kind of popularity, survival challenge thing. He really didn't care too much about the specifics, though; he was going to be on TV! With new people! Hopefully, people he could become best friends with! With a whoop, he ran to the living room where his mom was folding laundry and watching her show, excited to give the good news.
—
Now, weeks later and heading towards the island, he was still so excited he was practically vibrating. In fact, he was bouncing up and down so hard on the prow of the boat he was riding that it dipped and bobbed far more than it normally would have with the small lake waves, causing the older, dark-skinned man piloting the vessel to glower at him behind the wheel. But he'd heard the boat leaving and coming and leaving and coming back again over and over, and now it was finally his turn! How could he not be stoked? As the island came into view, his enthusiasm wavered for the merest of seconds at the sight of run-down cabins and a mess hall, not the resort that had been advertised. Was this at a summer camp??? His brain reset with the new information, making a huge smile crack across his face as his excitement rekindled tenfold. Oh hell yes! This would be so much BETTER! The outdoors were something he knew, and people wouldn't be holed up in their rooms in a fancy building being waaay out of his league all the time! The hope that meant he'd make some lasting friends was enough to make him whoop out a “Whoo hoo!!” and jump off the boat as it pulled up, startling the host who had been watching the cast acclimate to the last, somewhat prickly, contestant. He turned to look at the chubby teen as he pumped a fist in the air and hollered at him.
“Chris, what's happenin'! HAHA! This is AWESOME! Whoo HOO!”
Chris regained his composure during the enthusiastic greeting, meeting his energy with a wide smile.
“Owen! Welcome!!”
This, unknown to him, was probably the wrong move, as it signaled to the already-hyped Owen that he was in the presence of like-minded friends rather than a hoity-toity celebrity host. Reaching out, he pulled Chris into a bear hug, much to the older man's discomfort and distaste.
“Awesome to be here, man! Man, this is just… so…”
He was at a loss for words, his vocabulary shot as his brain ran through so many emotions at once. Thankfully a helpful voice from the crowd offered up the perfect choice.
“... Awesome?” a teal haired girl provided; a small, amused smile on her face.
Her grin was more from seeing their obnoxious host crushed than the ‘awesomeness’ of the situation, but it was genuine, even if the offered word was on the sarcastic side.
“Yes, awesome!!” Owen agreed, whooping out once more before looking towards the goth. “Are you gonna be on my team?”
She rolled her eyes at his over abundant display of happiness. With a twist of her finger meant to mock his excitement, she responded sarcastically, “Oh, I sure hope so.”
The sarcasm was fully lost on him though, far too wrapped up in his exuberance to be brought down right now. He'd been here mere minutes and already made a friend?? Score!
Chris rolled his own eyes as the kid sing-song hollered again in his ear, “You about finished?”
Owen froze and realized he was still holding their host. Calming down some, he chuckled.
“Sorry dude, I'm just so psyched!” he said as he put the older man back on the dock.
It was an understatement, honestly, as evidenced by his greeting, but why wouldn't he be? A whole summer away from home, making new friends (hopefully), and maybe winning a couple grand! Not that he had much hope for that last part, but it would definitely be cool! He couldn't say more on the matter as Chris turned his attention back to the water, the now familiar hum of the boat engine bringing the next constant, introduced as Courtney. Owen turned around from where he had been checking out the other contestants to see a slender girl step gracefully onto the dock with help from Chris. She was so put together. It made him think of his math teacher a bit which was a little intimidating, but not immediately off-putting!
As she walked over, she gave a small wave, “Hello, you must be the other contestants, it's nice to meet you all!”
Aww, she's so nice and polite! He thought, lunging out his hand to shake hers.
“How's it goin? I'm Owen!”
“Nice to meet you Oooh- wow….”
Courtney's voice trailed off as she looked towards the once again arriving boat, drawing Owen's eyes as well. He stuttered in place. He'd had his awakening years ago, he knew boys were just as hot as girls, and, sure, everyone here was already really top tier in his opinion, but the guy currently standing on the prow of the speed boat made ‘hot’ look like an insult. He was solar, absolutely sizzling, you could roast bacon on those buns-
“Holy Narcissus and Echo,” he breathed, “who is that?”
Chris, thankfully, answered that for them all: Justin. On the show for his looks. Yeah… yeah, that 100% checked out. Holy hamburgers, would his grandpa be having him build an extension on his cabin for the way he was staring, but he couldn't help it! Oh. Oh shit. He was walking this way. Say something! A compliment! But nothing too obvious that it seemed like he'd been checking him out! Uh, uh…
“I like your pants!”
Nailed it.
“Thanks man,” the model replied, ever present smile catching the sun. (Or was that just in his awestruck imagination?)
He should have shut his mouth there. That was normal. That was fine! But the ADHD waterfall that was his mouth never really was good at being empty when he was nervous, and in the absence of food, it filled with words.
“Cuz they look like they're all worn out! Hahaha.” Fuck, stop talking, stop talking- “Did you buy them like that?”
Saved it??
Justin gave him a weird look, especially since Owen was now totally trying his best not to stare at his ass as he went by.
“Uhhh, nooo… just… had them for a while.”
Shit… Didn't save it…
“Oh… cool!” he replied awkwardly, before slapping himself on the head and berating himself silently.
Great… One interrupted introduction and another that turned out cringe as hell. Perfect. Truly awesome start. Damn it. At least all eyes left him for a bit as the next person showed up and caused far more of a scene. She had just as much enthusiasm as Owen did. Maybe a little too much, as she slammed into the dock in her jump down. Owen shrank back, making a face at the wipeout. He'd slammed his chin many times before, not fun. He bet that hurt even worse, though, given how fast she'd been going. She wasn't drowning, was she?? He watched, taking a single step forward to help before Courtney took charge, chastising the gigglers and pulling the girl Chris had introduced as Izzy out of the water. He had to tilt his head and stifle a chuckle as she shook herself like a dog. At least she was fine! And she talked more than he did! And she was really pretty! (Okay, like he said, he thought that about everyone…)
“This a summer camp? That is so cool! Do you have papier-mache here? Are we having lunch soon?”
Oh, he really liked this girl!
“That is a good call!” he agreed.
He was a little disappointed when Chris said they first needed to do a group promo shot, but hey! This was a show! He could survive a single picture before checking out the chow. He shuffled over to the edge of the dock with the rest, moving into place as the strangers jostled and tried to sort out a good pose. He figured, being tall and wide, he should go near the back or something like he was always told to do for school photos. As he gravitated into his familiar spot, one of the other guys, an intimidating-looking dude who had arrived before him, practically leaped on his back to get more height.
Owen laughed, trying to appear unfazed by the shoes digging into his back, “Sup, man! Ya good up there?”
The punk scoffed, “Shyeah. I've climbed over worse. Name's Duncan, don't forget it, tubby.”
Owen opened his mouth to respond with an affirmation when a tap from his other side turned his attention. He looked at the red-clad jock on his left with curiosity.
“Mind if I get up there too? I wanna make sure everyone knows who the top athlete is around here!”
He attempted a flex, and Owen had to bite his lip not to laugh, “Sure, man. Uh, and you are-?”
“Tyler!” He offered, squatting down before jumping like Duncan had.
Or attempting to.
He only really made it to Owen's hip, and the larger boy once again had to hold his giggles, shaking his shoulders with the silent effort. (Much to Duncan's disdain) For an athlete, he really didn't have a great vertical! But at least he was determined, and as he scrambled up the rest of the way to the larger boy's shoulder, Owen bent down a little so it was more of an incline and easier to crawl up.
“Wow, don't you all look cozy,” a lanky, tawny-skinned boy quipped, eyeing the human ladder Owen had become with amusement.
“You want in, too?” he asked.
Before the smaller teen could give a response, he was grabbed under Owen's arm. He gave a small squeak in protest, and a grumble as a black-haired boy on his other side used his ass as an armrest, but didn't fight it, so Owen didn't let go. Content and a little pleased at being useful already, he faced Chris who had climbed onto the boat with his camera. If there was one thing Owen was good at, it was smiling! So he did. And he waited. Aaand waited as Chris fumbled with the lens, then the memory card, then the right angle. The grumbling around him at this man's incompetence was, in his opinion, kiiinda justified. Wasn't this a professional production? Why wasn't this being handled by the crew or something? At least everything seemed to finally be moving as the flash went off.
Literally.
The dock gave a creak and a crack as the timber beneath their combined weight gave way, plummeting them into the cold lake. With a splutter, Owen scrambled to the surface, grabbing at a piece of wood floating on the water and moving to lie on his back. It wasn't much and certainly wouldn't keep him afloat, but it grounded him and helped him stop panicking at the sudden drop. God he hated that feeling of freefall… As their host seemed unfazed, simply laughing as he gave them instructions to get dried off, Owen furrowed his brow. He hadn't planned that, had he? … Nah… no way. He was just rolling with it. He was a reality host! He probably had to deal with crazy shit all the time!
Finally feeling steady, he let go of the wood and swam to shore. Thankfully, the crew had towels.
…Wait. Towels?
Was that all planned? He giggled as he accepted the provided cloth. If it was, it was definitely a good prank. His cast mates weren't all in agreement on that, however, as several teens complained. A blonde girl seemed especially upset that her boots had been waterlogged, another girl with raven eyes was laying into one of the poor crew members for not providing hair dryers, and Justin had snatched a mirror out of his luggage on the shore to make sure nothing had stained his appearance for national TV. Owen had to snort a little. It was just a bit of water. This was the wilderness for crying out loud! If they couldn't handle getting wet for five minutes, then they wouldn't last too long. Guess he'd have to help out and support them where he could. Poor, poor city kids…
That thought was further drilled into his head as everyone assembled to hear the rules of the game. He looked around the group as Chris explained things, only paying half attention to what was being said. Some, like him, seemed genuinely excited, some seemed unphased or at least focused, and yet the majority, mostly the girls, looked annoyed or uncertain. As the nice goth from earlier voiced her own displeasure in front of him, he leaned forward to give her, and an equally nervous Tyler, a reassuring hug.
“Aw! Come on guys! This'll be fun! It'll be like a big sleepover!”
The other boy scrunched his nose, nodding their attention to the side, “At least you don't need to sleep next to him.”
Owen and the girl glanced to where he was looking to see Duncan giving a buck a noogie. The blonde grimaced, making a small wish that maybe his luck would hold a while longer and he also wouldn't have to bunk with him. That was not respectful towards Mother Nature, no sir. Nor was his comment earlier towards the raven eyed girl about bunking situations. Not the kind of person he needed as a bestie. Nope. He silently relegated the delinquent to ‘just friends’ tier, no higher.
He tuned back in as their host began breaking people into teams, letting the two other campers go. This was it! The people he'd probably be closest to! Owen leaned a little further forward, green eyes glittering as names were called for the first team. His team! He had no idea who the rest of those names belonged to that Chris cal- Wait. Did he say Justin? He knew that name at least! Maybe this would be another opportunity to make a better impression! Sweet!
The planning for redemption was cut off as Chris tossed their team flag to him. Curiously, he unfurled it, peeking at the insignia. Was that a… bear? A weird beaver?
“From this point on you will officially be known as The Screaming Gophers!” their host announced.
His eyes widened, a beaming smile across his face, “Yeah! Haha! I'm a Gopher! WOOOO!”
Of course, that's what it was! Now he could see it! Much cooler than the other team, who he saw had been given a fish - a bass? Ha! He caught and cooked those all the time with his grandpa and brothers! And, looking at the people he was with, he could safely say his team was objectively awesome. The others were going down! Ya know, in a friendly, competitive way, of course.
“Alright campers,” Chris cut back in, drawing all attention back to him, “you and your team will be on camera in all public areas during this competition.”
He walked them over to an… is that an outhouse? Patting the side of it, he walked inside, giving a muffled explanation from within. When he walked out, the teens looked around at each other, confused. Rolling his eyes, Chris gestured back to the small building.
“As I just stated for our lovely audience, that's the confessional. You can share whatever private thoughts you want with video diaries. Let the audience know how you really feel, vent a bit, I don't care. Anyway, for the promo how about… You guys-”
He pointed to his goth friend, the blonde with the cowboy boots, and Owen himself.
“Why don't you give us some first thoughts for the opening episode? Who knows, maybe you'll get that sweet solo screen time aired. Gain some pop-u-larity.”
The teal haired girl rolled her eyes, walking towards the building to go first, “Fine, whatever.”
The other looked excited, “I'm gonna be on TV? Already?? Score! Maybe I'll get, like, scouted or something.”
“You're already on TV, doll,” Duncan responded sarcastically.
“Oh, right!” the girl giggled.
The first girl left her turn wrinkling her nose, while the second strode in to replace her. The goth gestured behind her at the building like it had personally offended her mother.
“You guys couldn't have used a fake outhouse for the esthetics? Or, like, I don't know, sprung for an air freshener?”
Chris chuckled sadistically, “Nupe.”
The blonde finished her turn, coming out confused, “Um, Chris, I think your camera booth thing is broken. Or, like, the guy is off to lunch? I didn't see anything in there.”
“Oh, it's there. Don't you worry,” he assured, patting Owen on the back for the final promo shot.
The chubby teen entered, surprised he even fit. Normally he was a little too broad for most standard outhouses, but this one was a custom job he supposed. Sitting on the seat, he spotted the camera. How had that chick missed it? Well, whatever. He knew exactly what the viewing audience needed. Clearing his throat, he put on a serious face.
“Hey, everyone, check this out. I have something veeery important to say.”
With that, he gave a fart, giggling at his own stupid joke. Hey! They had brought him on the show because of that disaster of a tape! Might as well give them what they wanted!
Still giggling as he came out, he found Chris directing everyone to the cabins, telling them to meet for lunch in half an hour. Time to settle in! Sweet! He jogged down to the beach with everyone else to gather their luggage, taking note that two of the smaller guys from his team seemed to be struggling to get their packs out from under some of the larger cases. Okay, well, one was. The other, the teen he’d grabbed earlier for the photo, was simply crossing his arms, watching him flail as he tugged at a briefcase looking thing buried beneath a much bigger, leopard print suitcase.
“Here! Lemme help with that!” Owen offered.
Jogging up, he righted the patterned case, handing the handle off to a waiting dark-skinned girl with a smile.
“Thanks, baby~” she said, tugging the case behind her with ease towards the Gopher cabin.
Owen then picked up the briefcase before either of his fellow teammates could, examining it curiously.
“Wow, this is fancy for a summer camp,” he noted, lifting the olive leather case to eye level with a whistle.
The teen with crossed arms shrugged, “I didn't think we'd be at a summer camp, and,” he shot Duncan a look, “I was right to assume I'd need the lock.”
Owen furrowed his brow, looking at the boy panting on the ground, “Wait, if this isn't yours, where's your bag?”
The other teen gave his own shrug, rubbing his nose, “Dunno, just thought I'd lend a struggling teammate a helping hand, ya know?”
The brunette shot the Indian-Canadian boy some finger guns, making him roll his eyes, then looked around. Spotting his bag, he ran over, grabbing it to drag along behind him. It was clear he hadn't packed the lightest, or at least wasn't used to carrying so much. Owen shook his head with a chuckle, grabbing his own duffle to sling over his back before snagging the suitcase from him, too.
The smaller boy looked up, startled, “Wh- hey! I had it!
“Aw, I got it for ya, man! No sweat. Come on, last one to the cabins is a moldy marshmallow!”
And he took off, whooping, the lanky brunette running after him with a protesting shout. The remaining boy sighed and followed, his own case still in Owen's clutches. At least he wouldn't have to carry it himself.
At the cabins, Owen put the others' cases by the door; after all, they got to choose their own bunks! He turned around to see where the other kid had gone, grinning triumphantly at winning his impromptu race, only to furrow his brow in confusion when he wasn't even there. Had he gotten lost somehow? Oh, no, there he was! Following behind the girls. He had to give a little snort of amusement as no one even gave him a second glance. Didn't stop him! Gotta hand it to him, hope sprung eternal through those twiggy veins.
Meanwhile, the owner of the briefcase who had followed him, crossed his arms in the doorway, examining their digs for the summer.
“The real challenge on this show will be avoiding tetanus. This place is like an OHS disaster checklist,” he drolled.
Owen giggled, throwing his bag on a bottom bunk, “Heh, nice one! That was funny, man!”
The tawny-skinned boy shrugged off the compliment, leaning down to grab his bag, but there was a small smile of satisfaction on his face as he selected the lower bunk beside Owen's.
After a minute, Owen looked around again and tilted his head, “Hey, where's the other guy? Didn't he get here yet?”
A shout, and the lanky teen's flying body being kicked from the girl's side, answered his question.
“Ha, found him!”
His companion looked out the window to where the other boy had a face full of grass.
“If I looked at the definition for desperation in the dictionary, I'm sure I'd find his face.”
Owen let out a ‘pfft’ sound before full on giggling his ass off, “Dude, you're on fire!”
He made a point to hang around that dude; he was funny. Maybe a little critical, but, hey, he kinda liked that sorta humor. It was brutally honest in the best way. They watched the final Gopher boy, besides Justin who was still on the beach getting a crew member to gather his bags, walk past the prone teen with a mildly confused look, before approaching the cabin.
He entered giving a wave, “Sup, guys, I'm Trent.”
Owen stuck out his hand, “Hi! I'm Owen, and this is-”
He paused. The sucky thing about having arrived closer to last, besides all the waiting on shore, was that he had missed introductions for a lot of people. Thankfully, the funny guy was fine providing that information.
“Noah. Pleasure. Also, the bundle of hormones eating dirt outside is Cody.”
The second part was directed more towards Owen than the new arrival, eliciting more laughter from the chubby teen.
Trent tossed his backpack onto a free lower bunk, “Good to meet you all! Looking forward to working with you!”
“Same man! Say, w-”
Owen was about to ask about the case he was holding when a tirade of whines and curses from the girl's side caught their attention. The three poked their heads out the door to see the blonde girl from earlier stomping her feet, throwing a full-on tantrum about having to share the showers. Seriously? It wasn't that bad! He normally just bathed in rivers when he camped with his grandpa, if at all, so this was WAY better than a normal camping experience. He rolled his eyes at her, nudging the other two boys watching the scene.
“I'm glad we're in our own cabin with just guys, know what I mean?”
The silent stares he got made him stare back for a second, processing. Why were they- oh… OH.
“I mean, no! I didn't mean it like that! I looove chicks! I just don't wanna sleep near them!”
Shit, that was worse.
They rolled their eyes and went back inside, leaving Owen to chase after them, floundering.
“Uh, wh- I mean- they can get annoying! Ya know?? All the gossip and beauty stuff and-”
“Yeah yeah, we get it, big guy. Chill,” Noah assured, though he was clearly smirking at his expense.
Trent waved him off from where he'd started unpacking, “Yeah, man, it's all cool. No judgment here.”
Owen sighed, hanging his head. No judgment was fine, but god did he want to avoid all this awkward implication. Between this and Justin earlier, he'd really made a stellar impression… He didn’t want anyone being uncomfortable with him! Slumping down on his bed, he began quietly unpacking as Cody finally walked in, Justin not far behind him with an abused camera man at his heels.
“Aw, sweet! Top bunks are still free!” Cody cried, going for the bunk above Noah.
He attempted, and failed, to throw his bag up into the bed several times before sighing and giving up.
Owen tilted his head, “You want a hand again?”
He was waved away, “Nah, man, it's cool. Probably better to leave it down here anyway. Easier to get my clothes and stuff, ya know?”
Justin, on his part, had claimed the solitary dresser in front of a dirty, broken mirror for his belongings. His nose twitched with disgust.
“How do they expect me to boost ratings with my looks when this is all I have to work with?”
Noah rolled his eyes and was clearly about to give a sarcastic retort when an ear splitting scream rang from the girl's section next door. Owen sat up straight, unsure if he should bolt to the rescue, back to the dock for escape, or just hide in here. None of the other boys left to help, either. Noah had curled up, covering his ears, Cody was on his top bunk and seemed unsure how to get back down to even try and go, Justin rolled his eyes, and Trent, to his credit, began to walk to the door before the faint sound of “Kill it! Kill it!” stopped him in his tracks. Owen nodded. Smart man… Summer camps were top tier spots for horror films for a reason after all.
The sounds of stomping and shouting from next door eventually stopped with a THUNK. Trent, who had been waiting by the door, listening, peeked out.
“What happened?” He asked as the Bass boys headed back to their cabin.
Duncan gestured behind him, swinging an ax onto his shoulder, “Just doing some pest control. No big deal.”
Justin balked, “Did he say pest control? As in bugs? Ugh… Thank god for the top bunk.”
Cody opened his mouth, clearly about to correct him in his knowledge of bug climbing abilities, but Trent just shook his head behind Justin's back. Owen reached over and tapped Noah who was still curled on his bed.
“Hey, you alright there, Noah?”
He glared at him, unfolding slightly, “Oh, just peachy. First hour here and we've already been dumped into the lake, told we have zero privacy, and learned the human voice can reach tones only dogs should hear.”
“At least we know Duncan's a killer hit with an ax now, too,” Trent offered.
“He used an ax??” Cody asked, incredulous, as he paused in his attempted descent from his bunk.
Noah groaned, “Of course, the delinquent found a weapon.”
“Aw, hey, I'm sure he's not all that bad!” Owen protested, though he couldn’t help remembering the deer noogie. “Maybe.”
“Yeah. At least he helped,” came a sharp voice from the door.
The raven eyed girl from before stood there, hip cocked and arms crossed.
“Maybe, next time you hear your teammates screaming, you'll be the ones coming to our rescue?”
Owen tapped his fingers together, looking away awkwardly, while Noah rolled his eyes at her, and Justin gave her a flat look.
“I tried!” Cody offered, finally lowering himself to the floor. “I just got, ya know, a little stuck.”
Trent rubbed the back of his neck, “I saw there was already a crowd. Didn't think I needed to.”
“Mmhmm, right. Well, you all better step up your game, or this is gonna be one short competition for you losers.”
She flipped her hair before spinning on her heels to go back to her side to keep unpacking. Owen made a mental note to keep on her good side. She was scary.
Gesturing to the door, he looked at Noah sheepishly, “So, um, who was that? I kinda missed a lot of names so I don't know any of the girls’…”
The Indian teen swung his legs over the side of the bed, looking up as he thought, “Let’s see… they came before me too, but from what I picked up, it's Heather. The screaming one is Lindsay, the goth is Gwen, the one with the bestie issues is Katie, pretty sure the African-Canadian girl is Leshawna, and that leaves the one with braces to be Beth.”
Owen's eyes widened, “You picked all that up how?”
Noah raised an eyebrow as if it was obvious, “Context. And, I mean, she looks like a Heather. If glares could kill.”
Trent gave a laugh, “Movie reference. Nice.”
Noah straightened a little, giving the tiniest smile at being understood. Owen repeated the names to himself silently, committing them to memory. He didn't want to mess up any names, especially not his teammates’! The thing that finally stopped the repetition was his stomach, which gave an audible growl.
“Ah, heh, think we should head over to the mess hall?” he asked hopefully.
Justin looked at a watch he'd brought, sighing, “I suppose. Half an hour was not enough time to fix the mess that water made of my hair, but I guess it will have to do.”
“I think you look great!” Owen offered.
Justin gave a saccharine smile, “Thaaanks.”
He rolled his eyes, going back to brushing his hair again. Owen facepalmed. Great, so much for better second impressions. At least food was waiting! That should settle the grumbling in his stomach, and his mind, for a bit. He gave a stretch as he walked out the door, Noah walking out after.
“Don't pay Mr. Model any mind,” the other teen said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “He's likely all looks, no brains.”
Owen looked down at him, “You never know. Can't judge a book by its cover, right?”
He gave a cheerful smile. After all, he didn't want people judging him just because he was on the bigger side. Best to treat others the same way! Noah stared up at him, examining his face, before shrugging and facing forward.
“I guess. But in a competition like this it's best to start forming strategies early.”
Owen tapped his chin, “But isn't it also bad to assume? You might get blindsided if you just put people in a box.”
“That… is surprisingly good advice,” Noah said, squinting.
Owen chuckled, but didn't respond as they'd reached the mess hall and his attention turned to its contents. Something inside smelled… Well, it smelled. He wasn't a picky eater by any means, but he knew good food from bad, and whatever was in there was definitely on the poorer end.
He'd still eat it though.
He gravitated towards the wall to both get in line and out of the way, Noah in tow. He waved to the two who had arrived before them; the girl Noah had identified for him as Beth, and a lanky red-headed boy. She waved back excitedly.
“Hi! I'm Beth. You guys are on my team, right?”
“Yeah! I'm Owen! Nice to meet you!”
He stuck out his customary hand to shake, then offered it to the boy as well who took it to shake once. Firmly, and so so awkwardly.
“I'm Harold. I look forward to competing with you as worthy adversaries and rivals,” he said, almost solemnly.
Noah scoffed, "It's a reality show, not gladiatorial combat. Calm down.”
Harold righted his glasses, “You don't know that. For all we know, we could face each other in combat. I wouldn't mind, though. I have a black belt in ka-ra-te; I could totally win despite size disadvantages.”
“Riiight, and I'm a JTF undercover agent,” Noah snarked.
Owen snickered, garnering himself a frown from Harold and a smirk from Noah. Beth had started talking about her experience being a majorette when the metal door separating the kitchen from the dining area scraped open, making them wince. The chef, who was the same African-Canadian man from the boat, looked around. The rest of their cabin, and the Bass’, had slowly trickled in, the noise level rising as the crowd increased, but his stare quickly snuffed that out.
“Listen up!” He bellowed, “I serve it three times a day, and you will eat it three times a day.”
He was stirring a pot of… was that sloppy joes? Oh hell yes! Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as it smelled?
“Grab your tray, get your food, and sit your butts down, NOW!”
Owen watched as Harold and Beth, understandably, asked about their dietary needs. The chef, apparently, and appropriately, named Chef, didn't seem to care as he glared, shouting in their faces to, once again, sit their butts down. Geez, rude.
“Have a cow,” he quietly joked, leaning a little towards Noah.
As the other teen snickered, Chef snapped his eyes towards them, beckoning with a finger, “What was that? Come closer, big guy. I didn't hear you.”
Owen shrunk down, his new friend also going wide eyed in fear. He inched forward, grabbing his tray as if he was taking it from under the nose of a bear.
“Um, I didn't really say anything important-”
“I'm sure you didn't.”
Feeling like he escaped with his life, he walked off, hearing Noah get extra portions behind him. Looking at his tray, he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or bad thing just yet… Sure, he was gonna eat it, but yeesh. He poked at his sandwich as he sat. What he had initially thought was sloppy joe’s was… well, it probably was still supposed to be? But he had to not think about it as he put it in his mouth. The consistency was sooo wrong. As he swallowed it down, a loud bang from the counter made him jump, almost making him choke on his meal. Gwen walked over, covered in the red paste that was supposed to be meat.
“Whoa, what happened?” whispered Beth.
Gwen poked at her sandwich, eating what was probably potato salad beside it instead, “I swear I saw it move. Won't do that anymore at least…”
Beth gave a little shudder and Justin pushed his tray away. Moving sandwiches? Owen had never heard of sloppy joes doing that. Maybe making guts move, but not, ya know, physically crawling. Of course, as he poked at his own bowl of potatoes, he swore he saw a bun from the other table slide across the floor. Thank god he already ate his. He might have been sick trying to swallow it down otherwise.
As the campers picked at their food, Chris entered. He was all smiles watching them frown at their plates.
“Welcome to the main lodge!”
He said it as if it was some grand thing. The grimaces around him only fueling his smirking. A blonde boy with a cowboy hat turned around, a wrinkle to his nose.
“Yo, my man, can we order a pizza?” he asked.
Owen almost drooled. A pizza sounded so go-
A butcher's knife slamming into the door frame stopped him from verbally seconding the surfer dude's request. His stomach lurched and he shrunk down.
“WOAH WOAH WOAH, It's cool, G! Brown slop is cool! Heh heh! Right guys?? Ha!” the poor surfer boy backtracked, looking around for support.
Owen nodded along with the rest, mumbling something about not even minding the fuzzy texture. He had a sinking feeling even food wouldn't be a comfort here. Thank god he'd packed his duffle full of emergency rations…
Chris’ smile curled up, almost looking evil for a second, before turning and lifting a finger.
“Your first challenge begins in one hour!” he announced, striding back outside to leave the teens to their meal.
Not like anyone had much of an appetite after that… Instead, mouths kept busy with talk as murmurs floated around the hall about what the challenge might be, a voice from the other table asserting it can't be that bad given it's their first. Owen hoped they were right. He had already had a bit of a scare for the day, and very little fuel to deal with it. He should have packed more chocolate…
A crew member stuck their head in with a clipboard, drawing all eyes, “Hey, so, your first challenge requires bathing suits. Make sure you're all changed before the hour window is up.”
As he ducked back out, Heather gave a scoff, “Of course. How generic can you get?”
Lindsay tilted her head, blue eyes puzzled, “What do you mean?”
“It's the first episode and they need viewers to prove this show is worth the money, so how do you boost ratings? Get a bunch of girls in bikinis,” the surly girl replied, stabbing her sandwich.
“OooOOOoooh, that makes sense!”
Justin smiled, “No need to be self conscious, honey. We all know where the attention will be drawn. I'm sure you'll be safe from the public eye if you're nervous.”
Heather rolled her eyes while Justin continued, posing, “I've done a few swim shoots before, actually. Pretty fun.”
Katie giggled, resting her chin on a hand, “Hehe yeah~ I bet it was amazing~”
“I actually bought this super cute new bikini for the show! I'm so excited I get to show it off already!” Lindsay said excitedly.
Cody perked up at that, shooting glances at the girls, “Hey, I got a new suit, too! Guess we're all gonna be showing off our swag, huh?”
Gwen rolled her eyes while Leshawna shook her head with a good natured chuckle. Lindsay, however, grabbed his hands, excitedly gushing about swimwear fashion and the apparent five suits she had brought with her. Owen watched the conversation curiously, using it as a distraction as he finished the ‘food’. More like something to put in his mouth to distract from the impending challenge, but hey, it wasn't the worst thing he'd eaten in his life. Probably.
—
As the chatter wound down, and most of the food was discarded into the trash, the campers walked off to their respective cabins to change. Back in the Gopher cabin, Owen dug through his duffle, popping a chocolate in his mouth as he did so to clear his palette, before locating his trunks. Tossing off his shirt, he prepared to take off his shorts.
“Yo, whoa, dude, how'd you get that?”
He paused, looking behind him as Cody pointed to his rear. Giggling, he finished pulling his trunks on.
“Oh, that! Shark bit me.”
The smaller teen's eyes widened, “No way, sick.”
“Haha, yeah,” he chuckled, rubbing his neck. “I still have some of the teeth! I made a necklace with the biggest one.”
“That's so cool! Man, I wish I had some cool scars like that. Chicks dig scars,” he sighed, digging out his own swimwear.
Noah tossed his trunks over his shoulder, “Your wish might come true on this farce of a show. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your eventual non-lethal maiming.”
“Thanks?” Cody replied, finishing tying his trunks to his waist.
“No problem,” said the smirking teen as he strode out to the wash house to change.
While Cody seemed concerned, Owen just chuckled. This was a TV show! Surely nothing that bad would happen! They'd signed a waiver, sure, but that was normal. Every show had a waiver! Of course, he was grossly proven wrong when, after gathering, the cast were led up a steep hill to a cliff overlooking the lake. The view would have been breathtaking, if he didn't suddenly have a sinking feeling about their need for swimwear…
His mouth hung open as he looked over the cliff side with several other campers, all with equally worried looks. Chris’ voice drew his attention, though not his gaze, as he continued to eye the drop as if it was some kind of hungry predator. Their host definitely didn't make it better as he pointed out the two rings: the larger of which was stocked with sharks. … SHARKS???? He whipped his head around to look at him, aghast.
“Inside that area is a safe zone. That's your target area. Which, we're pretty sure, is shark free,” he continued explaining, his tone full of glee.
Leshawna looked at him, voicing what everyone was thinking in one concise, “Excuse me??”
“For each member of your team that jumps and actually… survives, there will be a crate of supplies waiting below. Inside each crate are things you'll need for the second part of the challenge: building a hot tub.”
Owen inched back away from the edge. No WAY was he going first. Maybe if he got far enough away they'd completely forget he was here? Haha, yeah! Maybe? Probably not…
“The team with the best one gets to have a wicked hot tub party tonight,” Chris continued. “The losers will be sending someone home.”
Owen was growing more and more antsy, fingers tapping together as he congregated near the rest of his new friends. All this for a hot tub party? Okay, sure, that sounded objectively sick. Babes in bikinis in their own personal hot tub? Hell yes! But jumping into sharks to get it? From this height?
… Maybe…?
God, he must be insane. Veeery much rethinking his priorities right now.
Chris looked at the worried teens like a wolf selecting a sheep to take.
“Let's see… Killer Bass, you're up first,” he crooned, a devious look on his face.
“Oh, wow…” a blonde chick said, looking over the edge where she still stood - the only brave soul to remain anywhere near that drop. “So, who wants to go first?”
She asked it genuinely, looking back at her team from where she still stood at the cliff's edge. Everyone stood silent, exchanging glances. No one wanted to be first. The Gophers all said silent ‘thank you’s that they weren't even options. Owen looked around. Yeah, he was terrified, but someone had to step in! Maybe they just needed some encouragement?
“Hey, don't sweat it guy's,” he piped up, trying to sound reassuring. “I heard that these shows always make the interns do the stunt first to make sure it's surviveable.”
He received mixed reviews for his efforts. Chris’ grin only seemed to get wider. The kinder Gophers, like Beth and Cody, gave him weak smiles. Heather simply shot him a glare as if to silently ask if he was stupid. The Bass gave him death stares, making him shrink.
“Easy for you to say, tubster. You don't have to go first,” Duncan sneered.
Leshawna snapped at him, “Least he's tryin’ ta be nice.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
The surly muscled girl crossed her arms, looking at her team, “So? Who's up?”
Duncan gave a smarmy smile at Courtney, causing her to roll her eyes, “Ladies first.”
The surfer girl at the cliff sighed in exasperation, “Fine. I'll go.”
She looked down, readying herself, “It's no big deal. Just an insane cliff dive into a circle of angry sharks…”
She leapt, Owen screwing his eyes shut expecting to hear screams. When nothing came, he peeked, seeing Tyler and the blonde bro looking over the edge with grins. Guess it'd gone well! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all?
The jock cheered, energized by the successful jump, “She did it! Yeah! YEAH! I'm next!”
Taking a few steps back, he ran towards the cliff, whooping and hollering all the way down. At least until there was a giant ‘gong’ and the sound of a bell. The cowboy hatted teen winced, but gave a reassuring thumbs up to his waiting team to let them know he was okay. He then stepped back, running to take the plunge himself, followed by the muscled girl and Duncan.
The next boy, however, an athletic looking teen, sidled up to the edge and shook his head, “Uh uh, no way, man… I'm not jumpin’.”
“Scared of heights?” Chris asked, his tone uncharacteristically concerned.
“Yeah, ever since I was a kid…” the teen admitted.
Owen felt somewhat reassured. At least he wasn't the only one who had this fear! He nodded along, understandingly, as the other boy slumped.
“That's okay, big guy,” their host assured him, before his reassuring face twisted into a mocking smile. “Unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken. So, you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day.”
The boy groaned as a chicken hat was placed on his head, “Aw, man, for real?”
Chris mocked him, flapping his arms and making chicken sounds, “Bawk bawk bawk! That means the chicken path down is that-a way.”
He thumbed to an… Is that an escalator?? They'd walked up here and that was there the whole time? Owen felt his anxiety shoot back up again. So being afraid was met with ridicule and a prissy exit down a man made machine?? No! No way was he going to go down like that! Of course, that left the other option…
“Next?” Chris asked as the teen disappeared down the moving stairs.
One by one, the Killer Bass jumped. Harold managed a sickening ball-y flop, making the entire male cast cringe in empathy. Holy shit, Owen swore he could feel it from the poor boy's holler.
Courtney moved to the edge after him, peering over the side, before looking back at their host.
“Excuse me, Chris. I have a medical condition?” she said, arms crossed.
“What condition?”
She rolled her eyes, “A condition that prevents me from jumping off cliffs?”
Chris gave a chuckle, “You can chicken out if you want, but it might end up costing your team the win. And then they'll hate you.”
She shrugged, giving the Screaming Gophers a once over, “It's a calculated risk. I've seen the other team, and I don't think nine of them will jump.”
Noah gave a scoff, “I have a medical condition that should prevent me from jumping. I'm still going to do it.”
“Really?” Beth asked, looking at him in surprise.
He shrugged, offering no other information, “Point is, she's underestimating us. We can't let that go to waste.”
The Gophers watched as Chris gave Courtney her hat, sending her on her way down to the beach with the rest of her team before looking at his clipboard.
“So, let's tally up the results- Hold on… That's seven jumpers, and two chickens. We're missing two still-”
“I'm NOT jumping without Katie!” Sadie interrupted, holding her bestie's hands.
Katie gave the biggest puppy eyes, “We have to be on the same team, Chris! Please!”
The two got in his face, a cacophony of ‘PLEASE's, ‘can we's, and Chris’ name making the remaining cast mates on the cliff cringe. Noah covered his ears, glaring, Heather and Leshawna rolled their eyes, and Gwen looked like she'd rather jump off the cliff now than listen any longer. Owen, personally, thought it was sweet. They were best friends! If he had a bestie, he'd wanna be on their team, too. Maybe after this game he would! Who knows!
Finally Izzy, who still hadn't jumped for the Bass, raised her hand, “I'll switch places with her.”
Chris threw up his hands in exasperation, “Alright, fine! You're both on the Killer Bass now. Izzy, you're on the Screaming Gophers.”
“YES!” the girls squealed, jumping up and down.
Owen waved to their new teammate as Izzy walked over, excitement a tad muffled by the current situation. However, he did like that the funny girl from earlier was now on their team! He then turned back to watch the pair continue to hold hands as they jumped off the cliff. He almost got teary eyed at the show of friendship. Almost. He was a bit too terrified of the fact it was now his team's turn…
Chris nodded, looking at his list again, “Okay, so that's nine jumpers and two chickens. Screaming Gophers, if you can beat that we'll throw in a pull cart to put your crates on.”
“Nice!” Trent said, taking the lead as he looked at his team. “Okay, guys! Who's up first?”
“I'm sorry, there is no way I'm doing this,” Heather protested, swishing her hair.
“Why not?” Beth asked.
“Hello? National TV? I'll get my hair wet!” she said, as if it was obvious.
The boys all took glances at Justin, expecting him to back her up. However, he seemed just as frustrated as they were, rolling his eyes before getting distracted with his own reflection in a handheld mirror. Where did he even get that?
It was Gwen who called her out, however, scoffing, “You're kidding, right?”
“If she's not doing it, I'm not doing it!” Lindsay chimed in, giving Heather a look of solidarity.
Owen could sense the team rolling towards certain defeat, at least until Leshawna shook her head, stepping up into Heather's face.
“Oh, you're doing it,” she asserted.
“Says who?” Heather challenged back.
“Says me. I'm not losing this challenge cuz you got your hair did, you spoiled little daddy's girl.”
As the insults started flying, the rest of the Gophers watched. Owen silently cheered on Leshawna in his head, though also made a note never to make her mad either. Chris stood by, watching the drama unfold with a grin that would make a shark jealous.
“You're jumping!” Leshawna said with finality.
“Make me!”
Taking that as permission, Leshawna grabbed Heather, lifted her above her head, and threw her down the cliff. Owen watched with awe, and a little fear, thankful to hear the bossy girl's voice shout up from the water below.
“Leshawna! You are so dead!”
“Hey! I threw you into the safe zone, didn't I?” she called back, smirking, before eyeing the jump. “Now I just hope I can hit it, too.”
She leapt, and her spot was quickly taken by the majority of the girls - and Cody. Not that his scream was any less feminine among the rest. Justin came next, and the sounds of gasps from below scared him for a second, though the absence of screams was reassuring; guess he'd avoided the sharks somehow. Finally, Beth stood at the edge, trembling.
“I… I can't do it… I'm too scared…” she whimpered, then called down to the rest who had jumped. “I'm sorry!”
Chicken noises could be heard coming from the bottom of the cliff as Beth got her hat and walked to the escalator. The goading was, weirdly, somewhat helpful. Owen could never back down from a dare, no matter how gross or scary, and the chicken talk was helping trick his brain into thinking of this like one. What was a reality show challenge but a high stakes dare, after all?
Noah gave him a reassuring nudge, calmly walking to the edge to dive down into the water with almost as much grace as the surfer chick had. Trent took a few steps back, mouthing something as he did, before turning to Owen
“Let's do this!” he cheered, giving him a high five before taking nine steps to the edge. “Yeaaah!”
As his voice disappeared, Owen moved to the cliff to look over. Noah and Trent were there, safely in the ring, waving up to him reassuringly. He offered a wan smile, taking a deep breath and stepping back away from the edge. He might have had a chance then and there of jumping. Might have, if Chris hadn't used his megaphone right next to him, making his frayed nerves split further.
“Okay campers, there's only one person left! You guys need this jump for the win!” he called down to the waiting campers.
Turning to Owen, he grinned, “No pressure dude.”
He eased a little, trying to smile again, at least until Chris lifted the megaphone back to his face.
“Okay, there's pressure!”
Giggling as the teen covered his ears, Chris stepped out of the way, letting Owen stretch and take breaths as he stretched the time. The cheers of his fellow campers rang up from the beach as he psyched himself up. Eventually, he turned back from the edge.
“Take a good run at it buddy, you can do this!” Chris said.
That was… surprisingly encouraging, but he couldn't help muttering, “I'm going to die now… I'm going to fucking die now…” as he walked off.
“Language,” Chris corrected half heartedly, looking at his watch. “Come on, man, we wanna finish this challenge before sundown.”
The voices hushed, watching and waiting. God it was nerve wracking having all these expectations on him... Couldn't they be loud again?? He clenched his eyes shut, his feet frozen. But his team needed him, his new friends needed him to do this. He was no chicken! He could do this! Opening his eyes with new determination, he ran for the cliff, yelling a war cry the entire way. As he jumped, and the freefall took over, that shout turned into a yell of panic. Shit shit shit, why did he do this?? He was SO gonna die here!
“OH CRAAAP-”
The faces of Trent and Noah slowly shifted from those encouraging smiles to their own expressions of panic as they saw the much larger teen careening towards them. They flailed in the water, trying to get out of the way, but ultimately failed as Owen cannoned into the ring. His impact created a tidal wave that knocked both boys, several sharks, and the Boat of Losers - which had been ferrying safe divers - up onto the shore.
Surfacing, he felt a rush of accomplishment and adrenaline at surviving, throwing both fists in the air, “Yes! Yeah! Oh yeah! Who's the man!”
His team cheered from the shore, making his chest swell with pride. He felt like a hero! Okay, bad first impression aside, he was totally rocking it now! He'd- Wait…
Chris shouted into his megaphone, “The winners: the Screaming Gophers!”
“That was awesome dude,” Trent called from where he'd washed up with the boat.
Owen, however, had realized something. Amid all the falling, and splashing, and excitement, he had, somehow, misplaced his swimsuit and was now only in his birthday suit… This… was not great. Trent seemed to pick up on his concern as he looked around the water, his face becoming confused.
“What's wrong?” He asked
Owen's eyes shifted through the waves, “I, uh, think I lost my bathing suit…”
A myriad of groans, complaints, and sounds of disgust accompanied his admission. Hey, he didn't want this either! It wasn't like he'd planned this! Not like it was something to be ashamed of or anything, though. Bodies were bodies, geez. Spotting his bright orange trunks bobbing a little aways, he swam forward to grab them, pulling them on one leg at a time as he hopped back onto shore.
“There! Better?”
Heather wrinkled her nose, “Much. Try to keep them on from now on? ‘Kay?”
She walked off towards their crates with Lindsay in tow, the blonde giggling something about not minding if Tyler lost his trunks instead. The rest of the campers made their way to their team's respective boxes, each having four in total. They were sizable, too, and, given they needed to make a large hot tub with their contents, probably heavy. Crew members delivered the teen's regular clothing and towels to dry off, as well as the Gopher’s carts. They got one for each box apparently rather than just one in total which was pretty sweet. That was all the help they got, though, leaving the teens to figure out how to hoist the boxes in and pull the carts back.
Justin knocked on one of the crates, “I don't think I can lift this. I cannot afford to strain a muscle."
Leshawna rolled her eyes, moving over to it, “Here, pretty boy, I got it.”
She gave a grunt, going to lift it, huffing and puffing as she struggled. Trent went to help her with that box. As they worked to move and position it into one of the carts, Owen began picking up the other three, one at a time, with relative ease. By the time the first crate was placed, the other three had also found homes in their carts. He wiped his hands together at his handywork, catching several of his teammates staring.
Heather gestured to the filled carts, “How did you do that?”
He looked between them, befuddled, “I, uh, lifted them? It's all in the thighs really, you just-”
Heather waved him off, “I know how you did it, you oaf, I meant how did you lift something so heavy? Or are those ones, like, lighter or something?”
Cody went to push one of the crates on the cart, panting when it barely budged, “Ha, nope! These are heavy too!”
Owen flushed up a little, “Oh! Well, I do a lot of work for my grandparents on their farm and stuff? I guess I'm just used to it.”
“Huh,” Heather said, looking impressed, “I guess you're not useless after all.”
Gesturing behind him to the Bass trudging through the sand, Noah caught his team's attention, “As riveting as it is watching Owen flex, maybe we should, ya know, keep going with the challenge we're in the middle of?”
“Right!” Trent said, clapping his hands together, “Everyone, grab a cart, we can take turns as we walk!”
Despite the strong personalities, the group worked rather organically, settling into pairs on the carts as they walked along the shore. Before long, Owen had started a camp song to keep spirits high and the pace steady. He was pleasantly surprised when everyone, even Heather, joined in. Guess working and singing were just natural for everyone! They'd reached down to about twenty-eight bottles left when Beth pointed ahead of them.
“Hey! There's the campground!” she cried.
“That was pretty easy,” Owen said, smiling.
Cody nodded in agreement, “I'm pleasantly surprised.”
Chris waved to them as they pulled their carts up, watching with a cocked brow as Owen unloaded them solo. Addressing the rest of the team with his hosting grin, he gestured to the crates.
“Alright, Gophers! Time to get assembling. Everything you need, including instructions, are somewhere in those boxes. The challenge part? You have to open them with your teeth, haha!”
Gwen slumped, “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” he confirmed. “Good luck~!”
With that, he sat back, watching as the Gophers each tried their own methods of opening their chosen crates. Well, most of them. Lindsay kept opening her mouth and closing it again, looking confused on where to start, and Justin just scrunched up his nose at the mere idea of ruining his smile. The rest were making attempts. Trent and Noah gnawed on opposite corners of theirs, Cody and Owen were attacking from the same side, trying to pull a panel down together. On one of the crates, Izzy had managed to get a rope through a crack in the seams, pulling at it and growling like a dog with a chew toy. Chris laughed from where he watched, eliciting death glares from Heather and Gwen.
With a cracking sound and gasp of excitement, Izzy paused in her tugging, “Hey, I think I got it open!”
The others paused to look, invigorated that this challenge was, somehow, actually possible. The redhead's exuberance faltered after a second though, dropping the rope as she stood and stuck her tongue out.
“Ow ow! Rope burn on my tongue!”
Owen winced. That was not a place he'd ever want rope burn, but he made sure to give her a cheer for her efforts.
“First one down! We got this, guys!”
Slowly but surely, all four crates popped open, the teens distracting themselves from their aching jaws with the contents.
“Hey, check it out! I got wood!” Owen exclaimed.
Cody and Noah snickered from where they were resting next to the Gopher steps.
“I've got some tools here, and what looks like a pool liner,” Trent offered, lifting his findings.
Gwen dove into her box, feet kicking in the air, “I think I see the instructions in this one!”
“Oh goodie! We're doing so good you guys!” Lindsay cheered.
Gwen pulled the instructions out and frowned, “Wait… is this in French?”
Chris grinned, “As true Canadians, you should obviously know French. I also provided the German and Chinese versions for some flavor!”
Gwen looked at him with the deadest expression, “Seriously?”
“There's pictures~” he pointed out, hopping up to his feet. “Now, you kiddies have fun. I'm gonna go check on the other team.”
Whistling, he got on his ATV and rode off, leaving the Gophers to this new twist. With him out of sight, Noah gave a long suffering sigh, holding out his hand to Gwen.
“Give it here, I'll read it.”
Beth looked at him curiously, “You know French?”
Examining the booklet in his hands he gave a hum of affirmation, “And German. Amazing what a mind can pick up when you actually use it.”
“Sorry we don't all have your IQ, mein kampf,” Heather snarked back.
He looked up over the booklet at her, “That was an atrocious attempt at an insult, du miststück.”
“What did you call me?” She growled, turning to the others when he ignored her to look at the book again. “What did he call me?”
Everyone shrugged, though Gwen and Leshawna seemed pleased enough to see her pissed off. Owen fought a snicker, biting his inner cheek. He'd heard his grandma use that term when she was mad at the cows before. He was definitely not translating it for her.
Besides the huffing from Heather, the Gophers experienced very few issues. Noah's instructions were clear and easy to follow, allowing the team to work cohesively. Owen was even pleased to see Heather and Leshawna work things out during the process, glad that maybe the drama could be left behind for a bit.
As they were well under way, the Bass finally arrived. Owen had no idea what had happened to them, but Courtney looked like she lost a fight and they were missing two members. Watching them scramble, he almost felt bad. Almost. After all, he'd earned this. He faced one of his biggest fears for this hot tub! It had to be awesome!
—
As the sun began setting, the two finished tubs sat side by side next to the cabins. The Gopher's looked like the picture on the booklet while the Bass’ was… well, it was pretty sad, but it held water. Chris looked at both, letting his gaze rest on the Gopher’s tub.
“This is an awesome hot tub!” he declared.
Owen popped up from inside where he'd already been enjoying it, all smiles. His team shared high fives as Chris went to examine the other's tub, poking it lightly. With a shudder, the whole thing crashed down, water soaking the grass and Chris’ shoes, much to his disdain.
“Well…” he said, stepping through the puddle, “I think we have a winner here.”
He paused, milking dramatic suspense that was entirely unnecessary. The two results were as black and white as they could be.
“The Screaming Gophers!”
Cheering erupted from the winners, eliciting glares from the other side.
“Gophers! You're safe from elimination,” Chris announced, “AND you get to rock this awesome hot tub for the rest of the summer! BONUS!”
The whooping increased in volume, Owen bouncing up and down in the hot tub in excitement, splashing his teammates nearest the basin. They didn't just get a single night's party, but a whole summer of hot tubbing?? Sweet!!
Chris turned to the losers, “Killer Bass, what can I say? Stinks to be you right now. I'll see your sorry butts at the bonfire tonight.”
Owen watched the other team trudge off to their cabin, feeling a little bad. He hadn't even learned all their names yet, and here he was having to say goodbye to one of them. Sucks. His own cheering team drew his attention back to the celebration though.
Lindsay balled her fists in excitement, “We won! We all get to stay here for another three days!”
As her, Heather, and Beth hugged, he leapt out of the tub to join them, dancing, “Whooo! Yes! We get to staaayay! We get to staaayay! We are so awesome! We won the cooontest!”
He grabbed the three in a celebratory bear hug. Or, maybe more appropriately, a bare hug. Noah and Gwen snickered watching Heather's uncomfortable expression.
“UGH, OWEN. PANTS,” she commanded.
He looked down. Apparently he'd gotten out of the water too fast. Looking over he could see them floating in the new hot tub. He blinked, then gave a ‘snrk’, before full on giggling as he put the girls down and retrieved them.
“Oh, HAHA, sorry Heather! Lindsay, Beth! Hahaha! Guess my trunks reeeally don't like me today!”
Beth giggled, “It's okay, it's kinda funny.”
“It most definitely is not,” Heather asserted, crossing her arms and stomping.
“Aw, come on Heather, Owl didn't mean anything by it!” reassured Lindsay, hugging his arm after he'd gotten his trunks back on.
Giving a final sound of exasperation, Heather rolled her eyes and left, entirely fed up with the day.
Lindsay smiled apologetically at Owen, “Don't mind her, I think she's just, um, a little upset about the camping stuff still, ya know? Thanks for carrying all the heavy things! It was, like, sooo nice not having to do that.”
He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, “Yeah! Sure! Any time! Just glad I could help at all, haha!”
She smiled again, skipping off to find Heather, Beth on her heels. Cody slid up beside him with crossed arms.
“Man, if I did that I'd have been smacked…”
Owen shrugged, sheepish, “To be honest, I'm shocked I wasn't. It wasn't on purpose though!”
“Riiight,” the smaller boy said, giving him a look and finger guns before heading back towards the cabin himself.
“It WASN'T!” Owen insisted, calling after him.
—
That was a lost cause… His reputation in general seemed to be today. Ah well, at least he had been helpful, and no one was being eliminated! That meant three more days to try and make a better impression. For now, though, he had decided to use a chunk of his free time for the confessional. He needed to get some of that stress from the jump off of his chest…
Closing the door behind him, he slumped, “Well today was wild. I never thought the first challenge would be so… challenging! I saw that cliff and… Oh ho, I was pretty darn nervous. You see, the thing is, I have this huge fear of heights… Even little ones! Just the feeling of falling sometimes makes me panic, ha. Ha… I'm just glad it's over. I hope we don't have to do that again!”
Taking a deep breath as he stepped out, he nodded in satisfaction. That actually did feel kinda nice! Like a little weight off his shoulders! He headed back towards his cabin to get dressed for dinner, finding Cody and Trent chatting over his guitar while Noah read a book on his bed. The three looked up at him, all smiles.
“You did awesome today, man!” Trent said, making the larger boy blush.
“Aw, thanks, man,” he replied, pulling his clothes on, “I probably couldn't have done it without all the encouragement.”
Cody gestured outside, “Do you think our party will be catered? I'm starving after that… lunch.”
Trent shrugged, “Guess we'll find out.”
Owen hoped, but was disappointed when both Bass and Gophers were given what looked like porridge sprinkled with gravel for dinner. At least the rocks should help him digest whatever this mess was… like a sauropod! Hey, playing pretend at least helped him down it. The same couldn't be said for the others. He glanced around his table, then over to the Bass who were arguing about who should go.
He leaned over to Gwen next to him, “Who do you think is going home?”
She looked at him, bored, “Probably a chicken hat, right?”
Noah, from the other side of the table, gave a glance behind him, “Of the two, Courtney was the one who underestimated us.”
As they speculated, the table behind them erupted. The Gophers turned to see the poor homeschool kid digging his own grave as he asserted, once again, boys were stronger than girls. Owen glanced at the women on his team, all of them with clenched fists. Y e a h, he might be the physically strongest on his team, but he'd never cross them. The final nail came when the cowboy hat, who he'd heard was called Geoff, tried to save him with a remark about respecting intelligence. A remark the poor kid completely bombed. Owen winced, Noah looked personally offended, Cody shook his head, and Trent and Justin sighed as every girl in the cafeteria erupted. R I P man. Whatever happened to the losers after they left, Owen hoped he'd have time to catch up to the real world.
—
As the evening settled, the Bass left for the campfire pit while the Gophers headed to their cabin for their promised party. The crew had set out juice boxes and some bowls of chips. It wasn't much, but after the meals they'd had that day everyone was just grateful to have something palatable. Half the team swapped back into bathing suits, Lindsay into a completely different one from before, and settled into the tub.
Heather smirked, gesturing at the distant elimination ceremony, “God, Chris is just milking that spotlight. We all know who's going home.”
“He's a textbook narcissist with the whole world watching, what do you expect,” Noah replied, popping a pretzel in his mouth. “If there's no drama to highlight him, then he'll create it.”
Owen had his fists full of chips, having opted to stay clothed and not lose his trunks again, “I mean, it is a TV show. Isn't he supposed to play up the drama?”
“Maybe,” Gwen said, rolling her eyes from him back to the campfire, “but he sure did seem to be having fun at our expense.”
“I mean, a little drama can be fun,” Cody said with a grin. “Case and point-”
As the dejected Bass walked back from their ceremony, he stood up, raising a juice box.
“To the Screaming Gophers,” he cheered loud enough to be heard by everyone, eliciting some glowers from the passing competition.
The others in the hot tub followed suit, cheering. Hey! This was their win! They should celebrate it! Leshawna even took the gloating one step further, chanting ‘go Gophers’ and dancing a victory dance. Owen giggled, joining in on one side as a backup dancer, with Noah joining the other, face smug. Winning felt good, and that little competitive voice in his head liked rubbing it in a bit.
… Okay, a lot.
The Bass met their crowing with a series of eye rolls, crossed arms, stuck out tongues, and promises for vengeance. Falling into a giggling heap, Owen just waved them off, several of the Gopher girls blowing them kisses. He felt on top of the world! But that couldn't last forever. Right? Guess they'd have to see what the next challenge brought!