Title - So Totally In Love

Disclaimer - All rights belong to Teletoon, Cartoon Network, and the creators of TDI and TDA. No profit is being made in the making of the fanfiction. This alternate-universe episode of TDI contains stunts performed by written teens. Do not try any of this at home (except for the kissing, but with non-family members).

The Kobold Necromancer's Warning - This is an overly gushy and overly romantic story. If you can get past that, I still have loads of craziness and funnies. However, this is not going to be all sunshine and roses, because the path to good romance lies in some tragedy (no one's dying, I said romantic, not tragic).

This story is written as a V-Day exchange for Winter-Rae. I really hope she likes it, and go read her story! It's called The Wedding!

Pairings - Harold/Bridgette, Duncan/Leshawna, Izzy/Ezekiel, and Beth/Justin. Side and official pairings are Gwen/Trent, and Lindsay/Tyler.

Rating - Rated T for language, sexual innuendoes, mild violence, and other fun stuff that puts it right over K+.

Time Setting - It's just at the start of the first challenge, before the swap between Katie and Izzy is made.


Chapter 1 - 4bidden Wuv


(Challenge 1, Cliff Jump and Hot Tubs)

The twenty-two teenagers were gathered up on top of the thousand-foot cliff. Most of them were terrified, some of them weren't that nervous. Four of them, however, were watching someone else rather than contemplating jumping.

Leshawna was fancying Duncan, especially now that he was wearing nothing but trunks. The loudmouth sister, though she didn't approve of his criminal antics, loved how tough he acted; it practically screamed to her that he was trying to hide a sweet interior. She was determined to get to it, because it made her heart flutter at the thought, though even she wasn't completely sure why.

Beth was all eyes on Justin. She couldn't help but stare, and no one could blame her. Justin was gorgeous, it was hard for any girl (and some guys) to take their eyes off them. Beth felt inferior and enamored at the same time; how could a little farm girl like her make friends with someone like him?

Ezekiel kept glancing at the redhead on his team, the one who called herself Izzy. Everything about her was completely new to him: that orange-red hair, that crazy name he never heard before, her personality, and just how attractive she was. Ezekiel had seen attractive girls on TV, but Izzy in person beat them all. Just those green eyes alone captivated him.

Harold was watching Bridgette, the surfer girl who was now looking over the side. She looked back at her teammates, and he took a deep breath to avoid swooning aloud. The lanky nerd had been fallen for the beautiful surfer, figuratively and literally (literally was at the Dock of Shame earlier that day, when she accidentally knocked him off the dock with her surfboard).

Chris Maclean was looking at the teenagers with a grin. He was focusing on those terrified, because that was the type of man he was: sadistic.

"Okay, folks," he said. "Time to start jumping! Killer Bass, since you're the aquatic-named team, you're going first.

Bridgette looked over the cliff one more time. "Oh wow," she said, then looked back at her teammates with a nervous smile, "So... who wants to go first?"

Harold wheezed in surprise. This was his chance! If he jumped first, he could surely impress Bridgette.

The lanky nerd cleared his throat and raised his hand. "I'll go," he said, approaching the edge.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm not afraid of a little jump," Harold said, though when he looked over the side, he was afraid. Quite afraid, and his knees started to knock.

Duncan watched the nerd tremble, and he walked up behind him. "We don't have time for you to summon your courage," the punk said, and then he shoved Harold off the side.

Arms flapping in a panic, Harold wailed as he fell down and down, right into the safe zone.

"You jerk," Bridgette shot at Duncan, then looked over the side. "Harold, I'm coming!"

She leapt over the side, a graceful dive. After she landed inside the safe zone too, she came back up with a gasping Harold in her arms.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

After Harold had collected his bearings, he suddenly noticed that he was being held by Bridgette. His face went red.

"Um, I'll be fine," he stammered. "I was gonna jump away, you know."

Duncan was laughing up on the side. "Did you see how he flapped his arms?" he cackled.

Leshawna walked up to him, hands on her hips. "So you think that's funny, punk boy?"

"It is funny," he insisted. "Very very funny."

The loud sister smiled and quirked an eyebrow. "Really? Because I know something even more funny."

In a couple seconds, Leshawna was lifting Duncan over her head, and the punk immediately stopped laughing. "Hey, what are you doing?" he shouted, though he knew what she was going to do.

Chucking him over the side, the punk started to scream as he fell. He landed in the safe zone, and started shouting the moment he resurfaced.

"I'll get you for that," he roared up at the top of the cliff, shaking his fist.

Leshawna's pleased grin surprised her team, almost as much as her throwing an opponent over the side. Heather started shouting at her, but the sister didn't care.

"Oh, are we throwing our teammates over now?" Izzy asked Chris, an impish grin on her face.

"As fun as that would be to watch, no."

The redhead shrugged, and said to her teammates, "So who's next?"

Ezekiel looked over the side and swallowed. "I'm not sure I really want to jump this, eh," he admitted.

Izzy appeared right besides him, staring over. "You kidding, Zeke? This'll be fun!"

No one had ever called Ezekiel that before. He began to stutter, and Izzy took this as a sign of nervousness.

"Tell you what, why don't I," she said, and suddenly she picked up Ezekiel bridal-style, "help you jump over this thing!"

Before Ezekiel could protest, Izzy had already leapt off the cliff. Screaming and clinging onto her, the prairie boy barely noticed her cackling laugh as they plummeted.

After hitting the water and resurfacing, Ezekiel was still clinging to Izzy. "That was awesome," Izzy declared. "Better than the time I bungee-jumped off of a bridge! It wasn't that much fun, because I slammed my head on the bottom of the bridge coming back up-"

Her story was interrupted when someone hit the water next to them, causing Ezekiel to yelp and tighten his grip on Izzy. The being who had just jumped was Geoff, who pumped his fists into the air.

"That was totally wicked," the party animal cheered. He looked over at his two teammates, and his already wide grin somehow got wider. "My, don't you two look comfy."

Ezekiel just then noticed that he was holding Izzy close to him, and she, though she wasn't scared or startled, had her arms around his waist. He turned bright red as Izzy giggled.

"Zeke just needed a push," she said, smiling impishly. "Izzy didn't want to really push him, so she carried him!"

She looked at him with those bright green eyes that were making his knees go weak (luckily, he was underwater). "That okay, my Zeke?"

'My Zeke'? Why was his heart hammering against his chest? Why was his blood racing, red-hot? Why was his head swimming? He should be furious at this... this... girl, who had made a fool of him.

But he wasn't mad, he couldn't be. He could only mutter, "It's all right, eh."


After Eva and Tyler jumped, the Killer Bass's efforts came to a screeching halt. DJ and Courtney refused to jump, and Sadie could not convince Chris to let her be with Katie (there was no one up on the cliff for a teammate exchange). So the Killer Bass had three chickens.

The Screaming Gophers were next. Heather refused to jump at first, but one look from Leshawna reminded the queen bee that the loud sister was not afraid to throw people over the cliff. Heather jumped, with Leshawna, Lindsay, Gwen, Cody, and Trent soon to follow.

Beth stood near the edge, trembling. "I... I can't do thith," she whimpered. "I'm too scared."

Chris grinned and held up a chicken hat. Beth winced, then her eyes went wide when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure, Beth?" Justin asked, smiling that gorgeous smile at her. "We do need every point we can get."

"Aren't you scared?" Beth asked. "It's... tho far down."

"Of course I'm scared, everyone is scared. Here, let's make a deal," the male model took her hand in hers and held it. "You hold my hand, I hold yours, we'll both jump and not be scared. How's that sound?"

Beth was quite sure she wanted to jump now; jump for joy, that is. Her heart was swelling with such joy that it felt ready to burst.

"O-okay," she said, giggling and snorting in excitement.

They jumped, Beth screaming and squeezing his hand in terror. When they hit the water, she clung to him, shivering with fright.

"I... I thought I wath gonna die," she whimpered.

"We're both okay, you did great," Justin said.

Though she knew he had done this for the good of the team, Beth could not remember a time in her life where she had been more happy than now.

She was so totally in love that she didn't even notice when Owen jumped, causing a small tidal wave that washed her and Justin (and the boat and the sharks) onto the shore, soaking everyone again.

Noah noted the wreckage down below with a bemused smile. "How can one follow up on that act?" he asked Chris.


As the Screaming Gophers happily carried the crates with their newly-won wheelbarrows, the Killer Bass angrily shoved the crates by hand.

"Why are these things so heavy?" Harold asked Ezekiel, while adding, "Gosh!"

"I doo'nt knoo', eh," Ezekiel admitted. "But... shouldn't we be helping the girls?"

"Huh? Why do you ask that?"

"Because girls aren't as strong as... guys... are..."

Ezekiel stopped when he noticed Eva carrying a crate over her head. The two boys stopped to stare and marvel at this.

"Dude," Harold muttered, "I don't think they need help."

"Yeah," Ezekiel conceded, then added, "Wow."

In a couple minutes, however, Harold saw Bridgette struggling to push her crate. The surfer girl was sweating, her face red from the heavy effort. To Harold, she still looked really pretty.

"Need some help, Bridgette?" he asked before his mind could double-check if this was the right thing to say.

Luckily, it was. She looked at him appreciatively and said, "Could you? I think Chris put weights in this one or something, it's really heavy."

Harold marched over, a man with a mission. He began to push the crate with Bridgette, and they hadn't gone ten feet before their first injury.

The surfer girl accidentally stepped on his foot, right on his toes, and she had been putting a lot of force in her steps with the pushing. Harold cried out in pain and fell on his butt.

"I think you broke one," he wailed.

"I'm so, so sorry, Harold," she exclaimed, helping take off his shoe. Most would think they were being overly dramatic, but Harold had a low tolerance to pain, and Bridgette did cause a lot of painful accidents in her life.

She took off his sock and inspected his foot. "Don't worry, I know first-aid," she said as she looked at each toe. His heart began to hammer as she touched him, and he tried not to giggle (he was fairly ticklish on the bottom of his feet).

As she continued to look at his foot, Duncan walked by them. The punk was not pushing any crate, he was on a mission of his own. Catching up with the Screaming Gophers, he tapped Leshawna on the shoulder.

"I want to talk to you," he growled. She turned around and smirked at him.

"What about, punk boy?"

"You know what," he snapped, throwing his fists down. "You throwing me off the cliff!"

"Oh that. What are you complaining about, I threw you in the safe zone."

"Don't give me that, I-"

"I didn't know you'd be such a baby about it."

Duncan sputtered indignantly. "Me, be a baby? Look sister, I don't know what hood you roll from, but I don't-"

Leshawna's laughter interrupted him, and he fumed as she said, "You trying out my slang there? It doesn't suit you, Baby Boy."

"Oh no no no, you did not just call me that," Duncan shouted. "You are seriously trying my patience, you... you... large woman!"

His shirt collar was in her fist in a flash, and his face was yanked right up to hers. "You did not just call me that," she growled. "Got it?"

"You started it."

"Perhaps I did. But jokes about my weight are off, you got that?"

"Fine, just don't call me 'Baby Boy'."

"I won't. At least, not in front of others."

"No! Just...," he growled, then sighed. "Look, Leshawna... Leshawna, right?"

"That's my name, sugar."

"You don't humiliate me in front of my team, I won't embarrass you in front of yours. Got it?"

"What makes you think you could, Baby Boy?" she said before turning around and strutting off.

Duncan was staring at her butt for a few seconds, watching her go. Then he slapped his forehead and grumbled to himself. "Damn it, what's come over me?" he thought. "Watching that big booty... that's not what I prefer! What's that woman doing to me, why does she look at me like that? Why-"

"Duncan!"

Courtney's shrill cry interrupted his thoughts. "Why are you just standing there doing nothing?" the CIT shouted. "Get to work! Go help Sadie, she's not even pushing a crate right now."

"Why?"

"WHY?! We are behind in this challenge, you moron! We have to catch up, or-"

"No, why isn't Sadie pushing a crate, princess?" he snarled.

"Because she's too busy crying over not being with her friend Katie. Now go help her! And don't call me princess!"


Beth managed to work up her pace to catch Justin. Both were lugging crates on wheelbarrows, though he made it look easy.

"Um, Justhtin?" she said in a very low voice. He didn't hear, so she cleared her throat and said louder this time, "Justin?"

"Yes?"

He looked over at her, the mere acknowledgment making Beth smile fondly. "Um, thank you for helping me with that challenge," she said, turning red as she spoke.

"No problem, Beth. What are teammates for?"

Beth nodded. She was sure it had been that, just helping a teammate and nothing more. She couldn't help but feel upset about that, but the fact that he noticed her, her, was good enough.

"I... I promith I'll be a better teammate from now on."

"Why am I saying that?!" she thought to herself. "Do you want him to think you're completely useless?!"

"Don't worry, Beth. We've got this one in the bag," he replied, flashing a grin. "And I'm sure you'll be helpful in the future, heck, you're doing your part now."

Her heart fluttered again. She was so totally in love.


The construction of the hot tubs went exceptionally wrong. Bridgette whacked Harold with a board accidentally, and she, apologizing every other breath, tended his wounds again. Ezekiel was so busy staring at Izzy that he put the nails in wrong, and Duncan constructed the pool's engine incorrectly because he kept glancing at Leshawna (catching her glancing at him more than once).

When it was time to be judged, the Killer Bass tub fell apart after Chris poked it a couple times. The Screaming Gophers had won.

At dinner, Courtney brought up the unpleasant truth that someone had to be voted off. "We have to talk about this," she said matter-of-factly, "no matter how much we don't want to."
The bug bite around her eye had swollen up over her eye, and she couldn't open it any more. That and the chicken hat made the others wonder why they were letting this girl lead.

"What about you, princess?" Duncan asked, pointing at the CIT.

Leshawna overheard this from the Screaming Gopher table, and smiled. "Hmmm, he's straight forward," she thought. "I like that... hell, I love it, even."

"I really don't want someone who reminds me of the prison matron," Duncan continued.

"Referring to your criminal past makes you less likable, you creep," Courtney hissed. "I have a better knowledge of who is more valuable, because I-"

"We know," Bridgette cut in, annoyed. "You used to be a CIT! So who would you vote off?"

Courtney didn't have to think about it. "Him," she shouted, pointing at Ezekiel.

"Huh? Me?" he asked, quite startled.

"Yes, you! I heard you on the beach! You said girls weren't as strong as guys!"

Bridgette and Eva both glared at Ezekiel. The fitness buff cracked her knuckles and said, "Is that true, Home School?"

"Um... well... errr... the fact is...," he stammered, then let out a defeated sigh. "Yes, I did say that, eh."

"All right then, you're dead," Eva bellowed, getting up and storming over at him. Both Courtney and Bridgette looked delighted to see this.

Someone blocked Eva's path, however. Someone with red hair.

"Now don't go jumping all over him, he doesn't know any better," Izzy said, shaking her finger at Eva.

"Why are you defending him?" Eva barked. "You should be offended, you're a woman, aren't you?"

"Last time I checked, I have boobs, yep," Izzy said, then sat down next to Ezekiel. Ruffling his toque, she continued to say, "But my Zeke here has a lot to learn about the real world!"

Ezekiel looked at Izzy, not sure what to make of her. All he knew was that she was defending him, and he didn't even know why.

"He could at least apologize," Bridgette grumbled.

"Why?" Izzy asked. "He didn't say that to you. He didn't even say it in spite. So he-"

"No, no, it's okay, Izzy," Ezekiel said, taking a deep breath. He looked over at Bridgette and said, "I'm soo'ry. It's like Izzy said, I didn't knoo' better.

"But Eva proved me wrong when I saw her carrying that crate over her head," he said, looking over at the furious, buff girl, "so I really doo'nt think that any moo'r, since I knoo' she could break me in half. You ladies, especially Izzy here, proved me wrong really fast, eh."

There was silence at the Killer Bass table, and then Izzy cackled. "Wow, now there's a real man," she cheered, throwing her arms around Ezekiel and hugging him tight. His face went red, it was the second time that day that this girl had done this.

"Fine, whatever," Courtney said, shrugging. "I still don't like him, but who are we voting off then?"

Duncan shrugged, then jerked a thumb at Sadie, who was moping at the end of the table. "Something tells me she's not going to be that helpful with her friend on the other side."


It ended that night with Sadie being voted off. When Katie found out, she cursed the Killer Bass team and vowed revenge.

Duncan scoffed this off. He caught Leshawna watching him again. "You gonna stare at me all the time?" he grumbled to her.

"Depends, Baby Boy. You're cute when you're trying to act tough."

"I don't act tough, I am tough! And I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"No one tells Leshawna what to do, sugar."

Duncan growled, then stopped. He smirked at her, to her surprise. "Fine, call me that. Guess you didn't see what I did to embarrass you right back."

He jerked his thumb at the flag pole, and she saw, to her horror, that some of her underwear was hanging from it at the top. She gasped, then snarled at him.

"Why you little... GET OVER HERE!"

She began chasing him around the campgrounds, him laughing and her shouting death threats. Courtney watched this through her one good eye, and scowled.

"He's spending way too much time with her," the CIT grumbled. "I don't like it at all."

"Can't stop someone from flirting with someone else," Bridgette told her, "though I don't know if I'd like a guy who'd hang my underwear up like that."

Harold, standing next to her, snapped his fingers and pretended to cross off something on his hand. Bridgette recognized the joke with a laugh. Geoff looked down, wishing he had thought of that.


(Challenge 2, Awake-A-Thon)

"Tell me about life on the prairie, Zeke."

Ezekiel yawned, looking her over. She certainly looked exhausted, her beautiful green eyes half-closed. He shrugged and said, "Well, it's... open."

She giggled, then, to his great surprise, she sat down next to him and plopped her head in his lap. "More than that. Gimme a vivid description, so that I could picture it in my mind."

Bridgette watched Ezekiel stammer, and she couldn't help but giggle. "They look so cute together," she said to Geoff, who was sitting next to her.

"Cha. Boy, is he blushing. I don't think he's ever had a girl that close to him."

"Well, he is home schooled."

Harold was watching Bridgette and Geoff chat. He cursed himself for not having the foresight to sit next to her during this. He should have realized people would pair up to talk in order to stay awake. Gwen was with Trent, Izzy was with Ezekiel, now Bridgette was with Geoff.

Regardless of the accidents that seemed to follow her around when he was neared (she accidentally bushwhacked him during the marathon through the woods), he was still ever as enamored by her. He just wish he had the courage to talk to her like Geoff did.

But how could he? He had no experience in flirting with girls. The girls at school had labeled him a loser, not even the unpopular girls would associate themselves with him in fear of going down to the level of popularity food chain that he was currently at (the lowest).

Bridgette talked to him, though. She smiled when he joked, and she acknowledged his present. To him, that was a blessing and a sign of hope. If only he had the courage to follow up on her kindness.

Sighing, he went to his cabin, and he returned with a pad of paper and a pencil. He began to write out several haikus, all of them about Bridgette. "Just hope no one sees this," he thought to himself.

Beth and Justin were chatting up a storm on the other side, but after about sixteen hours into the Awake-a-Thon, the model had run out of stories. He looked embarrassed when he admitted that.

"I guess I don't have as interesting life as I thought I did," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Only so many stories you can tell about photo-shoots."

"Well, you could describe that to me," Beth asked. "What are they like?"

"You know, I've actually talked about myself too much," he said. "Why don't you tell me something about yourself, Beth?"

She grinned, but before she could answer, Heather called her over. The queen bee wanted to talk about an alliance with her and Lindsay. Beth kept looking over at Justin, who waved back to her when he caught her glancing.

Duncan, on the other side, let out a loud yawn. "This bites," he grumbled. "What a boring competition."

"You seem a little hot headed, Baby Boy," Leshawna, who was walking by him with a cup of water, said to him as she passed by. "Why don't I help you cool off?"

She poured the cold water on top of his head. He freaked and tried to brush it off. "What was that for?" he shouted.

"You've already forgotten about the deal with my underwear?"

"That was, like, two days again!"

"The ax forgets but the tree doesn't, Baby Boy."

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Duncan grumbled. "Why do you enjoy irking me so much? You want me to get really mad?"

"You ain't got it in ya, sugar," she said, flicking his nose playfully before walking off. Duncan was once again watching her strutting off, and his eyes were focusing on that curvy butt of hers.

Swearing to himself, he slapped his forehead. "That woman," he groaned.


(Challenge 3, Dodge Ball Brawl)

The Killer Bass were hurting for a win. After losing the Awake-a-Thon and voting off the overly temperamental Eva, they realized their chances of winning one were dropping like a stone.

Especially since Tyler and Harold couldn't throw worth a spit.

"Sit your ass down, and keep it there for the rest of this challenge," Courtney roared at Harold, who did as he was told with a sad expression. "God, Harold! What with your snoring and your 'mad skills', you'd better pray we win this, or you're next for the Dock of Shame!"

"Courtney, you're being way too harsh," Bridgette chastised her. "Harold was doing his best."

She put a comforting hand on Harold's shoulder, and the lanky nerd immediately perked up.

"Am I?" Courtney scoffed. "You're telling me he was any good out there?"

Bridgette began to stammer, looking at Harold apologetically. Before she could admit the awful truth, he said, "It's okay, Bridgette. I know I'm an idiot."

"Harold, that's not true-"

"It is true, now let's focus on the game," Courtney snapped.

Leshawna from the Screaming Gophers side looked at the sleeping Duncan and sighed. "Really wish he could have been here," she muttered.

"What, you like the idea of smashing his face in?" Noah remarked from behind his book. "Odd way of treating your crush."

Leshawna swiped his book, and jammed a finger against the tip of his nose. "Don't make me mad, bookworm. And don't call him that, got it?"

Noah normally would have fired off a smart-ass remark, but a mad Leshawna in his face made him think otherwise. "Erk, yes ma'am."

When Owen threw a dodge ball and nailed Ezekiel in the back of the head, Izzy roared. "No one hurts my Zeke like that," she shouted, hurling a ball right back and hitting Owen in the gut.

"Oh swirling milkshakes, that hurt," Owen moaned and fell down, causing a small tremor in the small court.

Izzy went to help Ezekiel up, and then was pegged in the back of the head by Justin. "Great shot, Justin," Beth cheered from the stands, and the model waved to her.

Meanwhile, Izzy had been knocked down onto Ezekiel, and the two were sharing a blushing, awkward moment of her lying on him.

"Maybe later," she whispered to him, and though this confused him, she offered no explanation as she got up, helped him up, then they walked off the court.

After Duncan had been woken, the game went to the Killer Bass and they won two games in a row. The fifth match was getting really brutal, and some of the campers refused to go back on the court, nursing bruises and scrapes.

Bridgette, who still felt sorry for Harold, handed him a ball and offered for him to go on the court. Duncan ordered him to stand in the back, just as a ball hit the punk square in the face.

"Ha ha, got you good, Baby Boy," Leshawna shouted, pointing and laughing at him.

"Don't call me that, damn it," he shouted back, storming off the court.

Somehow, without anyone noticing, the number of players dwindled down to just Harold and Owen. The Screaming Gophers took a look at their player, then at the Killer Bass's, and burst into cheers.

The Killer Bass stared in horror. This game was practically over. "Who let Harold out there?" Courtney shrieked indignantly, and Bridgette very slowly raised her hand. Several members of her team glared at her.

"Nice job, blondie," Duncan spat. "We're dead now."

Harold felt anger he'd never felt when Duncan called Bridgette 'blondie'. He narrowed his eyes at Owen, and struck a couple karate poses.

His large opponent blinked, and ran towards him with four dodge balls in hand. He chucked them one by one.

Harold did a splits to avoid the first one, then he managed to stand and leap up to dodge the second. He did a quick lean to the right as the third ball shot past him.

Owen wound up for a powerful throw with the last ball, then chucked it right at his opponent. Harold leaned back, faster than anyone thought he (or anyone else, for that matter) could, and the ball sailed over him. He followed up with a backwards flip, back on his feet, glaring at Owen.

"Whoa," was all Noah said. It was the only thing all of the Screaming Gophers said, they were staring in a combination of astonishment and horror.

Courtney called for a time-out, and Harold sat down on the bench, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Harold, that was the most amazing thing I've seen," Bridgette gushed. His face, already red from strain, somehow became even more red. "How did you learn to do that?"

"Figure skating," he admitted. He took a swig of water from a Nalgene bottle.

"After the match, you teach Izzy some of that," Izzy requested.

"We gotta win this first, eh," Ezekiel pointed out. "Harold, the only way we can win this when Owen has all the dodge balls on his side is if you catch one, eh. Can you do that?"

Harold thought of how many bones would be broken if he caught a ball thrown by Owen. Then he thought about how happy Bridgette looked at him, and he grinned.

"Definitely," he said, punching his palm.

"What's got you so fired up, dude?" Duncan asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"It's something you wouldn't understand, my dear Duncan," Harold said as he stood up. "It's called 'inspiration'."



(Challenge 4, Night of the Talent Show)

After Harold managed to catch Owen's murder ball, the Killer Bass had their first taste of victory, and they didn't want to lose it. Noah was voted off of the Screaming Gophers for being an uncooperative jerk.

When Chris announced the next challenge was a talent show, a lot of the campers were excited. Gwen, however, was not having a good time, as she was quickly getting fed up with Heather being such a condescending, self-appointed leader; also, Cody was following her all over, flirting with her.

The Killer Bass were having a hard time trying to find talent. Duncan's skills were either illegal or quite immoral. Tyler's yo-yo skills were less than impressive. Ezekiel archery skills were also not so thrilling.

"You kill deer with that?" Bridgette asked, looking horrified.

"Um, no, eh. It's just fur fun," he admitted. "But I have killed a moose!"

Bridgette sobbed and looked down at the ground. Geoff patted her back, and she smiled appreciatively at him. Harold sighed to himself, he didn't like it how he hadn't found the courage yet to talk to Bridgette, and Geoff was doing just fine.

As the Killer Bass members tried to show off their talents, Courtney and Duncan beat a hasty retreat when Izzy declared she had a wicked talent (both figured it involved fire or explosives).

It was neither, as Izzy put on a tape and started a swaying dance. "I call this the Dance of the Rattlesnake," she said as she continued to thrust her hips. "It is used to hypnotize the enemy into a state that makes it impossible for them to think straight, and then... you STRIKE!"

True to her statement, Ezekiel was watching her dance so closely that he never saw her hand coming. Grabbing his jacket, she yanked him up and pulled him close.

"Dance with me?" she asked.

"O-Okay!"

She took his hands in hers, pressed herself to him, and started to sway for the both of them. Ezekiel was so nervous that he started to shake, but after listening to her hum along with the music, he felt that hypnotic feeling again.

"You're comfy," Izzy cooed. "Really, really comfy. It's like your body was made to fit mine, my Zeke."

Ezekiel swallowed at this comment. Izzy was so forward all the time, shouldn't he have been used to it? But no, he could not get over how this pretty, wild and crazy girl was so into him, and if he dared say how much he was growing to like her, he was afraid she'd run away.

As the two danced, Ezekiel saw over his shoulder that Harold, Bridgette, DJ, and Geoff were all grinning at him and giving him approving thumbs-ups.

Meanwhile, at the Screaming Gophers, Heather had picked her three choices: Justin, Trent, and herself. Noticing that Gwen, the member she hated most, was spending time with Trent, she employed Lindsay to help her. She was so busy with trying to find out if Gwen was dating Trent that she didn't notice some more members of her team were off flirting.

Beth and Justin were back to talking to each other, and the farm girl was no longer blushing every time he smiled at her. She had actually grown so used to being with Justin, his gorgeous looks weren't stunning her; this upset and delighted him at the same time.

He actually didn't know what to think at this point of time. All girls did was fawn over him, but now Beth, who was interested in him more than any girl there, was not fawning over him. Could his looks no longer impress her? That was impossible to him.

"Maybe it's because she's seeing you more as a human being," his inner being argued with him. "And don't try to deny you like her too."

He had tried to deny that. Though she was cute in some ways, her chubby face, braces, and her spit-flying lisp were major turnoffs. It was her innocent eyes, her plucky attitude, and, so very strange to him still, her snorting laughter that kept turning him back on.

Plus, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was another side to Beth that was hidden. He wondered what that was, and he was determined to find out.


The talent show started off great with Justin's performance. His bizarre but really hot dance that left him soaking wet impressed everyone, and left all the girls and Owen swooning.

"Wish I looked that good," Harold thought bitterly after Justin's performance. "Maybe they would have let me perform if I had half of those good looks, gosh!!"

Justin sat back down with his fellow performers, right next to Beth. "You were awethome up there," she gushed.

"Thanks, but I think I blew it," he said, sighing. "Only six out of nine points, I guess I'm losing your touch."

"I don't think tho. You were incredible, so don't doubt yourthelf, Justin," she said firmly.

That was it right there: the tough side of Beth that he hadn't seen yet. She was a stubborn and firm girl who said what she meant, and damned be the man or woman who told her off.

Now he was so totally in love with her.

"Thanks, Beth," he said, putting his hand on hers.

She looked very surprised, her face going red. When the shock wore off, she giggled nervously, and intertwined her fingers with his. He smiled back, his gorgeous face flushing slightly.

Heather saw this from the side of the stage. And she wasn't happy at all.


After DJ flopped and Trent soared, Bridgette was up next. She had had to replace Courtney after she had accidentally destroyed the CIT's violin.

Bridgette was not ready, though she wanted so bad to help her team after the major accident that she ignored her better judgment. Standing on her hands, she headed onto the stage to show she could stand on them for twenty minutes.

She didn't last twenty seconds before the combination of stage fright and the chips she had snacked on before the show came rushing up to her throat. Unable to stop herself, she started puking.

"Waaaaugh, I'm hit," Owen wailed as he looked down at his puke-covered shirt. "I'm hit! Man down! Ayieeeeeee!"

The surfer girl continued to puke, hitting Katie and Leshawna on the Screaming Gophers (causing the former to puke too), and Izzy on her own team.

"Oh, this is worse than that hockey tournament on the day they gave out free beer," Izzy wailed, looking down at herself. "Izzy having flashback now... GO MAPLE LEAVES, WOO!"

Bridgette slipped in her own vomit and fell into Tyler's lap. Lindsay was furious at the surfer for this action, but when she tried to play innocent to an accusing Heather, Bridgette pulled herself from Tyler and ran away sobbing.

"Wait, Bridgette, come back," Harold called out, chasing after her.

Chris announced they'd be taking a short break as they hosed the stage down. As Chef grabbed a hose and began to spray the stage down, Duncan got another hose and began to spray Izzy.

"Woohoo, wet t-shirt contest," Izzy crooned. "Just like at the hockey game too! Woohoo!"

As Duncan was done hosing her off, the redhead turned to Ezekiel and posed. "What do you think, my Zeke? Do I win the contest?"

Ezekiel's reply, to seeing her with her nipples poking under her now skin-hugging shirt and looking at him sexily, was to stammer unintelligently.

Leshawna on the other team grumbled and tried to wipe herself off. "Damn, what did that white girl eat?" she hissed.

Duncan came up with the running hose. "Need a cleaning?" he asked nonchalantly.

She was surprised at first, then smirked at him. "I knew you were a gentleman, Duncan."

"I most certainly am not, I just don't want people here smelling like puke."

"Sure," she said. The loud sister approached him, a sly smirk on her face. As he stared at her strangely, she grabbed the nozzle of the running hose and sprayed him right in the face.

"Blargha," was Duncan's first response, then he followed up with, "What the hell was that for?"

"You just look cute when mad, Baby Boy."

"Stop calling me that," he demanded before spraying her with the hose. The water splashed several of the other Screaming Gophers, causing them to shout in protest. Soon Duncan and Leshawna were wrestling for the hose, getting absolutely soaked. Though neither would admit it, it was fun to fight over the hose.

"Just go change your clothes and shower," Chris shouted at the Screaming Gophers. "We'll wait for you, we got a lot of commercials to show!"

Back at the camp, Bridgette was sobbing on the patio of the Killer Bass team. She didn't even hear Harold approaching her.

"Bridgette?" he said. When that didn't catch her attention, he sat down next to her. When she looked up, she jumped upon seeing him.

"Harold, when did you...," she started, then remembered just how unsightly she was. "Please, leave me alone."

"I can't do that."

"Yes, you can," she said, firmly. "I just made the biggest fool of myself out there, I look so awful, I feel awful... oh God, I can never show my face in public again."

She burst in tears again, covering her face. "I just puked all over everyone on international television! I'm never, ever going to live this down!"

Harold looked at her sympathetically, and rubbed her back. She didn't acknowledge it at first, but her crying eventually died down. She looked at him, her eyes and nose red; Harold felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach, just seeing her look so terrible.

"Bridgette," he said, then he realized that there wasn't much he could say. He sighed and said, "There is still hope."

"No, there isn't," she moaned. "After we lose this challenge, our team will vote me off. I can't blame them either."

"Bridgette..."

"Going home won't be so bad," she said as she wiped her eyes. "I... I can always work at the Surf Shack-"

"Bridgette!"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "I know things are bad, I cannot deny that. But there is always a chance. As long as you're alive and willing, there is always a chance!"

She stared at him, flabbergasted. Sighing, she shrugged and said, "Okay... I guess. But it's out of my hands."

"Maybe Geoff will be your knight in shining armor and win the contest."

As she let out a weak chuckle, he thought to himself rather harshly, "You idiot, why'd you say that? You encourage her to have faith in your biggest rival? Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

"All right then, Harold," she said, standing up. "I guess I should cheer on our final performance. What kind of teammate would I be if I wasn't there for the bitter end?"

"Yes! That's the spirit, Bridgette!"


The next performance was almost as brutal as Bridgette's vomit eruption. Heather, wearing a ballerina's tutu, sat down and read aloud Gwen's diary. Most of the audience, especially Gwen, was shocked and horrified; Cody was at first stoked, then crestfallen when he realized 'McHottie' was not him.

The goth girl fled the scene, and Bridgette felt terrible for the girl.

"That was so mean," Courtney spat out, glaring at Heather from behind the curtain. The CIT crossed her arms and added, "Has she no taste? No tact? That was her teammate she just mortified, instead of performing!"

"She must be confident in their victory," Bridgette muttered.

And it seemed Heather guessed right, because Geoff accidentally broke his skateboard before he was even on the stage. Courtney and Bridgette were now panicking.

"What are we going to do?" the CIT wailed. "Duncan's talents are all unlawful, and we cannot trust any of the others!"

Bridgette nervously counted off her teammates. "There's Ezekiel, Tyler, Izzy, and Harold. Tyler's talent sucks, Izzy's still soaking wet, and Zeke's archery isn't going to be enough!"

"What are we going to do?" Courtney repeated.

They looked at their teammates in the bleachers. Harold was currently straightening out his underwear.

"Oh no no no no," Courtney began to chant.

"We... we have no choice," Bridgette conceded.


"Booyah," Harold concluded his beatbox routine on that last word, standing dramatically. Though he looked so calm and collected, his heart and mind were racing.

"Oh dang, dang, that was so not good enough," he thought. "Idiot! I blew it, I really blew it-"

The audience, Killer Bass and Screaming Gophers, burst into loud cheers and applause. Harold's jaw dropped as Chris came on applauding and announcing the Killer Bass's victory.

"He did it," Courtney cheered, embracing Geoff in a victorious hug.

"Harold," Bridgette cried out, rushing onto the stage, "that was amazing!"

She hugged him, catching him completely off-guard. He was so shocked that she, Bridgette, the loveliest girl on Wawanakwa was hugging him that he almost missed what she said next.

"You just saved me," she said to him, barely audible over his pounding heart and the cheers from the Killer Bass. "Oh Harold, I don't know how I could ever thank you for this."

"This hug is more than enough," he thought, and, summoning all the courage in him, he hugged her back.

"You're welcome, Bridgette," he said to her.

"You're awesome, Harold."

He was so totally in love.


Heather sneered at the camera in the confessional can. "What I did to Gwen is not going to affect this vote in the least. Justin is getting way too close to Beth, and the only alliance that's allowed on this show is mine!

"So it's time for Mr. Good Looks to hit the road. Lindsay's vote is a cinch, Katie's so pathetically passive she'll do anything I say, Cody is in an even more pathetic state of shock that weird goth girl doesn't fancy him, and Owen... piece of cake.

"I know Beth won't vote for him, so I'll just tell her to vote for someone else," the queen bee said, then laughed. "That stupid, pig-faced girl actually thinks Justin likes her? That's more pathetic than anything else I've witnessed."


As Chris handed out the marshmallows to the Screaming Gophers, he looked at the two that had gathered the most votes: Justin and Heather. The host sighed as he looked at Justin. This would hurt the host, because he saw a lot of himself in the male model. Handsome, crafty, charismatic, handsome...

Well, the handsome part was what stuck out most, but handsome should not harm handsome.

"Justin, I personally think this is very wrong," the host admitted, "but tonight, hotness just wasn't enough.

"The final marshmallow of the night goes to... Heather."

Justin slumped in his chair. Beth's jaw dropped, her eyes tearing up. Leshawna and Gwen were glaring murderously at Heather.

"Time to go, fellow handsome dude," Chris said, pointing to the Dock of Shame.

As Justin took off, Heather called out haughtily, "Later, dude!" She popped the marshmallow in her mouth and strutted off.

Beth watched as the male model, hanging his head and arms in misery as he started to walk upon that accursed dock. She couldn't stand seeing him look so downcast.

"Justin," she called out, "wait!"

She ran as fast as her little legs could take her. He turned to her, and managed to smile. "Hey Beth," he said, his voice cracking from emotion.

"Justin, I'm tho thorry," she cried out, her hands clasped in front of her. "I don't know how thith happened, I don't know why you were voted off!"

"You mean you didn't vote for me?"

"No, of courth not! I could never do that! You're a great guy, one of the greatestht guys I've ever met!"

Justin never felt so moved in his life; for the first time in his life, he was in love with something else besides his reflection. She had so totally trumped his reflection.

He knelt down, placed a hand on Beth's shoulder and kissed her. She was startled at first, then she put his hands on his beautiful face and kissed back.

When they separated, she whispered, "Will I thee you after the show?"

"You can bet your pretty little head on it, Beth," he whispered back. "I'll miss you."

He walked away from her, wishing more than anything that this moment wasn't caused by him being voted off. "See you later, guys," he called out to his team as he boarded the Boat of Losers. "Good bye, Beth!"

"Bye, Justin," she called out, waving at the end of the dock. "Bye! Bye!"

She stood there, watching the boat and Justin grow smaller and smaller into the distance. With tears in her eyes, she continued to wave as long as he did.

And then he was gone, too far away for her moist eyes to see.


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In case any of you are confused why Izzy is with the Killer Bass, it's because in this story, the switch was never made between her and Katie. So Katie is with the Screaming Gophers, and Izzy is with the Killer Bass.