"Last time on Total Drama Island: a talent contest brought out the worst in our campers — it was awesome. The Killer Bass struggled to find any talent on their team, and Bridgette's clumsiness pretty much knocked out their best prospect... Courtney. Gwen stood up to Heather. So, Heather swore to make Gwen's life miserable by stealing her diary. Then, she read it in front of the entire viewing world, revealing that Gwen has a secret crush on someone at camp. Then, Heather managed to save her butt by convincing the rest of the team to vote of Justin "McGorgeousness." Who will be the next one to walk off this lame dock? Find out tonight in the most dramatic marshmallow ceremony ever on Total Drama Island!"
~~~
"Campers, todays challenge will test your outdoor-survival skills. I'm not gonna lie to you, some of you may not come back alive." Duncan laughed next to me at the statement as the rest of the campers gasped, and I smiled at Duncan. Come on, he can't legally kill us, he's just joking... right? "Just joking," Chris laughed, "All you have to do is spend one night in the woods. Everything you need us at your teams campsite in the forest. You just have to find it!" Maps were thrown at us and I watched Chris toss them. Our eyes met and he winked at me, causing my whole body to get hot. Damn this man and the power he had over me. "Oh... watch out for bears. Lost a couple of inters in preproduction. First team back for breakfast wins invincibility!"
"You think we'll meet a bear?" I whispered to Duncan, causing him to start laughing. I hope we don't need a bear, but it be a little funny if we did.
"I hope. Let's go find one." I smiled and we stood up. An air horn signaled us off and the Gophers headed off as one while Duncan and I strayed apart from the Bass.
"Where are you going?" Courtney yelled from behind, sounding exasperated at us leaving them. "We need to stick together!" Now she sounded like a whiny baby, and it was getting on my nerves. Yet again, Courtney in general got on my nerves. Duncan stopped and tossed Courtney the map he was holding, winking at her before we continued forward.
Giving the map to the group was probably not a good idea. Night had fallen and we were lost, still yet to find the campsite and I'm pretty sure we had already turned this way. One of the camera guys, at least, was following us, so it wasn't just us two lost with no hope. "I'm pretty sure we already turned this way."
"Probably, but I haven't been paying attention." I rolled my eyes, but let out a laugh. I'll admit, even lost in the woods I was having fun. Duncan was overall a fun guy to hang out with, so all this searching for a campsite was enjoyable. I wonder if the rest of the team had found it yet.
He stopped walking for a second to pull his lighter and cigarettes out of his pocket. Pulling a cigarette out of the pack with his lips, he flicked his lighter on and lit the end of it. Smoking never bothered me, not when my brother was a smoker. What did bother me was we were lost in the woods and this is what he was doing. "Seriously?"
He looked up at me as he took a drag. "What? Don't tell me you're going to go all Smokey the Bear on me. I know, I know. Only I can prevent forest fires and whatever. I just need a smoke break, doll." I sighed but stood next to him, waiting for him to either finish or keep walking.
As I stood there like bait, a strange noise came from ahead of us. Or, maybe behind? To the right? "What was that?" I asked, feeling a little startled. Chris did say to watch out for bears. What if it was a bear? "Was that a bear?"
Duncan scoffed and kept walking as if nothing happened. "No way. Chris just said that to make us scared. No way there's an actual bear here. Come on." I looked around, struggling to see much in the dim moonlight. He flicked his cigarette butt into the woods and began walking. I trailed behind with a worried feeling.
The feeling was about to subside when suddenly, heavier footsteps were now snapping branches to the right of us. "Oh my god, Duncan, I seriously think there's a bear." He stopped and glared at me as if I was stupid. Then, there it was. The low growl of a bear that instilled fear all the way down into my bones. "Oh my fucking god, it is a bear!"
"Well, I'll be damned. Smokey the Bear does exist."
I ignored his humorous comment. "I didn't mean it when I said I wanted to meet a bear!" We both snapped our heads over towards the sound and a brown bear was now running full speed at us. In my panicked mindset, I couldn't help but notice how happy and calm Duncan was. Why was he so happy? We could die!
"Punch it."
I whipped my head over at him, staring at him incredulously. He was absolutely insane. Clinically and mentally insane. "Have you lost your mind? You want me to punch a fucking bear?! I thought we were friends, Duncan, but I guess not since you want to punch a bear."
"Nah, we are friends. Just punch it, doll. It's getting closer." I looked back at the bear and oh my fucking god it's right there. "Do you know how to punch?"
"Of course I know how to punch!" I exclaimed, looking back at him frantically. He knew that was bullshit. "Okay, I lied. I'm a liar. I don't know how to punch. So how am I supposed to punch a bear!"
He shrugged, smiling. "Better figure it out soon. It's coming straight for us." The bear was maybe a few feet away now. We're so fucked. Okay. Why am I about to do this? My hand was balled up into a fist now. I'm too out of shape for this. "Come on, doll, you don't want to die, do you?" he pressed, almost taunting me. It made me mad but I guess it worked.
"No!" Now or never, Lilia. The bear was pissed for whatever reason and my arm was raising up in preparation for the punch. I'm not sure if my technique was proper but I swung at the bear, fist colliding with its grossly wet nose. At least I hit it. The bear whimpered, or whined, something like that, and came to a halt. At that point, I was sure it would attack. Yet, it backed off and retreated the way it had just ran from. What the fuck just happened? My knuckles throbbed from the collision, but holy shit did I feel good.
"Damn, doll. Didn't know you had it in you. That was hot." He gave me a sleazy smile and I smiled back. I was running on pure adrenaline, body practically jumping in its spot.
"Dude, I just punched a bear!" How cool was I? This was awesome!
"Hell yeah you did! Let's go celebrate by finding this stupid campsite." I nodded quickly before following after his leaving body. My adrenaline quickly wore off as we roamed the woods, being replaced with me questioning my existence. That was by far the coolest thing I had ever done, but the longer we were in the woods the higher the chance we'd run into another bear. And I had no strength to do that again.
We ran into Katie and Sadie as they were bickering back and forth, and I wished we ran into another bear instead of them. Duncan grabbed my arm and hid us behind some bushes, understandably not wanting to be caught by the two angry Pink Girls. They'd probably try and have us side with one of them on who was right. Sneaking around them, we went straight and continued heading that direction. Luckily enough, we ended up finding the campsite. "Sweet," Duncan breathed out as we joined our team at the campsite.
Bridgette was finishing up pitching the tent while DJ rejoined the group at the same time as we did, now holding a small grey bunny. I sat down on one of the logs by the fire as Duncan went to torment DJ about the bunny. "Has anyone seen Katie or Sadie?" Courtney asked, hands on her hips."
"Pretty sure they got eaten by a bear. Same one Lilia punched." I glared at Duncan as he lied, laughing to myself.
Bridgette's head snapped over to look at me, her expression in awe. "You punched a bear? That's awesome!" I laughed but tried waving it off. I'm not mad Duncan brought up the punching a bear thing because it is really awesome. But, I really hated being the center of attention.
The night moved on quickly, as the rest of the camp was set up and our fire was built. All of us sat around the warm flames, listening to Duncan telling a scary story. He was trying to get a reaction out of everyone, especially Courtney, and I sat back smiling at his attempt. Though, it wasn't really an attempt since it was working. DJ looked like he was about to cry and Courtney was listening with wide eyes. It was funny to watch her practically run to Duncan in fear when he finished his story.
Good for him. She even laid next to him when we all piled into the tent for the night. We were all laying very close together, though, so it might've not been intentional. Sleeping was hard when you had two people breathing on you and had their legs damn-near intertwined with yours. I was on the verge of falling asleep when Bridgette got up to use the restroom, stepped over me and kicking me on accident. Groaning, I sat up and watched the tent burn down. Not sure how Bridgette ended up pulling that off. Everyone was a little irritated but tried going back to sleep. That was until the rain started to pour. Needless to say, that is what set everyone off.
Through the shitshow that was the night, it was a blessing that my team made it to breakfast before the Gophers did. The Gophers showed up a few seconds later and my team began to cheer. Celebration was cut short, though, when Chris pointed out that we were missing a few people. The Pink Girls. They costed us the challenge since they were lost all night and didn't return to breakfast until a minute after the Gophers did. "Alright, Killer Bass. One of your fishy butts is going home!" I glared at the two Pink Girls, who knew they were in trouble. My eyes returned to Chris and he was now watching me, a small smile on his face. It'd suck to go home now, now that I was getting closed to Chris, but I knew I was safe. Sadie or Katie was getting voted off and that was for sure.
The Gophers ran off to their reward – the tuck shop – and left my team in the dust. The Pink Girls ran off to avoid us yelling at them, and the rest of my team grumbled off towards the cabin. I walked over to Chris and smiled, his eyes looking me up and down. I looked like shit. "Hi."
He exhaled a laugh, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I liked how he laughed every time I said hi to him, so I do it more often. "How was the woods?"
I rolled my eyes. "Could've been better if Bridgette hadn't burnt the tent down. Have you watched the footage yet?" He nodded and I smiled, remembering my totally epic fight with a bear. Had he seen it? He wasn't reacting like it was anything crazy. "All of the footage?" His brows furrowed and I smiled wider, leaning up to the tip of my tiptoes. "Come on, you have to see this! Where do you guys watch the footage?"
Chris walked me to the camera crews building, a small shack a bit away from the campsite. It was empty inside, my guess being all the crewmen were out following the campers. Inside was all sorts of computers and cameras and equipment. He had to show me how to work the system and I went through nearly every file to find it. There was a lot of confessional cam footage I skipped through, though I wanted to listen.
I finally found the clip and I smiled. "Okay, okay sit down." He was still watching me with curiosity, looking amused at my excitement. It was a pleasant sight to see him actually enjoying the way I was reacting; people usually told me to shut up when I got this excited. "Ready?" He hummed and I pressed play, showcasing the coolest thing I had ever done.
"Oh my fucking god, it is a bear!"
"Punch it."
"Punch it?"
Thump.
"Damn, doll, didn't know you had it in you. That was hot."
It was about to get to the part where I exclaimed I punched a bear (I'll never stop talking about it), but Chris paused it. Frowning, my smile fell and I looked down at Chris. He turned around in his chair and he had an expression on his face that was a mixture of proudness and... jealousy? "I punched a bear, Chris."
He stood from his chair, humming, and grabbed my hips. A replay of last night flashed through my mind as he pressed me against the wall behind me. "Why does he call you doll?" His eyes bored into mine and I swallowed, eyes looking into his. The nickname had never been embarrassing until now.
"I don't know, he just calls me it. I thought you heard it on the tape at some point, he said it's because I look like a doll." I was so not helping my case, not at all. Chris looked angrier and more protective. Admittedly, I was enjoying the fact that I was fueling the fire. A jealous man is a hot man, okay? I was actually loving this. "He has a thing for someone else here, don't worry. I don't want him and he doesn't want me–"
"Mhm, because even if he did he wouldn't be able you get anywhere close to you. You know that, right, Lilia?" I loved when he said my name and I loved when he talked to me like that. His right hand came up to tilt my jaw up, making me look up at him. "Right?" I nodded, looking into his pretty brown eyes. I couldn't tell where his pupil stopped and iris started. "You're mine." My body reacted to those two words in a way I never thought my body could react to words. I would absolutely need to change my panties after this or else I'd soak through my fucking shorts.
I whimper slightly and glanced down at his lips. Please kiss me. That's all I need. I wanted him to kiss me so desperately. He noticed me growing needy and desperate and it only seemed to make him more confident. He was enjoying it the same way I was enjoying seeing him jealous, but he always had to come out on top.
Chris dropped his hand from my jaw and his other hand left my side, and he backed away. The absence of his presence left my body feeling cold. "Good job punching a bear, babe. That was pretty hot." I was staring at him, completely dumbfounded at his change in tune. He wasn't going to kiss me? He wasn't going to do anything? "You should get going, you need to get ready for the ceremony." That asshole. The nicest thing he did for me the entire time we were in the camera crew's cabin was hold the door open for me when I left.
I inhaled and walked out of the building, not bothering to say anything to Chris. I was frustrated in more than one way and all I wanted to do was be left alone. Thankfully, my cabin was empty and I was able to breathe. Now, I had no reason to be mad at Chris. I saw the game he was playing and he's used to winning, so I knew I shouldn't be feeding into it. But, rightfully, I was upset. And I'll be petty and bask in that feeling until he does something to make up for it.
My bed was much comfier this time when I laid it in, much better than the grassy floor in the woods. I had no intention on getting up until the ceremony, and that's exactly what I did. Bridgette woke me up after a few hours and we headed towards the fire together. She tried making small talk to me, but Geoff rolled in and swept her away from me. Duncan was walking with Courtney at enough distance to not be weird, so I didn't bother going to try to talk to him. Honestly, I didn't want to talk to anyone anyway.
My arms stayed crossed the entire ceremony, only uncrossed to grab my marshmallow. It was amazing to see Katie and Sadie were the last two. They were hugging each other so tightly that I'm pretty sure they were struggling to breathe. Gross.
••
"I'd personally like for them to both go home. The Pink Girls are annoying," I mumbled, leaning towards the confessional cam with my elbow on my knee. "But, one is better than none I guess."
••
Katie ended up being the loser to walk the dock of shame, but I didn't pay much care to who it was. They both got under my skin so much that seeing half of the duo go was like a breath of fresh air. I didn't dare stick around to watch Sadie sob at the end of the deck, yelling at how much she'll miss Katie. That was another puke-fest in it's own way. Instead, I left to go take myself a nice, hot, steamy shower – at Chris's cabin.
I didn't ask for permission. Perhaps I should've, but fuck it. He made me mad, I'll do as I please. If it makes him mad then oh well, I didn't really care what he thought after the shit he pulled. Chris knew I was wrapped around his finger, he knew that I'd let him walk all over me and I'd love it. But this was my way of showing him that I can play this game right back, just not well. Not well at all, in fact, but let's not talk about that.
His cabin was thankfully unlocked and I helped myself to his lovely shower. The bathroom was connected to his bedroom, an obviously nice one. A shower large enough to hold two people with a glass door, grey tiles and sleek black appliances. This bathroom was way nicer than any bathroom I had ever been in. As I examined the inside of the shower, I realized I hadn't brought any of my shower supplies. I would just have to borrow Chris's and it was nice to see he actually uses shampoo and conditioner, not that 2-in-1 bullshit.
I left the door unlocked, as if I was living in the edge, and turned the water on. It heated up faster than the showers in the communal bathrooms and I eagerly stepped inside. Feeling the water hit me at a good pressure was amazing. It had been over a week since I felt my shower and I missed it. Standing under the downpour of warm water made my muscles smile in relaxation, and I let out a heavy sigh. I dipped my head under the water and let it pour over me, through my hair and down my back and legs. Leaning forward, I rested my head against the wall and front of me.
With the world suddenly unmuffled by the water, I heard the bathroom door shut. I knew who it was, so I didn't bother turning around. "Lilia? What are you doing?" Chris asked, voice almost worried.
"Showering. Obviously." I lifted my head off of the wall and tilted my head back, the water hitting my forehead and cascading down my face. Chris was doing something outside of the shower, him going silent but cabinet doors closing making noise. The bathroom door opens and then shut, and I turned my head to look.
Two towels now sat on the counter, and I frowned as I eyed them. He gave me towels? I mean, I appreciate it and it is sweet. Not what I was expecting but it was nice. Shit, what was I expecting? For him to join me? A part of me did want that, actually. But I was happy he didn't. Despite my crush on Chris being years long and I had always imagined what it would be like to sleep with him, I wasn't going to rush it. It was nice to see him do the same thing. I sighed, shaking my head and closing my eyes. My forehead pressed against the cold tiles once more and I stayed that way until the water ran cold.
I washed my hair and body quickly under growing old water then stepped out, bundling myself up in the large towels. These were by far the softest towels my body had ever felt. After wrapping my hair up in one and my body in the other, I sat on the bathroom floor in the corner. Don't ask why, something just compelled me to do so. Tucking my legs up against my chest and fixing my towel to wrap around me, I let my head rest in the corner. The room was steamy and warm and I exhaled, closing my eyes.