Chapter six:
DEAL
Y/N's team won last challenge, and they were now enjoying first class. Y/N was sitting back in a soft chair, scrolling on her phone.
Alejandro started to feel uneasy. He couldn't shake the feeling that Y/N might tell the team about what happened with Bridgette. So, he decided to talk to her while their teammates enjoyed first-class.
"Y/N," he began with a charming smile, "there's something I'd like to chat with you privately. Could you spare a moment?"
Uninterested, Y/N rolled her eyes. "Can't it wait? "I'm a little busy here," she said dismissively.
"It won't take long, I promise. I think it's important that we clear the air about what happened earlier." Alejandro urged.
But Y/N still remained disinterested, her attention to her phone, not even bothering to even look at him. "Look, Alejandro, I don't care. Handle it yourself," she said,
Alejandro's patience wore thin. "This problem concerns us, and it's in your best interest to listen." He said, his tone low and serious,
Y/N reluctantly looked up from her phone, meeting Alejandro's serious gaze.
"Fine," she said, sighing, "but make it quick."
Alejandro nodded and motioned for her to follow him to a quieter area of the first-class section. Once they were at a secluded place, he turned to her with a serious look.
"Thank you for agreeing to talk," Alejandro said softly. "Now, I need to explain what happened yesterday with Bridgette. I understand it might have seemed, harsh."
Y/N folded her arms, unimpressed. "Harsh? Alejandro, you left her stuck to a pole! That was way more than just harsh," she retorted.
He sighed. "You're right, and I'm not proud of it. But I had my reasons. Brigette was slowing us down."
"She wasn't even bothering us, Alejandro. I'm not stupid, you just did that for no reason!" She said flatly.
Alejandro's patience wore thin, he leaned in closer to her, "Y/N, I think you should reconsider your position on this. We don't need everyone knowing about this incident. It's in your best interest to keep it to yourself."
Y/N gritted her teeth in annoyance at his threat. "Are you trying to intimidate me, Alejandro?"
"Consider it a friendly warning." He smirked
"I bet you were friendly with Harold," She began. "I know you you manipulated him into voting himself off so you could have an advantage. And if you think I'm the only one who knows, you're wrong."
Alejandro's eyes widened but quickly masked it under his grin. "What do you mean?"
"I'm giving you a chance. Stop with the manipulation and lies, or I will tell the rest what you've been up to." Y/N threaten.
Alejandro bit his lip, frustrated yet a bit worry that Y/N could turn his team against him. But he wasn't gonna back down.
"You may think you have some advantage here, Y/N, but let me remind you that everyone on this team likes me, and no one even knows who you are. Exposing me won't end well for you." Alejandro growled.
—
"No one knows him too! Seriously, he thinks just because he's hot doesn't mean everyone likes him... I mean, not that he is hot! I'm just... repeating what other people are... saying." Y/N stuttered.
—
Y/N swallowed hard, trying to keep her cool. "You may have a point," she admitted, "but I won't let you manipulate the game at the expense of others."
"Then let's make a deal," he suggested, his voice softening. "I won't ask anyone to vote you out, and I won't target you if you agree not to expose me."
Y/N hesitated for a moment, her dislike for Alejandro still fresh. But after thinking it over, she grudgingly agreed,
"Fine," she replied with a hint of irritation. "But remember, this deal won't last forever, Alejandro. I'll be watching closely."
"Well, Y/N, please do keep your watchful eyes on me. I don't mind a bit of extra attention." Alejandro grinned playfully.
Y/N felt herself growing flustered, her annoyance mixing with embarrassment. Without saying another word, she walked away, leaving Alejandro chuckling behind her.
Y/N walked back to her seat and sat down, pissed.
Izzy, who was sitting across from her, couldn't help but notice Y/N's annoyed look on her face.
"Y/N, what's with the grumpy face? What happen?" Izzy asked, narrowing her eyes. She was getting a massage as she asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Y/N replied with a forced smile.
There is nothing for you to worry about.
Owen was sleeping on the sofa, (tied up by Alejandro) rolled off to where Noah was under him the whole time.
"Finally!" Noah sighed, "Thanks for not noticing I was missing all night. What am I, Tyler?"
Y/N couldn't help but laugh at the joke. But Tyler was offended.
"Hey!" Tyler spluttered, spitting out his food, which landed straight on Y/N's face, instantly wiping the smile from her face.
Ew!
Tyler, realizing he had accidentally spat food onto Y/N, immediately looked embarrassed and apologetic.
"Oops..." Tyler chuckled awkwardly, reaching for a napkin and offering it to her.
Y/N took the napkin and wiped her face clean. Just then, she saw Alejandro carrying snacks strolling by and heading toward the loser's section. Y/N raised an eyebrow.
"I'm going to see what he's up to," Y/N announced before getting up and following him. Peeking her head out to listen in.
"I took the liberty of smuggling a few things out of first class." Alejandro said, offering snacks to Team Victory.
"I better not, I might break out-" Lindsay hesitated before gasping at the chocolate bar he was holding, she eagerly took it and began eating it.
"Sierra, my former teammate," Alejandro greeted, approaching her. "I smuggled this one out just for you."
"Well, she doesn't want it!" Heather spoke up, standing between Sierra and Alejandro, "We never trust the enemy, especially the excessively disgustingly flirty ones,"
Alejandro just narrowed his eyes, taking in the insults.
"Yeah, no thanks, emeny." Sierra said before giggling.
Alejandro continued his rounds, distributing snacks to the rest of the contestants. As he strolled about, he couldn't help but notice Y/N secretly watching him the entire time. A grin tugged at his lips.
"Well, Y/N," Alejandro chuckled, coming up to her, "You're certainly keeping quite the watchful eye on me. How adorable."
"Oh, don't flatter yourself. I'm just making sure you're not up to any of your usual tricks." Y/N scoffed.
"My dear, I assure you, I'm on my best behavior." Alejandro teased, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
Y/N just gave him and disgusted look before walking away toward her teammates.
"Until next time, mi amor" he called after her playfully,
Y/N rolled her eyes but didn't respond, just heading back to her seat.
•---------•
Everyone was at the back of the plane, where Chris had gathered them.
"Take a seat and grab a handle, and I'll tell you where we're going." Chris instructed. And they all settled into their seats on the boat, holding onto the handles.
"Oh, sweet boat guy, right Lindsay?" Tyler asked, trying to get her attention.
"Yeah sure, um, Dave." She said, causing Tyler's face to scrunch up in disappointment.
"Why are you wearing a life jacket?" Noah asked, and of course, Chris was the only one wearing it.
"Because there are 13 of you but only 1 valuable me." Chris explained.
Wow
"Chef! Hit it!" Chris commanded, and with that, Chef pulled a lever. The plane's floor swung open and they were falling from the sky (again).
Everyone screamed they fell and splashed into the water below. Y/N, in the midst of the chaos, lost her balance and fell right into Noah.
Y/N found herself sprawled across Noah's lap, she quickly scrambled to her feet, offering a sheepish apology to Noah.
Meanwhile, Alejandro, standing nearby and discreetly watching the scene unfold from the corner of his eye, couldn't help but feel a tad annoyed.
Trying to hide his emotions behind a sly smile, Alejandro decided to join the two.
"Quite the fall there, you and Noah seem to be getting quite cozy." Alejandro joked
"It was just an accident." Y/N flatly said. Oblivious to the undertones of Alejandro's comment
Noah, who would usually have a comeback, decided to stay silent. He found Alejandro's sudden interest somewhat suspicious.
"Well, accidents happen, don't they?" Alejandro simply said
•---------•
"Welcome to New York! Today your first challenge is a carriage race to Central Park which I like to call: Liberty or Death!" Chris said.
"Oh! I always dreamed of riding a horse-drawn carriage!" Owen cheered at the thought
"Don't even think about making me the horse, Heather." Courtney said, shooting a glare at Heather.
"Slow down conclusion jumpers, it's a baby carriage race." Chris clarified.
LeShawna looked around, puzzled. "so where are the carriages?"
"Yeah, hope you brought your climbing gloves." Chris chuckled, pointing up at the Statue of Liberty, where the baby carriages were hanging on top of the crown.
"EL OH EL Chris! I think your mischievous spirit makes the game." Sierra said, all creepy.
"Thank you, Sierra. It's nice to be appreciated." Chris replied, grinning.
"Appreciated?" Sierra echoed, "I love you, I always did! Even way back when you were making those terrible movies about talking cats!"
"Uh...." Chris said, feeling a bit embarrassed and disturbed. Some chuckled.
"I was even going to call my first fan club the Christians! But that name was already taken." Sierra confessed. Chris just patted her on the head before pushing her back to where everyone else was.
"Okay! Less chatter more splatter, uh I mean climbing, more climbing! We'll leave the splatter to fate! Anywho, once you reach Lady Liberty's crown, pull up the rope to bring your team up faster. Once everybody is up, your team grabs the correct carriage off the spike, races back to your boat and follows the buoy to your next exciting destination. Central Park!" Chris said
"Um, when do we go shopping?" Lindsay asked, clearly excited about being able to shop.
"You don't." Chris answered bluntly. Which made Lindsay cry out in dismay.
"NOOOOOO!!"
•---------•
Her team looked at the rope stretched all the way to the statue. Y/N looked unsure by the height, but Alejandro wasted no time and began climbing the rope. Izzy quickly followed suit.
"Look I'm a rabbit monkey!" Izzy giggled as she climbed up,
Y/N exchanged a hesitant glance with Noah, "I don't know about this."
"We've faced worse, right?" Noah reassured her.
She nodded and with Alejandro and Izzy already well above them, Y/N and Noah started their climb. Y/N gripped the ropes tightly, her eyes were fixed on the statue,
As Y/N continued to climb, the height became stressful. Shs couldn't help but steal a glance downward, and an overwhelming wave of panic rushed through her. The ground was far below, and the realization of just how high they were hit her.
Her palms grew sweaty as she held on to the rope. Fear was coursing through her veins and the wind whipping around her was making it even worse.
But nevertheless, she sucked it up and continue climbing, determined to win and not be a burden on her team.
•---------•
As Y/N made her way up, noticed Alejandro leaning in to talk to Sierra, which was blocking her path so she stopped. Prompting Noah to stop behind her, confused.
"What's going on? Why'd we stop?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow, but Y/N just motioned for him to be quiet, trying to eavesdrop.
"I'm worried about Chris, do you ever get the feeling he misses his glory days, back when he was a huge star? That he feels like no one remembers him or cares?" Alejandro said, giving Sierra a look before climbing back.
"Poor Chris, I remember! I care!" Sierra cried out.
Y/N narrowed her eyes, watching Sierra being tricked right in front of her, but she didn't really care.
If anyone deserves to get out, it would be Sierra.
•---------•
Y/N finally reached the top, her arms shaking from the climb as she moved from the rope to the surface of the Statue of Liberty. She took a moment to catch her breath, glancing up to see Izzy and Alejandro already there. Izzy had her usual upbeat smile, while Alejandro wore a devilish grin.
"You need help?" Alejandro offered, lending a hand which Y/N swatted.
"I don't need your help!" Y/N replied between heavy breaths, She pulled herself up, dusting off her clothes.
Next Noah came up, and as he reached the top, Y/N extended a hand, helping him onto his feet.
Noah let out an exhausted sigh. "I think I got blisters," he groaned, holding up his hand which was indeed, covered in blisters.
"Yikes!" Y/N cringed.
Next came Tyler, he effortlessly reached the top, not breaking a sweat, and let out a triumphant cheer.
"Woo-hoo!" Tyler exclaimed, a wide grin on his face, clearly thrilled by the challenge.
"Hey, Chris!" Sierra exclaimed, running up to him once she made it to the top, "I own every one of your TV appearances on DVD, even your cooking show! Keep it plain with Chris McLean! Your recipe for white rice is so great, it's totally unfair you got canceled after only one episode!"
Laughter erupted among the contestants, leaving Chris feeling increasingly embarrassed.
"I was...going through a phase.." Chris explained awkwardly. The laughter grew, and Y/N joined in, unable to contain her laughter.
"Tada!" Heather exclaimed as she brought down the baby carriage.
"Team Amazon takes the lead!" Chris announced.
"How do we get back down?" Courtney asked.
"Fireman's pole, it's only a 30-story drop," Chris answered, pointing toward it. And Team Amazon began sliding down it.
Y/N and her team held onto the rope as they worked together to hoist Owen, who was the last person in her team to not be at the top. Everyone, except for Izzy was pulling Owen up, they all struggled, but finally, they managed to pull him up. All they needed to do now was to get the baby carriage.
"I'll do it!" Izzy exclaimed, racing towards a baby carriage hanging from Lady Liberty's crown. She did flips and spins in the air, skillfully landing on the carriage. Using it as a makeshift sled, she slid down, colliding with a fireman pole and sliding down.
Y/N peered down the lengthy drop, she took a deep breath and slid down the pole, cheering all the way down.
As she hurtled down the fireman's pole, her heart raced, and her screams echoed through the air. It felt like an eternity, but she finally reached the ground with a thud.
Noah and Tyler quickly followed her down, also screaming.
Izzy rushed over to greet Y/N, her face beaming with excitement. "That was amazing!" She cheered, clapping Y/N's hands in hers.
Y/N couldn't help but smile, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins. "It was!" she replied, still catching her breath.
Once everyone went down, they all rushed to the boat, Tyler hurriedly untied it from the dock and hopped aboard just in time before it set off. As the boat was driving through the river, Cody was in the water and accidentally collided with the boat, Team Amazon turned their boat back to rescue their teammate. They weren't thrilled about the inconvenience, and they voiced their complaints all the way.
Y/N's hair danced in the wind as the boat steered right into the sewers, The boat entered a dark and eerie sewer system, and the pungent smell that filled the air was overwhelming. She grimaced and gagged at the unpleasant smell.
"Did you hear that..?" Tyler asked nervously. "It kinda sounds like a-"
But before he could finish his sentence, a large alligator suddenly emerged from the water. It leaped, barely missing their boat, and now is targeting Team Amazon's boat.
The alligator's jaws snapped shut just inches away from Team Amazon's boat, causing them to scream in terror. The boat rocked violently as the creature thrashed in the water.
Y/N's team's boat sped through the murky sewer waters until they finally reached the exit, her team all let out a sigh of relief.
As all the boats came to a halt at the dock, it was clear that the teams were still quite shaken by the challenge. Chris, wearing a mask, approached the teams with a chuckle.
"That's the kind of stink that never comes out!" Chris exclaimed, giggling at their discomfort. Then he asked Chef to make the alligator sign a waiver (somehow)
"Chris your such a brilliant commander! That's why you always stood out in your boy band!" Sierra praised.
"Woah woah woah! Chris was in a boy band?!" Owen exclaimed, shocked.
"Moving on!-" Chris said, trying to change the subject.
"Back in the 80's, he was: making trouble is easy to do, but making you love me is painful!" Sierra started to sing one of Chris's songs, earning a few chuckles.
"You were in FameTown?" Gwen asked. Everyone burst out laughing, leaving Chris feeling both annoyed and humiliated.
"I really admire the way you never let mockery get to you!" Sierra gushed. "I'll have to include that in your obituary, I already have a draft, wanna hear? Chris McLean was born in 1978-" As she continued to ramble on, the laughter from the contestants grew even louder, but Chris wasn't having it.
"That is it! Zip it! Permanently!" Chris yelled. Sierra looked taken aback by his outburst, but Alejandro had a grin on his face.
—
"Sierra could have been Chris's pet all season, but she threw it away! Which makes her way less useful! How could this have happened?..." Heather thought to herself before she gasped, "That smile! Alejandro."
—
"Alright, focus people! Welcome to the second half of the challenge, bobbing the big apples NYC style! Here's how it's gonna go down: Teams must push their carriage along one of three paths to Central Park's fabled turtle pond, there one member of each team will bob for some very special apples using only their mouths, no hands. Once they get it to shore, the rest of the team must load it into their carriage and race to the finish line in the heart of Central Park. And what's a baby carriage without a baby?" Chris said.
"Oh! A shopping cart!" Owen answered
"It was a rhetorical question." Chris flatly replied.
"Oh Chris! That is so-"
"Zip it!" Chris roared, abruptly cutting Sierra off. She winced at his harsh tone.
Y/N couldn't help but snicker, and Heather shot her an annoyed look, only making Y/N chuckle even more.
"One member of each teams must ride in their carriage and stay there the whole way to the finish line." Chris continued
"I'll do it." Noah volunteered
"Oo! I'll do it for Team Victory! I love it when people call me baby." Lindsay said.
Y/N playfully nudged Tyler, "Make a mental note of that." She teased
Tyler, who didn't get the message, began to pat himself down, searching for something.
"I don't have a pen." Tyler finally confessed, Y/N mentally face-palmed herself.
"Victory got here first. So, they get the shortest path to the pond. Team Chris is really really really hot gets the longest on the left and Team Amazon gets the longest path on the right. Oh! And a little traveling music please!" Chris said.
"It's always been a dream of mine to dance in New York City!" Courtney said.
"So we're really doing this music part every single time?" LeShawna asked, sounding a bit fed up.
"Fun isn't it?" Chris said as the bell rang, "now move it! We only have permits to cordon off this section of the park for another hour"
Everyone started running, pushing their own carriage. Y/N was the one pushing the carriage with Noah inside, Singing.
•---------•
•---------•
All the teams had finally reached the pond.
"The other teams are here too, I thought we got the shortest path!" LeShawna complained.
"Maybe, but you're dancing took the longest to recover from!" Lindsay shot back.
"And look at the size of them apples!" DJ pointed to the pond, there was a few oversized apples floating.
"Remember, no hands!" Chris reminded.
"I totally got this, guys!" Tyler said, before sprinting toward the water and making a dramatic leap in. DJ and Sierra quickly followed suit, jumping into the pond. Alejandro turned to Heather with a smirk on his face.
"Central Park is so romantic, don't you find?" Alejandro began his smooth-talking, but Heather, unimpressed, rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, I know you've been messing with Sierra's head. So back off or you'll wish you had." Heather threaten.
Alejandro leaned closer, "My wish doesn't involve backing off."
Y/N couldn't help but feel annoyed by his flirting, all the time to flirt he chose now? and of all people, Heather?
"Ugh! Just go play with your stupid team and leave us alone!" Heather snapped, shooing him away.
"Im going," Alejandro simply said before walking away.
"You bet you are!" she growled.
Y/N's entire team (except for Noah, who was still sleeping on the baby carriage) watched as Tyler trying to push the large apple. He was trying to blow it.
"Its not working!" Tyler exclaimed in frustration.
"Come on man, use your head!" Alejandro chimed in, growing annoyed by the lack of progress. Taking Alejandro's advice quite literally, began to use his head to push the huge apple to the pond's edge, where his team awaited. Alejandro swiftly lifted the apple and placed it on the carriage, Exhausted, Tyler slowly sank down into the water, Owen pulled him out of the water and hoisted him onto his back.
"To the finish lines!" Alejandro declared, taking the lead and pushing the carriage as the rest of the team followed suit.
After a lot of running, they made it to the heart of Central Park. Cheers erupted from the team as they stopped the carriage, Chris and Chef were sitting beside a fountain. However, their celebration was interrupted by the unexpected sound of a baby crying coming from the carriage.
What.
Alejandro lifted up the apple and to everyone's surprise, instead of Noah sleeping, it was a crying baby
"Noah regressed into a baby!" Izzy exclaimed, wide-eyed with disbelief.
"And he ate all my pretzels!" Owen grumbled.
"That's not our carriage!" Y/N panicked, realizing the mix-up.
"No Noah, means no first place." Chris grinned.
"We have to go back!" Alejandro said, and his entire team quickly turned around to retrace their steps in search of Noah.
•---------•
Team Amazon was first, Team Victory was second and Y/N's team was last due to them going back to find Noah.
"What! We lost?" Y/N groaned.
"And the winner of the New York challenge is, Team Amazon!" Chris announced and their team cheered. "Team Victory, congrats on not coming in last."
Team Victory cheered.
"Team Chris is really really really hot, you're facing elimination for the first time. But, you won't have to go through with it because this is really a reward challenge! Sike." Chris said with a smirk and their whole team erupted with cheers.
Alejandro wrapped Y/N in a hug, and she couldn't help but feel relieved that they weren't going to be eliminated.
But his unexpected hug took Y/N by surprise, and for a moment, she was flustered by it but she quickly regain her cool.
"Thanks, Alejandro," she said, returning the hug briefly before stepping back. "Looks like we're safe for now."
⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢
Note:
2K?!?! Damnnnnnnnn
And this is might be the worst chapter I wrote, am not too proud of this one............
But don't worry!!! Next chapter will be crazy, I promise.
Tomorrow is October!!!! (Aka the best month)
Y'all like my writing style or is it giving I'm-writing-a-school-essay?
Word Count: 4,000
(2023-09-30)