"Owen, you can't keep eating your betting material!" He's not even listening to me anymore. I'm not even sure why I tried to say anything. When it comes to food, that boy has a one track mind.

"I told you we shouldn't have let him play, there won't be anything left to bet with when he's done," Heather complains loudly.

I turn to watch her as she slams down a dove chocolate onto the grass. Her pile of candy is much larger than everyone else's so I wonder why she's even complaining. Although, I do catch Izzy swiping things from her pile every once in a while. That might explain her ire.

"Lindsay and Beth both gave you their piles. I think you'll be fine," Noah mumbles under his breath next to me, causing a gross snort to escape my lips. He's not playing, reading instead, claiming our little game to be childish, but he's keeping up with every round. He catches my eye and shrugs his shoulders disinterestedly as if to say 'what? It's true.' I shake my head at his antics before turning my attention back to the game.

"I'll raise you a packet of skittles." The bag leaves my hands and I instantly regret it when I see Heathers smirk from the corner of my eye. I may have three Aces, but something tells me she probably has the straight.

"I'm all in!" Cody pushes his incredibly small pile of candy to the center.

"I'll call you, nerd." The tall girl meets his amount to her best ability. Our betting system is a bit flawed, but everyone has seemed happy with how it's been going so far.

I meet her gaze for a moment and quietly contemplate my choices. I easily have enough to call Cody, but if Heather has a better hand, I'm just wasting my candy.

I feel a nudge in my side when Heather is distracted by one of Owen's large burps. Noah seems to have given his book a break as he looks to me,"She's bluffing."

"And how do you know that, exactly?" I ask him.

He frowns a bit," She has a tell. She flips her hair when she bluffs."

My brow narrows in disbelief. Noah must see this because he shrugs thoughtlessly before going back to his book," Do what you want. Just offering some wisdom since it seems I'm the only one on the team with a brain."

The comment stings slightly and is what makes me decide not to trust the boy. I fold my cards silently and watch to see how the round plays out. Leshawna flips the last card onto the ground and Cody slumps slightly. Heather remains calm, but I can't help but notice the way her body tenses just the smallest bit. They both flip their cards over and they have absolutely nothing. Heather ends up winning with the high card.

Noah grumbles irritably from beside me and I know he's noticed the same thing as me. Heather played me like a fiddle and Noah was the only one to see it coming. With that thought, I take a minute to marvel at the boy. He's intelligent. Much more so than anyone has given him credit for.

"Well," I stand slowly, my body making various popping sounds," I think that's enough for now. That's the Bass coming our way."

We all, sans Trent and Gwen, wanted to stay up to see who the other team had voted off despite the tiredness each and every one of us felt. Heather looked ready to drop any moment.

I grab my large pile of candy and make my way to the other team, a few of the others following right behind me. Owen stays back to eat the candy Heather has left and Beth seems to have fallen asleep.

DJ and Courtney quickly speed up once they realize I'm waiting for them. Or maybe it's because they spotted the junk food. It could be both actually.

"Hey Gabs!" The dark skinned boy greets me joyfully,"Is that candy?"

I nod and hand them both something from my arms. I note the panic on DJ's face when he sees the bag of gummy worms, but shake the strange thoughts that leaves me with away. Courtney seemed apprehensive at first, but grabs the small, hard candies that we had given the lowest value to when betting.

The rest of their team gives us strange looks, but stop as well when they see the exchange. Geoff perks up, asking if there's any candy for him.

"Sorry, dude. You aren't as cuddly as DJ and you're not as pretty as Courtney."

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, but catch the pleased look from DJ and the embarrassed one from Courtney. Geoff slumps slightly and trots away in obvious sadness. It actually makes me feel kind of bad. The rest of the team seems to realize they won't be getting any treats and slowly slumps their way to the cabins.

"So, you're short one from this morning." I think everyone already knew who was going home, but we wanted to make sure.

The caramel skinned girl sighs loudly, slipping the small candy into her mouth," Eva had to go. She was a menace to society."

DJ starts to protest, but seems to agree as he shrugs his shoulders. Damn, if DJ doesn't like her then she really must have been something.

"Sounds like it," Is all I offer as I'm cut off by a yawn.

Courtney smiles at the sight,"You should get some sleep. Your team seems to have already decided to."

I turn to find that I'm alone with the two. Except for Beth who is still passed out on the ground, surrounded by cards.

"Yeah, I should probably make sure she gets to an actual bed, too." I nod toward the snoring girl.

"Need help?" DJ is quick to ask, but I shake my head at the boy.

"Nah, you guys go get some sleep." I wave them off. They look like they want to protest, but think better of it at the last minute. They walk away with bright smiles.

I make sure to wake Beth up and pick up the leftover cards before heading to sleep myself.

"This is bringing back a lot of horrible memories from freshman year," I whisper to the brown haired girl on the sideline. She laughs quickly before smacking my arm, shushing me.

I shrug before stepping back to my team's bench. I catch Heather's glare and wonder why she has such a problem with me talking to Courtney and DJ. It's not like I would ever help them win a challenge.

Taking a seat next to Noah, I watch Tyler fling balls recklessly, "Aren't jocks supposed to be good at this?"

He shrugs, obviously not interested in what is happening on the court. I'd like to talk to him about last night with Heather, but I'm not sure how to.

"So," I mumble," You- uh- you've gotta be pretty observant to figure out someone's tell in a card game you weren't even playing."

It's supposed to be a statement, but it comes out as more of a question. It catches his attention though.

"Sooo glad someone noticed," the words come out dripping in sarcasm.

I huff loudly," How did you do it?"

He eyes me for a moment before seemingly making up his mind," I'm used to watching people, I guess. You watch them enough and you can figure out what makes them tick."

I hum quietly to myself, processing his words. For a moment, I wonder if he's figured me out too. If Noah would just contribute to the challenges, he could probably win the entire game. I decide to tell him as much.

He, predictably, laughs at me," What exactly am I supposed to do playing dodgeball? I'd be no help at all. The best way I can help is staying the hell out of the way. I can't dodge, catch, or throw for shit."

Part of me understands where he's coming from, but a larger part of me just feels irritated at him for not even trying.

"Look, Gabbie, I know what I'm doing. Okay?" And with that, he stuffs his nose back into his large book.

It was worth a try at least.

"Gabbie! You're up!

I stand, knowing that I, like Noah, probably won't be able to offer much help to the team this competition, but determined to try.

That will be the difference in the two of us I decide. He can sit and make no effort, but I will at least try no matter how big of a fool I make of myself.

"Coming!" I trot onto the court only for a ball to sail right past my face. I let out a small scream, flailing even though it came nowhere near me. A sheepish apology comes from the other side of the room and I find that it came from my CIT friend. She must have went in while I was talking to Noah.

"Wanna play like that Miss CIT?" I grab the ball that had previously come close to slamming into my face and sling it over to the other side. It completely misses Courtney, but by some stroke of luck, it manages to smack Bridgette in the chest. The blonde girl looks on in confusion for a moment as Courtney laughs at me," Totally meant to do that!"

Bridgette gives a small smile at my exclamation, but is quick to shake her head in disbelief. I stick my tongue out at my friend when she keeps laughing at me, but our little game of fun ends when a ball soars across the line to hit me right in the nose.

"Ow," I mutter as Trent lifts me from the cold tiles.

"Woah, you okay? That hit was kind of intense." The boy takes my arm and leads me to the bench. I assure him I'm fine, but he fusses for a few more minutes over my small head wound.

"I'll be back in the next time you guys need me," I tell him once it's his turn to go in after Heather catches a ball.

Trent nods, leaving me alone with my other teammates. I'm left with the bookworm and a sleepy Gwen. Gwen struggles to stay awake still and eventually decides to just rest her head on my shoulder. There's a small rumble coming from her just seconds later. It's not really a snore, but something close.

My attention is brought back to Noah when I realize he's staring at me in confusion. It makes me slightly uncomfortable so I finally ask him,"What?"

He shakes his head once,"You should have just stayed on the benches. You would have been better off letting the others go."

My lips turn down as I point out," I still hit someone."

"By accident."

"I still tried," I shift again, becoming slightly uncomfortable with the weight on my shoulder, but unwilling to wake Gwen.

Noah never responds to me after that. He merely watches me for a few more minutes as I hold his unsettling gaze. He eventually looks away, offering me one last sentence," She's drooling by the way."

I look down to find that Gwen is indeed leaving a wet patch in my shirt," Oh, ew!"

Noah is voted off. It doesn't come as a big surprise, I suppose, but it saddens me nonetheless. It had come down to, Lindsay, Noah, and I tonight. It wasn't shocking that I was in the final three tonight, but I had no doubt who it would be.

I decide to catch up with him before he leaves to tell him goodbye seeing as everyone else is angry with him.

"Hey," I wave slightly when he looks up from the ground.

He looks upset for a moment, but his usual look of annoyance is back so quickly that I'm left wondering if I imagined it.

"Gabbie," he offers monotonously.

Well, this is awkward.

"I just wanted to say bye. I know everyone seems pissed, but I'm sure they'll miss you."

He looks to the ground and back up quickly, seeming uncomfortable," They won't. I didn't really make an effort to get to know anyone," he shrugs before tacking on," I should have listened to you."

That confuses me," What do you mean?"

"You told me to try and I didn't listen. I mean, you sucked really bad out there-"

"Gee, thanks," I scowl, but he continues as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"But at least you tried."

His words cause me to shuffle awkwardly. He's not wrong, but I don't want to seem like an ass and say I told you so. He seems to catch on to my unease and gives me what seems like a genuine smile.

"Be careful with Heather, Gabbie," his expression turns serious," I don't what she's up to, but it's not good. She's a liar and a good one at that."

I nod a his words. It's actually something I've started to notice too. Ever since that card game, I've found myself watching her.

"Thanks, Noah." I offer gratefully.

The loud rumbling of the boat catches our attention and we realize that our time to talk is running out. The boy offers his hand out to me quickly and I stare for a moment, confused. It isn't until he shakes it slightly that I realize he wants me to take it. I do so and give it two small shakes.

"Thanks, for giving me a chance I mean." With those words, he tosses his things onto the boat and gives me a small nod.

"Bye, Noah." I say once he's gone. I think we would have been really good friends if he had stayed.

I don't stay there for long, too afraid of the strange noises coming from the water. Making my way back to the cabin, I'm intercepted by a frantic Courtney and sad looking DJ. Hearing my footsteps, they perk up considerably.

"Oh thank goodness! We thought you were gone. DJ and I got here late and were waiting for you, but you never came and-"

"Courtney," I grab her arm gently," I'm okay. I just wanted to see Noah off."

She calms considerably, but quickly pulls away,"I- it's not like I was worried. We all knew you would be safe."

DJ gives her a strange look before shaking his head and pulling me into a hug," Glad you're still here, shorty."

I hum quietly," Me too, DJ. Me too."

Gently, I pull away from the giant boy to ask," Wanna play some cards?"

His face twists in thought before answering," I'm not sure our teams like us spending so much time together alone. Maybe we should get everyone together?"

Courtney quickly nods her assent at the suggestion.

Not seeing the problem with it, I grin enthusiastically, "Okay. Group card game night it is."