Owen surfaced near the shore, still laughing and dripping wet. He waded through the water, greeting us with that massive grin plastered across his face.
"That was AWSOME!" he shouted, shaking water from his hair like a dog.
A majority of us were still catching our breath from our own jumps, waiting near the large crates.
About a minute passed before we heard the rumble of an engine. A black Hummer rolled up along the beach path, kicking up sand as it came to a stop. The door opened, and Chris stepped out,, looking way too pleased with himself.
"Hello Campers!" he called out, strolling over with that trademark smirk. "Hope you enjoyed your little swim, because we're just getting started!"
He positioned himself between the two teams, the cameraman already circling to get the best angles.
"Alright, campers! Screaming Gophers, congratulations on winning part one of todays challenge!" He gestured toward Courtney. "Killer Bass... better luck next time."
There were a few groans from the Bass side. Courtney looked furious at the clear provication but wisely didn't say anything with the chicken atop her head. Duncan just shrugged.
Chris wasted no time explaining part two.
"Part two is simple—build a hot tub!" He gestured dramatically to the massive crates beside us. "Everything you need is in these boxes. The team with the best hot tub gets to have a hot tub party that night, while the losing team has to vote out our very first camper!"
The energy shifted immediately from the side of our team, the killer bass where clearly a bit downcast.
"Now, since the Gophers won the first part, you get an advantage for this next task the pull-cart!" He gestured along with the cameraman's pan to a group of sturdy-looking carts with wheels and handles. Then he pointed at a sad pile of wooden crates near the Bass. "Bass, you get to carry your stuff the old-fashioned way. Have fun with that!"
He paused, grinning almost wickedly at the collective reaction of us all. The Bass team looked devastated.
Though knowing the future victory of our team, it didn't affect me much, not just due to my future knowledge, but with Izzy as our newest member.
"Oh, and one more thing, you have to open the crates with your teeth. No tools allowed!"
The collective groan from both teams was immediate.
"Are you serious?!" Courtney shouted from the Bass side.
"This has got to be some kind of wrong!" DJ called out, although timidly.
Duncan laughed suddenly. "This show's insane."
"Dude, we're gonna get splinters in our mouths," Cody muttered beside me.
"Your carts are over there." Chris pointed lazily. "Now get moving! Time's ticking!"
Damn, no ready-set-go? What kind of production was this?
The moment the words left his mouth, A thunder of feet could be heard as our team immediately swarmed the crates, the other team doing the same on their side, surrounding their pile.
"Let's haul one up all together!" Heather shouted over the noise.
With no dispute, we started working.
Afterwards Heather, Trent, and Cody grabbed one side of the pull-cart's handle. Me, Owen, and Justin took the other side. Leshawna and Izzy positioned themselves at the second cart, while the rest of the team—Gwen, Lindsay, and Beth took the final one, ready to push from behind.
We got the carts loaded surprisingly fast and started moving. The path back to camp was long from the bottom of the mountain, winding through the forest and along the beach. The wheels of the cart rattled slightly over the uneven ground, but it was infinitely better than what the Bass had to deal with.
I glanced back over my shoulder. The Bass were already struggling with pushing the heavy crates.
"Dudes, they're like... way behind," Owen said, following my gaze and pointing back with his free hand.
"Good," Gwen said flatly from behind us. "Let's keep it that way."
The tension from the cliff dive seemed to melt away as we walked. The cart rolled somewhat smoothly, and the pace was manageable.
Owen suddenly grinned, that mischievous glint in his eye. "You know what this needs? A victory chant!"
"Oh no," Gwen muttered.
"Hot tub! Hot tub! We're gonna win a hot tub!" Owen started, pumping his fist in the air with each word.
Cody laughed and joined in immediately. "Hot tub! Hot tub!"
"This is so dumb," Heather said, rolling her eyes.
Izzy started adding, banging on the side of the cart like a drum. "HOT TUB! HOT TUB! HOOOOT TUUUUB!"
Well, I might as well join in, I did miss the luxury of a "HOT TUB!"
half the team was singing some nonsensical tune, It wasn't the worst morale booster.
But while singing I noticed Lindsay fall behind slightly, crouching down to pick up a seashell. She held it to her ear, smiling softly, before jogging to catch up.
"What's that?" I asked.
"A shell! You can hear the ocean in it," she said brightly, offering it to me.
I held it to my ear for a second, heard the faint whooshing sound, then handed it back. "Nice find. Might be good luck."
She gave a cheerful closed I smile, carefully tucking it into her skirt.
Finally, we made it to the campgrounds, right next to our cabins. The Bass were nowhere in sight for now.
We gathered around the crates, now sat on the dirt and grass.
"We should pry them open from the corners!" Cody suggested, already tugging uselessly at a wooden slat.
"No, the teeth thing is clearly meant to be hard," Gwen said flatly. "We need to find the weak points first."
Owen was already gnawing on a corner like an oversized beaver. "Mmph! Tastes like splinters!"
I glanced over at the Bass team coming in the distance. They were struggling but surprisingly in sight, though they seemed to be missing a few companions. Knowing them, their coordination would be even worse.
After a few minutes of attempts from us all, I glanced at Izzy, who had somehow found or made rope and was using it like a tug. She finally got our first crate open. Inside were wooden planks, bolts, a tarp, and what looked like heating equipment.
To not waste any time, I quickly interjected, "We should use the wooden planks as prybars for the other crates."
Heather immediately stepped forward, hands on her hips. "Good suggestion. Everyone, listen up. If we want to win this, we need to stay organized. I'll delegate tasks,"
"Girl, nobody put you in charge," Leshawna cut in, crossing her arms. "We're a team, not your little worker bees."
Heather's perfect jaw visibly tightened. "I'm trying to help us win. Unless you'd rather argue until the Bass catch up?"
"I'd rather not have you bossing everyone around like you own the place."
The tension was immediate. The more timid people shifted uncomfortably. Gwen looked annoyed. Justin calm.
I stepped forward, seeing as everyone was clearly going to allow this drama to play out, keeping my tone casual but firm.
"Heather's got a point about organization," I said, drawing both their eyes to me. "We can't all just do whatever. Someone needs to coordinate, or we'll be tripping over each other."
Leshawna raised an eyebrow at me. "So you're taking her side?"
"I'm taking the side of not losing on day one," I replied evenly. "Doesn't mean Heather's the only one with ideas. But shutting her down completely isn't helping either."
There was a pause. Leshawna seemed to consider this, then huffed. "Fine. But if she starts acting like a dictator, I'm out."
Heather shot a look of victory toward Leshawna but quickly changed her expression, softening. "Look... I'm sorry if I came off rude earlier. I just want us to win. Can we call a truce?"
She was definitely overacting a bit but no one else seemed to notice.
Leshawna blinked, clearly surprised by the apology. After a moment, she nodded slowly. "Alright. Truce. But don't think you can boss me around."
"Fair enough," Heather said with a small smile.
"Cool. Now can we actually build this thing?" I said.
We unloaded everything and stood around the pile of materials.
"Alright," Heather said, stepping forward again. "We need to figure out how this goes together."
"Maybe we should read the instructions first?" Beth suggested timidly.
"There are no instructions," Gwen said, holding up the empty crate side. "What'd I expect from Chris at this point."
Everyone started talking at once in an attempt to compile some ideas.
"We should build the frame first!"
"No, we need to figure out the heating element! It's the most important!"
"What if we just stack everything and hope it works?"
I couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh, seeing as clearly no one—including myself—knew how to build this. giving a once over my glance landed at Trent, who'd been the only other one silent the whole time. He was standing off to the side, arms crossed, staring at the materials with a thoughtful expression. He seemed to know something.
"Trent," I called, speaking louder than I usually did. "You've got any ideas?"
Everyone turned to look at him.
He blinked, seeming surprised to be called out. Then he stepped forward, nodding slowly.
"Yeah, actually. I've helped my grandpa and dad build stuff before. Decks, mostly, but same concept."
Heather perked up. "So you know how to do this?"
"I think so." He crouched down, sorting through the planks. "We need to build a base frame first, something sturdy to hold the water. Then we line it with the tarp, seal the edges, and connect the heating unit."
He looked up at the group. "If we work in teams, we can knock this out fast. A few people on the frame, a few on the tarp, a handful on the water filter, and someone on the heater."
Owen nodded. "Alright. Sounds good to me!"
Heather looked slightly miffed that Trent had taken the lead so naturally, but she didn't argue.
"Fine," she said. "Let's split up. Luther, Justin, Owen, you're on the frame with Trent. Gwen, Leshawna, me, we'll handle the electrical and filters. Everyone else, figure out the heater and tarp."
With Heather's management, we all quickly separated the materials and people into mini groups.
Being along with Trent, an apparent master of hot tubs, the frame construction was the first to be completed, with a surprising confidence in its appearance. He showed us how to brace the corners and make sure it was level, using proper marker guidelines. Owen provided the muscle, naturally, hauling heavy planks around like they weighed nothing. Justin, for all his vanity, was actually pretty good with his hands, although he refused to help with the ground base so he didn't have to crouch.
Meanwhile, Heather, Gwen, and Leshawna stretched the tarp across the frame. There was still some tension between Heather and Leshawna, but they managed to work together without biting each other's heads off.
Cody, Beth, and Izzy fumbled with the heating unit, arguably the most difficult, for quite a bit before Izzy just started fiddling with it, electrocuting herself a couple of times until it turned on.
"Fixed!" she announced proudly.
"That's... one way to do it," I muttered to myself, I see everyone's durability here's off the charts compared to my own world.
By the time we stepped back to admire our work, we had a fully functional hot tub. The frame was solid, easily proven by Owen using his full weight to move it and it not even creaking. The tarp held the water strongly, and the heater was somehow running without issues.
No surprise, they won originally for a reason. Though with much more drama. I couldn't allow the team to be too unsteady yet. We needed drama for sure to collect attention, but let's have the audience actually want to root for us first.
They typically latched on to the strongest group at the start since they knew little about each individual, so it was a must to make good, real first impressions of us as a team for the audience.
Trent wiped his hands on his pants, grinning. "Not bad, right?"
"Not bad at all," I agreed.
Heather was smiling too, looking at the tub. She seemed less troubled, seeing how competent the team was.
The Bass team finally arrived at camp. Seeing their whole team glaring at Katie and Sadie, it was clear whose fault the delay was. Their whole team was now walking funny, the troublemakers scratching at their butts. Courtney's eye was massively swollen now. They looked miserable.
By the time they started unpacking, we were already guiding the hose water from our cabin into filling our hot tub.
Chris strolled up, megaphone in hand, and surveyed both campsites.
"Well, well, well! Looks like the Gophers are way ahead!" He turned to the Bass. "Better hurry up, guys. You'll be running out of time soon!"
Courtney tried to rally her team. "Come on, everyone! We can still do this!"
But it was clear they were falling apart. Duncan was openly mocking her attempts at leadership, saying something about her being "way too uptight to lead anyone."
Katie and Sadie had taken off their pants and were dunking their butts in the lake, not helping build at all.
It was a disaster.
I found myself near the edge of camp, watching the Bass struggle. Trent walked up beside me, hands in his pockets.
"Think they'll finish in time?" he asked.
"I doubt it," I said. "They're too disorganized. No one's actually leading."
He nodded thoughtfully. "You handled that thing with Heather and Leshawna pretty well earlier."
I shrugged. "Someone had to. We can't afford to lose because people are bickering."
"Yeah, fair." He paused.
We stood there chilling, watching the catastrophe unfold across camp.
Then Chris's voice boomed out.
"Time's up! Let's see what you've got!"
Chris walked between both campsites, the cameraman following closely behind. He stopped at our hot tub first, running his hand along the frame.
"Solid construction, functional heating system, watertight seal..." He grinned at the camera. "Not bad, Gophers!"
Then he walked over to the Bass hot tub.
It was... barely standing. The frame was lopsided, the tarp sagged in places, and water was already leaking from multiple spots. As Chris approached, one of the supports gave out entirely, and the whole thing collapsed with a wet, pathetic splat.
The cameraman zoomed in on the wreckage, then panned to Courtney's mortified face, then back to our pristine hot tub.
Chris turned to the camera with a massive grin. "And the winner is... the SCREAMING GOPHERS!"
"YEAH!" Owen shouted in victory, immediately cannonballing into our hot tub fully clothed.
A slaughter.
The rest of us joined in the small pool celebration, even heading inside to grab our swimwear. The sky was already orange-ish, but I wasn't done for the day. Although socializing now was critical for team building, it probably wouldn't be best to meet my new roommates as the only winner not celebrating.
Besides, I had one thing better to do.