Getting out of the building was built up to be an elaborate plan of stealth and caution, however, Trent failed to consider that he was dragging along me, the least athletic cast member, and Tyler, unarguably the clumsiest loser. So Trent's plan didn't go quite as smoothly as it was made out to be, but it was manageable.

I managed to convince Geoff to cover for us without having him ask too many questions. Geoff never took me as a snitch, so I figured we'd be safe. Frankly, the only real obstacle was getting through the skylight without being noticed. We decided to do this late at night to ensure we wouldn't be caught by another loser.

So we're standing on the pool deck in our jackets looking for a way to open the skylight. It was well into autumn by now and the crisp Canadian breeze was floating off the windows of the pool.

"I brought a rope" Trent said quietly, keeping his voice small in the echoing room.

"What for?" Tyler asked.

Tyler hadn't really dressed for the occasion. He was wearing jeans, what looked like a Maple Leaves t-shirt, and a pair of grungy old court shoes.

"I'm gonna climb up, tie the rope to the rafters, and see if I can get this window open" Trent said looking around for a sturdy path up the wall.

"So then we have to climb? Cause I don't have much upper body strength" I said.

I don't mean to be a whiner, I just have a limited amount of skills. None of which are climbing a rope.

"Hold on!" Trent said loudly, his voice ringing across the pool water.

I flinched.

"Keep it down T"

"Sorry dudes, but I found a better way out"

Tyler and I walked over to where Trent was standing. There was another window that could open.

"Wonderful"

Trent managed to open the window with little effort. The air coming through the open window was sharp. It sent goosebumps across my arms, which were covered by the fleece of my coat.

"Let's bounce" Tyler shivered, crawling through the window. I followed suite, landing on the grass.

Tyler and I are both pretty thin, but Trent's jacked body (Seriously, how often does this guy work out?) was having trouble getting through the narrow split in the window. Once he did, my brain finally adjusted to the fact that we were all violating contracts against the King Of Contracts himself.

As I mentioned, I'm not one for rule-breaking. So getting in potential law-breaking mischief is slightly unnerving for poor Noah.

"What's the plan, Stan?" I tried asking Trent, but he was staring slack-jawed at the distance. I squinted, trying to see what he was distracted by.

"You've got to be joking" he muttered.

"Trent, dude?"

Trent's eyes refocused, making him flinch slightly.

"That's the film lot, those towers over there"

Trent pointed a finger towards two wiry frames of towers that looked like they were bearing lights.

"So McLean imprisoned us on the sidelines of his game, huh? Go figure" Tyler said, his arms folded.

"You rode that limousine over here. Didn't you notice it was just right here?" I asked Trent, whose face was still with disbelief.

He shook his head.

"I swear the ride was like twenty minutes after I was voted off"

"To be fair, he was sobbing the whole time" Tyler teased.

Trent shrugged.

"So now what?"

I'd rather be asleep or watching or tacky movie than be on the territory of the wild competition freaks. At this point the million means nothing to me, as I hardly trust there even is a million anyway. Fucking Chris.

"Let's go check out the lot. McLean won't catch us, he has his own place in the nearest town"

And because we had nothing better to do, the three of us walked towards the film lot.

------

The outskirts of the lot are pretty much just piles of cinder blocks, wooden pallettes, broken lights, and balls of used gaff tape.

"This place screams Chris McLean" I said, stepping through the garbage.

"I really want to see Lindsay" Tyler gushed, distracting himself. He tripped over a pallette, creating a crashing sound that resonated over the film lot.

"Careful, dude" Trent warned, pulling Tyler to his feet. Man that kid is clumsy, which makes me wonder why Trent wanted to bring him. If we get caught, 20 bucks says Tyler will be the reason.

Tyler was rubbing his head.

"Do I get to see Lindsay?"

"We can't go into their trailers!" I half snarled. I'm pretty damn sure if we did, there'd be someone there to beat the daylight out of us.

"Noah's right, especially not the girl trailer. That just would not look good"

Tyler's face fell.

"Then what are we even doing here?"

No one really had a good answer for that. However, trespassing on McClean territory is somehow better than being trapped in a motel with a bunch of whiney, chaotic losers.

We decided it was best to keep a safe distance from the trailers, but we ended up snooping around the tent for no reason other than it was there and out of the way of anyone who could snitch.

"Chef doesn't camp out in the kitchen, does he?" I asked, skeptical to go near. Chef would chop us into little teriyaki bits and serve us as his next meal if he found us where we're not supposed to be.

Trent just shrugged and walked into the canvas tent, followed by Tyler, both lacking concern for the consequences. It was only I who felt the ominous danger seemed to radiate from the tent.

But it turns out I was right, because as I followed Trent and Tyler into the tent, I found they had both halted at the sight of a chiselled figure sitting at the far table.

"Justin?"

It was dark enough that I couldn't see his face, but I assumed Trent must've been able to.

"Hm? Oh, oh, sorry Chris, I was just finishing my facial..." Justin murmured, clearly only half awake.

"Dude, it's Trent"

That must've woken Justin up, because I saw his silhouette shoot up and tilt his head.

"Didn't we eliminate you?"

Tyler had managed to find a light switch, and lit up the tent and kitchen. Justin was sitting at the far table, his face covered in some sort of sugar scrub, and a tub of soapy water beside him.

"Uh, yes, you did... Shouldn't you be in the trailer?"

I was still blinking my eyes, trying to adjust to the light, and absentmindedly ran a hand through my hair.

"And shouldn't you be eliminated?" Justin countered, trying to get the mask off his face with a cloth.

"We snuck out"

Justin rolled his eyes.

"Please don't tell me you're here to beg McClean to be back in the competition. You were voted out almost unanimously"

Trent shook his head.

"No, we're just out for the night, and turns out we're imprisoned right outside the film lot"

The abrasiveness in Justin's eyes softened.

"Don't plan on getting comfy boys, this place is a giant bear trap"

Trent rubbed the sweat off back of his head.

"We were just leaving, right boys?" Trent said, shooting me and Tyler a look. I shrugged and started walking out, followed by a confused Tyler. Trent began walking towards the exit before he was stopped by Justin.

Justin had whispered something into his hair, making Trent's eyes widen. I turned around to see exactly what was going on, but Trent shooed me away.

-------

After what I assumed was roughly ten minutes of waiting outside the tent with Tyler, I began growing impatient. Which actually is quite a while, considering I'm me, and have better things to waste my energy on than waiting around for Guitar Hero and Narcissus himself. I began assessing the film lot. The lights were the only thing lighting up the area, as the sky was full of charcoal clouds. No moon, no stars.

The lot was speckled with different sets, each one tackier than the last, and random equipment littered the ground. And everything was filthy. Either covered in dirt, cobwebs, fake blood, mystery stickiness. I counted my blessings that I wasn't one of the losers, asleep in the tin trailers, exposed to both the cameras and each other.

Tyler was the one to interrupt my thoughts. His fragile, tired voice crackled with fright and disturbance.

"Someone found us" he shivered, pointing his finger towards the motel.

I was carful to turn my head slowly, as if it made any difference. The silhouette on the edge of the lot was unrecognizable, but with Tyler and I sitting under the well lit tent (which was still filled with Trent and Justin by the way), the figure could no doubtedly single us out.

My brain started narrowing down exactly who it could be and what the consequences would be. At least it wasn't Chris. He wouldn't have come from the motel. It could've been Courtney, that little snitch. That probably would've been the worst case.

By the time the figure because recongnizable, Courtney didn't sound too bad.

He had his blanket wrapped around his like a cloak, the same way he had it when we had watched that horror movie at the Playa.

"Cody, what the hell?"

His gentle pace picked up speed until he was standing above me and Tyler.

"No, you! What the hell? Why are you here?" He said far too loudly.

"We're out for a walk"

I stood up so I could start asking him questions. My face was getting hot with both anger and confusion.

Cody looked chilly. He wasn't wearing any shoes, and he was in his pajamas.

"Dude, why are you out here?"

Cody eyed the ground nervously.

"You weren't in your room" he shivered. He tightened his grip on his blanket cape.

I turned my head towards Tyler, who was watching the two of us from the ground.

Why can't Trent hurry up?

"Why does it matter?"

Cody shrugged, and for the first time since the breakup, I felt genuinely guilty. It was clear his feelings for me were greater than just a backup plan from Gwen. Of course, he'd been telling me that. But I'm stubborn. I don't listen.

I opened my mouth to say something along the lines of "go back to the motel" or even harsher, "leave me alone". But before I could emit a word, Cody started snivelling.

Shit. I can't deal with a crier.

" No, don't cr..."

"Noah I didn't want it to be like this! I didn't want you to think I'm still hung up on Gwen, because I'm not! I don't want to have to avoid you! I-I want to go on stupid adventures with you and watch Pawn Stars with you, a-and chug Mountain Dew while watching movies together and ha-have..."

His voice was becoming raw, and his eyes were glossy with tears. The guilt I was feeling started hitting me harder– hard enough to leave bruises.

"Cody, calm down" I whispered. I know I'm an asshole, but there's no way I could deal with this if he was crying.

Cody sniffed and blinked his eyes, letting the trapped tears fall down his shadowed face.

I turned to Tyler.

"Wait for Trent, and I'll meet you back in the room. I have to deal with this"

Tyler nodded, and peeked through the tent flap at Trent.

What the hell are him and Justin doing for this long?

"Come on Cody, let's go talk"

I let him lead back to the motel, keeping a distance between us. He was still sniveling and still wrapped in his blanket. The squeeze through the open window was no effort for the little guy.

I let him lead back into his room. The one we used to share.

"Cody, it's okay, breathe"

He sat down on his bed, his back slouching. I sat on the bed across from him. My bed.

"Noah I will..."

I cut him off.

"Shut up Cody and let me talk"

He whimpered softly.

"You've got to stop sulking okay? I'm not worth that. Go be a playa' like you want to be"

I guess I was trying to sound motivational or comforting, but his face was streaked with salty tears.

"Noah you don't get it!" He sounded angry. "I don't want fucking Gwen or any of those girls! I don't even want any other guy! I was so fucking happy with you and I want you to realize that!"

I'd never heard him swear like that before. But the words rolled off his tounge smoothly, each one slapping me in the face harder than the last.

I had to make sure he was done before I started talking.

"Cody, we just aren't right for each other. I'm cold and sarcastic and selfish – you deserve better than that. And you have an uncontrollable loyalty to Gwen, and I deserve better than that. Plus I didn't even want to date until I was completely done with school, so ending it where I did was the easiest thing I could do. It's best for both of us"

And then I realized what I was saying. Who I was talking to.

This is Cody, the only kid who could've possibly sucked me in far enough to obtain sympathy for another person. The kid who I know helped vote me off the island and I didn't give a rat's ass about it. The kid who snuck out of the motel to come and find me, only to attempt the impossible feat of changing Noah Sterecra's mind once it has been made up.

And something tells me this might be my only chance to change it.