I woke up with a headache the next day. The sunlight hurt my eyes. I wished it would rain so I could lie down on the sand and let it soak me. I still couldn’t believe Amanda had been voted off.
But it was time for the next challenge. “Come on, lazy,” Richie said to me. He, Travis, and Diana were all ready to go. I groaned and got to my feet.
Chase picked us up from the beach and took us back to the field on the other side of the island. He collected the immunity stick from me and then explained the challenge.
Lined up in the field were four tile puzzles. We had to slide the tiles around in each of our puzzles to create a picture. But each of the fifteen tiles could only move one space at a time, and only one tile could move at a time. I had played puzzles like this before, but I was never very good at them. The only thing I knew to do was put the corners and edges in place first, then try to arrange the middle tiles.
The reward was a huge picnic buffet. As with the first challenge, the winner would be allowed to invite someone else to join them.
Chase raised his hand to signal the start of the challenge. I stared at the colors on the wooden board and slid the tiles around aimlessly. My head pounded, and I couldn’t think straight. I had about six tiles in place when Richie cried, “Got it!”
Chase went over to the orange board. He studied Richie’s creation for a while and then said, “Richie is our winner!”
If Diana had taken my offer, that could have been her, I thought bitterly. I crossed my arms as Richie said he wanted Diana to join him for the meal. I bet that’s what Richie offered her.
Travis and I had to march back to the camp on foot. I knew I needed a new ally, so along the way, I decided to see what he would be open to.
“Have you seen the wild pigs on the island?” I asked. “They’re pretty cute.”
“No.” Travis shook his head. “I spent most of the first round on the beach. So I mostly saw fish and seagulls.”
“How’d you get your second flag, then?”
“I found a supply box hidden in some driftwood. I took what I wanted from it, and then closed it back up and left it where I found it. Then I just waited. After a while, someone else came along, and when he was bent over, looking at the box, I snuck up and grabbed his flag.” For a moment, Travis looked proud. “He didn’t even notice until I was gone.”
“Sneaky!” I said. “So . . . you think you have a chance at winning the game?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“You think Richie’s going to take you to the end?”
Travis just scoffed. “It’s going to be the other way around. Richie couldn’t last without me.”
“You sure about that? You haven’t won any of the challenges yet. And Richie picked Diana to go with him to the reward.”
Travis didn’t reply. I noticed that his footsteps turned to stomps. Good.
“You and I could work together,” I said. “I have a trick up my sleeve that Richie will never see coming.” Well, in my pocket.
“Sure you do, Ethan.” He rolled his eyes.
“I think Richie and Diana are going to vote you off as soon as I’m gone. But, if you join me, we have a chance to take them out.”
“Nice try, dude. But I’m going to win the immunity challenge tomorrow, and the immunity challenge after that. I don’t need your help.”
With that, Travis sped up, his feet crushing dead leaves and branches. I let out a huge sigh and trudged after him.
Back at the camp, Travis announced he was going fishing.
“Can I come?” I asked.
“No way,” Travis said. “You’ll just get in my way. Leave the fishing to the expert.”
He sharpened a stick to make a fishing spear and then headed west along the beach. Once he was out of sight, I followed his footprints in the sand.
After a short walk, we reached a wall of rocks, moss, and vines. Travis lifted himself up the rocks and disappeared over the top. As quietly as possible, I climbed up after him and peeked out over the ledge. On the other side of the wall was a lagoon full of sparkling green water and fish. Travis stood in the shallow water near the shore, looking for the perfect fish to catch. He was concentrating hard and didn’t seem to notice me at all—which was just fine with me. If he wouldn’t let me join him, then maybe I could learn something from him in secret.
Soon enough, a large shadow appeared in the water. A big fish. Travis reached into his pocket and took out a handful of dry rice. He sprinkled it into the water in front of him.
The big shadow swam a little closer to him and nibbled at the rice.
Travis hurled the spear at it.
With a huge splash, the fish darted away and disappeared. Travis growled in frustration.
I snuck back to camp and grabbed my own fistful of rice. I jammed it into my pocket right as Travis returned moments later, without any fish.
“No luck?” I asked.
He grumbled in response. He threw aside his spear and went into the shelter. “Going to nap.”
Perfect. As soon as he started snoring, I grabbed his spear and went back to the lagoon.
The water was warm in the sunlight. Small, colorful fish circled my feet. My headache faded the longer I stood there. After a short while, I spied a dark spot coming close to me. I took out some of the rice from my pocket and sprinkled it into the water in front of me, just like Travis had done.
The dark spot inched closer. I jabbed my spear with all my might at the shadow and lifted a fish into the air. Got it!
I carried my catch back to the camp. Travis had woken up and was tending to the fire. He stared at me in disbelief when he saw that I’d caught a fish.
“Want to team up with me now?” I asked him, placing the fish on a large piece of tree bark.
He crossed his arms and huffed. I hoped he could see now that I was a valuable competitor and, more importantly, a good ally.
A short while later, Richie and Diana returned from their reward meal. They stumbled back into camp beaming.
Travis rushed up to greet them. “Welcome back,” he said immediately. “For when you two get hungry again, I’ve got some fish here for you.”
“Whoa, nice catch!” Richie exclaimed, seeing the size of the fish. “Great work, Travis.”
“Oh, that was me,” I said. “I caught it.”
They all stared at me.
Then Travis let out a short laugh. “You’re joking, right? Everyone knows I’m the best fisherman here. I obviously caught the fish.”
My mouth opened in disbelief. “You saw me bring it back to camp.”
“Quit lying, Ethan,” Travis sneered. “It’s embarrassing.”
Richie and Diana started laughing.
“I’m not lying,” I protested, feeling my face heat up. “I caught that fish while Travis slept in the shelter.” He pointed to the spear Travis made. “There’s the spear I used.”
“You mean, the spear I used,” Travis said.
All three of them kept laughing. Richie and Diana were never going to believe that I had caught it. Why is Travis doing this to me? I wondered. I haven’t done anything to him.
The three of them sat down in the shelter, leaving me standing alone on the sand. Travis and Diana kept talking at the same time, each trying to get Richie’s attention. As I watched them, suddenly everything made sense. Diana and Travis were jealous of each other. Travis knew Richie liked Diana better, so he lied about catching the fish in order to impress Richie. And Diana seemed to be willing to jump through hoops just to stay on Richie’s good side. In their minds, I was going to be the next one to go home. They were planning ahead, trying to secure their spot in the final two by appealing to Richie.
But they didn’t know I had the secret immunity talisman.