Brick-House

Well, let's see if this works out… First time trying an actual Total Drama story… Um… It's pretty heavily Jock, so… Well…. Whatever, I guess… (Jo's Perspective) Oh, and please note, every scene of Brick staring is absolutely one-hundred percent true. Watch the first episode again, I've watched it four times in two days and I've now noted at least six separate scenes of Brick just glancing at Jo when he should be looking in other directions. Why? I'm not sure, but those moments seem to be extremely subtle hints of Jock, so I'm goin' with 'em!
Brick-house
Chapter One- Bigger, Badder, Brutal-er!

The air was chilling as it hit my face, I scowled against it and continued my gaze forward, and then I heard what sounded like shouting. Turning my attention to the red-head next to me, I growled lowly, "Stay outta my way if you value your kiwis…" I added the kiwis part because I thought maybe that would make him even more convinced that just because I was a girl didn't mean I wasn't a force to be reckoned with.
He had been leaning on the railing of the boat transporting us to Total Drama Island, but when I spoke, he stood straight. "Right back atcha," he said in a tone just as cold as my own, then he proceeded to sniff his own armpit. Gross, much? Although, what he had said did irritate me a little- what had he meant by that? I scowled at him even harder, as my mind processed his insult. My scowling was interrupted when I heard someone shouting. A dark skinned boy in a jersey was shouting something about gorgeous- then he kissed his own bicep. I guess gorgeous was himself…?
I looked back at the red-head and frowned when I saw he was watching the others near us. Scowling at him was enjoyable- gave me a chance to flex the muscles in my forehead. What was so interesting about the others? Looking, I chuckled with amusement as I saw one boy with black hair drop a girl with red pigtails to the ground. Other people's misery was always so funny. The boy was saluting to someone, saying his full name. I take it he heard the shouting noise too.
There was a large boy in a sweater near the saluting boy; he was one of the quietest people on the entire boat ride, considering a girl in a pink sweater hadn't shut up about her some odd relatives and what they had invented. Quiet was preferred to the non-stop chatter… I gave up on watching the rest of the contestants and I went back to glaring forward, that is, until our boat exploded.
Colliding with the icy water was a wonderful wake-up. I grinned and began swimming instantly. Being a triathlete I was the most physically fit one of the group, or at least it seemed that way- half of these kids didn't even know how to swim!
I pushed the pink sweater girl out of my way along with red and shouted for them to make way. I added in the triathlete part just before pushing down on the head of the game-junkie in the back of the boat. I used him like a mount and flipped through the air: whether I impressed anyone with this stunt, I didn't care. It made the trip faster- I had to be first to shore!
Stepping onto the sand and gasping softly, I glanced over my shoulder to see the others swimming closer, but no one else on land and I cheered happily. "Woo! That's what I'm talkin' about! First one on the- duh…!" I gaped, seeing the white-blonde-haired girl sitting on a rock with a starfish in her hand. "How did you…?" I began, but then I looked at her and shouted, "You're not even wet!"
She opened her eyes and replied, "Hm? Oh, I took a shortcut…" She made it sound so simple- what kind of shortcut through water makes it so you end up completely dry? I scowled at her- what sort of crap was she pulling?
I noticed the black haired boy from earlier crawl onto the beach- I was slightly impressed that he was the next onto the shore after me and freak girl over there. Of course, crawling and gasping like he was made him seem all the more weak. He lifted one arm, saluted, and said, "Ma'am." Before collapsing into the beach and letting his face lie flat. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the drenched twerp.
Then suddenly out of the water, it looked like the string bean from the boat was floating out. I was wide-eyed in shock: was this how the freaky girl had done it? But then underneath him I saw a hat, then a head, and I saw he was just standing on the sweater silent boy. Although, my mouth was hanging open and I watched them in shock- how? After they walked off, I glanced down and nearly choked on stifled laughter at the black-haired boy's face. It was priceless!
Slowly everyone else began clambering onto the shore, with one exception- game-junkie… Maybe pushing him under wasn't such a good idea; I can't afford any lawsuits… Yet… I was standing and shaking my head, letting the water splatter and fly from my hair before I ran my fingers through it a couple of times- it was still dripping, but it was better than it had been I guess… I thought about sitting on a rock, but I didn't. I walked off and noticed the black-haired boy, named Brick: why had I forgotten that? He had announced his name on the boat… Maybe the swim made me forget that…. Either way, he followed me.
I gave him a funny look before coming to a stop and just standing there on the beach, looking around. The red-head wasn't far behind Brick, but this guy really seemed intent on staying near me. He sat on a rock across from where I stood- creep… Red-head, who introduced himself as Scott to Brick, stood next to him. Great, now I'm stuck near both of them… Of course, I could always walk over to where the other contestants were, but then again I liked my solitude. The others all seemed so…weak…
Suddenly the loudspeaker above us boomed in the voice of Chris. He told us that he hoped we enjoyed our swim; I scoffed at that and I saw Scott roll his eyes. Nobody appreciates the humor, Chris… He said we had to run a path through the woods but we should try not to upset the wildlife.
"Yeah, we wouldn't wanna upset the bunnies…!" I heard the snarky remark behind me, it sounded like the boy in the jersey, but I didn't feel like looking back at him. And lucky us, then the loudspeaker set off an incredibly loud horn. The horn was swiftly followed by an immense roaring and trees toppling over. Each of us began to run as fast as we could through that path.
I quickly went from the back of the group to the front. I found the jersey boy, apparently named Lightning, because he kept speaking in the third person, didn't have much of a hard time keeping up with me. Too bad for him I'm a triathlete and I'm gonna get first place. I glanced back once to see where the others were, and to my dismay I saw Brick and Scott each not far behind Lightning and I. Were they following me? Had I made an enemy already in Freckle-face? I furrowed my brow- seemed feasible, but that didn't explain why Brick was so keen on following me. I hadn't said a word to him yet…had I?
The two were actually very very close to me at one point, but thankfully I began sprinting as fast as I could and they just couldn't keep up. Lightning chased after me, but he just couldn't get closer than a foot behind me for the rest of the run. I saw the finish line and grinned when I crossed under it first.
Skidding to a stop, I whispered, "yes…!" Then I turned to Lightning and said with a grin, "Sorry you had to lose to a girl."
"What girl?" he replied, stepping forward after glancing around. He placed one hand into the air, and said, "Lightning never loses bro…!"
I scowled darkly. Bro… Great, another one saying I was male… Pushing that aside, I turned my cold gaze to Chris, who drove up to us. "Captain Modesty," he said, addressing Lightning, "Two steps left, you're team A." I had my arms folded across my chest and I looked up at the host expectantly. "Yo, Jo, move right, you're team B." I had already begun walking before he even finished, well, more like stomping.
Suddenly Scott showed up, gasping for air, and Chris said, "Pitt sniffer, team A." I smirked- he had noticed it too. And then Brick ran up behind Freckle-face, placing his hands on his knees and buckling forward slightly. Chris addressed him by mock-saluting and saying in a serious drill sergeant tone, "Corporal Brick-house, team B."
Brick-house? I chuckled at the nickname. Brick saluted in return, saying, "Sir, yes sir." Just before getting knocked to the ground by the silent sweater boy. Chris greeted him by referring to him as Silent Treatment. Again, I chuckled to myself.
Brick got up, dusted himself off, and began walking over to where I stood. "Bubble boy, team B." I heard Chris say. I saw the toothpick hop off the big guy's hood and start heading our way- what was he, a leach? Brick stood beside me and Cameron stopped a little ways away from him. Why'd Brick choose to stand literally three inches away from me? I was irritated enough as it was already; did he not get the memo? Leave. Me. Alone.
After a little while the teams were put together. Chris announced that team A would be known as the Toxic Rats. After Lightning went on a rant about himself, of course… Sam was the only one who smiled and laughed about it. My team was apparently referred to as the Mutant Maggots. None of us reacted to that one…
"Um, what's with all the references to chemical waste?" Mike asked, I had ignored him in the beginning, but he did point out a strange coincidence. I looked at Mike, but I noticed almost immediately that Brick was looking at me. I frowned at him and he looked at Chris, I quickly followed his gaze.
"Relax, everything will make sense eventually," he said before laughing maniacally. Everyone exchanged glances on each team in fear of Chris.
Scott asked what the thing in the forest was, something plaguing all of our minds, and I looked at Cameron as he spoke. "I'm pretty sure that cry does not belong to any known animal species!" he shouted, holding his head. I wasn't looking at him, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Brick look at me. I twitched when he did. Of course, Brick was the least of my worries when suddenly the trees began falling and the roaring started back up. Terror flowed through my veins, but I was excited to see what Chris had in store for us.
Out of the bushes hopped a naked squirrel. Scowling, I said, "Hey, it's just a stupid squirrel!" Dakota 'awed' over it, but then it blinked its sideways eyelids one at a time and she squeaked with fear. Dawn asked what was wrong with it- Chris had called her the aura whisperer; I didn't even want to know why.
"While we were away, I rented out the island to a nice, family oriented bio hazardous waste-disposal company. Sweet people," Chris explained, sounding all too happy, "But, the waste is having a teensy bit of an impact on the flora and fawna..." Then the squirrel ate a butterfly- that's a teensy bit to Chris, huh?
Dakota said it was weird and she wanted one, until it roared at her and shot lasers from its eyes- oh yeah, definitely a teensy impact… She ran and jumped into Sam's arms as Chris laughed.
Chris informed us that we got rewards for our little jog. "Jo, because you made it up here before anyone else, your team gets a trampoline!" Chef was bouncing on our reward, which didn't make much sense to me but I figured it had to be worth something… He said the opposite team got a hack saw, and Chef fell off the trampoline. Lightning laughed at him, Chef threw the saw and it hit him in the face, I laughed at Lightning, and then the trampoline flew out of nowhere and crushed me. It hurt, but I've felt worse…
After a brief moment of Chris yelling, I felt two firm hands take my shoulders and they helped lift me to my feet. Looking up, I saw Brick and he asked if I was okay, calling me ma'am again. I pushed his hands away and grumbled that I was fine and that I didn't need his help. I heard something about a bomb and Mike asked if Chris would blow us up again.
Well, actually, he said, "He won't really blow us up again, right?"
Chris popped up between Mike and Red and asked, "Won't I?" Then he did his schpheal about commercials and we all followed him to where our challenge would begin. Once again, Brick seemed to be staying close by my side. He was in the military, I think, or at least a cadet- maybe he had been impressed by my flip over Sam's head and placing first in the run? Then again, I was the most athletic girl in this competition, probably most athletic overall, and for a military kid that must be intriguing if nothing else. Maybe he saw me as valuable- which he should. Everyone should. I'm the fastest, strongest, and the best. My team is lucky to have me here.
When we finally got to start our challenge, I was anything but thankful when Chris told us there were bombs on our totems, hanging above our heads, which we had to cut down. It wouldn't be too much of a challenge for me personally, but having to deal with everyone else being dead weight would only slow me down.
Chris gave the okay and I climbed onto a rock, shouted, "Yeah, let's do this!" I jumped onto the trampoline, but hadn't thought of where my feet were aiming me and I flew into the river. I had to swim back out and see what was going on with my team.
Cameron was rambling about me hitting the trampoline when Anne Maria, or Tan-in-a-can pushed him, saying, "Back off, I want a crack at this…" She jumped off the rock, ignoring Cameron's warning and bounced straight into the totem, slamming into it with a loud thud. Everyone went 'ooh' because it obviously hurt.
I grinned as I watched her bounce back down, then back up, then back down, and after the third time my smile fell. Once or twice was funny, but this was getting old. Finally I shoved the trampoline out of the way with my foot and she landed on the ground and stayed there. I saw the other team coming up with some strange plan, which wasn't good for us. Luckily, after moving the trampoline back, Brick jumped off the rock and onto the trampoline. He shouted something, I'm not sure but it sounded like charge, and he went straight up, grabbing onto an axe lodged in the bottom of the totem.
He started shouting and kicking his legs once he was up there. He must've realized he had no way to get back down. I groaned, "Good grief…!"
Beside me, Anne Maria spat, "Sheesh, what a baby!" I glanced at her, then back up at Brick. He had given up flailing his legs and he looked down at all of us. I folded my arms across my chest and scowled at him. I heard Mike shouting in a strangely low voice that didn't seem to fit him, and then I smiled a little to see Brick beginning to try and dislodge the axe. Although, being upside-down, I don't think it was really working…
His dog tags hung behind his head and then to my horror, I saw a naked squirrel scamper out onto the branch closest to Brick. If this one was like the squirrel from earlier, we were all in danger. And then Mike had to be the great jack-ass and throw a rock at it. It immediately began firing lasers at us, and we all had to scramble and try and get out of its range.
It turned its attention to Brick and began firing at him. He was shouting at it, at one point I heard him say "Not the crew cut". Those dog tags came in handy- the lasers reflected off of them and shot up, splicing the branch our totem was tied to, causing it and Brick to come crashing down.
We all ran to him, and I whispered, "Yes…!" Brick looked up at me as I smiled at him- looks like he might be worth something after all…
He smiled up at me, looking elated to hear all this praise, briefly before saluting all of us and saying, "Mission accomplished." And then suddenly the totem fell over and on top of him. I winced at the idea of the feeling, but my team quickly began trying to get it off of him. I did most of the lifting- my team's a bunch of weaklings! Brick thanked us for helping him, and he got to his feet.
We pushed the totem into the river and hopped on as we began floating along at a quick pace. I turned my head around and I shouted, "They're gaining on us!"
Brick, who I just noticed was sitting directly behind me, said, pointing one finger forward, "It's my duty to inform you ma'am that we have bigger problems…" I turned my head back around and inhaled sharply at the sight of the waterfall.
"My first waterfall!" Cameron shouted eagerly.
Mike shouted in his old man voice, "And maybe our last!" Just before we plummeted off the edge. Everyone was screaming- but my head was clear enough to watch ahead of us and see that as long as our angle didn't change we'd be fine.
Upon impact, at first the thud rattled me, but after we began flying down the hillside it felt normal again. To my dismay, however, the other team sped past us. Scowling, I shouted, "Hey! How'd they get in front of us?" I was angry, but there was no way for us to catch up, so we just had to keep sliding down the hill.
After at least thirty seconds, we cleared the hill, our totem flying and my entire team falling off and landing at various locations. Our totem exploded, along with the Rats' cabin. Chris was talking, but all I could hear was my pulse pounding in my ears- every part of my body hurt. Stupid totem…
"As the only ones with a cabin still standing, the maggots win the first challenge!" Chris shouted. I was standing, my eyes closed with pain, and I lifted one arm weakly, grumbling a soft yes before letting my arm drop down and then my entire body. I blocked Chris out and rubbed my leg.
Eventually I figured I may as well take the lead- I got to my feet and began trying to get the rest of my team to do the same. Brick was easy- he stood up after I pulled at his shirt and told him to get at attention. Anne Maria was tougher- she complained every second I tried to lift her. Zoey and Mike helped each other up- the sappy couple… And Cameron had to be carried to the cabin. Some team.
Anne Maria and Zoey were in the girls' side of our cabin, groaning about their bruises and their hair and how the river ride had messed up their mascara. Getting annoyed was an understatement; I got up and left the room. I sat outside the cabin, rubbing my leg again- it would bruise, sure, but I didn't care. I watched as the Rats came back to their cabin- with one less member. Fine, at least now the teams were even in number...
I heard a door creak open and glancing back I rolled my eyes when I saw Brick. He smiled at me, walked up behind me and asked, "So who'd they vote off?"
"Looks like Chatty," I replied, resting my head on my palm and watching as Scott hit Lightning and laughed when Lightning thought it was Sam. At least my competition wasn't much better than my own team. That reminded me, I quickly glanced at Brick- the cadet who's probably had experience in all sorts of trying tasks. I guess he'd be good to have under my wing…
Brick smiled at me again, apparently he noticed I was looking at him, but when he smiled, I didn't return it. After sitting there in awkward tension, I got up and went back into the cabin- if he was just going to stand there staring at me then I would rather deal with the blabbering beauty queens. First challenge over and done, hopefully tomorrow's wouldn't be too terrible…
And that was the first one… Don't worry; there will be Jock, I think… I hope… I'm just going off what I saw first. Because I can't ignore the obvious.