Just Jo- Episode One

Well, peeps wanted a Brick's POV… So… Uh… I guess, here's the first chapter…of… um…
Just Jo  ---Hey, that's not bad…! I like that…! Sweet! --- Episode One- Bigger Badder, Brutal-er!


I already knew I was auditioning for Total Drama's new season. I had sent in my audition tape three weeks ago. But this morning I had been sent some of the other competitor's audition tapes- I got ones labeled Lightning, Mike, Jo, Cameron, and Anne Maria. I looked at each tape and I muttered to myself, "Only one girl? Hmm… Whatever…"
Playing the tapes, I quickly found that this Lightning guy was a football player… He was athletic, but he seemed kind of arrogant… Mike seemed interesting… I guess… He knocked the camera down, which was pretty funny, although I did feel bad for him, it looked like he got hurt…
I hit play for the one labeled Jo. I blinked, "Oh, Jo's a girl…" I mumbled, looking at the blond figure on the screen. She was blatantly ordering the producers of Total Drama to choose her for the show. And then she told them that they would just give her the money now. I smiled a little as she finished with, "That is all". She seemed intense… She sorta reminded me of my drill sergeant. Only hot… And female… I watched Anne Maria's next and I was shocked when the camera broke at her end. So the two girls I've seen so far couldn't be more opposite…!
After I watched the one labeled Cameron, I read and re-read the labels of the videos. I re-played all of them again, and I still smiled while watching Jo's. Even here at my boot camp there were no girls like that. She was intense! That was the only word I could think to describe her. Anne Maria didn't stand out to me- I had met girls like her back in school… She seemed okay, but… Not very exciting.
Thinking to myself and picking up my duffle bag, I muttered, "I wonder if the others got different videos…" Someone else probably got mine sent to them… I hope I leave a good impression on them… Then I walked out and headed off to the site where a boat was supposedly to pick me up and transport me to Camp Wawanakwa. It showed up, though about ten minutes late… And once I got on, I was knocked down by the girl who I already knew was Anne Maria running upstairs past me. I got back to my feet and I set my stuff inside the ship and then proceeded to walk to the front of the ship.
Mike was standing up there, talking to a girl with red pigtails. They seemed to be getting along pretty well, and I saw Lightning running back and forth across the bow of the ship for no reason- he kept bumping into the girl. I looked up behind me, after hearing what sounded almost like a snake, and I saw it was Anne Maria, spraying her hair… Mm… 'Kay then…
The boat stopped at a pier, and two kids hopped on board. One of them was a freckled boy with red hair. I certainly wasn't sent his audition! He looked like he was from the country, were the producers sure he lived in Canada? My thoughts were interrupted by the blond girl walking onto the ship. She introduced herself as Dakota- she sure was pretty! She looked like a television supermodel in training…!
The boat then went forward some more, and I began to get very very bored. Everyone was talking to someone else… It seemed like I was just kinda there… The next pier we stopped at brought us three kids… One really big guy with an orange hat, who didn't say anything to any of us, a chubby boy with curly hair named Sam, and an extremely pale girl with white blond hair. She practically floated she seemed so graceful, and she immediately said hi to me. I smiled happily- at least someone here was nice enough to do so…
"Your aura is exceptionally well rounded, minus a few flaws," she said to me with an innocent smile.
I blinked a few times; aura? Sheepishly, I replied, "Thanks…" She nodded and sat on the railing of the boat next to the silent boy. Well that was weird…
Our last pier we stopped at let on two kids, Cameron and Jo. I knew both of them and recognized them instantly. It was great to know people I've never met before- the contradiction of it all made the whole thing hilariously funny. Cameron looked around nervously, and Jo pushed past him to get to the front of the boat. I smiled at her as she walked by, but she was frowning at the ground, and didn't notice. I pouted at being ignored, but I quickly went up to the tiny boy named Cameron and I greeted him. He seemed overjoyed to have someone talking to him, but once the boat started up again, he said he wanted to go up top and see the sights. I didn't want to; I wanted to go to the front of the ship…
Jo was all the way in the front of the boat now, standing next to the red-head. I frowned and stood a little ways behind the girl with red pigtails. I heard chatter behind me, and when I looked I was surprised I had missed a girl with a ribbon in her hair that wouldn't stop talking up top. She was so chatty, how had I not noticed her? Didn't matter at the moment, because suddenly the red haired girl was knocked into my arms.
Faintly in the distance I heard someone announcing my name, so I instinctively saluted and announced, "Brick McArthur, reporting for duty!" In the act, I had dropped the girl, and right after, I quickly apologized and helped her back to her feet.
"Thanks," she said with a grateful smile, "My name's Zoey, by the way."
I saluted her and said with a smile, "Brick. Pleasure to meet you, soldier…!" She giggled at me calling her soldier, and then her attention returned to Mike. I saw instantly that she liked him; and judging from the shimmering of his eyes, he liked her too. Well, one couple has already developed and we're not even on the island…!
And then suddenly the boat exploded, sending everyone flying in every direction into the water. Immediately I resurfaced, and I looked around before starting to swim toward shore. I was going at a steady pace for a while, until I heard shouting. "Triathlete comin' through!" I only heard that before I saw the blond haired Jo flipping through the air. I literally froze and stared in absolute amazement as she flew through the air and dove back into the water without so much as a droplet of water in a splash. When I started to sink a little was when I realized I needed to keep swimming, so I began swimming as fast as I could toward the shore, toward that incredible girl. Okay, so maybe I thought she was more than intense, maybe I thought she was some sort of physical goddess of war or something. Either way, I wanted to get to know her better- she was like no one I had ever seen!
Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated how tired my arms and legs would be swimming through this. I ended up crawling onto the shore, saluting to Jo, and Dawn, and saying softly, "Ma'am." Before collapsing onto the sand. Everything hurt- that explosion had done some damage, and I hadn't noticed until just now. Then I heard coughing and spluttering, and when I looked back up, my jaw fell open as I saw Cameron standing on the silent boy's shoulders, each drenched with water. But he was just standing on him, wait, he was on his head! My face fell even more into an expression of pure shock.
Jo started walking away, and I hurried to my feet. Everyone else from the boat was arriving, and I wanted to be near her when they did. So as she ran her fingers through her messy hair, I walked over and a little ways away from her. She looked at me funny when I sat near her on a rock- I hope she doesn't think I'm weird… She looked away for a moment, and the red-headed boy introduced himself to me as Scott.
Chris's voice boomed over a loud speaker near us, saying our first task was to race through the woods. He made a note not to disturb the wildlife. Lightning made a comment about not upsetting the bunnies, and then an air horn went off over the loud speaker. And then suddenly an ear-piercing roar echoed over the island, and trees began falling. They looked like they were getting closer! Time to haul ass outta here!
Everyone ran as quickly as they could away and into the woods. Jo began speeding ahead toward the front of the group and I was shocked by how fast she was. Sheesh, an amazing swimmer, and a speed sprinter? If she pulled out any more of these amazing physical feats I think I may have to call the CIA and tell them we have a superhuman among us. Even Eva from last season wasn't like this! Sure, she was strong, but Jo had skill! I hurried after her, but unfortunately I wasn't as fast as she was. Lightning seemed to be able to keep up with her, but I wasn't that fast! She looked back at the rest of the group at one point, and she looked surprised when she saw how close I was to her, and Scott too. We were closest next to Lightning. But once she saw us, she began booking it. I tried desperately to keep up, but there was no way I was that fast!
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but Scott still finished ahead of me. Chris addressed me instantly, "Corporal Brick-House!" he shouted, saluting me as I gasped for air and clutched my knees, "Team B…!"
I stood erect and saluted, shouting on instinct and reflex, "Sir, yes sir!" But before I could make a move, I was knocked to the ground by the silent boy. Chris told him he was on team A, and he didn't move. Getting, up, I looked and saw Jo standing by herself a little to Chris's left near a tree. So she was team B! Did that mean Lightning beat her here? I walked over to her, smiling warmly, hoping to make a good impression on this athlete the likes of which the world would never see again.
Jo scowled at me. Why was she mad at me? What had I done? I stood right beside her, and then Cameron hurried over to where we were, but he stood a little ways away from me and her. Mike and Zoey ended up on our team, and then so did Anne Maria. I smiled- my team was made up entirely of people that I knew! This would be pretty easy…
Scott then ran to Chris and asked what the thing in the forest was. Cameron near me said, "I'm pretty sure that cry doesn't belong to any known animal species!" I glanced at Jo again, remaining silent. She had a strong chin… And really pretty purple eyes… I had never seen purple eyes before… Violet… Pretty…
I exchanged a nervous glance with Jo as Chris laughed like an evil super villain- this didn't look good…! What was he going to do to us? She looked confused and nervous, as I'm sure we all did. None of us were prepared for Chris and his madness…
Chris announced to us what our team names would be, he said we were the Mutant Maggots and the others were the Toxic Rats. Almost immediately Mike asked what the references to Toxic waste were about, but as he asked, my gaze drifted back to the blond girl standing beside me with her arms folded across her chest. She noticed, and frowned at me. I felt embarrassed for having been staring, and I quickly looked back at Chris, who was laughing maniacally. … My mind was brought back to terror when trees were collapsing and the roaring was upon us again. And then a tiny naked squirrel hopped out of a nearby bush.
"Hey, it's just a stupid squirrel!" Jo beside me shouted, sounding annoyed. I just looked at the squirrel- why did it not have fur? Why were its eyes yellow? OH MY GOD! I flinched when I saw it blink its eyes sideways. Dakota shrieked when it did, and Dawn asked what was wrong with it.
Chris explained he rented the island out to a hazardous waste disposal company. "Sweet people," he said with a smirk, "But the waste is having a teensy bit of an impact on the flora and fauna…" Dakota approached the creature and it roared at her and shot lasers from its eyes. She ran away screaming, and she jumped into the chubby boy's arms. He looked like he was in heaven when she did- obviously he liked her. She was really really pretty.
"Now for some rewards," Chris said, ignoring the subject of the fact that he was laughing at us. He turned to my team, and he said happily, "Jo, because you made it up here before anyone else," So she had been first! I had a feeling she was… She had kept a good distance ahead of Lightning through the whole race… "Your team gets a trampoline..!" Chef was bouncing on our trampoline. It was kinda weird… And Chris announced, "The Rats get a hack saw…!" And then Chef fell on the ground, dropping the saw.
Lightning laughed at Chef, who threw the saw at him, and Jo laughed at Lightning, and the trampoline came out of nowhere and ran her over like a car. She grumbled in pain and I felt bad instantly. I quickly grabbed hold of her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. She looked at me, and I asked worriedly, "Are you alright ma'am?" That had looked painful!
She shoved me away, and grumbled, "I'm fine, and I don't need your help…" I blinked- she seemed angry with me. What did I do?
Chris announced that we'd find out if he'd blow us up again after the break, and I realized it was for TV… Commercials… Once that was done, he grumbled, "Alright, follow me to where your next challenge starts…" He led the way, but I stayed by Jo as we all walked.
Chris led us to totems hanging above us and he said we needed to cut them down. Jo immediately jumped off a rock, shouting energetically, "Yeah, let's do this!" But she went flying into the nearby river. Chris told us we had to ride the totems down the river to the cabins… Mmmhmm… How exactly would this work…? This trampoline seemed rigged…
Cameron began calculating to himself, muttering about Jo hitting the trampoline with 50 pounds per square inch, when Anne Maria pushed him to the ground, growling, "Outta the way, I want a crack at this…"
"But I calculated for Jo's weight!" he whimpered, hopping back to his feet. She really should've listened. As soon as she jumped, she went straight into the totem, slamming into it headfirst. And she flew back down, but bounced back up. And she did this again and again and again and again. Finally Jo just kicked the trampoline out of the way and Anne Maria slammed into the ground one last time, and stayed there. I felt bad for her…
But I looked at Jo, and she was already moving the trampoline back into place. I grinned excitedly- this looked like it could be fun if I didn't get killed. I climbed onto the rock, and waited for the trampoline to be back in place. As soon as it was, I jumped, shouting, "Charge!" I grabbed hold of an axe lodged in the bottom of the totem, but then I felt the horrible sensation of not having anything beneath my feet and fear flowed through my veins. I started screaming for help and flailing my legs, trying to find some sort of support. Nobody understands feeling suspended in the air with no way down until it happens to them. I swallowed and looked back down at Jo. She had her arms folded across her chest and she was scowling at me.
Swallowing, I immediately felt determined to show her what I was made of. I adjusted myself and used the totem as the surface under my feet, and I began trying to pry the axe free by pushing against the totem with my feet. My dog tags hit the back of my neck once I was upside down, and I sort of wished I didn't have them for a brief moment… The axe was really lodged in that stupid carving! No matter how hard I pulled on it, the thing wouldn't budge!
And then I heard scurrying, and when I turned my head around, I was mortified to find another naked squirrel on the branch right beside me. Immediately I tried to get it to leave. "Ahh, shoo! G-go away!" It roared at me and I screamed in fear- if this one had laser eyes, too, I was basically dead… And then suddenly… a rock? A rock. A rock flew into the squirrel's face and it began firing lasers down at my team. I heard screaming and I could see Cameron sprinting away as fast as he could. But my attention quickly returned to the evil creature before me.
It noticed me again and began firing at me. I dropped, pulled my legs back up, screamed, and shouted, gripping the axe tightly, "Not the crew cut!" The lasers fired and hit the axe, reflecting their path up to the branch that our totem was tied to and slicing straight through it. The whole totem fell to the ground, as I clutched the wooden maggot, and screamed. I slammed into the ground beside the totem. I blinked a few times- surprised to be in one piece.
Looking behind me, I smiled to find Jo had run up behind me and was happy with me. She had whispered 'yes' and I felt so proud. I had impressed the Olympian! That was an accomplishment! I saluted excitedly and said, "Mission accomplished." And the next thing I knew the totem collapsed on top of me.
It hurt like absolute hell, but I tried not to complain ever, so I just hoped my team would help me. I felt the weight lifting, and happily I saw all my teammates lifting the totem off of me. Once I got free, I stood up and grumbled, rubbing my now very bruised chest, "Thanks…" Jo didn't waste time pushing the totem toward the river. She was doing a pretty good job of it by herself, but she obviously couldn't do it alone. We all hopped forward and began pushing the massive totem. It got to the water, and with a few last shoves we all hopped onto it. I sat right behind Jo, Anne Maria behind me, and Cameron behind her. And then there was Mike and Zoey… In the back…
The Rats had gotten into the water, and Jo shouted, scowling at them, "They're gaining on us!" I was looking ahead and I swallowed at what I saw. The edge of the river. And no continuation.
"It's my duty ma'am to inform you that we have bigger problems," I said, pointing ahead for Jo. She turned her head around and gasped.
Cameron squeaked from behind me, "My first waterfall!" As we approached, I thought of jumping off, but this was probably the safest place to be. I looked at the back of Jo's head as we got ever closer to the edge- maybe I should hold onto her? What if she fell off? She'd get killed instantly! I was hesitant, though, and didn't do anything before we plummeted forward off the waterfall. We skidded across the hill below the water, and we continued speeding down, destroying dirt and earth beneath us.
As we sped, the other team sped past us, and Jo spat angrily, "Hey! How'd they get in front of us?" She looked royally pissed. Maybe I should avoid her………But she's so cool! I wanna see what else she can do…! Maybe I'll just try not to make her mad…
Once we cleared the brush, our totem went flying straight out; at such a speed we all fell scattered on the ground. Our totem exploded, and the ringing in my ears afterwards was terrible. My whole body hurt something awful right now… Not only my entire front being bruised thanks to our totem, but now everywhere else was sore from falling. Chris announced that we won, as we were the only ones with a cabin still standing. I was on my hands and knees, and I groaned somewhat happily, lifting my arm into the air, before collapsing back onto the ground.
I felt a tugging at my shirt. "At attention, soldier," I heard a very stern voice say. It sounded almost like my drill sergeant… I thought I was at Total Drama Island… I don't understand… I stood up; blinking my eyes open and I realized the one who had told me to get up was Jo. She went over to Ann Maria, and I noticed that she had a slight limp. Had she gotten hurt? I watched as she forced her groaning teammate to her feet, and I smiled- determined to make us all stay alive. Jo was difficult to get a read on… On minute she's terrifyingly angry, the next she's being sweet and picking Cameron up in her arms… Wait… What…?
Jo was carrying Cameron bridal style into the cabin. Apparently he had sprained both his ankles. But for some reason, seeing her carrying him made me feel queasy. Or maybe it was my inner bleeding… Probably the latter…
She took the small boy into the cabin- the boy's side- and then walked back out and went into the girls' side to determine bunking. I glanced nervously at the other two girls as they walked in after her, and then I went into our side of the cabin. Cameron was lying on his bottom bunk to the right, and he was groaning. I smiled in sympathy, and I said, "Hey Cam, don't worry… You'll feel better after a good night's sleep…"
"Tell that to my Achilles tendon… I think it might've torn…" he grumbled, rubbing his head weakly.
I smiled again and went to his side. Mike came in and I said to Cameron, "If that were the case you'd bleed out in seconds… Besides, I don't think Jo would let you die…"
"Maybe…" Mike said behind me. I turned around and gave him a quizzical look. He held out a hand and said, "I watched her audition tape. She seems like she'll only do whatever it takes to win… She probably only helped us today because we're on her team…"
I frowned- he certainly seemed quick to judge. Cameron behind me commented, "She seems okay so far… But I prefer talking to Zoey… She seems kinder…" Mike and he began talking about Zoey- apparently Cameron had watched her audition. This was boring me, so I went outside the cabin.
I smiled instantly when I saw Jo sitting on the steps of the cabin. She rolled her eyes at me, but I didn't really mind. I watched her for a minute before looking up and seeing the other team. I walked up behind Jo and asked curiously, "So who'd they vote off?"
She was resting her head on her hand and she muttered, "Looks like Chatty…" I stood there, watching the other team for a little while. Now that I thought about it, with Staci gone, basically all of the girls here were absolutely gorgeous. Dakota was a Barbie doll, Zoey was thin, but attractive in her own way, Dawn was so light and graceful she was like a flower blossom, Anne Maria was shorter and stouter, but she knew how to make herself look good… And then Jo…
I looked at her, and I smiled instantly to see that she was staring at me already! We sat there and stared at each other for a little while. Jo was attractive in her own way too, I guess. I mean, she's already like some super-human…! But her eyes were definitely pretty, and she had nice cheekbones, and a firm, strong chin… And her dirty blond hair that hung just above her shoulders fit her perfectly. She looked fit, too. She wasn't as skinny as Zoey or Dawn, but I had a feeling that under that sweater of hers there was a beautiful set of abs gracing her stomach. I blinked at my own thoughts. I was describing Jo like some sort of work of art… She wasn't even as pretty as Dakota was…. But… As she got up and went back inside the cabin, I felt like there was something about her that was so much better than what Dakota could ever offer me…
"Wow, she's got a nice butt…" I mumbled to myself just as she walked inside. She probably worked out enough to have every muscle toned to perfection… Probably why her butt was so awesome… I blinked and turned, looking at my own backside. Was my butt that toned? I worked out a lot…! Hmm…
After standing outside for a little while, I smiled to myself and went back inside the cabin. I climbed onto my bunk, plugging in the night-light tank I had, and then going to sleep. Today hadn't been so bad… I had met a really incredible girl… And I had started making some new friends…


Um… Well… That was… Um… Yeah… I don't really know how to describe this…
I feel like Brick's so out of character…! GAH! I'm not good with military guys…! He'll be more in character as the story goes on, I promise! And I fixed up my mistake in this episode! (The order of questions and squirrels…)
And I'm gonna fix the events in the following chapters… And then Brick's going to be the adorkable cadet we all know and love! I promise! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE THIS STORY JUST BECAUSE THE FIRST CHAPTER SUCKED! YOU GUYS ASKED FOR THIS!!!