"Ricky! Ricky! Ricky?" Jewel screamed as she noticed tear streaks on his face while rubbing his shoulder.

Ricky wakes up from Jewel's scream and looks at her with pleading eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jewel asked.

"It's Maude. I don't know why she was rude to me yesterday." Ricky said before a lump is created in his throat.

"I'd hate to say it, but I told you so." Jewel shakes her head.

"How come you didn't stand up for me? You knew she was being rude to me for no reason." Ricky started crying.

"Maude is hard to reason with, so I don't even bother." Jewel scoffs.

"What do you mean she's hard to reason with? Why can't you simply tell her what she did was wrong?" Ricky continued crying.

"Because she's very abusive!" Jewel cried.

"Oh my God! What?" Ricky shouted as Jewel sadly nodded her head. She extends her arm and points at a scar on her forearm.

"This is from when I was seven. She hit me with a stick when I wet the bed." Jewel said before showing the rest of her scars on her arms, legs, and feet. The scars ranged from bruises and scratch marks to slash marks, presumably a sharp object.

"That's a lot!" Ricky exclaimed.

"Bed-wetting wasn't the only punishment she's beaten me for. It was for little things too, mainly little mistakes I make." Jewel continued crying.

Realizing that Jewel was right, he would never imagine that she faced severe repercussions for being with him among other things. He gets up from his sleeping bag, unsure of what to do.

"Where are you going?" Jewel asked.

"I just need to process all of this, but I'll return, I promise." Ricky said.

"Promise? I want my friends to be in this tent." Jewel said, holding out her pinkie.

"I promise." Ricky said before kissing her lips.

Ricky heads out of the tent and looks around to see Damon strumming his guitar with Kidada wiggling back and forth as he continues strumming.

"Good morning, Ricky. Are you okay?" Damon asked.

"I'm not. It's with Jewel." Ricky cried with Kidada stopping her dancing.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Kidada gasps.

"She's being abused by Maude and I don't know what to do." Ricky continued crying.

"It's all coming together now." Kidada admitted.

"What do you mean?" Ricky asked.

"When we first got here, as we were getting out, she literally went off on her after from Jewel saying that she was fine with interracial dating with an American just as long as he respect her success and struggles." Kidada said.

"How did Jewel react?" Ricky asked.

"She was in tears the entire time and we both decided to comfort her once Maude; actually, when you're an awful person, I don't acknowledge you, I'm calling her The Wicked Witch of Newman. I didn't want The Wicked Witch of Newman to be around Damon and I since I might possibly put my hands on her for what she did to that girl."  Kidada said.

"Look, I'm trying to avoid that woman at all costs and focus on the song I'm writing for my new album. You're going to have to figure that out." Damon said as he attempts to strum his guitar.

"Well, what should I do?" Ricky asked.

"Well, first of all, Ricky, look at yourself. You're a white boy with a black girl and that's all that woman sees: the oppressed and the oppressor in love with one another. Second, your ass need to read a textbook about Australian black history." Damon said.

"Have you read a textbook about Australian black history yourself?" Ricky asked, wondering what the topic about Australian black history has to do with their relationship.

"We've seen documentaries about Australian black history and it's equally similar to American black history: our history isn't taught in schools and we have to look sources that aren't shown in history books. You and your people can learn about your ancestors, but those black Australians and us and other African Americans can't because it's been stolen from us." Damon exclaimed.

"You're basically saying that you're against our relationship. Is that what you're saying?" Ricky cried.

"Come on, Ricky. That's not true." Damon said before Ricky runs off.

"Ricky, wait!" Kidada shouts, running after him to have him run faster than her.

He continues running as tears streams down his freckles with the family friend he knew since childhood seemed to support but secretly oppose their relationship. He runs and bumps into Joel and Hugh.

"Mate, sit down, sit down!" Hugh panics, grabbing Ricky's hand to sit down on a table.

"What's wrong, mate? Talk to us." Joel pants.

"You guys are aware of Maude abusing Jewel, right?" Ricky asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. When I was younger, I would visit the Kadibils during winter holidays and her dad and aunt would be out and about, and she-" Joel stopped to bring back the suppressed memory with Hugh comforting him.

"What happened?" Ricky asked.

"She physically and verbally abused her. Like she didn't really allow her to have a mind of her when she was younger and even when she started her modeling career and coming into her own once she was about to graduate high school, she still treated her that way." Joel said.

"Have you seen the abuse yourself, Hugh?" Ricky turns his attention to Hugh.

"I found out about the abuse on our wedding day when Jewel accidentally drop one of the flowers for the bouquet and she just hit her with her heads in front of everyone." Hugh said.

"Oh my God! She did that on your wedding day and no one stopped her?" Ricky asked.

"Only Joel and I and Desmond stopped her." Hugh said.

"Lamont and Sarah and her sisters tried to stop her, but were too scared to do so because she's capable of not caring about others or their feelings." Joel said.

"That's terrifying! What should I do?" Ricky cried.

"Avoid her." Hugh said straightforward.

"But you guys are an interracial couple, how come Hugh doesn't get tortured but I do?" Ricky said.

"Your situation is different. We're an interracial gay couple, you and Jewel are nothing but Oreos." Joel said, leaving Ricky to raise his eyebrows in confusion.

"What does Oreos have to do with our relationship?" Ricky asked.

"You're a white fella and she's a black girl just like Hugh is a white fella and I'm a black fella." Joel said, looking up and down at Ricky to point out the obvious shortcoming.

"I know that, Joel. Have you had to endure what I'm going through right now?" Ricky asked.

"Well, yes mainly because we're gay. We realized that's just society's problem, not ours. Given everything that happened to me in my life up until I met Hugh, it made me realize that things happen for a reason though that doesn't mean they're acceptable." Joel said.

"With your mom abandoning you?" Ricky added.

"Unfortunately, but that's not really important right now. The important thing is that you need to self-examine yourself and see if your relationship with Jewel will work." Joel said.

"You're right, I guess. I don't know how much I have to take with Maude." Ricky said.

"Ricky, mate, you'll get through this. If Joel and I can get through the racism and homophobia from outsiders about our relationship, you can too." Hugh smiled.

"Thanks guys. So, what were you guys doing here before I hit Joel by accident?" Ricky asked.

"Before you came, Hugh and I were talking about adoption." Joel replied.

"Oh my God, that's great! Have you found any adoption centers here in Australia?" Ricky squealed.

"We're still looking for adoption centers across the country, we just haven't found the right one yet. I don't know how the adoption process works in America, but it's more complicated in Australia but you know, it will be worth it." Joel smiles.

"I hope your dream will be a reality." Ricky said, placing his hand on Joel's shoulder before running off to look for Jewel. Hoping that Maude would not be there, he picks up the pace to catch up to the tent. The last thing that he'd want is seeing Jewel physically battered or broken down from verbal attacks. He opens the tent door to see Jewel, Jessica, and Kay talking before they all turn their attention to him as he sits down on the sleeping mat.

"Hey, Ricky. Can we help you?" Jessica asked.

"First of all, I'm sorry for interrupting. Second, I want to see if Jewel is okay." Ricky pants.

"I'm okay, Ricky. Thanks for checking on me." Jewel smiles.

"We're just here to see if her nails are fully dry because we painted them yesterday." Kay said.

"I didn't. Can I see?" Ricky asked as Jewel extends her hands.

Ricky looks in amazement at the blue nail polish with golden glitter on top of it and turns to Jessica and Kay.

"How were you guys able to do that?" Ricky asked.

"I actually created the nail polish for Jewel's nail without having to go to the store to purchase it." Jessica said.

"Can you tell me how you do it?" Ricky asked.

"Have you had your nails done?" Kay asked.

"No." Ricky replied, looking around.

"Well, unless you want to get your nails done yourself, I'm not telling you how I make the nail polish." Jessica said, pointing her finger at Ricky.

"The only thing that you have to do is handle the chemicals correctly and carefully." Kay said.

"So, what do you guys want to do for your careers?" Ricky asked.

"I want to obviously have my nail polish company. I've learned how to create nail polish since I was a kid like elementary school." Jessica said.

"I want to be a scientist that deals with chemicals. Chemicals have always fantasticated me, I don't know how. But yeah." Kay smiles.

"That's cool. You guys are going to be successful, I know it." Ricky said, thumbs upping the three girls.

"Well, thanks, Ricky. You'll make a good actor." Kay said.

"Thank you. Wait, how do you know about that?" Ricky asked.

"I told them and Jessica saw your audition tape on YouTube. Jess, show him." Jewel said as Jessica pulls out her phone to show him the audition tape.

"Hi, I'm Ricky Barnes and I'm reading for Joe for Average Joe, here it goes. Hey, you might be wondering who I am and what I do. I'm Joe Ross and I recently graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in hospitality for hotels. As a fan of tourism, it was a natural choice to pick that route, but the route that hasn't been easy is dating since almost most, not all women are always attracted to the attractive but shallow and douchey guys who cares about their looks and their partner's looks and as you can see, I'm just regular looking and no one pays attention to me because people value appearance over personality. What does attractive even mean, anyway? Isn't the golden rule of life beauty being the eye of the beholder?" the audio concludes from Jessica's phone.

"What did you guys think?" Ricky asked.

"It's good, however, you sounded monotone throughout. The only thing you can improve is sounding more, I don't know, annoyed with the situation because it would have been much convincing." Kay said as she smiles.

"I agree, Kay. It could use some work." Jessica said.

"I'll work on it. I'm waiting for the creator and/or the producers to respond back." Ricky said.

"They'll give you a chance, just keep an open mind." Kay said.

As Ricky leaned back, Maude enters the tent and throws an object at Jewel, causing everyone to turn their attention to Maude.

"What the hell, Maude? We're having a conversation!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Shut up, Jessica! I can't believe you and Kay are talking to an American! You guys are sell-outs!" Maude exclaimed.

"We're grown! We can talk to whoever the hell we want to!" Kay called back.

"Really? Okay, Jewel, let's go! You're coming with me!" Maude demanded.

"I'm not going with you! I'm having a conversation with my friends!" Jewel argued.

"Don't talk back to me, girl! I said, you're coming with me!" Maude demanded again.

"I'm not going!" Jewel made herself clear.

"You leave me with no choice!" Maude exclaimed before dragging Jewel by her hair with her friends and Ricky grabbing the sleeping bag to hold onto it to prevent Jewel from falling out with Jewel screaming.

"Get off of her! She's coming with me and that's final!" Maude shouted, hitting the gang's hands to remove themselves.

As Jewel continues screaming, everyone comes out with Joel and Nina running to save Jewel. They grab both of Maude's arms only for Maude to elbow Nina in the eye, causing Nina to bounce back and grab Maude by the sleeve to push her to the ground. Jewel slowly crawls back near the entrance of the tent with Ricky, her friends, and everyone else looking on in horror as Nina punches and starches her sister with Maude's hands grabbing her ears.

"Stop it!" Laura shouted, causing everyone to turn their attention to her.

"Laura, I can explain!" Maude begged.

"You better give me a good story. I know how you are when you do something or something happening to you." Laura shakes her head in anger.

"Nina attacked me for no reason when I was trying to talk to Jewel. Here are my scars." Maude said, pointing at her arms with simply red marks and nothing else.

"That's not true! She literally grabbed Jewel by her hair and not bothered to listen to her." Ricky said.

"Shut up, Rocky! Like you know what you're talking about!" Maude shouted.

"You might be a nurse, but you're an asshole!" Ricky argued.

"You scum!" Maude runs to charge at Ricky, causing Hugh to step in between them.

"Maude, just stop, okay? You're ruining the trip for everyone!" Hugh shouts.

"But Hugh,-" Maude explains.

"No, Maude! I'm tired of your excuses, just, I don't want to hear it!" Hugh interrupts.

"You know what? You'll be sorry for this!" Maude shouted, pointing at everyone.

"And in jail for abuse!" Joel called back.

"Shut up!" Maude shouts back as she walks away.

Jewel begins to cry and crawls back into her tent with Jessica and Kay following suit. Ricky looks in sadness that Jewel's power was stolen to fight back against the woman who supposedly took care of her. The manipulation and abuse of power made Ricky wonder if Lamont was equally powerless to stand up against Maude or him being complicit in all of it. It had already been 2 days and Maude couldn't see the new guest as a person and his genuine treatment of Jewel but saw him for something else that Damon and Kidada pointed out to him: a white boy with a black girl.

"Hey, Ricky! Come with us!" Hugh convinced.

Ricky walks towards Hugh and Joel and follow them to the end of the lake where they see Damon and Kidada. They all sit down on the dirt and stare at each other.

"The first thing I wanted to say is what the hell was that?" Damon asked.

"You told me that you knew about Maude being abusive to Jewel." Ricky said, rubbing his eyebrows in confusion.

"No, that's not what we mean. I mean Nina beating the hell out of Maude, I didn't know she had it in her." Kidada clarified.

"If I was her, I would have done the same because she's getting on everyone's damn nerves." Damon said.

"Where the hell was her father? He could've done something." Kidada wondered.

"That's a good question: He came out, but I don't know where he was." Joel starches his head.

"He's her father! There's nothing more precious than a father's bond to his daughter. I don't know his situation, but he needs to step up!" Damon said.

"Why does Maude act the way she does?" Ricky asked.

"No one knows, mate. There are some stuff that's better left unexplained. I personally don't care why Maude is who she is." Hugh said.

"You're going to be all right, Ricky. Don't let her get to you because the one thing you need to realize that the bully can never be victimized from all the bullying they do to other people." Kidada comforted Ricky by hugging him.

"Look, listen, mate. As long as you treat Jewel with respect, that's all that should matter." Joel said.

"I don't know, guys. Do you think this relationship is worth it especially with what Maude did to me in the last two days?" Ricky asked.

"That's your choice, mate. You should make that decision yourself because you put yourself in that situation, not knowing what you're getting yourself into." Hugh said.

As Ricky lays on the ground, he stares at the sky and sighs in agony. He hits his forehand with his fist to repress the negative energy that Maude gave everyone with people either avoiding her completely or standing up to her only adding more fuel to the mean fire. His first time entering a relationship started off smoothly despite some bumps, then Maude came along to make him aware that their compatibility wouldn't work because of their race despite Ricky wanting to believe that he cared about Jewel for her with a short amount of time of spending time with each other.

"Now what?" Hugh asked.

Ricky sighs again and gets up to see Jewel as Hugh claps from behind. He continues walking with Jessica and Kay getting out of the tent and spotting each other.

"Is Jewel all right in there?" Ricky asked.

"She's good, she wanted to talk to you about something." Jessica replied.

"Wait, what happened?" Ricky asked.

"Well, she's glad that we came on this trip to be there for here despite you know who. We mainly talked about how life has been for us and the pool party that's happening next week. You did get the invitation, right?" Kay said.

"Of course, why?" Ricky asked, nearly forgetting about the event.

"We really want you to come. You seem like a decent person." Jessica smiles.

"Yeah, it seems like you care about Jewel just like us." Kay agreed.

"I do, she doesn't deserve to be treated the way she was treated by Maude." Ricky's voice cracked.

"I know. Oh, and Ricky, please be careful." Jessica said.

Ricky smiles and sighs before entering the tent with Jewel twisting her hair around on her finger. Despite the pain she endured, she at least had Ricky, her friends, and some of her family members to turn to whenever things got hard.

"Hey Jewel, are you okay?" Ricky asked as he sits down.

"Somewhat. What about you?" Jewel said, looking down at the ground with Ricky seeing everything that he already saw so far.

"Not great, actually. Especially with what happened to you." Ricky cried, wiping his tears.

"Ricky, I can assure you that I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me." Jewel smiles.

"Jewel, please don't do this. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, I can tell that you're not okay." Ricky continued crying.

"Please, Ricky, I'm okay. Stop pestering me about it." Jewel groans.

"Just know that I care about you. I like you." Ricky admitted.

"What?" Jewel finally looks up at him.

"I like you, Jewel Kadibil." Ricky said.

Jewel French kisses Ricky and holds onto his back with the passion to forget about her troubles and focus on what she wants without being degraded for it. She climbs the American like a tree for his charm and good intentions. She saw despite their racial and cultural backgrounds, there was human decency and the flaws in him. Why should their race be end all be all of their love or just interacting with people than them? The golden rule "treat people the way you want to be treated" can be somewhat effective, but when it comes to a white person falling for someone of a different ethnicity from them, at what extent does the rule apply here?

"Ricky, as long as we're together, we can make it through anything." Jewel said, laying on top of his chest.

"Even if they see us as me the white guy and you the black girl?" Ricky asked.

"Exactly. Even with Maude doing the things she did to me, when I'm alone, I can be myself, my real self not faking it for other people. Everyone else expect for Joel, Hugh, Nina, and Laura are too scared to stand up to her because of her manipulation tactics and narcissism." Jewel sighs.

"Why can't anyone see it for what it is?" Ricky asked.

"They're too scared to do so. They need to have that breakthrough moment that enough is enough, they're adults at the end of the day." Jewel said.

Not wanting to trivialize her experience, the camping trip started off strong with Maude quickly destroying everyone's spirits and finding the dark side of what Jewel is dealing with. The saving graces for the trip were the Lewis couple, Jewel's friends, Maude's sisters, and Desmond and his family. What were Lamont and Sarah even doing? Will they take action?

"Don't worry, Jewel. Everything will be all right." Ricky comforts.

"I know, I wish life can be easy." Jewel sulks.

"Life can't be and isn't meant to be easy, but we can make it beautiful in our way." Ricky continues to comfort as Jewel begins to fall asleep.