A/N: What'dIMiss presents: A TDROTI FANFIC! This is(I'm 99% sure this is correct) the longest one-shot I've posted here(and the longest authors note)0-0 it took me a few days to write and is just short of 4,000 words.
If something doesn't make canonical sense or someone's OOC, tell me. Five of the characters in this I've never written before(Jo,Lightning, Anne Maria, Cameron and Chris)
To not be confusing: this would have taken place in between the Runaway Model challenge and the campfire ceremony. In this fic, they were done two separate days, with the challenge done first(it's not totally in-canon :P)
Don't own any of the characters or the show.
Please enjoy!
Summer. Nine a.m. Camp Wawanakwa.
Jo knocked on the door of the Maggot cabin.
"Who is it?" She heard Zoey's voice ask.
"It's your teammate. Let me in!" Jo replied, a bit irritated.
Zoey opened the door. She had her hair out of it's normal pigtails, falling above her shoulders. She wore a red t-shirt instead of her tube top, and the usual green capris. She was not wearing shoes or makeup. "What is it, something wrong?" She asked.
"Um, no. If something were wrong, I wouldn't be nearly this civil," Jo rolled her eyes, then remembered why she was there. "Listen, I need a favor."
"Ok, what do you need?"
"You know how Jock Strap-uh, Lightning is convinced I'm a dude?.." Jo said it like it bit into her on the inside.
Zoey nodded.
"I was wondering if maybe...I could get a makeover from you? You seem to know what you're doing in terms of, y'know, fashion or whatever."
Zoey looked at Jo carefully, like she didn't believe what she was hearing. "...Sure! I'd be happy to. If you're ok with putting on makeup again and everything."
"As long as you're not Mike, I'm fine."
Zoey laughed a bit at that. Although Mike's 'characters' were a bit of a touchy subject for her(well, just one in particular) she had found it to be somewhat hilarious when Mike(or Chester, whatever) had done up Jo in clown makeup during the last challenge.
"Is something funny?!" Jo asked.
"No, no. Although I sort of wish that Dakota girl were still here. She was good with fashion, it seemed. We never talked, but she was so put together. Oh well," Zoey shrugged then gestured for Jo to wait while she grabbed a few things. She exited the cabin wearing sneakers instead of bare feet, and her hair was up in a single ponytail. Her makeup bag was in one hand and a spiral-bound notebook plus pencil in the other. She told Jo to follow her to the communal bathroom. "The first step is hair and makeup."
Anne Maria was there, bombarding the room with her hairspray per usual. "Pasty, what did I tell you about keeping your products far away from me? I gotta look good for the cameras, and my man ain't gonna kiss these lips if I don put some o that good lip stuff on! Move over!"
Zoey took a deep breath to keep herself from becoming angry at the mention of Mike/Vito, then coughed the fumes of the spray can. "Mike aside, could I borrow some of your beauty products? Jo here wants me to give her a makeover-"
Ann Maria put her can-free hand up. "Stop right there. Miss No Fashion Sense at All wants a makeover? Why didn't you TELL ME?"
"I just did..."
Anne Maria turned to Jo. "Girl, you gonna look absolutely gorgeous by the time I'm through with you!"
"Sorry, Helmethair, but I've put on enough clown makeup in the past day to last a lifetime."
"Whateva. I'm sure you'll be fine in that cheap stuff Zoey got. It ain't even designer. Totally suits you."
"Could we just borrow a few items, please?" Zoey asked politely.
"Aight, fine, but you betta not use it all. I need it to last all season."
"Thanks," Zoey opened her notebook and began to sketch.
"What're you drawing?" Jo asked, looking over Zoey's shoulder.
"Just the outline of your face. So I can understand where to contour, highlight...you get it."
"No...I don't." Jo had never delved into the world of makeup, or beauty for that matter. She had never concerned herself with it. Mascara ran when you sweat, lipstick smudged. It was always too much of a hassle.
"I'll show you when I get to it." Zoey finished her sketch and unzipped her makeup bag, taking out a container of colored pencils. Jo noticed some skin tones, a few bright colors, and...sparkles?
"Woah, hold it. No sparkles."
"Oh, sorry," Zoey put that pencil back in the container before continuing. She finished in little time and showed Jo the final product.
It was impressive to say the least.
"Let's do it." Jo said determinedly.
Zoey smiled and set to work. She used makeup to highlight Jo's strong facial features while making her more feminine at the same time, then setting it with some powder.
She applied her own liquid black eyeliner to the top of Jo's eye, winging it slightly upward, before adding a thin line of white just above that. She added some bright orange eyeshadow, courtesy of Anne Maria, some darker red-orange to the edge of the eye, and smudged them together to create a gradient effect in order to accentuate Jo's violet eyes. She lined the bottom of them with white.
She finished the face by applying clear gloss to Jo's lips to give them a shiny look that was still natural.
She did all of this with Jo facing away from the large mirror of the washroom. When she was done, she told Jo to turn around and see herself.
Jo stared at her reflection. She looked like a different person, but still her. In the same grey sweat suit and hairstyle, the makeup was almost out of place.
"Don't worry, we're not done yet." Zoey smiled. "Anne Maria, this is where we could use some of your, uh...expertise."
"Aw yeah, this is my time. Move over pigtails," Anne Maria pushed Zoey aside and began fingering Jo's blonde hair. "This ain't hair, it's straw o somethin'! I can't work with that!" She went into her bag and found a leave-in conditioner. "This is what ya need."
"Ugh, do I have to?" Jo asked, a bit whiny.
"You want gorgeous hair or not?"
"Fine, whatever." Jo rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
Anne Maria used a fair amount of the conditioner and worked it into Jo's hair, using a clean hairbrush and her hands.
"You're scratching my skull with your claws. Stop it!" Jo reached up to feel her head.
"No, girl, you stop complainin'. You wanted this."
"It's not that bad, Jo," Zoey assured her.
Jo grumbled to herself while Anne Maria and Zoey discussed how to style it. They ended up braiding it in small pieces before creating a larger braid, and wrapping a hair tie around the end. It was definitely a two person job.
"Yes, perfect!" Anne Maria exclaimed. "Told ya I knew what I wuz doin."
"Thanks for helping, Anne Maria."
"Hey, girls gotta help each otha out with this stuff." She packed up her stuff and walked out.
"Ok, last thing to complete the makeover: clothes!" Zoey led the way out of the communal washroom, back towards the cabins.
Mike and Cameron were hanging around outside their end of the cabin, and they waved to the girls. "Hey guys," Mike greeted, smiling.
Zoey tried to ignore him.
"Is that Jo wearing makeup?" Cameron asked in disbelief.
"Got a problem with that, Bubble Boy?" Jo bit back.
Cameron quickly shook his head while going to hide behind Mike. "Nope, no problem!"
Mike rolled his eyes in amusement. "He's being nice, Jo. You look great."
"Oh. Thanks, I think." Jo never got complemented on her looks by anyone, especially guys.
"No problem."
Jo went into the cabin. Zoey was sitting on her bunk bed.
"So, Jo, where are your clothes?"she asked.
Jo went and got her duffel bag from her bunk. It had all her clothes in it. Which meant many pairs of sweatpants, athletic shorts, tank tops, and her pajamas. Her swimsuit was at the bottom.
Zoey emptied it all out, lay them on the floor and started to pick through things. "It looks like you and I have similar sizes in terms of pants, skirts, etcetera...if you're ok with it, I could get some of my stuff out..."
"Whatever works," Jo said matter-of-factly.
Zoey went and got her stuff out of her bag, laying it beside Jo's. She put some things together, occasionally stopping to observe everything. When she was done, she handed Jo one of the outfits. "I think you'll like this one." She.
Jo looked skeptical as she changed into the new outfit, taking her sweatshirt off carefully to not mess up her hair and makeup too much.
"How am I supposed to see myself? There's no colossal mirror in here!" Jo asked.
"How about we see everyone's reactions first? Show off your new look. That's what this is all for, right?"
Jo thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Oh, one more thing." Zoey went behind Jo and undid the braids. Her hair fell back out, but instead of straight down, it bounced and curled around her face
Jo tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Can we go now?"
Zoey smiled, grabbed her hand and led her outside the cabin.
The first to see it were, of course, Mike and Cameron, who'd stayed where they were the whole time.
"Whoa..." Cameron stared.
"Wow," Mike agreed. "Is that really you, Jo?"
"Yeah, it's me. What, do I look horrific?"
"No, no! You look amazing."
Zoey shifted uncomfortably, now standing behind Jo. She seemed a bit jealous.
"If it wasn't for Zoey, I wouldn't look this way." Jo pulled her up front from behind her.
"Oh, it was nothing." Zoey downplayed herself.
"It's really something," Mike smiled at Zoey genuinely. "You should be a makeup artist."
"Well, I like to think I already am."
"You two can flirt all you want later. C'mon Zoey," Jo grabbed her by the arm and walked off towards the Rats cabin. Brick, Scott and Lightning were hanging around there. Lightning was playing basketball on the hoop, Brick was watching, and Scott was carving a scrap of wood with his shark tooth while sitting on the porch railing. Sam was nowhere to be seen, no doubt recovering from the challenge still.
"Hey, you guys over there!" Jo called, more like yelled.
Lightning was very in the zone, so he didn't hear her. He sunk another shot in the hoop. "Aw yeah, the Lightning makes it again! Sha-yeah!"
Brick and Scott, on the other hand, did hear her. Scott fell off the railing in surprise, hitting the ground behind him. "Ow! Hey, what do you think you're-" He saw her in full now, standing over him. He scrambled off the ground and dusted himself off, backing up a bit to see her. "Uh... wow-who-who are you exactly?" Scott asked, sputtering to find words.
"It's Jo, idiot." She rolled her eyes.
"Really? Wow. Finally decided to get a fashion sense, Miss Sweatpants All the Time?" Scott snickered.
Jo grabbed him by the collar of his tank top and pulled him close to her face. "Listen, Pitstains, I asked for this makeover. And you're gonna like it, or I'll have to rearrange your face with my fist."
Scott gulped and nodded frantically, and Jo let him go, making him stumble onto the ground again.
Leaving him dazed, she approached Brick. "So, Brickhouse. What do you think?" She put her hand on her hip.
Brick saluted her. "Ma'am, permission to complement?"
"Permission granted, soldier," Jo smirked.
"Your whole outfit is well put together. Your hair looks very nice in a ponytail, and your makeup is impeccable," Brick rattled off the complements.
"Why, thank you Brick." Jo flipped her ponytail back with her hand.
"Sha-score!" Lightning' voice could be heard from the basketball hoop.
Jo walked past Zoey. "Hey, Brightning!"
Lightning finally took his eyes off the ball for a second and looked at Jo briefly. "Who are you? Doesn't matter, Lightning won't talk to no pretty girl when he's in the zone!"
"It's Jo."
Lightning held the basketball firmly in between his two hands. "No, you're not Jo! Jo's a dude. A dude who is definitely not better than the Lightning!" He swished another one. "Sha-yeah! Lightning is number one!"
Jo wanted to punch him right then and there, but Zoey put a hand on her shoulder. "Be patient."
Jo took a breath. She walked up to him so they were closer together. "I was just kidding, Lightning." She picked up the basketball before it went to Lightning's hands again. "I'm not Jo." She chucked the basketball behind her. It swished right in. "I'm your worst nightmare."
Lightning stared, looking a bit nervous. He still shook his head. "No girl can intimidate the Lightning! Not even pretty girls who are good at basketball..."
"I'm not just good at basketball, Jock Strap," Jo said confidently.
"Oh, yeah, not-Jo girl? Prove it! The Lightning can best anyone at anything!"
"Two laps around the island. No-three. On second thought, how about we see who conks out first? Winner gets first dibs on the bathroom for their team after the next challenge."
"You'd better not lose this for us, Lightning. Or you're out of here," Scott interrupted.
"Alright. But the Lightning's gonna win!" He assured his teammate.
"Don't count on it."
Jo and Lightning, eventually flanked by Zoey, Scott, Brick, Mike, Cameron, and Anne Maria, made their way to the path. It was still marked from the last season's run around the island.
Chris caught it all watching the video feeds of the island. He walked over with a megaphone, followed by Chef. "Yo! Campers! What is going on here?" He caught sight of Jo. "And who might you be?" He knew, duh, he was just messing with her.
"Beat it, McLean. This is between me and Brightning over here."
"Woah, relax! I'm just here to watch," and Chris sat back in a chair that had been set up bear the start. "Hey Chef, remember when the Season One campers did this? That was a fun challenge."
"Took me forever to make all that food..." Chef grumbled. "And I got no appreciation 'cept from that fat boy Owen."
"They looked sooo happy to see it, though! It was worth it. Trust me, that footage from the challenge was PRICELESS."
"Whatever, let's start this race already." Jo had her foot on the starting line.
"Get ready, runners..." Mike and Zoey started saying at the same time. They awkwardly laughed, then went back to being serious.
Jo got into running position. So did Lightning.
"GO!" Mike and Zoey yelled at the same time. They both blushed.
Jo and Lightning took off, Lightning at a sprint and Jo at a light jog.
They ran around the island once. Then twice. Then three times.
Jo felt good the first three times. Her sweat slid off her face easy. It was kind of nice not having the insulation of her sweatshirt and pants while she ran. She felt the wind blowing in her hair.
We interrupt this no-doubt interesting display of athleticism to bring you this totally dramatic scene(thank Chris for it, somehow he expects it to boost ratings if it makes the final cut):
Mike stood next to Cameron. Zoey stood close to them, but not too close. Anne Maria was on the other side of Mike, and they were...well, Mike's shirt had come off somehow.
"Uh, could you guys kiss somewhere else? We're waiting for Jo to come back around so we can cheer her on!" Cameron tried to get through to the two whose lips were locked.
Vito and Anne Maria stopped making out and looked at Cameron. "Nah, I wanna see my work on display. Plus, Zoey's face right now is priceless," Anne Maria replied.
"Yeah, you got a problem with this, runt?" Vito asked, a bit menacingly.
Cameron gulped. "Nope. Carry on."
Anne Maria turned her head back around and traced a finger around Mike/Vito's abs before he began to kiss her again.
Zoey kept her arms crossed and tried to ignore them. It was really, really hard.
Jo came around the bend, having pulled way ahead of Lightning.
Anne Maria stopped sucking face with Vito and clapped her hands. "That's ma girl!" As Jo was jogging past her, she grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"What are you doing?! I was in the lead!" Jo asked angrily, seeing Lightning pass by and yell "Sha-yeah! Lightning's takin' the lead!"
"Honey, you gotta understand that looks need to be maintained." Anne Maria whipped out a hairbrush and ran it through Jo's ponytail. It had been tangled from the wind blowing through it.
"Ow! Stop it!" Jo pulled Anne Maria's hand away from her head.
Anne Maria put her hand on her chest to show offense. Then she stuck her chin up at Jo. "Fine, but when you see yoself on camera, fdnot blame me for you looking like a hot mess." She walked back over to Mike, who now had his shirt back on thanks to Cameron.
"What happened? Is Jo still winning?" Mike was confused on what had happened.
"Not anymore, thanks to your girlfriend," Zoey looked at the ground.
"Oh, no! I'm sorry, Zoey. I don't know what came over me. Sometimes, stuff just happens and things get out of hand and-"
"You don't have to keep making up excuses. It's obvious how you feel, character or no character," Zoey walked away from him.
Mike hung his head in defeat. He saw Anne Maria eyeing him and sighed.
Jo had started to jog again, but she'd lost the drive she had before. She was beginning to feel tired. She took her hair out of the ponytail, not caring that it got stuck to her made-up face as she continued to run.
She made it around again. It was starting to get dark out, with the sun going down.
"Dinner time, campers!" Chris yelled through the loudspeakers.
Jo felt her stomach growl. "Lightning has to be on the ground asleep by now. There's no way that he-"
"Sha-bye bye, not-Jo!" Lightning passed her by. He looked like he was about to collapse too, but he still ran with total and complete arrogance in his expression.
Jo tried to catch up again, but her legs ached. She started to slow down agai, as they reached the beach for the fifth time. Fang was in the water watching.
"If you're looking for Scott, he's back that way, you stupid fish!" Jo pointed behind her, towards the path.
Fang smiled his all-but-one-toothed grin and made a mad dash for the path. Scott's panicked screams could be heard everywhere on the island. As well as Chris' laughter from watching it happen.
Jo stopped in her tracks and kneeled on the sand of the beach. She was breathing heavily. "I. Am. Done."
Lightning skidded to a halt as well, being multiple yards ahead, he started jumping up and down. "Aw yeah! The Lightning takes the gold! Sha-woo!" Then his legs gave out on him and he face planted into the sand.
"Looks like you beat me, Brightning," Jo said.
Lightning spring back to his feet. "Uh huh, you lose! Man, I wish Jo coulda seen that! He'd have killed me if you were him!"
Jo thought on that for a moment. Lightning was right. If she'd been her normal, not made-over self, she'd have beaten him easy. She set her mouth in a smirk, walked tiredly over to him, and punched him in the chest.
He fell to the ground. "What was that for?"
"Thanks," was all she said as she walked off the beach back towards the cabins.
She arrived to the eyes of everyone looking at her. She walked with confidence as she grabbed both Zoey and Anne Maria by the arms and took them both into the Maggots cabin, She let them gain their footing before speaking to them.
"Listen, you two. I lost. Now, normally I would be doing everything I could to get you both booted next round for making this happen, but I'm feeling nice today. And you made me realize something."
"Oh, what's that?" Zoey asked.
"I don't need fancy stuff on my face to make me feel beautiful," Jo declared. "And I don't care if Lightning is gloating to all the guys that he beat a girl. Jo's coming back, and I'm gonna destroy him,"
Jo looked down at the clothes Zoey had given her to wear, now soaked with sweat: a blue low-cut t-shirt with fancy black lace details on the sleeves and collar, brown leggings that cut off above the ankles, and her regular grey sneakers.
She took off the shirt so that the sports bra she was wearing underneath was showing, and threw it to the side. She traded the shirt for a tank top and her normal grey sweatshirt. It felt good to be wearing it again.
"Now, help me get this stuff off my face," Jo demanded.
Zoey quickly grabbed a pack of makeup wipes from her bag and handed them to Jo.
"Naw, honey, you need some of these babies! They get it all off," Anne Maria handed Jo what looked like a box of fancy makeup wipes, "and your skin feels smooth afterwards."
"I'll take my chances with Pigtails', thank you," Jo handed back the fancy box.
"Ey, when you break out using those cheapo wipes, don't come runnin' to me," Anne Maria walked out of the cabin.
"I'm glad you've accepted yourself, Jo," Zoey said.
Jo nodded. "I'm ready to kick some more guys' butts out there on national television," She cracked her knuckles. "If any of them say I'm a dude, I'll punch them in the face."
"Let's start with beating them in the challenges, shall we?" Zoey suggested. "They can destroy themselves."
Jo smirked. "I like that attitude you have going."
Zoey blushed, embarrassed. "I don't know where that came."
"Maybe I'm starting to rub off on you," Jo theorized.
"We've only been sort of hanging out for less than a day," Zoey reasoned.
"We're on the same team. We've hung around each other more than that, just not as constantly," Jo responded back.
Zoey shrugged. "It was fun putting makeup onto someone else for once, and trying some new things with it. You looked good, but you seem more... alive now you're back in your own clothes." She smiled.
Jo smiled back. "Yeah, I just need to get these leggings off...they're clinging to my legs."
"That's how leggings work."
"What do I care?"
"You don't."
"Exactly." Jo pulled on her sweatpants after discarding the leggings onto the floor.
"Better now?" Zoey asked.
Jo smiled confidently. "Never better."
"Could all campers please report for the campfire ceremony shoot?" They heard Chris call out from the loudspeakers. "After two seasons of nothing, I still love these things!" he added.
And that's what happened.
I sort of pulled things from a bunch of episodes to write this, in case you didn't notice.
That's that! Please review, and thanks for taking the time to read it all!:)
