The After Party
It was almost too close to call, but the Surfer Dudes had reached the Carpet of Completion before MaCarthur and Sanders; The Ridonculous Race was over! The entire peanut gallery stood up from their seats and cheered for the two teams; all except for The Ice Dancers of course, who were still pretty bummed about getting the bronze, even though there were never really any medals to give out...
The entirety of the cast piled onto the carpet of completion so Don could make his final sign off to the camera; as the cameraman yelled "that's a wrap", everyone sighed with relief. Most of the teams would've been more than happy to never come across each other again, but not everyone felt this way. It had been weeks since Noah had seen Emma, so long in fact that he felt like he was slowly dying inside. Noah was never one to regard another human being's feelings, but Emma made him feel the exact opposite!
He realised in Hawaii that he was "going soft" because of Emma; he generously gave one of his two rings to Mickey, who was clearly struggling with the challenge. Owen had become rather aggravated with Noah since they left the race, as he was constantly in a state of depression without Emma. He was also relieved when the two were reunited; finally, his best friend was back to normal... Kind of...
As the teams were departing from the set, Geoff made an announcement. "Yo, don't walk away yet dudes" he said, "as the winners of the million, myself and Brody are gonna throw a WICKED party for you guys! It's gonna be totally rad, you in?" The Ice Dancers rolled their eyes and carried on walking away from the set, but everyone else was up for a good party! "Sweet!" Brody exclaimed, "this is gonna be awesome!"
The teams all caught separate cabs to take them to JFK Airport to catch the next flight to California; Geoff and Brody decided that the party should take place at Hermosa Beach, which is their favourite place to surf. "This is so awesome" said Junior to Dwayne, "my very first party, and it's gonna be a beach party!" "Now don't get too ahead of yourself there kiddo" Dwayne replied rapidly, "just remember you've still got another seven years before you can start drinking any of that adult water". Junior rolled his eyes at his father, who'd finally managed to remove the women's tattoo from his chin.
Even though Noah and Emma were officially dating, Emma was trying to play it cool for the time being; she didn't want to mess up the best thing that's ever happened to her. Owen, Kitty, Noah and Emma all shared a cab to the airport. Noah couldn't take his eyes off his beautiful girlfriend; he couldn't believe how he'd managed to acquire such a creature! He took her hand and held it tightly, but he didn't say a word. Emma blushed whilst looking over at her sister; Kitty gave her a subtle thumbs up, whilst Owen giggled conspicuously.
The four friends made their way into the airport to meet with the others. Noah never let go of Emma's hand, he just didn't want to. The two walked in front of Kitty and Owen, who were both squealing internally in regards to the new couple. "I'm so glad that Noah and Emma are together again" Owen confessed, "he's been so down lately". "Emma's been the same" said Kitty, "she's constantly talking about him and just moping around the house, it's pretty sad". "Well" Owen began, "I guess that's love for ya". "Do you really think that they love each other?" Kitty asked, "like, really love each other?" "I don't know about your sister, but I can know my Noah, and he's completely infatuated... Whatever that means..."
Kitty ran up to stand beside her older sister; "um, hey Noah" she said rather patronisingly, "can I borrow my sister for a sec?" Before Noah could even answer, Emma was being pulled away from his grasp by Kitty. "Hey, what's your problem Kit?" Emma asked demandingly. "Sorry, I've just been talking to Owen and he told me that Noah's completely in love with you!" Kitty said in an almost whisper. "SHUT UP!" Emma shouted. Noah and Owen looked back at the two sisters after the inadvertent scream, but the girls just smiled at them nervously whilst waving and giggling.
"No way is he in love with me" Emma stated, "We've not even gone on our first date yet!" "Well, Owen said that he knows him well enough to realise what he's feeling, and he definitely loves you" Kitty replied. "Why? Do you not love him?" She then added. Emma looked down at the floor, embarrassed. "Emma?" Kitty nudged. "Okay, okay... Yes, I do love him. I really, really do" Emma finally admitted. "Aww sis, that's so sweet" said Kitty, "why don't you tell him?" "Because" Emma began, "I don't wanna mess anything up with him, he's so amazing, but I can't go through the whole Jake experience all over again!" Kitty just sighed with aggravation as she began to walk away from Emma.
The sisters walked towards Noah and Owen, and they then came across the rest of the cast. The next plane departed at 5:30pm Eastern Standard Time, which meant they would arrive in California at 2:30pm, which gave them all plenty of time to prepare for a party. Geoff and Brody gladly paid for everyone's tickets, and they also bumped them all up to First Class! Hot tubs, free champagne, three course meals, television sets, sound systems... What else could you possibly want?! Owen was certainly very excited about the food they had to offer. Most people wouldn't be able to eat a three course meal during a five hour flight, but Owen, as we know, is never one to pass up an opportunity to devour a meal!
Kitty took a seat on the row behind Carrie and Devin, and Noah sat on the opposite row. Owen made his way over to sit next to Kitty; he figured that Emma would want to sit with Noah. Emma looked over at Owen and suddenly rushed to his side; "do you mind if I stay with Kit for the flight Owen?" She asked. Kitty and Owen glanced at each other, confused. "Huh? I thought you'd wanna sit next to Noah" said Owen. "Yeah, but Kitty just gets so afraid when flying" Emma replied with a somewhat shaky voice. "Um, no I don't" Kitty replied whilst laughing slightly, "Owen's the one who doesn't like flying". Emma had an abrupt light bulb moment; "Oh yes! That's right!" She began, "Owen, wouldn't you prefer to sit with Noah? I know how much he comforts you during a flight". Kitty squinted her eyes at Emma; she knew what her sister was up to. Owen backed away to sit next to Noah, and Emma sat peacefully next to Kitty.
"Whoa, hey big guy" said Noah, "would you mind sitting next to Kitty on this flight? I kinda wanna sit with Emma". Owen began to laugh nervously. "Well, ya see, um... Emma sort of asked if I'd sit with you. She's sat just over there with Kitty" Owen explained with difficulty. "What?" Noah asked with a disappointed tone, "why would she do that?" "She told me that I'd feel more comfortable sitting next to you during a flight" Owen elucidated, "then she just sat down next to Kitty. I would've been fine without you buddy, honest". Noah believed Owen's tale, but he didn't understand why Emma wouldn't want to sit next to him.
Emma was tranquilly reading a magazine, but Kitty wouldn't stop glaring at her until she found some answers. Emma peered up from the pages to get a quick look at her sister; man, she was really intimidating! Kitty held her stare, but Emma wouldn't crack. "Why'd you make Owen sit next to Noah?" she finally asked. Emma acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary, "what do you mean?" she asked. "You know perfectly well what I mean" Kitty began, "why don't you wanna sit next to Noah? He's your boyfriend for crying out loud! I thought you'd want to spend five hours flirting and making out with each other, not avoiding each other!". Emma put her magazine down and sighed. "I obviously want to sit with my boyfriend during a flight Kitty, but I'm just afraid that I'm gonna screw things up like I did with Jake" Emma disclosed. "Is this all because I told you that he's in love with you?" Kitty asked, "did it freak you out?" It didn't freak her out at all! In fact, it did the exact opposite! "No, I'm not freaking out, I just don't know whether he loves me as much as I love him" said Emma. "I don't want him to get scared and leave me all because I know I wanna spend the rest of my life with him, have his babies, and grow old with him!" Kitty was shocked; her sister really loved Noah, a little too much maybe.
Devin had finally managed to get out of his full body cast, so he was left with a mediocre band aid on his head. Emma watched as Carrie and Devin exchanged sweet remarks and cute kisses; she wanted to sit with Noah so badly. Owen glanced over at Kitty; they were trying to exchange a conversation without Emma and Noah noticing. The two friends then announced that they were going to the bathroom, leaving Emma and Noah alone. They stood in the gangway to watch what happened between the couple. Emma looked over at her gorgeous boyfriend; his hair glistened from the sun through the window, and his eyes were so warm and inviting. Noah then caught her starring at him; he loved starring at Emma, he could do it all day! He invited her over to sit with him by gesturing, and Emma gladly took the offer. Owen and Kitty began to get a little excited.
"Hey" Emma began as she sat down. "Hi" replied Noah, "what a coincidence that Owen and Kitty decided to go to the bathroom at the exact same time" he said sarcastically. Emma giggled, "I know right". Noah desperately wanted to ask her why she was avoiding him, but he didn't want her getting mad. "So, beach party huh?" he said sort of nervously, "should be exciting". Emma couldn't wait to get to the beach; she blatantly wanted to see Noah topless, but she tried not to admit it. "Yeah, I can't wait" Emma replied, "it'll be nice to go to beach to relax for a change". "Sure beats being dressed as a Hula girl with Owen carrying me across hot coals" Noah exclaimed. Emma burst into laughter at his remark.
Noah then began to reminisce about Hawaii; that's when he really began to fall for Emma. He never stopped looking at her, and he'd even zone out whilst she was speaking to him! That was one serious crush alright. It sucked that they hadn't been on a first date yet. Emma told him that they'd go on a date after she and Kitty had won the race, but since that never happened, neither did the date. All the teams went home after being eliminated, so the couple were too far apart for any dates. One of the cabin crew offered them some champagne, which they obviously accepted. "So, um... Does this constitute a first date?" Noah asked apprehensively. "I'd say so, yeah" Emma replied as she clinked her glass with Noah's. The two were back on track, or thereabouts.
Kitty and Owen were satisfied with their handy work, so they sat down next to each other for the duration of the flight. Everyone was having a great time in First Class; The Surfer Dudes were chilling in the hot tub, The Rockers were playing Guitar Hero on the Play Station, The LARPers were sat watching The Lord of the Rings for the 200th time, Mother and Daughter were relaxing in the spa, whilst The Goths were sat in a shaded area of the plane in complete silence. Noah and Emma were still sat together and were enjoying each other's company. The two were laughing at anything the other one said, and they couldn't stop gazing into each other's eyes. Noah gently took Emma's hand in his; she was so soft, her nails were perfectly kept, and her hands were so tiny. They then leaned into each other for a kiss, when there was a sudden flash of light in front of them.
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" Noah shouted. The two of them could barely see due to the flash, but when their vision cleared, a tall girl with purple hair stood before them. "No, no no no!" Noah panicked. "Hey Noah! Long time no see!" said the girl. It was none other than the Total Drama super fan Sierra! Noah couldn't believe it, he thought he'd managed to escape her clutches of craziness! Cody definitely took the full front of Sierra's strangeness, but Noah was still very uneasy with her around. He knew that she would be stalking him and Emma so she could write a blog for the "Nemma" fans. "Sierra, what on earth are you doing here? They let you outta the asylum early or something?" Noah asked whilst rubbing his eyes. "Well, I heard that The Surfer Dudes are throwing an epic party for everyone, so I couldn't resist jumping on a flight to California to catch some of the action!" Sierra replied.
Owen looked over to see Sierra stood next to Noah and Emma; "Uh oh" he exclaimed. "What's up?" asked Kitty; she'd never met Sierra before. "That's Sierra from The World Tour and All Stars" Owen replied, "she's a Total Drama super fan, and she'll stop at nothing to snap pictures of contestants for her blog!" "This could be a problem" said Kitty nervously.
Emma had no idea who Sierra was either, so she was very confused as to why she was taking their picture. "Noah, who exactly is this?" she asked. Noah sighed in desperation; "this is Sierra, we were on The World Tour together" he replied dryly. As Emma was about to introduce herself, Sierra jumped in and said "oh I know exactly who you are Emma! The blogosphere has been waiting for Nemma to happen since the 7th episode!" Emma look up at Noah, still confused; "um, Nemma?" she asked. "Noah and Emma, it's our ship name" Noah responded impassively. "Look Sierra, I don't feel very comfortable having mine and Emma's picture on the internet" Noah confessed, "especially one where we're about to make out". "But you're on TV all the time" Sierra responded with a grin. "Yeah... But... Whatever! Don't you have a Cody to annoy?" said Noah. "No way would I bring my Cody anywhere near you, ear kisser!" Sierra shrieked as she walked away. Emma burst into hysterics; she'd seen Noah make out with Cody's ear during Total Drama Island, and she found it pretty hilarious. Noah looked at her, embarrassed. "Listen, it was four years ago! We were all asleep and it was a genuine accident" he disclosed. Emma was still giggling to herself; "Oh, believe me, I know it was an accident. I watched you on Total Drama, and it was by far the best part of the series!" said Emma.
The plane began to make its decent, and Noah was still struggling with his sight due to Sierra's camera flash. "Oh crap!" Noah said agitatedly; "what's wrong?" Emma asked with a concerned tone. "Sierra's dumb camera flash has blurred my contact lenses! I can't see a thing!" Noah replied as he attempted to take out his lenses. "Wow" Emma began, "I didn't know you wore lenses, is your sight really that bad?" "Yeah, it's like trying to see through one of Owen's farts" Noah explained. Emma gave a slight chuckle; she found him utterly hilarious.
As the plane was descending, no one could stand up from their seats, but Noah desperately needed his glasses. "Even though you look like a blob right now, I think you're the prettiest blob I've ever seen" said Noah as he looked over at Emma. She blushed as she took the compliment, and she then brushed a piece of his hair away from his face. "You're so sweet" she replied, "and I think you'd look super hot in glasses!" Noah wasn't used to getting compliments from a girl, but he really enjoyed it! He personally thought that he looked even nerdier with his glasses on, but he decided to embrace it for Emma.
Once the plane had landed, Noah fished around in his hand luggage for his glasses; "ah ha!" he exclaimed as he discovered them. He put them on and tapped Emma on the shoulder; "allow me to introduce you to the nerdiest human alive" he said to her with an awkward smile. He looked completely different, but in a really good way! "Wow, they look so good!" Emma responded; "you look so distinguished". "I haven't worn these things for years! Well, not in public anyway" said Noah; "kids used to pick on me for wearing them in class". Emma suddenly felt so sorry for Noah; he'd obviously experienced some emotional trauma due to his glasses, so she was determined to make him feel as comfortable as possible. She took his hand and kissed him on the cheek; "well, you're not a kid anymore, and you look incredible" she told him. Noah felt a huge wave of happiness come across him; Emma was truly amazing.
As the cast made their way out of the plane, Owen looked over at Noah; there was something different about him, he seemed a lot more geeky than usual... "Hey buddy" Owen began whilst giggling slightly, "you look a little different all of a sudden". Though Owen was his best friend, Noah found it seemingly difficult to understand how he could be so dopey at times. "Perhaps it's due to the fact that I'm wearing vision enhancers?" Noah said rhetorically. Owen looked at him, baffled by his articulate language. Noah then sighed deeply, "I'm wearing glasses, nimrod!" Owen suddenly understood; he never actually knew his best friend needed glasses however. "I never knew you needed glasses!" Owen said in a surprised tone. "Owen, you saw me putting my lenses in every day on The World Tour and The Ridonculous Race" Noah began, "what did you think I was doing, cleaning my eyes with little sheets of plastic?!" "Oh, those were lenses?!" Owen replied, "I thought they were vitamins!" "What sort of vitamins have you been taking? Geesh!" said Noah sarcastically.
Everyone arrived at the baggage claim, and there was a lot to collect! Mother and Daughter had done some excessive shopping, so they owned many large suitcases; The Rockers stupidly brought their guitars with them; The Adversity Twins had a hoard of medical supplies in their possession; and The Fashion Bloggers also had a large haul of clothes from around the world. The waiting game began... Emma and Kitty's suitcases appeared all of a sudden, and Noah ran to retrieve them. Noah was a rather undernourished human being, and his upper body strength kinda sucked; basically, he couldn't pick up their cases. He grabbed the two of them as tightly as he could, but the conveyer belt just carried him along with the rest of the luggage. This reminded him of the very first challenge he and Owen did on The Ridonculous Race; whilst on top of a skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, the wind blew Noah off of his feet! Due to Noah's allergies, he's never managed to eat an excessive amount of food, unlike his best buddy; this was why he struggled so much with his weight. He specifically remembered Chef Hatchet calling him a "scrawny kid" during his short stay on Total Drama Island, which he un-admittedly loathed.
Owen spotted Noah on top of Emma's suitcase on the conveyer belt, and he immediately ran to his aid. He grabbed Noah by the waist and set him down on the floor whilst he retrieved the two cases. "Dude what are you doing?" Noah asked, "I totally had them". Owen glared at Noah with a guilt provoking manner and said "riiiight". He then giggled to himself as he wheeled the cases back towards Emma and Kitty. "Are you okay sweetie?" Emma asked endearingly; "yeah" Noah began, "what do you even have in there anyway? Did you secretly rob a goldmine once we'd left the show?" Emma giggled charmingly at his joke, "no, but seriously" Noah countered. He genuinely believed that the girls had something extremely heavy in their cases, unfortunately for him, it was untrue; Noah just wasn't equipped for lifting.
Once everyone had been given their cases back, they made their way out of Los Angeles International Airport and into some cabs. Again, Owen, Kitty, Emma and Noah shared a cab; their destination was now Hermosa Beach, where the party was taking place. Brody and Geoff had a good friend who rented out beach houses for parties in Hermosa, so the two of them rented all of them for the whole cast! They were allowed to spend up to three nights in the beach houses, which gave the teams plenty of time to relax and have a great time. Geoff had also invited Bridgette to the party, along with some other Total Drama cast members; DJ, Trent, Cody, Gwen, Leshawna, Harold, Izzy, Lindsay, Tyler and Beth. He only invited the people who he knew wouldn't cause the most drama... Perhaps...
As the chosen original cast were on their flight from Ontario to California, the Ridonculous Race cast were finally nearing the beach. Kitty was squished up against Owen in the taxi, and she was snapping pictures of the two of them on her phone. Meanwhile, Noah and Emma sat holding hands whilst intertwining their fingers in each other's. Even though Noah was now twenty years old, he still felt like an annoying teenager who was too immature to have a girlfriend. He was nervous about staying with Emma in their beach house; though they'd still be with Kitty and Owen, he knew that a sleepover would be extremely awkward. He also felt rather self conscious when he paraded around with Emma, because he knew he she was way out of his league; he worried what people would say behind his back, and whether Emma would be won over by someone more attractive and interesting.
The cast had finally made it to Hermosa, and it was incredibly sunny! Though Noah was from Indian decent, he still found it rather difficult in the sun; he didn't burn, but would easily become very hot. One of the perks of living in Vancouver was the cold, it treated him well. The teams then split off into different beach houses. The Surfer Dudes and The Police Cadets took one house, and Bridgette and DJ would join them later on; The Fashion Bloggers and Mother and Daughter; The Rockers and The Step Brothers; The Daters and The Best Friends; The Adversity Twins and Father and Son; The LARPers and The Tennis Rivals; The Vegans and The Geniuses; The Goths would be joined by Gwen, Trent, Leshawna and Harold; and Beth, Lindsay, Tyler, Cody and Izzy would all share a house. Perfect! That just left The Reality TV Pros and The Sisters; Noah had never felt more nervous in his life, and he once got trapped inside a bus with The Ripper! Even though it was actually Ezekiel, it was still pretty terrifying!
The four of them walked into their appointed beach house, and it was rather spectacular. They had a large living area with two sofas and a television set, which then merged into the kitchen; it was stocked with food (much to Owen's delight). It was equipped with everything they required, such as an oven, a sink, a washing machine, and a dining table. They then had three separate bedrooms to choose from, all of which were very large. There were two single rooms and one double, and they all had terraces and ensuite bathrooms. The double room had a four post bed with a baby blue canopy, and the room was also painted baby blue to match; in fact, the majority of furniture was that exact colour. Once Kitty and Owen realised there were only three rooms, the two of them ran for the single rooms; they wanted Noah and Emma to stay together properly. "CALLED IT!" Kitty shouted as she threw her suitcase and carry on onto the bed, and Owen did exactly the same thing in the other single room. Half of Noah's emotions were jumping up and down with joy, but the other half were basically crapping their pants!
The two of them stood next to each other extremely awkwardly; they were both feeling the same way. Noah didn't say a word; he simply took his bags and walked into the double room to put his luggage away. This surprised Emma, as she thought they would be having an oafish conversation about the logistics of a sleepover, but she was clearly wrong; she liked how Noah took charge. She followed Noah into the room, where she found him routing through his suitcase for spare contact lenses. "Hey, you don't wanna wear your glasses anymore?" Emma asked in a rather disappointed tone; "I forgot how much you need to clean these darn things" Noah began, "and I don't really like the idea of losing them in the ocean this evening". Emma then set her bags down on the bed and walked up to Noah; he looked so amazing, she just had to be near him. She sneakily took his hand as he was still routing through his things, and she then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Noah liked how short she was; Cody was the only person he'd ever found that was shorter than him until he met Emma. He then felt a sudden urge to tell Emma how he truly felt about her, when there was another flash of light from outside their window.
"SIERRA!" Noah shouted as he ran to the terrace; he swung the doors open, causing Sierra fall to the ground as he did so. "I emwill/em get a picture of you two for my blog!" Sierra exclaimed as she picked herself up, "THE NEMMA FANS NEED IT!" She then scampered off to capture some more action from the other teams. "Wow, I've got to give her props for persistence" Emma said whilst giggling; "well, her persistence will one day land her in the penitentiary!" said Noah, "if that's not where she originally came from". Owen and Kitty then came running into their room; "what happened?" asked Kitty with a concerned tone, "we heard shouting". Noah paused for dramatic effect; "Sierra happened" he replied. "You mean she followed us all the way here?" Owen asked, "man, that's some kinda crazy!" "She does know that Cody's gonna be coming here too doesn't she?" said Kitty, "maybe that'll take the heat off you two when she's around him". Kitty was right, Sierra always became completely distracted when she was around Cody; perfect! "She's right" Noah began, "it's hard to concentrate on anything when you're around the person you lo-". Noah suddenly ceased his sentence; he almost let it slip that he was in love with Emma, and he wanted to tell her in a more romantic way than that!
Owen felt his struggle, so he decided to help his buddy out. "LOOK!" Owen shouted abruptly; "look... It's a dolphin! Well spotted Noah." Emma and Kitty immediately ran towards the terrace to look outside at the dolphin, whilst Noah gave a subtle sigh of relief; Owen patted him on the shoulder and said "oh little buddy, you're really not good at this". Kitty and Emma began to whisper amongst themselves on the terrace; "whatta you think?" asked Kitty, "was the L word gonna slip out there?" "Oh, I dunno, maybe" Emma replied; "but still, there's no way he's in love with me yet" she added. "Why not?" Kitty interrogated, "it's so obvious that he's crazy about you. See how things are tonight, and just go from there". Emma never admitted it, but her little sister gave the best advice; she'd be truly lost without her. She nodded in agreement, and the two of them made their way back into the room where Noah and Owen were still talking.
"Did ya see it?!" Owen asked enthusiastically, "cool huh? A dolphin!" He then began to giggle nervously, but he soon ceased as Kitty gestured for him to leave the room with her. "We're gonna get ready for the party, aren't we Owen?" said Kitty. "Huh? Oh, yeah!" Owen replied, "the party"; he then gave Noah a sly look which was completely conspicuous. As the two friends left the room, Emma began to chuckle; "Owen is just too much" she said, "he acts as though we're a pair of rebellious teenagers". "I know" Noah began, "but even though I'm twenty, I still feel as though I should be in kindergarten". Noah never managed to have a conversation with someone without using a remotely sarcastic remark; it was something he'd gotten used to doing in school to avoid getting bullied. Noah was an extremely clever person, even more so than Harold, but he never really wanted to show it. He gained his very first job at the age of six when he hacked into Kosmic Kaos' computer system to make improvements to it; Kosmic Kaos was Noah's favourite video game. He was labelled as a "know it all" which was technically true, but he preferred that label as opposed to "nerd, geek, or dweeb". This was why he never fully expressed himself, as he was afraid of what people might think of him. His IQ was an incredible 180; basically, Noah's a genius!
Noah and Emma began to get themselves ready for the party, but Noah was still gearing himself up to tell Emma that he loved her. She was truly the most amazing girl he'd ever met, she was smart, funny, beautiful, and her hair smelt of strawberries; Noah really liked strawberries. He felt as though he needed to write some sort of speech, as he knew he'd mess it all up if he tried to speak freely. He never realised how many emotions a person could feel at one given time, but when he met Emma that all changed. He was used to gaming with his pals back home and never really interacting with girls; he barely even looked at any girls on Total Drama Island or The World Tour, so he knew that Emma was the one for him. Emma strolled out of the ensuite in her red bathing suit; Noah's heart skipped about a thousand beats. Even though he felt completely comfortable with Emma, he hadn't a clue what to say to her without sounding either sarcastic or sexist. "Um, you look lovely" he finally said in an awkward tone. Emma giggled and kissed him on the cheek; "so do you" she replied, "now come on, the party's starting soon". Noah desperately wanted to go to the party, but he also wanted to write down his heartfelt speech. "You go down with Kitty and Owen" Noah answered, "I'll catch up in a while". Without question, Emma agreed and joined her sister and Owen at the beach.
As the teams made their way to the party, the invited original cast members arrived in their taxis. Gwen slumped out of the cab whilst covering herself in sunscreen, but Leshawna grabbed her bags and ran straight into the beach house. Unfortunately, she found Ennui and Crimson lying on the sofas; they were barely moving. Harold followed quickly behind her, and nearly screeched when he saw The Goths. They didn't really know what to do. "Uh, they dead?" Leshawna whispered to Harold; "no, I believe their just members of the Goth community, much like Gwen" Harold replied. "Oh hell no, Gwen definitely moves around, they're just lying there like a couple of corpses" said Leshawna sassily. "We can hear you" Ennui said morbidly. Harold jumped straight into Leshawna's arms in fright, and the two of them screamed. Gwen then walked into the beach house after she heard the screaming; "whoa, what's your damage guys?" Gwen asked. She then looked down at the sofas where Ennui and Crimson were lying; "oh, gotcha" she then added. Once everyone had finished unpacking and preparing for the party, the fun was about to begin! Geoff and Brody had gone full out; they had plenty of drinks, surf boards, food, gazebos, lights, music, and all kinds of swim floaties! It was the coolest party Hermosa had ever seen, and The Surfer's should know, as they'd been to all of them! The music was blasting, coconuts were getting filled, and everyone was jumping in and out of the ocean; it was awesome!
Emma, Kitty and Owen were all hanging out together under a canopy with their drinks, but Noah still hadn't turned up. He was sat in his room writing an articulate speech about how much he loved Emma; it was going well, but he needed someone to approve it before he told her. "He's been a long time" Emma said anxiously, "I hope he hasn't eaten any cheese from the fridge, he'll be in the bathroom all night long!". "Oh, you know Noah" Owen began, "he'll just be too socially anxious to come out and see everyone". "Really? Is it emthat/em bad?" asked Kitty; "oh yeah" Owen continued as he gorged some chips into his mouth, "why'd ya think he's so sarcastic all the time? It's to cover up how anxious he is amongst other people. Naaw, poor little guy". "Wow, I just thought he was being witty with his sarcasm" Emma responded, "poor Noah". "He probably feels nervous to be with you too" said Owen; "huh? Whatta you mean?" Emma replied suddenly. "Oh nothing, it's just that Noah knows he's way out of your league, and that everyone will laugh at him for having a girlfriend as attractive as you, and he's scared you'll one day end up falling for someone more interesting and attractive than him. No biggy" Owen casually responded as he munched on some pizza. "No way!" Emma said with an extremely surprised tone; "if anything, I'm out of his league!" Owen and Kitty looked at each other and smiled awkwardly; "emyeah/em" they both said in unison. "That's it, I'm bringing him down here" Emma said determinedly; "we're gonna sit right here and make out in front of everyone at this party! And he's gonna like it!" She then walked away towards their beach house, whilst Kitty and Owen sat sipping from their coconuts in peace.
Just as Emma had left the two friends, Kitty's phone began to ring; it was Noah. "Hey Noah, what's up?" Kitty asked as she answered the call. "Listen, I need you to do me a favour. Can you listen to my speech that I've written for Emma?" Noah asked pleadingly. "Huh? You wrote a speech? Why?" Kitty asked, confused. "Urgh, this is so awkward" Noah began, "I want to tell her how much I love her, but I can't do it on the spot without messing it up! That's why I wrote it all down". Kitty screeched so loud that it made Sierra's screeches sound redundant. "Owen, you were right! Noah's emtotally/em in love with my sister!" she exclaimed to Owen. "Oh my gosh! This is so exciting! My little buddy Noah's grown up so fast" Owen said reminiscently. "Yes yes it's all very touching, but can you please stay focused?!" said Noah agitatedly. "Okay, let's hear it Noah" Kitty replied in an excited tone.
"Emma, I never thought that a person like me could ever acquire someone as incredible as you. You're everything I'm not; attractive, funny, kind, and my hair doesn't smell anything like strawberries. You're good at sports, whereas I prefer to sit down at any given moment, and your social skills are far more developed than mine, which kinda sucks. Basically, you're the whole package. I can't even put into words how happy you've made me feel. Happiness is something that I've never managed to achieve on my own, not true happiness anyway. As the youngest sibling out of nine, I never managed to bond with anyone in my family as much as you and Kitty have; you're both so lucky. I've always been a bit of a recluse, so meeting girls was never really my forte. Even on the set of Total Drama Island and The World Tour, I never had eyes for any of the female contestants. From the very first moment, I knew that you were the only girl I'd ever see myself with; I couldn't take my eyes off you, and you probably thought I was a bit of a freak. Anyway, I honestly think that you're perfect, and it's actually really difficult for me to say all of this without using any form of sarcasm. You're undeniably the most beautiful girl I've ever met, and I'm so lucky to have you in my life. You've shaped me into a better person, and I can't thank you enough for that. I never thought I'd ever manage to fall in love with a real person, let alone the most amazing person in the universe! I love you Emma. And that's probably when I'd kiss her or something" scripted Noah to Kitty and Owen through the phone. "Aww, Noah" said Kitty, "that's so beautiful".
"You're in love with me?" came a voice from the doorway. Noah was completely unaware that Emma had been listening in the whole time; he felt so embarrassed. Kitty and Owen gasped with shock, as they'd completely forgotten that Emma had gone up to the house to fetch Noah. Gwen, Leshawna, Trent and Harold suddenly began to walk up to the canopy; "what's going on here ya'll?" asked Leshawna. "Oh, haha, nothing much" Owen replied nervously. "It kinda sounded like something" said Gwen whilst smirking; "Okay you've forced it outta me! Noah wanted to tell Emma that he loves her so he wrote it all down and read it out to me and Kitty over the phone as practice, but Emma was stood behind him the whole time without him realising, so now she knows that Noah loves her and he's probably really embarrassed because he's so little and awkward!" Owen cried out. "OWEN!" Kitty shouted. "Oops... Hehehe" Owen then responded.
"Noah?" asked Trent, "as in, Noah?" "Uh huh, he has emotions these days" said Owen. "Wow, Noah's actually capable of human emotion? Who knew?" Gwen said in a shocked tone. "Shush!" said Kitty, "I'm putting this thing on speaker phone". The six friends were then eavesdropping on what Noah and Emma were saying, and they had no regrets. Then out of nowhere, Sierra appeared from behind Owen; she was recording the conversation. "Girl, what are you doin'?" Leshawna asked her; "the Nemma fan site is going to go INSANE!" Sierra replied rather crazily. "Um, I think you mean MORE insane" said Gwen; Sierra just glared at her. Thankfully, Cody was strolling by in his swimsuit; "oh my gosh Sierra look, is that Cody without a shirt?" said Trent in a scheming manner. "CODY?!" she shouted as she turned around towards the ocean; it was him. Cody looked around to see who'd shouted his name; he was far from pleased. "CODY!" Sierra screamed whilst she ran towards Cody; he kinda ran in the opposite direction, away from her.
"Did you really mean all those things you said?" Emma asked Noah whilst she was tearing up; "of course I did" Noah replied lovingly, "you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met. You're the one for me." Emma began to shed tears of happiness, and Noah didn't really know what to do with such emotions; "NO! What have I done? I've broken you!" he exclaimed. Emma laughed, "no silly, they're happy tears". This was another thing that Noah had never experienced; he didn't even cry with happiness when he found the secret twelfth level on Dragon Assassin! That was a good day. "I've been meaning to tell you this for quite some time now" Noah confessed, "I just hoped it would've been a little more romantic than this". "Are you kidding?" said Emma, "I couldn't have asked for a better situation! Also, I never thought I'd hear you talk so much without being sarcastic!" Noah laughed, "yeah, it's not so difficult when I'm talking to you; I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not". This made Emma so happy; she knew there was another person inside of Noah that was screaming to get out!
Noah always felt that his sarcasm and wit concealed the fact that he was truly an enormous nerd, which was why he always used it as a sort of defence mechanism. However, when he was around Emma he knew that he could be as nerdy as possible, because she truly liked him for who he was. "Prepare to embrace the aptitude that is me" Noah said to his girlfriend as he winked and grinned; "I'm a real catch". Emma found him utterly hilarious; his sense of humour was definitely a part of the real Noah. "Look, I know it took us a while to get together" Emma began, "but that's only because I struggled so much after my breakup with Jake. I've always really liked you, but I was just afraid that I'd mess everything up like I usually do". Emma looked down at the floor sadly; Noah ran his fingers through her hair and lifted her chin up. "The only reason that it didn't work out with Jake was because he didn't love you" Noah explained; "he's obviously insane too because he broke up with you, I mean, who'd do that?!" Emma giggled as she brushed a piece of hair away from her face; "you're so sweet" she said, "and I'm sorry we didn't have a very legitimate first date". Noah didn't care about how their first date went; sure, he'd have loved to take Emma out to a nice restaurant, but as long as they were together it didn't matter where they were!
"As long as I'm with you, I don't care where we are" Noah said romantically, "unless it's back in that sauna, cause that was really gross". Emma laughed yet again; "it kinda was, yeah" she stated, "I still can't believe that Kitty doused herself in Owen's sweat!" "For someone who isn't used to Owen's bodily fluids, I can guarantee it would've been a harrowing experience" said Noah. The two sat in their room talking and laughing for a long while, until Emma remembered there was a beach party going on outside. "Oh my gosh! We've totally forgotten about the party!" she nearly shouted; "we better get down there". Noah desperately wanted to go to the party with Emma, but he was afraid that everyone would laugh at him for being with someone completely out of his league; he believed that he wasn't good enough. "Um, yeah about that" Noah said sheepishly, "I feel kinda embarrassed saying this, but I'm worried what people are going to think when we show up together". Emma was very confused by this; why would people think badly? "Why? What are people going to think?" she responded. Noah took a deep breath; this was so humiliating for him. "I'm not the most attractive or interesting guy out there, but you're literally the most amazing girl to walk the Earth!" Noah began; "I know you're out of my league and so does everybody else, they're just gonna laugh at me".
Emma felt Noah's sadness, and she understood that it took courage for him to say this to her. She wrapped her arms around Noah's little shoulders whilst he looked down at the floor. "Look at me" Emma instructed gently; "without a doubt, you're the hottest and the most interesting guy I've ever met! And if you're worried about me drooling over some other guy then you can stop that right now, because I love you too". Finally, it was all out there; the two had declared their love for each other. Emma gasped slightly as she confessed this, but she felt so much joy in doing so. "You're not just saying you love me cause I told you the same thing a half hour ago, right?" Noah asked; he wanted to make it absolutely certain. "Of course not" said Emma, "I can't stop thinking about you, and I can't imagine myself being with anyone else; you're my person". This gave Noah the fuzziest feeling inside of him; it was as if his heart had suddenly warmed for the very first time. "So, you feel like partying now?" she then asked him. The two of them looked deeply into each other's eyes; "not until I can kiss you" Noah replied smoothly. Emma blushed slightly when she heard this; they'd kissed before, but this was far different. As they both leaned in towards each other, Noah suddenly ceased; "wait!" he said as he bolted towards the window and then to the door. He completely Sierra proofed the room!
Emma stood laughing at her boyfriend as he frantically looked around the room for their mad stalker. Finally, he returned to her. He wrapped his arms around Emma's tiny waist, and he pulled her in close; she was so nice to hold. "Did you know that you're the most beautiful girl on the planet?" said Noah amorously; Emma chuckled as she adjusted Noah's glasses. She then rose up onto her toes to be as near to Noah as possible; they were both unspeakably happy. As Noah brushed Emma's cheek with his hand, he brought her face towards his; they were centimetres from each other. It wasn't long before they were engaged in a loving and romantic kiss; it was the perfect moment.
Back at the beach, Owen and Kitty were really starting to worry about their friends. "Where the heck are they?" Kitty asked, "I hope they're not fighting". "Maybe they're doing the exact opposite" Owen chuckled; Kitty glared at him with one eyebrow raised. "Come on" said Kitty as she grabbed Owen's arm, "let's go find them, this is getting ridiculous!" The two friends walked up to their beach house to find Emma and Noah; they reached their door just as the couple were about to walk out of it. "OW!" shouted Noah as Owen hit him with the door; "oh my gosh, Noah!" Owen panicked, "you okay little buddy?" Noah's nose immediately began to bleed quite heavily, causing him to get very dizzy; Noah had homophobia, meaning that he was scared of blood and gore. "I'll go get some tissue!" said Kitty as she dashed into the ensuite; Noah had to sit down due to his light-headedness. "Aww Noah I'm so sorry" Owen attested, "you're just so darn fragile". Noah looked up at Owen with a stern face; he wasn't mad at him, just slightly peeved. "You okay honey?" Emma asked with a loving tone; "sure, why not?" Noah replied sarcastically.
Kitty then returned with a large amount of toilet paper; "where've you guys been all this time anyway?" she asked. Emma and Noah looked up at each other and smiled; even though Noah's face was covered with blood, he was still so gorgeous. "Ooooh" Owen said whilst giggling, "I see what's been going on here"; he looked over at Noah, indicating that he thought something very passionate had occurred. Noah shook his head at Owen whilst he held the tissue to his nose; "no" Noah simply stated, "nothing like that, sorry to disappoint you". "Really?" Owen asked whilst resembling the same cheeky expression, "cause you've been gone a while". "Two people can sit in a room by themselves without engaging in anything provocative, Owen" Emma said sternly; "besides, we had a lovely time together". Noah smiled at her from behind his gory tissue; Emma loved the way Noah smiled, it was just faultless! "Well, you've missed an awesome party" Kitty explained, "but it's still pretty early, why don't you come down when Noah's feeling better?" They loved that idea.
Once Noah's nose had stopped bleeding, the four friends made their way back towards the beach. The place was still hopping; even The Goths were having a good time! Geoff and Brody walked up to greet Noah and Emma; "Yo! Where you guys been?" Geoff asked as he took a sip from his coconut drink. "We had a little incident" Emma explained, "Noah had a nosebleed, but he's all good now". She took her boyfriend's hand and held it tightly; she knew that he was still self-conscious about introducing her to his friends. "Yeah, I'm fine" said Noah, "thanks again for hosting this party guys". "No sweat dude" said Brody, "just kick back and have a wicked time!" And with that, The Surfer Dudes ran off towards the ocean to catch some waves. "You want a drink?" Emma asked Noah; no one under the age of 21 was allowed to drink alcohol in public as they were in the USA, but thankfully Geoff and Brody provided a lot of non-alcoholic beverages. "Sure, I'll just have some of the mango punch" Noah replied. Emma kissed him lovingly on the cheek before heading over to the bar.
"Well well, who'd've thought it?" came a voice from behind Noah; it was Gwen. Noah chuckled, "well, I certainly didn't". Gwen gave out a little laugh; she was actually happy for Noah, as he already seemed like a much warmer person. "You've changed so much since The World Tour" she admitted, "you're so much easier to talk to". "Well, I've realised that sarcasm might not be my best trait" Noah began, "and Emma actually makes me want to do nice things for people". "Wow! Some transformation" Gwen said proudly, "it must feel pretty good, huh?" Noah didn't even need to think about that, it was obvious that he felt like a better person purely because of Emma. "Incredible" Noah stated, "I'm a vaguely different guy!" Gwen laughed at Noah's humour; "you're still pretty hilarious though, I'll give you that" she told him. She then wandered back towards Leshawna and Harold, leaving Noah awaiting Emma's return.
Owen and Kitty strolled over to where Noah was sat, and decided to keep him company until Emma came back with drinks. "Hey little buddy" Owen said enthusiastically, "how's the nose?" "No worries big guy" Noah replied, "it's completely normal". Owen was relieved to hear this; he hated the thought of anyone hurting Noah, but he hated it even more if he was the one doing the hurting! "Is Emma getting drinks?" Kitty asked; "yeah" Noah responded, "it kinda sucks that we only have punch and soda to drink though". Noah was far from a heavy drinker, but he enjoyed a glass of something every now and again. "It totally does!" said Kitty, "I've finally reached the legal drinking age back home, but I'll have to wait another three years before drinking here!" "Man, to think we were only sixteen when we met" Owen said to Noah. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they were at camp Wawanakwa together, when in reality it was only four years ago. So much had changed since then; Noah never imagined himself with a girlfriend, he never even imagined himself being friends with Owen, and he definitely never imagined himself doing anything remotely physical! And yet, there he was. "Huh, you're right" said Noah reminiscently, "how have we become adults?"
Emma suddenly returned with her hands full of soda cans and cups of punch. "Finally, it took me so long to get to the front of the bar!" Emma said as she slumped down next to Noah. "Kelly's just sat there ordering rounds of shots for herself, it's a little concerning". "Can you blame her? Her daughter's a conceited little brat who might as well be in a cheesy high school movie about mean, rich girls" Noah said sarcastically as he took a sip from his cup. Owen, Kitty and Emma nodded in agreement. The four friends sat and laughed for hours on end; they even mingled with the other partygoers! Noah introduced Emma to his former campmates, whilst Kitty snapped pictures of Owen eating the entire buffet. All was well.
Poor Cody; he was still being harassed by Sierra, and it was wearing him out. It was a good thing for Emma and Noah however, as she wasn't following them around invariably. It then came to midnight; Junior had already gone to bed, and everyone else decided to follow. The Surfer Dudes could've gone on partying all night long, but they knew that they'd look a little strange by themselves. Everyone headed back to their houses to go to bed; the sound of the sea was so calming, so it wasn't long before everyone was sound asleep. However, Emma and Noah were up all night exchanging facts about themselves. As they only knew each other through the race, they'd never been given the chance to talk deeply. "Oh my God, what?!" Emma said in shock, "you have how many siblings? "Eight" replied Noah, "I have five brothers and three sisters, all of whom are older than me". Emma was astounded; she thought that having one sister had its issues, but eight siblings? Wow! "How much younger are you than everyone else?" Emma then asked. "Well" Noah began with a chuckle, "Finley is the oldest and he's 37, Sebastian and Toby are twins and they're 34, Elsie's 31, Charlie is now 28, Grace and Molly are also twins and they're both 25, Dylan is 22 and then there's me".
There was a massive age gap between Noah and his eldest brother Finley; a seventeen year difference to be exact. "I'm the smartest one though" Noah added. Emma giggled; she still couldn't believe how many siblings Noah had! No wonder he came across as someone who hates people. "Okay, my turn" said Emma as she adjusted herself to be comfortable on the bed. "Our family's pretty small; we have our Mom and Dad, and then we've got Grandma, an Aunt and Uncle, and just one cousin". Noah was so jealous. "Can we trade families?" he asked jokingly; he sometimes hated being in such an enormous family. Emma then realised that she didn't even know Noah's surname; he didn't know hers either! "Oh my gosh Noah, what's your surname? We never got told anyone's last name during the race" said Emma. "I don't think anyone knows my surname, not even Owen!" said Noah; "it's Coleman". He looked like a Coleman for some reason; once you've been told someone's surname, you can't imagine it being anything different!
"Why do we never get told anyone's surname?" Emma asked, "it defines who you are, so why do they need to hide it away?" Noah agreed with her; it did seem a little odd that he didn't know his best friend's surname, or the surname's of the people he'd spent so much time with over the years! "The only person's surname I've known for a while is Cody's" Noah responded, "but that's only cause Sierra looked it up while she was in the loony bin". Alejandro's surname had also been mentioned before, but it was some long, crazy, Spanish name that he'd never be able to remember! "I guess we can add MaCarthur and Sanders to the mix" said Emma, "but to be honest, I don't even know their first names!" Man, the world of Total Drama was definitely an abnormal one! "What about you and Kitty?" Noah asked; he secretly hoped their surname wasn't a really ancient and complicated Chinese one! "It's Choi, so that's not too complicated huh?" said Emma whilst giggling.
The time had come to 2am, so Noah and Emma decided that it was time to sleep. This was a pretty nerve-racking experience for them both, as they'd never slept in the same bed with anyone before; they were also afraid that there'd be certain expectations evolved. "Can I just throw something up in the air?" Emma asked; "sure" replied Noah as he cleaned his glasses on his shirt. "There's absolutely no pressure here tonight, okay? We've only just started to get to know each other as a couple, so I'm not expecting anything whatsoever" said Emma reassuringly. Noah was relieved! He'd felt constrained for quite some time about this, so it as a huge weight off of his shoulders. "You have no idea how alleviating it is to hear that" said Noah whilst he exhaled deeply; "I love you so much, but I'm completely new to this whole relationship thing and I don't wanna mess anything up". Emma smiled as she took his hand; "we need to get completely comfortable as a couple before anything happens" Emma responded; "and I agree, I don't wanna mess things up with you either". She then rose up onto her toes and kissed Noah on the nose; his whole body shivered from the cuteness. The entirety of Hermosa was silent; even Owen was sleeping quietly. Noah and Emma lay together whilst they slept; Noah cradled her in his arms gently, and Emma's legs were all curled up in a ball.
The next two days were wonderful for the cast; they went sightseeing, shopping, thrill seeking, swimming, and obviously had more awesome parties! The time had finally come for the gang to depart from Hermosa; they were all catching flights back to Canada, but their destinations varied. Noah lived in Vancouver, Owen lived in Toronto, Emma and Kitty lived in Victoria, whilst everyone else's locations were completely different! Noah couldn't believe that his home town was nearly a four hour drive from Emma's; Owen was even further away, being on the complete opposite side of Canada! He'd finally obtained a fantastic group of friends and an incredible girlfriend, but he had to go back to his eight older siblings in a boring town where nothing ever happened! He knew he'd go mad without seeing Emma or even Owen for a long period of time!
Emma was going to law school, meaning that she'd constantly be busy with a mass of work! Even if Noah had the gas money to go and visit her often, she'd have too much on her plate to make it worthwhile. This was devastating. Noah pondered hardly about a plan of action to make the situation work. Even though their relationship had only just begun, the two of them were technically old enough to live together in a mature fashion; he didn't think Emma would be very open to that idea however. Plus, Emma would be living on campus, so in reality Noah wouldn't be able to live with her. "If only Emma would go to law school in Vancouver" Noah thought to himself; "it would be so perfect". Emma had already decided to go to school in Victoria, as it had a rather moderate fee.
As Noah was constantly jumping to and from reality shows, he didn't have a steady job; he got work where he could find it, and because he was so clever, it wasn't difficult. Secretly, Noah and Owen had been asked to return for the next season of Total Drama, but they were rather reluctant to do so. Even though the two best friends would've spent a lot more time together, it meant that Noah wouldn't be able to see Emma at all! Owen completely understood Noah's hesitance, but he personally wanted to do the show quite significantly. He respected Noah like a younger brother, so he allowed him time before they made a final decision. "I guess it'll take my mind off of the fact that I can't see the woman I love every day of my life" Noah considered; "still, it might just make me feel worse about the whole thing". He was stumped! The next season wasn't to begin for a couple of months, but they wanted to be prepared a long while beforehand.
Everyone had reached the airport, and the Ridonculous Race and Total Drama cast members went their separate ways. Noah genuinely didn't know what to do; he was at a physical crossroad. He was thinking about going home to brag about Emma to his family, but then he also considered hopping on Emma and Kitty's flight back to Victoria. This was such a conundrum! "Dude, I don't really know what I'm doing right now" Noah said to Owen in a somewhat panic. "We're in an airport, Noah" Owen said as he rubbed Noah's shoulder; "you're going home today, on a plane!" Noah gave him a scolding look; "no, I mean that I don't know what to do about Emma" he replied. "Do I go back with her and Kitty? Or do I just ditch her to go home?" Owen cradled his chin; "hmm" he began, "that's a difficult one, man". "The real question is, do you actually want to go home right now?" This hit Noah pretty hard; was it really obligatory that he had to go home?
Noah walked up to the desk and bought his ticket, he had his luggage weighed and sent off down the conveyer belt, and he walked away towards the entrance for security. "Guys, wait up!" Noah shouted as he caught up to his friends and Emma; he took Emma's hand and held it tightly. Owen glanced over at his best pal; Noah looked back up at Owen, and he gave him a subtle nod. Owen knew what he was thinking; he was going to miss his little buddy.