It was three o' clock in the morning in the Toxic Rats cabin. The campers were at rest. Sam had fallen asleep, console in hand. Lighting was resting his head on his muscle, he didn't even seem to need a pillow. As for Scott? He was wide awake and glaring at the wooden ceiling.
Scott was annoyed.
More than his usual annoyance with all the annoying, loud and crazy campers here.
His Object of Annoyance: Dawn.
In short, Dawn was every single thing on the planet that he hated bundled up together and made into a teenage girl.
Dawn was an animal lover. Scott hunted rats and rabbits back at home in his free time.
Dawn was into tarot cards, tealeaves and supernatural things. Scott liked to keep it real.
Dawn was a lover, not a fighter. Scott thought love was for pansies and fighting is the only thing that can get you ahead.
Not to mention she had this happen of sneaking up on him unexpectedly and suddenly. Scott felt the name Lightning gave Dawn fully suited her: Creepy Girl.
Why was he letting her get to him? She wasn't even on the island anymore. Thanks to some clever work by himself, he had managed to get the team to turn on Dawn and vote her off.
Yet she still pestered him in his mind.
"Dawn is gone. Another player taken down." He thought to himself. However, Scott was finding, with every player he successfully took down, though he would never show it or admit it, he was starting to feel a bit… guilty. He noticed this after Dawn's elimination.
Maybe it was just because Dawn seemed so innocent… so… nice.
She'd never done anything to wrong him. In fact, she was quite useful to the team, seemingly being able to communicate with the animals of the island.
He was beginning to think his choice of who to eliminate was a mistake.
Scott mentally shook himself.
No. She was going to get him eliminated if not her.
Of course, he had the immunity idol. He could have used that and saved both himself and her…
He shook himself again.
No. Stop it. You are here to save yourself and yourself alone. Forget about that. Why do you care so much about her anyway?
Scott felt a bit sick for asking himself that. He didn't care about a single thing. Especially not retro, creepy, hippies…
He then proceeded to answer his own question with the reasoning that Dawn was in fact useful, much as it pained him to admit it. In the ice castle challenge, she was quite helpful to him. She could detect whether each snowball was an actual snowball or an exploding fake.
"Just a coincidence." He brushed off at the time. But to be honest, he was a bit amazed. She seemed almost… smart.
Okay, so she's smart, but not THAT smart. What other reason did you have to keep her on the island?
…She had sort of… saved him.
That was painful to say. He didn't want or NEED saving.
When the killer beetle invaded the snow shack they had, if it hadn't been for Dawn's bonding with the insects, it could have meant trouble and damage to himself.
"Wait, don't you remember her? She saved your baby!" Scott recalled saying to the, well, beetle. He felt ridiculous, talking to the animals like Dawn, like some sort of freak, but he was a bit desperate at the time.
The beetle took a look at Dawn, another glance at him, and scurried away. Scott was glad that was over with and moved on, looking outside the ice shack window. But Dawn seemed to have other thoughts.
While he was looking at the other team's snow castle, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I didn't know you were a beetle whisperer." Dawn said to him. Scott was a bit stunned; he'd never had such contact from anyone, not even his parents. Not that he cared for it. But it was still new to him, especially coming from a girl. And Dawn seemed quite impressed with him. So he quickly blew her off.
"Pheh." He muttered, moving away from her, and trying not to over think it. Yet, he did. Was she just being her usual friendly self? Was it just him, but did she almost seem attracted to him?
Would it be so bad if she was? She wasn't ugly. She had nice blue grey eyes, a pretty face. Perhaps she did like him…
Of course, this proved to be untrue later when she tried to get him voted off, which backfired on her. But then why did he have that notion? Was he crazy? Was she really? Did he…
Scott snapped out of this dream like state he found himself to be in.
Focus. Get your head in the game. It's just a girl. Just a creepy, stupid, lovely…
Wait… Did he just call her lovely?
No! This is NOT how it is supposed to go!
Scott was supposed to get into Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, out last and eliminate every single player there, no real feelings for anyone, no attachments!
He had never really cared much in his life for girls, anyway. Never had a girlfriend, never wanted one. In fact, his whole life, it seemed the only girl he really had contact with was his mother. And she was more of a tough loving mother, not very affectionate or compassionate. But Dawn…
Dawn seemed to care about everything and everybody, no matter who they were, big or small, thin or fat. She seemed to bring out the best in everyone, or, at least tried to. She never flat out insulted anyone anyway.
However, just because she was nice doesn't mean Scott cared for her or had to.
But why did he feel so many things for one elimination? One moment? One single girl?
No, not single like that. But he wondered if she is single…
No. Stop RIGHT there!
This is wrong. This is really wrong. This couldn't be!
He had so many questions he couldn't bear to answer buzzing and cycling through his head.
Why do I feel so guilty?
Why does she matter?
Why am I having this battle?
What does she mean to me?
Do I care for her?
No, I don't!
Scott placed his pillow over his head, overwhelmed.
This was ridiculous. He couldn't believe he was thinking, at three o' clock in the morning, about a stupid girl!
He stopped this mental battle by finally coming to a compromise of his feelings.
Scott made a mental list of a few now true things:
He needed to get more sleep.
He needed to see a psychiatrist about these mental battles, he's almost becoming a different person at times, like that weirdo Mike.
Voting off Dawn POSSIBLY wasn't the best idea.
He kind of sort of liked her. Just maybe.