Madam President, Mister President
1. One-Shot
I'm in a cruddy mood and I was writing a Noah/Gwen one-shot that turned into a Noah/Courtney one-shot. How it happened, I don't really know, it just did… strange, huh? Anywhosin, this is structured around the idea of what Courtney would do if she found out Noah was president in school wall on the island.
I have no ownership over Total Drama Island or anything associated or related to it such as but not limited to characters, events, and settings.
When it came to Courtney, everything was a competition. From getting through the lunch line to getting control over who was in charge of the missions, she had to be in charge and she had to win. It was as if this basic instinct had just burst within her and touched every cell that she was composed of, making her stay on constant fight mode. And this is a dangerous thing, especially on missions.
Though as Noah was about to find out, she didn't have to be in the middle of a mission to pulverize the opposition and stay on top.
"So, Noah." This was the short, sweet opener she spoke to him in front of the lake as his eyes flittered along pages of his current book. He hadn't noticed her until she sat down beside him looking friendly and had no knowledge that behind her welcoming and pleasant expression her mind was turning and creating possible ways she could maim him.
"So, Courtney," he echoed back flatly, not losing interest in the words he was staring faithfully at. "Have you come here to apply for my vote so I may abet you? If so, then go bother some other mindless fool that can't make decisions for themselves and leave me and Jonathon Swift alone."
She lost her composure for a moment and her eyes widened as she lifted her hands up, prepared to press his throat and the back of his neck in a tight grip and throttle the life from him. Then she realized that this would do nothing to help her confirm what Trent had told her and she wouldn't kill him… if she got the answers she wanted to hear. "Oh, Noah, you're so… humorous!"
He arched a brow and lifted his greedy gaze to a stranger. "You could not be Courtney and if you are, it is an ill-performed rouse."
"What?" Courtney did her best to keep her eyes from narrowing and her violent hands on her lap and folded politely. After all, how could this nerd think her acting was 'ill-performed' after she spent so much time perfecting exactly how she was going to operate?! It was ridiculous for him to say such a thing! "Why would you say something like that?"
"You're right," he said lightly, the sarcasm missing from his tone yet evident in his narrowing dark eyes. "What was I thinking accusing you of not being Courtney when everyone knows how delightful and charming she is, which is the exact same way you're behaving?"
Courtney's teeth snapped together in agitation – was he saying she wasn't delightful or charming? Or a combination? Who was he to tell her that? And who was he to talk?!
Courtney decided that after the indirect insult, perhaps trying to be friendly and nice to Noah was the wrong way about getting the information she wanted, so she tried something a bit… different.
"Trent told me a few things about you and I just want you to tell me if they're true or not!"
One side of Noah's lips bent up into a lazy smirk. Her snapped his book shut and put it beside him, twisting his head over to give Courtney a bored look (the most he could do to show her he cared). "Oh Courtney, I didn't expect you to gossip about the nerdy bookworm. Whatever came over you to take part in such childish activities such as spreading rumors about the loser of Wawanakwa? Don't normal girls who aren't CITs do that?" He gasped, getting carried away in his mocking. "Are you on their level now?"
"You're so far off!" she snarled. "I don't gossip and if I did it would be about someone worth my time."
"Well then," his smirk fell and his eyes went hard. "If I'm not worth any of your time, why are you over here trying to get to know me?"
"I don't want to get to know you," she argued coolly. "I just want to know if what Trent said was true."
"Asking me questions to get my confirmation on their truth?" He bit his lip. "That sounds like an interview, which is something that is done in order to get to kno-"
"Are you or are you not class president at your school?" she cut in, her tone biting and her eyes scanning his entire self to catch any hints of a lie or discomfort.
"That's Mr. President to you," he said smoothly, watching her jaw drop in what seemed to be horror. "Why do you bring this up? Are you afraid I'll dethrone you?"
"Dethrone…? Oh, Duncan just likes to be a jerk and don't you dare call me Princess!" She crossed her arms and tilted her nose up in a superior holier-than-thou attitude. "And it's Madame President to you."
Noah put a hand to his forehead. "I saw something like this in a Resident Evil game. Everyone became a mindless zombie and obeyed the leader. Tell me, did you use a virus at your school and if so why don't you bring some here to deal with the overflow of morons we have on the island?"
She kept the insults she wanted to spit out to herself. She wouldn't win if she fought with him. She couldn't start shouting at him like a lunatic as he sat there drinking it all in looking composed and bored. It would not only be considered a loss, but how embarrassing to be showed up by him would that be?
"I won over the votes by doing fair campaigning and appealing to everyone. It was obvious I was the perfect candidate to represent the school and accomplish what needed to be done. What I'm curious to know now is how you got votes. Your cynical lure just had them applauding at the end of every one of your speeches, I'm sure."
"A leader who's smart – what a rarity!" Her face fell. He wasn't falling for insults.
"Well then, how did you win?" She leaned in, hoping to catch the answer in case he mumbled it. The truth was that the reelection at her school wasn't until a month after she came back and before she left rumors were circulating that a strong rival she was facing was sure to snatch away the majority of her votes (her rival happened to be a 'super hot' male and most of the students at her school were lonely females who liked picturing him in an office with a suit on).
When she heard Trent saying that Noah was in office at his school as well, she had to know how he did it. She couldn't picture him doing it the fairway and if it ensured her victory at school it was worth a shot.
"You really want to know?" He had meant to ask this dryly – of course sarcastically – but for some reason Courtney thought it was husky and gruff. Like he was getting angry… did he talk like that in the mic during speeches? If so, that explained it.
As he leaned in, she smelled the acidic water from the showers they were forced to clean themselves under and decided it wasn't so bad. His was mixed with something nice but not overpowering. And even though his forehead was on the large side his face was aesthetically pleasing to look at up close. It was so strange how one moment she was frustrated for one reason and now it's just flipped into something completely different.
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't," she said back, keeping her strength up despite the small stretch of space between them.
"Well, Courtney." She shuddered at his way of saying her name. "You plan on going into politics when you get out of school, am I right? You more than likely even plan on taking the position of presidency head-on." She nodded. "Then I suppose you'll see my methods in action for yourself one day, since I would be selfish to tell you all my tricks now instead of waiting."
Courtney felt her stomach clench as she bolted upright and glared heatedly at his half lidded eyes. "What do you mean? You want to run for politics?"
He shrugged. "I'm only now considering it to give you the answer to your question. I'm selfless in that regard." He stood up casually. "And when I beat you then – and only then – will I let you know just how I did it. How does that sound?"
Courtney, who was still sitting, reached for Noah's book and chucked it far out into the dangerous lake. It had sunk below the surface of the water before Noah's face could contort into panic among the many emotions that soon followed after. Courtney stood up proudly. "You know, something tells me that you just didn't have an opponent who knew how to handle you."