He was sitting alone, wanting to go home. It was his parents' fault that he was here, anyway. "Cody, I don't understand why you don't want to go on your school's trip to Niagara Falls." "Oh c'mon. I'm sure you'll be fine." "Your classmates don't say things like that, do they?" "I'm sure you're just exaggerating." Somehow, they managed to convince him to go. One thing's for sure: he wished he hadn't.
The kids were worse than ever! They taunted him non-stop about being mauled by a bear on that stupid reality show, and made nasty comments about his "obsession" over his fellow goth camper. Cody knew this was going to happen – it happened all the time at school, why wouldn't it happen here?
It didn't help that his school wasn't the only one that had a Niagara Falls trip this weekend (there were at least three others from several different cities from all across Canada). As he expected, many of them knew who he was, and several of them had similar condescending remarks.
So, here he was. Sitting alone. Away from everyone else. Like it's supposed to be.
He heard footsteps, and became aware of a new presence. "Go ahead. Make fun of me."
"Why would I do that?"
Cody looked up to find a teenage boy in a backwards baseball cap. The tech-geek's expression didn't change. "You don't know who I am?"
The boy gave him an awkward look. "…Now that you mention it, you do kinda look familiar…" After a few seconds, he snapped his fingers. "Ah! You were on that one show! Total. Drama. Island!" He shouted, mimicking the evil Total Drama host in a shockingly good impression.
Cody chuckled at the joke, but quickly became depressed again. "Yep. Cody, by the way."
The boy nodded and introduced himself, extending his hand for a handshake. Taken back, Cody reluctantly shook the boy's hand.
"Yeah, I won't make fun of you, man. I could, but I won't."
This was obviously a joke on the stranger's part, but it certainly didn't make Cody feel any better. Still, the tech-geek continued the conversation. "So… do you watch a lot of reality TV?"
The boy rolled his eyes. "Nah. Most of them are pretty lame. In fact…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "…the only reason I watched any of the Total Dramas was because I had someone to cheer for."
Cody's eyebrows rose. "You knew someone on the show?"
"Are you kidding? I had to put up with her for most of my life," the boy laughed. Cody lowered an eyebrow. 'Put up with who now?' Surprisingly, the boy didn't say who she was, but he seemed to think that this was a great opportunity to talk about his favorite moments from the show, and Cody drowned them out (though he was certain at one point the boy mentioned the "bread-from-your-pants" thing).
As the stranger continued to talk about Total Drama Island, Cody found himself thinking back to those days. Sure, they stunk – in more ways than one – but somehow he still found himself wishing that he were back on the island. Everyone on that island was a stranger to him, and yet most of them were nicer to him than his own classmates, whom he had known for years. He recalled the interesting twists and turns, the thrilling challenges, the big 296-pound sack of joy he spent most of his time hanging out with, and… her…
His thoughts vanished when he heard his new acquaintance clear his throat. "Look, dude, it's cool if you don't want to answer my question, but don't completely blow me off."
Cody looked back up to the boy. "Oh! Sorry. What was the question again?"
"I asked you if you still liked my sister."
Whoa! What did I miss? "…I'm sorry, huh?"
Cody watched the teen roll his eyes again, and it suddenly dawned on him. The tech-geek's expression brightened. "…No way…"
"Well, gee, you didn't have to be so blunt about it."
"Wha? No! No, I mean… uh… yeah, I guess I do."
"Well, make up your mind, now."
"Okay, now you're just messing with me."
Cody's companion laughed. "You're too easy. Man, how cool is it that both our schools went to the Falls on the same weekend?"
"Small world, I guess," Cody answered. He thought for a moment. "Hey… is she here?"
The teen shook his head. "Nah. Gwen stayed home to help Mom around the house. Ever since this whole Total Drama thing, Mom doesn't really want Gwen to leave. Heck, she even paid some neighbor girl to pretend to be her when you guys were on Total Drama Island. I'm surprised she even let me go on this trip."
"Whoa. That neighbor thing is creepy."
"Oh, don't I know it."
An awkward silence followed, and Cody was practically kicking himself for it. This was his chance to ask… just about anything he wanted to about Gwen! Why wasn't he taking the opportunity?
He wasn't sure why he wasn't taking it, but he didn't want the awkward silence to last, so he simply asked a question. "Does that run in the family?"
"Does what?"
Cody rolled his eyes.
It took a few seconds for Gwen's brother to get it. "Ah! The eye rolling. Probably. I've never seen my mom do it, but it could've skipped a generation."
Cody couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, you're looking better."
The tech-geek nodded, smiling. "Much better. Thanks."
Gwen's brother nodded back, and stood up. "I'm gonna go. I'm here, so I might as well check out the Falls."
Cody shrugged. "Alright. I think I'll stay here for a little bit. I'm in a good mood – I don't want my classmates ruining it."
"I don't blame ya. Oh, and Cody?"
Cody gave him all of his attention.
"…You do realize that you could've pretty much asked me anything you wanted to about Gwen, right?"
The tech-geek's face flushed. "Yeah, I was thinking about that…"
His teenage acquaintance shook his head, keeping his grin. "Maybe next time. Take care. If I don't see ya later, I'll say 'hi' to Gwen for ya, okay?"
"Thanks." As Gwen's brother walked away, Cody found himself staring into space. "That… was pretty cool." No longer depressed, the tech-geek starting to think happy thoughts, most of which were of his new acquaintance's sister.
~ Total Drama Island © Fresh TV ~