We are at Wawanakwa High. Beth is sitting on the steps of the school in a slump. Lindsay and LeShawna, wearing backpacks, walk up to her.
"Hey, Beth," Lindsay said.
"Hey, girl." Said Leshawna. "What are you doin' mopin' around?"
"My cousin, Sarah, is coming for a visit." Said the Wannabe in a dissatisfied tone.
Leshawna jokingly replied, "That's it?"
"That's not so bad," Lindsay told her friend, optimistically.
"It is to me." Snapped Beth. "My aunt and uncle just got a new job here and of course, they had to bring 'Little Miss Sunshine' along with them. They're looking at new schools that she can go to and mine was on the list!" She then buries her eyes in her hands and groans disgruntledly, "This… is… a nightmare."
"Oh, c'mon now." Said Leshawna, comforting Beth. "It ain't gonna be that bad."
"Yeah." Replied Lindsay, "I mean what's so bad about having a family member for a classmate?"
Several blocks away, Alejandro and his older brother José are racing against each other to be the first one in the school.
"Too slow, bro." Mocked José to Alejandro. "Too slow."
"No way, José!" retorted Alejandro. They reach the school with the Arch Villain in the lead. While the girls watch, Alejandro's face brightens, knowing that he'll beat his brother at another thing, but José trips him as soon as they get to the edge of the steps and lands on his front.
"Once again, I am victorious!" Gloats José, as he stands triumphantly at the front door. He proudly opens the door and goes in the school. Al marches up the steps to the front door, fuming, but the door unexpectedly closes on his face. José peeks out and sarcastically says to his little brother,
"Oops! Sorry, Al, but like I said— 'too slow'."
The hot Latin lover angrily runs in to go after his older brother. After seeing that, Beth glares at Lindsay and Leshawna, proving their irony of tempting fate. Soon, a car pulls up at the school's entrance. The door opens and out comes a tall, thin, beautiful, brunette girl wearing glasses. She stands at the sidewalk and greets the others with a wave and a smile as the car leaves.
"Hi, everyone!" She says enthusiastically.
The Dumb Blonde and the Sista with 'Tude cordially greet her. "Hey. What up? / Hi!"
Lindsay asks the girl, "Are you Beth's cousin?"
The girl answers, "Yes! I am! I'm Sarah! It's so nice to meet you two." She looks over Leshawna's shoulder to see Beth sulking on the steps, resting her head on her hands. She says to her cousin in a warm, excited tone,
"Hey, Beth!"
"Hey, Sarah," Beth said to her cousin, cynically.
"It's so nice to see you again. I can't wait to see what your school looks like."
The bell rings. Sarah enthusiastically enters the school. She says to the three, "Come on!"
Lindsay says to Beth about Sarah, "You never told me she was so pretty."
Beth retorts, "I never told you anything about her at all."
Beth gets up and enters the school in a huff. Lindsay and Leshawna look at each other, confused about their friend's behavior. Inside, Sarah walks down the hallway, observing what she sees with positive curiosity.
SARAH'S P.O.V: Various students are taking/putting their supplies out/in their locker, talking with their friends, or flirting with other students of the opposite sex.
She doesn't pay attention and bumps into Heather, who was carrying her books while walking to her next class. Sarah politely apologizes to the Queen Bee and picks up her books. Heather is still ticked, but tones down her anger into frustration.
"Its fine, it's fine." She says while snatching her books back, "Just watch where you're going so that you don't do it again, okay?"
"Okay. And again, sorry." Sarah apologizes, "I'm a visiting student, so I'm trying to get the feel for the school."
Heather eyes suddenly grow wide in surprise, then glances away and dons a devious look; she puts on a friendly disposition and says to Sarah,
"Oh! So you're the new kid." Heather smiles, then puts her arm around Sarah's shoulder and Sarah gets an uneasy look on her face – almost like she felt her skin crawl. Both of them walk down the hallway. "I am so sorry that I barked at you. It's just that I have a lot of stress just doing my homework and getting it done and getting to my classes in and on time. But I am more than happy to show you around so that you can see what our school has to offer. And who knows? You might even make some new friends… like – oh, I don't know – me."
They both stop walking as Heather extends her hand to Sarah. She is hesitant but feels that it's not right. She turns her down in an earnest tone.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd prefer someone else to give me a tour."
Heather is appalled at the refusal of assistance and friendship. She says in an offended manner, "Fine" and walks away in a huff to get to her next class. The other students – including Beth, Lindsay, and Leshawna – witnessed this and they come up to Sarah like she's a hero. She is slightly overwhelmed by the attention but nevertheless is polite to the students since they're so welcoming.
"That was seriously the coolest thing I have ever seen." Commented Trent.
"Standing up to Heather— that took guts." Said Tyler.
"Uh… Thanks… I think." Sarah said, slightly confused.
They walk with Sarah down the hallway; Lindsay and Leshawna join them. Beth gets upset and groans in displeasure. Later, the bell rings: everyone walks out of their classrooms as they head down the hallway. Tyler says to her,
"So, how do you like it here?"
She replies, "Oh, it's great! Thanks for showing me around. I'm really going to like it here. And the best part is, I'll get to hang out with Beth almost every day of the week."
"How do you know Beth?" asks Trent.
"You two must be very close friends." Harold speculates.
"Closer than that," Sarah declares, "we're cousins."
The students walking closest to Sarah murmur to themselves, realizing that the new girl they've been acquainted with is related to someone they know.
"You… and Beth…?" Tyler says, trying to wrap his head around this fact. Harold states,
"Now that you mention it, there is a crazy resemblance."
Trent gives her a pat on her shoulder and says, "Hey – anyone related to our friend is a friend to us."
Heather was doing her makeup in her locker when she overheard the conversation— she was shocked –then angered – that the girl that snubbed her earlier today was related to her enemy. After she slams her locker shut, she hears Beth's voice, saying,
"Excuse me, Heather,"
She sharply turns around and sees that the Wannabe is behind her.
"I'm in need of your services."
"Why should I help you, Betty?"
"To pull a prank."
"Well, why didn't you say so? That I can do. Just tell me who to fool and I'll do it."
"My cousin, Sarah."
"Your cousin? Your cousin!? The one who rejected me when I tried to help… and be her friend?! The one who's made students into her groupies?! You want me to prank her!?"
Beth nods with a straight, serious look. Heather says in an (oddly) friendly manner,
"No problem."
"Alrighty, then." Beth says, satisfied, but more deviously, "Now, here's the plan."
At the cafeteria, everyone is eating from their trays the meal of the day served by the lunch ladies – meatloaf with ketchup, corn, and carrot sticks (hey—the school's on a budget). Sarah is sitting at the table casually eating from her tray when Beth arrives with a smile on her face.
"Hey, cousin," Beth says in a mocking happy tone.
"Hey, Beth!" Sarah happily replies, "I haven't seen you all day. I was just too preoccupied— wandering around the school, meeting new people, doing this and that, y'know?"
She laughs; while this is happening, the ceiling tile directly over her is moved by Alejandro and Heather, who peer out the opening from the inner ceiling structure.
"Well cuz, I'm glad you had a great time. That's why I have a surprise for you."
"For me?!"
"Yeah— for you." Beth snaps her fingers and from the ceiling, the two Total Drama villains dump a large bucket of garbage on Sarah; she gets stunned and disgusted as it's poured on her. She is covered from head to toe in trash. All the students start laughing at Sarah—all except Trent, Harold, Tyler, Gwen, Lindsay, and Leshawna, who are shocked. Sarah is feeling overwhelmed by the ridicule, especially when she sees Beth laughing more hysterically out of all of them. She runs out the cafeteria as soon as she starts to cry. Leshawna yells at the top of her lungs,
"SHUT UP!"
Everyone – except Beth – stops laughing. The six glare at the other students and gesture them to leave, which they do, feeling guilty and a little timid. The rest turn to Beth, still chortling and rolling on her seat. Lindsay barks at her friend to stop laughing.
"Beth!"
Beth stops laughing and comes to, panting after laughing so much, while still smiling. She notices her friends and Trent, Gwen, and Tyler glaring at her and she stops laughing immediately. She then asks,
"What?"
"I hope you're happy." Condemns Harold.
"You told us you were jealous, but we never dreamed you'd go this far." Leshawna disapproves, "Did you do this?"
"I had some help."
Trent responds, "And we know who."
Gwen, Trent, and the others look up at the hole – in place the missing ceiling tile; Alejandro and Heather look down with shocked expressions on their faces before switching to nervous—in other words, they're busted! They put the tile back in its place. The six go back to look at Beth, with Trent saying,
"We would've expected this coming from Heather, but from you? That's cold."
"Because you were hanging out with her, that's why!" Beth replied.
"That's it?" reacted Tyler, flabbergasted.
"She was a great girl before we knew you two were related."
"Would that have made a difference?" Beth says.
They all responded, "Yes!"
"We were nice to her… for you." Said Lindsay.
"I didn't ask you guys to do that."
"You didn't have to; we wanted to." Said Trent.
Gwen inquires,
"What did she do to you that made you hate her so much?"
Beth retorts in envy, "She was born."
They All gasp in shock.
"Beth, she's your cousin!" Gwen countered, "Even more, she's family!"
"We can't believe you would do or say something like that, especially to a family member."
They walk towards the cafeteria doors. Beth stops them to ask why they're leaving. Harold responds,
"We are going to give our new friend some comfort. She needs us more than we need you."
Beth interposes against it, "No way! Nuh-uh! There is no way I'm letting you guys do this! She's just a pretty, perfect, know-it-all, suck up who does this for attention… and you guys are falling for it! Not me; I never did. So you guys shouldn't waste your time taking care of a phony! Why do you guys want to anyway!?"
Leshawna snaps with hate,
"Just because you hate her, doesn't mean that WE SHOULD TOO!"
All six give Beth a look before they turn to leave the cafeteria, but Beth, now realizing what she has done, tries to stop them.
"Guys, wait! Come back. I… I'm… I-I'm sorry."
Gwen says to Beth in a mixture of disappointment, anger, and shame before closing the door behind her, "We're not who you should be apologizing to."
They leave Beth alone in the cafeteria, where she languishes at her repercussions. Later, Beth is depressingly walking down the hallway. She gets disappointed stares from some of the students on account of the prank she pulled earlier today, while others exclaim that they feel bad for laughing at the new girl. Beth gets to the lockers and sits in a fetal position on the floor. Katie and Sadie walk by until they see her sitting this way. They ask her in concern what is wrong. The two Best Friends sit next to the Wannabe to console her. Feeling more relaxed, Beth tells them about what happened to make her feel this way. In an empty classroom, Gwen, Trent, Lindsay, Harold, Tyler, and Leshawna are comforting Sarah, who is sitting on a table, sobbing.
"I can't believe she would do something like that." Sarah cries. "Why?"
"We don't know why." Said Trent, giving Sarah a tissue box; she pulls one out to blow.
Leshawna says, "We couldn't believe she would do something like that either."
Sarah starts to reminisce as she starts to sound sentimental. "I mean… (sniffs) we were so close when we were younger. We use to play together, laugh together, help each other, watch each other's backs. I just—I can't… I-I-I can't believe she would do that to me!"
Sarah starts crying harder and buries her head into her hands. Beth timidly opens the door and enters the classroom. Everyone (except Sarah) turn their heads and give her a look. Beth nervously says,
"Uh… Hi, guys."
Sarah lifts her head up and responds inquisitively,
"Beth?"
Tyler says upset, "What are you doing in here?"
"Haven't you caused enough damage?" Stated Trent in the same tone.
Beth turns to leave the room, dejectedly. Sarah sees Beth walking out in sadness. She blurts out, "Guys, wait!"
Beth stops at the edge of the doorway.
"Let her stay."
Tyler, Gwen, and Trent turn to Sarah and shout "What?!" Trent then asks, "Why?"
Sarah responds earnestly, "I want to know why she did what she did. Don't you?"
The six look at each other to contemplate.
"Fine." Trent sighs reluctantly, "We'll give you the benefit of the doubt, only because your cousin will."
Beth walks back in and closes the door.
"Beth, there is something I want to know." Sarah cries, "Why do you hate me so much now?"
Harold demands, "Yeah, Beth— why do you?"
"It's been this way since we were kids," Beth tells to everyone in the room. "Every time you came to visit, everyone, such as my classmates, the other kids from grade school – even the animals at the farm – wanted to hang out with you instead of me. You're so much better than me at everything; that's why I started to hate you so much. What I'm jealous of you the most is that you are a people person. Everyone liked you more than me. You were better at making friends than I was. And to top it all off, whenever anyone saw us together, everyone thinks you're my older sister! I'm older! Me!"
They exclaim in surprise, especially the rest of the students that were eavesdropping outside.
Gwen says to Sarah, surprised, "She is your older cousin?"
Lindsay asks, "Beth, is this true?"
"Yes." Beth replies, "It is. By 11 months and 27 days."
"Beth… I had no idea. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean to take your friends or steal your thunder. All I ever wanted was to be like you. I've always looked up to you, cuz, ever since we were little. I wore my hair like you, wanted to wear glasses like you, to dress like you – I even wanted braces, just like you. I remember when I first saw you with them – your whole mouth looked like it was shining and sparkling. I thought that was so cool; I thought you were so cool."
Harold says surprised, "You thought Beth was the cool one?"
"I didn't know that." Said Lindsay.
"Neither did I." Said Beth, touched. She sighs and gets depressed, "But… you guys deserve someone who is cool, kind, fun, friendly, and not a jerk like I was. They deserve someone like you, Sarah. Not me."
Beth starts to leave again. Sarah gets off the table and runs to her cousin to give her a big hug. Beth is shocked; she felt numb for a few seconds, but tears run down her eyes and starts to hug her cousin back. The guys and girls seeing this exclaim with a touching, "Aww".
"What was that for?" Beth queries, "Why did you do that?"
Sarah tells with a warm, glowing smile on her face. "Because I'll forgive you if no one else will. I don't want you or anyone else to make you feel down on yourself. You don't have to compare yourself to me, you just have to focus on what makes you you. Maybe that's what I should've done. And besides… we're family… and I'm really glad to have you as my cousin."
Beth's lip quivers while it forms a smile going from ear to ear, "No— I'm glad to have you as mine." Beth and Sarah embrace once more and they both smile.
"I have a feeling you're gonna fit in just fine," Beth says.
"Glad you managed to patch things up," Trent speaks.
"That's the power of love and family." Sarah states, "When we didn't have much, we had each other."
Eva (who is outside with the others) and Gwen smile in response to that statement. Just then, José arrogantly opens the door and gets a stupefied look when he sees the group in the room giving him a blank stare. He then says confoundedly,
"I guess I got to Chemistry class early… or it canceled."
Sarah perks up upon seeing the hunk that is José Burromuerto. She runs up to him all goo-goo eyed, fawning all over him. José starts to feel uncomfortable with having this girl within an inch of his space. She says, dreamily,
"Hello. My name is Sarah. I'm new here. Maybe after school, we can hang out so we can get to know each other."
José smugly dismisses her. "Sorry— I only hang out with girls who are just as hot as me."
José turns around and walks to the exit. Sarah starts getting depressed. Seeing this, Beth gets enraged and marches to tell off the Arch Villain's older brother… right to his face.
"Listen here, pretty boy! My cousin has been through a LOT today! A LOT! All because of me! Sure, she may not be at 'hot' as the girls you dated – neither am I – but she's pretty in her own right and she has a good heart. Almost everybody likes her – why don't you!? Are you that vain, you'll only be with someone who matches your level of attractiveness?! Well, NO… WAY… JO… SÉ! You hang out with my cousin, you arrogant, selfish, hedonistic, rude, rich, Spanish hot tamale of the jerk, and you two better have a good time or else… let's just say you won't be pretty no more. Comprende?"
José gets frightened at Beth's sudden eruption and gulps. He responds with a squeak,
"Si."
Everyone, even Alejandro, who was watching, however, was impressed. José trudges out of the room looking annoyed, with Sarah smiling giddily and clutching his arm, passing by Alejandro, who smiles at his brother's irony. He enters the room and gives Beth a pat on the back. He praises her by saying,
"I'm impressed. It's about time someone called my brother out on his behavior. Nice job getting those two together."
"Hey, she's my cousin." Said Beth, "She deserves the very best."
"Well, my wish came true." Said Alejandro, with arms crossed and a satisfied smirk.