A.N.: Total Drama Island and all related stuff belongs to Fresh TV Inc. Shadowfeet belongs to Brooke Fraser(world needs MOAR Brooke Fraser). I hope you like, especially blueflower1594, ;)
Update: Thanks, BlueSaria for the help, ;)
Update: Removed the lyrics, apparently it's against the rules, but no one cares, though it's better to have caution.
It was a sunny spring day, skies clear, with few clouds, the temperature was mild. Harold took advantage of the good weather to visit his aunt. He was whistling I Wanna Be Famous while walking to the bus stop. He was in a good mood, walking carefree with his hands in his pocket.
"This song doesn't get off my head," he thought, "But what can I do? I'll have to see again Chris and everyone next month, at least it'll be a new opportunity to show my mad skills to the world and to the ladies, hehe."
He took a seat at the bus stop, still whistling the song, until he heard a certain female voice, "Who's whistling this stupid song? Stop, now!"
He stopped and turned to his right and saw Heather sitting at her side. He made a polite smile and asked, "Oh, hi Heather, what a coincidence."
She seemed very impatient, with her arms crossed around her chest, tapping her feet, with an annoyed look, "Ah, it's you..."
"So, what are you doing here?" Harold asked.
"Daddy said to me to pick a bus to go back home," she replied, short-tempered, "He said he couldn't pick me at the school because he was very busy and mom's car was repairing, he even said, 'sorry, Heather but I can't get you now, I need to turn off, I'm going into a tunnel, bye', of course he was going into a tunnel," she sarcastically scoffed.
"Well, buses aren't so expensive..."
"You obviously don't understand! How could a girl like me pick a tacky bus? This is so... so... inadequate!"
"Riiight..." Harold replied. They made silence for a few seconds then Harold decided to talk, "So, how's going after TDA? You've started a videoblog, right?"
Heather refused to talk, so Harold tried to ask her again, "Any problems, Heather? Something about Gwen?"
"That weird goth girl..." she replied, clenching her fists, "She made fun of me to the entire world, she's so full of herself now just because her videoblog has more visits than mine."
"Actually she talks about a variety of issues, not only about you, but also about the environment, cinema, modern art," Harold tried to reason, earning a glare from Heather.
"What do you mean?" she asked, in a harsh tone, "Don't tell me you're on her team, too."
"No, no, no," Harold replied, showing his hands, "I visit both videoblogs, but you just complain about her," she said, "And have much few entries..."
"So, what's the problem? And who are you to talk? You didn't even leave a comment!"
"Well," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "I just started to read last week, I didn't have time before..."
"Too busy with your 'career'?" Heather replied, making quotation marks in the air.
"Sigh... Fame is a harsh mistress, you know."
"I still cannot understand how something so stupid like beatboxing can gain the world..."
"It's not stupid," replied Harold, slightly offended, "It took several years of training. I doubt you could do better."
"I don't have to," she replied, turning her nose up, "Last time I tried to do something you do, I just got problems with my friends at school."
"What do you mean?" Harold hadn't seen the footage of the third Aftermath, "I don't know what are you talking about."
"Forget."
"Tell me, Heather."
"I said FORGET!"
Now was Harold's turn to get impatient, "Heather, if you don't talk to me, it's only going to be bad for you, you have to open yourself sometimes."
Heather stood still for a few seconds, sighed and decided to talk, "During TDA, I was caught in tape toying with your num-yos, happy now?"
"So that's why there was missing one of my num-yos," Harold mused, "Why didn't you ask me?"
"You just don't understand, that 'maneuver' cost me a great deal of popularity at my school."
"Why are you so worried about popularity?"
"Again, your understanding capacities are the same of Spongebob," Heather scoffed, "Every popular girl and guy were looking strange at me..."
"I see..."
"No, you don't," Heather replied, glancing at him, "Before TDI and TDA, I used to rule that school with an iron fist. Everyone respected me before TDI, no one could face me without suffer the consequences," she said, with an evil grin, "Like the time that stupid Adam tried to run against me at the elections. I gave him a lesson he will never forget."
"Uhm, you were ruling over them," said Harold, impressed with her confidence while talking.
"I always liked to accept boy's invitation to go to the parties, and then, dump them in front of everyone."
"Serious?"
"Do you think when I kissed Trent that was the first time I was doing that?"
"I'm afraid not," he said, looking nervously around.
"But I can't do that anymore," she sighed, "Not after that stupid reality show. Now I have to ask the boys and everyone refused to go with me, those idiots!"
"So, everyone realized you were a mean, evil person, right?"
"No, everyone knew that."
The only reaction of Harold was surprise, "What?"
"In my circle of friends, everyone is also manipulative, mean with other people," she said, in a forlorn voice, "So, only because I was seen along with you, which is a dorky nerd, and LeShawna, which is from the ghetto, at the second season, even for a little time, they started to look different at me."
"That's too superficial," replied Harold, indignant with what her friends thought about LeShawna.
"And know what? I discovered they got angry with me for using Lindsay, not because it wasn't nice, but because she was also of the upper-class and they said we should be united."
"C'mon, what you did with Lindsay at the first season was too harsh!" Harold said, with a mix of courage and fear of receiving a slap.
"You're right," she sighed, looking down, "I apologized to her, but I don't know if she accepted, she barely talked with me at the movie lot."
"I didn't talk too much with her too, so I don't know how she feels about you now. But what kind of friends do you have?"
Heather refused to talk more, she kept looking down.
"Why didn't they kick you out?" Harold changed his last question.
"If I don't stay with them, I won't be popular anymore."
"But you said you weren't popular anymore."
"I didn't say that, you retard. I said I just lost some power... I lost the campaign for reelections, everyone, even the not-populars, were picking on me because of my baldness. Life's not what used to be..."
"So? How are you now?"
"I still together with my popular friends because I'm still rich and I'm the primary source of gossip about everyone from the show. Off-screen action makes good gossip."
"Even about me?" Harold asked, naively believing he would be an exception.
"Of course," she replied, deadpan. Harold didn't look much happy. "To tell the truth, I'm getting sick of this. But with this new season I have a chance to make my comeback," she said, confident (or deluded), "I'll win that money and, again, be the most popular girl, everyone will bow to me once more!"
"Heather..." Harold sighed, it was sad to see her in that decadent state and refusing to face the reality, "There's more on life than being popular."
"You don't understand..." she replied.
"No, it's you who doesn't understand," he said, rising his voice, "Popularity can't be the ultimate objective in life, because this thing doesn't last forever! I couldn't maintain my popularity forever, why do you think with you would be different?"
"You lost your popularity because you're an incredible stupid geek, letting your fame escape through your fingers, like sand," Heather snapped, "If I were in your place everything would be different!"
"Heather, past is past," he replied, trying to avoid the topic, he didn't want Heather screaming at his ears, "It's gone, my musical career is gone..." he said, also trying to not remember, "I can only keep moving now and I don't know if I'm going to be popular again."
"This nerd," Heather thought, "He is here, listening to me even in spite of my screams and insults..." and she talked, in a deadpan tone, hiding her sadness and confusion, since she was so used to mistreat most people around her that she had difficult to understand when someone was trying to be genuinely nice with her, "Why are you here? Why did we cross our ways? And why I'm even talking to you?"
"I don't know too, Heather," he replied, trying to be sympathetic, looking into her eyes, "But if there's something I saw on you during the last day at Wawanakwa is that you have more to offer to everyone, more than you think. You just have to try, maybe you can even regain your popularity being nice."
Heather stared him and said, "How? Nobody is nice, see LeShawna, Gwen, Geoff, even you, cheating to vote off Courtney..."
"True..." Harold replied, with his voice trailing off. He stared at the floor, with sadness and guilty filling his heart, but then, he lifted his head and smiled to her, "But I think that could be another reason to don't give up trying."
"Oh, the optimism..." she said, rolling her eyes.
At that moment, Harold's bus stopped, "Sorry, Heather but I have to go now, auntie Clarabel is waiting for me," he gave her a kiss on her cheek, to which she politely allowed, "Until next month!" She just waved to him, in a very unexpressive way.
After the bus was gone, she returned to her seat, and looked down, thinking, "Harold... why does he still try to look beyond skin deep? Why does he can't understand I need to be popular? Or, maybe I really could be exaggerating about this... I could try, but, whatever, I have my priorities. At least I have one ally guaranteed for my alliance at Total Drama World Tour... Someone I can trust," then she stopped, opening her eyes wide, "Wait, what had I just thought?" she didn't think for some seconds, blinked and thought, "Perhaps he could be more than an ally..." then, she made something she didn't do for a long time: she smiled genuinely.