Author's Note: Just a one-shot I suddenly felt inspired to write. Hope you enjoy it ^_^
It had been exactly one year since the first season of Total Drama Island had come to an end. Beth could easily recall all the memories she'd formed, all the friends she'd made, yet somehow the idea of going for a reunion filled her with sorrow. She looked at the invitation in her hand, explaining that all twenty-four contestants had been invited back to Camp Wawanakwa for a night for reminiscing and partying.
Beth sighed as she looked up to her mirror. She knew why she felt so down, she hadn't changed at all over the year. Sure, she'd lost her braces, but it was still the same homely pig-girl looking out of the mirror. She'd told herself that her seventeenth birthday would change all that; as if she would finally break free of a cocoon. Yet the date had come and gone and Beth felt no different. It would be too hard for her to face everyone again and still be the same plain girl she'd always been.
Her phone broke her thoughts as it rang shrilly. Beth picked it up and answered immediately.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, BFF!" a voice on the other side squealed.
"Lindsay!" Beth exclaimed, easily recognizing the voice of her best friend.
"I was just wondering if you were going to the reunion thingy tonight?" Lindsay asked.
Beth sighed to herself, but didn't let her insecurity into her voice.
"Uh, yeah, I was thinking about it," Beth said, not actually lying.
"Super!" Lindsay exclaimed. "So, I thought that maybe you'd like a ride with me. I'll be driving right through your city and it'd be sooo nice to talk to you again."
"Oh…okay, sure," Beth said. "You can drive?"
"Don't be silly," Lindsay laughed. "Driving is confusing. But Tyler can drive. He's my boyfriend, remember?"
This time Beth did let a sigh creep through.
"Yeah, I remember," she replied slightly glum.
Luckily, Lindsay didn't pick up on it.
"Hooray, we'll see you soon!" Lindsay cheered.
Lindsay hung up and Beth placed her phone down as she returned to her funk, feeling even worse than ever. There'd be so many relationships formed over the course of three seasons. Some had worked out, and some had fallen apart, but Beth had never been a part of any of that. She had long since accepted that she would never be the kind of girl to have boys chasing after her, but it still hurt to think that she had never even come close to winning the heart of a boy.
She picked up a photo of herself and a tall Hispanic boy. She chuckled bitterly to herself as she remembered Brady. The boy who she had claimed was her dreamy boyfriend. In reality, she was barely sure if she would even consider him a friend. He was just some boy she'd run into at the dentist's office, they'd talked and before she knew what she was saying, she asked him how he'd like to appear on TV. All he'd have to do was pretend to be her boyfriend. It had felt nice to see everyone realize that they'd been wrong, to see that boring Beth had nabbed a hottie for a boyfriend. But it was all pretend. She'd never spoken to him again, and, while no one had said anything, she was sure that they'd all figured it out by now.
She took another look at herself in the mirror. She reached behind her head and removed her hairdo. Her brown hair rolled down over her shoulders.
"Could I be beautiful?" she asked her reflection.
She looked down at her watch.
"I've got one hour to try," she said with a faint determination.
Gwen shivered as a cold breeze rushed past her. She had put on a sweater and hat, yet it was still hard to keep warm when she'd been standing at the same corner of the street for twenty minutes. All around her, cars were flowing through traffic, but she still couldn't spot the person she'd been looking for. She glanced at her watch, then the invitation in her hand. She began to chew her lip in frustration. He was late again. It was another fifteen minutes until the silver car rolled up to the curb.
"Hey, babe," Duncan said as he opened the door.
Gwen remained silent as she entered. Once she was in, Duncan took off again. It didn't look like he was going to apologize, but this was nothing new.
"You're late," she declared. "You told me you'd pick me up at 5:00 and it's 5:35."
"That's not so late," Duncan scoffed playfully. "And I lost my key, I was lucky to find it at all with the condition my house is in."
"No, I wouldn't be mad," Gwen replied, "if this wasn't the third time this month you've left me waiting in the cold. If you can't get there in time then don't tell me you're going to be there."
"Hey, lighten up," Duncan said still not taking the conversation seriously. "I didn't know I was going to be late, do you think I'm doing it on purpose."
Gwen just sighed and turned to look out the window. She had known that maintaining a relationship with Duncan wouldn't be easy; she was lucky that lived as close as they did. Still, she had thought that he would have at least tried to make an effort. Instead, Duncan seemed only interested in seeing her so that they could make out endlessly. Gwen had to admit, she'd felt the same way at first, but it had been months now and she had hoped that maybe they could move up to something more.
Duncan wasn't making easy, either. He could be romantic at times, but those times were coming more and more scarce. Most of the time he was immature, irresponsible, and rude. Gwen was finding her patience running out.
"And I still haven't forgotten about that Carmen girl," Gwen remarked bitterly. "The one whose name kept showing up on your phone."
"Oh, for the last time," Duncan groaned, "I told you—"
"I know, I know," Gwen interrupted with irritation, "It was your cousin who was new in town and needed help getting around. I heard your story."
"I don't get why you won't believe me," Duncan sighed in frustration. "I love you, I'd never betray you like that."
"Is that what you told Courtney?" Gwen said icily.
"Hey!" Duncan snapped. "We are not bringing that up."
Gwen didn't reply. She shouldn't have mentioned that, after all, if he hadn't cheated on Courtney, they never would have gotten together. And yet…it didn't change the fact that he had cheated. He and Courtney had been close back in the first season, but by season three he held Gwen in his arms instead. Who's to say that he hadn't decided to move on again?
Beth had scoured through every closet she could find in her house. She had spent all the time she had to get herself ready for the reunion. She had found a sleeveless flowing purple dress which she had slipped on. She was just finishing putting the final touches of makeup over her eyelids. When she was satisfied she looked in the mirror. The pig-girl was gone, instead she saw someone new. This girl had red lips and a glowing face. She was wearing a sexy dress and was ready to party. However, in her eyes Beth could still see her wavering confidence. She tried to change her expression, she tried to look sexy, but she couldn't lose the feeling. She sighed…no one would notice, they'd be too busy checking out the new Beth.
Beth looked at her watch again, Lindsay would be here any minute. She carefully made her way from her room to her front hall. There she ran into her mother, a short plump woman with brown hair down up in a bun.
"Oh, Bethy, what are you wearing?" she exclaimed in surprise. "The dress is showing far too much. You know how I feel about this kind of thing."
"Mother," Beth sighed, but her mom wasn't finished.
"And are you wearing my makeup?" she asked. "Bethy, what made you think you needed makeup?"
"I just want to look nice," Beth pouted with frustration.
"But Beth, what's wrong with just being yourself?" Beth's mother insisted. "You shouldn't have to change who you are."
"But mother!" Beth snapped. "Being me hasn't worked! I'm not pretty, and I'm tired of being just plain Beth."
Beth's mother looked like she had more to say, but a horn honking interrupted her.
"That's Lindsay," Beth said as she made her way to the door. "I have to go now, mother."
"Bethy…" her mother said sadly, "Have a nice time."
Beth exited the house and walked out to the dirt path. She saw a shiny red car waiting for her, with Lindsay standing just outside of it.
"Hi, Lindsay," Beth greeted with a smile.
"Hi…um, who are you?" Lindsay asked.
Beth laughed, "It's me, Beth, your BFF."
"Oooh…really?" Lindsay asked.
Beth just laughed again. Lindsay seemed to accept that it was her and let her into the back of the car. Tyler sat at the wheel.
"Hey, Beth," he greeted.
"Hi, Tyler," Beth replied.
Beth wasn't sure how she should take Lindsay's reaction to her new look. Reinventing herself had been her intention, yet this was Lindsay, the girl who rarely recognized her own boyfriend. Beth decided that she would have to wait until she saw the others before she would know for sure if she could pull off her new style.
It was late night, but the party was going on full swing at Camp Wawankwa. Music and lights blared out of a single cabin on the wild island. Inside, several former contestants were enjoying their time together. Every once in a while, the rickety old boat would arrive to drop someone else off at the party.
Currently, Leshawna was breaking out her infamous dance moves in the center of the floor. Around her, her friends DJ, Bridgette, and Geoff were also dancing happily. Leshawna paused when she saw a couple enter the room.
"Gwen!" she exclaimed as she waved at the goth girl.
Gwen cracked a light smile as she waved back at her friend. The girls hugged each other as they got back together. Duncan stayed back, unenthusiastically. Instead he made his way to the snack table.
"Sorry we're late," Gwen said. "It seems to be a habit of Duncan."
"Are you to having problems?" Leshawna asked with concern.
"I don't want to talk about it," Gwen sulked.
"I understand," Leshawna said. "Just know, if you need a friend you can always call me. But for now, let's just have some fun!"
Gwen smiled again as she joined Leshawna in dance. Duncan just watched from the side. He knew that his relationship with Gwen was doomed. He wasn't ready to commit to her, he'd thought that the two of them could just have fun together. But Gwen had new ideas now and he was finding it harder and harder to be with her. It was the exact same thing that had happened to Courtney. He sighed to himself as he grabbed a drink of punch.
A little while later, Beth, Tyler and Lindsay all arrived.
"Ooh, look at all our old friends!" Lindsay exclaimed.
She happily ran inside to reunite with everyone she could. Tyler happily followed after her, but Beth lagged behind. She was feeling butterflies in her stomach now. She clung to the wall as she tried to think of what she should say. How should she show off her new self? After several minutes of just holding back and pacing nervously, she decided to just take a deep breath and try. She saw Justin walking by and carefully approached.
"Uh, hi, Justin," she said failing to maintain any confidence in her voice.
"Oh hi," he said only offering her a split-second glance. "Uh…Betty, is it?"
"Beth," she corrected.
"Right, right," Justin said as he kept on walking.
Beth scowled to herself in frustration and disappointment. It's just Justin, she told herself, he's a jerk to everyone. She was determined to keep trying.
Duncan kept to himself for the most part. He traded quick high-five with Owen, and greeted a few people who walked by, but he wasn't in the mood for partying. Gwen had been in a sour mood nearly every time he'd seen her; it was making it harder for him to enjoy any time with her. Sure, maybe he'd been late a few times, but she was making too much of a big deal out of it. And he couldn't even talk to his clueless cousin without her assuming he was having an affair. He turned around and bumped into someone.
"Oh, it's you!" Courtney snapped as she shoved herself away from Duncan. "I was hoping you wouldn't make it."
"The feeling is mutual, princess," Duncan replied.
"Don't call me that!" Courtney snapped. "So, tell me, Duncan, how many girls have you gone between now? Three? Five? Ten?"
"I'm still with Gwen," Duncan declared firmly.
"Oh, yeah, right," Courtney scoffed. "Well, when that blissful unity comes crashing down, I'll be there to say I told you so."
Duncan just grumbled to himself as he left Courtney behind. He decided that he didn't want to be around all these people. He left the cabin and began to walk along the beach.
More people had arrived, and the cabin was getting pretty full. Beth made her way through the crowd, offering friendly 'hello's to her old friends. She was really interested in finding a boy who wasn't already with a girl, though. Eventually she ran into Cody.
"Cody!" she exclaimed warmly. "How are you doing?"
"Hey, Beth," Cody said with a smile. "I've been doing pretty well. How about you?"
"Yeah, I can't complain," Beth replied. "So, I was wondering—"
"Cody!" A girl squealed from the other side of the room.
In a manner of seconds, Cody was getting squashed in Sierra's arms.
"Oh my Codykins, I haven't seen you in so long!" she exclaimed.
"Sierra, I can't breathe," Cody laughed as she let him go.
Beth sighed once again as she kept walking.
Gwen continued to dance with her friends. She didn't even notice that someone was coming up behind her until a pair of hands covered her eyes.
"Guess who?" a voice said from behind her.
"Trent!" Gwen exclaimed as she turned around.
She grinned her first genuine smile as she saw her ex-boyfriend.
"It's nice to see you again," Trent said.
"You too," Gwen replied without losing her smile. "How have you been?"
"Good, good," Trent replied. "The music career has been working out."
"Any girl in your life?" Gwen asked.
"Heh," Trent chuckled slightly uneasily, "Nothing serious has happened yet."
At that moment the music changed to a slower song.
"Say," Trent began to ask, "would it be too awkward to share this dance? I know you're with Duncan now but—"
"He's not around," Gwen said; she had seen Duncan leave, but hadn't bothered to stop him. "And I'd love to dance with you."
Trent smiled sweetly as he held Gwen in his arms and the two began to move together. Beth still watched from the sides. Alone. She saw Cody dance with Sierra. She saw Gwen dance with Trent. Leshawna danced with Harold, and Geoff danced with Bridgette. She saw Lindsay dancing with Tyler and realized that she would never be in that position. It didn't matter that she was wearing a new dress or had a new hairstyle, it was too little too late. To all of them, she was still boring, plain, ugly Beth.
She turned and left behind the cabin.
Outside, Duncan paced through the night. He kicked stones into the water aimlessly as he walked. He didn't want to think now, he just wanted to lose himself in the darkness. Not too far away, Beth was kneeling over the lake. She took one last look at her reflection, before she splashed her face with water and removed all of her makeup. She then pulled out a hair-elastic and did up her hair in a ponytail again. Her new look hadn't helped her at all. When she looked back up, she realized that Duncan was standing right next to her.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing?" Beth replied.
"But I asked you first," Duncan shot back.
"I wasn't having fun," Beth sighed in defeat.
"Well, that doesn't sound like you," Duncan said with a light smirk. "Aren't you the girl who's always so full of energy that it's impossible to stand?"
"It's hard to be like that all the time, "Beth sighed. "Especially when everyone seems to have someone to love except for me."
"Don't let that get you down," Duncan chuckled bitterly. "Relationships are nothing but pain and stress."
"But at least you've had that experience," Beth replied. "No one's ever going to love me."
"Are you kidding?" Duncan scoffed. "The only reason you haven't gotten a guy yet is because you're too good for any of the boys on this island."
"That's not funny," Beth pouted.
"Look, Beth, I know I can be a bit of a jerk, but I mean it when I say that you are a great girl," Duncan said. "Do you remember back in the season 2 finale? You helped me when you could have just left me behind. You gave up the chance for a million dollars just because you were my friend. How many other girls would do that?"
"And why are you suddenly trying to be Mr. Nice Guy?" Beth asked suspiciously.
Duncan just shrugged as he said, "There are some pretty unpleasant people here, sometimes you need to have someone who's just so full of positive energy. Trust me, Beth, I've been with some harsh girls, you are so much better than any of them."
"But that doesn't matter," Beth sighed. "Look at me, I'm not pretty, who would ever—"
Duncan silenced her by kissing her. Beth was shocked at first, but she held the position. The two of them kept their lips locked for what felt like a long time.
As soon as they pulled apart, Beth exclaimed, "You're…with Gwen."
"Then you'd better not tell her," Duncan said as he winked. "But seriously, Beth, you deserve someone a lot better than me. And you will find someone who's worth your time. I promise."
As Duncan left Beth, he felt somewhat better inside. It had been strange, having to be supportive of Beth. Yet he had meant what he had said. He had come to respect Beth's kindness, especially after what he'd put up with. He truly believed that she deserved someone who would treat her right. Not like the way he'd treated Courtney, or Gwen, or countless other girls in his life.
Beth remained frozen in the same spot where Duncan had left her. Eventually she broke out of the trance and brought herself to look at her reflection once more. Despite the dress and smeared makeup, she clearly recognized the girl who always looked back. And yet, there was something different in her eyes. They still wavered with uncertainty, yet she saw something that had been missing all this time. Hope.