DISCLAIMER: I do not own Total Drama. If I did, Duncan would have took Ezekiel's place in the plot.
AN: I will not be able to upload another story until the weekend due to being out of town, so I created this to make up for it. Hope you enojoy!
"I remember the day we became friends as if it was yesterday. It was fourth grade, I was the pretty, popular, fashionable girl and she was the misfit new kid. I was walking home from school when the town's most infamous playground bullies, Duffy Smith and Franky Conners, jumped me and stole my backpack. Sadie had moved in next to me, so we were taking the route. She went up and said something along the lines of this:
"'I saw the direction Duffy went, I can help you find him, if you want.'
"'Uh, sure, thanks.'
"And so she lead me to the small woods on the side of Oak Lane where Duffy and Franky always hid in a jog in which I admittedly had to pace myself so I wouldn't run past her. We found them searching my backpack and messing it up. I was hesitant about confronting them, but Sadie had no problem with it.
"'Hey, Duffy,' she had called as we walked out from behind a tree.
"'What do you want, Cow?' I remember him reply cruelly. He was always like that. Making fun of others insecurities was what he was the best at.
"But Sadie had brushed off the insult with a witty remark about his intelligence before continuing. 'Give Katie's backpack back!'
"'Or what? You'll sit on us?'
"I twiddled with my thumbs nervously. Would they jump her, too? Would they make it their new mission to torture Sadie now that she stood up to them? Sadie didn't seem to think about any of those options. She just stood there firmly and demanded, 'Give it back.'
"Duffy snorted, put everything back, and chucked it back to her. 'Fine. But don't think you've won this.'
"Sadie shrugged and we walked out the woods together. I kept on saying 'Thank you!' and 'That was really kind of you!' over and over again, but she just stayed modest and replied with only a timid 'No problem'. We trekked back to our homes, made quick goodbyes, and parted.
"The day after that, we decided to walk to school together, which soon turned to walking home together, which turned to me hanging out with her all afternoon once school was finished. I was unsure about what my friends would think; me, one of the preppiest, ditziest, prettiest girls in school talking to... to her? That probably wouldn't fare well with the status quo. I expected my friends to ask me why I was hanging out with her, why I spent more time with her than others, why I thought we could ever become similar. They did ask me that, and my answers were always the same.
"'She's nice.'
"'I don't know what you're talking about.'
"I never thought we could be similar.'
"But those weren't my actual thoughts. I hung out with her because of more than her kindness. She was mentally strong, never backed down from a challenged. She stood up for me more than once, and I felt guilty that I never had the guts to return the favor, but every time I talked to her about that she said that she didn't anyone to stand up for her. Whether that was her way of reassuring me or an indirect insult, I'll never know, but it comforted me either way. Sadie never cared about what other people said about her and her weight or her quirks. She ignored comments about her being an obese geek and always had a smart remark in store. Those were just a few reasons about why she was my friend.
"Why did I hang out with her so much? I don't know, it's just... while the other girls wanted to talk about fashion and boys and how hot Taylor Lautner's abs were, Sadie had depth. She talked about things I never would've thought of conversing about, put up strong points, and was a great conversationalist. Sadie was also so open-minded. The others, they wouldn't try things like video games or making little gadgets. Dancing and lip-syncing to 'NSYNC was more their style. It wasn't a good style, but it was a style. The fact that Sadie enjoyed doing these misfit things with me was refreshing after a long day of gossip and annoying schoolwork made even more difficult by my ADHD.
"That's another thing. Many people would call me 'freak' and 'retard' behind my back, and it really stung. They made jokes like, 'Oh, hi Ka-oooh, a butterfly!' and 'How many retards does it take to fasten a light bulb? (insert cheesy punch line here)!' Sure, I was technically popular, but back then, popular meant you were friends with that select group of girly boyband-lovers. Oh, the early 2000's. The nerds, jocks, tomboys, slackers... they barely acknowledged my existence, and if they did, it was to make some ADHD joke. But Sadie... Sadie didn't care. I could've been purple, lisping, and a half-hippo humanoid and she wouldn't have batted an eyelash. To her, learning disabilities, attention disorders, or anything of the sort was about as relevant to who I was as a person as asking what a guy's eye color was on a college application. When I introduced her to my younger brother, who was diagnosed with aspergers, she didn't mind. She played with him, took her time getting to know him, and was patient.
"But back on topic, I never thought we would become as similar as we are now. We like the same music, movies, and clothes, we still play Zelda and Battletoads like we did back in the good ol' days, and make little model airplanes and watch them fly. Sure, the cameras never captured that, but we still do it. Sadie's more bubbly and optimistic than she used to be, but is still not afraid to whisper a sarcastic comment into my ear during those ridiculous challenges Chris put us through.
"However, the most annoying statement someone has ever said to me about Sadie and I's friendship has to be, 'Sadie's so lucky to have you as a friend.' No, not at all. I'm lucky to have her. I was immature, selfish, spineless. She was precocious, generous, confident. She's my shoulder to lean on, and I'm her journal to confide in. But Sadie's more than a friend.
"She's like my sister. "
Katie finished her reminiscing with a tear trickling down her cheek. Her cousin, whose face was on Katie's Skype, couldn't help but give a small sniffle too.
And Sadie, who had overheard the conversation through the Playa's paper-thin walls, simply smiled and went back to sleep contently.