Families of Total Drama

Chapter 1: Alejandro and Heather

"Another successful day, Talia; you really should be the ruler of a country someday." Amethyst said on the bus ride home from school.

Avery nodded in agreement. "You've ruled over everyone at school practically every year. Practically, since you didn't have control over everyone in third grade." She winced, fearing her comment might have invoked a harsh reprimanding.

Scoffing, Talia stuck her nose up. "How was I supposed to know that third graders would be when everyone started getting their independence? It didn't help that 'Little Miss Snobby' Bailey joined our school and wasn't given a rundown of the way things work. Stupid brat just went and made friends with everyone in class and had no knowledge that her number of friends had a limit." The apparent queen of middle school retorted. "Good thing we settled that before summer came." She remembered the day that she kicked Bailey down a notch fondly.

Suddenly the bus halted and Avery looked up from the back of the bus. Considering that school buses were like idiotic-looking limousines, it was made sense for the popular girls that the best got to sit at the very back.

"Looks like this is your stop, Talia! We'll text you tonight!" Avery waved as Talia left her seat.

Nodding in agreement, Amethyst waved as well. "Yeah, we still need to discuss what to do about those geeks in Social Studies. It's called Social Studies not Study Studies."

"Right, talk to you tonight." Talia walked towards the front of the bus. Without even shifting her gaze from the bus's front, she declared in a firm tone. "Don't even think about it, Ulrich." Ulrich, a boy that was in the middle of the middle school society ranks, frowned and slumped in his seat with a small bouquet he hoped to impress her with. He really wanted to ask Talia to be his date to the middle school dance.

Not even feeling a twinge of regret for denying the boy's invite, Talia stepped off the bus and walked towards her home. When she was old enough, she would get her own car and then she and her friends wouldn't have to be stuck with losers for longer than necessary.

She was Talia Burromuerto, the 13-year-old daughter of two of television's most diabolical former reality show competitors. She had her father's tan skin and lime green eyes while she had received her mother's light black hair. Just as Avery said, she had been ruling over those around her for years. That was something she got from her mother. Something she got from her father was her way with words. Back in elementary school when everyone was still growing into their looks, Talia had learned how to use her words to manipulate her teachers and her peers. Even with her manipulative skill, her father insisted that she do her studying herself like he did when he was going to school. Thanks to that piece of advice, she was on the honor roll like he was. Outside of school, her life was a quiet one. With parents that were distant from the majority of their siblings, relatives didn't turn up very many times; and due to their experiences with siblings growing up, they had agreed that Talia would be their only child so she wouldn't have to deal with annoying sisters or irritating brothers. Despite her being the daughter of celebrities, her fifteen minutes of fame were only when she was born and everyone got hyped up or terrified about her arrival. If only she could remember those moments so she could actually feel the fame she had. Though, she wasn't complaining; she was famous in her own way and life was decent enough where she could enjoy it.

Finally, she walked up to her home and pushed the front door open. "I'm home!" Talia shouted through the house's halls. Shutting the door behind her, she walked into the kitchen to get an after-school snack.

"Hey, how was school?" Her mother replied from the living room.

"Boring, but on the bright side, I got that report for Science class done so I can sit back while the teacher annoys the others that still have to get it finished by the end of this week. By the way, did this week's magazine issue come in?"

"On the table,"

Spying the magazine on the table where the family had dinner, Talia grabbed her snack and the magazine before making her way to the living room.

In the living room was Heather Burromuerto, an editor-in-chief for one of the top magazines in the country. She was sitting on the couch and typing on her laptop.

"What are you doing?"

Heather addressed her daughter without removing her gaze from the computer. "I'm just seeing if Sierra's got a new blog update. It's amazing that even though I could care less about those losers, I'm still keeping up with their personal lives." Realizing the irony of the situation, Heather let out a chuckle.

Her daughter scoffed. "Yet, I don't really know them or their lame families and I still have their contact information since that blogger creep insisted on it." She said, remembering how Sierra had thrust the information onto her at a Total Drama convention that Chris had coaxed the cast into appearing at. As offspring of two former contestants, Talia was expected to appear as well.

"I told you that Sierra was a weirdo when you first met her." Heather reminded her.

"Shut up," Talia retorted like it was a common thing to say in the household. She had heard her parents say it when they playfully teased each other and when they were arguing with their former cast mates so she had taken to using the phrase many times. "I'm going to my room and organize my plans for dominating high school." Before Heather could give a response, the Latin-Asian teenager stepped upstairs.

Once the Total Drama stuff had retired, Heather and her cast mates were able to move on with college and/or other plans for their lives. For Heather, it was going to college and getting to the top of the gossip field. It was quite the experience, needless to say. Even if she had enemies on the show, Heather still found herself keeping contact with those she was on neutral or good terms with during college; namely Alejandro, Jo, Lindsay, Duncan, Sierra, even Harold. Not much changed in those years except Heather had married her season three finale opponent, had her first and only child, and a familiar bull head-shaped necklace rested around her neck for practically every moment of every day. With those few exceptions, Heather's life was like it was in high school: she was the boss and people did as she said with little refusal.

Seeing as Sierra didn't have an interesting update, Heather turned off her laptop and flipped on the television to find a way to entertain herself until her husband got home or until Talia needed help with whatever she needed. Finally, she found a channel that had something interesting: Mike, Dakota, and Izzy were on a talk show discussing their roles in an upcoming film. Watching them, Heather recalled the last time she had been on a talk show with someone from the cast. That last time was with Alejandro to announce their engagement. Remembering that moment, Heather touched the necklace around her neck. At first, people had thought that Alejandro had given her his necklace as a love token but it was actually a family thing. Whenever a Burromuerto turned sixteen or someone married into the family, they received a bull head necklace as the tradition had been since generations ago. It was known that the family members hardly ever took the necklaces off and Heather did the same ever since getting hers. No matter what, Heather always had a piece of family with her wherever she went and whenever.

"Hello my chicas! I brought home take-out." The familiar, Latin voice called. Heather got off the couch and went to greet her spouse. As Alejandro set down his things, he and Heather smooched in their always loving way.

Like Heather, not much about Alejandro changed. He still kept his facial hair to his goatee and he still wore boots whenever he left the house. When it wasn't business, Alejandro utilized his manipulation skills, along with his other talents, to make others feel inferior. Pretty much his only changes was his softness towards Heather and his daughter. His life was like he imagined it would be when he started going to college; he had Heather, he had the job he wanted, and he had his own to raise. While most of the parenting they had done jointly, there were few things that both taught Talia individually. As Heather taught Talia the beauty tips she had picked up from her mother, how to rule over others, and taught her how to speak Mandarin, Alejandro taught her to speak Spanish, taught her to manipulate people, taught her some of the skills he possessed, and was planning to teach her how to drive once she was old enough. He had driven a bus a couple of times so driving a car was a piece of cake compared to that and he seemed to be better at it than Heather so she had relented the duty to him.

Talia stepped down the staircase and eyed the take-out that Alejandro was holding. "You got my usual?"

"Of course! If I didn't do that, then it would suggest I didn't know my own daughter that well." Giving him her thanks, Talia took the food that was hers and went to the table to eat. "I figured tonight would be good for Chinese. Wouldn't you agree?" He asked Heather.

Heather nodded. "Yep, nice work Ale-hunk-dro."

"That's not the only nice work I did today, mi amor. Wait until I tell you two about what happened today at work." Husband and wife moved to the dining room and were about to sit down to eat when the family heard a buzz.

"That's probably Avery or Amethyst texting me, be right back." Talia got up and zipped up the stairs to her room to get her cellphone.

Alejandro and Heather sat down and enjoyed their meal as Talia returned with her phone in hand.

When she returned, Talia groaned.

"What is it?" Alejandro asked.

"It's that idiot, Thunder. He's trying to get me to join his fan group for his football career." Talia replied as she read the message. "Doofus, doesn't he know I don't like him?"

"He's Lightning's son, I doubt he knows any more than moron." Heather commented.

Alejandro nodded. "Agreed. If he doesn't know that he has no chance with my daughter then he really doesn't know a whole lot."

"Which is exactly why I'm replying 'not interested, meathead'." Talia announced as she sent a reply text. Moments later, a text popped up. "He says 'thanks for the support! I'll keep you updated.' Loser! I said no!" She deleted the text and seethed in frustration. "From what I've seen of that show, I can tell he's got Lightning's blood in him. Remind me to riot to Sierra the next time we have to interact with her." Taking her frustration out on her food, she angrily dug in and eat; trying to ignore the annoyances that were the rest of the next Total Drama generation.

"We'll keep that in mind, dear." Alejandro acknowledged as the family quietly settled into their evening.