A/N: Hi. You'll notice that some of these chapters don't have the author's notices you'll see in subsequent chapters. They've been replaced. I say this for the sake of transparency, and if anyone somehow stumbles across this fic. Nothing about the writing style itself has changed. My writing has changed considerably in the past six years, as I have, but understand: I was writing this story for a friend. She wanted a story written about this show, and I did it. For extra fun, I used her name, and I obtained her permission to put it online so she could easily read it. I didn't think anyone would read it, and although this only has 14 reviews, it received several recommendations when I posted it and the subsequent two fics. It has now amassed nearly 5K hits, which doesn't sound like a lot, but is huge personally since I never considered myself a great writer. I want say thank you to everyone who liked this odd little insert-fic. It puts huge tests on suspension of disbelief and has some serious dream world stuff (a plot device I'm still very much into), so thank you for sticking with it. I would love to rewrite it properly, but it requires a massive overhaul, and I don't have the time or any passion to dedicate to it.

It's been six years. I felt having her name linked to this wouldn't be a good idea should anyone ever do a google search of her. We fell out of touch years ago, so I feel okay doing this. As a final note, a lot of this fic won't make sense. It makes sense in this chapter and near the end, but it's a flimsy conceit and I would definitely not do anything like this again. So if you decide to read it all the way through, thank you. If you don't, I understand, and thank you for reading at least this portion.

"Honey? Honey! WAKE UP!" I heard a distant voice call out. I was shaken awake from my 2 hour nap.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

"What? You were asleep. I was calling you down to get dinner and you didn't respond. I got worried, so I came up to check on you." My mom responded.

It was summer vacation. Wonderful summer vacation. Over the past few days I've been off, I started watching a series on Cartoon Network called Total Drama Island, TDI for short. I thought it was stupid, but one day I got really bored with what was on, so I decided to watch Cartoon Network. TDI happened to be on, and I've been addicted to it ever since. I don't like being addicted to stuff like that. It's stupid. Oh well, at least it occupied time when I'd normally be bored. I spent it watching upcoming episodes on Youtube, good quality or not, as long as I can make out words or images, and surfing Wikipedia and their article on TDI, specifically the episode descriptions.

I went downstairs to eat dinner, a cheeseburger with mustard. I gobbled it down and soon after, I had an orange-mango sorbet with some whipped cream on top. I went upstairs to my room, surfed the internet, IMed people, normal teenage stuff. After a few hours passed, it was 11 PM. I was getting really tired, so I closed my laptop, got ready for bed, plopped down on my bed and slept, wondering what surprises—or not—tomorrow would bring.

Ah, morning. I felt the sun shining down on me. I decided to open my eyes, but I was staring at a completely different world. It looked animated, as though I was in a cartoon. I shot up out of my bed and looked at the mirror across from my bed. I looked like an animated version of myself. My eyes darted across the room. Everything was animated! The TV, my bookcase, my laptop, the chairs, my iPod and my Nintendo DS! It was completely crazy! Then I looked at my hands. I had four fingers! It felt like I had five, and I picked things up as though I had five fingers, but I had four! Then I realized; could this be a dream? The animation, the four fingers…it was a TDI dream! I closed my eyes for a few seconds, telling myself it was just a dream. Normally, I'd wake up, but when I opened my eyes, I wasn't back in my own world. I was still in the animated world.

Then I let out a scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MOMMMMMMMMMM!"

"What? What is it honey?" She asked, rushing in and looking panicked.

"Do I look different?" I asked. I was hoping she would say that I looked very different and realize she looked different too, but she coolly replied, "There's nothing wrong. You look normal, I look normal, we're all normal. Oh, by the way, something came in the mail from you. It's from a company called Fresh TV. Here it is." She handed me an envelope. Once she left the room, I closed the door to my room and locked it. Fresh TV is the company that made TDI. Could this be what I think it is?

I sat on my bed and tore open the envelope. I took out the letter. It said:

Julie,

Congratulations! We have chosen you out of the rest of our auditions to be our foreign contestant! As you know, we are based in Canada, and we have chosen you as the only contestant outside of Canada for our new live reality TV show Total Drama Island. Being our foreign (X) contestant, we have a very special privilege for you. You will see what it is when you get to the island.

You must be very kind to us and the rest of the contestants. You will be put through many tests, and we cannot guarantee that you will be victorious, but we can guarantee that you will have fun.

We hope you will accept this, for you have no other choice. If you choose not to accept, we will personally send someone to escort you to the island. If you accept, we have enclosed a plane ticket, first class, to Toronto Pearson International Airport. The Air Canada plane leaves from LAX on July 6, 2008 at 10 PM. You are allowed to carry anything with you—except for a gun. When you arrive, you may collect your baggage and find the chauffeur who will be waiting for you. You will then be driven to Muskoka Dock, where you will be escorted onto a boat and transported to the island in Lake Muskoka. Since you will be the last contestant to arrive, we will make the acquaintance time a little bit longer. After that, it's all up to you. Again, we hope you will accept this and have fun on Total Drama Island.

From Fresh TV

It is! It's an acceptance letter to be on TDI! I can't believe it! But that means…no way…I'm in the world of TDI. And I must've put my name under a pseudonym, because my name isn't really Julie, but I might as well start acting like my name is Julie. I hurriedly checked the calendar. July 1st! I better get packing! I have five days to pack up for my trip!

"MOM! I'm going to pack my clothes! I'm going to summer camp in Canada for eight weeks! I'll take my phone and don't worry, I'll be okay!" I hollered. I looked at the mirror once more. I wasn't as fat anymore, and when I slid open the sliding door to my closet, I found current clothes galore. Graphic tees, short shorts, some tank tops and spaghetti strap tops. Surprisingly, when I took everything out, there were enough clothes to last me for a few months. I needed clothes that could last for eight weeks, so I chose that I would bring my spaghetti strap tops and my rust and stone colored short shorts, which added up to eight weeks. I brought enough bras, underwear, and socks to last me that long too. I knew everything about the camp, so I brought my necessary toiletries, two durable towels, one for showers and one for swimming in the lake, tons of bug repellent gear, such as bracelets and spray, and I finally gathered my sandals and my New Balance all-terrain shoes. I'll be wearing my all-terrain shoes most of the time for the challenges, which I knew about, and my sandals for swimming of course. I found the classic luggage for camp, a large, faded green duffle bag, and a small carry-on backpack for a few other things. Oh, I almost forgot! I need a few other things in order to thwart a few attempts on my fellow campers' well being. I brought along a sketchbook with a few HB #2 pencils that didn't need sharpening, my iPod, my iPhone that I never knew I had, a bunch of snacks to help me get through Chef Hatchet's gross food, some gloves in order to not leave fingerprints, my brother's slingshot and various sized rocks as ammo he bought in Malaysia, a journal to record a few things, and of course, my Swiss Army pocket knife, a sledgehammer, a screwdriver, and a sledgehammer. I know I'll need them for something at the camp. I had a special privilege from Fresh TV that I could bring anything necessary for my survival, except for a gun. They told airport security to check for guns only and that everything else was okay to bring. Thanks so much Fresh TV.

My duffle bag had one big main compartment and four other little ones, two on the front of the bag and one on each opposite side of the duffle bag. I took out a day's clothes to prepare for the day I leave. Otherwise, the rest of my clothes, my toiletries, my two towels, bug repellent gear, and my sandals, most of my snacks for camp, the gloves, and the work tools (sledgehammer, screwdriver, and wrench) went into my duffle bag. I wrapped the snacks in bubble wrap so they wouldn't be crushed in the airplane and all of my bug repellent gear was sorted out into the four exterior compartments. In my carry-on bag, I had my sketchbook, journal, iPod, slingshot with a bag of various sized rocks as ammo, and my Swiss Army pocket knife. I packed a few bottles of water in my carry-on and I was finished. It took me about three to four hours, but it was worth it! I checked my iPhone quickly. Under the Internet pages I had bookmarked, I had an episode list on Wikipedia, complete with who gets voted off, challenge descriptions, and winning/losing teams for each episode. I'll keep my phone safe, but I'll show it to the campers one day…

For the talent contest, I took a few sheets of music I had been practicing: "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy, "River Flows in You" by Yiruma, "Love Song" and "Bottle it Up", both by Sara Bareilles, "How to Save a Life" by The Fray, and "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton. My talent would be me singing and playing on the piano an "original" composition. It depends if the campers will accept it. I could use Harold's keyboard for the songs (if he'd let me borrow it), and my voice can project to the rest of the campers, ON-KEY. It's the animated world! I can wish to be and accomplish anything I want to! I think I'll choose to play "A Thousand Miles" at the talent competition. It'll make Chef, Chris, and the rest of the campers swoon and sigh. Maybe. So I packed the sheet music for "A Thousand Miles" into my carry-on. Now I was done! Well, I still needed to gather my passport, but I can do that another time, closer to when I have to leave. It was lunchtime, so I went downstairs to eat my food, spicy ramen with an egg and spinach in it. After lunch, I made an orange juice slushie and stayed upstairs in my room for the rest of the day. At dinner, I came down and had some tofu, roti pratha, curry, and asparagus. I went upstairs to my room after dinner (big surprise there) and watched TV, surfed the Internet, and when it was 11 PM, I closed my laptop and went to sleep.

Oh boy! A few days went by so quickly! It's the Fourth of July! Oh no! It's 11 AM! I have to get ready to go with my elementary school friend to the block party! I got a pair of denim short shorts and a red and white tank top, for red, white, and blue. I warmed up some oatmeal and ate all of it. I downed a pint of chocolate milk, brushed my teeth, and rushed my dad to take me to my friend's house. Everything went well. I found my friends Michelle and Natalia there, coincidentally; I had fun, rode on a fire truck with all of my friends, went swimming, saw the CBS Studio fireworks in the studios with my friend, and got home and went to sleep after an exhausting day.

Another day went by. Same old same old. But today—it's the day I'm leaving for the contest! My flight leaves at 10 PM, so I have to be there three hours early, which is at 7 PM, and since it takes me a half hour to get there, I have to leave the house at 6:30 PM, right after dinner. I looked over the list of challenges for the show. I forgot a swimsuit and goggles! I brought two, a one piece and a two piece. You never know which one might have to be used. Oh, and an inflatable tent, my fleece sleeping bag, and a lighter for the survival skills challenge. Those things went in the other compartments on my duffle bag.

Time passed slowly. I read up and practiced on my people skills and survival skills. I decided to adopt a few nicknames too: Julie, Julia, and Jules.

Dinner rolled by, and I gobbled down a lot of food, much like dinner a few days back. After eating for about a half hour, I went upstairs to brush my teeth and check to see if I forgot anything. Oh! My pocket alarm and my bandana! I swiped them off my bedside table. My iPod and iPhone were both charged, and I brought their chargers, just in case I ever got the chance to charge them. Some scissors, an air horn, some hand sanitizer, and about $200 for the Tuck Shop completed my search, and right on time too. It was time for me to leave. I gathered my mini-backpack and my duffle bag, which I found I could carry with ease. I must've increased in strength when I was transported here.

"Let's go…now. LET'S GO!" I hollered to my parents.

"We're coming! And don't talk to us like that!" They hollered back.

The car drive seemed to stretch on for forever. It seemed like an hour rather than a half hour. But I made it there, and my parents dropped me off at the terminal, wished me goodbye, exchanged some hugs, and drove off, leaving me alone. I shrugged and walked into the terminal to the Air Canada luggage check-in.

I checked my luggage in at the first class line, which was empty, and went off to carry on screening. Since they knew who I was, they checked my carry on and ignored the pocket knife in my backpack. I headed over to the gate where the plane was, with a half hour to spare (due to waiting in a long line for carry on screening). I waited for a half hour at the gate. They finally started calling for boarding passes for first class, so I handed the staff my ticket, which they promptly ripped off from the perforated section, and I walked through the first class door and in the cold hall to the even chillier plane. I showed them my seat number and they told me it was a window seat. Man, Fresh TV sure knows how to treat someone right! But I knew it would only be for the flight.

I've never been in first class, but boy oh boy was it great! I saw LA get smaller and smaller as we began our ascent and the clouds envelop the plane and fog up the window. As soon as we were at cruising level and speed, I fell asleep on the reclining chair, knowing I had to rest up for the big day tomorrow.

I woke up four and a half hours later. We passed over quite a few time zones, which meant that it was now 2:30 AM LA time and 5:30 AM Canada time. I had 15-20 minutes before we would begin our descent, so I took a bathroom break. I didn't realize I had to go to the restroom so badly and how much waste I had to dispel from my body until I was in the restroom itself. After quite a long time in the restroom, I washed my hands with soap and water, dried them off with a cheap paper towel, and walked back to my seat. I ordered some breakfast and ate it as quickly as I could without choking because I knew that we would be beginning our descent into Toronto soon. I kindly asked for the attendants to take my food away, gulped down a few glasses of orange juice, fastened my seat belt, and waited. I looked out the window once more, and for a while, I lost myself in the pink and orange clouds, daydreaming of what I almost had: if I had asked my crush from middle school if he liked me, if I had gone to Cleveland or NOHO instead of John Marshall, where I knew no one, just a lot of almosts. I imagined myself walking on those clouds and flying between them too, and seeing the faces of those I knew, those who seemed long gone but weren't really gone. I dispelled the thoughts out of my mind when I heard the intercom click:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We are now beginning our descent into Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so please close all trays, bring all seats back into the upright position, and fasten your seatbelts. We hope you enjoyed your flight with Air Canada."

I looked out the window the whole duration of our descent. I watched Lake Ontario get bigger, and then as we descended into Toronto, the houses, the buildings, the airport got bigger until we finally touched down on the runway. I was jolted forward as the plane touched down roughly. Thankfully, I had my seat belt on; otherwise I would've had one very serious face burn. The plane inched to the gate at a speed so painfully slow because of my excitement of being so close to stardom, fame, and the chance to change things in my own world, even if they were only scrutinized by a few people. Finally, the plane stopped and the chime rang out through the plane signifying that we were allowed to take our seat belts off. I unfastened my seat belt, took the complimentary pillow and blanket and stuffed them into my backpack, and walked to the door of the plane where flight attendants were letting people out. I was one of the first out because first class were always let out first and I hate being last.

I walked out of the gate and sharply inhaled the cool air of the airport and took in its beauty. The high glass ceilings. The moving sidewalks and food courts that were off in the distance to my left. I dashed to the moving sidewalks and patiently moved from one sidewalk to the next and stopping for a restroom break after I crossed the first moving sidewalk, all the while taking in the announcements and the people who passed by. Announcements about what flight was leaving to where and when. Announcements about which flight would go to which baggage claim. I heard my flight name called and what baggage claim it was at. It was at baggage claim one. It's as though it was an uncanny coincidence, because I always feel like I'm #1. People passed by. A child with her mother. A business man with a small rolling suitcase. A group of flight attendants passing by, talking to each other. I didn't see a single young girl around my age, travelling without any parents. But I didn't expect it.

I headed for the immigration check-in to get my passport verified and stamped. I managed to get there at a time when the line wasn't that long and quickly had my passport verified and stamped promptly. I walked to the baggage claim, where there were already a large amount of people gathered around it, waiting for their precious luggage to drop out of the chute and onto the conveyor belt, where they would promptly pick it up and carry it off to wherever it is they needed to go. I heard a lurch as the conveyor belt kicked in and started moving. The first pieces of luggage dropped out, none of which were mine. As I patiently waited for my luggage to pop out of the chute, I watched as a brother and sister picked out their luggage and called their parents to come pick it up. The brother-sister duo soon picked out the rest of their luggage and their parents promptly picked it up. As they loaded it onto the cart and were about to leave, the girl looked at me with a sense of pensiveness in her eyes. She was semi-fair skinned, bordering on almost tan, had short, dark brown hair and big glass-green eyes, with a pink hair tie holding up a somewhat long bunch of hair located near her forehead. The hair not covered by the tie dropped neatly on the side of her face. She was wearing a rosy pink dress with short sleeves and baby blue laces at the waist, and pink and white socks that were covered by her pure white dress shoes, as though she were going somewhere classy.

"Rosie?! ROSIE?!" I heard a voice call. Suddenly, the mother hurried up to the girl who now had a name: Rosie. The mother had dark brown wavy hair that bounced as she came running to Rosie, dark brown eyes, tan skin, and was wearing a floral pattern shirt covered by a pure white blazer and was wearing pure white work pants. She was also wearing some metallic-gold colored high heels.

"Rosie, don't stand there like that! We were so worried we lost you! Oh, but I can't be angry with you! I'm so glad that you're okay!" The mother was stroking her daughter's face, but Rosie didn't seem to acknowledge them, keeping her face towards her mother but her eyes still trained on me. "Hey!" She called out to me as I turned to check if my luggage had popped out of the chute. "I hope my daughter didn't cause you much trouble. Rosie has a habit of staring at some people endlessly like that. We've almost lost her a few times for that reason! But I'm glad you managed to stay strong. Most people would freak out or walk away, but you seem to acknowledge her. Thank you for watching over my daughter. My name is Edna. Weird name right? And this is my daughter Rosie."

"Oh, I'm—Julie." Edna had a shocked look on her face, but it disappeared abruptly. "Anyways, I have to go. We're staying here for a few days and then taking a flight to Israel to see my in-laws. It was very nice to meet you Julie. Let's go Rosie."

"Okay mommy." Rosie whispered. "Good-bye Julie." And with a tug on her arm, Rosie walked behind her mother, looking at me with those deep glass-green eyes that seemed normal a few minutes ago. "Good-bye Rosie." I whispered back. Rosie acknowledged this and turned her head to her mother and started to keep pace with her.

I stood there for a few seconds and then turned around. All of those events had taken place in a matter of minutes and there were still a lot of people looking for their luggage. I looked up to the chute one last time and to my surprise, I saw my faded green duffle bag pop out! Oh what joy! I found it! I grabbed it as soon as it came in reach and walked to the automatic sliding doors where there were people with signs with names of people I didn't know. I scanned the crowd until I found a man with a close shaven beard, but nearly bald and holding up a sign with my name on it. I walked to him.

"I'm Julie." I told him.

"Very good. You have arrived on time. My name is Joe, and I'll be your chauffeur for the limousine you will be driven in."

Limo?! Now Fresh TV has totally treated me! It's temporary, but that is still so cool!

Joe took my duffle bag and gently placed it in the trunk. I stepped into a wonderland when I got in the limo. Tons of leg room! And long seats! I sat on one of the seats once Joe closed the door. I took in the beauty of it all, even though it was only temporary. Fresh TV probably thought this would get me less accustomed to the great outdoors. But what they don't know is that I am very accustomed to the outdoors. The limo lurched, and we were on our way to Muskoka.

The phone rang in the limo. I picked it up and heard Joe's voice ask, "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, yes I am. How much time will this trip take?" I asked.

"Approximately two hours. May I suggest something?" He asked.

"Yes, go ahead." I responded.

"You might want to rest. I heard something nasty was in store for you at the island. A two hour nap should do you some good to facilitate your transition to this time zone." He advised.

"What a great idea! Thank you so much Joe!" I responded joyfully.

"No problem." He responded. With that, he hung up the phone. I put the phone back in its receiver and I rested on the lounge seats, closed my eyes, and slept.

I was awoken by a ringing. I realized it was the phone in the limo, so I picked it up.

"Yes?" I slurred.

"We have approximately a half hour before we arrive at Muskoka Dock at Muskoka Lake. I suggest you stretch and wake up a little bit. Best of luck in the competition." Joe proclaimed. The receiver clicked and I put the phone back in its receiver—again. I stretched my arms a little bit, and then I attempted to stretch my legs in the limo. It's hard, but feasible. I waited in the limo, looking outside the tinted windows to a beautiful evergreen forest. It was mystifying at first, but after a while, it became repetitive and boring, so I turned back to looking in the limo and waited. I didn't have to wait that long though, because the limo had slowed to a stop. The phone rang. I picked it up. It was Joe telling me that we had arrived. YES! I WAS AT THE DOCK, THE FINAL LEG BEFORE GETTING TO THE ISLAND AND MEETING EVERYONE! I was escorted out of the limo, and Joe gave me my green duffle bag, which I carried myself to the dock.

At the dock, there was a stately white ship, identical to the ship the campers had been on during that first episode of TDI. This must be the boat I'm travelling on.

"This is the boat you will be travelling on to the island. Do you get seasick?" Joe asked.

"Oh no! Of course not! Really, I don't get seasick!" I responded. Joe regarded my response coolly. When we got to the boat and I was on it already, he bid me farewell and good luck in the competition once more. I waved good-bye and kept doing so when the boat lurched and pulled away from the island, until Joe left the dock and got in the limo and drove away.

I rushed to the front of the boat and sharply inhaled the air. If it were the ocean, I'd smell and feel the salt tingle in my nose, but we're on a lake, so there was no scent, just a cool, fine mist gently being sprayed on me. I looked all around me, taking in the sights of the placid lake, the evergreen tree coast, the mini-cliffs and jagged rocks. I knew there were unspeakable horrors on the island, but I knew how to confront it. So bring it on Chris, because I can handle it!

"Hey girl!" I hear the captain holler.

"Yes?!" I hollered back.

"We're going to be at the island in 10 minutes! I suggest you look alive for the cameras and pick up your duffle bag!" He advised.

"Good idea!" and I proceeded to pick up my duffle bag. "Okay, I'm ready, I look alive! Thank you!" I said.

"No problem! I can see the island! Get ready!" He screamed.