Warning: This story contains frequent profanity and some sensual content.
Disclaimer: This is strictly a fictional piece of work. Any real-life things (such as people, musical works, events) being alluded to are used in a fictitious context. Despite the obvious, I do not hold ownership to 6teen and Total Drama, only my original characters.
A/N: I suppose this story is a take on social media and what it would be like if the gang got involved in some of that internet drama. It's not necessarily satirical, but it does reference tumblr and instagram. (Also featured: Morals! Because everyone loves having integrity and holding accountability for their actions!)
I also have a silly, little reference to "Drum Lines and Grip Tape" bySpeciosus Nihilum. I love that story and that fanfic author's writing has certainly influenced mine.
"Bad mistakes and good intentions."
— from "Television"by Natalia Kills
7teen: Controversy
"I heard Duncan's finally gonna hook up with Courtney," Caitlin gossiped. "I really hope they do; they've been flirting since junior year started."
"Tell me about it," Jen said. "When I sat with her at our student council meetings, I just knew she had it bad by the way she ranted about him."
"Duncan's always checking her out, too. Though, who doesn't?" Jonesy asked.
Nikki rolled her eyes, both at his comment and the topic. She wasn't adversed to all gossip, she supposed, but some was simply mindless drivel floating through her ears. "We get it—you think her ass is nice—but are we seriously starting our morning like this?"
No one answered.
She pressed her lips into a thin line. "I'll take that as a yes."
Though not completely irritable from her lack of sleep, her eyelids hung heavier every time she blinked, and every second she didn't talk, she yawned. Maybe because she stayed up late talking to Jonesy again. She opened her mouth, yawning. Okay, definitely because she stayed up late talking to him.
Ever since Friday night, after the gang went roller-skating, the two of them had been engaging in some late-night phone conversations. It all started with a little bit of boredom and restlessness, ending up in a conversation she didn't want to leave. She had called around midnight to remind him how much she would "kick his ass" the next time they roller-skated together, but by the time they'd neared the end of their conversation, it was two o'clock in the morning. Some jokes, flirting, and general outspokenness was all it took for it to become a new occurrence.
But Nikki wasn't up for sharing any of that with her friends at the moment. It would snowball into another hot topic she wouldn't be able to divert their attention from.
So this was a thing now, a habit now—Sydni walking through the food court to find the table where her new friends usually sat. It didn't hit her until now that it was a recurring thing and it would be for a long while (hopefully), when she realized she had news to tell them. Her new friends.
It might come as good news. Or average news. Or bad news. The gang probably wouldn't react badly, right? Maybe she was overthinking it (like she tended to), probably because this was the first time in a long time she felt strongly about doing something she wanted to do. The first time since what took place in March. Reeling from the word March alone, she took a deep breath (which didn't keep her heart from pounding).
Was she apprehensive? She was somewhere between tense and nervous, but she wouldn't say apprehensive.
With a black messenger bag draped across her shoulders, she approached the gang, already engaged in a conversation regarding someone's Instagram page.
"That was the best selfie in Instagram history," she heard Caitlin say.
Jonesy began to say, "Yeah, it was! That girl had a nice—" but Nikki gave him a menacing glare. He sheepishly smiled. "Never mind."
Jen, after grinning at the trouble Jonesy inadvertently landed himself in, was the first to notice Sydni had showed up. "Hi, Sydni."
"Hey, Jen." Noticing the original conversation had been fizzling out as she sat down, she grabbed her chance to speak as she took her laptop out of her bag. "So, I have some news"—good, bad, or average?—"I've decided to make my own tumblr." She opened her laptop and pulled up her blog. It had a minimalistic theme with a centered header which read Mall Talk.
"Bo-ring," Jonesy interjected.
She shot him a scowl. "I know this. I was gonna explain before you interrupted." She bit her lower lip. "I haven't exactly decided what I wanted it to be about, but I've been interested in writing for a really, really long time. I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions."
Caitlin beamed, saying, "First of all, I love that name. It sounds like it could be the name of a magazine. Ooh! Something like Mall Talk Monthly!"
Jen moved past Caitlin's comment and said, "I think introspective pieces work well."
Nikki agreed with her, what with working on her journalism skills for travel writing. "Jen's right. I write that kind of stuff every now and then."
"Well, you're both wrong," Jonesy said. "Write about interesting things, not intro-whatever stuff. Write stuff people think is juicy."
Nikki raised an eyebrow. "So what you're saying is, 'Write sleazy tabloid shit'?"
"Yep," he said, devoid of shame.
"I'm with Jonesy on this. One well-written article of gossip can become the article to end all articles." Caitlin placed an entire stack of fashion magazines onto the Lemon's counter for further proof. "I rest my case."
Wyatt took a sip of his coffee. "I have to say, she always comes prepared."
Already analyzing their suggestions, Sydni said, "Thanks for the input, guys. I'll definitely consider what you guys said when I'm writing."
Forcing herself to write seemed like a good idea when she first thought about it, only it made things about ten million times worse. Over and over again, she typed bad topic ideas and summaries, scrapping them all after a while. Then again, no one ever said it would be easy.
After almost an hour of this, she hastily closed her laptop and shoved it into her bag, wanting to leave the fountain area for a while. As soon as she looked up, however, she became blindsided by someone crashing into her. She flew off the bench, lucky to have hit the tile floor instead of landing in the fountain. Getting up, she rubbed her head in hopes she didn't have a concussion.
Gravity has a hit on me. I just know it.
Once she got herself off the ground, she heard someone call out, "I need a little help, dudette."
She walked behind an adjacent bench to find Jude sprawled on the ground. Immediately, she helped him up and picked up his skateboard.
"Sorry for hitting ya. Lost control of my board," he said with a chuckle.
She offered a smile while offering his skateboard Sally. "It's fine. It happens to the best of us, right?"
He hopped back on Sally and replied, "Totally… Hey, wanna see me do a stunt I've been working on for a couple weeks? It'd be cool if you could get it on camera so I could relive the moment."
"As long as you don't run me over again, I'll do it."
He chuckled. "You've got it, bra."
Jude brought Sydni with him to the second floor escalator, where a large crowd of kids and preteens gathered to watch him, some of them chanting, "Zamboni Dude rules!"
Looks like someone has a fanbase, Sydni laughed to herself as she readied her phone to record him.
He explained how he was going to grind the escalator railing into an Ollie and three-hundred sixty degree spin, not like she exactly understood any of what he was saying. When he started the trick, he did fine as he gained speed going down the railing, but in the middle of performing his Ollie, he crashed-landed into a potted fern (or maybe it was a ficus).
Though it was better for it to be a plant rather than her face and upper body this time, she couldn't help cringing before putting her phone away and going down the escalator to help him out again.
While the crowd of kids laughed—Jude even laughing at himself, despite wanting to pull off the trick—Sydni asked if he was okay. "…I know you really wanted to nail that stunt."
"It's okay. Stuff happens, but I'll get it right next time."
"Definitely." If there was one thing she noticed about Jude thus far, it was that he was hopeful, but never cocky (and that he faintly smelled like brownies).
"So, did ya get any ideas for your blog yet?"
She looked down at the floor. "Not yet."
"Cheer up, bra. Something good'll come eventually."
She nodded, hoping his words would ring true, not as quite as strong as his hope.
That's where their differences remained.
He was unlike her. Always confident.