[EDIT: 9/26/2018]
Gwen sat on the boat as it drives over to its destination: Wawanakwa Island.
She has her clothes all packed into one suitcase, as well as her art supplies all in her art portfolio case. She sat there on the bumpy boat ride, with just her and the driver. No one said a word to each other, and really, Gwen prefers it that way. As she takes in her surroundings again for the fifth time(once again, more water...), she sees that another boat passed her in the opposite direction where she was heading to the island. It seems the other boats are picking up the contestants...
The goth looked ahead at the approaching large land mass that's surrounded by the waters of Lake Ontario. She could see a rundown dock on the shore, as well as a campsite in the distance. It didn't look like a five-star resort from what the brochure said...
Gwen frowned. 'Ugh...I should've known.' she sighed irritably. 'False advertising. Wonderful. Off to a great start here.'
She'll have to give the host a little 'talk' when she arrives on the island. And here she was actually a little excited to get a nice massage...she knew it was too good to be true.
"You need to make some new friends, Honey..."
Her mother's voice and comment remained in her head. Gwen hummed at the memory, how her mother looked at her with concern and sorrow...mixed with sympathy. Sympathy on what the teenage girl was feeling...
Honestly, her mother was fine with her quote-unquote "Goth" lifestyle...well, some would say she's a goth because of the way she dresses, but really, it's her style, and she just likes the color black, as well as teal green. She even dyed parts of her hair with the latter color. All in all, she's supposedly labeled a goth, but really, she just her. And if there is one thing she hates the most, it's stereotypes. Sure, she likes horror movies(except the torture ones that hold no plot), bands like Nine Inch Nails and AFI, and dark poetry, but that's genuinely her preference.
But that's not the reason why her mother let her sign up for the show. Again, she's fine with her taste in music, movies, and fashion, and she knows Gwen is a smart girl. She doesn't just go out and do drugs, as well as drink and have unprotected, premarital sex. She wouldn't let her be here if that was the case.
She's just been isolating herself ever since...
Gwen cringed and looked down at her boots.
'I know Mom's trying to help me out...but still...I can't just forget about-'
"We're almost there." said the boat driver, interrupting her thoughts.
She glanced up at the driver with a blank stare. "...Great." She then adjusted her posture to sit straight. 'Don't want Mom to see me slouch.' Gwen mildly smirked at that. She may be labeled as a goth, but this so-called goth has learned proper posture etiquette from her mother, 'Not that I care what anyone else here will think of me,' she rolled her eyes. 'But since this is a reality TV show, I better be on my best behavior and represent my family...'
Family...
She scowled. 'Would you stop thinking that!? What's done is done...you knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. You're here now, so you might have to make the best of it...right after I chew the head off of this host for straight up lying about this being a five-star resort.'
Once the boat was getting closer to the island, it was soon parked next to the wooden dock. On it was a handsome dark-haired man with the biggest showman's smile on his face.
"And here comes our third contestant, Gwen!" announced the handsome man known as Chris McLean.
As soon as Gwen stepped over onto the dock(which felt a little unstable) with her suitcase in one hand and her art portfolio in the other, she made her way over to Chris with a sour look on her face. "What is this!? This isn't a five-star resort!" she exclaimed in aggravation.
Chris snickered, "Obviously. Welcome to Camp Wawanakwa Island!"
"A camp!?" Gwen exclaimed once more, glaring at the host. "I didn't sign up for this!"
"Actually, you did. Even though your mom kind of forced ya to do it," Chris said this with a grin. "But hey, even though this isn't a fancy resort, it's the next best thing!"
"And that would be...?" Gwen urged him to continue in annoyance.
"Mother nature!" Chris proclaimed, his arms stretched out to emphasize.
Gwen gave him a blank glare. "...Yeah, me and 'mother nature' don't get along."
"Well, it's not like you could leave the island right now or anything," Chris advised.
"Oh yes I will!" Gwen turned around to the boat...and saw that it was driving away to the shore. She scowled. "It doesn't matter. I'll just wait for the next boat."
"Uh, yeah, nah, that's not gonna work," Chris smirked. "And no matter how much you threaten the drivers, they're not gonna budge. Besides, you're on a contract. And before you even decide to find it and rip it to shreds, we have a thousand copies of them."
Gwen glared at the host harshly.
Chris chuckled, "Sorry, you're stuck here! Might as well make the best of it!"
Her glare lessened, but she still held a venomous tone. "Might as well..." She grabbed her stuff and went over to the two contestants that were on the dock. She stood next to the bulky dark-skinned teen with a white skull cap on his head along with a tight-fitting shirt and shorts, while there was a shorter girl that's wearing flashy colored clothes, glasses, and braces as she stands next to the dark-skinned young man.
"Uh, hey. Name's DJ." the dark-skinned teen introduced himself to Gwen.
"Hi! My name's Beth!" The girl known as Beth said in a happy tone.
"Hey. Gwen." Gwen said to both of them bluntly.
DJ and Beth both blinked and glanced at each other in question. DJ went ahead and asked Gwen, "Um...you okay?"
"Not really," Gwen casually. "This really wasn't my idea to begin with coming here, but here I am either way."
"Oh...well, I'm sure this whole reality TV show competition won't be too bad," DJ assured her.
"Yeah! It could be fun!" Beth said in excitement.
Gwen turned her head to them. "...Stupid question, but this is both your first time at a reality TV show, isn't it?"
"Um...yeah?" DJ answered, unsure of how to reply to that.
"Well, yeah..." Beth answered hesitantly.
"Then trust me, from what I've seen on these shows, you won't be having any fun. Especially since the host just lied to us about this place being a five-star resort." Gwen clarified.
"Oh...well, yeah, that was pretty disappointing," DJ said, his hand rubbing behind the back of his head.
"Oh yeah...well, being in a summer camp can be fun!" Beth optimistically reassured.
Gwen just stared at Beth blankly for a second, rolled her eyes and sighed. She turned her head to the next arriving boat that was carrying a blonde haired guy with a cowboy hat on, as well as a pink shirt, shorts, and sandals. He was apparently hooting it up with the host.
'...This is gonna be a long two months.' Gwen thought in despair.
'Wow! I'm almost there!' Cody thought with excitement. 'Soon I'll be on a reality TV show and hang out with some cool kids! And maybe I'll bag a girlfriend here while I'm at it!'
Ever the optimistic, Cody, the tech geek, sees the island in the distance as his boat drives nearer to it. Ever since he signed for this show and been accepted, he couldn't wait to meet new people and feel independent. His mother is a little overprotective of him, always coddling him, and while he does appreciate it and loves his mom, he really wanted to try to live with other people and not be hovered over. And this could be the perfect chance! He's glad to be even on the show. There could be thousands of more kids that have been chosen for this program, and he was one of the lucky ones! Now that he's here, he'll be taken seriously at his school; no more unpopular status, no more jokes about him, and no more girls ignoring him(even though he plans on maybe getting a girlfriend on the show)! From here on in, he's getting a fresh new start!
"Just be yourself, Cody-Dear." His mother had told him.
Cody frowned somberly at that as he looked down at his shoes from where he sat. 'I tried being myself at school...but it just doesn't work, Mom. I want to be someone different...someone people can relate to."
Social status reigned at his school, and he doesn't want people here to view him as some dorky nerd. In fact, he's tired of being viewed as that. Sure he likes video games and other tech stuff, but that doesn't make him dorky! He likes to think he's cooler than that.
Looking up at the island, he was getting closer to it, seeing other different kids, probably just like him, as well as the host of the show standing on the dock waiting for him.
'...I wonder if Dad is gonna watch this.'
Cody frowned solemnly once more at the mention of his father.
'...I wonder where Dad is right now.'
Remembering his parents' divorce was always a little disheartening. His father was so involved in his work, always traveling from one country to another, that his mother grew tired of it. They were still on good terms, but it still was a painful reminder. He was thirteen at the time.
He did love his dad, and his father always provides for him whenever he can, giving him extra money. And while he's grateful for that, he just wishes he'd come home and visit, at least for the holidays. He left behind his mother and him, all for work.
At times, he does feel a little betrayed when he doesn't see him for Christmas, Easter, or even his birthday. There were all just regular phone calls. But still, nonetheless, he knows he's doing all of this for them. For him at least.
As soon as he was almost near the shoreline of the island, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Okay Cody, now's not the time to feel depressed. You're gonna be on a reality TV show, so act like it! Think suave, think charming, think...like you're a cool dude! Yeah! Don't do any stupid stuff! Think like you can bag some ladies. Think...the Codemeister! Heh...that's kind of good.'
And with that, Cody smirked slyly as he put up his so-called alter ego as 'the Codemeister'. "Let's do this."
"And here's our tenth contestant, Cody!" Chris announced to the camera.
Getting up from his seat, Cody grabbed his suitcases and proceed to get off the boat. "Heya, Chris!" he greeted with a cool smirk. "Glad to be here!" he turned his attention to the contestants, mostly the female ones. "And hey, looks like some of the ladies have arrived!" he winked and them the gun-hand gesture in their direction.
The girls, which consist of four, a blonde girl with a large bust, a girl with glasses, a tall Asian girl, and a goth-looking girl, all turned to look at Cody. The short girl with glasses, named, Beth raised an eyebrow, while the Asian girl, named Heather, scoffed and rolled her eyes, and the blonde named Lindsay just blinked and looked left and right around her to see where he was pointing at. The goth named Gwen just rolled her eyes groaned.
'Wow...that girl with the teal green highlights in her hair looks really hot...' Cody thought as he smiled.
He also noticed five boys; a dark-skinned one(who is DJ), a guy in a cowboy hat, a guy in a red jumpsuit, a tough looking guy with a green mohawk, and a skinny redhead. The mohawk wearing one chuckled loudly, while the rest of the guys just looked at each other in question, the jumpsuit wearing looking jock shrugging his shoulders.
Chris chuckled. "Okay then, Romeo, go on ahead and get acquainted with everyone. There's still more contestants that are coming."
"Sure thing!" Cody said with another smirk. He picked up and carried his luggage and went to the guys' group.
"Sup, fellas?" Cody greeted them.
DJ smiled at Cody. "Sup? Name's DJ."
"Tyler." the red jumpsuit wearing teen said with his thumb pointed at him, giving Cody his own smile.
"Geoff, little dude!" the guy in the cowboy hat said with a carefree smile.
"Harold." the redhead teen told him with a smile of his own.
The mohawk teen 'humphed'. "Duncan."
"Cool." Cody nodded. "So, other than money, what are you all here for?"
DJ chuckled, "Well, I'm here just to make new friends." he answered honestly.
"Here to par-tay as much as I can! Life's too short, you know?" Geoff made clear.
"Well, just so I can test out my skills in the competition. And hopefully to pick up a girlfriend, if I'm lucky," Tyler said with a casual shrug.
"Me too on the first thing! I'm here so I can test out my mad skills as well." Harold clarified with a smile.
"Tch, dweeb." scoffed Duncan.
Harold glanced at him with a glare.
Cody could sense some tension between Harold and Duncan, so he decided to not go anywhere near that. "So, um...are you also here for anything else besides money, Duncan?" Cody asked him.
Duncan looked at Cody with raised his unibrow over his left eye. He then smirked mischievously. "Juvie hall wanted me to clean up my act by making new friends."
Cody blinked and started to get a little nervous inside. "Juvie...hall? As in...juvenile facility?"
Duncan rolled his eyes. "No, juvie hall as in your mom. Of course a juvenile facility, dork."
"Whoa, okay, I just...w-well...I never thought they could do that." Cody reasoned with his hands up in defense.
Duncan smirked again and chuckled cynically. "Yeah, it kind of sucks that I'm in a family full of cops. You can probably say I've been running from the law ever since I was little."
"Oh, uh...well, that's...intriguing." Cody winced at his choice of words.
"I would think so too. Maybe I can tell you about it in great detail?" Duncan grinned impishly.
"Uh...t-that's okay." Cody gulped silently.
'Yikes. Better stay clear away from this one.'
He quickly turns to DJ. "But hey, I'm here to make friends too!" he turned to Tyler next. "And maybe even pick up a girlfriend also! Although, they be swarming all over me back home."
DJ smiled knowingly. "Really?"
"Yeah. They call me the Codemeister when it comes to women." Cody smirked confidently.
"The Codemeister?" Tyler said out loud in confusion.
Duncan gave out a laugh, clearly amused. "Oh man! You know what? You're alright, kid."
"Huh...Codemeister, eh?" Harold said as he rubbed his chin in a thoughtful look.
Geoff chuckled. "Right on, brah!" he gave him a fist bump, which Cody gladly accepted with a smile.
'Alright! This is going great so far! Just keep this up! You'll be part of the cool crowd in no time!' Cody thought in excitement as he stood with the rest of the guys as the other contestants came on the dock.
After all twenty-two contestants have arrived and took their group photo on the dock, they, along with Chris, made their way to the campfire pit. Some of the contestants exchanged greetings and chatted with each other, which Cody struck a conversation with Harold on what kind of skills he had.
"You took up ballet?" Cody asked Harold in bewilderment.
"Yeah. Ballet is actually very good for being in fights whenever you're in close combat with someone. It helps give you a lot of balance." Harold explains.
"Huh...I guess that makes sense." Cody said with shrug. He looked ahead of him and saw that the goth-looking girl was sitting on two rows in front of him.
Cody smirked. "Excuse me for a second. I need to lay on the Codemeister's charm for a little bit." He got up and stepped over the row in front of him.
Harold raised a brow. 'This oughtta be interesting...'
As soon as he reached the vacant seat next to the goth girl, he plopped down on it, startling her.
"Hey," Cody said with a nod and a smirk.
The girl just looked at him oddly for a moment, until narrowing eyes a bit. "...Hey."
Cody's smirk became wider. "How you doin'?"
She just gave him a blank stare. "...If I say 'fine', will you go away?"
The confidence in Cody's smirk lessened, "Hey, just being nice."
"Yeah, I bet," the girl muttered coldly looking away from him as she looked ahead of her.
Blinking, Cody cleared his throat and said, "So, uh, what's your name? Never got that memo."
Sighing in exasperation, she turned back to him with a glare. "Gwen. Now, will you please just go and bother some other girl with your so-called Casanova act and leave me alone? I don't need this right now." the girl named Gwen turned her head to look away from him.
Cody frowned. Deciding to drop the ladies man act for now, he asked, "Uh...are you okay?"
Gwen growled in irritation and said without looking at him. "No, I'm not. I'm stuck here on an island that was supposed to be a five-star resort like the brochure said, but it turns out to be a run down camp. I'm also forced to get to know people that I don't know because my mom told me that I should and to top it all off, I'm apparently being hit on. So again, no, I'm not okay."
The tech geek cringed, "Oh...um..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "So...you're not even here for the money?"
Gwen scoffed, "Believe it or not, that's the only thing that's making me kind of stay, whatever the total is."
"Excuse me," said a proper feminine voice in front of them, which was a pretty mocha skinned young woman. She turned to them but looked at Gwen. "But I couldn't help but overhear that you're having certain problems."
"Gee, you can tell?" Gwen droned, gesturing her head at Cody.
"I can. But right now, I want to focus on you." the girl said. "As you may already know from my entrance, my name is Courtney, and I'm a CIT."
"A counselor-in-training?" Gwen said in slight alarm. "Oh no. Noooo, no, no, no! Sorry, but I don't want to add anything more to my misery here."
"Now you say you don't want to add any more misery to your situation." Courtney speculated. "Why is that? What's the source of your misery?"
Cody winced. He didn't really mean for any of this to happen.
Gwen glared. "Right now, you two."
"Hey, uh, I-I'm really sorry, I-I didn't mean-" Cody tried to apologize.
"Alright, everyone!" Chris hollered. "Time to let you all know the rules of this little competition!"
All the teens turned their attention to the host, who was standing near the campfire pit. Chris went on to tell everyone that whoever is the last one standing in the competition will win a small grand prize money of one hundred thousand dollars. He also noted that they'll be divided into two teams, each of the eleven contestants having their own cabins on the east and west side of the camp, the boys on one side of the cabin, and the girls on the other side of the cabin. Each contestant is selected to their two teams, which they're called The Screaming Gophers(which Cody and Gwen are in, much to Gwen's dissatisfaction) and The Killer Bass. They have thirty minutes to unpack their things, and once they have, they'll be called to the main lodge/mess hall to have a briefing on their meal schedule, as well as getting something to eat there.
As soon as Chris was done, Gwen grabbed her luggage and got up from her seat.
"Wait!" Cody began to say as he got up, "I just-"
"Let's get things straight, okay?" Gwen said indifferently. "I'm in no mood to flirt. In fact, I don't want anyone to flirt with me right now. I just want to be in my cabin, be on my new temporary bed for the time being, and just question my life as of now. So please, just...leave me alone." And with that, she went her way to her respected cabin.
Cody stood there in shock. He never got a rejection that...cold. Whenever someone rejects him, it would be a lot nicer than that. He wondered what's gotten into the girl to make her act that way. Sure, she might be a goth, but goths aren't really that harsh.
Meanwhile, Courtney, who saw the scene, hummed in thought. "Very interesting..." she turned to Cody, "You don't bother her any further!" she said sternly as she got her stuff and walked to her own cabin.
Cody blinked, still dumbfounded at what just happened. It was then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see that it was Harold.
"You know, to be fair, I think she was just having a bad day," Harold assured him.
Cody frowned. "Yeah...probably," he said, looking down.
"Don't worry about it. Maybe she needs to chill for a while." Harold advised.
"Yeah..." Cody muttered, thinking about what would make Gwen be so upset.
"Well, I gotta jet over here. See ya at the competition! Let the best man or woman win." Harold said, leaving Cody to think for himself.
"Yeah," Cody repeated, still in thought.
'I wonder what's gotten into that Gwen girl?'
Honestly, he felt like he should help. Not so he can score a girlfriend or anything like that, but he really did feel sympathy for her. He said he came to make new friends, so he's determined to do that. Maybe she couldn't be his girlfriend, but she could be his friend at least.
As Gwen was carrying her stuff, she reflected on how she acted towards Cody while making way to her cabin.
'Perhaps I was a little too harsh on the guy.' she shook her head. 'No, he has to know that I'm not in any mood for any bullcrap right now. I just want to want to settle in, and rest for the moment...'
She sighed, wanting these two months to go by as quick as they can...
"...Gwen."
Gwen froze. Her eyes widened.
She turned around to see if she can spot anyone who might've said that.
That voice...it sounded...familiar...in fact, it's very familiar. It sounded like...
But...it can't be. Is she hearing things?
"Hey, you okay, girl?" asked a feminine voice.
Gwen turned to the voice behind her, seeing it was the young African-Canadian woman named Leshawna, who raised an eyebrow.
"Uh...yeah." Gwen then picked up the pace, Leshawna standing there looking at the goth oddly.
As soon as she got nearer to her cabin, she thought back to what she had just heard. It sounded so clear, so definite, that she was certain it sounded like...
'No, it couldn't be...there's no way...'
The voice sounded like...her deceased father.
Somewhere in the island...something anticipates.
It made its first move...
But it has to keep waiting...things have changed during this world's evolving culture...they're perhaps smarter now. They'll suspect something, although it wouldn't matter. If one escapes, it'll let the people in town back at the mainland shore think the person or people that were left alive did it. And soon, their minds will be meddled with, seeing things that are not there, and not remembering anything that happened. They'll all think they've committed the crime. Even the survivors' will not have a recollection of me. Their minds will be erased...it'll be all too easy.
It already knows their weaknesses and fears...yes...their fears. Sweet, delectable, and feared food.
It hummed in pleasure...
Feared flesh...that kind of flesh is always sublime!
In truth, its hunger is everlasting, but to it, it doesn't care. If it was honest, the hunt is more exciting than the actual feast.
It chuckles darkly, scrapping his tongue against its upper teeth, mouth salivating. Oh, it loved playing with its food...these pathetic inferior worms are just so much fun to manipulate.
"Soon, in due time...I will feed."
There you go! I hope it sounds good so far! Tell me what you think! :D
Also, yes, I made Cody be the 10th contestant to enter. I hope that change is okay since this is a Gwody story after all. I was thinking that they would meet before Trent would come and woo Gwen, so there you go. X) Oh, and there will be other pairings as well...which quite frankly, I need some time to think about who ends up with who. :P And don't worry, these selected characters that'll soon be paired up in the story will survive as well! ;)
Again, tell me what you think! Please give me a review, a fave, or a follow! Either one is fine! :D Until then, I'll see you guys later! :)
Keep on rocking, everybody! ^_^
-TSP
(By the way, yes, you're all correct. This story is based on IT. ;) )
