Life for Rent
A Total Drama Island Story
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger (especially to Pirate Slayer)! There's really no way to avoid them. Just keep reading and everything will fall into place, you'll see.
Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama Island.
Courtney's POV:
Ouch.
I just rolled off my bed onto something.
I open my eyes, disoriented. It only takes me a second to realize that this isn't my room. The walls are way too chipped and chafed with skulls, everything's too black.
Duncan's room, obviously.
Then I realize that the thing beneath me is breathing slowly and rhythmically.
I look slowly down. Duncan. His face is half-tilted to the side.
He doesn't have a shirt on either.
For some reason, I'm tempted to kiss him while he's asleep. But I can't. I lift myself up and check the clock. It's only five AM. I almost collapse right back onto the bed, but I can't, school is starting, and I'm in someone's room. Stupid, unreliable delinquent.
Duncan stirs and opens his eyes.
"Princess, you're up," he says, propping himself up on his hands.
"Duncan, I know you spiked the water last night!" I shriek in a whisper, so as not to wake up John. It's hard to be mad at him lately. "There's no way I could have fallen asleep in your room on my own. I have way too much self-control for that."
A thought pops into my mind. "Aren't my parents, like, freaking out?"
"Probably," he says. "I forgot that part."
"Idiot," I say, picking up my bag.
"Fine, see you at school, sweetheart," he emphasizes.
It takes all of my willpower, but I actually manage to make it out the door without running back into his room and grabbing him (and not in the angry way, either). Which I am strongly tempted to do. I can still picture his sleeping face in my mind.
I break into a jog until I reach my house. Everything's silent. The lights are out.
I silently set my bag outside the kitchen as always, and creep into my room.
Shit! I forgot that the third step creaks. A light flicks on in my parents' room. My mom flies down the stairs, looking severely disheveled and sleepy.
"Courtney! We were so worried!" she cries, pulling me into her arms.
"I'm fine, Mom," I say. "I…fell asleep at Bridgette's house after dinner. She thought I had left already. I left before they woke up so that I wouldn't impose upon them."
"Always my good girl," my dad says, clapping me on the back.
I still haven't told them about going to Duncan's house. They accept him, but they probably wouldn't take it too well if I told them that I slept in his room. There's no way to make that sound even remotely innocent.
Mom looks at her ever-present watch. "Well, looks like it's time to get up anyway. Tell your sister to get down here, and we'll all have breakfast."
I oblige. The usual family banter occurs around the table, Dad reading yesterday's newspaper, Mom drinking black coffee, and my sister and I testing each other on math proofs.
It's raining hard today. I methodically pull on my school's non-mandatory uniform. The short-sleeve blue sweater and fairly long plaid skirt seem comfortingly covering. Even if I feel like one of those Scottish bagpipe-people with their kilts.
I don't bother with my hair. It's fine, and besides, it'll be ruined with the heavy rain anyway.
The hot, raining, muggy weather is oppressing. The entire school smells like a wet cat. This is the cheerful attitude I enter with.
Jessica emerges from the library on my way to class. Her ponytail is slightly to the side, and her mouth is twisted into a grimace.
"Courtney, Courtney, Courtney," she says, as if reprimanding a misbehaving child. "That really was an immature thing you did."
"Jess, I didn't do anything," I say for about the hundredth time.
"Don't lie to me Courtney," she says, a threatening tone entering her voice. "Come on, I know you like him."
"Maybe, as a friend," I say, knowing who she's referring to.
"Oh, you're more than just friends," she says coolly. "I heard you say about your 'thing' on the island with him, when he first came here. You know him and like him more than you're letting on."
"So maybe I do like him," I say defensively.
"Well, the feeling won't be mutual for long," she sneers.
"He doesn't like you!" I explode. "Didn't you hear him say he thinks you're hideous? Or do you need a repeat?"
"That's not really it," she says. "If I can't have him, you can't either."
I know, another cliffhanger, there's really no way of avoiding them, because I have to gather my thoughts for the next chapter! Anyway, this chapter was basically fluff and some angst, if you're into that.