Okay, I know I have been gone for a long time and I'm very sorry about it. Lots of things happens, life comes first and I had struggled with some years of depression, anxiety and recently found out I'm neurodivergent. But I'm getting back on track with my stories and to be honest, I'm more active on AO3. But I'm gonna post this story both here and at AO3, so you guys aren't missing out on anything.
I must admit I'm a little embarrassed of TDHS, so I'm re-starting the story I had in mind. There is still gonna be drama, but it's gonna balance between friendship, romance and family matters. I hope you'll enjoy the story we'll unravel here.
-Lunan95
Courtney had a mother as her family, but that was all she needed. There were no father or any male presentation in her family since her mom always said men was more trouble than they were worth and naturally, Courtney always believed her.
Of course she would believe and trust her mother.
Which was the reason for her complete meltdown.
"I'm not her daughter! She's not my real mom! My life is fake!" She shouted so the walls nearly shook. "Everything I did was to make her proud, I thought it was real!" She screamed.
Gwen thought it was best she left her alone, she needed to...process. She closed the door quietly behind her, trying to not upset Courtney anymore.
"Girl, what is she on about?" LeShawna asked. "Bossy girl is waking up the entire house!"
"Uh, she...well, Courtney got a letter and-" Gwen started before a shrill scream interrupted her from behind the closed bedroom door.
"EVERYTHING IS A LIE!"
"It's from her...adoptive mother." Gwen said. "Turns out they're not related by blood, Courtney just found out and-"
"FUCK THAT BITCH! I HATE HER, I HATE HER, I HATE HER-" Courtney kept crying inside her room.
LeShawna stared at the closed door. "Well, fuck. Shit really hit the fan for bossy girl, that can't be good. Well, move over! Time for LeShawna to step in!"
Gwen didn't think that was such a good idea. Historically, LeShawna and Courtney hadn't had that good of a friendship and it would be much better to get Bridgette. "I don't think she want to see anyone, she kinda threw me out-"
"Well, I ain't you and she needs a sister to talk this out!" LeShawna went and opened the door, stepping inside. "Hey, Type A. What are all the shrill complaints, you'll wake the dead!"
"Let them come so they can take that old bitch to hell!" Courtney snapped, her eyes were rimmed of redness and she looked pale for a mocha-colored girl. She hugged a pillow to her chest and buried her face in her hands.
Gwen watched from a safe distance as LeShawna invited herself to sit by Courney's side on her bed. "Nope, you are gonna tell LeShawna what's going on. Trust a sister in this."
"She threw me out. I never won anything on this stupid contest...she had enough and wrote...no, read it yourself. I'm too tired of reading that…" Courtney pointed at the latter she had thrown on the floor, a sloppy attempt to crumple it into a ball.
Gwen fetched the letter and gave it to LeShawna who cleared her voice and started to read.
"Courney, I am writing this as your mother and for your best interest, it's better we part away as mother and daughter.
It has been some good years I've had you as a daughter, but all things must come to an end and this is the moment I must disown you. I took you in when you were two years old, you wouldn't remember it at all. But as you realize now, you are not my biological daughter-"
Courtney buried her face into the pillow, with muffled screams of agony. At this point, most of the girls have dared themselves inside the shared bedroom.
Bridgette came and sat quietly on Courney's other side, she put a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder and it came as a slight surprise that Courtney didn't even shrug it off.
LeShawna continued as she looked more revolted by the letter. "-and you are adopted. It should've been obvious, considering our apparences. But I assume that you were very ignorant of that fact.
However I had planned for this disowning after you didn't win in the first season of that Total Drama contest, but now when my career in the fashion industry has kicked in for once and I have the opportunity of my life in New York, USA, I must leave you now. You are grown by now and I am never to be associated with you again, it's for the best for my reputation.
I am kind enough to reveal the name of your birth parents, they're dead and which is why you have no family in life. Their names are Marco and Teresa di Angelo. Search for your biological family if you must, as your decisions are no concern of mine anymore.
Be well.
Sharon Taylor."
It was quiet as the dead inside the bedroom, save for Courtney's muffled sobs in her pillow.
"What a bitch." Heather suddenly said, disgusted. Her black hair had finally grown into its original length and she had it in a side braid over her shoulder.
LeShawna was more than disgusted by the letter. "Aw hell no, this is bullshit!" She snapped and threw the letter away from her as if it was nothing more than a piece of dirt. "Girl, just forget that old hag. You don't deserve that, bossy or not!"
"Have you considered that by that letter, I don't have a home to go to anymore?" Courtney finally raised her face and said those words through gritted teeth, bitter hatred seethed from her. "I'm becoming a lawyer and I'm going to ruin her life. I will defile her life like she had ruined mine!"
"Of course you will, but we just think of what you should do now." Bridgette kept hugging her friend. "Don't forget that we are here for you. Our contracts have finally expired, so we are free from this shitshow."
Courtney nodded. "Right. Right…" She said, still trying to process everything. She had been so happy to finally get a letter from her esteemed mother and then everything exploded in her face like a bomb.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Gwen suddenly asked and got several confused stares at her.
Courtney looked at her like she was an alien. "What name?"
"Di Angelo, the name of your real parents." Gwen continued. "It sounds like something I heard before, like a deja-vu."
"Isn't that like, Italian?" Heather scoffed.
"Marco di Angelo…" Courtney muttered, frowning in thought. "That man is my biological father. He's dead, but I can find out every record of him. Medical records, legal files…"
"Gonna call those lawyers again, hon?" LeShawna asked. She had never been fond of those lawyers that answered Courtney's every call, but if there were one situation to use them, it was now.
Courtney threw away her pillow (which landed ungraciously on Heather's face) and dug up her PDA. "They won't be in my service for much longer, they were paid by my...adoptive mother. This will be the last favor they're gonna do for me." She said while she typed something in rapid speed.
"But aren't they dead?" Beth asked shyly.
"I know they're dead!" She snapped back. "But I wanna know who they are. Why did they leave me…"
"Alright, this is a private matter so everyone clear off!" LeShawna announced while Courtney had a new obsession to tend to. Thankfully, it wasn't about a boy or some silly revenge scheme.
"Courtney, are you alright on your own?" Bridgette asked her.
Courtney didn't look at her, eyes still glued on her PDA screen. "I'm fine. I want answers first. I must know who I am. Then look for my own place. Then I'm gonna plot my revenge on that hag...she'll rue the day she took me, made me into her own and then just threw me away."
Bridgette sighed. It was best to let Courtney cool down in her own way, she knew her friend pretty well at this point. "We'll come back for you later. Do you want any breakfast?"
"Later." Courtney muttered. "Gwen?"
"Yeah?"
"Burn that letter."
Gwen protested. "But your parents' names then?"
"I have already that letter on a PDF. I have no need for a piece of paper that woman has touched. Go ahead and burn it."
Making a long story short, the original cast from Total Drama was staying at Playa de Losers while Chris was making another TD season they thankfully wasn't taking part in.
Which meant they could finally enjoy a summer they were supposed to have.
The entire gang had a lot to catch up since the disastrous World Tour and the terrible All Stars.
Ezekiel was back, which was big news and he was looking like his original human self, although he still looked very pale and the first weeks, he was flinching whenever someone talked to him.
Some sexist comments he made in the first season weren't worth what he had to go through, everyone agreed it was just sadistic to let him suffer so much.
Geoff and Bridgette were still together, but they decided to leave the limelight and planned to open a surf shack together. Geoff still liked parties like no one else, but both he and Bridgette was taking it easier on the makeout.
Bridgette also mentioned that after the World Tour, they went on a couple therapy together which went well.
Duncan was out of jail after some months. His parents, who were cops, bailed him out after deciding that a few months in the big boy jail was too much on him and thought he might've learnt his lesson now.
Heather was...still terrible. So was Alejandro. So they absolutely fit together.
Going in therapy was apparently something most of the cast members needed. Gwen had also seen a therapist. Frankly, she had gotten herself so screwed up for what Total Drama put her for and whether anyone justified it or not, cheating was not okay. Period.
Trent had been doing better than most, to everyone's surprise. But while they did crazy shit during the World Tour and what else, he took his time to give himself a break from the famous limelight and went on his own world trip.
Just him, his backpack and his guitar with the goal to find himself. Which worked. Once All Stars was done with, he just returned from his trip and was a much better man of himself than he expected.
Short said, they all needed some damn therapy after all the torture they went through for the chance on a million dollars. Both physical and mental torture.
Duncan could say he's seen a lot in his life. His entire family was cops, so already as a toddler, he had seen his fair share of crime and shit going on.
The whole Total Drama bullshit was a special hell of it's own. Not to mention the personal mistakes he has made and he wished he could take it back.
This was...another personal hell made for him.
"Duncan's sister?" Trent asked, all of the guys has been surprised over a random girl who just entered the resort house like nothing.
She was a short girl with blonde hair, a wide grin and teal eyes. Seriously, the eyes was the only thing she had in common with the criminal. She looked like she wasn't older than sixteen and they were all 18 or 19 year old.
"Yeah, isn't it cool?" The girl grinned. "I'm Carolina and I-"
"Go. Home." Duncan growled.
Carolina stopped. "What?!"
"Go home right now before I kick your ass!" Duncan seethed and showed off a curled fist. "You're not even supposed to be here!"
Carolina rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Make me!"
"As much I don't hit girls, I won't hesitate to beat you senseless if you don't get on a boat and go home right now!" Duncan continued to threaten his sister. "Does even Mom know you're here?!"
"Uh, no. But Dad does! He said I can go see you if I hit some sense in you!" Carolina remarked, unphased by her brother's threats. "You should've remembered you're 18 if you're gonna blow up a mansion, that was stupid!"
"Look, I'm not gonna take orders from a pipsqueak like you!" Duncan growled. "Besides, you should be in school 'cause you're less fucked up in our idiot family!"
Carolina crossed her arms and scoffed. "You don't scare me, Dunc! I'm just fucked up as you and it's summer, I have nothing else to do!"
The other guys found the little girl funny because they had never seen anyone brave enough to stand up against Duncan (except for Courtney, that woman is a force on her own). Besides, this girl was shorter than the bad boy which made it funnier.
The doors to the lobby opened and the women entered. "Hey, what the crackers?!" Izzy shouted. "Oh, look! We have a new girl onboard!"
"Where does she come from?!" Heather pushed everyone aside and glared at the new girl. "This is a private property to TD cast only, so beat it!"
"She's my dumbass sister, queen bee." Duncan snarled. "You got something to tell her, you better say that to me!"
Trent couldn't resist what he said next. "Protective big brother sighted."
"Watch it, Elvis! I can still kick your asses red and white!"
Gwen rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Seriously, what came and shat in your cereal? You're more on edge than usual."
"This idiot came up and say "Hey, bro. I'm gonna stay with you during the summer" and I won't have that." Duncan scoffed and crossed his arms. "Normally I wouldn't care what the brat does, but the moment Christ finds out my sister is here, shit is gonna hit the fan."
Gwen smirked. "I never took you for the doting big brother, Duncan."
Carolina suddenly opened her mouth. "Don't do me any favors, bitch." She looked at Duncan when she said this and shocked 20+ former campers with her mouth.
"Language!" DJ scolded.
"Seriously?!" Duncan exploded. "When are you gonna understand I'm kicking you out of this crappy resort so you can still have your short legs intact?!"
"I take the risks! That's what you taught me!"
Geoff laughed and came up at the two feuding siblings. "Alright, cool down, bros!" The party boy said and set each hand on their shoulders. "We're all chill here and it's really dope to meet Duncan's sister!"
"Don't you understand what I'm trying to say here?!" Duncan threw out and glared at his sister. "Get OUT!"
"Or you'll do what?" Carolina grinned, oblivious to his temper.
Gwen smirked, like she used to do on the island. "Man, she's good. That kid doesn't even flinch."
"Something tells me that girl is gonna whoop her brother's ass!" LeShawna laughed.
"Hey!" Duncan snapped at them. "What makes you think I won't kick her ass?!"
Carolina was just about to protest when a loud honk was blasted, loud enough to make everyone deaf. "Oww, what the hell?!" Carolina whined with her hands on the ears.
Duncan groaned. "Fuck me...now it's too late."
"Goooood morning, ex-campers!" Chris' annoying voice sang through the resort's speakers. "A little bird told me that a certain criminal's sister is here and of course I couldn't miss the chance to get her to compete-"
Duncan lost his temper and inhaled deeply. His expression must've taken a drastic turn because all of the former contestants widened their eyes and backed away from him. Except for Carolina, who still stood where she stood.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" He shouted so the walls nearly shook. "THAT LITTLE BRAT IS GOING HOME, END OF STORY, GOODBYE, THE END!"
And Chris' disembodied voice had the nerve to laugh. "Oh, but you don't decide that, Mr. Boom-Boom! She wrote her name on a special contract-"
Duncan's death glare intensified. "And now I'm gonna kill that little shit…" He turned to glare at his sister, who had the decency to at least look sheepish.
"All of you have now the chance to win FIVE...MILLION...DOLLARS!"
Duncan's rage stopped briefly. "...you're shitting me."
"A brand-new contest is starting this autumn, all of your contracts has been renewed for one more season-"
"What, NO!" Courtney ran up to the nearest speaker. "I was gonna go home, YOU PROMISED THAT!"
Chris didn't seem to care about that. "Oh, so sad. If you wanna give up already, be welcome to do that, Courtney!" His voice was teasing her. "Unless you'll miss your chance for a good recommendation to a little place I call...Haward."
Courtney stopped, her onyx eyes widened. "H-Haward?" She stammered.
Bridgette sighed softly. "And she's gone."
"Get to the point, jackass!" Gwen shouted and crossed her arms.
"All of you are gonna compete in a little game I call Total. Drama. SCHOOL!"
It was dead quiet in the lobby. Duncan's eye twitched in revolt, Courtney looked like she had been accepted to her dream university, Carolina was the only one who looked hyped and Gwen stared at the speaker, speechless.
"Fuck you." Duncan finally said.
"Aaaand that's gonna be censored, more work for the editors. Great, you're all in now and remember, the term starts in four weeks! Meaning, you have still four weeks left for your little summer vacation here at the resort, so play nice and you'll meet your new, brand-new, excellent and the always so great-looking host...Chris McLean!"
The speaker went dead.
"Dibs."
Everyone stared at Courtney in shock, who just said that word.
"What?""
"WHAT?!
"Are you for real?"
"You just said dibs?!"
"Girl, you're crazy!"
Courtney crossed her arms. "It's five million dollars, guys! I might actually have a chance to go to university with all that money...I could go to Yale! Or Haward…"
"Courtney, please. All that torture isn't worth it, think of what happened last time!" Bridgette tried to make the CIT come to her senses. "We've just gotten the therapy we needed and...and you were so sad this morning, I can't let you subject yourself to...this!"
"Either I do this and have a chance to get my life together or I go to the streets because the hag I called mother threw me out." Courtney argued. "And if I win, I can totally rub it in her face and sue her senseless. She'll rue the day she wronged me!"
Carolina was the only one who actually looked excited. "I hope I'll be on her team!"
"You're crazy, idiot." Duncan said. "Have you even seen the seasons?!"
"Uh, I did not watch the World Tour after you pulled that shit and I never saw All Stars either because I was doing something else."
"Like what?!" Duncan snapped, a little pissed that his own sister didn't even root for him.
"Like recording my Let's Plays!" Carolina said cheerfully. "I've done videos for Rainbow Six Vegas, Call of Duty and Halo: Reach. That was awesome!"
Duncan glared. "The feeling is mutual." He snarked at his sister.
This was going to fucking suck.
Yes, this serves as a prequel for what's going to become TDS (Total Drama School). Don't forget, guys! They have four weeks left on Playa de Losers!
I hope this was good enough, I have improved a lot of my writing.
Lunan out!