Every three days, someone else would get voted off Total Drama Island and would make their grand arrival to Playa des Losers. They would settle in relatively quickly, happy to finally get a taste of luxury as well as befriend the others without the stress of the competition looming over them.
Noah wasn't much different. When he'd first arrived, it had been so quiet, due to how empty the place was. (That's what happens when you're the third camper to be voted off.) He'd enjoyed himself immensely, surrounded by warm pools and shaded by palm trees. Finally, he could settle down with a good book without anyone annoying him.
And on his first day there, he'd even managed to befriend Eva, the toughest girl he'd ever met.
He still couldn't quite believe it. Back on the island, the only person he'd developed a positive rapport with had been Cody, on account of them having overlapping interests. And now he had a new friend, who was the polar opposite of him.
But that wasn't all.
Several weeks passed, then Izzy showed up. And just like with Eva, they'd managed to bond over something. The crazy girl who'd disappeared after being hunted by the RCMP considered him a friend; a snarky, lazy bookworm with more brains than he knew what to do with.
Add to that a temperamental muscular girl only slightly less angry than a raging bull, and what do you get?
Chaos. Complete, utter chaos.
Eva and Izzy only became aware of each other's presence when they both started to hang around Noah. And neither of them particularly liked it.
Eva would be discussing a book she'd read with Noah, only for Izzy to appear and whisk him away to go ambush unsuspecting passersby with coconuts.
Izzy would be trying to teach an uninterested Noah how to play dead in the pool before Eva would come over, drag him out and take him indoors so they could have an uninterrupted discussion about the finality of death in literature.
The two girls were constantly battling each other for Noah's attention, and Noah hated being stuck in the middle. All he wanted to do was enjoy his hobbies with his two new friends by his side, not bear witness to a stupid struggle.
Thankfully, his prayers would eventually be answered. In the craziest way possible, of course.
It was a few days after Leshawna arrived, miffed at everyone for inadvertently causing her elimination. The day itself started off normal enough, with the ex-campers going about their usual business. Noah was sitting at the poolside bar, his nose in a book, sipping away at a glass of limeade. It had been pretty quiet so far. He hadn't seen either Eva or Izzy yet.
Whatever, he thought. Might as well enjoy myself before their bullshit starts up again.
Of course, this hope was short-lived.
Izzy showed up first, at one o'clock on the dot, right as a hotel staff member brought out a platter of raw steaks for grilling. He set them down on the buffet table and left so the campers could help themselves. Izzy was upon them within seconds, grabbing the entire platter and taking it over to the grill. Unfortunately for her, a still very sunburned Cody was already there, turning over sausages with a giant fork.
Izzy strided over to him and snatched the fork right out of his hand. "Sorry Cody, but Izzy wants to cook herself some lunch!"
"Can I at least finish cooking my sausages first?"
"Nope!" And with one abnormally quick sweep of her arm, she knocked all the sausages off the grill and onto the ground below. Cody stared at her, open-mouthed, shocked by her gall to do what she just did.
"Izzy!" Trent, who'd seen the whole thing, admonished her. "You can't just do that!"
"What?" Izzy sounded genuinely perplexed by everyone's behavior as she laid her steaks out on the grill. "I need my protein!"
"Yeah, but you can't just take over the grill when someone's already using it." Trent folded his arms and watched Izzy's back as she grilled her steaks. He sighed when he realised that he wasn't getting through to her. What Izzy wants, Izzy gets.
"Bummer about your sausages, Cody," he tried to offer sympathy to his friend. Cody simply shrugged sadly, letting out a sigh of his own before going back to the buffet table to get something else to eat.
Noah was only vaguely aware of what was going on nearby. He wasn't really paying attention; instead choosing to focus on his book. It was one that Eva had lent him.
Speaking of Eva, she too had finally emerged from the hotel. She made a beeline straight for the buffet table. There was no doubt what she was looking for: some steak. She ate it for every lunch, trying to bulk up. It was one of her favourite foods.
Surely only a fool would try to hog it all, right?
As soon as she realised that all that remained of the steaks was an empty platter covered in raw meat juice, Eva's expression changed from one of fragile peace to one of annoyance. And when it came to Eva, even the mildest of annoyances may as well have been cardinal sins.
"Alright, which one of you maggots took all the steak?!" she bellowed.
Cody, who was standing across the table from her, shook in fear as he wordlessly pointed over to Izzy.
Eva wasted no time in marching over to her, the tiles beneath her feet close to cracking. Izzy, on the other hand, simply whistled a merry tube as she flipped the steaks over.
Eva tapped her on the shoulder. Izzy looked over at her, completely relaxed, as if she had done nothing wrong.
"What makes you think you can just take all the steak?" Eva wasted no time in getting down to business.
"I'm a growing girl. I need my protein." Izzy said nonchalantly, turning back to the grill.
Eva grabbed her shoulder and forcefully spun her back around. "So you think you can just take all the steak?"
"Well, yeah?"
By this point Noah had finally realised what was going on behind him. He put the book down on the bar's counter and sighed deeply. He'd better intervene before things turned ugly.
Eva was all up in Izzy's face while Izzy just stood there, as normal as can be, which only served to make Eva more angry. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" She jabbed a finger at Izzy's face. "What the hell makes you think you get to have all the steak?!"
"Well, it was right there on the table, ripe for the picking. No one else was eating it." Izzy shrugged. "But seriously, you need to take a chill pill. All that shouting can't be good for your blood pressure."
Eva's teeth ground together violently as a vein bulged on her forehead. The other campers gathered around them wisely took that as a cue to step back. Only Noah dared approach them, climbing out of the pool and making his way over to stop them from killing each other.
But Eva's temper had already boiled over the point of no return.
"YOU GREEDY LITTLE COW! I'LL SHOW YOU BAD BLOOD PRESSURE!" And before anybody could stop her, she grabbed Izzy and tried to throw her away from the grill.
Izzy, however, reacted extremely quickly. Even though Eva had a hold of her shoulders, she in turn was able to grab onto Eva's arms and avoid being flung onto the ground. But due to the momentum, her legs still went flying round in an arc. Her right foot struck Noah in the side of the head, causing him to stumble back and fall into the pool.
The two girls paid him no mind. Eva still had Izzy held up in the air as Izzy balanced her hands on her shoulders like a gymnast on a beam. Eva stumbled round, past the grill and the buffet table, and over towards a row of sun loungers. Eva gripped hard onto Izzy's wrists, loosening the hold on her shoulders, and threw her into a nearby bush.
Izzy popped up again instantly, balling her fists and glaring at Eva. Eva remained still and steadfast, her eyes betraying the deep rage she still felt.
For a few moments, time slowed down. The only noise to be heard was that of the wind rustling the leaves. All of the campers watched the standoff in awed silence, waiting to see who would be the first to strike.
Izzy brought up her hands and got into a fighting stance. Eva remained as she was.
And when Izzy finally broke the stillness by leaping out of the bush and charging at Eva, the crowd held their breath.
Eva ran towards her with her upper body lower to the ground, dead-set on headbutting this psycho into next week. But at the very last moment before their bodies would have collided, Izzy suddenly changed her course of action and leapt over the other girl, using her shoulders as a springboard. And immediately after landing, she spun her leg in a roundhouse kick that Eva was only barely able to block with her forearm. One of Izzy's slippers flew off her foot and hit Harold right in the nose.
Eva whirled around and tackled Izzy to the ground, struggling to keep her pinned down as Izzy thrashed and squirmed like a fish on a line. The redhead bared her teeth and hissed, spraying spit into Eva's face.
The others looked on with a sort of scared fascination, wondering who was going to come out on top of all this. Their otherwise quiet day had been ruined, but at least now they had a source of entertainment.
That was until DJ, disturbed by all the violence, averted his gaze and happened to catch sight of Noah floating face-down in the pool, completely motionless.
"Oh, crap, you guys!" he shrieked. "Noah!" He dove into the water, scooped Noah into his arms and carried him out within the span of seconds. Now everyone changed their focus to the unconscious Noah lying on the concrete, and DJ attempting to resuscitate him.
Including Eva and Izzy.
They paused their fighting and slowly, grimly, made eye contact with one another, understanding what had to be done.
The two girls got to their feet and rushed over to Noah. Eva barged past DJ using her shoulder, shouting "Outta my way!" as she did so, then took over trying to resuscitate her friend. Izzy knelt beside Noah's head.
Eva's chest compressions were quick and forceful, so much so that the others could practically hear Noah's ribs creak under all the pressure. She did five compressions, then briefly stopped so that Izzy could try mouth-to-mouth. Izzy pushed several lungfuls of air past Noah's lips, then sat back to let Eve do more chest compressions.
The two worked in tandem like this for a minute, their movements harsh and powerful. Well, it wasn't like they could afford to be gentle. They had a friend to save!
Their friend!
"Eva, you're being too rough! You'll break his ribs if you're not careful!" Courtney admonished. She immediately fell silent after Eva lifted her head just enough to fix her with a glare; one that quite clearly told her to shut up.
"Ooh, I hope the little stringbean'll be alright…" Leshawna said nervously.
"Gosh, I hope he doesn't die!" Harold added. He clutched at his hair. "We'd be sued into oblivion by his parents if he dies…"
"Please let Noah be okay, please let Noah be okay…" Cody said, his hands clasped together in prayer.
"All this over steak…" Trent smacked his forehead.
"SHUT IT!" Eva roared. She ground her teeth, out of worry and frustration this time, as she continued to press her muscular hands down hard on her friend's frail chest.
"Wake up, Noah! Naptime's over!" Izzy shouted, then whipped her hand out and slapped Noah smartly across the cheek.
All of a sudden, Noah's eyes flew open.
Eva threw her hands into the air in confusion. A slap was able to rouse Noah when multiple chest compressions couldn't? Seriously?
Her confusion over the whole situation dissipated as Noah made a sound that was a cross between a gasp and a choke, then rolled onto his side and puked out an ugly brown concoction of pool water and the muesli he'd eaten for breakfast.
He lay there, clutching his chest and coughing up the contents of his stomach until it was empty. The mark on his forehead where Izzy's foot had struck him was already starting to go purple. Otherwise, he actually looked to be okay.
Or, well, as okay as one can be after a near-death experience.
But Eva didn't feel relieved until Noah shot both her and Izzy a glare and said in a scratchy voice, "I always knew you'd kill someone one day, but I never expected it to be me!" He rose to a sitting position. "Nor did I expect it to happen so soon…"
Immediately, Noah found himself swept up in a hug by Izzy, who buried her face into his bare shoulder. "You did such a good job at playing dead, I actually thought you were dead for real!"
Eva patted his other shoulder. "Good to see you're okay…"
The other campers all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Thank god you're okay!" Cody cried.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, li'l dude!" Geoff said.
"Ohmigod, that was so scary!" Katie and Sadie clutched at each other.
"Says the ones who weren't drowning," Noah said, standing up on wobbly legs. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to my room, read a book, have a nap, and forget this whole thing ever happened."
"We're coming with you," Eva interjected as Noah made his way indoors. "Just to make sure you'll be okay."
"Yeah!" Izzy bounded over to them.
Noah sighed. "Whatever."
When they made it to Noah's room, Noah instantly slipped his feet out of his sandals and crawled under the safety of his sheets; soft and cool against his skin. He let out a sigh. It had already been an excruciatingly long day, and it wasn't even two o'clock yet.
Mercifully, Izzy and Eva were toning down their behaviour in the meantime. Even more mercifully, they'd ceased fighting, too. And they were going out of their way to make him comfortable.
Eva grabbed the book that was on the bedside table and offered to read it to Noah, which he accepted. Izzy lay down next to him, on top of the covers, and started fiddling with her hair. She stayed quiet as Eva's gruff narration filled the room, seemingly captivated by the words like Noah was.
The next half-hour was surprisingly peaceful. Izzy only interrupted a few times to crack a few jokes at the book's expense, and Eva only snapped at her twice. Noah still made a couple of sarcastic comments, but they were a little subdued compared to other times. It was evident that he was just done with the day. Done with a capital D.
As Noah's eyelids began to droop, Eva set the book aside once she finished the chapter. She and Izzy shared a look of disbelief. A look that screamed, "I can't believe what just happened today, can you?"
Izzy carefully leaned over Noah, her mouth close to his ear. "Hey, Noah?" she asked quietly.
"Mmm?"
"...We're still friends, right?"
"If you promise not to kill me again, then sure," Noah murmured.
"Yes!" Izzy whisper-shouted, pumping her fist into the air.
Noah just wanted to sleep, and hopefully wake up tomorrow and move on from this whole thing. His throat was sore, his ribs ached every time he moved, and the mental acuity needed to understand how close he was to dying was kind of overwhelming.
And of course, all of it was caused by the two psychos he called his friends.
But...they had resuscitated him. And they were doing their best to make him comfortable. And they were trying to keep calm and get along for his sake.
He genuinely did appreciate it deep down. Even if they caused all the trouble in the first place, they still tried to fix it. They were finally taking responsibility for their actions.
Noah wasn't going to quite let them off the hook, but he was willing to give them a second chance.
As he kept his eyes shut, he couldn't help but overhear the ensuing conversation between the two girls.
"...I really need to get a handle on my temper," Eva said, sounding just as exhausted as Noah felt.
"Yeah, you do." Izzy agreed.
"I dunno….I don't exactly like being angry all the time, but there's just so many things that make me upset, I can't stand it." Eva sighed. "My grandma was right. I do need anger management lessons…"
"...Sorry for taking all the steaks," Izzy said quickly. "I wouldn't have been able to eat them all, anyway." She gave a nervous giggle.
"Sorry for picking a fight with you."
Izzy giggled again. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun."
"What?"
"I dunno, there's just something about fighting that really gets the blood pumping, y'know? Like all that adrenaline makes me feel so alive!"
"...You know what, I think I know what you mean."
"Yeah, you see? Fighting is fun! And I haven't had that much fun fighting someone since that time I beat this guy trying to mug me!"
"I've done that before," Eva said, a hint of glee in her voice. "There's something satisfying about punching someone who wrongs you, isn't there?"
"Oh, I know. Say, you throw some pretty good punches."
"Thanks. I saw the way you beat up Chef in that one episode. You're not bad yourself."
"I learned from watching a lot of kung fu movies!"
So this is how they end up bonding, Noah thought tiredly: through their love of fighting.
He gives a very gentle shake of his head. Typical. He should have known it would end up like this. They're both freakishly strong powerhouses. Insane and freakishly strong powerhouses.
But hey. At least they were finally getting along.
Nothing like almost accidentally killing your mutual friend to kickstart a friendship!
But yeah, I decided to go with the "fire-forged friends" route for Eva and Izzy; they just seem like the type to hate each other until realising that they have something in common, but only after an accident occurs and they have to work together to fix it.
Also this isn't exactly an accurate example of what CPR is like; the slap waking Noah up was done solely for the purpose of comedy. Just feel like I should point that out so as to not spread any misconceptions.