March 2011

The twins were hanging out in their rooms after finishing up homework for the night when Noah looked over to Nicole to ask her a question.

"Hey, Nicole?" He asked. "What do you think of this?" Noah grabbed his laptop and jumped off his bed, showing his sister an advertisement he saw online. The ad read:

TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND AUDITIONS

MCGILLIS PRODUCTIONS is looking for energetic, unique teens to compete live on TV in a competition located on a five-star luxury summer camp! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the last camper standing will win $500,000! Food and lodging will be provided and those chosen will come to Miskoka, Ontario to film this summer. Please send in a short video describing why you'd love to be on Total Drama Island! Applications close April 3.

"Why do you want to do this? You hate the outdoors, and you hate people." Nicole mentioned.

"I keep thinking about what we'll do when we go to college. I don't want to use mom and dad's money. Do you?" Nicole went sheepish as she thought about his question.

"No. At least not yet."

"Exactly. I think I should sign up for this and win us some money so we're not depending on Joshua or Bethany or anyone but ourselves."

"What makes you think you can win?" Nicole asked as she gave the laptop back.

"I can figure that out later. Can you help me make an audition tape?" Nicole thought about his idea, and what would happen if he left. The two of them had never been apart from each other for more than a few days at a time, and Nicole couldn't bear to think what it would be like without him around if he was gone all summer.

"Okay, I guess I'll help you."

"Will you come out to the living room with me to convince Joshua to sign the permission slip?"

"Joshua will say yes to anything right now." Noah had a document on his laptop that he went ahead and printed out in their room. He grabbed it as the two of them walked out of the door, then went to see their brother.

"Hey, Joshua." Noah said nonchalantly. Nicole's niece and nephew, Joshua's children, had just been put to bed for the night, and he was catching up on some last-minute paperwork at the dining room table before heading to bed.

"Hey, Noah. Hey, Nicole." He said to them. He put the pen down and looked down at the two.

"Will you sign something for me?" Noah asked him.

"Sure, you two going on a field trip or something?"

"Something like that." Noah said. He was about to grab the paper from Noah's hands, but he stopped him as he covered everything but the dotted line on the bottom that would give him permission to audition and be part of the show if chosen.

"What, I can't read it?"

"No."

"Well I'm not signing it until you tell me what I'm signing." Noah groans, figuring this wasn't going to be as easy as he thought it would be keeping the audition a secret. He knew he should have forged Joshua's signature.

"I want to audition to be on a TV show." Joshua looked at him funny.

"A TV show?"

"Yes. It's a summer camp competition, and I want to do it to win some money."

"When was the last time I ever saw you go outside?" Nicole begins to laugh with Joshua.

"That's exactly what I told him." Nicole says. He frowns.

"Look, can I do this? Please?" Joshua could tell he was serious about this, and it was hard saying no to either of them right now. He took the paper from his hands, signed it, then gave it back to him. For the first time in a few months, Noah gave him a genuine smile.

Monday morning after school, Noah and Nicole were near their lockers. Noah handed Nicole a camera to record his audition video for Total Drama Island. Noah handed Nicole a camera. He looked around to be sure the coast was clear, then looked up to Nicole while in position.

"Camera's all good and ready?" Noah asked.

"Yep." She looked towards him before pressing record. "Are you sure you still want to do this? A whole summer to be gone is a really long time."

"I'm sure. I want to do this for us." Noah began the process of putting a show on for the camera, creating a character for himself that would make other people want to find more out about him. He thought long and hard about the type of person he wanted to come up with for the producers watching, and he knew that his typical personality wasn't going to cut it.

"And, action." Nicole pressed the button on the top of the camera to begin filming, and pointed a finger at Noah to begin.

"Hey, I'm Noah. You may not know me, but you will. Because I'm going places." Noah placed his hands on his hips while he spoke and leaned into the camera, and Nicole zoomed the camera closer to his face. "See, I've got a plan." He looked to his left as he pretended to listen to someone near him.

"What are you doing?" She whispered. Noah made a cutting motion at his neck, and she pressed stop and pointed the camera down.

"Just keep it rolling. I'm going to add a voice to pretend that someone is talking to me."

"What will they say?"

"I don't know, something about winning class president."

"Class president? But we got into this school like a month ago, and since when would you have been interested in being class president?"

"I can't get into Total Drama Island being myself. All these reality shows are fake, anyway, so I'm just trying to blend in." Noah explained. "Now let's try it again from 'see, I've got a plan.'" Nicole pointed the camera back up, and pointed a finger at him to show she was recording and he leaned back into the camera.

"See, I've got a plan." He pretends his conversation is interrupted, and looks to his left while he pretends to listen to the fake person's question.

"Thanks, man." He answers. He looks back to the camera and smiles. "See, I've got smarts. And that's what wins in the end. Trust me, I've got this one in the bag." Nicole stops recording and comes up to him to show him the footage. The smile is lost on Noah's face as he's looking at everything falling into place.

June 2011

Three months since he submitted his video and application, Noah had gotten into Total Drama Island, much to everyone's surprise. Nicole was still upset about Noah leaving, but she tried to put on a brave face for his sake. She didn't want him to rescind his offer just because she was upset. The two of them were outside with a duffel of Noah's things, waiting for his ride to the camp.

"What do you think the people are gonna be like?" Nicole asked.

"It's a reality show. Everyone's super smart, super strong, an uptight bitch, or really dumb." He looked over to Nicole seriously. "I just want to tell you now, I'm not going to be the same Noah you know while I'm on the show."

"You're not?"

"I don't want anyone knowing anything about me. I'm not doing the whole 'opening up' thing and getting stabbed in the back. Can I count on you to make sure nobody finds out about… you know, the real me?" Nicole knew there were some underlying issues going on with Noah over the past few months, but hearing him talk, it seemed like he was more interested in becoming a different person, rather than protecting himself over rumors and bullies.

"I won't say anything. I promise." Noah nodded his head as a car came up, and Joshua and Bethany, who were watching from inside, came out to say goodbye. Bethany drew Noah in for a hug.

"Be safe, okay?" Noah rolled his eyes. "We'll all be watching!"

"Yeah, we hope you win." Joshua said. Noah looked over to Nicole, then gave her a long hug. Nicole's face was buried in his shoulder, and she wasn't sure if she could last the summer without him.

"I'm gonna win the money for us, and everything's gonna be great."

"I'll miss you so much." Nicole told him.

"Me, too. But it's going to be one summer. I promise." He gave her another hug, then let go as the driver came up to help him with his bag. He looked back at the three as the driver put his bag away and closed his car door for him, and watched them through the window as the driver pulled away from the neighborhood. Nicole was already beginning to tear up as she sat back down on the swing on the porch, and Bethany rubbed her hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"You want me to stay outside with you?" She asked. Nicole quietly shook her head no, not wanting Bethany or anyone to see how much this upset her.

"I'll see you inside, then." Bethany and Josuua walked back in as Nicole reflected while staring at the sunset in front of her, and after a few minutes, she pulled herself together and quietly walked into her now-empty room. She laid down on her side as she stared at Noah's bed, which was stripped and had nothing but the mattress.

"Only one summer." She told herself. "He promised it would only be one summer."