August 2012

Nicole sits with Noah, Bethany, and Joshua as they are about to stream another episode of Total Drama World Tour. World Tour ended up being Noah's third season away, counting when he was working as Chris's assistant throughout and after Action. He says he's done with reality shows now, but Nicole isn't so sure she can trust his word. As the last scene was about to air, Bethany came back from putting the kids to bed.

"What did I miss?" Bethany asked.

"Duncan is back, Noah's team is up for elimination, and-" Nicole was cut off by Joshua, who shushed her before Chris was about to speak on the TV. Noah knew what was about to happen and couldn't bear to watch, so he sunk his head into his hands.

Chris stood near the exit of the plane with an envelope in his hand.

"And with three votes against him, Noah!" Tyler, Duncan, and Alejandro's faces stay stoic to this news, but Noah and Owen looked shocked.

"It's time to say tally-ho. Pip-pip, Cheerio, toodle-oo!" Chris says.

"Ugh, if I jump, will you stop?" Noah groans. Owen looks frazzled and puts his hands over his head while he goes to prepare to jump out of the plane.

"Goodbye, buddy. I'll win for you!" Owen exclaims.

"Whatevs. Just beware of eels." Noah says, referring to Alejandro, who was the reason he got voted out. Alejandro gives a smirk while he watches Noah jump out of the plane.

Before anything else can happen, Noah turns the TV off for everyone and begins to leave the room.

"Wait, Noah!" Bethany says. "We should talk about this."

"Not right now." He walks off to his room, leaving Bethany and Joshua to be with Nicole.

"He never wants to talk about anything that happens on World Tour." Nicole says.

"At least he made it farther than he did the first season." Bethany says to the group.

"Maybe Noah will want to stay home now that he's lost again." Joshua whispers.

While Joshua and Bethany talked about Noah, Nicole couldn't help but think him going away so much for Total Drama was still about wanting to make money for the two of them. She knows Noah has made a fair amount of money, but now that he's worked so hard for it, she wouldn't want to take it anymore. The prospect was different when Total Drama Island was a one-time deal, and the money would have resulted in one-win. She walks over to their shared bedroom to see Noah laying down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Sorry you got eliminated." She tells him. She continues looking at him, annoyed that he won't say anything back except shrug, but still wishes there was something she could do to make him speak out. She motions for him to scoot and lays down on the bed next to him, and the two are now side-by-side while staring at the spinning motion of the ceiling fan.

"What's coming up next with Total Drama?" She asks him. He answers her without giving her any eye contact.

"Right after World Tour ended, we were due to be on another season. They said it would be right back at Wawanakwa. We were on this big party cruise, and just as we reached Wawanakwa, it just… kept going."

"It kept going?" She asks as she looks at him.

"Yep." He says dryly. "Turns out it was just a plot to introduce fans to a second generation. We've been replaced."

"I'm sorry, Noah."

"Don't be. It's fine. I'm totally fine with it." He says this with no expression indicating whether or not he believes this to be true, but Nicole also couldn't tell if he genuinely believed this of himself, either.

"Well, it'll be nice to have you around for our senior year. You've missed so much." Nicole says as she sits up. "I joined marching band. It's been a lot of fun. We've been practicing a little bit over the summer, I spent all of last year learning clarinet just to join." Noah looked over to Nicole, showing a hint of pride towards his once shy sister. Nicole was just happy to see Noah take an interest in her conversation, and seeing him forget what just happened on screen.

"That's really cool." He tells her. She smiles at his smile.

"Rehearsals have already started, but I could see if they were looking for any volunteers for help during the shows and football games. It could be fun." Noah looks back up at the ceiling.

"That's okay. I think I'm going to lie low this school year." Just like that, he's back to the way he started. She frowns, knowing it was silly to expect he'd say yes. She begins to get off of his bed and goes to the light switch and looks at Noah.

"Can I turn off the light?" She asks.

"Go for it." She turns the light off and tucks herself into bed, then doesn't hesitate to put herself right to sleep.