Rest day for now! Let's give this one a full account before we return to the challenges. Thanks for reviewing, AnonBrowser, lordgemini, Ellismskd24 and IllusionSign.
My first act on the rest day was to check out the confessionals. There weren't many. The first one was from Mike, talking about how nice Zoey was and whether she'd date him with his "quirk", apparently something that had ruined things for him in the past. I hadn't seen anything yet. Zoey had two, one about how excited she was to be on Total Drama and make friends, and worrying that people might not like her ("Am I trying too hard? You like me, right?"), and then a second about not understanding Mike's "old man comedy routine".
I thought back. Yeah, he'd done a remarkable impression of a crusty old man on the footage the day before, but it wasn't funny, just him whining about "back in my day". Was that connected to his quirk?
There were some others. Sam made it clear he didn't think he was going to win, but he said it would be cool if he survived five or six rounds. Well, I wouldn't have thought that way, but it was pretty amazing that he didn't even seem to care as long as he wasn't cut first. Anne Maria said something about how her looks were worth more than the million dollars. Yeah, she was pretty, but I didn't know why she'd prioritize that fake look over the money she came here to win. B had a silent confessional where he just blew on his knuckles and grinned. Scott muttered something about a plan going into action and B not seeing it coming. Oh, and Brick talked about how in cadet camp, he won the Teamwork medal three years running, along with bedmaking, flag-folding and letters home to Mom ("I always win that one"). I was starting to realize that despite his militant manner, he was actually a softie deep down. Who else would be so proud of winning a medal over writing letters to their mom? And to be honest, that made me more inclined to like him as a person.
The rest day confirmed that. When I'd had a shower in my mobile trailer and gotten dressed, I heard someone running past outside. I looked out to see Jo flash by, dressed and arms pumping as she passed. Well, I could do with a run. Maybe I could join her. Not today as it was too late, but I'd ask when she got back to the campground if she didn't mind a partner.
I had breakfast in my trailer as I didn't want to risk Chef's more disgusting food (I had yoghurt), and then I headed up to the mess hall to see everyone else.
When I went down, everyone was already eating. I sat down between Zoey and Cameron and started talking. "So, has anyone fainted from the food yet?"
"I don't think there's too much danger of food poisoning." Cameron said analytically. "It tastes awful, but I can tell that it's not contaminated."
"Kidding!" I said. "I know Chef's food. I had to eat in the craft tent in the second season, remember?"
Zoey took another bite and said "It's better than last night's dinner, at least." She suddenly gave me a nice smile. "I used to like watching you host on World Tour, you know. I'm glad you're hosting over Chris, to be honest with you."
"I'm probably more glad that I get to host than you are." I told her, grinning back. "It's a lot of fun, more than competing in my opinion, but it's even better that I get to just hang out half the time. And without Chrissy breathing down my neck and trying to suggest I give you all a harder time."
And hang out I did. Zoey was really as nice as she seemed, a little self-conscious and a bit too agreeable and inoffensive when I compared her to most friends I had, but she had some great taste in music and fashion, even if it was all retro or stuff I'd never heard of. The music she brought up had a great beat. She wasn't the type of person I immediately clicked with, but she was nice to spend a bit of time with, and she was sweet, sort of a bit like a puppy who was desperate to be liked and did their best to be likeable. That made it very hard not to just give in to that behaviour that begged "Please please please like me."
She also showed me a few of her accessories she'd brought with her, all cute and retro stuff like polkadot headbands and hairbow clips similar to her flower. "I know I have to wear the same clothes and accessories because of the cameras," she said, "But I came here to meet other teens like me, and I figured these would be good conversation-starters."
"Well, you can change things up on rest days if you want. Anyway, I like the headband." I said sincerely. "Just – it's red and white. Doesn't it kind of blend in with your hair when you wear it?"
Zoey giggled. "Try it on if you want," she suggested. "I bought it before I dyed my hair. It used to be a sort of mouse brown, so the headband stood out more then. I used to really fade into the background – I mean, I tried to. When I turned sixteen, I decided enough was enough and so I started dressing the way I'd always wanted, which included my hair."
The headband did sort of suit me. Zoey even offered to backcomb my hair to add to the effect, but I declined. I knew that might make it even more uncooperative. Still, it was great to find that while I didn't have too much in common with Zoey yet, I felt like learning more about her interests and sharing them.
I liked Mike a lot, too. He was so open and natural, and he had a positive energy I felt radiating from him. I chatted to him for a while, just because I liked that about him so much. I was also starting to learn more about him. He seemed to be up for anything, a lot of fun, and smiled and laughed a lot, even making a few jokes at his own expense. He even made an effort to ask me questions, and I started to realize we had quite a few interests in common. It turned out we both liked fantasy books and action movies. Cameron talked with us as well, and although he seemed a bit of a brain, I liked him a lot. He seemed like a sweet guy, just very sheltered. When I asked him about the books he'd read, he said "I read some fiction, but I only really liked ones that took place in reality. I liked nonfiction better. Probably because I was living in a bubble, the world outside was more interesting. I liked reading autobiographies as well as factual things, though."
Anne Maria seemed all right, just a bit vain, and totally self-absorbed. I'd thought she'd be more fun, but she didn't talk about much else apart from how she did her hair and where she got her orange tan from. I didn't spend too much time with her in the end, and I didn't even waste my energy on Dakota. B seemed fine, but he just never spoke. I didn't talk to Lightning, either, but that was more because I didn't see him. Later on, I found out he'd been busy working out in the forest.
I remembered to ask Jo if she didn't mind if I came running with her some mornings. "Whatever," she said, "But don't blame me if you can't keep up." I sort of liked her unapologetic manner. She seemed to know she was mean and cold and didn't care who else knew it. Much better than a pretty talker who only pretended to like everyone else.
Brick, who'd been listening, said "You can race me, if you want. I go running most mornings, too. It was part of the routine at cadet camp."
I smiled. "Thanks, Brick. I might take you up on that."
I made an effort to talk to Dawn, too. "So," I said, "You said you could read auras?"
Dawn nodded. Her eyes lit up. "Oh! Did you want me to tell you about yours? It's actually a very pretty pale orange colour, close to yellow, because you're energetic, but with a subtle sense of creativity there. There's also a subdued pink in there." She stared at me more intently. Then she smiled. "It looks as if it's rising, so you're not aware of what it means yet, but you should find out soon."
"What does pink mean, though?" I asked. "Come on, you can't just leave me hanging!"
"Well, it often means that you feel a connection with someone." Dawn said, still smiling reassuringly. "It's not my place to tell you any more than that. Anyway, I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own."
I only had to ask one more thing. "Um, can I ask one other question? What you can do – like when you managed to be standing on a broken ship and then end up on the shore, dry as anything? I know you said you used a shortcut, but…it still doesn't make sense. How do you do those things?"
Dawn paused thoughtfully. "I suppose I'd say that it helps to keep your mind clear and to stay in sync with the Universe," she said finally. "I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I need to meditate." She said it all politely, but she also made it clear that she wasn't going to answer any more questions. It didn't help that I found out later that day that she talked to animals, and not only did they seem to know she was safe to get close to, but she seemed to be able to understand them just as well as they understood her. I was the one who didn't understand her at all, but in a way, I liked her. She was unapologetic like Jo, but in a much kinder, politer way.
I mentioned that to Zoey later on, who was the easiest girl to talk to, and she said she got that unapologetic manner, too. "I like that natural thing about her. She seems like a nice person. But I find she creeps me out a bit. You know, all the reading auras – the fact that she knew I was an only child even though we'd only just met…I don't feel like I can be comfortable around her. It's nothing personal and I don't dislike her, but you know, it's weird to have someone knowing so much about me."
"She's all right." I reassured Zoey. "Just give her a chance. She's a little weird, but I think she's really nice deep down, just she tends to say too much she knows."
`"Well, I'm not going to pick on her." Zoey said uncertainly. "I've taken enough of that from the girls in my town. Like I said, it's nothing personal. I'll give her a chance, just like everyone else."
I actually really enjoyed the day. It was nice to be one of the group. And just before dinner came for them, Scott actually approached me and said "Y'know, I'm sorry I might've seemed like a creep yesterday. I don't know many girls, or how to act with them or talk to them. I know I made you uncomfortable, but I promise I won't do that again."
The way he'd looked at me the day before had made my skin crawl, but now he was looking me straight in the eyes and had a serious expression. I still didn't totally trust he wouldn't lie, but if he wasn't going to check me out the way he had yesterday, there was no reason for me to be rude.
So I smiled back at Scott and said "Forgiven. You can spend the extra time not looking at me working harder at winning the challenges, right?"
I thought there was a flicker in Scott's expression at that moment, but I could have imagined it. I mean, he agreed with me immediately after. And why on earth would he disagree about his team winning challenges, right?
Because he wants more control of the vote, maybe? Based on a comment he made in Episode 8, that's one of the reasons for his strategy.
Also, while here, I need some advice. I've got a plot bunny for another story. This one will take place on Total Drama Island, and replace one contestant with my OC. So far, I know my OC is a bit New Age, takes dance and yoga and is very meek, shy and hates confrontations but comments from bullies don't really rattle her. I want to make her more well-rounded with flaws. Any ideas on what I could do with her? I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to spoil things before it comes out.
