I own nothing, except the ideas. Total Drama is the property of Teletoon Inc.
It was a day like any other for Gwen Carver. She had woken at seven AM that morning, eaten breakfast and dressed in her usual all black ensemble. By seven thirty she had arrived at her high school where she was promptly treated to another insult session by her long time nemesis, Heather Chen. And by eight she was in her first class, all her attention turned to her school work.
That Heather had confronted her upon her arrival at school had not come as a shock to Gwen. Heather had been bullying her since second grade and Gwen had little reason to believe that would ever change. She had tried every method she could think of to get Heather to leave her alone, but none of it had worked and she had finally given up hope of altering the status quo. It didn't help that no one else seemed to care how much she was tormented. No one had ever stood up for her or tried to help her and she knew why. Being a social pariah was the price one paid for being the only goth in a sea of jocks, preps, and whatever other social cliques populated the high school. Even the nerds and stoners avoided her like the plague, fearing retribution from Heather and her gang if they associated with the "weird goth girl." And so, Gwen spent her days alone, with no one to talk to but the voices in her head.
In truth, Gwen had long since gotten used to being alone. There were times when she even kind of liked it. But most of the time she wished that even one person would stand with her. She had tried to get people on her side, but they were either too afraid of Heather or had no desire to associate with someone whom they considered different.
Gwen couldn't blame them though, at least not entirely. She knew it was partially her fault that she was shunned. She had been born with an obvious stutter and her inability to speak like everyone else had made her painfully shy from an early age. The stutter had gone away as she'd gotten older, but the shyness remained, often leaving Gwen at a loss for words on the rare occasions when people did try to talk to her. The years of bullying by Heather and others had only made the shyness worse, as the constant belittling had convinced Gwen that she wasn't strong enough to stand up for herself or anyone else. And that combination of the stutter and the shyness had been more than potent enough to kill Gwen's chances at a social life, though there had been moments where she had almost cracked through her shell.
In fact, she'd had a brief friendship with Dakota Milton, when the latter had first moved to Gwen's hometown. But Heather had quickly ended that, convincing Dakota that Gwen was only friends with her because of a warped infatuation. That had been all it had taken to get Dakota to abandon Gwen and join Heather. That incident had shattered Gwen's confidence and driven her further into the thralls of loneliness. Dakota now spent her free time harassing Gwen as well, along with the other members of Heather's gang, Lindsay Peterson, Anne Maria Belosi, Amy Gardner, and Sugar Mott. Gwen had a hard time understanding how Sugar had become one of Heather's minions, as the pudgy pageant queen was exactly the type of person Heather usually bullied, but there must have been something that had gotten her in Heather's good graces, though Gwen couldn't figure out what. Together, these six had made Gwen's life a living hell since the start of high school, though several of them had been bullying her for much longer.
And they weren't the only ones. Gwen also caught flack from Heather's boyfriend, Alejandro Burromuerto, and his gang, which included his best friend Justin Marshall, Lindsay's boyfriend Tyler Johnson, and Amy's boyfriend Topher Hardrick. There was also the class president, Courtney Santos, whose bullying was more subtle, but no less hurtful. And finally the rage filled jockette duo of Eva Grey-Mendez and Jo Connors, who physically intimidated everyone, including Heather's gang.
All of these forces conspired against Gwen on a daily basis, leaving her lonely, scared, and unable to form any real or lasting bonds with anyone. She had turned to goth imagery and appearance in an attempt to reflect the dark pit in her soul, but that had only made things worse. Her bullies and most other people, looked at her like she was a freak, dressed all in black and hiding in the shadows. Heather took delight in mocking her for her fashion sense and Courtney viewed her with suspicion, as though the class president thought Gwen was some kind of pagan devil worshiper or something like that. Other people, including many of her teachers, just thought she was weird or out of touch with their so called reality.
This distorted impression of Gwen by others had lead to a wide radius around her at all times. Now, at lunch that day, she sat alone at one table, with at least one table in between her and anyone else in every direction. No one looked in her direction, no one made eye contact with her as she passed them and no one spoke to her, even in casual greeting. Even the lunch lady avoided eye contact, much to Gwen's dismay.
The suffering didn't end when Gwen left school either. Her home life was just as lonely and miserable. Her father was drunkard who barely noticed her and her mother hated her for her goth style. Her two younger brothers avoided her as well, not wanting to hurt their social standing by association. Her return home that afternoon was greeted by a grunt from her father and a withering glare from her mother, who quickly left the room.
Gwen made her way to her room in silence, only emerging again to eat dinner. Her mother glared at her again as she entered the dining room, her brothers already too busy eating to notice her. The look on her mother's face suggested an argument was brewing and Gwen knew what the shouting would be about. Deciding she didn't want any part of her mother's complaints tonight, she quickly left, without touching her food.
She made her way outside, hoping for some relief in to cool night air. Not knowing what else to do, she started walking, heading in no particular direction. Her wandering eventually brought her downtown, which was lit up like a Christmas tree as it always was at night. It was then that she heard the sound of music emanating from a nearby club. Drawn by the thunderous, aggressive beat she made her way over to the club, noting that the sign over the door stated that all ages were welcome. Taking this as a positive sign, she entered the club, finding a band raging on stage and at least a hundred people banging along to the music.
The man at the bar gave her a friendly nod and she moved to join the crowd, though she wasn't familiar with the band that was playing. Still, she felt something surge inside her, like an animal trying to escape the confines of a cage and then she saw him, a young, brooding man with a tall, green mohawk watching her from the entrance to the club.
A/N: And that's chapter one. As you can see, it's more of a prologue, as most of my opening chapters are. This story will focus on Gwen and her transformation from the shy, lonely goth in just introduced to an aggressive, outspoken goth-punk. What else ensues is a matter of secrecy for now. The title of the fic refers to the fact that Gwen as she is now is just a whisper and that she will eventually become a scream, metaphorically speaking. Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Hope you enjoy. Cheers, KT.