AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay, I lied. This chapter has more of Owen's POV than Izzy's. Next chapter will be all in Izzy's POV, and will probably be the final one.


Owen's POV (Izzy will come next, I swears it.)

"You're insane," Noah said.

I chuckled. "Well, I am with Izzy. Seriously though, it'd be an experience we would never forget!"

He pushed his hands in front of him. "No, no. There is no 'we' in this, buster. You expect to be able to sneak nineteen more people in and not get caught?"

I had just suggested an idea Izzy would extremely love: Invite the whole cast of Total Drama to the party. It was my greatest stroke of genius yet, and it didn't even have anything to do with food! However, my little buddy wasn't taking it well at all.

"If it's an invite-only party, we don't have to stay there, just barge in and make sure Izzy sees us. She'll be e-static!"

"Ecstatic."

I feel the urge to use more advanced words whenever I'm around Noah. Unfortunately, I don't tend to remember them as well as he does. "Yeah! It'll be like a surprise Christmas present for her, and she loves surprises."

"And it'll be a surprise for her too, when you all get pulled out by your hair by angry security guards."

I thought Noah was making this party sound much more complicated than it was. "She wouldn't go to that kind of party, would she? With security guards watching and stuff?"

"Dude, she's rich. Of course she would."

Izzy had never told me she was rich! She didn't dress, eat, or act like she was. I mean, she was in a whole bunch of movies after Total Drama Action, but she told me she donated all her earnings to party and weapon companies. "Wha- how do you know she's rich?"

"I've been inside her house before," Noah said, which just got me even more mixed-up.

"But Izzy told me her parents don't like having friends at their house!"

Noah squinted at me. "'Friends', she said?" I nodded. "She probably meant to say 'boyfriends' then."

A sick feeling entered my stomach- that's where I tend to feel emotions. "Or she could have lied just to me..."

"Don't sweat it, Owen, she would never lie to you." His eyes flicked away as he spoke. "Unless she were joking with you, that is."

I knew Noah was lying because of two reasons: He usually calls me nicknames, and my stomach's intuition made me feel worse when he spoke. Izzy didn't want me to come over... But why? "Maybe... Can we look up 30 Sycamore Avenue?" I went on my computer, and Noah stood behind me. When I looked up the address, images of a huge fancy-looking hotel popped up, called Fine Livings.

"Yup, there'll definitely be security guards," Noah said.

For a second or two, I considered backing out. Then I realized twenty-one people could easily break through, what, two security guards? We'd at least make it inside the party for like, a minute or two, even with security inside the party. "Anything is worth it as long as Izzy gets to see all her friends."

"Not all of the cast are her friends though. Why don't you just invite the people who are?"

I twirled my pointer fingers. Sure, my plan was for me a tiny bit, but mainly Izzy. "Well, I kinda wanted to see us all together for one big party again. The picture just isn't complete without everyone, y'know? I'm sure Izzy would agree."

"Sorry, I won't be in that 'picture'. I'll help you contact everyone since you invited me over, but that's it."

I didn't just want Noah there to make the cast complete, I mostly wanted him there as my friend. My heart sunk, but I knew it wasn't wise to push him when he was already reproachful of my plan. His offer to help was surprising in itself. "Fine. So who do we contact first?"

"Wait a second, do you have paper and a pen?" I retrieved them from my desk and handed them over. He sat on my bed. "Okay, I say we ask Eva first. I'll just text her."

I sat beside him. "That works." Noah wrote her name down and sent her a text. "I think Izzy's close to Lindsay too. I have her number."

Noah looked at me. "You're friends with her too?"

"Yeah! I have the whole cast's phone numbers!"

"How come I never knew this?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, you didn't ask?"

"Whatevs. Just give me eight or nine of their numbers, we'll split the workload." I gave him the people at the top of my contacts list (which was in alphabetical order): Beth, Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Ezekiel, and Gwen. That left me with Geoff, Heather, Harold, Justin, Katie and Sadie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Trent, and Tyler.

While I was giving him Gwen's number, his phone chimed. "That's from Eva," he said. I read Eva's text over his shoulder: Whatever, I'm not busy. We gave each other a thumbs-up, and Noah checked her name off on the paper.

I texted Lindsay first, and got a reply right away. oo, id luv 2! but 1st i have 2 check w/ my dad, im suposed 2 b hosting a party my house. im sure he wont mind tho.

We looked at each other, and Noah basically voiced my thoughts. "Oh, the utter atrocity that is text speak." We had a good laugh.

TEXTS TO NOAH (He didn't want to call anyone):

Beth- Sure, Id love to come! Can my parents come too?

Bridgette- I live far away in NJ, but if the whole cast's coming, count me in!

Cody- Sounds wicked! I'll be there! Gwen will be there too, right?

Courtney- Sorry, I'm busy.

DJ- Sorry, I always stay home with Momma on Christmas.

Duncan- I would if I could, but Courtney's at my house right now, and she doesn't wanna go. So no.

Ezekiel- Sounds hip, I'll play! I'll bring my swagger with me too, dawg.

Gwen- That doesn't sound fun. No thank you.

"Uh, Owen? We have a problem," Noah said. "I have four people here who can't or won't come: Courtney, Duncan, DJ, and Gwen."

Well, there goes my vision, I thought. "Aw, dang it. I guess the whole-cast-excluding-you thing is out."

He went back to texting, and half an hour later, he showed me conversations he had with Courtney, DJ, and Gwen.

TEXT CONVERSATIONS WITH NOAH (Who I hereby dub "The Miracle Worker"):

Courtney

Noah: According to Duncan, you're at his house right now. Can't you both come to the party?

Yes, but we don't want to.

What, do you not like Izzy or something?

It's not that, it's the fact that she's crazy!

Okay, I can't argue with you there. But seriously, look up the address I sent you.

Wow, it looks grand... We'll come, but you better not be lying to us. Both of us can kick your butt, you know that right?

I'm aware. And I'm not lying.

Good.

DJ

Noah: Can't you bring her with you? Look up the address before you decide.

Dang. We're coming.

Excellent.

Gwen

Noah: Look up the address first.

1) The hotel looks way expensive. 2) I really don't care that the whole cast is coming. 3) I don't care for parties.

1) Not even if it's paid for? 2) You don't want to see Leshawna, Duncan, DJ, Bridgette, etc.? 3) Do points 1 and 2 not sound worth it to you? Because they sound worth it to me.

You sound like a rude salesman. Can I bring my family?

Sure.

Then I'm convinced.

"Uh, Noah? What are these people's families gonna say when we say we're crashing in?"

"It's only three extra people, I ignored Beth." I started chuckling, and Noah's usual frown grew deeper. "What?"

"Only three extra people? I thought you would've gone nuts."

"That's Izzy's job. Who did you call so far?"

"Harold, Justin, Katie and Sadie, Leshawna, Trent, and Tyler. Harold and Justin aren't coming," I said, and sighed.

"Tell them to look up the address and that they can bring their families. Works like a charm."

It worked, just as he said. "Okay, all I have left are Geoff and Heather... can I just text instead of call Heather?"

Noah grinned, a rare sight. I've told him several times that he has a nice smile and nice teeth and should grin more, but he never listens. "What, are you afraid of her?"

"'Course not! I'd just... rather not call her, y'know? 'Cause she's mean?"

"Whatever you say, fraidy cat." Now that I think about it, I think that was sarcasm. I didn't understand what 'fraidy' meant at the time.

I texted Heather, then called up my buddy Geoff. After three rings, he picked up. "Hey-o, my man Owen! How's it goin'?"

"Great, Geoff!" I said.

"Merry Christmas dude!" He laughed. "Huh, I should've totally said that at the start."

"No worries, dude! Right back at'cha!"

That's when Noah grabbed my ear and pulled me to him. "Hey dude, remember the party?" he hissed.

"Oh, oops." He let go. "Uh, Geoff, wanna go to a sweet party to surprise Izzy? The Total Drama cast is coming!"

"Whoa, seriously dude? Whoohoohoohoo! Sign me up!"

"Sweet man! The address is 30 Sycamore Avenue. Come at six o'clock! See you there!" I hung up. "Well, looks like Geoff's coming!"

Just then, I got a text from Heather. Ew, I wouldn't go to crazy girl's party to save my life.

Then, a text from Lindsay. Sry, my dad & me had 2 sort out my jobs 2 my sisters. i can come!

"Let me handle this." Noah took my phone and texted Heather, Not even if it's at a fancy hotel? And you can bring your family.

That novelty wore off when I was 5. And I hate my family. I looked at Noah, but he was already texting back. How could she hate her family? I could never imagine hating mine!

Then I'm sure it would benefit you to be away from them.

The Total Drama cast isn't much better, mind you.

But they're still better, right?

Barely. Why do you sound different?

I'm Noah.

No wonder your texts sounded slightly smarter. I'll come, but don't count on me staying for any longer than an hour.

No worries, dear, I won't.

"What'd you call her 'dear' for?" I asked.

"It's sarcasm, genius."

"Oh. Hey, was that sarcasm you used just now?" Noah rolled his eyes, confirming I was correct. "Why are you helping so much anyway? You didn't have to persuade people to come, though it was nice of you."

"I just figured that since I'm not coming, everyone else should as compensation."

"But why won't you come?" I asked.

"Easy. I don't attend parties, let alone crash them."

I couldn't suppress the feeling of loss weighing me down. "Oh, but it won't be the same without you..."

I felt Noah's eyes on me. "You don't need me to be there. I'll just be like a ghost, watching while everyone else is talking."

"Not necessarily, I'll talk to you! So will Eva, Cody, maybe Izzy if she can..."

He looked away. "Believe me, Owen, you're going to be the life of the party. You won't have time to talk to me, you'll be too busy talking to everyone else."

A twinge went off in my stomach- surely he didn't think that way all the time, right? Perhaps that was why he never went to any parties with me. "What, you don't have faith in me?"

He stared at me for a silent second. "My God. You're guilt-tripping me, aren't you?"

I placed two fingers against my chest, as was the Boy Scout salute when I was little. "I will not leave you stranded, my little buddy."

"You know, sometimes I wonder why we're friends," he said. But those words were music to my ears, because that's when I knew that he was coming. And how did I thank him? With a hug, of course!

(Finally back to Izzy, folks!)


We've finally arrived at Christmas Day, people! Phew. A lot really happened on Christmas Eve, eh? Quite the emotional roller coaster, except it wasn't nearly as fun as a real roller coaster. Seb was right- Dad brought me my pillow and blanket, pajamas, and dental care at night. Mom surprisingly gave me dinner that day, and breakfast and lunch the next. I sure was a pampered prisoner! Not that I wasn't miserable, of course. I ended up making a rubber band ball and seeing if I could throw it all the way across the room. I could! I also lined up all the furniture a distance away from each other and jumped across them. Then I did gymnastics on them. All of it was mildly fun, but none of it could compare to the snowman or the makeout session with Owen that day.

I've been trying my best not to spoil any events of the future of the past, but this is too important: For Christmas, I received the surprise of my life. That is all I will reveal. Aren't I devious?

I was dangling upside down on the sofa, seeing if I could touch the ground when I heard the door click. I flipped back up. Could this be it? Is my time over? I thought. It felt like I had been in there for an age, never knowing what time it was or even seeing the light of day (or the dark of night).

As I reached the base of the stairs, the door opened to reveal Seb. My heart floated up like a balloon. Seb had never opened the door before, maybe it was a sign?

He looked down at me. "Izzy, you can come out now. We have to get ready for the party."

It was! Too bad I had to spend my first several hours of freedom at a boring party though. "Are we eating dinner first?"

"Nope, we'll be having dinner there." I jumped the steps three at a time and landed past Seb, then walked without looking back. I still held a grudge against him for refusing to text Owen for me. Owen was probably hating me right now...

"Izzy, wait!"

I nearly turned around, but stopped myself. "What?"

"I texted Owen you couldn't come over."

My grudge immediately unfolded, leaving me with empty space. Literally, I had no thoughts to say out loud. I guess that's the feeling of surprise, eh?

Seb put his hands behind his back, glancing at the floor. "It's a long story why... but Owen said to tell you Merry Christmas, and that he's sorry you were on a timeout. Also, my discipline record is no longer clean."

A feeling rose in my heart that I can only describe as younger sibling pride. I closed the space between us and pulled him in for a hug, wrapping one arm around his head. "I'm proud of you, bro. And thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Seb said. "Maybe I'll feel proud too eventually. Thanks for the book, by the way."

I let go of him. "Ooh, did you read it yet? There's loads of fun stuff in there, I bought a copy for myself too! We can experiment with them together!"

His eyes lit up, something I saw for the first time while we built the snowman. At long last, he was releasing his inner child. "That'd be great! Now that I'm a certified criminal in our household, I don't really care about breaking rules anymore."

Seb actually cracked a joke! Oh, how he was growing up so fast. "Ohoho, you're not a criminal yet, little 'un. One felony isn't enough to become wanted by the cops."

"You only did one to get wanted by the RCMP."

I thought for a few seconds, and came up with nothing. I clicked my tongue. "Touche."

Dad came out from the kitchen, wearing a black suit with a green and red checkered tie. "Get dressed, Isabelle. You too, Sebastian. We're leaving soon."

Seb ran to the stairs. I slid over to Dad, pulling out the picture I found in the basement from my coat pocket. "Dad, I found this picture in the basement... the middle guy is you, right?" I pointed to the guy in the middle, a.k.a. younger Dad.

He was silent. His lips tugged up at one corner as he took the picture from me, staring into it. His answer came several seconds later. "Yes. But I lost touch with all these people after college. They were the best friends I had ever met." He showed me the picture and put his finger on the guy next to him- enormous with brown hair. "I was the closest to him by far. We were friends since childhood, and he's the one who introduced me to all the rest of the people here."

He lowered the picture to his stomach, looked at it some more, then lifted his eyes to me. They were full of warmth, something I never saw in them before. Like lukewarm coffee put into a microwave. "It's a shame that your mother won't let Owen around you. Even on reality TV, I can tell he has a golden heart and would treat you well."

That was one thing I never thought I'd hear him say. Why are there all these firsts? I must have a bad memory. "He does- er, on the show. If you approve of him, can't you get Mom to too?"

Dad's mouth puckered a little. "I don't think so. She has to acknowledge her own past first, something I can't force on her. She's just as stubborn as you are, you know."

I knew I would probably get in trouble for asking, but in the end, my curiosity won over my common sense. I should work on that a little. "Why did you marry her?"

Dad looked as though he was about to reprimand me, but then he turned his gaze to the picture, pinching his chin. Soon, he chuckled. "Well, Isabelle, I admired her gumption. And her red hair. She shaped me to be a more social, polite man."

"Do you agree with the way Mom punishes me?" I asked.

"Most times I do. You deserve proper punishment for your antics, you know. But lately since we figured out grounding you has no effect, she started experimenting with long timeouts. Like your time in the basement. That I didn't approve of, but I can't change your mother's mind once it's set." He looked toward the living room. "Speaking of your mother, she expects you upstairs."

"I'm on it." I veered into the living room and up the stairs, Dad's words still ringing in my ears. She shaped me to be a more social, polite man. More like mind-wiped him to be like her, making him leave memories of his friends behind in a dusty dresser. And just when I had pulled Seb out of Mom's clutches...

"Isabelle, is that you?" Mom called, sounding somewhat breathless. She ran out of her bedroom and met me at the top, pulling me to where she came from. Her face was made-up and her hair was straightened, and she wore a green mermaid gown. "We have to hurry! It would be a disgrace not to be first at our own party, not to mention both your father's and my bosses are coming."

I froze when we arrived at the bathroom. The white of the counter was hardly visible under makeup containers, brushes, and bottles. But worst of all, the flatiron... it was alive and waiting.

I turned, but Mom blocked my path through the doorway. "I don't care that it's your party this time, I am not putting on face paint or burning my hair to a crisp."

"Isabelle, please don't be difficult. This is the first party your father and I are having that our bosses are attending, and the whole family has to look their best. Can't you understand that?"

"Oh, I can, but what makes you think I'll let you touch me after locking me in the basement?" Mom's rigid posture dropped, as did her expression. I felt a wicked delight at that, like adrenaline. "That's right, nothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put my dress on." She parted the way, and I passed without so much as a glance.

Now, I never ever wear dresses except for acting, but there is one exception to that rule: A red velvet short-sleeved dress with small diamond cutouts at the waist (courtesy of my scissors). I would have preferred for it to be a two-piece, but Mom was already going to freak out at the cutouts, which my coat would conceal until the party. I put on my dress with matching flats and my coat, then admired myself in my mirror. Perfection.

I went out and knocked on Seb's door. "Coming Mom!" he yelled. A few seconds later, he opened the door in a suit like Dad's and his hair parted and slicked.

"Aww, I think I'll call you Penguin Junior," I said, and put my arm out toward him. "Care to escort me down the stairs?"

He looked at it. "Do I have to?" I took his arm instead and began strutting down the stairs, lifting my chin in the air. Seb stared at me, his lips twitching. "Izzy, why are you walking like that?"

"Shh! I'm pretending to be the belle of the ball, descending the staircase." When we reached the bottom, I said, "Shame it has to be a boring ball. It'd be way more fun with Owen as my date, but that would take a Christmas miracle to happen."

Shortly later, we went outside. It was already dark, and I had to remind myself that this was the day after yesterday- the last time I saw the sky was in the afternoon. We all gathered in the car for what turned to be the most awkward ride in my life. We heard crickets chirping. Dad tried to talk to Mom a few times, but she ignored him and all of us. Seb and I had played three silent games of bingo on my foggy window when Mom told him to stop leaning over. I wrote "MERRY CHRISTMAS PEEPS!" on the rest of the window instead.

"You should've written that backwards if you want people to read it," Seb whispered.

"Oh, crap." I smudged out my message and added a bow to make it look like a present, because I had run out of space.

Soon we pulled inside a huge parking lot of a huge hotel. We stepped out, and Mom faced Seb and me. "Sebastian, Isabelle, be on your best behavior for tonight, okay? You two have been getting into trouble lately, and we cannot afford embarrassment in front of such important company." She was staring at me while speaking. I stared at her back until she looked away, and we went through the revolving door.

Even though we had never went to a party at Fine Livings before, I became immediately accustomed to the interior: Expansive white walls; black crystal floor; giant lit chandelier; and glimmering gold lights, trees, and wreathes placed all around. Most of the gatherings we went to were in hotels like these. Mom spoke with the receptionist at the front desk, who then led us to the third floor where our reserved room was- behind giant wooden doors.

Let the boredom begin, I thought.


Owen's POV (Try not to have overlapping plans on Christmas.)

"Absolutely NOT, Owen! You are NOT going off to some party while we have guests at our house that YOU invited!"

Mom sometimes misses a few points of what I tell her. She's pretty darn scary when she's mad! "Mom, I said that we can all go to Izzy's party, including Noah's family. Izzy really wants Noah and me there."

"Oh. I guess that's okay then. Did Noah let his family know?"

"Yup."

"Okay then, that should be fine." She chuckled. "Maybe I'll get to dance with your dad some more."

I went back upstairs, where Noah had been watching us from the railing. He was smiling in a way that looked like mocking. "Well, that went well."

"Uh, if you count overall," I said. "We'll never be able to sneak in now though."

"We passed that threshold at five, Owen."

"Did we? Huh. Still, this is gonna be awesome!"

"Yay! Let's look like a flash mob and last just as long as one before we get thrown out."

I was knowledgeable of sarcasm by now, though it's kind of hard to tell when Noah uses it sometimes because he usually speaks flat. This time, though, it was obvious. "Aw, Noah, we gotta figure out a way to get you psyched! At least you'll get to see the inside of a fancy hotel for a short while."

"Yes, because that has been my goal all my life. Look, I can't get psyched about this, alright? There are a million ways this plan could go wrong. Everyone will leave when we say we're crashing in-"

"Besides Duncan."

"Courtney will drag him away. We have absolutely no idea which room the party's in, and how are we gonna explain ourselves when employees see a swarm of teenagers and their families? They might bring enough bodyguards to stop us before we even get to the party, who knows? And we are going to mortify Izzy's parents when we, Izzy's fellow cast members, barge in on their lovely evening."

I had texted Sebastian earlier about which room the party was in, but had gotten no reply... We were just going to have to mention Izzy's last name to the receptionist and hope for an answer. Tension was written all over Noah's face, even reflected in his eyes, and it was kind of unnerving to be honest. "Noah, you're thinking way too much about this. Let's just have fun, okay? No matter what happens."

His face slowly settled, though the frustration was still there in the background. "I'm taking a nap on your bed. Wake me up when it's time." He turned away and entered my bedroom, and I occupied myself with the kitchen until his family came. Noah went with them to the party. My family and I crammed into our van and sang carols all the way there. The only person who seemed nearly as unhappy as Noah was Luke, who wore headphones and listened to his own music to block us out.

Dad was looking back and forth between the GPS and Fine Livings Hotel as we arrived. "This is really it, Owen? For real?"

"You betcha!" I said. The white building looked like a gigantic marshmallow block with many lit windows, which was awesome!

We climbed up the steps to the revolving door. Dad, Riley, Uncle Wendell, and I each filled one gap, and Mom and Luke came after us. I didn't even noticed Noah and his family come in, because I was too busy admiring my surroundings. All the decorations were a brilliant gold that nearly blinded me, and it really was the most majestic place I had ever been in.

I snapped out of it when I saw Mom heading toward the receptionist. "Mom, wait! We're waiting for the whole Total Drama cast to come first."

She stopped and turned around. "You are? Well, I suppose that'll be a pleasant surprise for Izzy."

"That's the plan!" I winked at Noah, who just looked away. I thought, Man, if there were a way to make him happy...

Soon Beth and her parents arrived. "Hey Beth!" I shouted, running toward her.

"Hi Owen!" I swept her up in a hug, something I was planning to do for everyone.

DJ and his mom came next, then Courtney and Duncan. They all were dressed up, probably because they were told to search the address. "Hey guys!" I fist-bumped DJ and Duncan.

"Hey dude! How's it going?" DJ said.

"I'm going to look around a bit before the whole cast gets here," Duncan said, and DJ and I watched him run down one of the halls.

"Duncan, no! No stealing!" Courtney shouted, chasing after him.

By 6:30, most of the cast had come besides Geoff and Bridgette, and the lobby was buzzing with chatter. True to my word, I kept one eye on Noah to make sure he wasn't lonely, but he was mostly with Eva. I rotated between the groups formed: Noah and Eva; Gwen, Trent, DJ, Cody, Harold, and Leshawna; Katie and Sadie and Justin; and Lindsay, Beth, Tyler, and Ezekiel. Heather stood alone in a long navy blue dress, and I hesitated to talk to her. But ignoring her would've been bad hosting, and Mom was giving me warning looks from where people's families were standing.

I walked over to Heather. "Um, you look pretty tonight Heather!"

She turned away. "Don't talk to me." And that was that. Hey, at least I tried!

"Hey, Owen! How come only six people, not counting you and Noah, got the memo about the fancy hotel?" Trent called.

Noah spoke before I could. "Duncan and Courtney also got the 'memo', but they're playing cat and mouse right now. We didn't tell Lindsay, she just dressed up because... well, she's Lindsay."

"I like being me!" Lindsay said.

Noah flicked his eyes up. "Technically, you all got the address, which you could've easily looked up. Owen and I had to tell some people directly to convince them to come here."

"Now I can see the effectiveness in that," Leshawna said. "But I wish you told me so I could get my hair did before I came here."

Geoff leapt into the lobby with a loud thump, grabbing everyone's attention. "Wassup, dudes and dudettes! Oh my gosh, this is gonna be the best party EVAH! Look at this place Bridge, it reeks of party-liciousness!"

A chuckling Bridgette stepped out from behind Geoff. "Or if you wanted to translate that into proper English, this place is amazing basically."

Greetings rose in the air, and I delivered my own in the form of a hug. "Geoff! Bridgette! So glad you peeps could make it!"

"Sorry we're late, we both live pretty far away from here," Bridgette said. "We had to come here by airplane."

"Did you guys go on the same airplane? With seats next to each other?" Tyler said with a large shameless grin.

"Aw, I wish! We just saw each other outside the entrance," Geoff said. He nudged Bridgette with his elbow. "But we made up for the lost time there, eh Bridge?" Bridgette blushed, and laughs and smiles arose.

"Ah, aren't dirty implications the spice of life? Are we going to Izzy's party or what?" Noah said.

"What about Duncan and Courtney?" DJ said.

"We're here!" Courtney shouted, sounding quite breathy. She was pulling Duncan behind her, who wore a deep scowl.

Noah was looking at me while jerking his head to the front desk. The receptionist lady was whispering into a walkie talkie while glancing the cast's way. "You go," I mouthed. He let out a sigh I couldn't hear and went. He's smart, surely he was thinking the same plan as me to find the party location (if not a better one). And unlike me, he didn't crumble under pressure.

I didn't take my eyes off them as they talked, biting my nails. Noah appeared to be doing okay at first, but then his voice began to grow louder and harsher. The receptionist was scowling and trying to talk over him, and I went over to see what was up.

"I don't think you should be deciding for the hosts. At least ask them to come see if they recognize us, they would know their guests better than an incomplete guest list! You're trying to keep us out because you hate reality show stars, don't you?"

"Martha Wellington gave us the guest list herself, and every person on it has been checked out. Therefore, I cannot let you in."

"Do you even know who we are? We're the cast of the hottest reality show on television, Total Drama. The proof is all over the internet AND celebrity news. And we know the daughter of the Wellingtons from Total Drama, I'm one of her friends and Owen-" Noah patted my shoulder- "he's her boyfriend."

"Sorry kid, but I don't believe you."

"Look us up right now and see for yourself! Or are you only pretending not to know us, you cruel hater?"

The receptionist's walkie talkie spoke. "Did he say the whole Total Drama cast is here? Sandra, why aren't you letting them in?"

"Because they weren't invited!" Sandra said into it.

"But if they have connections, the hosts should at least come out to make sure they didn't forget to invite anyone."

"Surely they can't be bothered with that right now?"

"This is a bunch of celebrities we're talking about here, of course they can be bothered. And even if the cast doesn't have connections, what if the hosts want them in the party? Our priority is to make our guests happy, remember?"

Sandra sighed and muttered something like, "Reality show rats." She said into the walkie talkie, "Uh huh."

"By the way, can you get all their signatures for me?"

"Mhm." Sandra slapped a notepad and a pen in front of Noah. "My manager wants all of your signatures."

"We heard," Noah said in an airy tone, and scribbled his name on the notepad. He slid it to me without looking. He was really getting into character!

I signed the notepad and brought it to the other cast members. "Attention everyone! The manager wants us all to sign this notepad, so pass it around, okay?"

Courtney raised her hand. "I'll take it!" I gave the notepad to her and a thumbs-up to Duncan as he snuck into the crowd.

I returned to Noah, who had his back turned to the front desk. I gave him a low high-five. "Nice acting, dude."

"Eh, it's easy to act like an angry arrogant celebrity. I hope you're not mad at me for changing the plan, I thought actually getting invited through Izzy was a better gamble than crashing. Turns out her parents are actually hosting the party. The lady looked on the verge of calling security on us anyway."

"No no, that was excellent improvation!"

"Improvisation."

"Improvisation! We can actually enjoy the party now, thanks to you!"

"Not exactly... Owen, Izzy didn't tell you something about her parents. You see, they really care about she hangs out with. I managed to scrape by with them, but they won't let you hang out with Izzy because... of... the way you look and act."

My stomach felt hollowed out. I was used to criticism about my weight, gas, etc., but it really sucked that those things were keeping me apart from Izzy. "Oh... Really?" Noah nodded, eyebrows curled slightly. "Well, it's understandable I guess. Izzy probably didn't tell me because she didn't want me to feel hurt."

"Do you?"

"Nah, just disappointed."

Noah exhaled, eyebrows falling back into place. "Good. Sorry to add to your disappointment, but her parents probably won't let you into their party."

My everything fell: My heart, my face, my posture. My plan had backfired in the worst possible way- the whole cast had come, but I wouldn't get to party with them or Izzy. "Okay, now I'm really disappointed. Ah..."

Eva came up to us. "What was that ruckus at the front desk about?"

Noah and I exchanged glances. We didn't have to tell anyone about the original plan if Noah's plan worked, right? "Uh, we'll tell you later," Noah said.

An elevator opened, and out stepped Izzy, Sebastian, and their parents. I saw Izzy wearing a dress for the first time, and I have to say- I like her two-pieces better. She still looked gorgeous as usual though! Since I had never seen the rest of her family before, they kind of felt like strangers, but were definitely a good-looking bunch. Her mom looked a lot like her- even their features contorted the same way while arguing. "You don't have a choice, Isabelle, you will wear your coat over the dress you ruined."

"Oh, I dunno, I like to be my own master," Izzy said. "And I say I'm keeping my coat off."

The receptionist cleared her throat, and their heads jerked in her direction. "Mister and Missus Wellington? Sorry for interrupting your evening, but this group of teenagers claims you know them."

Izzy met my gaze, her mouth forming my name. I nodded with a grin that was probably cheesy in my excitement. Her eyes swept the cast, wide and bright, and her face broke into the largest, most beautiful smile I had ever seen. And right then, I knew that that alone was better than any gift I had received in my lifetime.