DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Total Drama Island, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or any of their characters. This story is a different point of view from my other fic, 'Red Cup Day'; which is based on the universe found in Turrisluciuds' 'The Interview' and 'The Move' found on FF and Archive of Our Own. If you want to check out Red Cup Day, feel free to check it out on my profile! And if you're interested in Turrislucidus' Wonka universe, check her out on FF and Ao3! She's crazy good.

"It's Red Cup Day."

Shit, that's right. Red Cup Day hell had started this morning, and Gwen was scheduled to finish it off. Most everyone had already finished their shifts or called out "sick," meaning she was left to help deal with the inevitable rush of people eager to claim their free cup. A cup by the way, that was worth like $5 at best. A stupid, red, plastic cup. When she had taken the job in the beginning of the year, they had failed to mention this little holiday; leaving her co workers to recount their horror stories over closing. With a frustrated sigh and mumbled words of annoyance, she opened her schedule to check for anyone working the shift with her. To her horror and relief, the only other person working was Noah.

On almost any other day she would rejoice getting to work alone with her friend, but today was going to be chaotic with only two people in the entire building tending to dozens of customer orders; more than half of which would be holiday drinks, meaning their peppermint supply would need restocking. Which meant ordering more, which meant a risk of not receiving supply in time and turning down customers requests for anything remotely peppermint flavored. Which then meant pissed off, middle-aged white women asking for the manager. It was just one big pain in the ass.

She shot a quick text to Noah, letting him know she was heading in soon. A quick brush through her green hair was more than enough to tame it. She debated makeup in the case she felt the need to tear her eyes out, but decided her gothic appearance may be enough to scare off at least one person. If that meant one less Peppermint Mocha, so be it. Throwing on a thick jacket for the snow outside and grabbing her bag, Gwen left the house; dragging her feet behind her.

Saying the store was chaotic would be an overstatement. By the time she clocked in, there were only a hand full of customers seated at various tables; most of which had already been served their drinks and given their red cups. At the counter was Noah, making small talk with a girl their age as he made her drink. It was pleasant, but she refused to feel too positive just in case it jinxed them and brought in more people. Walking into the back she had seen all but one apron hung up, it really was just them for closing. If business picked up she would have a word with management, but for now it was doable. Hands washed and apron tied, Gwen joined Noah at the counter watching him pass the girl her drink. The girl smiled and thanked him, winking as she walked out the door. Noah smiled back politely, then turned his back to the customers as he rolled his eyes.

"You're pulling bitches lately," she chuckled. Noah rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter, arms crossed.

"Not the ones I want though. They're all women, and like, actual bitches. Like Heather type bitch."

Gwen snorted and grabbed a pen, "I think she would be pissed to know you'd consider someone else on her level." She slid a small notepad over and began sketching. Noah scoffed at her.

"I don't think anyone is, except maybe Alejandro." He shuddered at the name and crinkled his nose in disgust. "I really hate eels."

"The slimy ones or the Spanish ones?"

"Same thing, different font."

Gwen laughed and nodded in agreement, eels were awful. "Speaking of eels and whatnot, did you hear Chris got green lit for another season?"

Noah audibly groaned and rubbed his eyes, "How does he manage to get approval from broadcasters? There has to be at least one board of directors who believe he's dangerous. I don't care how convincing technology has become, you can't fake the life threatening injuries that have occurred every season since Island. And that's not even talking about the amount of people he threw off the plane without their parachute secured during World Tour."

He shook his head as the bell rang, an older woman walking in. Gwen shot him a sympathetic look before walking to the counter to take her order, Noah on standby. "Hi, welcome in! What can I get started for you today?" Inwardly she rolled her eyes at the customer service voice as the woman read the menu.

"I can't read very well, but I see one up there in the fancy cup with whipped cream. What is that?" Her voice was low but kind, which Gwen appreciated.

"That would be the Peppermint Hot Chocolate. It's really good, one of my favorites." The older woman smiled and nodded at Gwen as she explained.

"Well that sounds yummy, I'll take a medium one of those please."

"Of course!" Punching in the order and once more inwardly rolling her eyes, Gwen pulled out a cup and marker. "Can I get a name for that?"

"Margret, dear." Gwen nodded and wrote on her cup, sliding it to Noah.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" She smiled at the older woman, old people were a gamble. With anyone younger you could guess their personality and mannerisms pretty well, but old people were full of surprises. No one seemed to understand a little genuine kindness and patience went such a long way. Margret shook her head and pulled out a card.

"No thank you, that will be all." She paid for the drink and pulled out a $5 for the tip jar. Gwen's heart fluttered.

"Thank you so much, we'll have your drink out shortly." The two smiled at each other before Margret hobbled to a seat at the end of the counter, Gwen grabbing whipped cream from the fridge.

"She was nice," Noah mused.

"She left a tip too."

Topping off the warm drink, she handed the cup to Noah who grabbed the free red cup from below the counter and placing it next to the hot chocolate on the counter. "Margret, your Peppermint Mocha is ready." Gwen watched her stand and grab the drink, staring at Noah.

"Oh what is this cup for?"

"Today is Red Cup Day, every seasonal drink you buy gets you a free red cup."

"Well isn't that darling, thank you." Grabbing her new cup, she made her way to a now frosted window seat. The pair watched her sit and pull out a book from her little purse, Gwen snorted.

"Oh my god, that's totally Twilight." She nudged Noah and pointed to the front cover, barely visible behind the mocha.

"Which one? Wait, hold on…" He squint for a moment before ducking under the counter to laugh.

Gwen knelt down to his level, grinning. "Well? Which one is it?"

"Breaking Dawn, she's already made it through!"

"Jesus christ, what a trooper." The two chuckled under the counter before hearing the chime of the door and scrambling to stand. The last group of patrons had left, leaving the two baristas with Margret in a peaceful silence. "You know," Gwen nabbed her sketchpad and pen from the adjacent table. "I thought today would be a mess, Courtney said we're usually swarmed." She sketched an outline of Margret reading at her table. "I was full on expecting the trenches, but this is nice."

Noah had taken out a book at some point and looked up from its pages, "Yeah, she said this morning was usual traffic, but it got a little heavy around noon. It's gone down a ton since then. I clocked in an hour early and it's been real easy." He shrugged and turned back to his book. Gwen hummed.

The next 15 minutes had passed quietly, the small store filled only with sounds of scratching and page flips. The chime of the door bell interrupted their peace, and Noah copied Gwen, inwardly rolling his eyes. The two baristas looked up to see two men enter the shop, the shorter one becoming stiff at the sight of them. Gwen put her pencil down and plastered on a smile, "Welcome in. What can we get started for you?"

The taller man wore a thick camouflage jacket, blue jeans and cross trainers. Huh. His brown hair was pulled back into a low pony, and his blue eyes searched the menu. His...friend? Was only a bit shorter, and dressed rather oddly considering the town aesthetic. For one, his hair was ridiculous. It was bobbed, but his bangs seemed to like the idea of being shorter than the rest of the gang. His face was mostly obstructed by the black sunglasses he wore, which Gwen made note of. They looked great, but wearing them indoors was either the sign of someone seriously nervous or seriously rich. He wore a black fur coat with what looked like silk pants? He was for sure bougie. It wasn't until the pair had moved to the counter that she noticed he wore heeled boots, and was that a cane?

The taller one spoke up, "Can we get a venti peppermint mocha and…" he looked at his friend for a moment before smiling and turning back to Gwen. "A venti peppermint hot chocolate." As she punched in the orders, she noticed the fancy one walking closer and pull out a card with a gloved hand. After payment was complete, she handed him his card and took out two cups.

"Can I get a name for that order?"

"Terence." She nodded and passed the cups to Noah who got to work.

"Alrighty, we'll have those out soon. Ah, and before I forget." She ducked beneath the counter and pulled out two plastic red cups, "Here are your cups." The one called Terence nodded a thank you, handing one to his friend. She watched them walk to the end of the counter and strike up small talk, Terence looked delighted.

"Earth to Gwen? Can you make the hot chocolate?" Noah had appeared behind her, holding out a cup with a raised brow.

"Yeah, my bad." Taking the cup, the two got to work. Gwen made a point to work quieter in hopes of catching their conversation.

"I was expecting a little more traffic, but this is great. And we got our cups."

"Not quite a Solo cup you're right, but I don't see the appeal much." It was apparent Terence was the more excited one out of the pair, his partner seemed hesitant.

"Memories appeal much more than material items, that's the real reason we're here." Gwen noticed the slight upturn on the fancy ones lips.

"Yeah okay, don't get all sappy on me chap."

Noah placed the finished mocha on the counter, grabbing a sleeve and putting it on. Gwen followed suit. Noah nudged her with his shoulder, "Not everyday you see Willy Wonka walk into a coffee shop with his 'buddy' yeah?" She snorted and rolled her eyes at his little joke.

"Terence, your mocha and hot chocolate are ready." Gwen took a step back and watched the man grab the drinks, smiling and offering thanks before handing the hot chocolate to his friend and leading him to an empty table in the far corner. The two sat and enjoyed the warmth between their hands before Terence took a sip of his mocha, his friend following his example. The two baristas watched for a moment as the pair enjoyed their drinks before walking back to their spot behind the counter. Noah opened his book once more and flipped to a random page before continuing to read, Gwen intent on finishing her sketch of Margret.

The store fell back into a comfortable silence, and despite herself, Gwen smiled.

"You know, when his card went through it said Willy Wonka."

"Oh my god are you serious?"

Year one.

I did write this on a 15 hour bus ride to California and back for a high school music competition, so this was largely just something for me to do on the ride down. Btw, we took home 27 awards and won best overall, so, slay.

I have other works that may or may not be better, such as, you guessed it baby; Red Cup Day. This is me not so subtly hinting at you to read it, I had help writing it and it is my crowning fic.