Right. Okay. Season over. Thanks for reviewing, OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla, AnonBrowser, lordgemini and LaViolaViolaRosa.
The things I'd wanted to say while I was on the mainland was just making sure everyone could keep in touch, and making sure everyone was fine. I also reminded everyone about the group. Finally, Cameron also had something to say. He said that he had decided that even if he had won the money, he didn't need to go back to his bubble. He'd survived the whole season without any permanent injuries, so he'd be acting like a regular teenager from then on. Only much smaller.
"And finally," I said, "Zoey, any words on what you're going to do with the million dollars?"
Zoey smiled. "Probably most of it will go to college," she admitted. "I'm already planning to study fashion, with music as a minor, you know, pushing the limits, doing something unusual with it. But I could always use what's left over on a shopping spree, or buying some more textiles to experiment with, or dates-" she cut herself off at that moment, but something had changed in the last few days. I didn't resent Zoey any more, as much as I still wished Mike was my boyfriend. It wasn't exactly her fault she was more his type than I was.
Apart from setting the group chat up, I didn't contribute all that much to it. Scott didn't join the chat (he'd muttered something about bad internet connection and then added that he didn't want to join anyway), but I had sort of expected that from him. I mostly just sat back and listened to everyone else talk about the season as time went on. I did watch the thirteen episodes of mayhem, of course, but I didn't want to talk about them too much. I'd been paid, that was enough. I mean, I contributed a little, but not like I had when I talked with my old castmates. The friendship trio talked the most, but Dakota often added in her two cents from her intern eyes and Lightning just kept asking if they saw this or that athletic move he made in this or that episode. Dawn never said much, except that it was odd to watch the show when she remembered looking at everyone's auras and got used to that, but she couldn't see auras on people when it was from recorded footage. Even B contributed sometimes, and it was interesting to see how he wrote. Turned out it was like most teenagers. Who knew?
A few of my friends from the old cast were watching, too. I got a few Facebook messages. Gwen and Bridgette had decided not to watch, especially since they hadn't enjoyed their cameos, but Duncan seemed interested, especially since he knew I was into Mike and wanted to tease me about it. Speaking of Mike, looking at his profile on Facebook was actually kind of painful. One of the first things he'd done when he got home was change his relationship status from "Single" to "In a relationship". Even before sending me a friend request! The first person to actually send me a request was Zoey, but then, Sam and Dakota weren't far behind. They'd changed their profile relationship statuses, as well.
After Episode 9 aired and Mike went home, I started putting him out of my mind entirely. It wasn't easy, but letting go of a crush was never going to be. I really, really wanted to keep Mike as a friend, but for the moment, it was hard for me to take.
I didn't talk to my friends about it. They were watching the show and teased me about hosting, but they also seemed a little in awe of me for actually being a host. "Does that mean you'll be, like, a permanent host?" one of them asked. "Like, instead of Chris?"
I waved a hand. "My contract's over. I'm not going anywhere near Total Drama for the rest of my life. Chrissy can take the show back and welcome. It's no picnic, being with a bunch of people on the campground and not really being part of things."
Hosting was more fun than competing, and I got paid, but that wasn't enough. But already, even as Episode 12 aired, I started to realize that my not-thinking-about-Mike plan was actually working. I was starting to actually not think about him so much, and as a result, I didn't keep wishing he'd chosen me instead of Zoey. If I concentrated on something else, it helped, so I kept busy. I still missed him a little when the show was over, but it wasn't like being lovelorn. I didn't think I'd ever stop feeling something, but it didn't hurt anymore.
I kept up my morning runs. The habit I'd gained on the island wasn't exactly something I wanted to lose, so I did it. I occasionally did talk to Jo on Facebook, and told her I was still doing them. We didn't live that close together, but we ended up planning to both sign up for a marathon that was coming up in the fall, and train in the meantime. Then we could compete. Jo was sure she'd beat me, but I told her not to get too confident. We'd been pretty evenly matched on the island. It would be fun to finally declare a winner, even if it wasn't me.
Was there anything else Revenge of the Island had done? That three seasons of Total Drama had done? Well, a tonne of memories. Memorabilia in the form of recorded footage and promotional material. Even on an electronic billboard, there was briefly a promo pic of Revenge of the Island, with me grinning and waving to the camera, with the contestants standing in the background from a group photo taken for that purpose. So far, no one had come up to me, asking if I was really THE Toni McLean from the Total Drama series, but that was probably because I'd taken Dakota's advice and started trying out the girly goth look with the pigtail buns and black clothes, even if they were casual skinny jeans and scoop neck shirts. She still wanted to take me shopping, and I promised to see her later in the summer, and I even saved a portion of my pay so I could buy stuff.
Still, when I looked back on the last year, I decided that my choice to go on Total Drama, back when I was fifteen and a half, was the right one. I'd made a few good friends, had my first serious crush (I said serious, not first crush), kissed a guy who had a girlfriend (even if it was acting), made a whole lot of money – and hey, I'd been on TV! What more could a teenager ask for?
…to win their first serious crush, maybe?
Finally! This is the end of the story. Hope it wasn't too disappointing. And this really is the end of Toni's story, I'm afraid. But there's still a couple of TD stories out there, and here's a hint – there's another one involving the new cast on the way. Bye for now!
