Pillow Kissing

Priya Guthrapali walked into the girl's cabin at Camp Wawanakwa, breathing heavily while stretching her arms and back. Priya had been with her new friend, Caleb Femi, exercising and training for the day's challenge, and she felt ready to collapse. Priya admitted that she had underestimated Caleb as just a wall of muscle that couldn't really keep up with her in terms of cardio and fighting, but Caleb gave her a run for her money. Priya wiped her sweaty brow before plopping down on her bed, looking at her bed, frowning when she remembered that her girlfriend, Millie O'Shea wasn't there.

Ever since Millie had been eliminated a couple of episodes ago, Priya had been feeling lonely and had never stopped missing Millie. Priya had also been having a hard time sleeping for the past couple of days considering that she had gotten so used to cuddling with Millie while asleep. Priya looked at her bed and noticed the pillow at the top of the bed before grabbing it with both of her hands. Priya hugged the pillow close and smiled when she realized that it felt almost exactly like hugging Millie. This gave her an idea.

"Hi, Millie. Good morning."

"Good morning, Priya. You're looking absolutely radiant today," Priya said, putting on her best Millie voice. Priya couldn't help but chuckle and blush at what 'Millie' had said, as stroked the pillow with her pointer finger.

"Thank you, Millie. I just did some training with Caleb, and I'm ready for whatever Chris has planned for us today!" Priya responded, hugging the pillow closer to her body.

"I'm rooting for you, Priya!"

"Thank you, Millie. I love you so much," Priya cooed while nuzzling the side of the pillow with her cheek.

"I love you too, Priya. Do you want a good luck kiss before you totally dominate the game today?"

"Oh, well of course I would," Priya said before pushing the pillow over her face, and while pretending she was holding Millie, kissed the pillow. However, just as she started kissing the pillow, Zee, another contestant and a friend of Priya's, started walking into the room with a soda can from his seemingly limitless supply in his hand. After Zee took a sip of his soda, he saw what was going on and dropped his soda in shock while gasping.

"Oh no! Killer pillow! I'll save you, Priya!" Zee yelled out, which Priya paid no mind to due to her being lost in her imagination. However, Priya was taken right out of her imagination by Zee grabbing her arm and attempting to pull her off of the bed. Priya was still trying to regain her bearings while Zee began rambling about escaping from evil pillows, and how he was worried that they were going to attack.

"Zee! Stop! I'm OK! I…I was kissing it!" Priya confessed, prompting Zee to let go of her and look at her, with his eyebrow raised and how mouth slightly agape, still trying to process what Priya had just told him.

"Well…it is 2023. As long as you're not hurting anyone-"

"Zee! It's not like that! Look…I just…I just really miss Millie!" Priya confessed while her face continued blushing a shade of red bright enough to even be noticeable despite her mocha brown skin. Zee looked at Priya with a raised eyebrow for a few seconds before nodding his head with an understanding smile on his face.

"It's all good, Priya. I know Millie probably misses you too, and you shouldn't feel embarrassed about missing her," Zee explained as Priya nodded with a smile on her face. The Indian girl mainly felt embarrassed due to knowing that her parents were watching, and knowing how annoyed they'd be at Priya not having her head in the game. Millie had always been concerned about how Priya's parents treated her, and that concern was very well-warranted. Priya was hoping that becoming the first two-time winner of Total Drama Island would give her enough money to FINALLY cut ties with her parents and live with Millie and her parents. But Priya was focused. Sure, she obviously missed Millie, but Priya was focused on getting the million dollars and starting a new life away from her reality-TV-obsessed parents.

"Thanks, Zee. But, can you keep this between us?" Priya asked, not wanting the fact that she missed Millie to be used against her in the game, especially with people like Julia, Bowie, and MK still in the game, and they not being above using other people's emotions to get further in the game.

"No problem, brah. I'll see you out there," Zee agreed before waving goodbye and pulling a soda out of his seemingly endless hammer space full of sodas as he walked out the door. Priya breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she at least had one ally she could count on. Priya looked back at the pillow that she had pretended was Millie, and smiled, her mind flashing back to the times she had spent in Millie's embrace after the cameras went off and they were allowed to truly be by themselves.

'I'll win this for us, Millie. Just you wait,' Priya thought to herself before dropping down and doing some push-ups, her determination and dreams inspiring her to get some more workouts in before the challenge.