I'll Always Be Here For You
Priya Guthrapali was coming back from the bathroom, ready to head to bed after a long day of Total Drama Island challenges. However, when she walked over to the girl's cabin, Priya saw something that made her heart drop. Priya saw her new best friend and current crush, Millie O'Shea, crying on the top of the stairs leading to their cabin. Priya didn't know what to do, as she wasn't exactly used to comforting people, so she decided to walk a little closer and hopefully hear Millie give her a clue as to what she was crying about. She didn't have to wait long, as she heard Millie whining out the words 'Mama' in between her sobs.
To Priya, hearing this wasn't a total surprise. Millie had told her that she was autistic, that her parents were extremely protective of her and as a result, she came from a pretty sheltered background, her parents insisting on preventing her from doing anything too risky, rather keeping her within arms length to keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happened to her.
'Nothing at all like my parents,' Priya bitterly thought, remembering how her parents basically forced her into training for this show, putting her life in danger so many times that she genuinely lost count as to how many specifically. Priya couldn't help but feel a little envious of Millie when she first met her; her parents were concerned, loving, and supportive. Millie had told Priya how her parents loved the idea of her being a journalist/novelist and were willing to help her get a job with her city's newspaper. However, there was something that always nagged at Priya's mind whenever Millie talked about her parents; a sense of longing.
Priya, at first, didn't think that this would be an issue, and for the most part during the show, it seemingly hadn't been. However, the second challenge which involved shooting cabbages from pirate ships was enough for her to want to leave. However, Millie braved through it as much as she could so that she could help her team, but after the challenge ended, Millie holed herself in her bed, put the blanket over her head and the sensory headphones over her ears, and left the world behind for a while. When Priya saw Millie in that vulnerable state it made her think of how many times Millie could've been in this position, hiding herself so that nobody could see her.
Despite the mixed feelings about what Millie had told her about her family and the like, a part of Priya couldn't help but feel happy that Millie trusted her enough to tell her all of this. It meant a lot to her that Millie had trusted her enough to talk this much about herself despite only knowing each other for about a week. Priya shook those thoughts out of her mind; no time to focus on the past when her best friend/crush needed a shoulder to cry on now.
"Millie? Millie?" Priya called out to her weeping friend. Millie briefly looked up, her eyes glimmering with all the tears that hadn't escaped her eyes. Millie then quickly wiped her eyes with her hands before shaking her head and forcing a shaky smile on her face.
"Oh…hey Priya," Millie said, clenching her fists several times in front of her chest as Priya began rubbing the aspiring journalist's back to try and calm her down. Millie was taking several deep breaths to aid in her calming down, and Priya smiled when she saw that Millie had stopped crying.
"I saw you crying Millie, and…what's wrong? I've never seen you cry like that before," Priya said, making sure she didn't let Millie know she had overheard her mentioning her Mom during her sobs. Millie looked down at her lap, where her hands were pressing against her thighs. After a moment, she sniffled a couple of times before looking back up at Priya and wiping her eyes and face with her arm.
"Nothing, it's nothing," Millie said, attempting to quickly turn on her heels and walk back into the cabin, but Priya grabbed her hand, making sure she didn't go anywhere before she got her answers.
"Millie, you can trust me. I promise, I'm not going to laugh at you, I just want to know what's wrong," Priya said. Millie looked conflicted, her eyes continuously darting back to the comfort of her bed. However, Millie turned back to Priya, seeing the concerned look on her face, which prompted her to sigh, nod, and sit back down, scooting a little closer to Priya.
"Well…I just…I…I miss my Mom and Dad," Millie admitted while her hands shook in front of her chest, turning her head away from Priya, fully expecting her to start laughing or to scold her for being childish enough to miss her parents. She was 16 after all, and she should've been more used to being away from her parents. At least, that's what one of her neighbors told her whenever Millie would walk to the nearby park and build sandcastles in the sandbox. However, when Millie didn't hear any mocking laughter, she turned her head and saw Priya continue to look at her with concern, while her eyes focusing on her indicated that Millie had her undivided attention.
"You do?"
"…yeah. It's just…after what happened with Axel a few days ago, I just…really became homesick. Whenever I'd get overwhelmed like that, my Mom and/or my Dad would usually comfort me and hug me while I tried to get my bearings back. But being that stressed and not having my Mom or Dad around really made me realize how…just how much I miss them," Millie explained, looking away from Priya, not used to people other than her parents being by her side while she was this upset. A lot of kids at school had made fun of her for being a 'Mama's girl' and for being too emotional, so she tried to hide it when she got to Total Drama Island, especially when she made friends with Priya. The thought of remembering what the kids at her school had said to her made Millie want to start crying, but she immediately began trying to wipe the tears forming in her eyes.
Priya did remember the event that Millie was talking about; when they were on the pirate ship for the second challenge, Millie became so overwhelmed by all the noise from the cannons and the yelling that she completely shut down and was talked down to by Axel for 'fucking around' and 'screwing up'. This only made the situation worse as she hid herself behind one of the barrels on the ship until she was sent careening off the ship, and before Priya could even ask how she was, Millie had run off back to the cabin, crying and miserable.
Priya did feel bad for Millie; Millie had really only come to this show for her research, and wasn't interested in doing challenges or the Total Drama series in general. To go from a comfortable life with your protective parents to being surrounded by teenagers who didn't care whether you lived or died while constantly being put in danger must've been a huge culture shock. For Priya, someone who lived her whole life with parents who only saw her as a means to an end, it wasn't hard to get used to the cut-throat culture of Total Drama Island. She couldn't imagine how Millie must feel being in a completely different environment, especially with her being autistic and used to a rigid schedule.
Millie, meanwhile, continued to try and fight back the tears that were forming in her eyes, not wanting to cry in front of her new friend again. However, Millie almost jumped out of her skin when she felt Priya hug her from the side. Millie's surprise was quickly overcome by an urge to hug Priya back, which is exactly what she did, burying her face deep into Priya's shoulder, calming her breathing while taking in the scent of Priya's perfume. Priya breathed in an inward sigh of relief, as she wasn't sure how well this would work. Priya had never been the best at comforting people, thanks to her parents really not teaching her anything other than reality show bullshit, but she always felt better after a hug, so she was glad to see Millie seemingly feel the same way.
"Millie, I may not be as good at comforting people as your parents are, but if you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you. I've listened to you talk about your life and problems, and I can be here for you when those problems get to be too much," Priya comfortingly whispered in Millie's ear, making sure she didn't speak too loud with Millie's face so close to her's and freaking her out. Millie rubbed her cheek into Priya's shoulder, continuing to take several deep breaths while Priya continued to run her hand up and down Millie's back to calm her down. After a moment, Millie felt like she could speak without her voice breaking.
"Thanks Priya, I…I really needed this," Millie mumbled, pulling herself back up to her feet. Priya smiled before standing up as well, and holding Millie's hand, causing her to blush. Priya, despite blushing as well, couldn't help but smile as well, leading her into the cabin so that they could both go to sleep. However, rather than climb up to her top bunk, Millie joined Priya in her bed, which Priya didn't mind. Priya remembered what Millie had told her, and hugged her once they both got into the bed. Millie looked back at Priya, and smiled before turning around, and returning the hug before the two drifted off to sleep. As Millie's eyes began to close, she thought of how much of a change being on Total Drama had been compared to her normal life, but when she looked down at Priya's sleeping form, Millie realized that while she doesn't have her parents by her side, she had a friend by her side.
'And hopefully, maybe more in the future,' Millie thought before she joined Priya in drifting off to dreamland.