BONUS CHAPTER!
I originally intended this section to be in the early part of the Brunch Of Disgustingness, but I thought it'd cause the chapter to be too convoluted otherwise.
To summarize: this chapter is just the contestants having a five-minute video call with their parents back home.
Thanks again for all the support and reviews! It means so-so-so much!
And now back to your regularly scheduled program…
The camera static buzzed open to Chris in his green production tent. He shakily handheld the camera and pointed it up towards him, smiling down at the camera with a pure white smile.
"Yo!" He greeted. "This is McLean here with some extra content for all of y'all."
"I told the final ten that they'd each get a five-minute video call with their parents. Yada bing yada boom. This was supposed to be in the last episode but somebody mixed up the wrong address!"
Chris glared daggers off screen only to be responded to by a whiny Chef who scolded back at the host.
"It ain't mah fault that I mailed the wrong address! One of the interns messed it up! Do you know how many people have the same damn last name in Vancouver alone?"
The host waved his hand off screen at his subordinate. "Gah, whatever, you opened a whole 'nother can of warms and you're dealing with it."
"Don't get paid enough for this damn shit…" Chef muttered just barely for the camera to pick up.
"Six figures, Chef, jeez!" Chris retaliated, "Do you know how many people would kill for money like that?"
No response from the cook was picked up by the camera.
"Whatever! S- sorry for going on a tangent there..."
He snapped his fingers excitedly at the camera.
"Anywho! Final ten! Video messages from home! Enjoy!"
(Video Call: Gwen)
The goth girl observed the surroundings of the cruise ship confessional as she took a seat and noticed the usual confessional camera being replaced with a monitor.
On top of the monitor was a yellow sticky note with scrappy handwriting.
Congrats on reaching the Final 10! I'm feeling generous today. Enjoy a five-minute call with your folks. Don't bother asking about other people in the game; something something punishment something. - McLean
"Five minutes with mom and Glenn, huh?" Gwen thought to herself excitedly.
She truthfully didn't expect to ever see her mom and little brother ever again since the day she got taken away to compete on the show.
There was no goodbye shared between them before she got taken away, as it was the dead of night, with the mysterious men who appeared at her door claiming that 'crying for help was useless' and that her family had been 'temporarily medically sedated' whatever that means.
Truthfully, she had no idea if her family had any idea of what happened to her. They weren't the type to watch television often and certainly weren't the type to watch reality television out of all things.
Nevertheless, she pressed call.
Two figures appeared on the screen sitting on Gwen's green living room couch.
On the left was a scrawny boy in his teenage years wearing a blue and white cap and an olive shirt with a skull in the center - Gwen's little brother, Glenn.
On the right side was a White middle-aged woman with brunette hair wearing a pink blouse.
Her mom's face instantly lit up into an ecstatic smile.
"Oh, Gwen! Hello! We miss you so so much!" She said.
"Hi, sis." Gwen's little brother awkwardly nodded.
Gwen blushed, she had no idea how to react. During her entire tenure on the island, her mind constantly lingering on survival led her to forget about her family back home. She had no idea what to say.
"Hey, there… mom… Glenn… how are you?" Gwen awkwardly smiled at her own family. Gwen wasn't often shy as a loner, but just rather inexperienced with speaking to strangers. Her family weren't strangers, but the situation she's been through was.
"Don't worry about us, Gwen! How are you! We've… missed you so much!" Gwen's mother looked at her daughter obsessively.
"It's been tough here obviously… have you been watching the show?" Gwen asked.
Gwen's mom looked over her shoulder at her son who shrugged in response.
"We didn't even know that you've gotten taken to some big shot reality show until we got the tapes in the mail."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Tapes?"
"We just watched the show yesterday and… oh, Gwen! I can't believe how bizarre they're treating you there! I don't even have any idea how people are allowed to do that!"
The loner sighed. "Me neither. I've just kinda… forgotten about it at this point."
Gwen's mom smiled weakly at the camera.
"How's your hand, darling?"
The goth looked down at her palm instantly. With all the chaos on the island, her scarring her hand during the fear challenge had been long forgotten.
"It's umm. It's doing much better now, thanks. It's still scarred though."
Her mom gulped in a bittersweet smile. "Please come back, sweetie, I'm on the brink of craziness over what torture you've gone through there! I'm well aware that you're not a social butterfly, but that LeShawna girl seems nice, eh?"
Gwen crossed her arms and looked down at the monitor. "I mean, I guess… I'm not trying to make any friends here though… I'm just trying to fly under the radar here…"
Her mom looked back at her younger brother who fumbled his fingers in awkwardness before looking back at Gwen. "Well try to meet more people, Gwen. You need to open up more, I don't want you to be… left behind per se."
The loner nodded in acceptance. Her mom clearly hadn't put as much strategic thought into the game as she had.
"I'll try, mom." She nodded back at her mom.
"OK, it looks like we're running out of time," she looked down back to her son, "say goodbye, honey."
"Bye big sis, I really hope you get home soon."
"Please come back, sweetie! I miss you so much!"
Gwen smiled and waved. "Bye guys! I love you!"
The call ended as the monitor went black.
The loner sighed and took a minute to recompose herself.
She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes from crying before exiting the confessional booth.
(End Video Call: Gwen)
(Confessional: Harold)
The uber dweeb wiped his allergen-filled nose before sitting down in the wooden outhouse.
He was told by Chef that a 'surprise' eagerly waited for him in the confessional booth.
To Harold surprise, it was a positive surprise with a monitor in place of the confessional camera and a stick note attached to it expressing that they would get a chance to speak with their family.
The lanky nerd's smile instantly shone as he eagerly began the call.
On the screen, two figures showed up sitting inside of Harold's kitchen table.
On the left sat a red-haired figure as tall as Harold, yet visually looked much more muscular. He had a large red Santa beard and long red hair just barely being restrained by a black beanie. Harold's dad looked like a stereotypical lumberjack.
Beside dad, Harold's mom appeared to be a sweet lady with reddish-gray hair and a light blue blouse. Her age was showing with wrinkles being poorly covered up by make up, but her tender smile showed her true caring nature to the nerd.
"Harold!" Both of the parents said synchronizingly.
"Mom! Dad!" Harold's voice jumped up with excitement.
"It's so good to see you, son!" Harold's father looked like he was about to cry, despite his brawny figure.
"We've been watching the show, Harold, we've seen how much you've fought and persisted." Mom leaned in forward to the camera as if she was about to give her son a warm hug.
"It's been… tough… really really tough…" Harold said, scratching the back of his neck.
"That beanie on your head tells, son." Harold's dad pointed to Ezekiel's toque which was posthumously granted to Harold.
"Yeah, my mind is still kinda racing over that." The dork fumbled with his fingers.
"I wish we could talk with you about that, but the letter made it very clear that it's restricted." Harold's mom picked up a yellow envelope and tapped it.
"Envelope?" Harold asked.
"Oh, they gave us this for watching- ah whatever, I want to know how you've been son! It's absolute Goshing bollocks how they're treating you and your peers up there!"
Harold nodded. "Yeah. It's a big struggle every day here."
Harold's dad leaned in closer to the camera, nearly occupying half of the screen with his brawny stature. He pointed with his hairy hand at Harold through the camera.
"That Duncan fellow hasn't been treating you right, son. I dunno if it's the stress of the game gettin' to him or if he was just plain raised wrong, but you watch your back around him. And around that Courtney fella too." Harold's dad leaned back grandly, his chair squeaked at every sudden movement.
Harold's mom nudged her husband on the side, nodding no to signal not to talk about the other contestants anymore.
"So, how's my sister Hailey doing?" Harold asked with a smile.
"She's doing all good," Harold's dad said, "she's worried about where you are and how you're doing. We haven't shown her the tapes of the show yet."
Harold blinked. "Haven't you guys been watching on TV?"
The two parents both looked at each other. "We have no idea how to work that Goshing thing. You're the tech expert at home, Harold!"
The dweeb chuckled and looked down at the floorboards.
"Anyway, we just want to let you know that we love you so much, son."
"And we are so, so proud to call you our son."
"Never be ashamed of being a McGrady! And never be ashamed of being our McGrady!" A small tear fell out of Mrs. McGrady's eye.
"We sincerely hope that you return to us, Harold." Harold's dad gave a tender smile.
"We love you so much!" Harold's parents said in unison.
The dweeb looked back in tears, being unable to restrain himself. "I love you so much too! I swear I'll make it back!"
The screen went black, showing Harold's crying reflection amidst the monitor.
"I swear I'll be back."
(End Video Call: Harold)
(Video Call: Tyler)
The clumsy jock stumbled into the outhouse confessional, stubbing his toe and knocking into the damaged wall of the confessional in the process.
He fixed himself up, dusting any particles off of his shiny red tracksuit before sitting down.
The monitor in front of him instantly caught his attention, with him noticing the yellow sticky note beside it as well.
It turned out that the surprise Chef told him that awaited in the confessional was not as malicious as he thought.
The jock looked left and right with a flabbergasted smile before hastily smacking the call button on the monitor.
The monitor glowed up and two familiar faces appeared on Tyler's screen.
Both were sitting on Tyler's porch, with the backyard in the background.
On the left was Tyler's father, a White man with a red baseball cap and scruffy goatee. His build wasn't as muscular as his son's and he had a noticeable beer belly. He was a football coach at Tyler's school, one of the only reasons the jock was realistically allowed to stay on the football team.
On the other side was Tyler's mom, a White woman with black hair tied up into a bun and brown eyes behind some glasses. She was slim and had a pink tee shirt on.
Both parents had sadness and excitement in their eyes, as if they had finished crying but were hiding it for their son.
"Hey there, sport!" Tyler's father greeted.
The jock's face lit up with ecstasy. "Yo! Dad! Ohmygosh!"
"His mom gave a bittersweet smile. "Calm down, Ty, it's great to see you! We've missed you so much and cannot believe where you've been and what you've been going through!"
Tyler's ecstatic smile faded as he nodded back.
"Yeah… it's been really tough out here… have you been watching the show?"
The two parents nodded at the same time. "Yeah, and we've seen that scene with the sleds…" Tyler's dad spoke ominously.
The clumsy sporto groaned in shame as his parents looked at each other awkwardly.
The father of the bunch scooted forward in his lawn chair and cleared his throat, clearly experienced in giving inspirational speeches.
"Look, sport, I know that you haven't had a great track record so far in your… coordinational efforts… but I'll have you know that we're both very glad you've made it this far."
"Who knows! The odds may be at 10% victory, so you've gotta give it your 120%, okay champ?"
Tyler nodded solemnly as his father sighed back, loosing all enthusiasm.
"We all know you've made some poor decisions and mistakes on your time on the island, hon." Tyler's mom ensured. "But I want you to know that we love you and no matter what happens, we always will."
Tyler nodded back with tears beginning to form in his eyes.
Recollections of all his mistakes on the island began flooding to him, whether it was as minor as doing poorly in dodgeball or paintball to as major as getting Geoff killed, and even to the point of Ezekiel getting falsely killed in a rigged vote.
It should've been me. Tyler thought.
"Look at me, sport." Tyler's dad grunted to his son.
"Don't worry about all of those mistakes you've made, 'kay champ? You gotta focus on the present and follow up on that Ezekiel bud of yours' words. Make up for your errors, alright?"
He looked at his son with determination in his eyes, despite the outrageously low chances he knew his son had, he knew that "You shouldn't let any of your fear show, champ, you got that? No matter how low the odds are and how high the stakes can get."
His mom finally intervened on the sports allegory. "What your father is trying to say is that we love you and we want you to keep persisting, despite whatever challenges you may come across. And make up for your mistakes too, alright?"
The clumsy athlete nodded back confidently. "I gotcha mom. I gotcha dad. I'll put it all in."
A nervous smile showed on Tyler's dad face. "I love you, sport." He said alongside his wife.
Tyler sighed, nodding back. "I love you too, guys."
"Make it back home, champ!"
The call ended and the screen turned black.
Even if Tyler couldn't defy the odds, he could still make up for whatever errors he had made when Ezekiel was still around, right?
(End Video Call: Tyler)
(Video Call: LeShawna)
The bootylicious diva swung open the confessional outhouse doors before peering suspiciously around the room.
The ruthless subordinate of Chris grunted to her that a 'surprise' supposedly waited for her inside the confessional.
Expecting a trap for the audience's amusement, she knew that she could never be too careful on the island. LeShawna carefully examined the room before noticing a monitor and sticky note in place of the usual confessional camera.
LeShawna quickly read the note before her face lit up with excitement.
Woohoo I get to talk with Mama and Papa!
Like her peers, she wasn't granted any time at all to greet her parents goodbye before she was abducted onto the show.
Her hand instantly drew to begin the call before she stopped herself and asked herself: what am I even gonna say to them?
After a couple more seconds of deliberation, LeShawna finally gave in to her anticipation and began the call.
"Hey mama, hey papa!"
On the left side of the monitor, a black woman who shared many physical traits with LeShawna smiled and waved at her daughter. She had black wavy hair tied up in a pony tail and had almost as much junk in the trunk as her daughter. She was of the same height as LeShawna and the two could almost be mistaken for cousins.
Beside her stood LeShawna's father, who was a tall bald black man with a blackish gray beard. He had a smoldering smile and wore a white tank top and a blue jacket. Through his tank top you could see he had a strong build yet a warm and caring smile.
"Wassup, baby!" LeShawna's mother gave a bittersweet and warm smile to her daughter, leaning forward to the camera.
"Hey, honey, how's it been on that dreaded island?" LeShawna's father crossed his arms and looked at his daughter with approval.
"You've seen it, right?" She asked her parents who both looked at each other and nodded.
"Oh Lord, we've seen it and Lord is some unholy stuff going on there. I cannot believe how much of a struggle it looks down there!" LeShawna's mom said. "How the hell is something like that even legal? It's crazy, girl!"
Her papa cleared his voice and nodded his head. "It's disgraceful, truly disgraceful."
LeShawna's father leaned in forward toward the camera. "We wanna let you know that we love you so much, honey."
"We really do," LeShawna's mom added, "and we also wanna add that you should be careful there."
The homegirl raised an eyebrow at this. "God knows I'm careful, mama, I've been watching my back ever since I got on this island, 'specially at Heather."
Both of the parents nodded in approval.
"We know that you're good at choosing friends and foes, LeShawna," her father said, "but be careful with who your allies are. Know your friends and enemies, we can't say anything in specific…"
The two parents looked at each other and the homegirl sighed in response.
"I get it y'all, believe me, I got my eye on the cheddar."
"We know you do, hon." LeShawna's father gave a proud smirk at his daughter.
"Come back home, we miss you, LeShawna."
LeShawna smiled tearfully back at her parents. "I just know you do, I love y'all too!"
The camera turned off just as the video call ended.
Don't cry, LeShawna. She told herself, forcing her to stop crying before a single tear could even fall out of her eyelids.
You gotta be tough
All that lingered in the ghetto girl's mind was what she was fighting for: a chance to survive and see her family again, her peeps back home.
LeShawna exhaled out before opening the confessional door and leaving.
(End Video Call: LeShawna)
(Video Call: Justin)
The dashing sexy supermodel proudly stomped into the confessional box. He looked around briefly before spotting the monitor and the yellow sticky note on top of it.
He raised his eyebrow and smirked as he quickly read the note on the monitor.
A call with my parents, huh?
He eagerly rubbed his hands and chuckled before turning on the monitor.
As the screen buzzed on, Justin saw two beautiful tan figures sitting right on his living room couch.
On the left was his dad, a tall buff Hawaiian man with similar luscious black hair, a clean smooth shave, and an 8-pack more stern than his son's. His features were excellently chiseled and his charming smile was awe-inspiring.
To the other side was his mother, an unbelievably sexy Hawaiian lady who was slightly shorter than her husband. She had perfect smooth tan skin and silky brown hair. Her main compartments were round and pompous.
It was obvious where Justin inherited his supermodel genes from. Both of his parents were models as well.
"Hey mom, hey dad!" Justin greeted his parents in his warm yet manly tone.
"Greetings son!" Justin's father spoke with little concern in his voice, overpowered from his soothing calm voice.
"Justin!" His mom spoke alarmed. "How's your skin doing on that island? Sunburns are an absolute dread there! And don't get me started on all of the uncontrollable wild life there! It seems like an absolute nightmare there!"
The model nodded back. "It is, mom! It's horrible with the heat, and the food, and the challenges, and the stench-"
"And your features!" Justin's dad spoke out instantly. "You need to be more careful out there! Those challenges could deal great pain to your skin! And don't even get me started on your diet yesterday! We still have so many contracts dedicated to your modeling career! Death makes the skin look gray and ugly!"
"I'm aware, dad!" Justin exasperatingly answered. "I'm being as careful as I can! I'm also keenly dodging any threats that come my way. I slithered down the final ten alone through my looks and my… perplexing strategy!" The model tapped his hollow skull and winked.
"Slithered!?" Justin's mom wailed in dread.
"Good God, son! Has your skin become dry and reptilious?" Justin's dad cried.
"The dread! The agony! The lack of lotion!"
Justin nodded sadly. "Alas, my looks have been gradually fading despite my best attempts to maintain my skin's perfectly balanced moisture."
It was true. Throughout the dangers of the challenges, Justin's skin had been damaged from acorns, stung by jellyfish, being stuck in itchy quicksand, and his balls had been squished from the paintball challenge.
"It has been awful here, mom," Justin said, "But on the bright side, I've been persevering! I've stayed under the radar and I've even been able to lead my team to victory the cooking challenge! I cooked your famous poke bowl recipes!"
Justin's mom nodded in approval. "Good work, son! We sincerely hope that you make it out alive! Can nobody see the immense worth in your beauty?"
"You'd look more charming as the host of the whole damn thing! Why can't their be any beauty challenges?" Justin's father asked.
Justin shrugged. "I hope there will be so I can dominate over all of those ugly fools!"
The two parents nodded in approval.
"I just know that I can make it home safe and sound! Heck, I have a great alliance with Heather, who's quite pretty yet vicious, and Noah, who's ugly yet crafty, and Katie, who's pretty enough all things considered, but naive and dimwitted."
Justin's dad gave a thumbs up. "Great work son, we can't wait to have you back home and have you modeling on the front cover of Star Stalker Magazine!"
"We love your abs so much Justin!"
"And your muscles too!"
"And your eyes!"
"And your hair!"
"We love you so much, come back home!"
Justin smiled and waved, "I love you guys so much as well! Goodbye!"
The monitor went black and showed Justin's beautiful reflection in the turned off screen.
Justin held himself back from letting a tear slip out of his eyes - crying would damage his smooth cheeks after all.
Would he really be able to go home? Despite his sexiness, a part of him knew that he wasn't the most strategical, or the strongest, or the most determined.
The most he could ever achieve is go out in style.
Justin sucked up his dark thoughts and shoved it into the back of his head.
He then proceeded to rip off his shirt.
(End Video Call: Justin)
(Video Call: Duncan)
The clean door of the cruise ship confessional swung open as the cyclops eyed around the smooth white room.
He gritted his teeth in annoyance. Precious time to look for the forsaken life idol was being wasted as a couple of mysterious interns had ordered the bad boy to go to the cruiser confessional for a 'special surprise.'
The delinquent had grown tired of the vagueness of the staff after being on the island for three weeks.
If they're going to shove them through all of this brutality, couldn't they at least be straightforward at least once?
The bad boy glanced around, taking caution with every detail he took in.
He was still getting used to having only one eye, with the blinded left eye now being covered by an eyepatch, it was much more difficult to see and extendedly look for the life idol.
The juvie sat down and saw the monitor with a huge call button in the center of the screen with a yellow sticky note sitting on it.
Duncan slowly read the note with his singular eye before becoming surprised at the revelation that he'd have a 5 minute video call with his parents.
The juvie hadn't had great relations with his parents. After all, everybody else in his family was a cop.
Everyone except for his deceased brother.
Duncan inhaled and exhaled before starting the call.
Instantly, two figures appeared on the screen looking on the camera.
On the left was a stern older white man with black and gray hair. He wore a green sweater with a neat green tie and blue chinos. His stern frown radiated authority and order.
On the right was a blonde white woman wearing a pink sweater and jeans. She had tired eyes and gave a weary smile to the camera.
"Duncan!" The two parents exclaimed at the same time.
The delinquent was momentarily speechless.
"Hey, mom… dad…" The cyclops scratched the back of his neck.
The two parents stared at their son in shock before Duncan's mom spoke up.
"Honey, what the hell happened to your eye!"
The juvie stuttered. "Haven't you seen the last few episodes?"
Duncan's mom continued ranting. "No, the tape that we were using to watch the whole thing just blew up in the middle of while we were watching! But that doesn't matter, you're still alive, Duncan! We can't believe it! We-"
"We thought you were dead, son," Duncan's dad spoke up after mustering up the courage, "and- uh- we've missed you, I still can't believe how sick of a show like that can be made."
The juvie nodded awkwardly. "I've, uh, missed you too guys. It's been really tough, but I'm trying to power through, you know?"
Duncan gave a weak smile. "Ah who am I kidding, it's awful here. The hosts are complete assho- jerks, most of the people here are jerks too, the thing's we've needed to do here are agonizing, and it's been tough trying to survive here."
Duncan's mom spoke up eagerly. "We saw, Duncan, we've watched most of the show, and from… the lack of your eye… we can tell. I just want to reaffirm that we love you, Duncan, even if you tend to be a bit rebellious at times."
Duncan frowned to himself. His mother was always extremely forgiving of Duncan, no matter how much he'd disappointed her or how much wrong he'd done. He felt a guilty presence take over as memories of him taking advantage of her naivety returned to him.
She looked at the camera with confusion as her son silently looked back at her in confusion before looking back at her husband.
Duncan's dad coughed loudly to break the silence.
"Son, I know that we had much more… rocky arguments… than the standard father and son relationship, but I want to apologize for all of that while I still can. You're my son, and I love you."
Duncan smiled back at his dad. "Thanks, dad, I appreciate hearing that."
His mom again eagerly spoke up to her son.
"It's been really tough losing your brother, and I know it's been tough for you too. I just… can't imagine how I'll end up if we end up losing you too, Duncan, please come home."
Duncan's mom was on the verge of tears, begging her son to come home before receiving a comforting hug from her husband.
"Believe me mom, I'm locking in more and more the longer I stay here. In fact, I have a chance to find a life idol on this yacht here from the last challenge I've won. I'm searching relentlessly."
Duncan's mom wiped her face, not seeming to understand much of what her son was saying, overcome with dread. "That's good, Duncan, that's good…"
Duncan's dad firmly asserted his hand on the table.
"I know that it's a bit out of character for me to approve of your rebellious nature, but for once I'm going to agree with you, Duncan: you gotta stay strong and cold. It's gonna be tough out there with people tryna appease you, stay focused and don't hold back."
The bad boy nodded back. "I will dad, I'm bringing on my A game. I'm not holding back at all anymore."
The officer smirked back through the camera. "That's my boy. Go win this thing."
Duncan's mom, who had successfully held her tears back, smiled at her son. "We'll be praying for you, Duncan. Please come home! We both love you very much!"
The cyclops nodded. "I love you too."
His two parents faded as the video call ended and the screen turned black.
Duncan exhaled a loud sigh and leaned back into the confessional toilet.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, processing the video call that had just happened.
After a couple minutes of reflection he snapped back to reality and quickly exited the confessional.
He couldn't be wasting any time without looking for the invincibility idol after all, right?
(End Video Call: Duncan)
(Video Call: Heather)
The Queen B looked around the white confessional sternly before sitting down on the toilet.
She observed the monitor and the sticky note telling her that she'd be calling her parents.
Time stopped for a second as Heather thought about her parents. She hadn't given them much thought during her tenure on the show, whether it was from strategizing with her alliance or arguing with LeShawna or Gwen.
Heather was nervous, and she never showed herself as nervous, other kids would be ecstatic in her position to call her parents, yet she could barely care for some reason.
She cleared her throat before turning on the video call to see two unready figures sitting down in Heather's living room.
"Heather!" The two figures called out and gave a forced smile.
On the right was an older blonde white male with a pink polo and blue shorts. His hair was clearly graying and he had blue aviators.
On the left side was an East Asian woman with raven hair and facial features similar to her daughter. She wore an olive top with golden pants and a pearl necklace.
"Heather, darling, how are you!" Heather's dad had a strange tone, the two parents both had an unorganized rushed manner.
"We've… missed you so much!" Heather's mom added in.
"I'm doing dogshit, dad, have you seen the show? Do you know what it's like here?" The mean girl quickly spat out.
"Heather feather, it's horrible! The violence and morality of it is all so inappropriate! We'll… report this show to the police as soon as we're done with this call!"
Heather raised her eyebrow. "You… haven't reported it yet? I mean, it's on international TV, when have you started watching?"
Heather's mom mumbled. "W- well we just got the tapes for this show in the mail, it kinda… broke, after we watched it, but still, we're going to report this to the police! It's so awful!"
"Uh, huh…" Heather eyed her parents with suspicion.
"Why do I hear noise in the background?" Heather confronted.
The two parents sweated at each other. "Well, uh, we have some… cleaning ladies over here at the house, they didn't give us any flexibility of when we could call you…" Heather's dad responded.
The mean girl gave a skeptical look before spotting some people moving her bed in the background.
Heather's eyes widened as she jolted out of her seat. "You assholes is that my bed?!"
The parents tried to calm Heather down as another pair of people dressed up in movers clothing walked directly through the living room holding Heather's cabinets.
"Are those my clothes!?"
"Heather feather, please calm down-" Heather's mom poorly tried to calm her daughter to no avail.
"No! Are you kidding! I'm not going to beat around the bush, I knew that both of you didn't care too much about me when I was growing up, but to the point that you're gonna give up my stuff as soon as you get the message that I'm in a death game?"
The parents awkwardly shuffled their eyes at each other.
Tears began forming in the mean girls' eyes. "I can't believe it! You two are scum!"
The two parents jolted back in shame, like a deer in headlights. "Heather…"
"I know that you two don't like me, but do you even care if I live or die? Answer that now."
Her father gulped. "Well… my… golf game has been really off ever since you've been gone…"
"Pedicures have been less spiritual without you."
Heather's jaw dropped.
"Don't give me that bullshit, you two couldn't care less about me! I just know it. And I've tried to connect with you when I was younger, but you two would just go off and say you were too busy and keep neglecting me. I saw all the other kids back home getting picked up by their parents while I had to walk all by myself back home every day. After realizing you never cared about me as a kid, I stopped caring about you."
"Well we cared enough to call you, eh!" The father's voice quickly turned from nervous to aggressive, enough to surprise anybody out of there seats.
Heather stood her ground. "Oh great! You've done the bare minimum and followed orders from someone who's gonna shoot you if you don't! Great job mom and dad!"
"I've raised myself, when I get out of here, I'm gonna be completely independent. If I can survive through my childhood alone, I'll survive here alone, and I'll survive out there alone too."
"Goodbye, Heather, we really do hope you live." Heather's mom spoke blankly before turning off the call.
Two minutes and six seconds remained as Heather saw her crying reflection in the dark screen.
She wiped her face. Great, her makeup was ruined.
Heather was truely alone. No more allies, no family to support her, it was the Queen B fighting against everybody by herself.
Just as she was made to.
(End Video Call: Heather)
(Video Call: Katie)
The Malaysian BFFFL closed the door behind her as she sat down in the dirty island confessional.
She blinked as she read the sticky note on the monitor.
Like many of her fellow competitors, she hadn't given much thought to her parents back home ever since she'd gotten on the island.
Of course, Katie didn't only think about herself, Sadie was constantly buzzing around in her mind after all, but the fact that she'd get to talk with her mom, and likely Sadie's parents as well, felt surreal.
The skinny girl turned on the video call and three figures appeared on the screen sitting behind a dining room table.
The three figures looked as if they had just finished crying. On the far left was an Asian woman with black hair and tan skin. She wore a comfy gray sweater with black leggings. She was Katie's mom.
Sadie's parents sat on opposite sides of the table. Her father was a tall White man with graying black hair and glasses. Her mother was a short Asian woman with black hair and a teal sweater.
"Hi, honey!" Katie's mom greeted nervously, wiping any remaining tears out of her eyes.
"Hi mom… Hi…" The lonely girl's words wandered off as she saw her BFFFL's parents in front of her.
The call turned dead silent. Everybody knew what each of them were thinking about - who everyone was thinking about.
"Um… we've seen you on the show, Katie." Sadie's mom mumbled.
"We've seen Sadie on it too…" Sadie's dad added.
Katie could barely hold herself from crying. After having traveled down the 5 stages of grief and being snapped back to reality by Noah, seeing her best friends' parents made her feel a trainwreck of stress pulling her back into grief.
"Oh, Katie…" Her mom said. "It's alright, honey, we know it's hard… just let it out."
The BFFFL sniffled in the confessional as Sadie's parents looked awkwardly at each other.
"We know that you're going through a difficult time, Kate," Sadie's mom intervened, "We're all going through a tough time now that we've seen our own daughter…"
Sadie's mom stopped to let out some tears of her own, only being comforted by her husband next to her.
The twiggy girl wiped her tears out of her eyes.
"Listen, any guilt you might still feel about our daughter, don't, we know you've tried your best when she was… stuck in that denial phase of hers… but it's not your fault at all that she's gone."
Katie nodded.
"We all miss Sadie, but we're so so grateful that you're still alive, Katie. Sadie would be so proud that you have came this far. She wouldn't want you to give up, and we're so grateful that boy stopped you from… hurting yourself there." Katie's mom gave a weak smile to her daughter.
"It just felt so hopeless…" Katie mumbled beneath her breath.
"I know, honey, I've seen what you've had to do." Her mom reassured her. "But you have to grow from it, we want you back, honey, and as much as losing Sadie stings, you gotta persevere."
The twiggy girl nodded firmly.
"But that doesn't mean you should forget Sadie, of course, Sadie is an integral part of your life and she'll carry on with you in spirit."
"We all miss her and we all miss you, so don't be afraid to grow, OK, honey?"
Katie nodded silently again before quietly whispering, "I love you mom."
"I love you too honey, please come home."
"Come home please, Katie!" Sadie's parents waved goodbye, with them being back on the brinks of crying once more.
The video call ended and the screen turned off.
Katie curled up her legs and held them close.
She began crying, deciding that she would stay until she could recompose herself once more.
(End Video Call: Katie)
(Video Call: Noah)
The snarky bookworm looked around the wooden outhouse before carefully taking a seat.
For the past couple of days, he had silently been cursing at himself for cowarding out of eating the Cody sausage.
The opportunity to go for another step towards preserving his life was right there yet he just didn't have the confidence to go for it.
Anyway, the bookworm snapped back to reality and read the sticky note in front of him.
He sighed lazily before turning on the screen. He hadn't thought much about his parents ever since entering the island. Of course, he loved them as many kids would to their own, but Noah, as the youngest of nine, hadn't been tended too as much as other kids.
A part of Noah doubted that his family would even be there to pick up the call.
But, nevertheless, the call did pick up, only with two figures instead of ten, with one of them being his golden labrador, Charlie.
Noah's dry frown smirked at the sight of his curious golden dog, with his mom, who was a tall Indian-Canadian woman wearing a navy colored outfit, crouching down next to Charlie.
"Hi, Noah," greeted his mother, who was petting the clueless smiling pup.
"Charlie!" Noah said with rare excitement, "Hey, Mom," his voice began fading to unease.
"Noah…" his mom gave an awkward smile. "I'm so glad to see that you're still alright…"
The bookworm deadpanned. "Not really, considering the brutality that I've seen here."
"I still can't really wrap my head around this whole thing… how is this even legal?"
The High IQ shrugged. "I don't know and it doesn't concern me right now."
Noah's mom nodded.
The bookworm shrunk back into his seat, scratching his neck in awkwardness. "So, uh, you've seen the show?"
Noah's mom teetered her head so-so. "Not really… you know how busy it gets here, son."
The bookworm internally groaned. "Yeah, I understand, but still, you've seen some of it?"
"I've seen a couple of bits with you in it. From what I can tell, you're using that 'astronomically smart brain' of yours. It's great that you've got the motivation to use it finally, son."
Noah rolled his eyes. His mom had little idea of Noah's experience on the show. Sure, she and her husband were constantly busy from managing over eight other kids, Noah didn't blame her, or at least he didn't care much - he was used to either being left out or simply forgotten.
Heck, at the beginning of the entire ordeal, he was confident that it would've taken weeks for his family to realize that he was out of the house entirely.
But a part of him now did care, for reasons unknown.
Noah's mom broke the schemer out of his short daydream. "Look, Noah, I haven't kept track of how well you've been doing and I apologize sincerely for it. I should do a better…"
"Isaiah! Josiah! Put that down now!" Noah's mom yelled off-screen presumably at Noah's older siblings.
The bookworm rolled his eyes as soon as his mother took her eyes of the camera.
"Like I was saying, I'm sorry for… not being there most of the time in your life."
Noah nodded silently.
"But I know that you're smart Noah, and absolutely independent too, partially due to my… negligence."
Noah chuckled a little.
"But I want to offer you some free advice, Noah." His mother leaned forward, causing Charlie to look up at his owner curiously.
"People are gonna be tougher than you there and you're going to have to outsmart them, but there still might be people there who are just as smart as you. You need to play this game coldly, Noah, I've seen some of the sneaky tactics you've done and, as cruel as it is, I approve of you doing whatever you can to survive."
Noah's heart sank as he felt more guilt clawing down his vertebrae. Noah's mom was just as clueless as his golden labrador, innocently smiling and panting.
"I know you're smart, son, I know you're independent, and I know you're not lazy anymore either. I know you can come home as long as you follow the show's guide. OK?"
Noah nodded back silently, offering nothing to say.
"I love you, Noah. Please come home." Noah's mom smiled in solace.
"I love you too, mom." Noah deadpanned.
The screen went black.
Noah leaned back in his seat and pulled on his face in exasperation.
It indeed was the message that he needed to be reminded and that he kept telling himself he would follow.
But he knew he should stop lying to himself, he was smart after all and lying to himself would achieve nothing.
He was becoming more caring and irrational by the day, and he knew why.
(End Video Call: Noah)
(Video Call: Courtney)
Courtney astutely observed around the white cruise ship confessional with vicious eyes.
She was told by one of the interns that "a special surprise awaited for her in the confessional.
This meant that it was either a trap or something relating to the immunity idol.
It was neither, instead it was the camera and sticky note combo everybody prior got.
The CIT's chaotic world felt a lot more in line as she read the fact that she'd be on a call with her parents for the first time since she'd been abducted to the island.
Breath, Courtney, relax. The perfectionist forced herself to inhale and exhale.
She recalibrated herself before shakily pressing the voice call button.
In the blink of an eye, there were two figures sitting upright on the screen, wearing formal attire.
On the right was her father, a clean shaved Hispanic man with combed jet black hair wearing a gray suit and a navy tie. He had a prestigious manner in his eyes.
On the left was her mother, a shorter Hispanic woman with curly yet organized black hair. She too wore a gray suit with a navy tie.
Instantly, Courtney adjusted her posture to be upright and formally put her hands together.
"Hello, Courtney," Her father spoke corporately. His mere voice was nerve-racking to his daughter as she felt his eyes pressuring and judging her every move.
"H- hi, dad! Hi, mom." Courtney cleared her voice before speaking cautiously.
"Courtney, we've been told what content is contained in these videotapes of this reality show you have been participating in. It's absolutely barbaric and manic." Courtney's mom spoke up with an equally overbearing voice.
"Yes, mom, it truly is. I've been trying to… grasp control of my teammates to guide them towards survival."
"Yet, you've failed to maintain your control over your team," Courtney's dad remarked.
Courtney gulped. "I do not completely fault you of it, of course, as it is more difficult to judge when elements of death are incorporated."
"Yes… well… there have been some external sources of… accidental incidents, but I am recomposing… myself to regain more control."
"Very well, honey, we truly hope you succeed."
"Remember, Courtney, you must keep yourself disciplined and under control. Refrain from becoming an emotional mess. It's horrible what they are doing there, and as soon as you return home, we will sue the lunatics who have founded this entire operation!"
Courtney showed a confident, reassured smile.
"Some more constructive criticism, we have been told of a situation between you and your ally, Bridgette? Do not look back on your mistakes with regret and sorrow, instead, use it as a method of learning and perseverance to move forward."
Courtney nodded in understandment.
"Additionally, refrain from doing anything that might anger the hosts. Right now, they have dominance over you and by following their requests, you will satisfy them as needed. Do you understand?"
Never sucking up to an asshole like Chris. These parents should have fully watched the show for themselves first.
"Yes… of course," Courtney responded.
"Lastly, I recommend expanding the horizon of potential allyship. You are at risk because you are a threat to others. Remove the act of threatening others by becoming allies with the others - so you have control over your relationship with them. Then, you have much of a higher chance of surviving this competition."
"You've won many competitions before Courtney, this should be just like those before."
This is nothing like those.
"We love you, honey." The two of them said in practical unison. "Succeed! Triumph!"
They do not love you.
The video call ended shortly and Courtney slumped back into her seat.
You couldn't control me, Courtney. And you're gonna lose control over yourself.
(End Video Call: Courtney)
Boys: Duncan, Harold, Noah, Tyler, Justin
Girls: Courtney, Gwen, Heather, LeShawna, Katie
Executed:
24: Owen
23: Izzy
22: DJ
21: Lindsay
20: Trent
19: Eva
18: Cody
17: Beth
16: Sadie
15: Geoff
14: Bridgette
13: Ezekiel
Thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the bonus chapter. As I mentioned, this was originally gonna be part of the previous chapter, but the word length would've been to long and I thought it would've been good as a standalone bonus episode.
I hope to keep this 2 week pace up for the rest of the chapters!
Please drop down a review if you can! This story is so close to reaching 70 reviews!
Who are you interested in seeing in the merge? What dynamics are you anticipating? How do you think Sierra and Alejandro will affect anybody's performance? Will anybody on the cruise ride actually find any life idols?
See you next time and Happy Superbowl Sunday, fellow Americans!
-LapiZite