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Dakota wanted nothing more than to be famous. That’s it. That’s all she wanted.
And Total Drama gave her the perfect opportunity to get what she wanted. She’d seen how famous the former contestants had gotten, even the first offs, like Ezekial. She wanted to be on the cover of tabloids, to be talked about constantly.
Sure, she got some attention. Her daddy was a multi millionaire after all. But any fame she got from that was connected directly to her father, about what he was doing.
She wanted to be the center of attention.
And Chris had told her he could get that for her.
Dakota may have been self-obsessed, may have been completely smitten with her own beauty, may have even been vapid. But even she could tell when somebody wanted something from her. And Chris wasn’t subtle about it.
Sure, on camera he was worse to her than almost anybody. She wasn’t surprised by it. The man was a complete attention whore. She understood that. She was too.
But off screen was a completely different story. On the first day on the island, he’d pulled her aside, away from the cameras, away from the other campers, away from Chef. And he’d made her a deal.
“I have needs, Dakota. Needs that, while I’m on this island, are not getting satisfied, not at all. And I thought that you and I can make a deal. You want more camera time right? More fame? A spin off show? I can get you all of that. All of that and more. All you have to do is follow my directions, and keep your mouth shut.”
She’d agreed. It had been all she had dreamed of.
At first, it had been easy. She just had to look pretty for him, and sit with him in his trailer as he ranted. Simple. She excelled at looking pretty, and she was used to hearing people complain. After all, that’s all her daddy ever did. It wasn’t like he spent time talking to her, anyway. She was happy for the attention.
But then he started wanting more. And more. “I can’t tell you’re listening if you’re sitting over there. Come closer.”
“Closer.”
“Why don’t you just sit on my lap?”
Before she had even known what was happening, she was laying beneath Chris, and her clothes were on the floor, his mouth hot on her neck. Whispering to her.
Telling her to call him daddy.
But she was getting more screen time, right? At least she thought that she was.
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And then she’d been eliminated. Chris had come to the Playa that night, and told her he could get her back on the show. It would be easy.
If she just signed this contract. And she did. And then he’d started kissing her again. And she hadn’t stopped him. As he bit her neck, she lay, limp, like a doll. He didn’t notice. If he did, he didn’t care.
That night, she fell asleep, thinking. Chris’s arm heavy over her chest.
She was back on the show two days later.
As a fucking intern, of all things.
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Suddenly, everything seemed to get worse, and worse. Chris was crueler than ever, and it stopped being just when the cameras were on. Now it was constant.
He’d berate her when she’d come into his trailer at night. Telling her that she wasn’t pulling her weight, and he’d only brought her back because she wanted to be brought back, that he couldn’t care less. That she needed to do better. He’d even insult her while they were having sex.
She began to dread her nights.
Her days on the other hand, were getting better. Sam was nothing but kind to her, even when all she would do was complain about Chris. She began to shirk her duties, to spend more time with Sam.
And then Chris noticed. And Chris got furious. That night, in his trailer, he screamed at her.
“I don’t like sharing my things, Dakota. Especially not if I’m sharing them with a fucking loser who can’t go five minutes without checking his GameGuy. If you want to stay on this island, if you want to stay with me, stop talking to him. Got it?”
Dakota was furious. He had no right to talk about Sam like that. She snapped. “What if I don’t want to be with you, huh? What then?”
Chris had looked at her, a look of fury on his face. She had never seen him that mad before. Ever. Not even when Sierra revealed what year he was born. She made to apologize, terrified.
He smacked her. Hard, across the face. It stung, and she held her face. Nobody had ever hit her before. Nobody. She looked at him, hurt.
He looked shocked at what he had done.
She ran out of the trailer. He didn’t follow her.
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She’d told Sam what had happened that night. She had found him on the dock, and told him, sobbing, everything that had been happening.
He had held her. Told her everything would be alright
She realized that Sam was the first person to have ever really been nice to her. So she kissed him.
And then felt a strong hand pull her away. Dakota froze up, expecting Chris, coming to hurt her again. Slowly, she turned around.
It was Chef. He looked at her, and she could have sworn she saw sadness in his eyes.
He spoke gruffly. “Chris sent me to find you. Said you ran off when he was talking. C’mon girlie, he says you two need to chat.” He didn’t sound convinced about what he was saying. He looked over at Sam. “You, gamer boy. Back to your cabin.” Sam nodded, giving a small smile to Dakota, before scurrying off.
Dakota followed Chef back to Chris. And she felt her stomach sink further with every step that they took.
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Chris had apologized to her that night. Told her how sorry he was, how terrible he felt. How it would never happen again.
Then he had her apologize. She kept it short, sweet, and completely insincere.
“Sorry, Daddy.”
She felt nothing but numb, and didn’t argue when he made his usual advances.
He’d gotten Sam eliminated the next day. And with that, Dakota felt her heart break. Sam had been her last chance on the Island. Now all she had was Chris. Just Chris.
He hadn’t hit her again. But his verbal assault continued, getting worse and worse. Until in the mornings she would leave his trailer sobbing, unable to cope.
On those mornings, she noticed her breakfasts were always better than usual. Even if it was just an extra piece of bacon, or a cup of coffee. She would see the pain in Chef’s eyes. She would feel slightly less alone.
But he never helped her.
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On her final day at the camp, she told Chris to fuck off.
He’d catapulted her to The Playa, and broken her leg.
She thought about how he’d promised to never physically hurt her again. She wondered why she was surprised that he had lied.
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After the show, she moved in with Sam. They lived in a small apartment, and he worked as a game developer. They had barely enough money to make ends meet. She didn’t talk to her father anymore.
She didn’t want to be famous anymore.