Chapter Text
bowie stepped off the boat, taking in the view of the island. he knew this was going to be a pretty wild ride, being one of the only gay contestants to be on the show. while this did somewhat impact his courage to audition for the show, he was a very determined person, as he had been prom king AND queen, played many sports. he knew how to play dirty when the situation deemed necessary.
he repeated his mental strategy to himself; friends made great alliances, but to definitely not get attached to anyone, as they would become someone he might eventually have to face and crush in order to win the million.
while everyone was arriving to the dock on the boats, he was scanning everyone, trying to get any looks of how these people were, how they would be at challenges, who to play nice with, and who to get rid of first. while he was taking look of this, two men in hockey uniforms were slowly incoming on a boat together.
"i can't believe we're actually here rajjy! this is gonna be awesome!" wayne was beaming his signature smile, looking at his reflection in the large body of water.
"yeah, i know! this is gonna be even more exciting than winning a double header against the sharks!" raj brushed his bangs out of his face, trying to get a look at anything in front of him that wasn't water.
wayne stood up, patting raj's back. "i can't wait to win the million bucks. and theres gonna be a lot of pretty cute girls here, huh?"
"yeah, s'gonna be awesome!" raj prayed to whoever was up there that wayne didn't notice the slight hesitance in his voice, or the falter of the corners of his smile.
at moments like this raj was grateful that wayne wasn't the most bright person in the world.
raj wasn't even entirely sure why why his voice seemed to falter at the mention of girls. all his friends on his hockey team seemed so enthralled at the mere mention of them, let alone being with them. whenever his friends would talk about being with girls or their girlfriends, they would have this sort of sparkle in their eyes, as if that were the true love of their lives, making them truly happy. raj had witnessed this for every single person in his life, hell, even wayne! every single person but himself.
raj thought he was a late bloomer, or emotionally stunted, or something along those lines. he didn't understand why his friends entire lives seemed to revolve around girls. sure, he saw the regular conventionally attractive woman every once in awhile, he would admit, but he didn't feel that sort of first love spark that all his friends seemed to feel whenever they saw girls.
maybe i just haven't found the right one yet? he would ask himself. do i just have a very specific type? what's up with me?
"hey look, land!" wayne shook raj out of his thoughts, getting him to pay attention to the incoming island. raj watched as the tiny dot of land starting to become bigger in his field of vision.
as their boat landed, they met with the host, chris. he greeted them, showing them to their individual team.
raj scanned the entirety of the contestants that were there so far, wondering if there was any girl here that would help him find that spark that he was oh so desperate for. his eyes eventually landed on a mop of bright blonde hair, a pearl necklace, and a warm smile.
raj found himself looking at the man, taking in his facial features. he struck raj as someone who wasn't afraid of what others thought, and enjoyed examining his sense of style. it was interesting to raj; he usually saw girls care more about the clothes that they wore, but he liked looking at how this man expressed himself. it made raj feel happy.
as raj was looking at him, the man made eye contact with him. raj quickly looked away, not wanting to be found creepy or anything by him. so much for a great first impression.
bowie finally noticed raj, just as raj took his eyes off of him. bowie smiled to himself. the boy seemed nervous, but a nice enough guy. bowie liked how his bangs fell down his face, how he wore his...hockey, was it?.. jersey, as if it was a good luck charm for him.
bowie walked up to him, the sport enthusiast noticing and looking in every direction instead of him, as if he was desperate for an escape from being confronted for his staring.
sticking out his hand, bowie gave a slight smile to the boy. "you look like a big sports guy. the names bowie, nice to meet you."
with a slight millisecond of hesitance, raj took the boys hand in his, shaking it. raj immediately noticed how soft bowie's hand was, as he was used to shaking hands with his hockey friends, their hands usually being calloused and dry. bowie seemed to take care of himself very well.
why am i noticing all of this? raj thought to himself. is this weird? no, its not, it's just me observing people. right?
"do..you have a name?" bowie asked after a few seconds of silence, sliding his hand away from the other boys.
"oh, yeah! my name, i have one of those, yup. for sure." raj spoke a million words at once.
"and it happens to be..." bowie started the sentence for him, starting to understand that the boy was a bit nervous.
"yeah! it's raj. sorry." raj felt himself becoming a bit embarrassed. so much for setting a good first impression.
"raj...i like that name. never heard it before." bowie smiled at the nervous boy.
"oh! you mean it? i like your name too! sounds like a cool name. a cool name. yeah. like one of those." raj found himself rambling again.
"okayyy..." bowie chuckled at the boys nerves. "see you around raj, okay?"
"y..yup! see you around!" raj waved, feeling a slight tint of red start do dust over his cheeks.
what the hell was that? he asked himself. why did i get so nervous? why did all my words start to jumble into one at once?
he turned around, relieved to find out that wayne was nowhere near him, having not witnessed that whole painfully awkward fiasco. quietly, he breathed a sigh of relief.
a booming voice separated him from his thoughts. "alright campers. make your way to your cabins, and meet at the beach in an hour." the host yelled at everyone.
raj internally facepalmed himself.
he had been so focused on bowie and his awkward interaction that he had missed hearing which team he was on, leaving him clueless.
"hey, rajjy, c'mon! lets get a bunk together!" wayne yelled out.
thank god for wayne sometimes.
"man, we've got some real hotties on our team, huh raj?" wayne asked his friend as he tossed his belongings on his bunk.
"yeah, for sure!" raj agreed.
i have not noticed anyone on our team at all, he thought to himself. does that make me a bad person?
bowie quickly grabbed onto the door of the cabin, noticing the conversation the two hockey players seemed to be having. "if you're gonna talk about me, i'll leave you two some privacy." bowie sang as he threw his band mindlessly into the room, quickly exiting.
"what was that about, eh?" wayne asked. "you know him, rajjy?"
raj stared away from wayne, trying to cover the slight smile from his face. "not really.." he replied. "just met him today."
"huh, thats cool!" wayne exclaimed. "he seems funny. we should try to talk to him!"
raj didn't like how quickly he agreed to wayne's proposal. "that'd be awesome!"
wayne started to make his way to the door. "i'm gonna start heading over to the beach, you coming?"
"yeah, i just need a few minutes...bag isn't gonna unpack itself, is it now?" raj replied, starting to sprawl his belongings out on his bunk.
"sure, bud. see you in a few!" wayne waved as he exited the cabin.
raj loved his friend wayne to death, he really did, but he needed a few minutes to himself to think.
why was that bowie guy having such an affect on me? he questioned. i'm getting a bit nervous around him...but not in a bad way. i wanna get to know him more.
raj had never really been in love before, so he had nothing to compare any mushy gushy feelings to. he didn't know what these feelings were, why his nerves were going off the radar whenever he was around this man.
it's probably because i wanna be his friend or something. raj decided to himself. i guess i just get nervous meeting new people.
with that, he left the cabin, along with all the thoughts that he would for sure have to dwell on in the future.