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Emma sat, slumped to the ground and head in her hands. She could not believe she was this stupid again. How did she convince herself that getting back with Chase would ever be a good idea? How delusional was she to think that he’d care, that it wouldn’t just blow back up in her face again? She squeezed her arms tighter around herself. What was worse was that she knew she would be alone again. She’d driven everyone around her crazy by virtue of being absolutely, painfully obsessed with that asshole. Going on Total Drama was supposed to be a fresh start for her, making new connections and new fans and being able to have fun, but she just seemed to dig herself a hole deeper and deeper. She felt like she was going crazy here.
Her head shot up as she heard a voice call out to her.
“Hey girl,” Bowie sat down next to her, unfamiliarly cautious. “I heard about you and Chase.”
Emma stared at him blankly. He hadn’t talked to her since last season. Why would he want anything to do with her now?
“I’m sorry,” He blurted out.
“Why are you sorry?” Emma squeezed herself tighter together. “I’m the reason for that whole mess in the first place. It’s my fault-”
“No, it wasn’t,” Bowie cut her off, then sighed. “I went way too far. I do that a lot. Probably way too much. It’s not your fault Chase was a dick, I shouldn’t have blamed you.”
Emma stared off over to the beach, where Chase was currently engaging in some sort of rock throwing contest with Ripper, seemingly unaffected by their blow up earlier. Her heart ached. He really didn’t care about anyone but him. Even though she swore she wouldn’t be spending any time thinking about him anymore, it was easier than trying to process what Bowie just told her. No one had told her it wasn’t her fault. The other guys immediately sided with Chase, her dad berated her the second he got to the hospital about how he told her Chase would end up doing something like this, her old friends had abandoned her the second she was no longer the “cool” one. She didn’t know how to respond. “He really is a dick,” she echoed.
That caused Bowie to laugh and seemingly relax a bit. “He really is.” He reached out to touch her shoulder. “Seriously though, you okay? That got really nasty.”
She shrugged. “If I don’t have to see him again, maybe. Hopefully he’s voted out tonight, he seriously threw that challenge for our team.” Bowie grinned.
“Say no more. I’ve got you.”
They sat in silence for a minute. “I’m sorry too.” Bowie turned to look at her, but before he could say anything, Emma continued. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. It’s just that I was so sure that Chase would care this time. I didn’t want to look at the fact that he never did.”
Bowie stared at her, seeming to short circuit for a minute. “Thanks. Really.” His face brightened up, a soft smile appearing. “I missed you.”
Emma grinned. “I missed you too. I mean, who else could I complain about the insane choices in Glee to?”
Bowie cackled at that before standing up. “Hey, you know how MK snuck in a ton of snacks? I think I convinced her to think about sharing some earlier. Do you want anything?” He reached out a hand for Emma. She took it, pulling herself up as well.
“Did she bring Hot Cheetos? The puffy ones?”
“Probably. Girl seems to have literally one of everything. I don’t even want to think about how she got everything in there.”
“Nice! I have so been craving them since I got back here!” The two continued to chat as they walked back to the cabin. They might not have been as close as before, not yet, but it was so much better than what they had been.