Chapter Text
“Are you feeling alright, Heather? Have the hair spray fumes gotten to your head?”
“Oh, shove it, Alejandro!”
Heather makes good on her words, shoving Alejandro away from her with a scoff. Displayed on her phone, a forwarded email sits open. Alejandro can’t see much of what it says, but the words “Reality Television” are enough to steer him away from wanting to know more.
Of course, since it isn’t his email- it’s Heather's, on Heather’s phone, and thus Heather’s email to bother him with; he doesn’t really get much of a choice.
As she drones on, Alejandro tunes out. One foot in front of the other, he keeps pace with her steps, but not her conversation. She says something about reality TV, something about time off from classes, something about a friend reaching out. This makes Alejandro perk up, a grin spreading across his face.
“You don’t have other friends, mi amiga. ”
“Neither do you.” She sneers.
“Touche.”
His gaze trails off to the passerby again, watching as hundreds of people crowd the sidewalk. Heather continues to talk, and Alejandro continues to do anything but listen. He knows that he has to tune back in eventually, they aren’t too far away from where he has to part ways from Heather to go to his classes. But for now, this is nice. It’s nice to not have to hold up a conversation he doesn’t want to hold up.
It’s not that he doesn’t like Heather; really, she’s his best (only) friend. It’s just too early in the morning, a Monday, and from what he can gather, a conversation subject that he actively tries to avoid.
“Are you even listening to me? Hello? Earth to Alejandro?” Heather waves her hand in front of his face, bringing him back into the conversation. Alejandro doesn’t have to respond for Heather to sigh lightly.
He closes his eyes, waiting for an insult that never comes.
“Okay. Just- I’ll forward it to you, just promise me you’ll read it, okay? It’d be good for us. Don’t flake on me.”
Alejandro watches as Heather scuttles about, forwarding him an email and crossing her arms. She stares at him, then jabs her finger in his face.
“I’m serious. Read it. I’ll see you later.” She’s gone moments later, leaving Alejandro alone in the midst of the morning crowd. He has his own classes to get to, and he’ll read the email later; he tells himself as he walks away.
He doesn’t read it later. Nor the next day, nor the day after. In fact, he completely forgets about it. Somewhere in Alejandro’s mailbox, buried beneath emails to his professors, spam calls, and Black Friday deals, Heather’s email is completely lost to the world. Amidst piles of projects past their deadlines and homework assignments, Alejandro really hadn’t meant to forget about it. It had just happened.
He only remembers that he was supposed to read something on Thursday afternoon, in the middle of lunch, after Heather drops a prepackaged salad in front of his face. Looking up from his work, he’s greeted with an unimpressed glare. His only response is a smile.
“You have such a knack for making even the kindest actions seem so rude. Always so talented.”
“Shut up. Did you read the email yet?”
Visibly, Alejandro cringes as he opens up the lunch and shakes his head. “Ah, no. I’m afraid it slipped my mind.” If looks could kill, Alejandro would be six feet in the ground by now. Still, where an insult would have been some time ago, there isn’t one. Instead, Heather only looks slightly miffed.
There’s no venom in her gaze, save for a glare directed towards some poor soul that tries to sit at their table. Instead, she just sits down and takes her own phone out, pulling up the email from her bin and setting it down in front of him.
“Read it while I eat. Five minutes. I’m serious, Alejandro. If you don’t read it, I’ll hate you.” Heather taps on her screen to emphasize her point as she starts on her own lunch, a turkey wrap.
“Oh, how would I survive without you, my dear Heather? I just can’t imagine life with you-” Alejandro’s speech is cut short by the distinct feeling of lettuce hitting his face. Across from him, Heather peels another piece of the vegetable from her wrap, waving it threateningly.
Wisely, Alejandro closes his mouth and starts reading through the email.
“Really? An audition for yet another reality show? I would have thought, what, four times was enough? Who sent you this anyway?”
“Uh, none of your business? Will you do it with me?”
“You telling me that it’s none of my business makes it my business, Heather. You and I both know neither of us are drowning in friends. Who’d send you something like this?” Alejandro scrolls further through the email, up and down, searching for a forwarding address. Before he finds one, Heather snatches her phone back up and shoves it in her purse, frowning.
“Ew. Fine. I got it from Noah. The twerp said some of the others were doing it, and thought I’d want in. As if I want anything to do with those nutjobs again.”
“Yet, you’re here, asking me to audition with you to go and compete with said nutjobs. Aside from that, Noah? Of all people? I thought you didn’t have friends.”
He hadn’t really given much thought to his old castmates after the World Tour. Moreso, none had given him a second thought. To be fair, the good majority of them had been dropped off of a plane and robbed of a million bucks because of his own gameplay. Fair enough cause to not want anything to do with the guy afterwards, he figured. And it wasn’t as if he had liked many of his other previous competitors. They all lived up to be either easy, unintelligent, miserable company, or all three (Owen.). The exceptions to the rule had been Heather and, at least until London, Noah.
A part of him had been furious over just how easily the other boy had been able to see through him. An eel dipped in grease and swimming in motor oil. The angry part of him had easily drowned out the part that was impressed. And the fraction of him that was hurt never stood a chance. It sucked, sending home some of the only company he enjoyed on that shitshow. And he had thought they were on good terms with each other, too. Alejandro had actually enjoyed the quips & comebacks, and would have even considered them friends.
An eel. Dipped in grease. Swimming in motor oil.
The nostalgia trip is quickly replaced with the familiar rage as Heather’s voice fills his ears.
“Can it, we’re not friends. He’s like an annoying little brother that you literally never asked for, then got anyway. And it’s annoying, because he’s right. I do want in, Alejandro. I want in so bad, it’s not even funny.”
Alejandro fights back a smile at her frustrated gripes, shaking his head. He only smiles more when Heather’s expression sours, seeing him laughing at her. It’s all in good fun, of course. Anything that bothers Heather is in good fun.
“Ay, dios mío. Listen, Heather. Ask me again later, alright? You and I both have a class to attend, and we’re already late.”
She meets his suggestion with a scoff, but tosses the remnants of her lunch into the trash can and stands. Before leaving, Heather jabs her fingers in Alejandro’s face once more, grumbling.
“Fine, we'll talk later. Don’t you dare flake on me again. I know where you sleep, remember?”
“I know where you sleep as well. We live together, it’s part of the deal.” Alejandro smirks as Heather fumes and crosses her arms.
“You’re killing me. You're literally killing your only friend, Alejandro.”
It’s Friday, and Friday is the night where Heather and Alejandro drown the stress of the week in shitty microwave popcorn and even shittier reality television until they pass out. It was easier to laugh at people making fools of themselves on international TV when they weren’t the ones behind the cameras.
Their show has long since been paused on an advertisement, a casting call for an upcoming new show. The Ridonculous Race (The moment he reads it, Alejandro is adamant that ‘Ridonculous’ is not a real word. This declaration earns him a swift glare) has put out a casting call, looking for teams from all over the world. He could ignore an email buried in his inbox, but it was harder to ignore something etched into your TV. Heather points at the word ‘duos’ specifically.
“Hello, do I have to spell it out for you? It's a total sign. We dated, and now we’re exes, best friends, and roommates. A quadruple duo, why aren’t we winning this show already?”
“By ‘best friend’, do you still mean only friend?” Alejandro chuckles, quickly shutting his mouth when given a venomous stinkeye. “Right. Regardless- why? I seem to remember our last competition ending… badly.”
Silence fills the room as neither of them say it. Total Drama has been an elephant in the room ever since its last season ended. Heather being robbed of the money is a touchy subject. Alejandro and the volcano, moreso. Their disaster of a relationship when neither of them were ready for one? Near the top of the list.
The quiet is deafening, almost suffocating. It draws a sense of dread out of Alejandro that he hasn’t felt since the World Tour, not since the volcano. He curls his fingernails into his palms, eyes locked onto the television. Next to him, Heather’s brain looks to be turning the same gears.
She’s the first to break the silence, in a tone far too soft to belong to the ‘Queen of Mean’.
“I know. That’s why we should do it. They cheated me out of my prize, and they cheated you out of- everything. We did literally everything to win that show, Alejandro. We lied, we lost friends, and don’t get me started on what you got stuck with.”
She rubs the bridge of her nose, looking anywhere but Alejandro. Heart-to-hearts were not her speciality. They were not even remotely in her wheelhouse, not by an inch.
“And this- this isn’t Total Drama. There’s no voting, no barf-bag snacks. We don’t have to play any type of stupid ‘social game’-” Heather curls her fingers, scoffing. “We can just play. We can be better than everyone else, and win. We can shut the fucking door on it forever.”
This makes Alejandro perk up. She’s right, after all. As horrifically awful as Total Drama was, the goofy advertisement paused on the TV looks… nothing like it. The host is completely different; much younger, and looking to house fewer sadistic tendencies. Always a plus.
He knows just as much as anybody that Heather gets what she wants. And he also knows just how badly Total Drama messed the both of them up. Losing again could be the final straw, the last nail in the coffin.
He drowns out the logistics of it when he sees Heather staring blankly towards the advertisement.
Who knows? Maybe it’ll be good for the both of them to get out there and just play. Or, maybe it’ll be awful.
“You know what? Let’s do it. We deserve a win, don’t we?”
Heather looks over from her seat on the couch, eyebrows raised. For a second, she looks almost surprised. It doesn’t last long, her expression dropping into a softened smile. “Thanks.”
Not even an hour later, they are gathered around Heather’s phone, Heather’s finger hovering over the ‘send’ button of a hastily put-together audition tape. It’s not like they really need one; they have more than enough experience & reputation as Total Drama competitors, Total Drama villains, and Total Drama losers. A triple threat, and a shoo-in for a reality television competition.
The hesitation to hit send is mutual. Once that email is sent, it’s finite. It becomes all too real, the fact that they’re headed to yet another competition. Once it’s sent, it’s too late to take it back.
She glances up towards Alejandro, looking down at the audition once again. Once he nods, she pressed ‘send’.
The two minutes it takes to upload are excruciating.
The moment it sends, Heather gets up and wraps her arms around Alejandro’s neck. A ‘good night’ is murmured, and she retreats to her room. Alejandro follows not a minute later, turning out the lights behind him.
The month leading up to the first day of filming flies by all too quickly. Before Alejandro even knows it, he’s finishing up his classes and starting summer break. When he enters their shared apartment after his last class of the day, Heather’s already waiting by the door with her bag. Neither says a word as Alejandro packs his own up and meets her by the door.
The silence is, once again, deafening. There are no words as they catch a taxi to the train station. No words as they buy a ticket to Toronto- save for Alejandro actually buying the tickets from the clerk. No words as they board their train and take their seats. No words as the train pulls from the station, starting the ride to the designated meeting point.
There are no words as the sun sets and the sky darkens and everyone else in the train car falls asleep, leaving just the two of them awake.
Finally, Heather is the first to break the silence. She mutters a small ‘Thanks.’ as she lays her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She’s asleep within minutes, leaving Alejandro alone with his thoughts.
All he can think is that he’s in far too deep. He isn’t excited to be behind a camera again, especially not for another reality show. He’s really not excited about seeing old faces again, or for the curveballs they’ll bring up.
‘This was such an awful idea.’ is all he can think of before he’s out.
When he wakes up a few stops before Toronto, Heather is still sound asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. He rests his head on top of hers and closes his eyes.
Maybe it isn’t such an awful idea, after all.