Chapter Text
ezekiel’s pov
Ezekiel stumbled out of the broken-down bus along with the others, his nerves jumbled after being pulled towards another chance at winning some big cash.
As the raggedy boy clutched onto his equally raggedy backpack, he wondered if it was even worth another try. After all, he had experienced a lot of embarrassment being voted out first and all..
But as he looked around where they stopped, then at his new friends Lindsay and Beth, he felt it wouldn’t be so bad. He reminded himself he was there to make up with people, make new friends. He had especially been on the fence about competing again, but after getting closer to Lindsay and Beth, they convinced him to try again. He’d made a couple big mistakes last time, after voicing his, or rather his father’s, opinion on women— But he was friends with girls now, so it was alright, right?
Then, he noticed the two seemed to be very focused on something in specific. Something they were giggling and chatting about, like teenage girls do. Curious, the boy approached the two.
“Uh, what’re you talking about, eh?”
Lindsay and Beth paused. First glancing back at Ezekiel, then at each other, before suddenly roping him in and pointing to a boy. A very attractive boy in particular. Justin.
“Isn’t he sooo cute! Oh my gosh, I’m gonna die!” Lindsay squealed.
“Just look at the way his hair shines in the sunlight… Do you think he’ll like my new teeth?”
Beth pondered. (She had just gotten her braces off a couple days beforehand.)
Ezekiel, however, merely tilted his head in confusion. As Justin flipped his hair and winked at the girls— no— all three of them, he couldn’t help but wonder if he found that boy as appealing as his friends did. He had a certain way of swooning anyone he wanted to, and it made him quite nervous to think about. He’d seen Justin charm someone before, and it worked so well they gave up a million dollars. He wouldn’t let that happen to him, he promised to himself. He wouldn’t give up a million dollars, even if a really hot boy tried to swoon him. That is, if Justin would even speak to him. He might flirt with women, sure, but not men. Right? Ezekiel gulped down those thoughts. He was getting distracted already.
“Er.. he’s alright.”
“Alright?!” The two gasped, in sync.
“He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen…”
Beth uttered dreamily.
“I have the best ideaa!!! You should totally go tell him we think he’s cute for us. Pleaseee?”
Lindsay began to beg and plead, Beth shortly joining in on the chant.
“Pleasepleasepleaseplease—”
“Oh, alright, eh! I’ll go talk to him.”
Ezekiel finally exclaimed.
It wasn’t that big a deal, but his palms still began to sweat. Before he could even take a step, he was shocked to see that Justin had already appeared in front of him. The guy was much taller than him, he noticed. He couldn’t help but admire him from up close.
“Uhm... Ezekiel…?” Beth muttered, not taking her eyes off of the breathtaking figure in front of her.
“Don’t you have something to tell Justin?”
“Oh. Yeah. Uhm, You’re cute.”
A pause. Justin raised an eyebrow, but smiled.
“Uh, thanks man…”
Ezekiel’s face couldn’t help but flush as he realized a detail he forgot.
“Wait, no! Not—”
But he was interrupted by a familiar, irritating voice.
“Alright campers! Oh wait, I can’t call you that anymore. Alright actors! Welcome to the brand new, deluxe, TOTAL— DRAMA— ACTIONN!!! Where you will be competing yet again for a chance to win a million bucks!”
The words hung in the air for a fraction of a second. Chris really knew how to time things well. It was one of his many annoying features.
Chris went on to detail the new structure of the season, the first challenge, and what they would get out of it. He instructed the cast to get on a peculiar vehicle, one that Ezekiel assumed was for the tour. He cleared his throat and nervously followed Lindsay and Beth into the vehicle. They all sat in silence while Chris began the tour.
justin’s pov
Justin slipped his arms behind his head in a relaxed state, subtly displaying his perfectly sculpted abs to the world. He let the wind blow his hair naturally, bringing out his beauty a bit more.
Heather, (who sat next to him) stared at him, but not with admiration— as one usually does. No, she stared at him with jealousy, which was the second most common look one gave him. She grabbed the sides of her wig to make sure it didn’t fly off. Noticing this, Justin tossed his hair back, the sun sending sparkles off each strand. The girl scoffed.
“Tsk, show-off.”
“What? I’m just getting the hair out of my face.”
She flipped him off in response.
The tour continued as usual, only stopping when it was revealed an animatronic monster was roaming the area. The challenge (first challenge of the season, to be specific) was to find the trailers in which the cast would inhabit. Justin wasn’t quite worried yet, as the teams hadn’t been decided. Every man for himself. Not so bad. Teammates would slow him down for sure.
When Chris declared the challenge’s commencement, Justin set off towards the west. He didn’t have an idea of where he was going, but he was getting somewhere. That was important. But after a while, he noticed heavy breathing coming from behind him. He whipped his head around, and was surprised to see Beth, Ezekiel, and Lindsay all running behind him. Had they been blindly following him this whole time? He was a little irritated, but didn’t show it. The four of them ran through a fake beach set, where Gwen and Trent stood in the fake sand, confused.
“Where are we supposed to find the trailers, anyway?” Gwen shouted.
“Follow the good looking people!” Responded Justin, and Beth shortly afterwards with:
“Yeah!! Follow Justin!”
Now that Justin was aware of the people behind him, he couldn’t help but be confused about the interaction earlier. He hadn’t expected Ezekiel to be so… straightforward. Men, even if they found him attractive, never voiced it. But the guy was homeschooled. He probably didn’t know how to act around such attractive people! That’s okay. He now felt painfully aware of Zeke’s panting behind him, and sped up.
When he noticed Gwen and Trent running in the opposite direction, it was too late. The monster swiped towards the group, and Justin’s eyes widened when he realized he was closest. Ezekiel threw himself… or, tripped? In front of Justin. For a moment, he felt relieved, and almost victorious, but he quickly realized it didn’t actually matter. The monster had two hands. Justin thought up a quick plan— to attempt the flirting technique on the monster, with a quick wink and smile. The animatronic stared at him a moment, but overall it was unsuccessful, as the two ended up in the Loser Bouncy House with four others.
Time passed, but nothing. No winner so far. The sun was setting, and most of the cast was already among the losers. As far as he knew, Owen was the only one remaining. Beth, Lindsay, and Ezekiel were all chatting next to him, as he stared at the sun setting.
“Ohmigosh, we should toootally give you a makeover.”
Lindsay said as she braided Ezekiel’s hair, combed it loose, then started over.
“Yeah! You’d look soo pretty.”
Beth agreed.
Justin glanced over at the scene, with his hand on his chin. He felt a little lonely. Everyone in the cast had at least someone to call a close friend, to spend their days with. But that didn’t come to him naturally. Even Ezekiel, an antisocial, homeschooled freak who everyone hated a month ago, now had two best friends who braided his hair and offered makeovers. It pissed Justin off. Sure, people admired him for his looks. But no relationship ever went any deeper than that. He couldn’t help but feel jealous. With a quick sigh, he moved closer to the group.
“You know, you’re fantastic at braiding hair.” Justin said with a smirk. The girls turned to each other and (tried) to squeal quietly.
Lindsay gasps, an idea forming.
“Justin, your hair is like, so perfect, can I braid it please? Pleaseeee?”
Lindsay exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement.
To this, Justin hesitated. After all, how could he want to let such dirty hands to touch his luscious hair?!
He politely declines, and continues watching the three bond, thoughts racing about alliances, hair, and of course, how beautiful he was.
The night became dark, and each person piled on another in the small space, exhausted from running around earlier that day. Justin was on the bottom of the pile, but still comfortable, keeping his perfect face safe from rubbing against the dirty inflatable floor. He could... break out!
The background noise of the night was a repetitive peaceful snoring from various people, but Justin’s eyelids twitched themselves awake when he heard distant panting. (He tends to be a very light sleeper.)
“And, the winner of our very first challenge, OWEN!”
Chris announced, waking those of the cast who had not already been awake.
“It took you ten and a half hours… to walk three city blocks?” The sleepy remark came from Trent, who laid on top of Justin.
Though Owen couldn’t give a verbal response due to his huffing, he managed to deflate the bouncy house with a poke of a needle. The cast groaned as they were dropped to the ground.
The boys took one cabin, girls took the other, and they all enjoyed their last night together without teams to separate them. Justin took a bottom bunk. He couldn’t risk falling off a top bunk and damaging his beautiful face!
As the guys bonded, which was a rare event, he felt at peace for a little while. He fell asleep that night easily, with barely any dreams to keep him busy.