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The boat ride to the abandoned summer camp felt longer than it truly was, and Emma couldn't contain her excitement. She loved watching Total Drama when she was a kid, and she always dreamt of going onto the show. She was ecstatic when she found out a reboot was set in stone. She automatically made an audition tape, why wouldn't she?
Before she signed up for Total Drama, she’d gone through a breakup with her ex-boyfriend, Chase. After he pulled a “prank” on her that almost caused her death (he cut off the brakes on her car and she crashed into an animal shelter!!!) she decided she didn't want to date him anymore. Hell, he never apologized for almost killing her (and the poor animals in the shelter!) She was tired of how reckless he was with his pranks. Most of them caused people to get hurt, but getting hurt got the most views— at least in his eyes.
Emma ended up getting lost in her thoughts, humming a song to herself; her right leg bounced up and down. She ponders, wondering what’ll happen during the next 8 weeks. She thinks about the other contestants as well. She wonders if she’ll make any friends on the island.
Emma’s train of thoughts were interrupted when she could faintly hear Chris McLean, the host of the show, talking to the campers who had already arrived. She stood on her tippy toes, trying to see the other contestants. She could barely make out the figure next to Chris, but she noticed the figure wearing a reddish-orange hoodie. Strange, it felt familiar. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Probably should’ve had her contacts in.
Until the boat slowly crept closer to the dock, finally reaching a halt.
She could finally tell who the person talking to Chris was.
It was Chase.
…CHASE???
That was the last person Emma wanted to see. Why the hell was he here? She could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her, just seeing his face threw her into a sense of hostility.
“What. Is. HE DOING HERE??" she screamed as soon as she stepped foot onto the dock, pointing at the dark-haired boy.
“Babe?!" Chase exclaimed, a grin plastered on his face.
Emma didn't understand how he could smile at her like that, even after almost murdering her.
Well, technically he didn't TRY to murder her, but he would’ve been the main cause of her death if she'd crashed into the animal shelter. Whatever, she didn't wanna think about it anymore.
Anger preoccupied her entire senses. She’d never felt this antagonized from just seeing a person.
Emma’s actions got to the better of her rationality.
She lunged at Chase. Chris had caught her before she could've done something stupid, like beating him up senselessly. Emma groaned, flapping her hands, trying to reach him.
Emma got back to her senses, for the most part. She was still fuming, but she wasn't trying to hurt Chase anymore. Chris put her down and walked her over next to a tall guy wearing heart-shaped sunglasses and another guy…with his shirt off.
“Wow…WOW…intense” Chris smiled. “You’d almost think we brought the both of you here on purpose.”
Emma wanted to slap Chris, but almost beating up 2 different people on national television didn't seem like the greatest first impression.
They made eye contact, but Chase walked away, seemingly sad. Taking multiple deep breaths, Emma finally calms herself down all the way. She didn't want to think about him anymore. Besides, she wanted to meet new people. She looked around at the other people who had arrived before her. The first person she noticed was the boy with the heart-shaped sunglasses. He had bleached blonde hair with a dark complexion. He was wearing a lilac-colored crop top adorned with a pearl necklace. He was also wearing green pants with purple slide-on loafers.
The other person she noticed first was the guy without his shirt on. She didn’t have much to pinpoint about what he was wearing, seeing only his cargo shorts, white socks, and red Converse. She noticed the ripped-apart shirt on the dock. A green, yellow, and white striped collared shirt. His style was truly…interesting. The other guy had much better fashion taste. She later learned that the blonde boy's name was Bowie.
Emma continued to look around at everyone. A girl with dark-brown curly hair, a shorter girl with a blue beret in her wavy hair, a tall guy with his long brown hair tied up with a purple hair tie—a backward green hat laid atop his head, and another guy wearing a backward yellow baseball cap. She looked over to a purple-haired girl, her hair tied up into two pigtails standing on the dock. She presumably was staring at everybody with her icy-blue eyes, an eerie smile plastered on her face. Her intense stare left a chill through Emma's spine, leaving an unnerving feeling throughout her whole body. Emma told herself to be careful around this girl, she seemed unquestionably frightening.
Emma could've sworn that everyone else who was introduced before her stood next to her on the dock, but she was told that she was the 10th contestant to arrive. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight—she only counted eight other people beside her. Where was the other contestant? She continued to explore the dock looking for the mysterious person. Out of the corner of her eye, she finally noticed another girl sitting down, her legs flowing off the dock. Emma took a mental note of all the features she could see of her.
The girl had long dark-brown hair tied up into a messy high ponytail. She had tan skin with olive hues mixed in with the warm tone. She wore a cream colored tank top with a gray colored cropped tank top adorned on top. She wore a pair of green cargo pants with a pair of army boots. Emma recorded the 3 silver earrings wrapped around her earlobe. Emma was jealous that the girl had so many earrings, she could barely handle her first ear piercing.
"Need something?”
Emma jumped. The girl noticed her—staring.
It didn't help that her piercing brown eyes were looking straight at her.
Emma's cheeks were now lightly coated with a rosy pink color. The girl continued to look at her, waiting for a response. Emma tried to say something, but her throat went dry, and she went silent.
“Well?” the brown-eyed girl asked. Emma gulped, hoping to clear out the dryness of her throat.
“Well… I've been introducing myself to everybody. I was going to say hi, but uh…you looked busy. I can go if you want-"
“Sit down.” she commanded. Emma reluctantly sat down next to her. She made sure not to sit too close to her.
“You wanted to introduce yourself, right? I'm listening.”
“Uhm, yeah…okay.” Emma internally slapped herself, she was already embarrassing herself. “Well, my name is Emma... Emma Green.” She thought about what else to say. Why was introducing herself to this girl so difficult? She's so good with people, at least that's what she thought. Emma looked at the girl next to her, not knowing what else to tell her.
“Axel Cruz.”
“Huh?"
"That's my name.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, duh. Heh.. that should've been obvious.” Emma stumbled over her words. “...Is there a reason that you're sitting over here by yourself?”
“Hmm…I'm not by myself, though. I'm sitting here with you.” Axel pointed out. “But, I was trying to see how many fish were in the water.”
“What's so interesting about how many fish are in the water?” Emma asked, but instantly took it back. “Um, I'm not judging you or anything, I'm just curious…y'know.”
“If a zombie apocalypse happens during Total Drama, I have to be prepared. Knowing how much resources we have on this island is essential for survival.”
“A zombie apocalypse?”
“Yes. Are you not worried about it happening?”
“Most sixteen-year-olds aren't worried about a zombie apocalypse happening.”
“Really?”
Emma giggled, “No, not really. Should I be worried?” Axel stared at Emma.
“Yes, you should be worried! We don't know when it'll happen. Could be next week, this week, tomorrow, or even today! You should start to prepare. Would you like to start training with me? Every morning.” Axel asked, turning to face Emma with seriousness painted over the entirety of her face, a small amount of curiosity mixed in as well. The more Emma looked at her face, the more features she could pinpoint. Her brown eyes had hints of green, revealing that they were hazel. A meager amount of freckles lightly dusted her cheeks and nose— only noticeable if you got super close to her face. Emma took another mental note about her plethora of face piercings. She had a piercing on her eyebrow, a nose ring on her left nostril, a septum, and snake bites. Emma wouldn't be surprised if she had a tongue piercing at this point. Emma then realized that she was spacing out— staring into Axel's face for way longer than she should've been.
Emma thought more about the question that she had just been asked. Training? …for a zombie apocalypse?…first thing when she wakes up in the morning? Emma didn’t mind training, since she was an athlete, but for something that’ll never happen? Emma then reminds herself that she came onto Total Drama to make friends—and to get a million dollars—and because she was a huge fan of the show. She looked into Axel’s face again. She studied it, making sure that every small detail she saw was memorized. Emma wanted to learn more about this girl, the story that was behind her hazel eyes. She was like a book, and Emma wanted to read her.
“Sure!” Emma agreed after some time. Axel gave her a small smile.
“5am sharp; tomorrow morning. I’ll find a spot we can train at, I’ll see you later.” Axel patted Emma’s shoulder. She got up and started to walk away. Emma watched Axel walk away, her gentle touch lingering on the fabric of Emma’s orange sweater.
Axel truly was an enigma— Emma still didn’t know a lot about this girl, but all she wanted to do was learn more about her. Emma knew know what her goals would be while she was on the island.
Learn more about Axel Cruz.
And win a million dollars.