Chapter Text
It had been days after the ending of the second season of Total Drama Reboot. However, all 16 campers had now took refuge in what Chris called Playa Des Losers, a mansion like cottage he had built along his anchors of land. They had been hanging around for the time being, as the boat to return home had broke down. They had to take some days to manage it.
It had been yet another hot day of summer, which led to most campers hanging around in the air conditioning. There had been a depict few who had been lounging around in the sun.
The 'alpha males,' they would say. Ripper, Chase, and even Zee enjoyed their day out in the hot summer sun.
Meanwhile, the rest of the cast spent their time indoors. After being put through utter chaos by Chris out in this heat for days on end, they hadn't exactly had the taste for more activity in the heat.
All of the campers had been mostly doing their own thing, or spending their time in small groups. Nichelle, Axel, Wayne, and Damien had been spending their time in the lounge room, chit-chatting about basically anything. Raj and Bowie had been spending some quality time together alone in their bedroom. Julia and MK had also been spending time alone. Scary Girl had been basically roaming, while Millie separated herself in her and Priyas bedroom to brainstorm for a new series she had been writing.
However, there had been two campers that had been having the 'less fun' side of their time spent in the cottage.
Priya and Caleb.
The two had been located in the dining hall. The space had been widely open, and found empty. There was a long table that filled the space, in which Priya and Caleb both were sat at.
Priya twiddled with her thumbs, as Caleb let out a huff. They both had been pretty on edge lately, especially after the last few days of the competition.
After the finale took place, the couple seemed to be pretty happy on live tv. However, after the celebration night for Wayne, things quickly changed.
It wasn't that they didn't enjoy one another's company, but it was that they didn't feel like it was right to be together. Although they both had been scared to end things, which only left their time together more and more awkward.
The hard thing with all this is, other campers had begun to notice as well. Previous players like Damien and Millie had made small comments on their relationship status, in all curiosity if the two were doing okay. However, both of them brushed them off, answering with the standard answer of 'it's okay.'
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"So.." Caleb slowly began, unable to look Priya in the eyes. "You wanted to talk?"
The girl looked to the floor, her stomach turning with feelings of anxiety. She knew where this conversation was going to lead, and she didn't want to be the one to cause it.
However, she knew she had to. "Yeah.. and I know you did, too." Priya worded back, her eyes finally meeting Calebs. Her hands clenched, trying to maintain the quivering she so harshly felt. Although Caleb saw right through Priya. This was as hard for her as it was for him.
"I think it's best if we part ways." Priya finally announced, her shaking voice finally falling flat.
Brief silence fell over the couple once again, as Caleb rubbed his arm. "Are you sure we.. have to do this?" He would mumble, as Priya let out a sigh.
"I think it's what's best," the brunette would reply. "It's nothing against you. You're great, but I just know things probably won't work out as we hoped." Priya tried to crack a small smile, however it was soon pushed away by her sadness and sorrow of the two separating.
"Besides, my parents probably aren't be too happy. They'd never support us."
Caleb slowly blinked. The male had tried his best to take this well, however it seemed less difficult on pen and paper. He had never had a girlfriend before, except back in his early kid years. He never understood what a breakup was until now.
"I'm sorry." He blurted. "I never meant to hurt you. Really," he confessed, as Priyas eyes rounded with sympathy. "It's not your fault."
Really? A feeling lurched in her chest. One that she had felt that she had been lying. It's not his fault? He hurt you. He hurt you so much, and you're just going to let him go unharmed?
The voice in the back of her head nagged at her, however she didn't feel comfortable nor compatible to fall into its schemes.
"I hope we can still be friends. All I want is for you to be happy, Priya." Caleb would go on, while the girl only continued to stare at him with watering eyes.
"Of course."
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As the two separated from the dining room, all Priya could do was sob. She tried her best to maintain and suppress her sadness, however there was nothing she could do to stop her tears.
She slowly stepped towards her room, practically leaning on the wall as she weeped. Her and Millie had been sharing a bedroom, however she'd been fairly distant with Millie it seemed after beginning to date Caleb. Perhaps this was a new awakening after the fall of her and her boyfriend.
Arriving at the door of her room, she came to a slow stop. She raised an arm up to her face, wiping her tears away before reaching out for the doorknob. Slowly twisting it, she opened the door and took a step inside.
Meanwhile, the girl inside their bedrooms ears perked at the sound of the doorknob turning. Millie turned her head as the brunette stepped in, dropping her pencil from her hand. Her eyes scanned over Priya, taking notice of her worn down look, as well as her swollen eyes. "Priya? What happened?"
Millie had felt her distance over the past few days, however decided not to say anything. She instead focused on her book series, which had been pretty easy to be distracted with.
Priya put on a smile, taking a few steps closer to Millie. "I- umm.." The blue shirted girl would stammer, her brown eyes glancing towards the floor.
Watching the girl, she set her notebook down on her bedsheets, scooting her way to the edge of her bed. She had left some room for the opposing girl to sit, inviting her over silently.
Hesitantly, she sat next to Millie, however didn't meet her gaze. She rubbed her arm with her hand, in hopes to keep herself calm.
"Me and Caleb.. we broke up." Priya blurted flatly, as Millie's eyes widened. From the start, Millie hadn't been fond of Caleb, especially after learning he wanted her eliminated from the show to get closer to Priya. However.. she knew that he had made Priya happy. Happier than Millie had ever made her, it seemed.
"I'm sorry," Millie shifted slightly, glancing across the bedroom. She had genuinely felt bad for Priya. Despite her maybe not approving of who she decided to pair up with, she didn't want to see her best friend go unhappy.
"It's just.." Priya tried to speak, however the girls eyes welled back tears, making her break into uncontrolling sobs as she tried to finish her sentence. "Why does everyone I love result in me getting hurt?"
The question stung. Millie had been everyone. She of course had changed, she wasn't that person anymore. But the way it still could have possibly still been dwelling on Priya hurt to see.
"I.." Millie started, pausing as she let out a heavy sigh." "I don't know." She'd admit, looking to the floor, as Priya had done the same. "Some people just don't realize how their actions affect others. I've been there before," the girl would admit, her gaze full of sorrow as she slowly blinked.
"I just don't get it. Am I just being sensitive? Or is it really them?" Priyas hands waved around, lines of sweat rolling down her face. Her eyes welled with tears, her voice croaking as she spoke. "Or is it just me?"
Loud seconds of silence fell over the two girls, as Millie placed her hands in her lap. She wasn't good at replying straight away in these kinds of conversations, so she gave it some time. "It is not you, Priya." She would reply, her tone going flat.
Priya had finally turned her head over her shoulder to meet Millie's gaze, breaking into another cry. "What did I do to deserve this?" Priya would choke out, as Millie invited her into her own embrace. Accepting the invite, she entered Millie's grasp, sobbing in her best friend's arms.
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The two girls sat like that for a while. As time passed on, Priyas crying began to shorten into small, silent sobs. Millie hadn't said any thorn much to the girl, other than a few soothing 'it's gonna be okays,' and 'it's okay to let it out.'
Eventually, the heartbroken girl looked up at Millie, managing to shake off her tears. "Do you think i'll eventually find the right person?"
Millie pondered. It hadn't really took too much thought to think of an answer, however she wanted to make sure she came across the right way.
"Of course you will. Relationships just .. take time." The girl would reply at last, a grave look on her face. She had lost her focus, zoning out as she looked across the room.
With that response, Priya pulled away from Millie's grasp, as she fell back against the journalists bed. She stared up at the ceiling as she let out a huff.
"My time spent on the island has really taught me a thing or two, you know that?" Priya murmured. Millie turned her head as the brunette spoke, raising an eyebrow slightly. After a few trains of thoughts passed, she leaned back onto her bed as well, lying next to Priya.
The bookworm glanced at the girl who lay beside her, silently nagging her to go on.
"Yeah.. to understand the viewpoints of others, how to communicate, love." Priya slightly turned her head, meeting Millie's eyes, however soon turned away the moment she felt her flowing thoughts come to a stop. Let it out. Millie had once said, and that is just what Priya had intended to do.
"But also.." she paused, letting out a quiet hum as her thoughts recoiled. "About my parents."
Millie’s eyes would widen, glancing at the girl with a shocked look. Before, she had been angry when Millie had made comments on her parent’s choices in parenting, as well as how they acted from Priyas stories. However now, it seemed like her best friend’s viewpoint has changed. “What do you mean?” She’d ask.
Priya bit the side of her cheek nervously. “Oh, I don’t know,” the girl would mumble. “I guess i’m just now seeing the flaws in how I was raised. I’ve missed a lot of social cues,” the brunette came to admit, as Millie sat up.
The curly headed girl looked around the room, before her eyes batted back to Priya. “Coming to realize that must be hard,” Millie would murmur, looking away from her friend’s gaze. Had it been wrong to agree with her so openly?
“But as long as you can recognize it, I think things should be okay. You can still love your parents without agreeing with how they’ve treated you,” she’d continue, as Priya gave the journalist a small smile.
“Thank you,” she’d mumble, as she rolled over onto her side. Her beaming eyes met Millie’s once more, however the writer soon pulled away from Priyas glistening gaze. “Anytime, Priya.”
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Night later fell, and all the campers had been gathered back within the cottage. The 16 previous contestants usually hung out as a large group around this time, but tonight had been different.
Priya and Millie had both stuck around their room, with the exception of Millie going downstairs to bring up dinner. However, assuming from the vibe she got when entering the room, she could have guessed the teenagers were slowly picking up or hearing upon Priya and Caleb’s break up.
That had been hours ago, in which now a lot of the cast had seemed to call it an early night, or decided to spend their dark hours alone.
The two girls had spent the rest of the night in their room, just like how they’d spent most of their afternoon. Perhaps the isolation was good for them, just for tonight.
It hadn’t been too late, although Priya decided to head to sleep early that night. The situation between her and Caleb seemed to have worn her out.
This meant Millie was left with the night to herself. She could have went out of her room to leave Priya to rest, striking conversation with some of the campers that still hung around downstairs. Surely not everyone had called it an early night.
..however, she wasn’t feeling too social herself. Helping Priya was hard work already, and besides, she wanted to work on her new book.
She had papers of ideas sprawled out beside her, as well as her typical notebook and a pencil in hand. Her laptop to finalize her ideas sat in front of her as well, as being here meant they actually had online sources available and not just pen and paper. However she couldn’t seem to decide on an idea for her story.
With this, she tried to replay a lot of her previous concepts she had. Trying to mash some of them together, getting rid of a few pitches.. however nothing was speaking to her.
Until, a new thought formed in her mind. Her conversation with Priya earlier that day sparked an idea, as her eyes widened, despite the room being so dark and gloomy it had been hard to take notice.
Right as her ideas began to form, she reached out for her computer in front of her, and began to type away at the keys.
‘ 0.1, the stumbles to happiness ’
A small smile formed on Millie’s face, only noticeable by the small amount of light her computer screen affected the dark room she had been sitting in.
Millie had finally got an idea for her book, and it had all been inspired by the girl she called her best friend.
She glanced over across the room over at Priya, however the girl had been dead asleep, assured by her loud snoring. However, it had been pretty easy to tone out, between her racing thoughts and the tapping of her computer keys.
Millie stayed awake for hours as she chipped away at the first chapter of her book. She’d been working on it the whole time she had been here at Playa Des Losers, and she finally came up with a good storyline.
Perhaps this would be the start of something real successful for Millie.