Chapter Text
In the worst moments of life, the world goes quiet, stops still, and you're left alone with your thoughts.
Julia felt it sitting alone on a ship returning to Toronto. She heard no loud music, no yacht engine, no sound of the sea. Only absolute silence and one question in her head:
How the fuck did that happen?
In her head, she was replaying the last few hours of her life over and over again. The moment, the raptor bit off more than half of her hair, leaving her with a messed up mullet. The moment she was blasted off the dock, only to find out she lost a million dollars to arguably the biggest idiot on Earth (at least that’s what she thought). It took her back even further in time. She thought about how she dominated the whole season and made it to the finals even though everyone hated her (rightfully so). Well… almost everyone.
There was only one person who was able to distract her from all the thoughts that tormented her. A certain short kleptomaniac with a raspy voice and sarcasm written in her soul. She was her anchor… and the blonde didn’t know why.
Literally a year earlier, she wanted nothing to do with her. She treated her like an annoying bug that she wanted to trample on, and she even managed to do so when she eliminated her last season. Just one of the few obstacles on her way to a million.
However, something changed the moment she watched the first season on TV. She saw how clever and cunning the ravenette could be. And on top of that, she was partly grateful to her for revealing her true nature. If it wasn't for her, Julia would probably still be stuck in her idealized lie. Instead, she made herself known to the world as one of the greatest villains in television history. And she was happy and proud of it.
‘Why not join forces with someone as evil as me?’ She thought, and that's exactly what she did. As soon as both of them landed on the same team again, they decided to form an alliance. And they absolutely crashed the competition… by cheating, but still.
And somewhere along the way, Julia felt a close connection to MK. They had so much fun crushing others with trash cans and logs. Julia was impressed by MK’s intelligence, while MK was impressed by Julia’s viciousness. You could pretty much say that they deserved each other.
However, by the time they reached the merge, their deceptions have been exposed, and MK took all the blame. Might be a good excuse to stab a dark-haired girl in the back again. But this time, Julia didn't want MK to get eliminated. She literally went to the opposing team and begged them not to vote her ally off. And since Julia had an extraordinary ability to persuade others, her pleas worked. She was able to convince the rest to get rid of the biggest threat in the game and her arch-enemy — Bowie.
The next day, Julia admitted she was worried about MK going home. And the moment the ravenette asked her, ‘Why? Because you like me?’, Julia felt unexpectedly nervous. She had absolutely no idea what to say. She couldn't help but admit that she did — she really liked her. And it seemed like reciprocity, because MK admitted, that ‘Julia is actually kinda cool when she’s not destroying your life’.
However, their newfound friendship was immediately put to the test. Because during the challenge to improve her situation, Julia sabotaged MK. But for the first time in her life, she felt absolutely no pleasure or satisfaction in it. She felt what it meant to feel guilty. In fact, the blonde felt so bad about it, she avoided the ravenette for a while. Only to find out that she didn't hold a grudge against her for the whole situation. Julia could breathe a sigh of relief.
However, the idyll did not last long. A few days later, both their heads were on a chopping block. MK tried her best to send Julia home, but, again, it didn't work. However, the girls separated on good terms. As MK said, ‘Game recognizes game’. They even hugged each other, which was completely new to them, as neither of them had ever had any real friends in their lives.
Although she didn't show it, the separation was hard for Julia. She needed someone to talk to and joke with. For the first time in a long time, she felt something was missing. She didn't think about things like that very often. Julia was an inward-looking person, who was mainly interested in things that are valuable and beneficial to her. She rarely thought about other people. She thought the world belonged to her and others just lived in it. And yet, during that time, she felt that there was someone in the world who meant to her… almost as much as she meant to herself.
And then MK came back for the season finale. Not only that, but she was literally the only person, out of 13 eliminated campers, who wanted Julia to win. It showed the blonde that their friendship was real. The ravenette even saw the blonde at her all-time low, when the raptor bit off much of her hair. MK has never seen Julia in such a vulnerable state. She cried, erasing her mascara because of that, and the blonde wasn’t exactly the type of person who would openly show such emotions. The ravenette tried her best to comfort her friend, but she failed badly at it.
After a long and fierce battle with Caleb and Wayne, it ended in hockey bro's victory. Julia wasn't able to accept it. She worked so hard, she won so many challenges, she cheated, lied and manipulated people… and she lost to a guy who sometimes didn't know what he was doing there.
And that's how she got to where she was thinking about everything. She was sitting on the ship alone, away from the others, while everyone else went wild and celebrated Wayne's victory. All she wanted was to blow up the party, even the whole ship. Because that's how Julia saw the world around her. If she's not happy, no one else can be.
‘Julia? Dude? Are you there?’
She was knocked out of her trance by a familiar raspy voice. The only voice she wanted to hear right now. MK stood centrally above her. However, the blonde's expression remained unmoved. She was too exhausted to show any more emotion.
‘Yeah, I’m here. Can’t see?’ She answered nervously.
‘Woah, easy, girl. I’m just worried, that’s all’ MK said calmly.
‘You worried? That’s something new’ The blonde told sarcastically. MK simply rolled her eyes.
‘Whatever. Forgive me for disrupting the peace, princess’ The ravenette responded, ready to turn around and walk away. Julia sighed loudly as she started feeling bad about this situation.
‘Wait!’
She screamed perfectly before the dark-haired girl had time to leave.
‘I’m sorry…’ She mumbled under her nose.
‘Excuse me. What did you say?’ She moved a bit closer and put her ear up.
‘I’m sorry…’ The blonde grounded her apologies out.
‘I don’t think I understand language. English, please’ MK kept mocking her.
‘I’M SORRY, OKAY?! LOOK, I DON’T USE THOSE WORDS VERY OFTEN!’
‘There, was it that hard?’
‘Yes’ The blonde rolled her eyes. ‘It’s just that… I’m a little tired, and the fact that I need to snap back to reality after all this craziness is a bit… overwhelming. That’s all’
‘I get you, bruh’ MK smiled awkwardly. ‘If you want to, I’ll leave you alone for now. Is that cool?’
Julia nodded quietly.
‘Okay. Talk to you later, girl’ Dark haired said, leaving the blonde with her thoughts.
But… what will be later?