Reality TV has always been my guilty pleasure. The drama, fighting, scripted "love stories", all of it easily caught my attention. So, it was safe to say when I was scrolling through on my phone while doing my homework and seeing an AD pop up with an application for a brand new TV show on a 5 star resort, I simply couldn't help myself. The cash prize really caught my attention, 100k would really help me with college. Fuck it.

"Thalia! I have a task for you and don't you dare laugh or judge me." I yelled, setting up my camera and tripod to film my absolute tragedy that will be my audition. Thalia has been my best friend since 8th grade and once we graduated our senior year, we packed our bags and found a place to live together. We basically lived together all throughout high school anyways. Staying at each other's houses, picking each other up when some stupid shit would happen with our parents or siblings. We were each others family now.

"What's up, Aspen?" Her cherry hair and steel eyes peeked through my doorway. Her eyes landed on the camera and then shifted back to me. She cut her eyes and pushed the door open until she was completely in my room. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"I said don't judge! I just need you to make sure that my audition tape comes out okay." I crossed my arms, watching her try not to laugh at me.

"You are ridiculous, but I'm so behind this. What show are you auditioning for?"

"Some challenge show at some resort and the host is some guy named Chris Mc-something. He's done a lot of shows."

"Oh my god, Chris McLean?! I've loved him on that cooking show, not to mention he isn't bad looking either."

"T, he's old enough to be your dad."

"NO, he's 14 years older than me. Don't judge me if I'm not allowed to judge you. Now lets get your ass on this show."

Thalia adjusted herself behind the camera and gave me a thumbs up when the red light made its appearance.

"Hi, my name is Aspen Lancaster, I'm 20 years old and I am currently studying to become an orthodontist. Have to say, McLean you have very pretty teeth!" My eyes widened and I smacked my hand to my forehead. "Alright let's move past that...I'm applying cause the prize money would be absolutely amazing for my college debt and I'm not gonna lie, getting away to a 5 star resort would help tremendously with my nerves-"

"And help her possibly get laid!' T shouted from behind the camera, shooting me a wink.

"T! Please ignore her, I get laid plenty...wait, no that's not what i meant. Oh fuck it, look. I'm not the best with words, but hey I don't think I'm too hard on the eyes. You be the judge McLean."

With that T cut the camera and immediately burst out laughing. "God, Chris is gonna get the biggest kick outta you. He'll love you."

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Going through my finished assignments, my email sounded off and caught my attention. It had been 5 days since I sent in my audition tape. I just thought they'd skim through it, get a couple laughs and then delete it. You could say I was more than surprised when I read the email.

"Congratulations, Miss Lancaster! You've been picked to be a contestant on Canada's new hit show! You and 22 other contestants will be brought to the resort and have the time of your lives. Remember 100k is on the line! Production will start in 7 days, so hop on it! Can't wait to have your personality involved."

From Chris McLean and the production team.

"Holy shit! T, you won't believe th-" I was cut off tripping over a hard but fluffy mound. "Damnit Moose. You can't lay on the floor and then expect me not to trip over you when I'm excited." The brown lab huffed in response and continued with his nap. Recuperating after my fall I continued onto T's room. "T! I got in. They actually picked me." Flinging her door open she fell off the bed with a scream.

"You're kidding! Hell yeah, I knew Chris would pick you. He loves compliments, so you talking about his teeth absolutely worked in your favor. When do you leave?" I could see the excitement radiating off her.

"7 days." I trailed off, realizing it was such short notice.

"We can work with that. I have a pretty large suitcase you can borrow, but what about school?"

"I just finished up my finals for the semester and I'll only be gone 8 weeks, unless I get kicked then it'll be even less time."

"Alright, then why are we standing here, we gotta get you packed up and a whole new wardrobe for national TV!"

We spent the next week getting me packed up and making sure everything was taken care of at home to make it a bit easier on Thalia. It's now the day of leaving and I gave T one last hug before stepping on to the boat that was gonna take me to my new home for the next couple weeks.

The wind whipped my hair around as the boat skipped on the water. Mounds of trees were planted on the horizon and a large cliff caught my attention as the boat made a turn around a large hill. In the distance, some cabins came into view and my body became fueled with annoyance. Definitely not a 5 star resort. What the hell were we gonna do in a place like this? Role play as some camp counslors? No way in hell.

AS the boat came closer to the docks, the cliff in the back became larger and my annoyance was now replaced with anxiousness. I was now peeling the skin of my lips with my teeth and gripping onto the edge of the boat so tightly my knuckles were turning white. Three other contestants were standing on the dock, looking absolutely pissed off as the boat was pulling up to the edge.

The boat finally came to a halt, making me lose my balance and flying me over the edge and landing on my ass. Well there's that for a first impression. Thankfully, a teal haired girl was nice enough to come over and give me a hand helping me up. Her and a much larger guy helped me with my things while giving me a sweet smile. "Welcome Aspen to your  new friends and home for the next couple weeks." Chris smiled, shooting me a wink when he noticed me looking at his teeth again.

"You mean we're staying here?" The girl who helped me, who I learned was named Gwen. Her face turning into an annoyed scowl.

"No, you're staying here. My crib is an airstream with A.C. that way." Chris stated oh so proudly.

"I did not sign up for this. You can't make us stay here."

" Actually, you did. And don't think about shredding anything either. You see the great thing about lawyers, they make copies of everything. So, that wasn't my only copy." Chris flashed her his pearly whites, earning a groan from her lips as she pulled her luggage to stand next to me.

The next contestant to pull up was Geoff, a blonde southern boy wearing a cowboy hat with a pink shirt that was completely unbuttoned to show off his chest. He jumped off the boat and made his way to Chris and talked to him like they were old pals, using man or dude every other word.

"If they say man or dude one more time, I'm gonna puke." Gwen stated, making me chuckle and nod my head agreeing with her statement.

A blonde, long-legged, taller girl came stepping onto the dock. She was absolutely beautiful. The standard blond haired, blue-eyed girl with a large chest and had a killer smile. Her skin was glowing under the sun, making her tanned skin almost sparkle. Once she opened her mouth I realized Chris picked her based entirely on her looks because...well, she wasn't the brightest bulb in the tanning bed.

I could feel the bitchiness radiate off the next girl. Charcoal colored hair, a fierce expression on her face, and it seemed as if her lips were either always meant to be in a permanent scowl or an evil smirk. Either way, I already didn't trust her.

Heavy rock music sounded out in the water, getting closer and making our heads turn to the new sound. As the new contestant grew closer, I could make out the neon green mohawk, many facial piercings, and a very rugged shirt with a skull on it. His ride came to a stop and i could see the pure enjoyment in Chris's eyes as newcomer scanned the let down of our surroundings.

"Duncan, dude!" Chris exclaimed as Duncan threw his bags onto the dock before jumping off the side of the boat.

"I don't like surprises." Duncan stated, holding up his fist at Chris.

"Yeah, your parole officer warned me about that, man. He also told me to give him a holler anytime and have you returned to juvie. " Chris gave him some finger guns and gave him that same devilish smirk he gave Gwen earlier. Duncan rolled his eyes and walked over to the rest of the contestants, standing in between me and i believe DJ is his name.

"Meet you by the campfire, gorgeous." Duncan had a smug smile playing on his as he slung his bag over his shoulder and touched gently under my chin. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't keep the smile off my lips.

Tyler was the next one to make a grand entrance, not only bruising his manhood, but for sure taking a hit to his ego as well. A red head, oily-faced, lanky boy let out a loud sigh, taking our attention away from Tyler and his groin injury.

Harold was the only that was actually excited to be at a run down camp instead of the resort that was plastered all over our applications.A shaggy haired boy holding a guitar was next to step onto the dock. He gave a cute, little smile and made his way to stand between Gwen and Duncan. He shot a sweet smile to Gwen, causing her to look away and fighting a smile herself. I support this so much, their opposite but work so well. A blonde girl, holding onto her surfboard came in, swinging her board around absent mindly, almost knocking a few of us out. She gave a sweet smile before making her way to stand with the rest of us.

A bigger, dark skinned girl came in, telling everyone hey, being friendly and smiling at everyone. She was the only other person to be nice and enjoy people besides Beth I noticed Harold couldn't stop staring at her, just oogling her with his eyes. "I've never seen a girl like you in real life before." Harold stated as he continued to hold his gaze on her. Mine and everyone else's eyes widened at his lack of filter.

"Excuse me?" The girl stated, turning to Harold with her hands on her hips.

"You're really big. And LOUD." Harold enunciated big and loud, using hand gestures. The girl went absolutely awol. As she should. She went to charge him, but DJ and Bridgette were hot on her trail, grabbing ahold of her.

Some girls in matching hideous striped shirts and hot pink shorts stepped off, finishing each other's sentences and giggling at everything surrounding them. God i hope they're not in my cabin. Eva, a girl with a unibrow, stout figure, and more built than most of the guys. I felt my body go rigid when she made eye contact with me. She's fucking terrifying, I'm steering clear of her.

A loud, bigger guy named Owen came and wrapped his arms around Chris, lifting him in the air and spinning him around. Courtney, who seemed really preppy, was after him, while she introduced herself she stopped and stared at the "male model" whose name was Justin who came rolling in. His eyes and skin sparkled in the sun, I can understand the appeal of him, but he just seems like he'd use his looks to be an absolute dick. Definitely not my type.

We were all shaken out of our thoughts when the last contestant came and literally crashed into the dock, causing her baggage to fly into the water and slamming her chin onto the edge of the dock. Gwen and I began cackling, doubling over as Izzy resurfaced from the water.

"Guys, it's not funny! She could be really hurt!" Courtney ran over to the edge, cutting her eyes over to Gwen and I. Once she pulled Izzy out, she shook the water off herself like a dog. She then began rambling on until Chris cut her off.

"Before we show you guys where you're staying, we've gotta get a cast picture! Everyone gather around and lets get it going!" Chris yelled as he gathered us all at the other end of the dock. Chris stood back on the beach focusing the camera on our little group. Gwen and I stood near the outside, keeping close together and putting a smile on our face. Chris took one picture but apparently it wasn't good enough. As he situated to take the second picture, the dock began to creak and slant. My stomach dropped and had no time to react before the docks legs gave away and we all made our way into the chilling waters.

I pushed my legs as hard as I could to get to the surface, gasping for air, pushing my soaked hair out of my face. Trying to fill my lungs again, i rubbed subconsciously at my eyes, completely forgetting about the mascara I was wearing. Making my way to the beach, I rang my clothes and hair out, just thankfully our luggage didn't make it into the water.

"Alright, campers! Meet at the campfire site in 10!" Chris yelled, before ducking off and leaving us to grab our luggage.

"That look suites you, doll" A voice came from behind me. I turned to meet eyes with Duncan, he motioned to around my eyes, smirked and made his way to the campfire. I wiped around my eyes and huffed out a breath seeing the remainder of my mascara on my fingers. Gwen looked over at me with the exact same raccoon eyes and we stuck close to each other as we followed the other campers to the campfire.

Chris began going into the spiel of whoever stays the longest wins, going over the layout of the camp, and expressing how tiring the challenges will be on our bodies.

"Excuse me, what will the sleeping arrangements be? Because i'd like a bunk, under her?" Duncan retorted, pointing to me, making my face heat up.

"Please tell me the cabins aren't coed." Heather begged, absolutely repulsed by Duncan's comment.

"Girls get one side of each cabin and dudes get the other." Chris smiled proudly.

"Excuse me, Kyle? Can i have a cabin with a lake view since i'm the prettiest?" Lindsay asked, smiling so happily.

"Okay you are but that's not really how it works here. And, it's Chris." Chris looked so taken aback by Lindsay as i stifled a giggle. "Here's the deal, we're gonna split you up into two teams, if i call your name out go stand over there." Chris motioned to the left side of the fire pit.

"Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Katie, Owen, LeShawna, Justin, and Noah! From this moment on you'll officially be known as the Screaming Gophers!" They all cheered to be gophers, I sighed a bit though, hating that i couldn't be on the same team as Gwen. She's like the only person who seems tolerable, maybe besides Bridgette or LaShawna

"Wait! what about sadie?"Katie cried out, looking like she was on the verge of tears. I rolled my eyes at how dramatic those two girls were.

"The rest of you over here. Geoff, Bridgette, DJ, Tyler, Sadie, Izzy, Courtney, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva, Harold and Aspen!" My heart thumped in my chest as i looked at my new "teammates". Sadie went on wailing about she needed to be a gopher until Courtney consoled her. "You guys will officially be know as the Killer Bass!"

"All right campers! You and your team will be on camera in all public areas during this competition. You'll also be able to share your innermost thoughts on tape with video diaries whenever you want. Let the audience at home know what you're really thinking or just get something off your chest."

"Any questions? Cool! Now let's go find your cabins! Gophers, you're in the east cabin. Bass, you're in the west!" We all seperated checking out a new "home" for the next 8 weeks (or however long we all last). I open the door to dingy, worn down bunk beds, with a pale yellow rug that looks like it use to hold a nice design on it.

~~~~

"Is this thing always recording? How in the world does this work? God i'm not cut out for this shit. Oh my god, what did I just touch? It reeks, I think I'm gonna be sick! Was Owen in here before me?!" I plugged my nose and retched while opening the door.

~~~~

Moving my bags into the cabin and onto the bed underneath Courtney, praying I don't regret it, but the bed above Bridgette had already been claimed. Once everything was settled I heard everyone gathering outside to make conversation and get to know everyone.

"Yo Chris, is there any sort of chaperone or supervising adults around?" Geoff asking, getting a chuckle out of Chris.

"You're all over the age 18 years old. That's even older than a counselor in training at a regular summer camp. So other than myself and the camera crew, you'll be unsupervised." Chris shrugged, walking away as he left us to unpack and get ready to meet up later. A weight was lifted off my shoulders that we were trusted by ourseleves, but also it's a bit concerning with some of the campers we have.

A loud shriek startled everyone, causing us to rush over to where the sound came from, Lindsay's cabin. "Man that white girl can scream." LeShawna stated, peering into the cabin.

"What is it? Kill it! Kill It!" Lindsay was now standing on the stool as a cockroach crawling  around the floor. Now both DJ and Lindsay were freaking out, DJ jumped on to a bed causing it to snap in half.

"That was my bed." Gwen sighed, putting her hand to her forehead. The screaming continued as everyone tried to squish the cockroach, i stayed as far back to avoid being in anyones way. Before we knew it, Duncan split the thing in half with a damn AXE!

"That's one way to kill a cockroach." I chuckled, leaning against the doorway. Duncan shot me a smirk and sauntered off back to his cabin.

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"Listen up! I serve it three times a day and you'll eat it three times a day! Grab your tray, get your food, and sit your butts down now! " Chef yelled as we formed a line in the mess hall. Chef began plopping a reddish meat substance onto everyone's tray. Harold and Beth went on about the food groups and needing proper nutrients, which only aggravated Chef, resulting in him yelling.

"Okay, i hate to be predictable and complain on the first day, but i think mine just moved." Gwen stated, staring cautiously at her "food". I flinched next to her when Chef smashed it with his mallet, sending the "meat" flying, coating Gwen and I in meat specks. We quietly took our seats and tried our best to clean ourselves up.

"All right campers! Your first challenge begins in one hour." Chris comes into the main lodge, giving us a devilish grin.

"What do you think they'll make us do? Nothing major right? it's our first challenge, it can't be that hard..right?" I whispered to Gwen, as she stared back at me with hopefulness.

You remember that big cliff from earlier i was telling you about? Well, here we all were standing at the very top of this cliff, in our bathing suits, staring down what looked to be like our deaths. They can't be serious..

~~~~~~
Next Time on Total Drama Island!
The campers first task is to jump off this 1000 foot high cliff into the lake!

"I'm looking at this guy and thinking, "there's no way he's gonna make it.""

"I actually thought, if he jumps this...he's gonna die."

"I'm going to die now. I'm going to freaking die now!"