AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well, this is a day late. This is a story written for Applauze, a wonderful friend I made on here. Sorry again for delivering this present late, but hopefully the content makes up for it.

A reunion party with fellow ex-participants in a reality show that was no longer running. Not my ideal method for occupying my time on Christmas Eve. I had no desire whatsoever to meet old faces from the deplorable reality show that was called Total Drama, I had no desire to "party" with those people, and I had no desire to see their reactions to my arrival. I suspected their reactions would be more of horror than excitement to seeing me after a decade.

"I don't know how I agreed to this." I walked toward a standard hotel with Cody, my husband, holding his hand the way conventional couples do.

His face turned toward me, but only his blue eyes were visible in the dark. "Relax, Scarlett! It'll be fine, I promise. I'll even get to introduce you to some of my old pals!"

"That'll be stimulating," I said monotonously. In reality, encountering my own "old pals" was what I most wanted to avoid. This was not how I desired to squander my Christmas.

Cody gave me a stern look, one that reminded me of why we were there. "Now, Scarlett, you said you would try your best to have fun. Please try to have an open mind about this."

I sighed. "Alright. I'll try." Somehow, I kept forgetting the one reason I was doing this: Cody. If I remembered, I could perhaps manage to survive in the graveyard of memories I was about to visit. Perhaps my fellow peers had even forgotten what I had done in my brief TD run.

Highly unlikely.

"You can't be afraid of your past forever."

Scarlett looked up at Cody, who was giving her a gentle, but firm expression. They faced each other on a couch surrounded by lamp light. Scarlett lowered her eyes. "I'm aware. However, I would not prefer to approach it so abruptly."

"You won't be there alone, though," Cody said. "I'll be there with you." Scarlett shifted her eyes to the floor, and Cody lifted her chin to have her meet his eyes. "Scarlett. Even if no one understands you, I'll always understand who you are. Your past is irrelevant to me, you know that?"

She nodded tentatively. "I'll do it... for you."

Cody took her hand between his. "No. Do it for us."

Scarlett stared at him, memories flashing through her mind. Cody had convinced her a long time ago that love was real- not just a biological reaction. He had been attracted to her only physically at first, but he had soon shown a sincere dedication and admiration of her that had caught her by surprise. And after a while, she had come to develop an attachment toward him in return. To her, him and their relationship were one and the same.

It was decided. She would face the past with the present.

Cody and I were bathed by light as we walked inside. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, the walls gleaming like golden crystals. Christmas lights laced the pillars that supported the building structure. If this whole thing were to result in catastrophe, I could at least admire the interior.

I let Cody check us in at the reception desk. He turned around and walked back to me. "Room's third door to our right."

The lady looked between my sweater and Cody's; we were wearing "ugly sweaters" in celebration of Christmas, for the occasion was informal. I followed Cody down a hall that was lit gold to a door watched by a doorman. He looked at us warily, as expected. "You are?"

Cody jerked a thumb toward his chest. "I'm Cody Emmett Jameson Anderson, and this-" He put an arm around my waist- "is my good wife-"

"Scarlett Emily Jameson," I said, pulling his arm off.

The man looked down at a clipboard in his hands and checked us off. "Enjoy your evening." He stepped aside from the door.

"Thank you," I said, taking Cody's hand. I pushed open the door and froze. The room was filled with the dreadfully familiar people from Total Drama. Names surfaced in my memory. I had been dragged into a nightmare.

Cody walked straight into the crowd like it was nothing. "Trent!" He headed toward a black-haired man whom I vaguely remembered, and the man turned around. He grinned casually. "Hey, Cody! It's been ages!"

"I know, right?" They bumped fists. Typical behavior among males. "How you been, dude? Have a gig or a girlfriend or something?"

"Oh, lots," Trent chuckled. I wondered which subject he was referring to, if not both. "I see you've got a girl with you." He analyzed me, his eyelids slowly dropping. "Wait. Is that-?"

I received my first expression of horror for the night. Trent stumbled backwards. "Scarlett?"

Cody waved his hands out. "Whoa, wait, dude! She's not the same as before, trust me."

I stared as Trent scrutinized me the way a lepidopterist would a butterfly. "I do trust you, but how do you know you can trust her?"

"I made my wedding vows," I said blandly, holding out my finger with my wedding ring. Trent's jaw effectively dropped. "I have gradually reintegrated myself into society, however difficult it may be at times."

Trent made a rudimentary attempt to smile. "Uh... great." He turned back to Cody and put a hand behind his head. "So... uh... how did you two meet?"

"We met on a bridge in a park," Cody said proudly, sliding his arm around my shoulders again. Here it comes, I thought with a sigh.

"It was a hot summer day," Cody professed, "and the sun was beating down on us. I was trying my hand at fishing and- well, failing. But that's beside the point. I spotted Scarlett walking toward me from the corner of my eye, and I immediately thought that she was the prettiest woman I had ever seen. Her hair looked like it was on fire in the sunlight."

Cody caused me more embarrassment than anyone else in my entire life.

"I put down my fishing rod and approached her. The rest is history." He closed his eyes and nodded with a smile.

"You left out the part where you hooked yourself in the neck," I said.

His eyes opened wide. "Excuse me," I said to Trent, turning away from them.

"See you," he said, raising a tentative hand. I made my way toward a corner of the room, weaving around numerous social groups that had formed. I took an account of the attendance and made an intriguing observation: the less agreeable former contestants were largely absent. Luckily, this included Max. Those who were left could either be classified as odd, kind, desperate, or a mix of the traits: Beth, Brick, Bridgette, Cameron, Dakota, Dawn, DJ, Ella, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Izzy, Jasmine, Katie, Leonard, Lindsay, Mike, Owen, Rodney, Sadie, Sam, Samey, Sierra, Staci, Shawn, Sky, Trent, Tyler, and Zoey. Not much had changed in their behavior, an unfortunate constant for certain people, but everyone naturally looked older and more mature.

I arrived at my destination and breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted to cause was a scene. A table was nearby that held food and refreshments- I took a cookie in the shape of a Christmas tree. If I was to reside in a corner for the next hour and fifty minutes, I might as well acquire something out of it.

The pine tree in the middle of the room nearly touched the ceiling and was decorated in conventional Christmas colors. I was in the middle of conjecturing how the people would maneuver it in a dancing scenario when I became aware of a presence standing next to me. I turned and saw Dawn. "Greetings, Scarlett. I couldn't help but notice you were alone here."

"Hello, Dawn," I said monotonously.

"I see you aren't pleased to see me," she said. "I understand. You are used to being solitary, after all."

I had reached the conclusion long ago that Dawn made educated guesses about humans based on her observations, similar to my own method of individual analysis. That did not make her less disturbing in my eyes, however. "I take it that you were solitary as well, if you are here right now."

"I was. But earlier, I was speaking to Bridgette about animal rights."

I looked for Bridgette and saw her standing with Geoff while talking to Shawn and Jasmine. It was regrettable that she was still romantically attached to someone of drastically lower intelligence than her. I shifted my gaze to Cody, who had apparently moved on to Harold and Sierra. Both of us were aware that Sierra still held an attraction toward him, but I had made it clear many years ago what I was capable of doing to her.

"You have changed, Scarlett," Dawn said, drawing my attention once more. "You have much better control over your sociopathic tendencies, but you still fear making yourself vulnerable to others. Would not talking to the others be less boring for you, however?"

I was running out of patience. "I don't recall hiring you to be my therapist," I grumbled. "If you'll excuse me, I must attend to something else." I moved toward the other side of the room in the hopes that she would not follow. Unfortunately, someone else spotted me. Sky turned from Jasmine and gasped. Meeting my eyes, she scrunched her face into an expression that I can only describe as hatred.

"You!" She marched toward me. Everyone looked at me. I had been recognized. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in jail?"

"I went to a juvenile facility," I said. "I would have hoped that you'd have gotten over something that occurred ten years ago."

"You tried to kill us!" Sky spat. "What makes you think I'd get over that?"

"Yeah, that's something you don't forget," Jasmine said, joining her side.

Cody broke through the crowd and placed himself in front of me, stretching his arms outward. "Whoa, calm down, guys! Don't gang up on my wife!"

His last sentence produced a horror-movie reaction like no other. "You married her?" Shawn yelped.

My blood boiled. I felt a strong urge to twist Shawn's neck. I didn't deserve to be made a fool out of. "Yes, he did, Shawn," I hissed between my teeth. "He married me in spite of what I did ten years ago." I turned my eyes to everyone. "But since none of you can respect that, I suppose it'll be most beneficial for me if I leave. Goodbye." I turned around and strode to the door, letting people part for me. I opened it and went out, slamming it behind me.

I walked out the hotel toward my car. Fishing out my key from my purse, I popped open the trunk and took out a flamethrower that I had been concealing inside in case of emergencies. But now, I wanted revenge.

I walked back toward the entrance. Cody burst through the doors, and I froze. "Scarlett! What the heck are you doing?"

"Distributing a present to everyone," I muttered.

He grabbed my hand before I could continue toward the door. "Get a hold of yourself! Do you know the consequences if you use that? Where did you even get a flamethrower?"

"I won't let you get in my way, Cody," I snapped. "I'm doing this." I dragged him with me and opened the door, walking purposefully toward the room. I tuned out the receptionist as she spoke loudly at me and called security. The man at the door got in my way, but I pointed the flamethrower at him, and he moved aside.

I shot a blast of fire toward the ceiling and relished in the screams that followed. Aiming at anything in the setting, I set the food and refreshments, the wreaths, and the chandelier on fire. I melted a nativity scene and all of the poinsettia displays. Lastly, I torched the tree and watched it go down in flames, nearly hitting people. It soothed the flame inside of me.

"That's her!" I turned around and felt arms constrict my own. My flamethrower was ripped from my hands, and Cody helplessly tried to explain my actions to the security guards. They dragged me out the door toward the entrance, and I smiled.

It was worth it.