A/N: Since the end of one of my other fics is nearing, I've decided to go ahead and start posting this TDI story I've been writing for awhile. I've held off on it just to get a head start, so I've already gotten the first few chapters of this story done, so I hope people like it.

This story only contains the first main cast, plus Alejandro and Sierra. I suppose I'm also changing canon a little bit to make it...less ridiculous? Not major changes, but lets just pretend Alejandro was never a robot for a year or the island was never a radioactive mutant wasteland.

"This MTV red carpet look offends me. She looks like she's hand sewn a throw pillow into a questionable looking A-line skirt, and I know crop tops are all the rage right now, but if I see one more peek-a-boo navel on a red carpet, I will scream. Done to death. This look is boring me. Plus those shoes with the ankle strap so thick it looks like a house arrest anklet? A style Lindsay Lohan could pull off, maybe, but everyone else can put them down and step away slowly with their hands in the air

Heathers fingers stopped tapping at her keyboard as she sat back and re-read her last paragraph. There. Done. Another article slamming the fashion moves of the elite and famous was complete and ready to send off to her editor.

Working as a columnist for one of the leading women's magazines, 'Scandalous' was a career Heather never thought would be so rewarding. All she did was get paid to write bitchy insults and jokes about famous peoples personal taste.

It was like the job was made for her.

"Knock knock" a pair of people said as they pushed their way into her office, without actually knocking.

Ok, well it wasn't actually her office, she shared with about five other people, but still. She was more important.

The people who just walked in were some of these lesser important people. Brandi Belluci . An assistant editor who's main goal in life was to publish the most blatantly false gossip articles and accuse at least one actress of being pregnant a week, and Dennis Cooper, her partner in crime who made Perez Hilton look kind in his articles. He was the meanest queen to ever coif his hair and deny wearing covergirl concealer.

Collectively they were sued four times in the last year and they wore that like a badge of pride. Forget two faced, this pair had about five faces each, and Heather couldn't stand them. Not so much because of their shady backhanded journalism and questionable morals, but more because she once overheard them calling her Miu Miu shoes tacky in the breakroom one time.

She vowed to hate them forever.

"Brandi! Hiiiii, how are you girl?! Oh my god, Dennis, your shoes are to die. I love"

Of course, they didn't know that.

They all exchanged air kisses and hugs.

"We're good, we're good. Just came back from a sushi lunch at that new place on the avenue, you have to go there. You have to come with us some time!" Brandi said with the second fakest smile you can imagine.

"Oh my gosh, I would love too! Next tuesday, sushi lunch date, all three of us. Its happening" Heather said with the fakest smile you can imagine.

She'd rather stab a chopstick in her eye, to be honest.

"So, hows the MTV article going? Found enough ways to creatively insult teen pop stars yet?" Brandi said as she perched herself on Heathers desk.

"Please, they practically write the insults themselves. Whats the big cover scandal you're working on now?"

"Oh, it's a pretty slow news week, but I'm about eighty nine percent certain that Kris Jenner's had a botched boob job, and one of those Direction singers might be gay, so that's what's going to print" Brandi shrugged.

"We just can't decide if we should make the blonde, or the one no one knows, the gay one" Dennis added "That's what our next meeting in half an hours about"

"Why don't you make the popular one gay? You know, Harry?" Heather said.

"Nah, he's slept with too many women, nobody would believe it" Dennis waved her off just as Brandi slammed her hand down on the table, struck by a genius idea.

"We could say he's sleeping with Kris Jenner!"

Dennis gasped "Brilliant! He moved on from her daughter with the milf herself" he gasped again "I can already see the title! Kardashian Kougar pounces in an unexpected direction!"

"Oh em gee, we're amazing"

"I know, I love us"

Heather stared at the two as they exchanged a fistbump.

"So...anyway, what are you guys...you know. Doing here?"

"Oh, god, yeah. Sorry, I got distracted by our genius" said Brandi "We wanted to ask you something"

"A favour, kind of"

Heather frowned a little "What? Why? What's happened?"

These people were not the kind of people who just wanted 'favours'. She'd heard from one of the interns that Brandi had onced asked her to sneak in to a Prada boutique changeroom, just to try and get a photo of Drew Barrymore's cellulite.

She needed to proceed with caution.

"No, no, no, don't stress, it's nothing major. Gosh, you always assume the worst" Brandi said before sighing "It's just that Halloween's coming up and you know how it is, all the same old tired people are throwing the same old tired parties and we're sick of it . We need something fun to go too this year"

Dennis nodded "Yeah, we can't go to Rochelle's haunted house party again, because last year Brandi got molested in the graveyard prop set or whatever, and threw her drink on the guy, but turns out it was Spencer Pratt and we were escorted out by security"

"It's true. Heidi Montag totally shaded me on twitter as well, but took it down the next day. No lie"

Heather knew what this was about without asking, as soon as they mentioned halloween party, and it made a knot in her stomach tighten.

"And we were just wonderiiing" Dennis said in a sing-song voice, and Heather had to hold back a grimace "-since we all heard about that amazeballs party you threw last new years, and then the stories from your birthday party we're even more wild-"

Please god no. Don't ask. Don't do this to me.

"We totally want to come to your Halloween party!"

"Pleeeease" Brandi clasped her hands together "I know it's so lame to beg, and don't tell anyone we did but we're desperate"

"We are. We want to go to a real celeb halloween party. We know you know Alejandro, I'm like obsessed with the latest episodes of days of our lives, just to watch him because he's so gorgeous. Plus I need to meet Lindsay. I want to see her in person so I can tell if her boobs are real or not"

Heather tried to smile apologetically.

There was no way she wanted them at one of her parties. How the hell did she get out having them coming within ten feet of her personal property?

"Oh, guys..sorry, but I'm not actually throwing a halloween party this year-"

"We saw you using work equipment to print out the invites last week" Brandi said.

The knot in her stomach tightened.

"Um...well, I..."

You see, when Heather first landed her job here at Scandalous , she felt...a little out of her league. Which was not a familiar feeling for her. All of these people were glamourous, and had designer bags, with hair as shiny as a Kardashians. They all had money and were ruthlessly mean...just like Heather. She fit in perfectly, but she wasn't a big fish in a little pond anymore, the things that had made Heather a queen bee all her life were suddenly just average traits in this world. She needed something else to rise above them all.

She needed star power.

To be honest she would have rather left her total drama days behind her. After all, who wants their ruthless co-workers getting their hands on old episodes of her being puked on, losing her bikini top, being shaved bald and just generally being humiliated for three seasons worth of entertainment...but it was to bound to be found out eventually that yes she was that Heather from that show, and no her hair was not currently a wig.

Heather just decided to make the best of it. Since a few of her co-stars had gone on to make decent celebrity careers for them selves...she would just name drop going to lunch with Lindsay for example, who was now featured as the 'prize' girl on a new total drama spin off game show. Or that she was visiting her friend LeShawna, a TV show host for a new top forty music hits show. It started as little things like that, even if she hadn't actually talked to any of these people since Total Drama ended.

Then it had to just kind of snow balled. ...she might have escalated the celeb stories to saying Kimye had asked her to their wedding next year and that she had Ryan Seacrest on snap chat.

Just tiny little white lies really.

The only true part to these stories were her parties. Heather did throw very good parties. It's just that the most remotely famous person to ever show up had been Justin Timberlake's personal shopper one time.

Of course, it would be rather hard to keep up this charade of social status if her co-workers showed up to her party and there were in fact no actual celebrities.

"Look, I know what you're worried about" Brandi said, misreading Heather's slightly panicked face "We promise we won't be all weird around your celebrity guests, and we won't be in gossip reporter mode either, no columns about anything that goes on that night, swear to god"

Heather didn't believe that for a second, but that was the least of her worries anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just that..um"

Theres too many people coming already? It's too late to send a changed guest list to the caterer? …..I'm holding the party in barcelona this year and it's too late for you to catch a flight? I think I'm coming down with malaria?

No excuse Heather could think of this second was good enough. They were looking at her expectantly. These were co-workers she spent half her time sucking up too just to get ahead at this job. More important, if she didn't suck up to them, they could make her life hell...and not just by insulting every pair of designer shoes she owned. Heather was sure they would reign down a far harsher brand of humiliation if her lying was exposed.

"...I'll see you next friday at eight then! Better have a fab costume!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Oh god, what the hell am I going to do. This is a nightmare. I'm moving back to Korea to live with my grandmother and work the rice paddy for the rest of my life in shame" Heather cried as she flung herself down onto her double bed, phone clutched to her ear.

"What I just don't get is how investigative reporters didn't pick up on the fact you were lying the whole time. Did you really tell them you went on a date with Robert Pattison? Wouldn't they ask for a photo, or a text, or?"

"I told them we were on the down low because he was still with K. Stew back then, and I sent myself fake texts"

"...and they really believe you're invited to Kimye's wedding?"

"Alejandro, they're not real reporters, they just make crap up after they've had their eleven am glass of Mosacato in order to get a pay check. They swallow this stuff so easily, plus you know first hand how much of an amazing liar I am.

"True" Alejandro laughed through the phone.

Ok, so Heather had in fact kept in contact with one of her cast mates. Sporadically. Mostly Alejandro was busy in New York shooting episodes of days of our lives, where he played a wealthy son of an oil tycoon who was sleeping with his stepmother, his rivals girlfriend and his adopted cousin, while recovering from amnesia after he was put in a coma from being shot by his twin brother for the right to the family fortune.

It was an awful show and Heather had denied to this day ever watching it...and getting addicted to it...and Tivoing every episode. The last person on earth who could know this was Alejandro himself.

I mean...right now she would class them as friends. Good friends. Who had once been enemies. Who had hooked up a few times. Then gone on to have a somewhat serious relationship. Then break up again. Then hate each other. Then have revenge hook ups. Then trying a friends with benefits thing. Then dating again. Then another more amicable break up than before...and then there was that time they met in a hotel room five months ago when she visited New York. But now they were just friends again...maybe.

In a nutshell, their facebook relationship status had been set to 'It's complicated' more often than it had ever said 'In a relationship'.

Still, he was the first person she ever thought to call when their was a crisis. Or have a whinge too. This was kind of both.

"But what can I say? Oh, sorry, all of my famous friends just came down with the same cold at the same time? I think everyone must have taken a wrong left turn and got lost on their way here?"

"Yeah, more lies, I'm sure that'll help"

"You think this is funny, don't you? You're enjoying yourself right now"

"Little bit"

Heather let out a groan and slammed her face into a pillow "This isn't funny, this is tragic. I'll be a laughing stock"

"You did kind of dig your own grave here with this one"

"Well, no shit, so now how do I climb my way back out? A few ideas would be nice, if you have them"

"Umm...I guess you could just call around. Try actually inviting some of the people you claim will be there"

"And do you have Kim Kardashian and Kanye Wests phone number on you?"

"I don't mean them, obviously, I mean everyone from Total Drama. Lindsay, LeShawna, Duncan, everyone else. Ask them to come along, they might actually want too. There not exactly on level with Kimye in terms of fame but it's something"

Heather suddenly un-mushed her face from the duvet covers and sat up "Thats...not a bad idea actually" her brain started ticking "I know most of them live here in the city anyway. It's not too late to send invites"

"And this idea hadn't already occurred to you yet?"

Heather felt slightly stupid "Well...no. I'm not even on speaking terms with any of them anymore. I follow Lindsay on twitter for comedic value and sometimes catch LeShawna on the radio but thats about it. Plus there's the fact that most of them hate me"

There was a pause and Heather could practically hear the look she knew Alejandro was giving her through the phone right now. She rolled her eyes.

"Ok, all of them hate me. There, that's a good reason this probably won't work"

"It's worth a try. Plus, it might not matter that they hate you if you offer them access to the mansion your parents bought you and an open bar"

Heather nodded "Alcohol does solve a lot of life's problems. And my parents didn't buy this place for me, my grandma died and gave me a butt load of money"

"Didn't you just say something about her and a rice paddy back in Korea?"

"Not her, the other one"

" Oh, yeah, now I remember, the one You told me left you that money so you could go to college?"

"Well, that's what I was meant to spend it on. But a down payment on a four bedroom, two bathroom house complete with pool and three space garage sounded better"

"Your grandma must be proud"

"Pretty sure she's too dead to care, but anyway. You have to get on a plane here to Toronto, right now...or at least by next friday. Bring as many Days of our lives cast members as you can. If you pass one of the Olsen twins in the airport, bring her with you, I don't care, just get your TV famous butt here"

"What's your costume going to be?"

"What? Oh, right, halloween. I'm going as Cruella DeVille, already got the Dalmation coat and everything"

"A disney villain. Very fitting"

"I know, I needed something hot and fabulous, but also gives off the impression that I'm willing to slaughter the innocent for a good outfit. It just captured my essence basically"

she heard him laugh under his breath through the phone and Heather smiled to herself.

"It's going to be good seeing you again, you know"

For a second heather didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected him to say anything like that. It was sweet.

She didn't cope well with sweet.

"I know, I'm damn delightful. Now hang up. I need to start sending some texts"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"-And that gong means were nearing the end of the show ladies and gentlemen, with our last four remaining contestants now entering the lightning round! They'll have to answer a series of trivia questions, sent in by you viewers at home, while standing on a rotating platform and attempting to throw the golden darts at the prize balloons. If they hit the purple balloons, that's an extra ten points to their overall score, if they hit a yellow balloon, that minus five points, if they hit a red one, they're automatically eliminated from the game and if they hit a blue one...they get slimed at the end of the show! And remember folks, don't forget to send us your trivia questions by texting them to 1800-Chris-Macleans-Total-Drama-Knockout-GameShow-Fan-Trivia-Questions, and you could see it asked right here on the show! Alltextscostfourdollarsfiftynomoneybackwithnoguaranteethatyourquestionwillbeaccepted now lets take a look at the prizes that are up for grabs tonight with our own, lovely game assistant, Lindsay! "

The Camera that had been focused on Chris now panned over across the game show stage, where a partition raised up to reveal Lindsay, draped across a shiny red car, wearing an even shinier red dress. The audience let out an impressed 'oooh'. A fair few men in the audiences probably 'ooh'ed' for the wrong reason, earning glares from their wives.

"Thanks, Chris. Tonights runner up prizes will include two V.I.P. Passes to the exclusive Fairmont Royal hotel, as well as gift packs from St Tropez, with all the tanning products you could need" Lindsay announced with a flourish and the audience clapped.

"Well, those sound like terrific prizes, Lindsay, but I think what out contests and audience are really interested in is that spiffy looking grand prize that's under you" Chris smiled cheesily into camera number three as the audience chuckled.

Just then, before Lindsay could continue the rehearsed banter between her and Chris, one of the current contestants, a twenty-something frat bro with a popped collar, reached across his podium to speak into his microphone.

"I wouldn't mind the prize of being under you, Lindsay" he said with a wink, laughing at his own joke. The audience hollered along.

Chris gave the wannabe comedian a tight lipped smile, as Lindsay glanced over to the stage director unsurely, but he waved his hand for her to keep going "I...uh...I'm sure they are, Chris. Who wouldn't want this brand new RCZ coupe, from...from"

Lindsay panicked under the spotlight. Crap, she'd forgotten her lines. What brand of car was it? She glanced down at the hood to check.

"Pyew-got!

Chris slapped his palm cards to his head.

"With this Pyew-gots uniquely designed roof and stunning, long, low profile, the result is a sporty and dynamic car that's just a dream to drive" Lindsays smile faltered as she noticed some of the audience laughing "Um... Complete with features such as LED lighting, four airbags and dual zone temperature control air conditioning, whoever walks away with this red hot car will be the envy of every-"

"Cut! Cut the cameras! Just cut!"

The background theme music that accompanied her bit was halted, and show assistants darted into action from behind the scenes, the audience started to chatter to bit her lip as the show's director trudged up onto the stage, massaging his temples.

"Lindsay, what the hell was that? A pyew-got? A Pyew-got?"

"It's the car...it's what it said" Lindsay pointed to wear it spelt out Puegot on the car.

"...purr-scho. It's prounounced purr-scho. It's french" The director said impatiently, as calmly as he could.

"Oh" Lindsay said, meekly "Sorry, I don't really know, like, car stuff"

"Yeah, well, you don't really know much about much, do ya'" He muttered to himself, not caring if Lindsay overheard him as he shuffled through papers in his clipboard "Look, I'm calling a fifteen minute break! " he called out to everyone in the studio "Someone get the makeup guys on the contestants. I want a lighting check on the slime stage, and can someone please get me a grande sized Caffe Americano , right this second. Seriously, if it's not in my hand in the next four minutes, someones getting fired!"

Lindsay sat there, dejectedly, as he stormed off, a flurry of interns and stage hands swarming after him, wanting to be the first person to hand him his Starbucks.

As Lindsay slid off the hood of the car and adjusted the slit in her ridiculously tight dress, she heard a low chuckle from behind her.

"Pyew-got?"

"Chris, it's not funny" she pouted as they walked together backstage "That's the third time this week he's yelled at me"

"That's the third time this week you screwed up a taping"

"Hey, last time wasn't my fault, you couldn't see it from where you were on stage, but that guy with the mullet grabbed my butt when he went to hug me and claim his prize!"

"And you jumped so bad you knocked over and broke the three thousand dollar, Swarovski limited edition, crystal Elephant"

"...it was a stupid prize anyway"

"It was, so who cares?"

"I care! It came out my pay cheque! And I just hate that he just...hates me. It's like all I do is annoy him"

As the two took their respective makeup chairs in the backstage area, Lindsay waited for Chris to reply. He was too busy fiddling with his hair, squinting into the mirror.

"Chris!"

"Sorry,What? Oh, are you waiting for me to assure you that he doesn't think your annoying? Because he does. He thinks that a lot. I thought you just established picking up on that"

"Chris!"

"You know, as much as I love the sound of my own name being called out by a pretty girl, can't you just let it go?"

Lindsay looked close to tears at this point and Chris internally groaned as he looked into those ridiculously effective Bambi eyes.

"Lindsay, stop stressing about it. He hates everyone. He's a director in the reality TV circuit because he was never attractive enough to land an actual acting gig, and everyone knows his hair plugs aren't growing in right, and he probably has an ex-wife suing him for custody of some brat kid, or whatever, I don't actually know. I don't need to know, he's just a bitter little person and you can leave it at that" Chris waved it off like it was nothing "Hell, if I had a dollar for every director that hated me, I could go to McDonalds and order every item off the menu in one sitting"

This still didn't make Lindsay feel that much better.

"But what if I annoy him too much. What if he fires me?"

"He's not going to to fire you. You're his star power. Well, I'm his main star power, I'm basically carrying this crappy game show anyway, but you're what draws in all the hormonal pre-teen boys and lonely old bachelors who stop flicking channels when they see you sitting on top of a shiny car" Chris smiled at her, and Lindsay smiled unsurely back"Now, wheres that makeup girl? These crows feet aren't going to cover themselves"

Chris twisted in his chair and snapped his fingers, calling over a makeup artist, while Lindsay's mind still refused to settle.

"Chris? Am I talented?"

Chris raised an eyebrow at her as a girl dabbed concealer around his eyes.

"Of course you are"

"But what at? What makes me talented?"

"Um...you're very...good at sitting on cars?"

"Yeah, but, what else?"

"...You...have a lot of stage presence...your teeth are very shiny. You can do that swishy arm thing really well when you're presenting things"

"Well, thank you, but that's not so much what I mean"

"Then what do you mean?" Chris said impatiently.

"I mean...was I just hired because I'm pretty?"

"...Kinda" Chris shrugged, being blunt about it "But that's what this job is, Lind's. This isn't NASA, this is day time television. When I was approached for this show and they were still casting for the 'prize girl', I was the one who suggested they hire you because I knew you could strut across a stage and look pretty. They weren't exactly looking for someone who could recite their sevens times tables or name fifty different types of european sports cars. That wasn't in the job description"

Lindsay flustered with her hair a little "...I know my sevens times tables.."

"Really? Whats eight times seven?"

"...I'm not going to dignify that with a response right now" Lindsay huffed and Chris laughed.

"Right, well, I'm off to go see how my hairs been looking in the playback. See you in five minutes" Chris said as he stood up, swatting the makeup girls brush away "And remember, purr as in cat, and scho, as in the name Joe with a French accent" he smirked as he left.

Lindsay stared dejectedly at herself in the mirror as the makeup girl turned on her, fixing at one or two fly away hairs with a comb, until a coffee was suddenly thrust under her nose.

"Ray!" Lindsay cried with a sudden burst of energy as she grabbed at the starbucks cup her friend, slash personal assistant, had handed her.

Well, technically he was Chris's assistant. But he liked Lindsay better. He'd told her so himself. In front of Chris.

"Hey, girl! Cinnamon Dolce Latte with two sugars and low fat skim milk, just for you" Ray smiled "and I drew a smiley face on the cup"

Lindsay swore she could have burst into tears over the caffeinated beverage.

"Oh my god, Ray, you don't know how much I needed this right now. I need cheering up"

"I guessed. I saw what happened with the car thing and I just knew director was going to go off on you. It's like I pre-empted the pick me up starbucks. I even managed to beat out the hordes of interns rushing to get him his Americano" Ray said as he stole Chris's seat.

"I hope they make it too hot and he burns his tongue" Lindsay said, as she licked off a bit of foam from her latte.

"Ooh, bitter Lindsay, she rarely makes an appearance" Ray smiled.

"Urgh, sorry. I shouldn't be all down about it. I already had a whine to Chris, and I think I managed to annoy him too"

Ray shushed her "Oh, whatever. He can be as grouchy as anyone when he wants to be. I should know. I was half an hour late with his dry cleaning yesterday and he told me my new Kalvin Klein V neck sweater made my neck look fat!"

Lindsay gasped "No, I loved that sweater! You look hot in it!"

"I know! My neck is as elegant as a swans! Besides, I told him right back that he was too old to wear jeans that skinny and I think I sent him into one of his mid-mid life crisis breakdowns again"

Lindsay couldn't help but smile "You're so bad"

"The diva deserved it"

Lindsay always laughed when Ray called Chris a 'Diva', which he did often. Ray made her laugh in general, with his constant bickering with Chris, acting more like a hen-pecking mother than the usual ass kissing assistant, even though he was ridiculously efficient when it came to actually running his schedule and running errends. Ever since Lindsay had met him they'd gotten along like a house on fire.

"Anyway, enough bitching about Chris, ask me how my date with Mark went last night"

"Ooh, how did you date with Mark go?" Lindsay clapped her hands excitedly.

"Terribly!" Ray smiled.

Lindsay's face fell "What? Why!? You've both been giving each other the eyes for, like, two weeks. Ive seen you!"

"Yeah I know, but now I've been on the date, figured out that he's actually drop dead boring, and now I can move and go to Liam's halloween party this friday without feeling guilty if I hook up with some hottie dressed as Robert Patterson from twilight" Ray explained like it was obvious.

"How do you know someone there's going to be dressed as Robert Patterson?"

"Sweetie, it's a gay halloween party. There are always, like, five Robert Patterson's. Some Jacobs too"

"Sound's like fun, could I go?"

"As if I wouldn't want you too! Of course you can come. I actually would have asked you earlier, but I kind of assumed you would be spending the holiday with you know who" Ray smiled suggestively and lindsays eye's widened.

"Ray! Shhh. People are around!" She said under her breath, glancing around the room.

"Oh, relax, nobodies listening. God, this whole 'secret' relationship thing is so hard to deal with sometimes. You know I've barely kept a secret for longer than an hour in my life. You're so lucky I love you, I'm actually dying to tell somebody"

"I'm serious, Ray, you know how crazy the tabloids would be if they found out. Besides, I...I wouldn't say we were exactly in a relationship right now. Not a full one"

Ray raised his eyebrows "You're sleeping together. You've been spending every other night at his place for the last month or two . You're toothbrush is in his bathroom. How much more can you be in a relationship?"

Lindsay bit at her nail a little "I dunno...it just...it doesn't feel that real when it's all under cover you know?"

Ray grabbed a hold of Lindsays hand sympathetically and she managed a smile for him, until a stage assistant strode into the dressing room, headset clasped to their ear.

"Ok, everyone, we're back filming in two minutes, everyone back in place"

"Whelp, back on to the car I go" Lindsay said as she smoothed out her dress as she stood up "Purr-scho, purr, scho, purr-scho.." she chanted under her breath.

"Good luck, you look fab!" Ray called after her. Then he remembered something he was meant to mention about ten minutes ago.

"Oh, crap!"

Lindsay turned back around.

"What?"

" I forgot. Your phone went off a little while ago. I think you missed a call, but I think they left a message too" Ray said as he dug around in his pants pocket to pull out Lindsay's pink be-jeweled I-phone.

Lindsay took it and checked her inbox just as the director was making the final call. Then she frowned.

Ray winced "Oh no, was it important? Was it about a waxing appointment or something?"

"Huh? Oh, no...it's...I think Heather just tried calling me"

At first it didn't click "Heather?" Ray frowned. Then his eyes widened "You mean that Heather? From your 'Total Drama' days, Heather?"

Lindsay looked as surprised as him as she scrolled through the message"Yeah...something about a party..."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Courtney sat tensely in one of the Law schools drab waiting rooms, watching the clock.

Her interviewer was three minutes late, So unprofessional, and she would have thought the university of Toronto could afford to buy some padded seats.

She quickly scanned over her hand written cue cards again, even though she'd already memorised them. Pointers on successful interviews. Stand up straight, maintain eye contact, give more than yes or no answers. Wear a casual blazer. A fashionable casual blazer.

Then the door across the hall clicked open and her head shot up.

"Courtney?"

"Yes, that's me!" Courtney all but shouted in the dead quiet room, making a few other waiting students jump.

"Ah, good, it's nice to meet you. Step right in" The middle aged man in an olive coloured suit smiled kindly, holding the door open for her.

"It's nice to meet you too Mr. Douglas. I've been waiting for this meeting all week. I'm so glad you could fit me in on short notice" Courtney said as she took a seat in front of his desk , making sure to sit with her back as rigidly straight as it would go, quickly tucking her cards back in her purse.

"Hm, yes, well you were very...insistent" Mr. Douglas said dryly as he sat down as well "Now, you're interested in joining a law firm this summer on an internship, correct?"

"That is correct, sir"

"And what brand of law were you studying again?"

"Corporate law"

"Ah yes, here you are. Sorry, it takes some time for me to get used to the new students faces" Mr. Douglas tapped something into his computer "You did your undergraduate degree here at the university as well didn't you?"

"Yes, four years of legal studies. Would you like to have a look at my credits? I have a lot of credits. Oh, and a personal letter from my Administrative Law Professor saying how great I...I mean, it's a just a letter of recommendation"

"Hm, yes, I can see you have a very good grades record. High exam results too. You seem like the perfect candidate for internship. Just off the top of my head I can think of a few firms who would be glad to have you"

Courtney dared to look a little smug.

Now was the perfect time to launch into her prepared speech.

"That means so much that you think that, , I have to say, I'm more than ready to take on the challenges of being a real working corporate law environment, getting real world experience in my chosen field, and with my excellent communication and analytical skills, I think I could really-"

This went on for quite awhile. Courtney's roboticly practised speech that is. Ten solid minutes to be exact. She even went into her High school student council president days.

It was...tedious.

Mr. Douglas kind of drifted out a bit. He just stared and nodded. Then he found himself staring harder. He squinted through his glasses.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you from somewhere" He couldn't help but ask.

Courtney stopped, interrupted from telling her story about how she figured out a more convenient alternate case solution to one of the plots of a Law and Order episode than the one they had actually used.

"I...um...I don't think so sir. I've not been in one of your classes"

shook his head, vaguely "No, you definitely weren't, I would have remembered you straight away if you had...your Fathers not Jerry from the science department, is it?"

"...no?"

"No? Hm, alright then..." he frowned a little "I just can't shake the feeling I know your face from somewhere"

Courtney cringed inwardly.

"You don't happen to catch the number eighty four bus in the mornings do you?"

"no..."

"You don't have a part time job at one of the campus cafes do you?"

"No, sir..."

"Have you ever performed in something? One of the student productions?"

"Urgh, no..." Courtney sighed, losing her patience.

Mr. Douglas just sat back in his chair and frowned harder "Gosh, this is infuriating. I know I know you from somewhere, something about your face and your voice but I just can't for the life of me think where from-"

Courtney snapped.

"I was on Total Drama, OK! I'm that Courtney girl from Total Drama!"

Mr. Douglas slammed his hand down on his desk "Yes! That's it! That's where I know you from!" he shouted happily while Courtney's politely enthusiastic interview smile had vanished completely, transformed into a tired glare.

Every other person she met just couldn't help but drag it up eventually. It's like the years on that show would never leave her.

"You know, I used to be rather addicted to Total Drama, actually. Well, my teenage daughters were and I just somehow got caught up in it myself. Say, you don't still speak to any of the other cast members do you? What about Duncan? Has anything ever happened between you and him since the show ended? I heard he has that show on MTV now"

Courtney then suffered through the next twenty minutes of her interview which had been completed turned around on her, with Mr. Douglas now asking her the questions, none which were actually about the internship she wanted.

She ended up being escorted out with a very forced smile, as she said thank you and goodbye as promised to make some phone calls on her behalf and get back to her by the end of next week about the position.

As Courtney walked down and out to the fresh air of her university campus, heading in the general direction of anywhere that would have a working vending machine filled with snack chocolate she could gorge on, she felt like screaming.

She had wanted to come across as a mature and professional law student, not some...some washed up reality TV has-been! God, what if the sad old fan boy told all the law firms about who she was? She wouldn't even start there with a chance. Right from the get go she'll have all of them asking her about her TV days. What it was like. Wether the show was rigged. What was Duncan actually in juvie for. She knew every nosy question, she'd been asked them all a million times.

Maybe right now she was just angry and paranoid, but the next person to pass her on the footpath stared a few seconds too long, and she glared at them. Just in case they were another looky loo who'd recognised her.

Seriously, the next person, Courtney didn't care who they were or if they were a professor or not, who reminded her of anything Total Drama related, was getting screamed at! Loudly.

Just then, Courtney felt her blazer pocket vibrate. She grabbed out her phone and saw a new message.

Sender: Heather. Subject: TDI reunion halloween party!

Then Courtney really did scream.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o

Gwen stared at her phone like she'd just swallowed a fly.

Was this a joke?

She'd been innocently sitting on her couch in her pyjamas at two in the afternoon watching old nineties sitcom re-runs, you know, the usual, and then out of nowhere...this?!

Nuh-uh. There was no way this was real. It had to be a joke.

Gwen quickly flipped through to her address book to make a call. It only rang twice before picking up.

"Hey, Gwen, whattsup?"

"Le'shawna, did you get an invite to a halloween party from Heather recently?" Gwen said, no beating around the bush.

"Uuuh, no? Why, did you?"

"Yeah, just now, she texted me some invite. Its this friday"

"What?"

"I know, that was my reaction. So you didn't get anything?"

"No. Does it seem legit? It might be some crazy fan trying to lure you to his basement"

"Le'shawna, I haven't been anywhere near a camera in years. The most I get is a customer recognising me at work maybe once every couple of weeks"

"Probably because your hair looks so different now. You look cute though, I saw your new profile pic"

Gwen smiled "Thanks, but what should I do about this invite? Heather left her email address down the bottom and it's definitely her real one, I remember it from that stupid blog war thing we had and I used to send her hate mail. Plus it says open bar, and she says all the other TDI cast are already going. It'd be cool to see people like Bridgette and Cody, you know?"

She heard Le'shawna give a huff on the other end of the line "Well, not all the old cast is going, obviously, since I didn't get an invite"

"She's probably just still scared of you"

"Don't try and make me feel better with flattery. Anyway, I can't go anyway. I've been invited to Usher's halloween party this year" Le'shawna said, proudly, and Gwen gasped.

"Really? Usher's in Toronto right now?"

Not that Gwen could even name two of Usher's songs, but still, it was a pretty impressive name drop.

"Apparently. My people told me his people got in contact with them, and I'm going this friday, it's gonna be huge, so sorry, Heather, I have better people to mingle with. I got a sexy little nurse costume to wear too. I know it's a total halloween cliché, but gotdamn if I don't look fine as hell in it"

Gwen laughed "Wow, you're living the high life. I barely get out once a month these days. Last Saturday the highlight of my night was getting an extra wanton in my chinese take out dinner"

"Yeah, but Clubbing's practically part of the job for me. You gotta' mingle, make connections. That's how we do business. You know how the music scene is"

"I really don't. Broke artists who work late shifts at WalMart don't generally get invited to parties with Usher...I don't get invited to that many parties, period" Gwen groaned "Urgh, I kind of want to go now just so I don't feel like a pathetic shut in...but...it's still Heather. Are you sure you can't come, Le'Shawna? I'd feel a lot better about going if I had you as backup"

"...are you seriously asking me to choose Heather over Usher right now? Because you know I love you, girl, but I don't love you that much"

Gwen smirked "Maybe I'll just risk it alone then. Any night out is better than staying in and watching TV halloween specials while I eat my weight in cheap thrift store candy"

"Plus, if the parties a bust, you could always just egg her house"

"I like the way you think"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o

"-But come on, man. Party! A halloween party! Candy and girls in cute outfits! We love candy and girls in cute outfits"

"Cody, for the last time, exams are coming up, Halloween parties are always overrated, Heather hates us and gee, what's that other reason I can think of not to go? Oh yeah, I don't actually care" Noah said without glancing up from his I.T. Text book as he wrote out revision notes.

Cody slumped down in the library chair, deflated. He exchanged a look with Owen, who just shrugged as he munched on a Kit Kat. He didn't actually go to University with them, but he lived near by, and Cody and Noah liked inviting him to their study sessions because he always bought so much snack food. Oh, and they were still such close friends since the show ended of course. That aswell as free Kit Kats.

"Told you he still wouldn't wannna' go" Owen said.

"Yeah, surprisingly, you guys bugging me all week hasn't changed my mind"

Cody groaned "But we have ages to study, Halloween's only for one night! Plus, party!"

"Just repeating the word party over and over again doesn't actually make a compelling argument"

"but Party!"

"Shh!"

Cody was interrupted by an angry library assistant as she glared at him from her desk. He gave a little apologetic wave. There was only more glaring.

"Besides, you barely study anyway-" he continued, voice lower "-so don't pull the 'Oh, I have so much cramming to do' card with me, I know you just stay up all night playing Sky Rim"

"Yeah, well, I'd still rather be doing that than partying with a bunch of people I haven't seen in four years. And you play just as much Sky Rim as me, don't get judgey"

"But don't you miss 'em? I think it'd be awesome to see everyone again. You guys ever watch that show Duncan's on now? Kickass?" Owen asked.

"What, the Jackass rip off ?" Noah scoffed.

"Yeah! On last weeks episode, he had to strap rockets to a pair of rollerblades, and then try go down this ten foot ramp over a pool full of jellyfish, it was insane!"

"Did he make it?" Cody asked.

"No! It was amazing! He got stung everywhere!"

Noah smirked a little "Maybe that is something I'd be interested in watching"

"All the episodes are on my hard drive, I'll bring it up to your dorm later"

"Do you have the new Game of thrones episodes?"

"Yeah, and I got the whole last season of How I Met Your Mother too, if you want to catch up"

"Nah, I'm good. I heard spoilers about the finale and I don't think I even want to watch it now"

"Oh, man, I know what you mean. I was so mad that Ted ended up with-"

"Guys!" Cody interrupted them both "As much as I would like to rant about that sucky finale right now, because I could actually go on for about an hour to be honest, it was that bad, but right now I wan't you to realise what a wasted opportunity it is to not go to Heather's party. All we do is study and hang out in our dorm room or at Owen's house watching TV, or playing Sky Rim, and for once where invited to do something cool and you guys are just gonna pass it up! We never go to the frat parties-"

"We're not invited to the frat parties" Noah deadpanned.

"I Don't actually go here" said Owen.

"-We don't go to bars or nightclubs"

"We hate bars and nightclubs"

"A bouncer called me tubby and my drink cost ten dollars"

Cody sighed "Come on, we need to go and do something and we might as well start with this. We need to...get drunk and...and mack on some honeys and live it up a little!"

Noah and Owen stared at him.

"...'mack on some honeys'?" Noah repeated, frowning.

"...I heard some frat guy who sits behind me in my engineering lecture say it..."

"And you don't actually drink, sooo.." Owen trailed off.

"Hey, I occasionally add some Jack Daniels to my coke!"

"Yeah, this much Jacks-" Noah pinch his thumb and fore finger together "- and that much Coke" he joked, stretching his fingers "And what 'Honeys' will you be 'macking on' exactly? You want to try your luck with Lindsay? Maybe she'll be wearing the same red dress she wears on that dumb show she does with Chris now"

"Ooh, I have some episodes of that if you want them too. It's actually a pretty good show" Owen smiled.

"Or hey, maybe Sierra will be there, or better yet, Gwen, the girl who rejected you in favour of a guy who now jumps into tanks of jellyfish for a living"

Cody shrugged "Well...it would be nice to see how she's doing..." he mumbled.

Noah laughed "Ha, yeah, maybe you can buy one of her angsty collage paintings with the garbage glued to the canvas, it'd look great next to your Pacific Rim poster in our dorm"

"Hey, her paintings aren't bad! The glued on garbage is a metaphor about the demise of modern pop culture"

Noah's teasing smirk dropped.

"Oh god. You want to go just to see Gwen again, don't you"

"No!" Cody said defensively "Not just Gwen. Everyone! To ...varying degrees. Catching up and...reminiscing. There's the whole nostalgia to it-"

"Oh my god" Owen said "It is Gwen, I can see it on your face"

Cody tried laughing "Guys, come on, I'm not just-"

"Is it because you can grow facial hair now? Because your voice has finally dropped? You think you have a better chance now. You're totally looking at this party as your second chance, Aren't you"

Cody paused before giving a little, tiny, nondescript shrug "...Maybe?"

Both Noah and Owen groaned.

"Don't go after girls who have already turned you down, man, that should be obvious"

"You're just setting yourself up for failure"

"Don't convince yourself this is a good idea"

"Trent and Duncan will still be there, It'll be awkward enough as it is"

"Don't do it"

"Trust us, just don't"

"Listen to us, Cody, we're your friends"

Cody couldn't help but smile to himself "But she looks so cute in her new facebook picture"

Noah let out a long resigned sigh that was half groan "Oh god, he's already face book stalked her. That's it. He's gone. We've lost him. This is happening, isn't it? You're already going with or without us, aren't you? You're begging me so much because you need me to be the responsible driver so you can go play cool stud and impress gwen with your 0.5% strong Jacks and coke in one hand and your 'mackin' honey's' attitude in the other"

Cody nodded.

Noah groaned more "Uuugggh, fine. But you have to buy me, like, ten subways...footlongs, too"

"Deal! You will have any lunch item, at any size you like, for the next two weeks

Cody sat there triumphantly as Noah settled into a disgruntled state of dealing with it, while Owen just smiled regardless.

"So...whose for matching outfits? I'm thinking Power Rangers"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o00oo0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o

A/N: I'll say outright that the characters are meant to be aged 23 at this point. Which maybe some people might find 'old' but really, it isn't. People in their twenties are basically still teenagers except they have a license to drink. Trust me. I know. Legally I'm classed as an adult but here I am eating kit kats for dinner and writing fiction about cartoon characters.

Chris's age has been changed though. Mostly because, when I started watching the show, I thought hr was maybe...twenty six, maybe as old as thirty. I also thought the other characters ranged more in ages, like I thought Beth was maybe fifteen and Lindsay was maybe nineteen "She's sixteen?! WITH THOSE?!") but I've since learned that canonically, Chris was about thirty five back then. Well, I'm changing it so that he's only about eleven years older than everyone. So old, but not...over forty hahaha. I'm sure ya'll don't mind, but just for expositions sake.

Yes, there are a few OC's as well. Brandi, Dennis and Ray. Don't worry though, they're their for story purposes, not to steal any attention away from our favourites.

Anyway, not much to say at the start of a story, all I can do is hope at least a couple people are interested : )

If you want, check out my deviantart for a pic I've drawn of what the girls all look like aged twenty three

art/TDI-girls-in-their-twenties-451293790?ga_submit_new=10%253A1398952955