So, the boat ride home from Revenge was sort of fun.

My best friend Cameron won the million, which was pretty awesome. But the excitement wore off kind of fast; faster than I really wanted it to. It was like the moment the producers called out "That's a wrap", everyone packaged up their show personalities and went back to being the quiet, moody high-schoolers they were before. (Hmph, and they say I'm the one with MPD.)

It was kind of disheartening.

I knew I'd probably be one of the last ones left on the boat because I lived pretty far away. The happier, chattier ones seemed to go first, leaving me eventually with just Dawn, B, and Jo. The ride went from quiet to silent. B doesn't talk anyway, Dawn and I didn't get the chance to grow close before her elimination, and Jo just plain didn't like me.

I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to bond-We'd all been on that island, we all survived the toxic waste and the mutants, the challenges and the near-death experiences! But I stayed silent. So did they.

My stop came, so I stood up, and so did B and Dawn. At first, I thought they were getting up to say goodbye, but they simply got off the boat together, so I followed them. I trailed after them while they walked for some time before I finally found the courage to speak.

"So, uh, do you guys live near here or something?"

It was like they'd only just noticed I'd been walking behind them. Unsurprisingly, Dawn was the one to reply.

"Oh! During the season, B and I realized that we were neighbors! Is this your house, Mike? We're just two blocks away from here!"

As cool as that was, I was pretty surprised that I had never noticed them before my whole life. We probably even went to the same school! Shows how much I pay attention, huh?

"Y-Yep! Maybe we could hang out, then! Y'know, since we didn't hang out much during the season."

B nodded and Dawn did too. I opened my mouth to say something else to them, to maybe invite them inside right now, but they'd already begun walking again. Haha… Maybe some other time then.

At least I finally had some friends I knew nearby! Not that I was very lonely, I'd made friends in my hometown before I moved here, but… Never mind. It's not important what happened then. Not anymore. It's over with; that's what's important.

I entered the house I hadn't been in in months just to find it completely empty. I sort of expected that. Dad was probably off at work with Mom, and Jackson was probably off with Vanessa somewhere.

Just me, myself and I today.

I walked through the house expecting to find it different somehow, but instead it was like nothing at all had happened in my absence. Everything looked exactly the way it did when I left, except for a note I found sitting on the kitchen table. Mom left me a message.

"Hey Mikey. I didn't know when you'd get home from that TV show, so I left some food in the fridge. Your dad and I are out of town for business, so if you run out of food I left some money in the desk drawer. Hope you had fun on Drama whatever! See you next Friday.

-Mom

PS: Happy Birthday, sweetie!"

Oh, did I mention it was my birthday? Haha…

Well, I thought, I guess it's just me for the whole week, then. I started wishing I'd asked Dawn and B to stick around. Maybe we could've done something for my birthday, like made a cake. Not that I knew how to bake, but, maybe B did.

Had my parents even watched Total Drama? Probably not, now that I think about it. Reality TV wasn't their cup of tea… even if their son was competing. Maybe Jackson watched it, though. Courtney could've tuned in for the new season, too.

The phone rang, interrupting my train of thought. I ran to it with a spring in my step. It could be my parents calling about something, or, hey, maybe it was Zoey or one of the others! I did give them my phone number!

"Hello?"

The line was silent for a bit. I nearly hung up, but then I heard a voice. A deep, kind of husky voice,

accompanied by the muffled sounds of eating.

"Yeah hi, what are your specials today? I'm looking for something with lots of meat. Or gruel, if you got that."

It sounded a whole lot like Scott-another competitor that didn't really like me. I was amazed to hear him on the line, he had to have misdialed me or something.

"Scott?"

Scott started coughing; I could only assume he was choking on whatever I could hear him eating.

"Mike? When did you start working at B.F. Wangs?"

"Scott, I think you dialed the wrong number, man. You called my home phone number."

I could only hear muttering on Scott's end. At the time I assumed it was because he hadn't planned on ever talking to me again and wasn't sure what to do. I was expecting him to hang up then, but he didn't. He spoke again.

"Yeah, I dialed the wrong number. I should probably go."

The threat made my chest twist, just a little. I didn't want him to hang up. Sure, I could try calling Cameron or Brick, or even go pathetically running down the street to Dawn or B's house if I wanted, but Scott was already on the line and I was alone and, at the moment, I didn't actually hate him. His voice was familiar and nice and he didn't sound different like the others had.

He was still Scott.

"You can stay on if you want!" I offered. "My parents are out of town for the week, and no one else has called."

I could tell Scott wasn't expecting me to say that. He probably expected me to be relieved for an opportunity to hang up. It was silent on both ends until I awkwardly laughed.

"I mean, I could go over to Dawn or B's house. They live just two blocks away from me."

"Creepy aura girl and explosive mime guy? Must suck for you man."

"They're cool. A little weird, but they're cool."

Surprisingly, Scott and I really got to talking. We had a lot more in common than I thought. We probably would've talked for even longer, but Scott needed to actually call B.F. Wangs. (I'm not sure why, since he was clearly already eating.)

"Call back anytime you want, Scott!"

Then the line went dead.

I stood in the silence for a moment before clearing my throat and hanging the phone back on the wall. I was hungry, so I decided I'd see what my parents had left me to eat. Hopefully, they remembered my alters' eating restrictions. Vito is a huge carnivore, Svetlana only eats veggies, Manitoba hates carbs, and Chester… Well, he's just picky.

Finding food that everyone can agree on is hard; yogurt is one of the few foods I can get everyone to eat. I opened the fridge and found yogurt, pizza, and lots of vegetables (my dad's,

not Svetlana's). That'll do for tonight at least. Besides, maybe now that I've finally got some control over the others, I won't need to buy food for them as much as I have.

I still couldn't believe I could control them now; they weren't popping up or overstaying.

I felt… I felt…

Well, actually, I felt kind of weird. And more lonely than ever before.

Maybe that's why I was feeling so alone. Usually, even when I was by myself, I still had them. I didn't feel that way anymore.

I got a soda and a cup of yogurt from the fridge and walked into the living room, settling into a chair and cracking open the can.

"Happy Birthday," I said out loud to myself.