One Boy. A Thousand Feelings | Duncan

~ Chapter 1 ~

Quick Author's Note
This is an old story I've been having my ups and downs with while contemplating if I should publish it or not. But I don't want a story with so much potential to be left in the corner and build dust, so I wanted to see what other readers thought of it :-) Enjoy <3

Armana patiently sat aboard the speedboat, her eyes following the landscapes that were adjacent to the endless stretches of the turquoise water. A sigh left from her chest, feeling that she hadn't breathed for as long as ten seconds.

Armana had never been this far away from home, more so her parents, while being sixteen she was a bit surprised they let her off with the news. She remembered her mother's upturned smile retreating from the frontal of her pearly teeth, as she had been surprised about what she said.

"Going on national television? $100,000?! Armana, go somewhere. What would you even do with money like that?"
Armana's face sheepishly lifted before she explained her thoughts.
"Well, I don't know specifically. It definitely is a big deal so I could just save the interest or save it towards that cute beetle we saw at the car shop. Ya know, 1st Quality Auto?"
Her mother looked at her, one of her eyebrows raised through consideration.
"It sounds interesting, I'd never have expect you to do anything like that. Where is it?"
She swipes her thumb to read more of Armana's cell phone screen, halting at a part of words that lead to her eyes lifting with surprise.
"Muskoka, Ontario? That's a place quite far from where we're staying."
Armana nodded.
"Yeah, don't know too much about that part but it would be great...or fun? Who knows? I think I should give this thing a shot, and well if I'm not lucky, at least I knew the odds of taking the chance."
Her mom looked at her in contemplation, her lips swished to the side.
"Mmmm, I don't know, I'll talk with your dad so we can tell you a firm answer on it."
They smiled at each other and went on to preparing dinner.

Their every words looped in Armana's head as she stared far off into the scenery. Her and her family were initially in the United States, living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Of course Canada seemed like a questionable stay of traveling to, yet her parents had decided that it would be interesting heading further North for the summer. Her idea for the competition was first minded during their car ride. On the radio, a man was talking—to her presumption was just a commercial—but heard a sudden announcement.

"Yeah Steve, I'll be creating another TV show. A reality competition! Just 24 contestants to win a game for $100,000! There'll be many amenities; like a five star hotel, cruises, and massage rubs. Life in paradise."
"What the hell Chris?" The host, Steve chuckled. "What would you be doing that for? I could only imagine if someone didn't know about your sly tricks that you'd be making this just for the fun of it."
With the familiarity of the other male's voice, it was now Chris's turn to laugh.
"Now, now Steve, who says a man has limits with his own TV Show?"
The two laughed along the cheer of the audience.
"Well folks, you've heard this from Chris McLean on Steve's Talk Show."

But It was ironic. A smile stifled on Armana's face as she had thought all of what she felt about reality TV Shows. She believed that things were dramatized, that the producers were just abusing the privilege in editing certain parts of episodes that just made the people sound bitchier. Or producers only hired flawed people for their shows because they would want people to talk about their weaknesses in any interventions so they would have a story to build on. Too much drama just to be apart of a show. But here she was, completely acting against her words by traveling to what she was expecting the place where Chris will be hosting the competition.

She checked the time on her phone. It had at least been ten minutes since she's been picked up. She remembered all the things she did in video taping her audition. Her older brother was recording her, while her younger brother helped her with her set up.