gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 16

Day Sixteen

Shelby

"Here they are, the brave young women whose tale of struggle and survival has gripped the nation. The Unskinkable Nine, as we have come to know them. Ladies, you must have dreamed of coming home for so long. Now that you're here, what do you wanna do most?"

"Honestly?" Dot asked, her smile spreading across her face as she answered the question. "Smoke about a hundred cigs, you know? Like really rip through a carton or two."

"Okay! How about the rest of you?"

"I don't know, maybe hit up the OG for a never ending pasta bowl and just - I don't know, get back to our real lives," Toni replied, her fingers playing lightly with Hunter's as she looked at the blonde beside her on her right and to Martha who was on her left.

"I'd like to read The Odyssey again," Nora said, Hunter smiling softly at the innocence of the girl sometimes. "Rather than like, live it."

"Leah, what about you?"

"Oh, um, I just wanna reconnect with certain people... people who may have been worried and-or felt like we had unfinished business," Leah admitted before turning to face forward, her eyes staring straight ahead. "And if that person is watching right now, I just wanna say that I did not not miss you every day. Ehm, Hunter?"

Hunter smiled at how Leah had just realised what she had said before passing the spotlight over to the blonde girl who was wedged in between Fatin and Toni at the end of the couch.

"I'm just mostly excited to see my brother, and to see new beginnings," Hunter said, everyone a little confused at what she meant by the last part minus Toni who knew exactly what the new beginnings were.

"My turn, Brooke," Fatin said, bored of the other answers. "I've got a nice, straight answer for you. I am going to fuck the rowdiest guy with the biggest dick as soon as I fucking can."

Everyone's heads snapped to the side to look at where Fatin was sitting at the end of the line, the illusion of a talkshow immediately gone from their head at Fatin's certainly unaireably response to the question.

"I don't think you can say that on live TV," Leah pointed out, her eyebrows scrunched up as she looked at the girl who had wrapped herself back up in her fluffy pink coat.

Leah and Hunter both smiled at each other as they chuckled under their breaths, their earlier alteration completely gone from their minds now that the chance of rescue seemed like it was coming. Hunter was just excited to get back to Hudson and tell him everything, but she wasn't lying if she said that the island had certainly changed her more than she ever thought it would - she was finally getting back to her usual self.

"Okay, make it more media-friendly," Fatin told them as she raised the hairbrush back up to her mouth as if it was a microphone. "I am going to fornicate with the healthiest penis ASAP."

"All right, I wanna change my answer! You remember that guy I was telling you about?" Dot asked them all, and Hunter nodded as she faintly remembered a conversation prior about this guy that Dot had kissed before all of this. 

"Nurse Mateo Caliente?" Fatin and Hunter asked at the same time, erupting into laughter as they both imitated each other without even realising. Toni sniggered from where she was sitting beside Hunter, looking at the blonde and grinning as she noticed how carefree she seemed.

"I'm 100% going to jump him as soon as I see him," Dot admitted, everyone grinning at that - minus Shelby, whom Hunter had noticed was yet to even smile since they had realised that they were probably going home after the plane had flown overhead. Hunter wanted to speak to the girl but after watching her kiss Toni she knew exactly why Shelby wasn't excited to go back to their Texan town: her very openly homophobic family gave that one away for Hunter.