He's A Girl Now?! (TD Transfem Duncan AU) (ON HOLD 1/14/24)

Five - Newcomer

Sabrina devised a plan.

It was a simple one. Anyone could have thought of it. And it was easy to execute. But it would change everything. She was going to pretend to be a newcomer.

If Chris tried to deadname her, or misgender her, or do any of that Chris stuff, she'd just cut him off before he got the chance. Nobody would know. Nobody would know. Everything would turn out fine. Because she had a plan.

"You sure it's gonna work out alright? I mean, Chris will find a way." Geoff said, raising a blonde eyebrow.

Sabrina shook her head. "I mean, transgender culture is kinda niche. I don't know if anyone would actually get it. Except for maybe Courtney and some other smart people."

Shit, she forgot about Courtney.

She had a saving grace there, though; It was explicitly stated that they couldn't talk about the events of previous seasons. So maybe it'll all be fine. Maybe she'll get voted off early but not so early it's embarrassing and just chill at the Playa Des Losers and avoid conflict. 

But Courtney knew her little secret. 

She wasn't that low, though, to out someone on international TV.

So maybe it'd all be okay.

Maybe she could get everything over with and live a normal life and completely untether herself from the last parts of The Delinquent that still remained.

"Come on, man." she muttered to whichever God was real, if any. "Gimme some luck this time."

***

It was time. She had to step out. On the show.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. They're more scared of you than you are of them. 

Which sucked, because there were probably some people there who were afraid of trans people.

"You got this, girl!" Bridgette whispered in her ear, trying to pump her up. But it just made her more scared.

"Duncan-" Chris began his introduction.

Okay. That was her cue.

"-unfortunately is still in hiding, but there's a newcomer to take his place." She finished his line. And before Chris could get a word out, she strutted off the boat like she ran the place.

"Hey, hold on, you're-"

"An unexpected guest, I know."

He grumbled, realizing that Sabrina was just going to cut him off the whole time.

Everyone observed her as she walked down the docks, as if she were a fascinating science experiment. It was kind of scary. But also kind of empowering. They didn't know. Nobody knew. Nobody even suspected.

Harold piped up. "I thought you said there were no new contestants this season."

Chris shook his head. "Oh, there-"

"Was a change of plans." Sabrina finished.

Chris just glared at her.

She decided not to focus on the other introductions. She knew everyone. The only huge changes were the whole... Zeke situation (he was being kept in a glass box and whichever team got him was obviously voting him out first, because what was he supposed to do for them?) and that everyone looked a lot more mature than she remembered them being. Maybe they would act like adults. 

Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought?

She replayed all the previous season's events in her head. Only the important parts. Like the kiss.

She bit the inside of her lip.

But she had a loophole. Gwen had no idea that she was her ex. She wouldn't hate her. They could even become friends.

But Courtney...

She must've realized. Sabrina could tell. She could tell because of the stare she felt on the back of her neck, coming from Courtney's general direction.

Once intros were finally over (seriously, she forgot how boring this show could be at times), they did the iconic photo scene.

"Alright, hold still..." Chris fumbled with the camera. But everyone could tell the technical difficulties were deliberate. The card was full.

"Oh, don't tell me this is just a repeat of last time..." Gwen said under her breath. She was absolutely gorgeous, her hair now dyed with red and purple streaks. She wore a gothic black skirt and a spiked purple blouse, which matched well with the highlights. Sabrina gave herself a mental pat on the back for how literate she was with fashion. She'd studied all the minutia of girlhood when her egg cracked.

Chris messed with the camera a few more times, and then...

"One, two, three..."

He gave a subtle gesture to some intern. As if on cue (which she suddenly suspected was the case) the planks wobbled until they collapsed.

The moment had lost the charm it had in the first season. Then, it was a funny, out-there moment that set the tone for a fun show. Now it just resulted in a bunch of coughing and flailing young adults.

You know that feeling when you watch a Disney movie as an adult that you remember being so magical as a kid, and then you realize that it was racist and there were tons of plot holes that never got addressed, even in a tongue-and-cheek way, and the world just feels so much less magical and adventurous, like whatever deity that created us was on a time crunch and ran out of ideas, producing something completely soulless?

That's kind of how Sabrina felt when she got to shore and spit some saltwater out of her mouth.

The sun shone, but in a kind of bored way. The birds flew like they were only doing it because their parents told them to. The earth turned in such a disinterested manner. It didn't care.

The water left a bad taste in her mouth and her nose stung from accidentally inhaling it. Something was just a little wrong with the world. A little less soulful and quirky. A little more... she didn't know what this was called yet.

(A/N: pumped this out in literally less than an hour and for some reason it's actually GOOD??? yay guys i'm good at writing!!!)