Our Hearts Unveiled

Chapter One: Reminiscing

Monday, November 19th:

"Just another day here and things are continuing to go pretty okay, so far. I did spend these past few days stressing over a recent assignment though, but I was able to get it together once it was all over with. I need to save that energy for my finals anyways, which, speaking of, should probably start thinking about that soon too since that'll be due in just a short couple of weeks. However, I still haven't been able to bring out my all lately and I don't know why or what it is that could be causing this, I've just been getting this weird feeling that something's coming or that I need to figure something out.

It hasn't been bothering me too much to the point where I can't function properly, but still, something's felt off lately and I don't know what it is. It's probably just one of those false feelings you get or it could be nerves, I should just forget about it and wait for it to pass or maybe something is just waiting to happen, who knows? Right now, I just really need to stay focused on my work as much as I can. The end of the semester will be coming up shortly and I really want to keep my GPA high. I don't know if this B is going to end up as an A or not, but, damn it, I'm going to try and get it to one."

Gwen closes up her diary and exhales out a little sigh, looking up to see the leafless trees and the grays of the clouds flooding up the sky, snow twinkling to the ground. Even though she gets cold easily, Gwen still preferred the cooler weather over the blistering heat anyday, it helped her to think about things more.

After her time on Total Drama, Gwen decided that she no longer wanted to deal with the toxic environment that the show had created for her anymore. Once she realized that the show was straying her further away from why she came on in the first place, turning her into somebody she was not in the process, Gwen knew that that was when she had to leave it all.

She hadn't been reached out asking for her to come back on to the show, but every now and then, she feared that one day it would happen or that there was some contrived rule in a contract somewhere stating that she had to return. But as each month rolled by, with no contact from any executives, her fear lessened as she truly started to believe that that was all behind her now. Fanmail slowly stopped showing up, paparazzi rarely attempted to catch up with her anymore and even strangers on the street no longer recognized her. Finally, it felt like things were back to how they used to be and Gwen wouldn't want it to have been any other way.

Since her time on the show, Gwen had enrolled in an arts university. She didn't have time to think about college after graduating from high school, due to being tied up with fame and the show, but after Total Drama, Gwen had decided to waste no time and immediately took an interest in pursuing school and wanted to go big with it. Art had always been something that she liked and wanted to explore the different possibilities that it could bring her. When she finally got the chance to check out her options, she discovered a whole lot more than she had ever realized she liked. The one field that she wanted to explore the most was interior designing and she stayed very consistent with it.

To further the theme of going big for school, Gwen also decided to move out from her old childhood home and into a dorm on campus. It was a tough decision and hard on both her and her mom, but Gwen knew that it was the right thing for her to do to learn about herself again. Despite being away from them though, Gwen still made sure to prioritize keeping in close contact with her family. Even when things got busy, she always remembered to give them a message or a call. In fact, she hadn't felt this close with her mom, brother or her grandma since before she got on TV. She even got back in contact with her dad, who she hadn't spoken to in years.