Total Drama Island: When Those Two Foreigners Showed Up

The First Night (side chapter)

Joanna's POV

      I laid in my bunk. After the hot tub party, everyone got tired and head to the cabins. I decided to write some letters to Papa and Matthieu. I don't know if Chris will have them delivered, but its nice to write at least. Takes my mind off of being homesick.

      We were all still awake, just laying in our bunks trying to adjust.

     "So... Julia." Lindsay called out, "What's it like living in France? Are all the clothes beautiful? Is the Eiffel Tower huge?" She started asking with a big grin on her face, then gave me a confused look, "Does that Moaning Lena really stare at you when you walk by?" "Actually yeah. What's it like?" Heather asked, "Never had a chance to go to France before, let alone meet someone from there. Are the boys cute and romantic or what?"

      Soon I was bombarded with questions about home from every girl the cabin with me. I laughed. "Well. To answer your questions, Dames, yes, Lindsay, the outfits you see are very beautiful, the Eiffel Tower is very large. And it's Joanna." The blonde girl squealed, ignoring me correcting her about my name, "And non. The Mona Lisa does not really stare at you. It's an illusion." I turned to Heather, "And while the gentlemen are attractive, most try too hard to woo a woman."

     "Tell you what girlfriend, going to France has been one of the many places my momma and I have been dreaming of going to since I was a little girl." LeShawna said, laughing, "The art is pretty cool too." Gwen spoke up, smiling. "When high school's over, I might try and go to an art school and head there." "Your name's 'Joanna' right?" Izzy asked, "That is SO cool! That's a weird name to have. It's not French, is it? It just sounds so weird to say! Jo-an-na!" The red head laughed, snorting a couple times.

      "Actually. My Papa named me 'Joanna' after Joan of Arc." I said. Everyone went quiet. "Your dad named you after the woman who got burned at the stake because she heard voices in her head?" Gwen questioned, sitting up in the bed. "Yeah. That can't be the best name for a girl in France." Heather commented. "Burned at the stake?" Lindsay asked, confused, "Why would they burn her on a stake? That's how you kill witches and vampires, duh. Everyone knows that."

      "Did you ever hear in stories or on the news that people who did the things they did said the Devil made them do it?" Beth asked, "I think so." The blonde said, "Well sometimes people say that it was God told them to do the things they do. And that's what happened with Joan of Arc."

      "Oui. Joan of Arc, or commonly known as Jeanne of Arc," I explained, "was around sixteen years old when France was in the Hundred Year War between England." All the girls were listening to me, even Heather, Izzy, LeShawna and Lindsay. "She claimed God spoke to her. He told her that Charles VII should be the king. She was the one who released Orleans and succeeded in holding Charles VII's coronation ceremony, and she did all of that within only four months."

     "Four months? And every man let her accomplish all of that? Man. Girl got some guts." LeShawna said. "Oui. She did. Sadly, the king abandoned her when she needed him most. And so on May 30th, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake." "I hate to admit it but... That HAS to be a scary way to go." Heather said, "I can't imagine what went through her head when that all went down..."

     I nodded, "The stronger one's patriotism is, the more often they end their lives in a tragic way." I said. Everyone was quiet again. I spoke up again, "My Papa didn't name after Joan of Arc because of her fate, he named me after her because she was a strong woman in a time where women were considered to be nothing but a man's property." I put a hand to my heart, smiling, "I am proud to be named after her, it goes to show that I, too, am strong just like her and I could someday make difference in the world."