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tellshannon815Title: Mean Girl
Fandom: Slasher (season 2: Guilty Party)
Characters: Talvinder, Dawn, Peter, Andi, Noah, Owen, Susan.
Pairing: Talvinder/Peter.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for all of S2
Summary: Talvinder was shown through other people's perspectives; now she tells her own story. Previously unseen backstory shows Talvinder's perspective on events of Camp Motega and reveals she wasn't always the mean girl.
It would have come as a surprise to Andi and Susan to learn that Talvinder had not, in fact, always been the mean girl.
She’d just wanted to belong, to fit in with the group in a way that she never really had anywhere else, to be like those at her old high school to whom popularity had seemed to come so effortlessly. But it hadn’t taken long for Talvinder to suspect that she never truly would. Look at Andi, with her long established friendship with Susan that had formed over several years of camp together, and her so perfect relationship with Peter. Talvinder had watched on that first day as Andi had let him have it in front of her about getting there late and not getting the chance to do their induction together, and she’d cringed for him. Did Andi seriously think it was okay to lay into him like that in front of someone they barely knew? If she had been his girlfriend, she knew she wouldn’t have treated him that way.
As for Susan, when Talvinder had first got there she’d actually thought the two of them were going to become real friends. When Susan got very drunk that night and confided in her about Marcie, how she’d blamed herself for Marcie hanging herself after it had become common knowledge that they’d fooled around, Talvinder had felt flattered that Susan trusted her enough to tell her something so personal. Then the next thing she knew, in the cold light of day when Susan had sobered up, all of a sudden Susan was telling the entire camp that Talvinder was a fake and not to trust anything she said. Talvinder had believed they were starting to bond, and instead Susan had chosen to push her away, horrified at having opened up to her and made herself vulnerable to her, planting the seeds in the minds of the other counsellors that Talvinder was a liar, so they wouldn’t believe her if she ever did reveal Susan’s secret to anyone else.
The irony was, Talvinder had had no intention of doing that. It wasn’t until Susan started freezing her out that she ever even considered it. Why would she? Camp Motega was about the first time in her life that Talvinder was able to reinvent herself from being the class outcast, the girl who guys never looked twice at, who was there but not actively included, always on the outside looking in. She’d watch people like Evie, the Queen Bee of her high school class, see how she could get all the guys to do everything for her, and how everyone just ate it up, guys and girls alike. The guys all wanted to date her, the girls all wanted to be her friend. Talvinder had wanted to be her. And now, one makeover later, having ditched the glasses and braces, replaced all her old unfashionable clothes, she was finally starting to pull it off. She’d often stop and ask herself, What would Evie and all the other popular kids in school do? All that stuff with acting like she was struggling, to get guys to do things for her, that was the kind of thing Evie used to do and Talvinder had only dreamed of pulling off. Now Camp Motega was the change for Talvinder to turn her back on the loser kid she’d been in high school, to think and act like the popular kids.
It seemed to be working, or at least it was on Owen and Noah. That time she’d tried it on Noah, getting him to put up her tents for her so she could go off and party with her friends, a part of her almost hadn’t expected him to do it. He wasn’t the kind of person who would have told her to get lost, but she had thought he might have left it at just showing her how to do it herself. Instead he’d put them all up for her, and Talvinder realised her reinvention of herself was working. As for Owen, Talvinder had complained about him once to the others, about the way he was always creeping on her, quite early on in the summer, and Peter had said that didn’t surprise him because he’d done his orientation with that guy and had thought even then there was something strange about him. Talvinder didn’t get chance to reply before Andi immediately started complaining that if Peter had just got there on time, they could have done their orientation together and he wouldn’t have to have been stuck with Owen. Andi had kept on about that on and off the whole time they had been there, and most of the time Peter had just taken it. But that day, after a couple of weeks of it, he’d suddenly snapped, said he was sick of her going on about it all the time, it had happened, it was done and it was time to move on from it. As he’d got up to walk away, Andi wondered if she should go after him, and Talvinder had shaken her head.
“Give him a little time to calm down,” she said instead. “Then talk to him later.”
Talvinder had gone after Peter instead, told him she totally agreed with him that Andi had overreacted, let him talk to her about how he felt like things were going wrong between them, been the listening ear without making it obvious that that had been her plan all along. Their relationship had begun then, and Talvinder had really felt like things were going right for her. She had Peter; she was talking about moving in with Dawn, who had become the friend she had always dreamed of, after camp. She just hadn’t counted on Ryan, and Dawn starting to realise she liked him. Dawn had already been late to meet her once because she was with Ryan, leaving Talvinder to get hit on by Owen again. But at first it hadn’t mattered; she had Peter, although she couldn’t talk about it yet with Dawn. In the future, once he’d had the conversation with Andi, and Talvinder and Peter were an out in the open couple, everything would be great. Talvinder could see the future now; living with Dawn, dating Peter and double dating with Dawn and Ryan. She was finally going to have the life she had always wanted.
But it didn’t take long for Talvinder to realise that things weren’t going to go her way after all. First Peter had told her that instead of making it official with Talvinder, he was actually planning to try and work things out with Andi. Seriously? He was just going to throw her aside, after all she had done for him, and go back to the nagging girlfriend who wasn’t making him happy? Had Talvinder ever meant anything to him at all or had it all been just words the whole time? And Dawn, her supposed best friend? She hadn’t even noticed that Talvinder was upset when she came into the cabin, she was just full of Ryan Ryan Ryan, about whether or not he liked her, and expecting Talvinder to be her wing woman! Different futures flashed before her eyes now; either one where Dawn decided she was going to move in with Ryan after camp and Talvinder would have to head back home to the town where she was always so despised, or one where she and Dawn got a place together yet Dawn was spending all her time with Ryan, leaving Talvinder alone watching shit television every night. Dawn and Ryan, Peter and Andi, Talvinder and nobody.
It really hadn’t had to be this way. They could all have been such good friends. But now, Talvinder felt no guilt as she trashed the crystal ball booth, enjoying the attention from Dawn as she allowed everyone to believe Susan responsible, and fed Dawn that story about Ryan confessing he only liked really skinny girls. No more was she going to be that trampled on girl. From now on, it was all about her.
Fandom: Slasher (season 2: Guilty Party)
Characters: Talvinder, Dawn, Peter, Andi, Noah, Owen, Susan.
Pairing: Talvinder/Peter.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for all of S2
Summary: Talvinder was shown through other people's perspectives; now she tells her own story. Previously unseen backstory shows Talvinder's perspective on events of Camp Motega and reveals she wasn't always the mean girl.
It would have come as a surprise to Andi and Susan to learn that Talvinder had not, in fact, always been the mean girl.
She’d just wanted to belong, to fit in with the group in a way that she never really had anywhere else, to be like those at her old high school to whom popularity had seemed to come so effortlessly. But it hadn’t taken long for Talvinder to suspect that she never truly would. Look at Andi, with her long established friendship with Susan that had formed over several years of camp together, and her so perfect relationship with Peter. Talvinder had watched on that first day as Andi had let him have it in front of her about getting there late and not getting the chance to do their induction together, and she’d cringed for him. Did Andi seriously think it was okay to lay into him like that in front of someone they barely knew? If she had been his girlfriend, she knew she wouldn’t have treated him that way.
As for Susan, when Talvinder had first got there she’d actually thought the two of them were going to become real friends. When Susan got very drunk that night and confided in her about Marcie, how she’d blamed herself for Marcie hanging herself after it had become common knowledge that they’d fooled around, Talvinder had felt flattered that Susan trusted her enough to tell her something so personal. Then the next thing she knew, in the cold light of day when Susan had sobered up, all of a sudden Susan was telling the entire camp that Talvinder was a fake and not to trust anything she said. Talvinder had believed they were starting to bond, and instead Susan had chosen to push her away, horrified at having opened up to her and made herself vulnerable to her, planting the seeds in the minds of the other counsellors that Talvinder was a liar, so they wouldn’t believe her if she ever did reveal Susan’s secret to anyone else.
The irony was, Talvinder had had no intention of doing that. It wasn’t until Susan started freezing her out that she ever even considered it. Why would she? Camp Motega was about the first time in her life that Talvinder was able to reinvent herself from being the class outcast, the girl who guys never looked twice at, who was there but not actively included, always on the outside looking in. She’d watch people like Evie, the Queen Bee of her high school class, see how she could get all the guys to do everything for her, and how everyone just ate it up, guys and girls alike. The guys all wanted to date her, the girls all wanted to be her friend. Talvinder had wanted to be her. And now, one makeover later, having ditched the glasses and braces, replaced all her old unfashionable clothes, she was finally starting to pull it off. She’d often stop and ask herself, What would Evie and all the other popular kids in school do? All that stuff with acting like she was struggling, to get guys to do things for her, that was the kind of thing Evie used to do and Talvinder had only dreamed of pulling off. Now Camp Motega was the change for Talvinder to turn her back on the loser kid she’d been in high school, to think and act like the popular kids.
It seemed to be working, or at least it was on Owen and Noah. That time she’d tried it on Noah, getting him to put up her tents for her so she could go off and party with her friends, a part of her almost hadn’t expected him to do it. He wasn’t the kind of person who would have told her to get lost, but she had thought he might have left it at just showing her how to do it herself. Instead he’d put them all up for her, and Talvinder realised her reinvention of herself was working. As for Owen, Talvinder had complained about him once to the others, about the way he was always creeping on her, quite early on in the summer, and Peter had said that didn’t surprise him because he’d done his orientation with that guy and had thought even then there was something strange about him. Talvinder didn’t get chance to reply before Andi immediately started complaining that if Peter had just got there on time, they could have done their orientation together and he wouldn’t have to have been stuck with Owen. Andi had kept on about that on and off the whole time they had been there, and most of the time Peter had just taken it. But that day, after a couple of weeks of it, he’d suddenly snapped, said he was sick of her going on about it all the time, it had happened, it was done and it was time to move on from it. As he’d got up to walk away, Andi wondered if she should go after him, and Talvinder had shaken her head.
“Give him a little time to calm down,” she said instead. “Then talk to him later.”
Talvinder had gone after Peter instead, told him she totally agreed with him that Andi had overreacted, let him talk to her about how he felt like things were going wrong between them, been the listening ear without making it obvious that that had been her plan all along. Their relationship had begun then, and Talvinder had really felt like things were going right for her. She had Peter; she was talking about moving in with Dawn, who had become the friend she had always dreamed of, after camp. She just hadn’t counted on Ryan, and Dawn starting to realise she liked him. Dawn had already been late to meet her once because she was with Ryan, leaving Talvinder to get hit on by Owen again. But at first it hadn’t mattered; she had Peter, although she couldn’t talk about it yet with Dawn. In the future, once he’d had the conversation with Andi, and Talvinder and Peter were an out in the open couple, everything would be great. Talvinder could see the future now; living with Dawn, dating Peter and double dating with Dawn and Ryan. She was finally going to have the life she had always wanted.
But it didn’t take long for Talvinder to realise that things weren’t going to go her way after all. First Peter had told her that instead of making it official with Talvinder, he was actually planning to try and work things out with Andi. Seriously? He was just going to throw her aside, after all she had done for him, and go back to the nagging girlfriend who wasn’t making him happy? Had Talvinder ever meant anything to him at all or had it all been just words the whole time? And Dawn, her supposed best friend? She hadn’t even noticed that Talvinder was upset when she came into the cabin, she was just full of Ryan Ryan Ryan, about whether or not he liked her, and expecting Talvinder to be her wing woman! Different futures flashed before her eyes now; either one where Dawn decided she was going to move in with Ryan after camp and Talvinder would have to head back home to the town where she was always so despised, or one where she and Dawn got a place together yet Dawn was spending all her time with Ryan, leaving Talvinder alone watching shit television every night. Dawn and Ryan, Peter and Andi, Talvinder and nobody.
It really hadn’t had to be this way. They could all have been such good friends. But now, Talvinder felt no guilt as she trashed the crystal ball booth, enjoying the attention from Dawn as she allowed everyone to believe Susan responsible, and fed Dawn that story about Ryan confessing he only liked really skinny girls. No more was she going to be that trampled on girl. From now on, it was all about her.