Love Island

Chapter 40 - License to Swill

"He practically wore a Catholic nun's habit to bed every night," Julie retorted in an attempt to disprove Polly, while accidentally undermining herself. She looked over at Lucas as if involved in a scandalous betrayal.

The discomfort that settled upon the group was enough silence for me to work out the dynamic of that trio in my head. Polly had made it clear that she was interested in Lucas still, despite coupling up with David to keep him in the villa. Whether either of the two boys knew of her feelings for Lucas, I wasn't sure. But Julie was hyperaware, analyzing how Lucas spoke about her and his little moments when she was around. Getting around Julie would be a treacherous task.

A text sounded somewhere in the garden. I propped myself up on an elbow and looked around, waiting for someone to make the announcement. Thus far, no one had come forward, and everyone continued checking their phones. "Sorry!" Ella said. "Totally forgot that you're supposed to keep these things around." She got up from where she'd been lounging and grabbed her phone off of a side table near the pool. Charlie watched her go, his eyes mirroring heavy thoughts. It must've been hot beneath the sun, as she nearly winced when she picked it up. 

"Is it about dinner?" Lucas asked.

"Islanders, which one of you has the biggest mouth? You're going to need a License to Swill to find out. #SpillTheTea #XoxoGossipGirl," Ella said aloud. While none of us really knew what 'swill' meant, we still prepared to play as we were ushered along the beach to the neighboring lot for another game. 

Placed on the table face-down were sixteen cards, each with one of our names on the back. The objective was to read your card and guess which of the other Islanders said it about you. Whoever you believed to be the guilty subject, you would throw a glass of water into their face. Behind us was an electronic board that would confirm or correct our answers.

We stood in a circle around the table of cards. Blake offered to go first when the rest of us were too nervous to go. He ventured forward and picked up the card with his name on it. "I like a man who's unapologetic, but Blake seems like the type of guy who doesn't even really realize when he needs to apologize. It's obvious that he has pretty privilege." He looked at our circle with a betrayed look in his eyes. He picked up a cup filled with water and began walking along the interior of our group. "I'm going to say it's a little bit of jealousy from my ex-partner." He stopped in front of Peyton and tossed the water into her face, instantly wetting her blonde hair and soaking her chest.

"No, you jerk!" Peyton shouted with her shoulders tensed up. "It's so cold!"

The board behind our group flashed red with a nasally buzzer, and it was revealed that Giselle had said it.

Ella went next and grabbed her card. "Ella? I don't really like her, honestly. I'm sure she's nice, but I'm going to avoid her." Her pink smile pressed into a flat line that aged her a decade. A thousand emotions ran across her face as she silently read the card to herself a few times more before placing it down on the table, grabbing a cup, and tossing its contents right into my eyes.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, squeezing my eyes shut. The board corrected her and informed the group that Charlie was the one who had said it.

"Hey, babe. What the hell?" Ella placed the cup down and looked over at him. 

"That was the first day in Casa Amor when I was happily coupled up," Charlie explained. I turned my head and rolled my eyes. It was still a sore subject.

Mason stepped forward to go next. "I don't consider myself materialistic, but for a trip to Milan, I'll play the part." He read the card and immediately looked over to Peyton with disappointment. She said nothing as he brought the cup closer and splashed it gently into her face. The electronic board confirmed his decision with a bright green checkmark. "We're gonna talk about this later."