It Could Only be You

Episode 4: The Eleventh Islander

There's a welcoming party, and the girls are in the dressing room getting ready. Glitter and perfume fill the air like a school disco, all that's missing is a DJ to play the Birdy Song.

"You know what, I think it will be really nice to have another girl in here," Hope says. She's currently tying her hair into a knot on the tippy top of her head, with a few strands left hanging to frame her face. "More girls, more power, right?"

Lottie, in an all-black leather dress, rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. If the situation was different, but in here? You know if a girl comes in now she'll be the hottest person any of us have ever seen and she'll be out to get what she wants. And what if she wants Noah?"

Hope's face falls.

"I think it gives us less power," Daphs says while in the middle of applying her make-up. "We're uneven in numbers now, and it'll be up to us to graft."

"Hearing you say that makes me nervous," Hannah says. She's braided her hair down her back again. "I want everyone to meet their perfect match. But what if her perfect match is the same as mine?"

"It's weird, I'm like not worried," Daphs continues. "I think, if we all end up staying, we're all going to be such good friends, like she's probably going to be so nice and nervous. So, for that, I would so love a new girl to come in, but again, it's like a revolving door, if one girl steps in another is going out, and I don't want to lose any of us."

"It could be a guy coming in, you know," Hope reminds them.

"Again, though, I don't want to lose any of the guys."

"To be fair, we've not even known them a day," Lottie says. "Not to be mean, but I'm not as bothered about saving half the guys as I am about us girls."

"You never know, Han, maybe your perfect man is going to walk through the door tonight. He'll have glasses, and a cardigan, and a moustache, and ... what else do you like?" Hope trailed off.

Hannah brightly replies, "Horses!"

"... And he's going to ride in on a horse!"

"Mmm," Marisol says, "I'm imagining him riding in shirtless. If that happens, you won't be the only one falling at his feet."

"You like guys that ride horses?" Hope asks.

"I like a guy that's shirtless."

Daphs lets out a burst of laughter and nudges into Marisol. The pair lean into one another giggling.

"My ex back in Australia was always shirtless. He was ripped, so I didn't complain too much, but it was a little weird. One time he came to pick me up for a date and he didn't have his shirt on."

"What did you say when you saw him?" Daphs asks.

"Nothing. I looked at his abs and took him inside. We never made our reservation."

As Daphs went back to giggling, Hannah asks, "If he was so hot, why did you break up?"

"Oh gosh, he was as thick as a brick, that boy. I didn't see it at first because I was blinded by the fanny flutters..."

"I'm sorry, the what?"

"It's the go-girl version of your heart beating fast when you like someone," Daphs offered.

"The go-girl?" Marisol asked, one eyebrow raised. She's in the middle of doing her brows, and the raises her completed one, so the extra emphasis makes her face look extra uneven, causing Daphs to double down on the giggling.