The next morning, I thought I'd woken up before anyone else. I looked around the bedroom dimly lit by the early morning sky. Across from me, Peach was wrapped around Charlie, their blanket rising and falling with each breath. I wiggled away from Blake, grabbed my belongings from the nightstand, and went upstairs to the dressing room. I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and saw Amelia, with her head stuck over the bathtub and her hair covering her face. She moved a strand of hair aside with a gloved hand.
"Oh. Hey, Maddie," she said.
"Hey." I walked closer and saw that she was trying to dye her hair. "Need any help?"
She looked surprised. "Really?"
I nodded and grabbed the box of gloves beside her. I slid two black latex gloves onto my hands and took the brush from her. "How often do you have to dye your hair?"
"I don't really know, actually. I just kind of do touch-ups as needed," Amelia explained. I continued applying the red dye to her dark roots. "Thanks for helping me. Especially after what I did. I knew it was sneaky, but I was scared of being single again. It wasn't a plot against you; it was a plot to keep me from getting dumped."
"Even if it wasn't your intention, it still didn't feel right. I mean, waiting around a corner for me to leave so you could swoop in? That hurt, I'm not going to hide it. I appreciate that you told me eventually, though." I finished applying the dye to the back of her head and handed her back the brush. She sat up and tilted her head back, so the red dye hovered over the tub. She had a black towel strung across her shoulders that wrapped down her back.
Amelia sighed. "Well, I appreciate you being cool about it. I'm sorry for what I did, and I'm hoping we can still be friends."
I nodded. "Sure thing." I dismissed myself and brushed my teeth while Amelia began a timer on her phone. Then I spat out the toothpaste and walked out without another word. I opened my wardrobe and threw on the first swimsuit I saw, then went back downstairs to the bedroom to see everyone fully awake.
"There she is!" Blake sat up in bed. It looked like everyone had been having a conversation from their pillows. I walked over as Blake held his arms out and allowed him to hold me. "We were wondering where you went."
"I woke up just a bit ago and couldn't go back to sleep; I felt so awake," I smiled. Blake rolled over, pulling me onto the bed with him.
"I attribute that to your wonderful night with the best cuddler in the world," Blake bragged.
Peach popped her head up from underneath her blankets. "I don't know, Charlie's a good snuggler too. He's always warm!"
Charlie nodded. "I usually don't like to flex my homeostasis, but yeah, I'm super good at that thing that I have no control over." Peach giggled and fell onto his shoulder. Eventually, we all crawled out of bed and headed for the kitchen.
-
"Guys, look!" Polly yelled out, pointing at the sky. It was several hours later, just after lunch, and we were enjoying the beautiful weather. Far in the distance, hovering several miles away over an empty ocean, a dark cloud emerged from the nothingness.
"It's gonna rain!" I cheered. "I love thunderstorms."
Amelia stepped forward with her expertise. "Not for a few hours at least. It's not really windy today, and there's always a chance it could head north or south."
Lucas smiled, amused. "So you're saying there's a-"
"60% chance, maybe. Stay tuned for hourly updates on today's weather," Amelia smiled her TV smile and waved her hands like she was standing in front of a weather map.
"The people of Newark are lucky as hell that you're their meteorologist," Lucas complimented. Polly looked over at him.
"Aw, thanks, sweetheart!" Amelia grinned.
Blake reached into the pocket of his swim trunks as his phone dinged. "I've got a text, everyone." We gathered closer as Blake began reading. "Islanders, to celebrate your recoupling, you'll be completing a compatibility challenge. The most compatible couple will be getting an ocean-side date. #GetToKnowYourBoo #DontBreakup."
The challenge had been set up upstairs on the balcony outside the girls' dressing room. Amelia read out the instruction card.
"So, I'm the host because I'm single again. Which is fine. I like being in charge, but it would be nice to be able to play a game. Anyway, I'm going to ask a question, you're going to write your own answer on the whiteboard. I'll be the judge of whether your answers are compatible enough. Got it?" Amelia looked around as we all agreed. "Okay, first question. Beach or mountains?"
I already knew Blake's answer wasn't going to match with mine. Though he studied marine biology, he now heavily prefers northern California. When prompted, I raised my board to show the word 'beach,' while Blake's board read 'mountains.'
Amelia looked around. "Looks like Peach and Charlie, and Polly and Lucas get a point. That's okay, that doesn't seem like that serious of a question. And neither does this next one. Hot dogs or hamburgers?"
I wrote 'hamburger' on my board, while Blake had written 'neither.' "I'm vegetarian," he said.
"I'm vegan," Katrina revealed. The rest of the couples scored points.
"Finally, it's getting interesting. If your couple makes it beyond Love Island, who would move in with who?" Amelia asked. The islanders shifted in their seats.
I wrote that Blake would move in with me, while he wrote that I would move in with him. "I'm going to school in Bloomington. I couldn't move to California until I'm at least done with school. And even then, I don't know where I'm going to get a job," I said.
Blake sat the whiteboard on his lap. "Well, I'm not moving to Indiana." His face twisted with disgust at the sound of my home state.
"I think I could move to Louisiana while you finish up your college football stuff. My job's mostly studio work, but I can do that remotely on my laptop," Giselle revealed, resting her hand on Eli's knee.
Michael spoke up, letting the idea swirl around in his head. "I don't think I could move to Portland. It gets too cold in the winter. I like working out all year."
Katrina shook her head. "That's what gyms are for!"
"Alright, next question. Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?" Amelia asked.
I thought about the question and raked it through my brain. Eventually, I wrote 'Italy' down on my board. Blake had written 'Redding, CA.'
"But you live in Redding," I objected.
"Redding is surrounded by national parks, and it's less than three hours from the coast. It's the entire beauty of California in one city!"
Peach and Charlie smiled happily. They'd both written 'Greece' on their boards. Michael and Katrina had written 'South Korea' and 'Japan' respectively, but Amelia let them have a point because "the countries are close enough geographically."
"Hang on gang, it gets better. Do you want a big or small wedding?"
I wrote down my answer right away. Of course, Blake disagreed.
"Why would you want a big wedding? We don't have to shell out big bucks to prove we love each other," Blake began erasing the 'small' on his board with the side of his hand.
I shrugged, starting to feel embarrassed. On Amelia's tally board, we were the only couple that hadn't scored a single point. "I just like the idea of having my whole family there, watching me go through a major life event. And the big white dress, and the reception with everyone drinking and dancing-"
Amelia raised her voice. "Okay, Islanders! Last question! In how many years would you like to start a family?" My gut dropped. I'd never had to think about that.
I looked at the blank board and twiddled the Expo marker around in my fingers. Eventually, I wrote '5+ years?'
"Alright, guys. Big moment. Flip them around," Amelia called. Everyone flipped their boards around. The answers varied, from Katrina's 'never,' to Charlie's 'it's not a timeline, to Blake's 'one and a half years.'
"One and a half years?" I asked. My heart began to pound in my chest.
Blake looked around and noticed a few islanders watching us. "Let's not talk about it now," he said.
"Well... in an unexpected turn of events. Congratulations to the only couple who got 100% compatibility: Lucas and Polly!" Amelia announced. We cheered and applauded as Lucas goofily stood up and took a bow. Polly pulled him down by his hand, but she was smiling.
Polly's phone went off. She picked it up and read the text. "Polly and Lucas, because you won today's challenge, you will be eating a specially catered seaside dinner. #Seafood #SeaViews."
"Alright, back to the garden!" Katrina announced. She and Michael bounded away while the rest of us weren't so eager. Peach reached out for my hand and gave it a small squeeze.
"Let's go talk," Peach said. I looked up, not realizing I was showing any emotion. But Peach could read me well and knew I was uncomfortable. I was grateful for someone like that.
I turned to Blake, who was looking out at the sea. He hadn't gotten up yet. "Are you okay?" I asked.
Blake looked at me. He stood, pulled me into a deep hug, and kissed my forehead. "I'll be up here. I need to meditate." I nodded and left him to it.
Peach led me away from everyone else and to the other side of the pool by the hideaway. We sat at the edge with our legs in the water, facing the villa. "Do you want to go first?" she asked. I shook my head. "Do you want me to go first?" I nodded. "Okay... The compatibility challenge went well with Charlie and me. But just because it went well, doesn't mean we're made for each other. That was a small handful of questions that encouraged short answers, but real life is way more complicated than that." She put an arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into her. "I know how it must've felt, not getting a single one right. But there are so many other things you guys are perfect in. This small test shouldn't discourage you. You both love biology! You're both gorgeous human beings. And you guys have great chemistry. I say you have a nice chat with Blake tonight and get this sorted out. It's just a challenge."
I noticed Charlie and Eli looking at us from the lounge. I sat up and caught a small tear from rolling down my cheek with the side of my pointer finger. At the sight of this, the two guys came running over.
"What are you guys doing?" Peach asked as they jogged closer.
"We see somebody needs a cheer-up hug! Can I hug you?" Charlie asked. After I agreed, he crouched down beside me and wrapped his arms around me.
Eli leaned down. "Maddie, is it okay if I pick you up?" he asked. I laughed and wiped at my eye.
"Yeah."
Charlie backed up as Eli held me bridal-style and began doing bicep curls with my body. "One! Two! Three!" He counted, then carefully set me down as I erupted in laughter.
"Thanks, guys," I said with a smile and took my seat by Peach.
"Don't mention it," Eli said. "And don't let that challenge get you down. Blake's crazy about you. A Love Island game isn't going to break you apart."