The following day, the villa awoke in a state of confusion. I was comfortably wrapped around Noah, but others weren't nearly as tranquil. I was half-asleep, resting on Noah's chest while his hands played with my hair. Across from me, Peach woke up and stared at the face of her new couple.
"This is going to take some getting used to," I heard her mumble.
Giselle was in a similar state of confusion when she planned to wake up beside a huge boulder of a man and instead found herself lying beside a pebble. Then her lips curled into a petite smile, and she nestled down further into her pillow. Charlie and Polly laid in the bed beside hers, back to back and still in a deep sleep.
"Good morning," Noah's morning voice growled into my ear. It sent little ripples down my spine like wind disturbing the surface tension of water.
"Morning," I whispered back into the skin of his bare chest. His fingers continued playing with my hair, twirling the strands and massaging the scalp, nearly luring me back to sleep. Then the bright LEDs switched on, and the curtains pulled back, enveloping the room in light. With a groan, I peeled myself from Noah and swung my legs over the side of the bed. "I'm not going to miss waking up early." I looked over and saw Peyton and Blake's bed empty, the sheets messy and unmade. "I guess it's harder on some of us than others."
I made my way to the dressing room and took a seat at my vanity, addressing the dark shadows beneath my eyes. I grabbed my concealer and spread the product-filled wand across my skin, carefully dabbing it in with my pinky until the evidence of fatigue had disappeared.
Giselle was the first to follow me upstairs and did so with a slight sway in her walk. "Hey!"
"Hi," I slid my concealer into its drawer and pumped a dime of sunscreen onto my fingers. "How'd you sleep?"
She pondered thoughtfully for a second. "Really good, actually. Better than I have in a while," she admitted. She took a seat at her vanity and began playing with her curly hair. "Either Lucas is quite the gentleman, or Polly has him trained to not touch her. I kept trying to get him to spoon me, but he was, like, ultra-cautious."
"Maybe he was just nervous. Didn't wanna make a move on the first night?" I suggested.
"That could be it," Giselle rubbed a tinted moisturizer onto her cheeks. "I hope it goes away quickly, though."
"Hope what goes away quick?" Polly asked as she walked in. Peach tailed behind her.
Giselle turned on her vanity stool toward the door. "Did you and Lucas ever cuddle?"
"Oh, no. He gets really hot at night," Polly said. She and Peach took a seat at their separate vanities.
"Really?" Giselle squinted at her reflection in the vanity mirror. "He wears a t-shirt to bed, I thought he'd be cold."
"That's because he doesn't like how skinny he is." Polly's face fell for a moment. "He was really looking forward to working out with Eli. It makes me sad."
"Aw, Polls," Giselle scooched over and pulled her friend into a tight hug. "It's so sweet how you care about him."
Polly nodded, her eyes still staring intensely at the floor. "I do."
I walked over to my wardrobe and pulled out a bikini for the day. I stepped into the bathroom to throw it on and found Blake and Peyton.
"Sorry!" I shouted and stepped back into the dressing room, using the bikini pieces in my hand to shield my eyes as the door slammed behind me. "Oh my god, oh my god."
"What?" Peach asked skeptically.
"Nothing. Just saw Blake's bare ass," I laughed and took a seat on the floor. "I can never get it out of my head."
"Damn. Good for Peyton," Giselle commented.
Polly smiled to herself. "Maybe that's why they wake up so early!"
Giselle laughed and playfully pushed her blonde friend. "Gross."
Peach and I changed into our swimsuits between the floor-to-ceiling curtains and the wall, then went down to the garden to start the day.
"How was your night with Gray?" I asked. We walked directly to the pool and sat down at the edge to dangle our legs in the crystal blue water.
"It was good," she stared down at her knees as she kicked her legs. "I feel like I made the right decision yesterday. Still happy with Noah?"
I nodded. "Definitely. It's going really well. It's crazy, you know? I met him the third day..." I did the calculation in my head. "I've known him for a week. And it feels like it's been months. He makes me feel comfortable."
"That's a really great thing to have in a partner! Someone who makes you feel comfortable! Yet someone you're still attracted to. Charlie only fit half of that puzzle," Peach sighed.
"You don't have to worry, Peach. You did what's right, you shouldn't be on Love Island in an unhappy couple. And Polly chose him, so he still has a chance here."
She looked up at me hopefully. "You think?"
"Definitely! He's charming, funny. He just needs the right girl to walk in," I said.
"Or maybe she's already here."
I nodded. "That's true. Maybe it'll work out with Polly."
The rest of the group slowly trickled out of the bedroom doors dressed for the day in swimwear and sunny accessories. Giselle's oversized sunglasses became the talking point as the boys poked fun at her fashion choice.
"Let me see those," Lucas carefully reached out. When Giselle didn't pull away, he took it as permission to remove them from her face. His arms plunged downward as if the sunglasses weighed a dozen pounds. "Geez, they're heavy!" He heaved the accessories up, flexing his small biceps.
Gray smiled down at the purple frames. "They look like those huge glasses props you see at photobooths."
"All you need is a mustache on a stick and you're set, Giselle," Charlie joked.
"You guys just don't know anything about fashion," Giselle huffed and snatched the sunglasses back. "Tell them, Peach."
"I like them!" Peach declared.
"No, Peach, tell them that big sunglasses are in!" Giselle encouraged.
Peach looked at her blankly. "Technically, the Jenners and Hadids are all wearing tiny sunglasses, but I think yours are cool as hell."
Giselle, though not completely satisfied with her answer, smiled. "Well, thanks."
My phone chimed behind me. "I've got a text!" I smiled and brought the screen to my face. "Islanders- can you handle the truth? It's time to find out what America has been tweeting about you."
We went to the neighboring lot where the game had been set up: six pairs of chairs were arranged in a circle for each couple. Katrina and Michael were tasked with reading each of the tweets with the names redacted, and each couple had to write their guess on their whiteboard.
I took my seat beside Noah as Katrina reached for the first card. "Blank is easily the worst-dressed person in the villa. No question." We all exchanged glances as we realized it would be that kind of game. Most of the group answered Michael, with a few Blakes and one Katrina. Katrina shot a glance at Peach and Gray and removed the sticker covering the name. "Blake. Everyone who said Blake got a point." Blake looked down at his swim trunks indecisively.
Katrina carried on with the next question. "I just think Blank deserves better."
My mind immediately went to Lucas. I leaned over and whispered the name into Noah's ear. He nodded and wrote his name down on the board. As instructed, everyone flipped their boards at the same time.
Lucas blushed. "Thanks, guys." Polly stared shamefully down at her feet. Everyone got a point.
"What the hell is wrong with Blank? Leading him on like that?" Katrina announced the following tweet. The whole group looked regretful.
I leaned into Noah to discuss. "America probably thinks it's Polly, right? After the last one?"
Noah nodded. "That makes sense." He wrote down the name. Once again, everyone flipped their boards over to a unanimous answer: Polly.
Katrina removed the sticker. "Peach..." she said. My stomach flipped. Peach looked like she was about to cry.
"Don't listen to them, Peach. It's okay," Charlie called over to her. She nodded quickly and wiped a tear.
"No one got a point. Moving on," Katrina read the next tweet. "Blank and Blank are the most boring couple in Love Island history. That's harsh." She set down the card and began to discuss it with Michael.
"Who do you think?" Noah asked.
I shook my head. "I was wrong last time. What are your thoughts?"
"Hopefully not us," he chuckled. "Off the top of my head, Katrina and Michael. But honestly, Blake and Peyton may fit."
"Nope, not Blake and Peyton," I said as I remembered my interruption this morning. "I think America sees more of their relationship than we do. I think you're right with Katrina and Michael." We wrote their names on our board and lifted them. Everyone had written the name of a different couple.
Katrina looked wounded by my board. "And the answer is..." she removed the paper and dropped the piece in her lap. "Katrina and Michael."
"That's okay, babe! They don't know us," Michael threw an arm around her.
"Whatever," Katrina shrugged it off and gave Noah and me the point. "Blank is the hottest guy of the season."
I took the board from Noah and immediately wrote his name. He laughed joyfully. Every girl wrote their couple's name.
"Okay, the answer is Gray. Only Peach and Gray got that one right." Katrina added the mark to the board. "I could listen to Blank talk for the rest of my life."
I didn't even bother erasing the name off of my board; I kept Noah's name in place as the boards lifted into the air. Most were for Noah and a few for Giselle and Peyton.
"It's Noah!" Katrina announced.
"Who's even surprised? He has an accent!" Polly exclaimed.
Katrina read the next card and grimaced. "Sheesh. Blank is annoying the hell out of me right now. Is she seriously blind to what's going on?"
"It's not me, right?" I asked Noah.
He shook his head. "No, I imagine it's someone where the lad has a secret. Any of the guys seem unfaithful?"
"Maybe Blake?" I suggested. Noah nodded and wrote Peyton's name down on the board.
As the Islanders flipped over their answers, there wasn't a correlation. Every girl's name was written once.
"And the answer is... Maddie." Katrina declared.
My brows furrowed, and I thought about the tweet again. "What am I blind to?" I looked to Noah, who shook his head cluelessly.
"The number of times I've seen Blank and Blank hook up in random places cannot be counted. Actually, it can, and the number is eleven," Katrina read the tweet.
"Put Blake and Peyton," I whispered. Noah looked over at me, confused. "I walked in on them this morning."
"Gross," he responded as he wrote down their name. At the flip of the boards, I saw my name written a lot.
"And the answer is Blake and Peyton!" Katrina gave us and Peach and Gray a point. "High key, I think Blank and Blank should try to make it work." For this one, every board read Peach and Charlie.
Polly was the first to speak up. "We don't necessarily think it, we respect your decision, Peach! We're just trying to consider what America might think."
Katrina pulled back the sticker. "Lucas and Polly!" The two blondes exchanged a melancholy gaze. "Awkward. And finally... Anyone else think that Blank and Blank should get more air time? They're hot and smart!"
I saw my name a few times, mixed with Peyton and Charlie's.
"Okay, the answer is... Giselle and Charlie. Nobody got that one," Katrina said.
As the game ended, Giselle's phone chimed. "Congratulations Giselle and Lucas for getting the most points for today's challenge! As a reward, you'll be treated to a romantic date night." She grinned and threw her arms around Lucas.
Our brief walk back to the villa was filled with intrusive thoughts pounded into my head like the waves crashing on the beach. Why was I annoying America? What was I doing? Or not doing, rather. What was I blind to? I looked up at Noah thoughtfully. He caught my eye and squeezed my hand reassuringly.
"Can we talk?" I asked. He nodded and pulled me away from the group. The rest of the Islanders walked back to the villa while Noah and I sat across from each other in the sand. "My head hurts."
"What's wrong?" He knew there was an underlying problem.
I scooped some sand into my hands and passed it between my palms. "I'm afraid to ask because I don't want all my couples to be ruined by challenges. But is there something you need to tell me?"
Noah paused for a second, carefully raking his brain. "No, I don't think so. If I did, I would tell you. Honestly, Maddie. You're important to me. I wouldn't do anything to purposely mess this up."
"I just don't understand. What am I blind to? It's so vague!" I complained. Noah frowned and scooted closer to me.
"You're thinking the worst because it's vague, aren't you?" He asked. I nodded, and he pulled me close to him. "Maddie, I promise you, I've been loyal. I don't know what that tweet was insinuating, but I know it's nothing to do with me. Unless you're blind to how much I'm infatuated by you?"
I laughed and wiped my cheek. "No, I've got a clear view of that," I joked.
He wrapped his arm around me and rested his hand on my hip. "Anytime you need to talk or start to doubt yourself, come talk to me."
"Okay," I agreed and sat up. "I just won't think about it."
"Yeah!" Noah supported.
"Nothing good will come from my dwelling."
"Brilliant!"
"Let's go!" We walked down the beach toward the villa to find that we weren't the only couple who needed to chat. Giselle was earnestly talking to Lucas by the pool, gesturing wildly in his face as he watched her. Michael and Katrina sat across the garden on a small bench, definitely talking about their 'boring' status. And over by the bar, Charlie seemed to attempt to comfort Peach, who was pouring herself a drink. "This might be a long day."