Love Island

Chapter 40 - License to Swill

Before dinner, we were determined to catch every last drop of light the sun could spare on our skin. We laid out on towels and daybeds accessorized with sunscreen and tanning lotion. Polly was slightly excluded from these activities, sitting near us beneath the shade of an umbrella. Though the Islanders were splayed across the villa like fingers, sitting in the palms of the hands of the producers, a group of nearby tanners managed to envelop each other in conversation. Julie had allowed Lucas to join Peach, Connor, Giselle, and myself in front of the pool. Our voices carried on the bands of roughening winds that wound through the spaces that separated us.

I managed to drown out the conversation with my own thoughts. Where Charlie and I stood was a mystery to us both. After the hot tub, we'd spent the day avoiding each other, or rather, casting awkward glances from across the pool. It was an uncomfortable tension that affected the entire villa; no one dared to speak when Charlie and I were around each other, for fear of missing a whispered insult or faint declaration. Instead, radio silence was all that came between us.

"What do you guys think is next?" Connor asked. His lack of experience in the villa drew out a common question that, of course, no one would know the answer to. Still, I entertained the idea in my imagination of whatever challenge or skillset was awaiting me.

"I heard what Giselle said earlier, about people going home soon. I bet they'll send all the singles home," Julie announced confidently and without fear of retaliation. 

I sat forward on my daybed, a mixture of confused and shocked. "Thanks, Julie." I was almost amused by her oblivious nature. "That would send Giselle and me home. And Gray and Anthony, too."

"How'd you even hear what I said? You weren't with us," Giselle retaliated.

"Hm. I guess I just heard it through the grapevine." Julie turned her head and lowered her sunglasses to make eye contact with Polly. "A certain grape has been siren-calling out to my partner." Beside her, Lucas shifted uncomfortably but remained silent.

Polly looked away and toward me in search of support. "Lucas is still my friend," she said, avoiding Julie's eyes.

"Of course, he is!" Julie tilted her head back and allowed a laugh to escape from the crevices of her wide mouth. "I'm just joking, sweetheart. You've got to relax," Julie reached out and gripped Polly's shoulder. She engaged in a free massage that looked less than comfortable. "How's it going with Charlie, though?" Julie looked over at me.

I shook my head disapprovingly. I refused to have that conversation with Julie. "Who knows?" I said simply, quickly deterring the topic away from myself and waiting for another Islander to take the opportunity of the silence to begin talking about themselves. Apart from Julie, no one jumped at the moment. "Lucas, how are you feeling?" I looked over and scanned his body language for evidence of a hostage situation.

"I'm good," he smiled sweetly. 

When Lucas didn't follow up, I pressed on. "How did you like Casa Amor?"

"Oh, it was pretty fun. It looked a lot like the villa decoration-wise, with all the palm trees and neon signs. The A.C. isn't as strong, though, so I would get kinda hot at night." Trying to get Lucas to be an open book was a slow process, but I think we managed to finally get past the table of contents. 

"Did they have the pillowcases you like?" Polly asked. Lucas shook his head.

"Pillowcases?" Julie asked, looking between the two of them. In that short moment, she displayed her deep-rooted insecurity. It wasn't easy breaking up one of America's favorite couples, but she was still willing to give it her best shot.

"Lucas likes the pillowcases here because they're silk; they stay cold at night and don't really get warm like a cotton pillowcase would," Polly explained. "That's also why he barely wears anything to bed."