Love Island

Chapter 62 - Finale Part 2

As the finale approached, the girls sat around the dressing room in our evening gowns. Our faces had been set with powder and hair styled to perfection. There must've been more bobby pins in Polly's updo than grains of sand on the beach. As the last girl slipped on her heels, the three of us stepped out onto the balcony to appreciate the view one last time. The moon and stars were on full display in a cloudless sky. The wind was calm, with a cooling breeze that ruffled the tops of the palm trees, bringing salty air to our lungs. I looked to the sides of the villa, admiring the lights of residences lining the Fijian coast. This was a view I was going to miss.

Between the cracks in the palm trees, the moon cast slivers of silver light onto the ocean's surface. Ripples of dark blue interrupted the reflective beam as waves made their way into shore, tucking beneath themselves in a white churning sea. It was reminiscent of Hawaii, and the thought made me excited to bring Charlie back to the big island.

"Well, cheers, girls." Peach lifted her pink Love Island water bottle into the air in place of alcohol; the producers had locked away our liquor until after the finale. Polly and I reached out to meet her water bottle and clinked the plastic together. "To our new lives. No matter how tonight goes, we should be proud that we made it this far."

"And I think we should make a pact. That no matter who wins or loses, none of us holds a grudge. I want to stay friends; I don't want money to ruin us," Polly added.

I nodded in agreement and took a sip of my ice-cold water. "I'm with you guys. Friends until the end... and then some. After all the shit we've been through for the past four weeks, I think we need each other to cope. I mean, no one on the outside is going to understand what we went through in here. I know my friends would see Love Island as a vacation, and in some ways, it so is. But it's also been challenging."

"Oh, for sure." Peach agreed immediately and placed her water bottle down on the coffee table. "This has been awesome. Without Love Island, I would probably have never gone to Fiji ever in my life, and now it's one of my favorite places in the world. But the emotional stress we all went through to get where we are was really tough. Because we weren't just trying to figure out our love lives with each other, we were doing it in front of millions of people."

"I'm not sure I'm ready to go home, just for Twitter alone," Polly revealed. "What if they're saying mean things on our social media accounts?"

I shook my head at the thought. "If they are, it's not on yours, Polly. You're a good person and every Islander from this season knows that. You're the kind of friend people dream of having."

She looked down bashfully at her knees. "Really?"

"Of course," I confirmed.

"Both of you guys have been really great to me. I'm not sure I could have kept my sanity without you," Peach smiled, then let out a soft sigh. "It's been a while since I've been to New York. Maybe Maddie and I can plan a road trip."

"Yes, please!" Polly clapped her hands in excitement.

I looked over at Peach fondly, admiring her ability to find optimism in even the most sorrowful events. "I think we could totally arrange that. We could have a girls' weekend."

Polly grinned at the thought. "I could introduce you guys to my sorority! Oh, you'd love them, they're all so nice... most of the time. But they'll be nice to you guys, I'm sure of it!"

"Thanks, Polly," I laughed. A soft knock on the dressing room door turned our attention. "Come on in!" I shouted through the open balcony doors. The door peeled back on its hinges, exposing three well-dressed boys.

"You guys look amazing," Charlie smiled. The trio of guys walked out onto the balcony and took their seats beside us.

Gray made himself comfortable around Peach, then reached out to hold her hand. "We thought we should all be together one last time before the chaos and the confetti. One last time to have a normal conversation."