Love Island

Chapter 8 - Compatibility

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.