Love Island

Chapter 13 - Briefly Embarrassed

By late morning, everyone had rolled out of bed and changed into their swimwear to start another hard day of basking in the sun. Thirteen islanders were peacefully sprawled out across the villa. All of the boys were in the shallow end of the pool, sitting belly button deep in the cool water. Peyton and Amelia walked over to join them. Katrina was teaching Polly how to make a smoothie in the kitchen, and every few minutes, we'd hear the blender whirring. And Peach, Giselle, and I had found a daybed just barely big enough for the three of us to lay out and bake beneath the South Pacific sun.

Earlier that morning, we'd been woken up by producers as more beds were added to the villa to accommodate more islanders, and our own beds were pushed closer together. Night tables had been replaced with colorful shelves to hold our phones and water bottles. After these changes, we were then directed to wake up and act surprised by the new addition of furniture, as if we hadn't watched the whole process from our pillows.

A text chimed within the poolside pile of mic packs and phones. Seconds later, everyone's phone had gone off. Giselle reached down and handed Peach and me our phones.

"Peach, please send in a naughty secret for today's challenge. Don't share it with anyone," Peach read aloud.

"I've got the same text," Giselle announced.

As did I. "A naughty secret?" I asked and began to think. Did I have any naughty secrets? "How naughty are we going?"

"I guess that's for us to decide. I'm not giving away anything too personal, but I'll play the game," Giselle announced and began typing her response.

I thought for a minute, typed my response, and hit send.

A few hours later, the subsequent text came after lunch, when the group was chilling in the shade, chatting about nothing in particular.

Eli's phone went off, and he picked it up instinctively. "Islanders, get ready for today's game. Who knows what you might find out? #SecretAgents #DirtyLaundry."

We walked down to the beach and over to the neighboring lot to see the platform had been painted a mysterious blue. In the center, a long table was set up with thirteen briefcases: six blue and seven pink. The boys were designated to one side of the table, and the girls stood opposite them.

Peyton volunteered to read out the instructions. "Islanders, today's game is called Briefly Embarrassed. The teams will alternate picking a briefcase from the opposite team and read out the secret inside. Whoever grabbed the briefcase must then kiss the person they think the secret is about." Peyton set down the piece of paper.

"We'll go first since we've got more briefcases to open," Blake suggested, and we all agreed.

Eli approached one of the pink cases and opened it up, pulling out a card. "Three isn't company for this Islander, who had a threesome with a married couple." Eli rubbed the black facial hair on his chin. "Damn." The boys didn't discuss it very long. Eli walked around the table and pulled Giselle into a tender, warm kiss.

"That's not-" Michael stopped himself, realizing that Eli just wanted to kiss Giselle. He stepped forward and turned the card over. "Amelia. Like the rest of us agreed."

"Sorry boys!" Eli said as he jogged back.

Peach stepped forward and opened a blue case. "This Islander had a very sweet sixteen, losing his virginity that same day." She turned around for consultation.

"Sixteen... Maybe Blake or Noah?" Katrina suggested. "They don't seem very innocent."

Peach nodded. She walked around the table, passed Noah, and planted a light kiss on Blake's lips. She returned to the briefcase and flipped the card over. "Lucas?!" She yelled through a giggle. The boys erupted in high-fives and bro things.