Love Island

12. Game plan

Day 9
couples:
Asher and Alex
Hannah and Dougie
Jodie and Kyle
Skye and Taylor
Violetta and James
Zoe and Sam

I'm sat with Asher, and surprisingly enough, our newly found friendship has lasted a whole day so far. Jodie, Dougie, Kyle and James have already told me to be careful, and that she could turn on me at any moment. After all, she's already apologised once before and it was all fake. But I have my wits about me, and I honestly feel like Asher's being genuine this time. I've never seen this side to her, and she seems like she really does want to do the right thing from now on. "Oh my god!" She squeals, looking at her phone screen, "I've got a text!" Everyone starts paying attention, and all eyes are on her. "Islanders, it's time for a surprise recoupling, once again it's girls' choice. Islanders, please gather around the fire pit."

We both get up and jog over to the fire pit, like the text instructed us to. And when we get there, Jodie gets a message next, "Jodie, you will be the first to choose your couple, followed by Asher, then Skye, then Violetta, then Hannah, then Zoe." She tells us, reading the text out loud.

"Fuck sake." I whisper to myself, but I know that Asher can hear me. So I explain to her why I'm so annoyed right now. "Skye's going before me, that means she's going to steal James away." I know James and I can sleep on the day beds, but what happens during the challenges? I don't think I could handle watching Skye dog her claws in and the smug look on her face that will come with it.

Asher looks at me for a moment whilst all the guys are getting in place in front of us, which is clearly proving to be a difficult task for them. Looks like their brains are in their biceps. "But I'm before her." Asher whispers so that only I can hear. "I can choose to couple up with him if you want, to keep her away from him."

I consider it for a moment, whether it's a good plan, whether James will understand, and whether I can really trust Asher. And I know I have to just go with what my gut is telling me. "Okay." I finally whisper back, "And I'll pick Taylor." She smiles at me, mentally thanking me for repaying the kindness that she's showing me.

Jodie then stands up, time to make her speech. "So I think it's pretty obvious which guy I'm going to pick. I didn't have a chance to prepare a proper speech, so all I have to say I that I've never been happier, and it's all down to him. Every moment in this place has been so special, and I can't thank him enough for giving me that gift." She smiles to herself before continuing, so all caught up in her feelings. "The guy I want to couple up with is...Kyle."

Kyle quickly makes his way over to Jodie and gives her a hug before sitting down next to her, his hand resting on her leg. Then Asher stands up, she looks at the guys standing in front of her and she takes a deep breath. She then turns around to look at me, making sure that I'm definitely okay with our little plan, and I give her a nod of reassurance. "So I wasn't originally planning on doing this, but in the light of current events, I know that this is what I have to do. Because at the end of the day, friends have to stick together no matter what." She pauses before saying what I know will be a shocking decision to everyone apart from me. "The boy I'm going to couple up with is...James."

And just like I predicted, everyone is in utter shock. Dougie is covering his mouth with his hand, Skye looks pissed off, and I'm sitting there as cool as a cucumber. Jodie and Kyle are both looking at me, clearly very annoyed about Asher's antics, thinking they were right that she couldn't be trusted. But I mouth to them "it's okay" with a smile before James comes up to me and gives me a peck on the lips, then he sits down with Asher, and I can hear her apologising to him already.

Skye then stands up, looking at the guys in front of her, her first choice clearly not an option any more. And that makes me unbelievably happy, I love how we managed to ruin her plan. "This guy has been a really good friend to me in here, and I can't imagine coupling up with anyone else other than him. So the guy I want to couple up with is...Alex." Short and sweet, very to the point. I'm not surprised considering how angry she looks right now.

It's now my turn to stand up, I take a step forward, and to most people's surprise I have a smile on my face. "I'm going to couple up with this boy because he seems really nice and if I'm not going to be with the guy I like for a few days, then I know that this is the perfect guy to be coupled up with instead." I turn back to look at Asher, and there's a grin on her face, mirroring the grin painted on mine. "It's only fair that the guy I want to couple up with is...Taylor."

There's a few gasps from the girls, everyone knowing that Asher doesn't take it well when anyone takes her man. "Shit is about to go down." I hear Zoe mutter, not to anyone in particular. "It's all going to kick off." I can't help but laugh at her response, about how no one knows what's really going on except from Asher and I. But then I feel kind of guilty that James and Taylor are none the wiser, and they're in the dark about all of this too.

"I have loved every minute I've spent with this boy," Hannah starts, breaking the tension around the fire pit. "He's really brought me out of my shell, and I can't imagine being with anyone else here. So the guy I want to couple up with is...Dougie."

"Surprise, surprise." Dougie jokes, making his way towards Hannah, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to her on the bench.

Zoe then stands up, looking slightly upset. "So I was actually planning to couple up with someone else, but I've made good friends with this guy over the past few days so I'm glad that I get to couple up with someone that I actually get on with." Asher and I exchange looks when she says this, clearly that was a dig at us, but we couldn't care less what she thinks. "The guy I'm going to couple up with is Sam." She says, no dramatic pause whatsoever.

After everyone is coupled up, it immediately starts to kick off. "What the fuck was that for, Asher?" Jodie asks angrily, even though I told her that everything was okay. "I knew you were a bitch but I didn't realise you were a full on snake aswell."

I can tell that Asher's hurt by this. "But-" She starts, but gets interrupted by people shouting at her.

"Why would you do that?" James raises his voice at her, "Do you ever think about anyone other than yourself?" When he says this, I can really see the hurt on Asher's face, but only briefly, because she then runs off into the villa. "I can't believe her." James says to me.

"I can't believe you." I say to him in return, bitterness laced in my voice. "You shouldn't have said that to her, you had no right."

"Vee, she split us up deliberately, she had the chance to pick Taylor and she didn't." He argues, not realising that he's done something wrong.

"Did it ever even occur to you that she was trying to help?" I ask, shaking my head in disgust. His hand reaches for mine, but I move it away before he gets the chance. "I need to fix this, just leave me alone for a bit, okay?" I tell him before running off after Asher, leaving him standing there in the garden with everyone else, utterly confused about this whole situation.