Love Island

Chapter 4 - Partners in Crime

The dressing room was much calmer that evening. Polly's phone was hooked up to a speaker playing Sam Smith quietly in the corner. The air was filled with sweet fragrances carried in by the steam of the showers. Amelia sat at her vanity, carefully removing contacts from her eyes and placing the phantom lenses in a small white case. Giselle ran her fingers through her curly black hair, depositing hair product on each strand. No one spoke a word as we all worked to get ready for bed.

I grabbed my moisturizer off my vanity and began rubbing it into my legs, circling my palms over my thighs and running my hands over my shins until my skin was shiny and slick. Peach looked over, both her hands fiddling with her hair as she began to braid it.

"Can I feel?" she asked. I stuck out my leg as an invitation, and she happily pranced over to my vanity and ran her fingertips along the smooth skin. "That is lovely! I hope Blake appreciates it." She winked at me as she finished braiding the right side of her hair, creating two pigtail braids.

"Thanks! It's the first night so I thought I should be my best," I commented. "I'd never gotten a wax until Love Island."

"Never?" Amelia asked. Thick black frames sat on the bridge of her nose.

"No, I was always too scared to do it. I'm a wuss for pain."

Amelia nodded knowingly. "In cosmetology school, we had to wax each other. I'm glad I got partnered with one of the gentle girls. My friend's partner would rip off the wax and immediately get to work on the next one, just leaving her in pain. No hand, no rubbing. And the wax was always too hot."

"Ouch!" Peach said.

"Is it that bad?" Katrina asked. "I've never gotten a wax." She sat at her vanity, applying chapstick in an old gym t-shirt and black athletic shorts.

"You've never waxed anything? Not even a top lip? Brows? Nose hair?" Amelia looked at Katrina with interest.

"I didn't even know people wax their nose hair," Katrina admitted. "When I boxed, I just shaved the parts people could see: legs and arms. My hair's dark but grows in slowly, so it was never really a bother."

Polly poked her head up. "I've also never gotten a wax. I shave a lot, but even if I miss a spot, my hair's really blonde, so I'm the only one that notices."

"Lucky," I smiled. "I've got dark hair that begs for attention the second it starts to grow out."

"Same!" Amelia said. "I get everything waxed as soon as it grows long enough."

"Everything?" Polly asked, her blue eyes creasing with worry.

"Everything," Amelia confirmed with a wink.

I stood up from my vanity and grabbed my water bottle. "I'm gonna go get water. Anyone need a refill?" No one took my offer, so I walked down to the kitchen alone.

Standing in the kitchen were Blake, Charlie, and Eli.

"Babe!" Blake called over. He wrapped an arm around me as I got closer. "We were just talking about our dates and what an awesome one I had."

I rolled my eyes with a big smile as he kissed my cheek. "You big softie." I released from his grip and began filling up my bottle from the fridge's water dispenser.

"Maddie," Eli paused for a second. I turned to look at him. "What are the girls saying about their dates?"

"Pretty positive feedback. A couple rough ones. A few great ones," I teased.

"Who had the great ones?" Eli asked. He managed to keep his voice calm, but I could tell this was killing him.

"Peach and Amelia both enjoyed theirs," I said.