Love Island

Chapter 14 - Falling Out

That evening, we were getting ready for dinner as usual. The last hairdryer had clicked off, enveloping the room in silence only to be broken by the sound of makeup brushes clicking against the vanity. With my makeup nearly done, I was sweeping eyeshadow across my lids, blending the pink and brown hues into a sweet strawberry smokey eye. I picked up a denser brush and began packing a light sparkly pink in the center of my lid, then reached for my eyeliner.

"I think we need to talk about some of those secrets," Katrina smirked from her vanity. She was moving a detangling brush through her straight black hair. "Polly- an entire fraternity?" Katrina let out a giggle that made the room feel warm. It was nice to see her opening up.

"To be fair, it was a voluntary dare," Polly defended herself, grinning as she shuffled through her makeup bag. "My college has a really strict anti-hazing policy, but if you want to, you can do the 'tradition' of kissing all the members of the neighboring fraternity within a month of moving into a house or two months after bid day."

Giselle capped her lipstick and began sifting through her earrings. "Aren't there tons of guys in fraternities, though? I didn't go to many parties when I was at Berkeley, but the few that I went to, there were so many guys."

"Oh yeah, there's a ton. I exaggerated my secret, honestly. You only have to kiss the guys who live in the house. Most of the members live in dorms or off-campus, so it'd be hard to actually kiss every single one," Polly said.

"Makes sense," Peach said. "I used to really want to be in a sorority. All my friends in high school talked about it. We went on some college tours around Chicago and found out how expensive it is. My ass thought it was free this whole time." She leaned into her mirror to darken her waterline. "But everything at college is expensive."

"Did you go to college, Peach?" Polly asked.

Peach capped the eyeliner and shook her head. "Nope. I couldn't afford it, and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life owing the government half my paycheck. It worked out, though. Sure, I don't have a diploma, but no one else at my school has walked at New York Fashion Week."

"Hell yeah!" I offered my support. "That's my girl."

"You'll have to teach us how to walk sometime!" Amelia said. She was holding a strand of red hair wrapped around her curling iron.

Peach shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I could do that," she smiled.

Next to me, Peyton's phone went off. She paused her lipstick application and set the product down on her vanity, rubbing her pink lips together. "Congratulations, girls, on your victory. As a reward, you will be able to select one of the boys as your dinner date. Once that boy has been chosen, he's off the market. The order will be Amelia, Peyton, Katrina, Peach, Polly, and Giselle. #datesandplates #drawingtheshortstraw."

Amelia grinned as her phone chimed. "I get to choose first!" She quickly typed in a name. "I'm picking Noah." Peach glanced at me with a frown.

"Wait, was my name even on there?" I asked.

Peyton double-checked her phone. "I guess not. There aren't enough boys," she looked at me sympathetically.

One by one, the rest of the phones vibrated, and the girls submitted their names. Amelia and Noah, Peyton and Blake, Katrina and Michael, Peach and Charlie, Polly and Lucas, and Giselle and Eli. I sat waiting for my phone to make any sort of indication that I wasn't left out or forgotten. I would be left to wait.

"Well... have fun!" I said as the girls began parting from their vanities.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Peach asked. "I don't want you to be lonely."