Love Can Be Chosen

Chapter One

"The safest place I can be is right here next to you." Her eyes were drawn to the words encircling her left wrist, in golden ink. Or what passed for it, but was a form of tattoo ink, she realised. These words were destined to be said by her soulmate, but in 24 years, she still hadn't met the person who she was destined to spend her life with. She had signed up for Love Island partially due to a dare, and the other part was genuinely wanting to try and see if somewhere designed for love would give her the chance to find her person.

Alecto knew that saying other people's soulmate words was frowned upon. Tricking someone into having a long lasting relationship or even a friendship with you by saying the words that belonged to them was not illegal, but it should be. She had never made the mistake herself, she never read other people's soulmate tattoos specifically to avoid that error.

Her ex-best friend Étienne did not follow the same rule, landing her into a relationship that was doomed from the start. He kept trying to influence her to say the words on his skin, but she knew that by saying them they were both giving up their chance to find their true soulmate. People had been imprisoned for less, but a false relationship surprisingly didn't encounter the same form of punishment.

Having to pretend to be something that you would never be took a toll on you, Alecto knew that from experience. Not only did Étienne say the words engraved on her arm, he broke up with her after discovering his own soulmate was Andromeda Black, who she had previously been close to. Best friends, to be exact. She discovered one of her best mates had only been by her side due to the two of them possibly being each other's soulmates, and because of a hint he'd given. And when it turned out her ex-best friend was Étienne's true half, she left Alecto in the dust, with no hint of apology.

That 'relationship' had lasted for 2 years of her life; he had finally broken it off in the summer before Year 13. That relationship had caused a lot of damage to her heart, meaning she stayed away from serious relationships for a while. She knew she would be considered inexperienced to some, only having had two relationships in her life, but she wasn't lucky enough to have met her soulmate in high school or in university as some people she knew were. Somewhere based around love was as good a place as any to hopefully meet her soulmate.

She took her first steps out of the jeep as it came to a stop. The villa definitely was unexpected, it wasn't like anything she'd seen before. Butterflies fluttered in her belly, and she fiddled with the end of her dark braid. She heard another jeep approaching and turned her head. The sound of high heels announced the arrival of another girl.

"Hi. You're drop dead gorgeous. I'm Hope. What's your name?" Hope smiled. She towered over Alecto, 5'9 at her first guess. She was gorgeous and had long hair in cornrows and dark eyes.

"I'm Alecto, you're stunning too." She returned the smile. It usually took a while for her to warm up to people, and she saw no appeal in filling up silence with mindless chatter about nothing much. Being able to enjoy a silence with someone was definitely a good sign. "It looks amazing here, want to explore the bedroom?"Alecto asked.

She walked inside, the sound of heels behind her making it clear Hope was following her. She felt herself zoning out, the conversation was becoming difficult to hold her attention. She had always disliked small talk; and she preferred more serious discussions or conversations in which she ended up learning something new as opposed to airy fairy pointless conversation.

The door clicked open, and she looked up.

Wow.

The new girl was blonde with pink dip dyed ends, gorgeous tattoos and hypnotising green eyes. She felt herself staring, and it took the other girl hugging her to snap herself out of it. With some luck, she didn't notice the extended eye contact, that wouldn't have been a great first impression that's for sure. She felt herself zone out again, only coming back into the conversation to hear the tail end of a question asking her about her profession.