5. Elody

5ELODY

“Damn,” I say, when the awkward silence has gone on for five full seconds. “First dramatic exit and it wasn’t even me. I’m, like, kind of jealous.”

McKayleigh puts her hands on her face, all freaked out, like Logan just threw a plate at her. “Cole, are you okay?”

“She’s psycho,” he says, running his hands over himself like he’s looking for blood or something. “That was literally insane.”

“Well, to be fair,” Corinne says, “you kind of deserved it.”

Kira chews her lip. “Maybe we should go check on her?”

“Check on her?” Cole snaps. “She just tried to kill me!”

I lean back in my chair, reaching for my champagne. Sue me, or whatever, but I’m entertained.

“We should leave her alone,” Graham says. “Whenever she gets like this, she needs space.”

“Sorry,” Aaron interjects, “is Logan regularly throwing plates at people’s heads?”

Graham rolls his eyes. “Obviously, that’s not what I meant.”

I turn to Max, who’s sitting to my right, and bring my glass to my lips.

“Please tell me you’re getting this, babe.”

Max’s mouth opens a little, caught, because he is getting it, camera in hand. Such a little journalist.

Noticing, Cole groans. “Can you put that thing away, dude?”

“Can you stop being such a dick?” Max asks. “And there’s already cameras all over the place. I don’t see what’s wrong with trying to—”

Zane slams his beer down on the table so hard the plates shake. “What’s wrong is we didn’t sign up to be on your camera.”

Everyone shuts up. For someone who likes to act all chill, Zane can be kind of scary, apparently.

He slumps, putting his face in his hands and then pushing his plate of specially made vegan tacos away. “This tofu was, like, nothing. My blood sugar’s so low right now.”

And just like that, all the scariness is gone. To be honest, I can’t take him seriously ever since my sort-of friend Sasha told me that Zane has an avocado tattooed on his ass. A literal avocado. On his literal ass. Apparently, she saw it when they were hooking up at some party. She couldn’t stop laughing, and he got so mad he kicked her out. I don’t know if Logan and Zane ever actually hooked up, but if they did, she might be the one who dodged a bullet.

Aaron stares at the broken plate, hunched over in his chair like a grumpy little ginger elf. “Is anyone going to clean that up?”

McKayleigh stands up and brushes off her dress. “I’ll do it.”

I clap. “A full-time business owner and cleaning up other people’s messes. You’re, like, so brave.”

McKayleigh glares at me, and I try not to giggle. Maybe it’s the two glasses I’ve had so far, but I’m starting to really have fun.

Aaron squints up at one of the cameras. “I bet Tilly regrets ditching us now. First catfight, and all she gets is lame security footage.”

“No offense, man,” Zane says. “But shut up.”

Aaron sinks into his chair, all pouty. Honestly, there’s something kind of cute about him, in a sad way. The way he still tries so hard, even though his career ended a million years ago. It’s like one of those puppies that has wheels. Like, because it lost its legs.

Corinne stands up. “Well, this has been fun, but I’m gonna call it a night. We have an early day tomorrow.”

“Same,” Zane says. “Graham, let’s help Kaylz clean up.”

Graham follows, and then Kira and Max, and oh my god, I guess I have to take charge here.

“Um, hold up.” They stop, waiting for what I’m going to say, because let’s be honest—I have that effect. “I don’t know about you, but I didn’t come here to be lame. We have a stocked bar and a whole private island to ourselves, and you’re gonna just go to bed at literally eight PM like a bunch of old people?”

“I prefer world-weary and wise,” Corinne says. “But I brought a really good book to read, so…”

“Hell no!” I grab the champagne bottle off the table and climb up onto my chair so I’m standing above everyone. I have their attention now, and I smile, because that’s my favorite way to be. “We’re not going to bed! We’re a bunch of hot people on an island, and you know what we’re gonna do?” I cover the bottle with my thumb and shake it up. Then, I let it go, champagne exploding out like a fountain, and yell over the fizz, “We’re gonna get fucked up!”