"That's a lot of controversy over a bag of chips."

"They're not just chips, they're takis. If you'd ever had them, you'd get the drama." Toni leaned back against the uncomfortable chair, a shy smile fighting to play on her lips.

The other agent did the same, trying to hide it. "Have you had these things?" The first asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course. They're incredible."

"Then having to compete for them must've really gotten under your skin."

"I'm pretty used to that shit. But I wasn't really worried about it, I knew my way around the game." Toni replied, this time a brave smirk gracing her face. However, the smile faltered and stayed frozen on her face, her gaze lost in some fixed point on the table, as if she were deep in thought.

"Toni? Are you okay?" The agent asked, moving closer to her over the table.

"I realized some things that day. She was dangerous. She had the ability of knowing every and each one of us, treating us exactly how we needed, taking into account every thing we've ever told her so we'd feel good around her. I admit I liked it a first, because it felt like having a friend."

"That is good, right?" The bespectacled agent shared a dubious look with his coworker, who frowned.

"At first it was. But as soon as you started to realize, you'd see the reality. She knew everything about us, and we knew barely nothing about her. Of course, some of us realized when it was too late: she'd already figured us out."

"Who are you talking about, Toni?"

The one from Minnesota smiled a bit enigmatically. "I thought you'd already talked to her. I'm talking about Lydia."

"God, I miss my socials," Fatin splashed into the water, her lips pursed down. She was wearing the bikini while Nora, Shelby and Lydia washed some of her clothes, which made it look like Fatin was really out on the beach —nothing further from the truth.

"It feels strange to say this, but I —sort of— don't."

"Come on," Fatin raised her hands. "The fans, the haters, the memes, the thirst caps," Lydia giggled when she saw Shelby's incredulous expression. Nora did the same, but only raising her head infrequently.

"I can turn you into a meme, if you'd like," Lydia piped in, her hands covering the sun. She sticked her tongue out to Fatin when the girl flipped her off.

"It's all happening somewhere, but without us."

"You know what my daddy always says when he thinks I'm looking at my phone too much? He says 'you'll never spot a rainbow if you're looking down'." Shelby chimed in, Lydia and Fatin scoffing at her always bringing out her dad or church.

"Uh, except that people are always posting rainbow pics on Instagram," Nora intervened for the first time, earning laughs from Fatin and Lydia.

"Can I get the soap? Time for a quick whore bath."

"Excuse me, what is a whore bath?" Shelby asked, her face incredulous.

"Honestly, woman, do you ever leave your house?" Lydia laughed.

"Just the pits, tits and slits," Nora answered for Lydia, letting herself fall in the water.

After the laughter that surrounded the four girls after Nora proved to be more cunning than she proved to be, Shelby jumped, a high-pitched scream disturbing the ears of the other three, and complained aloud that something had grazed her legs. She clung to Lydia tightly, as if the mere presence of the British girl was enough to make the thing go away. Lydia pretended she hadn't seen the sly look Fatin sent her way.

"Fuego," Nora held up a packet of takis, and the other three girls almost felt they had found a treasure.

As Lydia had predicted in her mind, the existence of the takis had sparked a battle royal in the camp —well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggerated term, but there were few things that could scare more than nine starving teenagers abandoned on an island deserted. Dot and Toni had hailed the takis as their own as soon as they saw the package, but not being sure who the actual owner of the package was, Shelby proposed a contest, and whoever won would be the fair owner of the takis.

However, despite the fact that the Texan had proposed this contest to give the girls a little fun, some others did not want to participate in that pantomime —why don't we just eat them?, Leah and Fatin had protested, and with good reason to. Others, like Rachel, had passively accepted that challenge, and Lydia knew that whoever was with the athlete had a better chance of winning because of how competitive the girl was.

"Three words: shelter building contest," Shelby simply responded to Rachel's tentative question.

Dot's eyes widened. "No way!" And she laughed happily.

"We'll split into two teams, and the one who builds the most durable one wins."

"I'm out," Rachel spat. "How many times do I have to say it? I'm not trying to make myself at home here, I want to leave."

"We won't survive without shelter, Rachel. And the universe has a wicked sense of humor: rescue will probably show up once we finish," Nora tried to convince her, who was pacing as if she were restless. But Lydia had already learned that her attitude was nervous by nature, so she didn't worry.

Rachel looked at her sister, but there was no trace of the resentment and hatred that Lydia had seen so much, she was simply upset that she had not supported her. So the swimmer snorted and nodded, surrendering, and those who were more excited clapped, while others like Toni snorted, perhaps because she was convinced it was her pack of takis and she didn't want to give it to someone else.

"My ankle still hurts a bit," Martha muttered sadly. "I think it's better if I don't force it."

"It's okay, Marty," Toni tried to calm her down. "I'll win those takis and we'll have a feast, don't sweat it."

Toni walked Martha up to sit on a rock near them, the girl's ankle still slightly swollen, but not as bad as Lydia and Shelby had seen it the first day. Toni returned with the others and frowned, knowing that if she didn't have her best friend around, she didn't have anyone.

Lydia sidled up to her. "Lighten up, Toni. You're going to win those takis and bring them home, aren't ya?"

"Sod off," Toni scoffed, mimicking the Briton's words and trying to fake her accent —unsuccessfully, as Lydia's snort pointed out.

"Okay, tails," Shelby declared. "Toni chooses first."

Lydia hadn't realized that they had gathered in a circle, and she couldn't help but reminding herself of a high school scene. Lydia hadn't been a person with too many friends, so remembering all those physical education classes where she was one of the last people to be chosen made her wince.

Toni and Dot were the captains of each team as they fought for the takis.

"I wish I could say I picked with the heart, but Martha was unavailable." Toni cleared her throat, her eyes not meeting the agents'. "So I chose Lydia."

One of the agents raised an eyebrow —Toni didn't even know their names. "Didn't you say before you thought she was dangerous?"

"I didn't know that back then."

"You choose, cap. You want to win those takis as much as I do, so I will trust whoever you choose," Lydia spoke to Toni, her hand saluting her.

"No, no," Toni shook her head a bit. "Martha's the judge, so I say we follow her rules. You choose, I'll trust your judgment."

"Okay. Then Shelby, "the Texan brought a big smile to her lips when she was chosen, and she stayed close to Lydia but not Toni.

"I shouldn't have done that," Toni muttered under her breath.

The teams ended up somewhat more balanced, Rachel and Dot and Toni and Lydia being the strongest and most resourceful, accompanied by Leah and Fatin and Shelby and Nora respectively. Toni had shared a superior look with Lydia, as if to tell her that they would obviously win this contest: Leah seemed off-focus lately, and what to say about Fatin; while Nora was smarter than she looked and Shelby really tried hard. However, Lydia wasn't able to underestimate her rivals, knowing that Dot's abilities and Rachel's strength could really be a turning point.

They had to build the shelter before dark, so they took their time. Toni didn't particularly like fraternizing with the 'enemy', a philosophy she seemed to share with Rachel, but they still joined in on the show Fatin and Martha put on. They armed themselves with the visors, applied what little sunscreen they had left, even painted black stripes on their cheeks to look like fighters in the mud.

Lydia was amused that, even under the circumstances, they managed to find a time to enjoy themselves. She walked over to Fatin to get her black lipstick, and Martha put a cap backwards on her head. "You look like a fuck girl, I bet Marcus would like this vibe."

"You would totally jump my bones, babe," Lydia winked at Fatin, who stopped painting her cheeks.

"Don't flirt with the enemy, Lydia," Toni scowled and led her away, dragging her toward their team.

"Aye, captain," Lydia allowed herself to be dragged away from the other team and the four of her group went to an esplanade where no one could hear them. "So, what's the plan?"

"Okay, getting this first is fucking huge. We have to get out there and grab the best material before they do," Toni declared aloud, gesturing.

"Okay, just a sec—"

"No breaks, man, we have the ax, we have to move," Toni urged, clearly wanting to win, and annoyed that Shelby's voice was always interrupting her. She shot a quick glance at Lydia for choosing her.

"Shouldn't we just take a quick five to talk about what we're actually building?"

"I know what's up."

"Listen, I'm not saying we have to have all figured out, but a few concrete plans couldn't hurt."

"Why do you always have to take the wheel? I mean, shouldn't you be letting Jesus do that? What do you know about building shit anyway?"

"Stop, both of you," Lydia finally interrupted, stepping in the middle of the circle and earning an appreciative look from Nora, who was nervously clinging to the fabric of her sleeves. "We are a team, we can't go fucking fighting every second. They'll see our weaknesses if we don't stick together. We have to act like a fucking team for once, okay? Sorry for all the swearing, Shelby, but it seems that's the only way you'll listen to me."

"I'm just saying we don't want to just run off without having the slightest idea of ​​what the endgame is," Shelby scoffed, both at Toni and Lydia.

"Okay, whatever. Make all the plans you want, I'm gonna do the work. Guess I'm doing this alone."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Toni, wait!" And she took off after her, trying to keep up her pace. Shelby gave her a disdainful look as she was left alone with Nora.

"Did you want to be alone? I believe it was difficult for you to get that peace you so longed for in that island, surrounded by eight more girls."

Toni chuckled. "Nah. It actually felt nice someone chose me for once."

Lydia managed, shortly after, to follow in the footsteps of an angry Toni, so she considered her options and decided to choose the most sensible one: keep her mouth shut so as not to upset the girl further. As she walked, a few feet behind her to give her her space, she remembered that she had been in that area the first day, when she took a moment to catch her breath and shake off the anguish that was building in her chest.

She followed Toni's steps without saying anything, just letting herself be guided, because she didn't know how the girl from Minnesota would react. Lydia seemed clear, however, what was Toni personality. She did not know her at all, but she seemed to be very closed with people she did not know, showing an attitude as sharp as the one she had sported a few minutes ago. She was very close to Martha, perhaps because she was the only one who understood her and endured walking on the broken glass that was Toni.

However, Lydia knew for a fact that Toni liked her. Lydia was like a breeze of fresh air, someone different in the midst of all those confused girls, and Toni liked that. It wasn't to think she was arrogant, but Lydia knew she was the only one who could deal with Toni, apart from Martha —after all, she had chosen her for something.

"Give me the ax," Lydia spoke for the first time. She stretched out her arm for Toni to pass it to her, but she just looked at her. "If you want to get some good branches, you'll have to cut the thickest ones. You'll get nowhere with your spaghetti-looking arms."

Toni couldn't keep a laugh from escaping her lips, amused by Lydia's sudden serious tone. She knew she was only trying to provoke her, so a hint of mockery filled her face. "I know you're only trying to push me to the edge, so here you go," she handed her the ax roughly. "Here's me burying the hatchet."

Lydia played with the ax in her hands, watching it warily. In other circumstances she would have been scared to have something so deadly on her hands, but now she simply looked at it cautiously. She set her sights on the nearest tree, where one of its thickest branches was already almost splitting on the ground, perhaps from the force of the previous day's gale. Lydia gripped the ax hard and slammed the metal into the wood of the tree, struggling to cut through the material as quickly as possible.

"I'm sick of eating nuts and sleeping with sand between my toes, so we might as well build the fucking best shelter they've ever seen," Lydia stated as Toni picked up some of the smaller branches. She got no response from the raven haired girl, so she wiped the sweat off her forehead and pointed to the thickest branches she'd managed to cut. "Do you think this will do for your plan?"

Toni nodded silently, so the two girls gathered up what they had collected and set off for the camp.

"So were you bothered when your sister didn't pick you?" Shelby asked Nora as they did their own tasks, far from Lydia and Toni's ears.

"At first, maybe. But not so much now. It's nice to see her laugh: she stopped doing that back home."

Shelby nodded. "That is really big of you. Which is more than I can say of some people."

Nora raised her head, suddenly concerned by the intensity of the blows Shelby was giving her shelter structure. "Did it bother you that Lydia picked Toni's way?"

Shelby jerked her head around, as if Nora's words had physically attacked her, and Nora gulped, thinking she had screwed up. Shelby opened her mouth to reply, but only made unintelligible sounds. "No," she finally said. "Why would it?"

"Because," Nora spoke, slurring her words. "It's obvious you like her better. The rest of us aren't offended, though."

The Texan opened her mouth to reply again, but Nora shook her head quickly, so Shelby turned and understood: Toni and Lydia were returning to their position, laden with dozens of logs and branches. Shelby thought about Nora's words, how the others had also noticed her preference for the British girl, and looked away from Lydia's sweaty neck.

"We're back," Lydia announced, aware that her words would be more welcome than Toni's scowl.

"Check it. This is how frame happens," Toni had a smug look on her face, which even seemed too much to Lydia's judgment. "You stick these in the ground and—"

"Toni, that's not what they're doing..." Martha whispered, knowing that if she said it there was less chance that her best friend would be angry.

"Yeah," Nora chimed in, showing her her notebook. "We decided that this would be a little easier."

"So we just wasted our time," Toni nodded, clearly angry.

Martha sighed, getting up carefully and walking over to Toni. "They decided it as a group, and I'm sure Lydia's opinion on this is civil."

The raven haired girl scoffed once again, and Lydia thought that was the only thing she knew how to do. Martha was right, Lydia really didn't care which option she chose, she just wanted to compete and win those takis. Her brain told her that she should choose Toni, since she seemed to know what she was talking about, but her heart prevented her from going against the other girls, because she knew that they also did it with good intentions.

She finally decided to crouch down next to Nora and Shelby, who surely appreciated that Lydia decided to be on their side. "What's the plan, lads?"