CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
Sexuality experiment.

              LENNON. / HALLOWEEN, 2022.

              I had decided after much thought to dress up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. I was wearing the frilly-checkered blue and white dress, resting against my thighs with knee-high red-glitter boots, my hair in two braids with little red bows at the end. My hair was shorter then, stopping just at my collarbone. We as a team were at Imani's Halloween party that she had been throwing since we were fourteen, since her father and step-mother were always out of the State on business or expensive cruises.

                    We were in her backyard, where fairy lights had been strung up along with many Halloween decorations—ridiculously big and fancy ones that probably cost hundreds of dollars. She even had an inflatable of the Mind-Flayer from Stranger Things.

                     June was beside me, dressed as Mavis from Hotel Transylvania. Our mom was still alive, which meant her hair wasn't bleached blonde yet, and instead, was in a stylish dark Bob, resting against her neck. We were talking amongst ourselves, speaking about the other costumes the girls had chosen to wear. Everyone always went all out for Imani's Halloween parties, and that meant everyone was dressed to the nines, wearing their best possible costumes.

                     "Rebecca's my favourite." June was saying before taking a sip of her drink from her red-solo cup. Rebecca had dressed up as Avril Lavigne, wearing the pink and green clip-in highlights through her hair with lots of dark eyeliner smeared around her eyes. It was the total opposite of how Rebecca would normally dress, which was why it looked super cool on her.

                     "Becca does look great, but I think my favourite costume is Abby's." I said, glancing across to where Abby was flirting with some girl from the cheerleading team. Abby hadn't chosen to dress sexy like most of us girls on Halloween, instead, she was dressed as Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She was even still wearing the silly white-circular shades on her face, even in the dark. And she had been waving the cane about all night.

                      June laughed, "Somehow, she's actually really pulling it off." She said, following my gaze and I joined in on the laughter.

                      "What's up, my bitches!" Imani exclaimed drunkenly as she sauntered towards us. She was dressed as a sexy cop, with stockings and a pair of handcuffs attached to a belt on her hip, her hair poker straight, stretching down her back.

                     She wrapped her arms around both of our necks, using us as a crutch to stay standing. She was pretty fucking wasted, and felt the need to say so, "I'm so drunk," She sang, pushing down on my shoulder. "Are you guys so drunk?" She asked us, a glazed over look in her eyes as she grinned drunkenly.

                   "I don't think we're quite on your level, Imani." I told her with a soft giggle.

                  "I just love you guys, you know that, right? Even you, June. I love you too," She gushed, making June roll her eyes playfully. Even back when things were perfect, June and Imani were never good friends—just acquaintances through me. Imani waved the solo-cup that was over my shoulder. "Oh, I forgot to say—whoops!" Losing her balance, she poured the liquid inside of her cup all over my shoulder, making it slip down my neck and chest, soaking me immediately.

                     I threw my head back, "Imani." I complained as she let me go, her eyes widened innocently.

                    "Shit, Len! I'm so, so, so sorry!" She exclaimed, grabbing onto my shoulder with her hand.

                      I laughed it off, "It's fine, don't worry about it," I assured her. It was only a Halloween costume after all. I turned to June. "Can you take care of her whilst I go clean up?" I asked, pleading her with my eyes. June hated being left alone with Imani when she was drunk because her personality did a total one-eighty; she became the most lovable, affectionate person and it typically got on June's nerves.

                     June rolled her eyes, but took Imani by the arm regardless, "Oh, great, I'm the baby-sitter." She chirped but I waved her off as I pushed my way through the crowd of teenagers drinking and dancing. I smiled at my teammates as I passed them by, heading into Imani's house to use her upstairs bathroom.

                   People were sitting on the stairs, chatting or making-out. I pushed by them, apologising as I stepped over their heads. Luckily, the top floor wasn't so jam-packed and I easily got to Imani's bedroom, knowing that she had an en-suite bathroom I could use.

                 I pushed the door open slightly but came to a sudden stop when I realised there were already two people in the room. It was two girls and they were sitting on Imani's bed, making-out heatedly. I paused, wondering if I should head to the downstairs bathroom instead, but I knew what the line would be long down there.

                 I was about to barge in and interrupt their make-out session when I suddenly realised who one of the girls was. One of them, dressed as a dead cheerleader was Maxine—an actual cheerleader. I almost rolled my eyes at the lack of creativity in her costume. But that's when I recognised the other girl—it was Ivy.

                 I stood there, rooted to the spot. Ivy wasn't supposed to be at a party thrown by a Pirate—but that wasn't why I was frozen on the spot. Shamelessly, I had gotten caught up in their heated moment and I was unable to pull my gaze away. There was something hypnotising about how Ivy was kissing her as she lay between Maxine's legs, her hands tangled in the back of her back-combed hair.

                   I gulped, watching as Ivy began trailing kisses down Maxine's neck, her hands gripping onto the girls bare thighs. It wasn't until I realised Ivy was about to put her hand up her skirt did I barge in, my cheeks hot, "Oh, sorry!" I falsely exclaimed as the two girls broke apart, not looking at me with alarm, but irritation. I flattened my stare. "Oh, it's you. Are you even supposed to be here?" I snapped at Ivy as she sat up, her hand still holding onto Maxine's thigh.

                    "Maxine invited me." Ivy told me with a coy smile. She was ironically dressed as a pirate, with a red satin shirt unbuttoned, revealing a black bra underneath. Her pirate hat was disposed at the bottom of the bed. I wondered if she thought she was funny dressing up as a pirate on the territory of a Coral Bay Pirate.

                    "That wasn't Maxine's call to make," I said, shooting the blonde-haired girl a glare, but she didn't bat an eye. Her red lip-stick was smeared around her mouth, but somehow, she still looked good. "Imani would throw a fit if she knew you were here." I pointed out. Pirates and Red Devils didn't cross territory, unless it was premeditated and used to piss off the other team—and we never went alone. Which is why I was so surprised to see Ivy at a Pirates party.

                    Ivy rose an eyebrow, "What, are you gonna snitch on me, Princess?" She challenged, standing up from the bed. I couldn't help it, I looked her up and down as she approached me. Many girls had dressed as pirates for Halloween, but most of them were wearing thigh-high boots and stockings. Ivy, however, was wearing the satin red-shirt tucked into high-waisted black trousers, with gold buttons on the hips and a black waist-coat over the top of the shirt which was fully unbuttoned. And her hair was down, sitting in her natural curls, framing her face and stretching down her back. Somehow, she looked better than any of those girls in their short skirts and thigh-highs. And I fucking hated that.

                    I heaved out a sigh, "No, I'm not going to snitch on you, Ivy. We have an entire team here and you're alone, it wouldn't exactly be fair." I told her, but I made sure to keep my voice indifferent so that she didn't think I was doing it for her sake. I just didn't want her to think I was a coward who would set my team on her whilst she was alone.

                    Maxine let out a yawn as she got up from the bed, "I'm gonna head out," She said, completely ignoring my existence as she put her hand on Ivy's chest, "Call me later, yeah?" She said before placing a lingering kiss on Ivy's lips. Maxine glared at me as she passed by. "Later, Lennon."

                   "Bye, Max." I sang, giving her a smile.

                     That left Ivy and I alone in a room together and I didn't know what to say. I had almost completely forgot why I was even there in the first place.

"What happened to you anyway?" Ivy suddenly asked, nodding to the front of my dress that was drenched in the pinkish liquid. Her words made me remember why I was even standing in the room and I quickly bound towards the bathroom.

"Imani spilled her drink on me," I said, running the tap water and grabbing a cloth, holding it underneath the tap. After a moment, I realised Ivy was still standing behind me, only she was leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded. I glanced at her in the mirror. "You're still here?" I asked in annoyance, a flat look on my face. Now that Maxine was gone, I expected Ivy to leave too.

"I mean, I could go—but it's so much more amusing to watch you do this for nothing," She told me, walking into the bathroom. "Water isn't going to remove that stain, Princess. You're gonna have to deal with it for the rest of the night. I bet that really bothers you, huh? Not being able to be perfect, even for a few hours." She said, stopping to stand behind me as I glared at her in the mirror.

"I'm far from perfect, Kingston." I said, putting empathise on her surname, holding bitterness in my tone. If she was going to run around calling me Princess all of the time, then I could at least say her name with a nasty snap to my voice.

"Right," Ivy drawled, sitting down on the edge of the bath. She folded her arms at her chest. "You're not perfect—and yet, everything about you is. Perfect hair, perfect face, perfect life." She began listing, ticking off her fingers clad in rings.

I stopped cleaning at the fabric, finally turning to face her. I tilted my head, "You know, that almost sounds like a compliment." I warned her, momentarily looking her up and down.

Ivy scoffed, ducking her head, "It's not. I fucking hate you for it," She said, standing to her feet and approaching me. She stopped right in front of me, reaching out to take the cloth from my hand. I blinked back as she began wiping at my bare chest, cleaning away the sticky alcohol. "Even now, you can't stand having something as simple as a stain on your dress. You can't stand to not be perfect for a fucking millisecond. It's exhausting to look at." She said, her gaze turned downwards as she continued wiping at my chest.

I could feel my cheeks burning as I reached for the cloth, grasping her hand in mine, "Then why the hell are you still here?" I snapped, my hand over hers, both of us holding onto the cloth.

Ivy shrugged, "Call it curiosity—it's a strange thing, seeing you not-so-perfect, even if it is for a brief moment," She said and she dared to take a step closer to me. "I almost kind of like it." She told me, her voice dropping an octave as she looked up from my chest, catching my eyes.

I stared at her, not knowing how to respond. My cheeks felt hot and my heart was thumping in my chest but I couldn't figure out why. Ivy had always found a way to make me angry—but it didn't feel like that. I didn't feel angry with her. Just agitated in her presence.

I opened and closed my mouth for a second before working up words, "Are you drunk or something?" I asked her with a scoff.

Ivy laughed, dipping her head, "Nah, the alcohol at this party isn't strong enough," She said, momentarily looking me up and down. She shrugged, "Though, I guess I am drunk enough to not completely hate you right now," She scoffed, "Maybe it's the costume." Once again, her eyes looked me up and down whilst she licked her lips.

I stared at her, unblinking. I was trying to read her, but no matter how hard I tried—I couldn't. But she was standing so close to me, her eyes flickering between my eyes and lips.

I didn't know what came over me, but suddenly I was using the hand holding onto her wrist to pull her in against me. Our lips met as I pushed her against the wall, knocking a framed picture to the ground but neither of us paid it any attention.

My mind was spinning, my skin on fire. I wasn't sure if it was from the alcohol I had been drinking all night or from the fact I was kissing my rival—maybe it was a bit of both. But either way, it was enough to make me feel dizzy, like I could faint on the spot.

Fighting for some kind of dominance against me, Ivy's hands gripped onto my waist, spinning me around and slamming my back against the wall. I gasped against her lips, my hands reaching up to tangle in her hair, tugging and pulling. Ivy was kissing all over my wet neck, her knee pushed between my legs as her hands roamed my waist, grabbing at my dress.

My mind was screaming all crazy things at me, but I wasn't listening to a single thing when Ivy's lips caught mine again. I didn't even care that she had been kissing a girl before I came up stairs—all I cared about was that she was kissing me.

Ivy's hands trailed down my thighs, grabbing at the skin before she bunched up the skirt of my dress, holding it above my waist. I exhaled shakily against her lips as I felt her fingertips brush against the hem of my underwear.

"Lennon!" At the sound of the voice calling my name from the hallway, I ripped myself from Ivy's grip, pushing her off of me. I hadn't meant to, but I had pushed her so hard that she fell backwards and onto the ground, hitting the back of her head off of the sink.

"Shit," I hissed under my breath as I crouched down in front of Ivy. "I'll be out in a minute!" I called back to Brooke who had been yelling my name.

I turned my attention back to Ivy who was rubbing at her head, her face screwed up. I reached out, attempting to touch her face, "Hey, are you—"

Ivy smacked my hand away, "Don't touch me, Lennon." She hissed, pushing me back. I stumbled slightly but managed to steady myself against the wall as Ivy got to her feet, letting out a heavy breath.

I got to my feet, "Ivy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean—I didn't mean to." I tried apologising, gesturing wildly with my hands.

Ivy stared at me, "Didn't mean to do what, Lennon? Push me? Kiss me?" Both. It was true. I hadn't meant to do either of those things—it had never been my intention. I didn't know what had come over me.

I stared at her, blinking back. Ivy scoffed, "Listen, Lennon. I'll let you off the hook easily, okay? I get that you're probably skeeved out after what just happened. I mean, you're one of those girls who only kiss other girls when they're drunk, right?" Her question wasn't much of a question, instead, it felt like a flat out statement. I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing how to respond. "Really, Lennon. It's fine. It's not a big deal, alright? Just forget this ever happened and we can go back to hating each other." She said, trying to brush by me but I caught ahold of her wrist.

"That's not—I didn't mean. Look, I'm confused, okay? I don't—I don't know why I did it. I've never even kissed a girl before. I think I'm just—"

"Look, I'm not going to be your sexuality experiment, okay?" Ivy snapped over me, but her voice sounded defeated.

"That's not what this is!" I exclaimed, bunching my hands into fists.

"Isn't it?" Ivy argued. "You said you've never even kissed a girl before. Now that you have, would you want to date one? Would you ever want to kiss one again?" She prompted, bopping her head as she spoke.

"I don't—I don't know!" I exclaimed at her. "Look, I'm just—"

"Just forget about it, Princess," Ivy said with a sigh, her eyes turning cold towards me once again. "I don't even like you anyway. I was just pissed that you ruined my chance with Maxine, okay? This didn't mean anything." For some reason, her words stung like a bitch.

I found a glare working it's way onto my face, "Fuck you, Ivy." I hissed, feeling my eyes begin to burn. Had she really just used me like that? Was that all it was? It made me hate her even more—that the first girl I decided to kiss had only been using me for her own pleasure. It made me despise her.

Ivy waved her hand, "Back at you, Princess." And then she left me alone, standing there like a fucking idiot.

I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I hated myself for thinking that we could kiss and it would be okay. Even if it had happened unexpectedly, I had expected her of all people to understand. She wasn't some fucking experiment. I had wanted to kiss her. I really wanted to kiss her.

                  LENNON / THE ISLAND,
                                              PRESENT.

My head was pounding. It felt like there was an earthquake going on inside of my mind, splitting my skull apart. I didn't know where I was. I couldn't see anything—hear anything. It was like I had slipped into some kind of pitch-black void full of emptiness, without my hearing or sight.

And then I could see it, light beginning to stream in. I was opening my eyes to see trees above me, the sun rising through the gaps. I was confused. I couldn't understand what had happened. All I could remember was the storm. And that's when it hit me. The mudslide.

I launched my body forward, gasping in air as I clawed at my throat. I went into a coughing fit, spitting out mud from my mouth that left an earthy taste. But at least I could taste—and I could see again. I wasn't dead. I was alive.

My entire body felt like it had been put through Hell and after examining it for a moment, I found multiple cuts and bruises over my arms and legs. And the back of my head was bleeding, crusty blood stuck in my hair, making it stick together. Great.

Once I managed to collect myself, I took a moment to look around. I was at the bottom of some kind of hill—one I had no chance of scaling. It clearly wasn't the one I had fallen from, or if it was, the majority of the earth was gone, making it impossible of climbing. The sun was out too, meaning the day was dawning—which made me wonder how long I had been out. When it had happened, it had been pitch-black outside. But now, morning had rolled around.

"Hello!" I called out, my voice strained, hoping there was someone nearby. Had everyone really left me? Was I alone? And then I remembered that I had been helping Ivy when the ground had given way beneath me. We had went down the hill together.

I scrambled to my feet, whipping my head left and right. And that's when I saw her. She was laying a few feet beside me, on her side, hair in her face, "Ivy!" I exclaimed, running toward her before collapsing to my knees once I reached her.

I pulled her head onto my lap and felt for a pulse. I let out a sigh when I could feel the blood pumping under her skin. I gave her a rough shake, "Ivy." I said her name again, containing to shake her but she wasn't waking up. That left me with no choice.

I sat her up, holding her in front of me. And then I slapped her across the face.

Her eyes flew open as she gasped, falling backwards. She coughed up mud, the same as I had as she sat on her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath. And then she was glaring at me from over her shoulder, "What the actual fuck, Lennon!" She exclaimed, pouncing on me and giving me a rough shove, knocking me backwards into the dirt.

"You weren't waking up!" I yelled back at her, my elbows propping me up.

Ivy let out a grunt and got off of me, "Like you give a shit anyway," She mumbled, rubbing at her shoulder and I could see bruising forming on her back, poking out behind her tank top. She inhaled sharply. "The fuck happened anyway?" She asked, not looking at me.

"Mudslide," I told her. "I don't know where we are. It must have washed us away." I said as I got to my feet, stretching out my limbs and taking another quick look around.

"Great. So, I'm stuck out here. With you." She said as if it were the worst possible outcome in the world.

"Guess so, Princess," I chirped, firing back the nickname she had been using relentlessly towards me. She almost looked impressed. "It looks like the sun is just coming up. That gives us plenty of time to find our way back to camp." I said, dusting myself down. I had mud stuck to every inch of my body, so it didn't exactly help any.

Ivy turned to face me, "Let's go then, the sooner I'm away from you, the better." She mumbled, brushing by me.

I sighed, "The feelings mutual."

            AUTHORS NOTE.

             posting this chapter super late but that's because I've been super busy all day! but i'm trying so hard to stick to this posting every two days schedule i have going!

               what did we think of this long-ass chapter? y'all finally got some ivy & lennon content AND a flashback scene! would we like more of them with the other characters too? let me know!

                — taylor xx