ii. good times

        THE sun slowly rises over the villa, casting a golden glow across the beds where the islanders lay. The peaceful morning hums with the faint sound of waves crashing in the distance, but inside, the energy is shifting as the first full day in the villa begins.

     Sariyah blinks awake, her vision adjusting to the sunlight creeping in through the curtains. As she stretches, she feels a weight on her waist—Kordell's arm, still draped over her.

       She smirks to herself before nudging him. "Kordell, move."

      He groans but doesn't budge. "Chill, I'm comfortable."

       She turns to face him, raising an eyebrow. "And what that got to do with me?"

       Kordell opens one eye, giving her a lazy smirk. "You the reason I'm sleepin' this good, so yeah... you kinda involved."

       Sariyah rolls her eyes but can't help the small smile on her lips. "Boy, get off me."

         Kordell finally moves his arm but not before playfully tugging her closer for a second. "Aight, but you gon' miss me."

          Sariyah scoffs. "You delusional."

       Kordell just grins, sitting up and stretching. "Nah, I'm just confident."

       Across the villa, Samir is already awake, leaning against the headboard while Serena is still curled up in the covers beside him.

       "You tryna wake up, or you gon' sleep all day?" he teases.

        Serena groans into the pillow. "I need ten more minutes."

        Samir checks his nonexistent watch. "You got two."

         Serena peeks up at him with a glare. "You're the worst."

          Samir chuckles. "And yet, I'm still your favorite."

         She huffs, but there's a small smile as she finally sits up.

          As the islanders gather in the kitchen, everyone starts pairing off, some making food, others lounging on the outdoor couches.

        Kordell walks up behind Sariyah as she fixes herself a bowl of fruit. "Where my plate at?"

         Sariyah side-eyes him. "Did your hands stop working?"

          He laughs, leaning on the counter. "D*mn, so that's how we startin' today?"

          She shrugs, popping a grape into her mouth. "Just keepin' the energy balanced."

       Kordell shakes his head with a smirk. "Aight, bet."

         Meanwhile, Samir is posted up on the couch with Serena, watching everyone interact."You peep how Kordell already down bad?" Samir jokes.

         Serena laughs, glancing over at them.
"Yeah, but Sariyah got him working for it."
Samir nods. "She playin' it right."

☽

EVEN WITH the two new bombshells Samir and Sariyah were good...for now. Currently Kordell and Sariyah were talking and Kordell's eyes haven't left Sariyah at all. "So, how you feeling?" he asked.

"Um, I like you...I think. I just don't wanna..." Sariyah trailed off.

"Lower your guard?" Kordell finished her statement.

"Mmm...lower my guard. I just wanna know that we are like platonically locked in before anything else you know." Sariyah smiled and Kordell nodded, his eyes still fixated on her as he brought her into his lap

"That's good with me. I'm ready to lock in when you are." Kordell held her close.

On the other side of the villa, Serena was talking to Samir. Expressing to him that he's moving a bit too fast for her. "I understand I'ma back off. Promise. I know I can come off a bit strong and I don't wanna scare you away." he apologized and recognized his ways.

"But don't back off too much. I like pressure." Serena joked as Samir wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Well, pressure make diamonds don't it?" Samir smiled.

☽

      LATER IN THE DAY Leah got a text for a game. The game was Kings and Queens. The ladies sat on the bench while their faces were put on big cards. As the game went on, it was petty fun, until it wasn't. One of the questions was what was your girl's body count.

Samir laughed, "Bruh do not put Sariyah's up there for my sanity."

"N*gga I'm grown." Sariyah flipped him off.

     Kendall then ripped off Serena's crown and it said 6. "You gotta meet a lot of requirements to ride this ride." Serena stated as Kendall walked towards Leah's photo and asked if Leah's was higher or lower.

     "Higher." the men chorused and they were correct.

    Next was JaNa. "Higher or Lower?" Kendall asked the men.

    "Lower." the men choruses and they were wrong and Coye seemed visibly upset.

    Next was Sariyah. "Higher or Lower." Kendall asked.

    "Well don't judge woman around here," Samir side eyed Coye. "But I think it's lower." he answered and the men agreed.

    They were correct, Sariyah's body count was 5. "I be careful especially cause n*ggas like you." Sariyah pointed towards Coye.

     Next was time for the men and woman to switch places. Serena was the one reading the cards. "Let's find out how many times your boy has ghosted somebody." she then pulled off a couple of the guy's crowns before getting to Kordell. His number was in the 1000s and Sairyah wasn't surprised but she was shocked.

    "Explain yourself." Hannah told Kordell.

   "Wait before he does, I get it. I ghost dudes all the time because they try to use me to get to Samir, since he wanna be a famous NBA player and all." Sariyah answered and Kordell couldn't hide his smile.

    Serena then revealed Samir's number for ghosting girls and it was higher than Kordell's number. "Okay that makes sense." she nodded as she thought back in Sariyah's answer. Serena then grabbed another card and now the girls were going to find out the boy's body count.

The game went on there were some surprise and some not a surprise, but now it was Kordell's turn. Serena revealed the number, 30. Kordell looked at Sariyah who shrugged, she couldn't change the fact he slept with 30 people.

"Well, d*mn that's different from five." Sariyah joked.

Next was Samir and everyone guessed higher. "He's in the NBA I would assume it's in the 100s." Hannah stated and Serena pulled back the frown revealing the number. 20

"Ain't no way bruh." Aaron was in shock.

"I'm a lover boy. I don't know how yall do it." Samir laughed it off.

Next was Coye and Samir couldn't wait to clown him. Coye's number was revealed to be 150. And Samir couldn't hold it in. "But you had something to say about JaNa right? Crazy work." Samir clowned him.

     Serena then read the next card to see what the boys think is too many sexual partners. The girls went down the list until it got to Kordell. Kordell's number was infinity.

"Aye bruh, I knew I liked you." Samir dapped Kordell up.

"You just said—" Kordell was about to bring up what Samir said to him earlier.

"Just vibe twin." Samir cut Kordell off.

Next Serena pulled off Samir's number and it was infinity just let Kordell. "Great minds think alike," Serena stated before she got to Coye. "Higher or Lower?" she asked the girls.

"Lower, just by his reaction to JaNa's body count." Sariyah sucked her teeth.

The girls agreed and Serena ripped off the crown revealing Coye's number. 10. The boys ended up winning the challenge...but at what cost?

CONFESSIONAL: samir and sariyah

    "I'm a family man. I also don't like when dudes clown woman over their body count like the men are all high and mighty. Coye's just freaked out and has red pill energy. If I can have self control in the NBA, he can too. Simple." Samir shrugged his shoulders not having a care in the world.

  "I don't even care about Kordell's body count unless he gave me the need to care about it. We are young and reckless but I think there's no need to be rude." Sariyah answered.

    "Clock it." the twins chorused.

☽

TENSION RISES when the islanders see Ariana, it was time for the recoupling. The islanders gather around the fire pit. The men stand at the front and the women sit on the couch. "I'm sure you all know why I'm here. It's time for the first recoupling. Each girl will choose the boy they want to couple up with. The boy who isn't chosen to be in a couple will be dumped from the villa immediately," Ariana announced before her eyes drifted to Serena. "Serena, please stand up. You're up first. Tell us who you would like to couple up with and why."

     Serena stood up. "I would like to couple up with this boy because we get along very well. We have a lot of similar interests. He has a great sense of humor.  This was not a difficult decision because I feel like I'm not really getting on with anybody else in the same ways I'm getting on with him. So, the boy I would like to couple up with is...Samir." she answered.

    Samir couldn't fight his smile. He loved him some her.

   "Congratulations, Samir. Please go and join Serena," Ariana stated as Samir walked over to Serena and hugged her and held her close. Ariana's eyes then landed on Sariyah. "Sariyah, you're up next."

   Sariyah stood up. "I would like to couple up with the boy because I love that he is very patient with me. He doesn't try to come off too strong but strong enough for me to know he's really feeling me. We have a lot in common so picking him is a no brainer. The boy is choose is...Kordell." Sariyah smiled as Ariana told Kordell to join Sariyah.

  Kordell smiled and brought Sariyah into a hug. "No brainer, huh?" he whispered.

   As the night went on, the couples were a bit different there was some drama here and there. But nothing was compared to when it was JaNa's turn. "I would like to couple up with boy because other than the fact that he obviously very handsome...I want to believe that he is open to working on our relationship. This has been a very difficult decision. At this point, I'm just going with my gut....Connor." she chose.

"Connor, how are you feeling?" Ariana asked.

"Obviously that was a really tough decision for her. So, I mean I'm really happy she chose me. Um, I think we have a really good connection and I'm excited to explore that." Connor answered.

"I told myself I'm gonna just always put myself first while I'm here, so that if I were to leave, it's, like, with no regrets, you know? So I did what I felt like I needed to do" JaNa explained.

Kordell then spoke up. "What was it that you felt didn't work with you and Coye?" he asked JaNa.

"Communication. Like, when it comes to our conversations, I just felt like I always had to, like. push or initiate them first. And I feel like it should be a two way street. And it didn't feel like a two way street at all." JaNa answered honestly.

CONFESSIONAL: samir

interviewer: Samir, how do you feel about Coye leaving?

Samir shrugged, "I don't give a d*mn."

ALOHA'S CORNER:

here's my thoughts,

one: how yall liking the twins?

two: how do you feel about samir and sariyah's partners?

three:  kinda edited and love hearing feedback