Cassidy opened her mouth to say something, but paused. Her brows stitched together in confusion. “I came here with you.”
Edie inhaled and set her jaw. Why did this have to happen on a stage in front of people? She wanted to scream, but instead just showed Cassidy her left palm.
“I came here with Rose. You came here with Apple and Debbie, remember?”
Cassidy shook her head, but Edie stopped her from saying anything.
“Whatever you say becomes the truth, okay? Don’t say you don’t remember—” the crowd below burst into cheers as one of the contestants emerged victorious from a challenge.
“We have our winners!” Eduardo announced.
Edie and Cassidy stood and clapped, but Edie wanted to make sure they didn’t lose something else. She pulled on Cassidy’s shirt hem and indicated to follow her. They walked around to backstage and Edie gripped Cassidy by the shoulders.
“We have to remember what things were like before if we want all of this to work, okay? If we want to get our friends back and go back to our normal lives off the island, we have to remember them. Just say what you want to be true and nothing else.”
“I don’t remember what you’re talking about, Edie! My normal life off the island was with you.”
Edie threw her hands in the air and had to take a step back from Cassidy to keep from slapping her.
“Did you not hear what I just said? I have someone that I remember and I want her back, okay? Can you at least help me with that?”
Cassidy shrugged with indifference or compliance but Edie couldn’t tell which. “What am I supposed to say?”
“Say something about your best friend, like I would say ‘Rose is my best friend. We met each other in school and have known each other since we were ten years old.’”
“Okay,” Cassidy breathed, holding onto the final vowel as she thought. “Apple and I met at a house party in the Hills when we were both in high school and we mostly bond over music.”
They hadn’t convinced one another or even themselves, Edie knew, but without daring to speak the obvious truth, they were left with speaking halfhearted wishes or nothing at all.
RoseTurner.RoseTurner.Rose Turner.
Edie repeated the name to herself over and over as she stood backstage waiting for the last supporting act to finish up. Everything so far went according to plan, Cassidy’s misremembrances aside. Heather delivered clothes for tonight’s appearance to the villa and brought two professional stylists to manage their hair and makeup. Edie and Cassidy looked the part that she meant for them to portray, and every change she spoke into the ether manifested with ease. There remained only one thing left to do.
She thought of every memory she had of Rose from their first meeting to the last thing they’d said to one another on the island, but with every passing hour the memories became foggier and muddled. It seemed that every memory involved Cassidy instead of Rose now, and the idea of a woman named Rose Turner lacked depth, like a coin handled so often that the features flattened and disappeared. Edie worried that Rose was no more real to her than an imaginary friend to a child, perhaps even less so.
Stagehands gave Edie and Cassidy microphones and ushered them to the wings. When a man in a ratty black hoody over an Island Xperience shirt gave the cue, they made their way to downstage center. Edie wore a white cut-out dress that exposed her midriff, and Cassidy wore a slip dress that looked like a thrift find but which carried a $5,000 price tag. In the other wing, Edie watched another figure emerge into the red and blue stage lights that glinted off his holographic pant and suit set. When James turned and saw Edie, his expression mirrored Edie’s own look of resigned disappointment.
Of coursehe’sgoing to be here for this.
James gave both women a cold hug as the audience whooped and applauded the three of them for existing.
“You’ve been keeping yourself busy,” he said into Edie’s ear.
She winked as they pulled away from one another. The spotlight they shared blinded Edie and prevented her from seeing past the row of people at the guard rail, but the crowd sounded smaller than it had at any of the other shows on the island. When James greeted the crowd, their cheers quieted, and then surged again when he asked them how they were all doing. He reached into the pocket of his pants and produced an index card.
“Before we bring out the final headliner, we wanted to say thanks to some of the people who helped make it all happen. For those of you who somehow haven’t heard, Cassidy Burns helped tremendously in the selection of the musical acts. Rumor has it,” he said, slipping into a conspiratorial tone, “thatshe’sthe reason One Direction reconciled in order to be here this week.”
The crowd cheered as Cassidy shrugged her shoulders. The cameras zoomed in on her so the whole audience saw her raise her eyebrows and smirk on the giant screens as if to say, “I’ll never tell.”
“And Edie Lee herself helped to curate many of the brands and events that made your Island Xperience what it’s been. Give it up for these ladies!”
The crowd broke into whistles and excited shouts again. Edie brought the microphone to her mouth.
“We’re not—” she stopped, waiting for the crowd to quiet down. She didn’t want to give James the chance to finish whatever speech he planned. “We’re not the only ones who need thanks.”
James’ smile remained plastered on his cheeks but didn’t reach his eyes. He dared her to say something contrary to his word.
“James has been very busy working the festival on social media, hasn’t he?” she asked. This produced more cheers and more fake easiness from James as he took a bow. Cassidy didn’t look nervous at all, but the heat from the lights and Edie’s heart pounding in her chest made the microphone shake. She steadied herself by wrapping the fingers of both hands around it and took a deep breath.
