Black and Blue

"Those are unripe."

Skyler turned around at the sound of her voice.

Next to him, Iris was shifting cartons of blackberries to get the ones at the very back of the shelf. Her hair cascaded over one side of her face, blocking her expression.

He tilted the carton of blueberries in his hand and noticed that some of them were partially red—unripe like she'd said.

He mumbled a thanks and started to check each carton of blueberries from every angle, all the while she silently did the same thing beside him. The air between them felt awkward though, and he knew why.

"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday."

Skyler whipped his head around, but this time she looked sincere.

"I didn't invite you here to rehash the past," she lowered her voice. "Can't we just focus on the present? You don't have to talk to me and I won't seek you out, but at least don't look like you hate being around me."

Skyler looked at her outstretched hand.

'The problem is I don't hate being around you.'

Startled by the thought that arose, Skyler forced himself to think rationally—if he kept confronting her about their history, they really might get exposed and eliminated early, which would ruin the purpose of staying here long enough to "feel the love", as Cole said.

He shook Iris's hand.

"Let's start over, then," he said. "I'm Skyler Valentine."

"And I'm Iris Tate."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Skyler..." Iris's mind spun, finding a topic appropriate for "acquaintences". "What do you plan to make later?"

"Blueberry smoothie," he answered readily.

"Oh." Iris stopped, seemingly finding the perfect berries. She smirked and added nonchalantly, "Don't forget it's purple."

"It's purple?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Skyler felt mortified. Four years later and he still fell for the same thing.

He coughed. "Ahem, of course. I know it's purple."

"Uh-huh."

He heard a muted snicker and felt his cheeks heat.

He quickly changed the subject. "What are you making?"

"Blackberry Sweet Tea."

Before he knew it, his lips curled nostalgically. "The judges are in for a treat."

"Thank you," Iris said with a surprised blink.

Skyler's smile fell. Did she think it was strange how he still remembered her signature drink? He shouldn't have said that. And the cameras...

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two cameramen approaching them, no doubt to capture their unusually long conversation. As if to mask something, he said, "I mean, I only said that because I like Blackberry Sweet Tea, and it's hard to screw up a drink that simple. I'm sure you can make it with your eyes closed."

As a matter of fact, Iris could make it with one eye closed.

She pressed her lips together so she wouldn't laugh. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

Suddenly, Travis appeared behind them, carrying a loaded basket. "Iris! You done yet?" he shouted.

The sparkle in Iris's eyes dimmed. She hastily put the blackberries in her trolley. "I should get going. We're on a time crunch after all."

"Good idea, I—"

A crisp voice sounded from behind him.

"Sky, you're here."

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

Madeline stopped next to him and looked at Iris up and down. "And you are...?"

Her aloof gaze stung. Iris stepped forward to introduce herself, but someone beat her to it.

"She's Iris Tate, and I'm Travis Beckett," Travis declared, stepping in front of her.

At any other time, this might have looked like protective behaviour, but Skyler clearly saw the way Travis looked at Madeline—with predatory interest—and how Iris shrunk back. He narrowed his eyes.

'This guy is bad news.'

Oblivious to Skyler's enmity, Travis turned towards his partner, seemingly just noticing she was in the berry aisle. "Why are you here? We don't need berries."

"Oh, I thought of making Blackberry Sweet Tea." Iris passed him the carton she had picked. "It'll go well with—"

"No, no, no," Travis cut her off and presented a bottle of wine from his basket. "It's a universal fact that steak tastes best with wine, so that's the drink we're serving."

"But—"

"Come on, we have to check out."

Iris stared at the vetoed blackberries in pity, but Travis was already a distance away, jogging towards the cashiers. She hastily set the berries aside and chased after him.

"Travis, wait up!"

"Tsk."

Skyler peeked at Madeline, but she looked so apathetic and composed that he couldn't imagine the light scoff had come from her. Maybe he had misheard.

Madeline checked her dainty rose gold watch and tilted her chin towards the checkout counters. "We should go."

"Just a second."

Skyler picked up the discarded blackberries and returned it to its proper place, fitting it on the shelf like a missing puzzle piece. Then, he nodded at Madeline.

"Let's."

***

"That's $4o past your budget," the cashier said.

"What?!"

"We have a budget?!"

Twin expressions of shock faced the cashier, who grinned at Iris and Travis like this was the most amusing thing she'd seen all week. It likely was.

"Director Sullivan specifically instructed us not to check out any purchases exceeding a total of $100," the cashier graciously explained. "Which items would you like to remove?"

A befuddled silence fell over them. For the first time in her life, Iris wanted to clobber someone over the head. She should've known it was too good to be true when they weren't given a budget!

Her eyes dropped to Travis's wine and an idea formed. "The wine is $50. We can leave it behind and buy a cheaper drink," she suggested.

Travis's jaw dropped.

"Absolutely not!" he snapped. He took out his wallet and shoved some notes towards the cashier. "I'll buy the wine myself."

The cashier shook her head, holding in a laugh. "Contestants are not allowed to use external resources during assignments."

"Seriously?!" Travis's fist clenched around his money, crumpling it in a bunch.

'No external resources? What other resources do we have, then?' Iris pondered.

They weren't given any money by the production team. The only thing they had was—

"Cupid Coins!"

Travis and the cashier jumped at her sudden outburst, but she was too excited to care.

"Cupid Coins can be converted into cash," she explained.

Travis's eyes lit up and he immediately dug around for his Cupid Coins, handing over two to the cashier. "These should cover $20!"

"And the other $20?" the cashier asked.

They looked at Iris expectantly.

Her eyes widened and she barely contained her disbelief.

Surely Travis didn't expect her to pay half?! He was the one who insisted on buying the wine!

But the cameras were still rolling around them, poised to capture her dilemma for all to see. If she refused to pay up, who knew what the netizens would say about her? Or worse—what if this scene was heavily edited after post-production?

Oh god. She'd be known as the stingy, uncooperative teammate. Everyone would diss her. Her name would be smeared. She'd feel guilty for botching this assignment. She wouldn't gain popularity and would be eliminated...

A million thoughts flashed through Iris's head in a few seconds. With stiff fingers that didn't feel like her own, she paid two Cupid Coins.

Ka-ching!

The cashier printed out their receipt. "Have a nice day!"

***

During the ride back to the mansion, Travis prattled on and on about why he had made the right call back at the supermarket and how they would surely place first this assignment. Iris didn't know where he got his assurance, nor did she want to debate with him, so she tuned him out and let her mind wander.

And wander it did—all the way back to the confused man at the berry aisle who always forgot blueberries weren't blue, and tried to hide his stupefaction each time she reminded him.

But the days where they used to stand side by side, picking out the perfect blackberries for the perfect Blackberry Sweet Tea were over.

Now, someone else stood by his side in all her confidence and elegance, judging her like a love rival would.

Now, he was like a bruise upon her heart, black and blue and constantly aching in its visibility. And she must learn to live with it—figuratively and literally—because she had brought it all on herself, like a coward who would rather suffer the consequences than face the posibility of a grimmer outcome through fighting back.

She was like this with Skyler, and despite deluding herself that she had changed, she'd done it again by not standing up against Travis earlier.

Iris closed her eyes, letting the world fade to black.

'The difference is one incident mattered more.'