Mary Ann stood in the entrance of the cave, staring out at the storm, her arms crossed not just for warmth but to hold her emotions inside. Her feelings were in as much turmoil as the weather. It was a mistake to let Ginger manipulate her into going for a walk with Gilligan, and yet in a way it was exactly what Mary Ann had wanted.

Mary Ann had been in love with Gilligan for almost three years, since another, stronger storm that had shipwrecked them on this island that had become their home, a home shared with five other castaways, and various other visitors and residents, both human and animal. He was so sweet and brave during the three days that they were lost at sea, when she was afraid they'd never make it back to Hawaii and she'd never return to Kansas. And indeed, she hadn't gone home, her real home, not yet. She still liked to believe that they would be rescued someday, even though every visitor, including her formerly favorite rock band, had abandoned them.

Love of the Mosquitoes was just one thing she and Gilligan had shared. They were both nature-lovers and they probably had the simplest tastes of anyone on the island. And they were close in age and tried to believe in the best of people, even when it wasn't easy.

She got to know him very well over the past three years, but she felt like he still didn't really understand her, and not just because he didn't understand girls. She'd dropped hints of her feelings again and again, even telling him to his face that she was sure it was love, but he'd seemed to just think she was trying to make him feel young when his hair went white.

She'd decided that this was just how Gilligan was and it was silly to expect him to change. Maybe someday he'd see how she felt, but for now she'd be patient. And then Ginger had swooped in and stolen Gilligan!

Mary Ann knew that wasn't fair. Ginger had been vamping Gilligan for years, and the poor boy had either run away in fright, knocked himself out, or stood almost paralyzed by Ginger's attentions, including when Mary Ann slipped a jet-pack onto him while Ginger's kisses stupefied him. But this was different. This was Ginger teaching Gilligan about lovemaking, and him agreeing to it.

Yes, Mary Ann could've spoken up and objected. But if this was what Gilligan wanted, what right did she have to try to stop it? He clearly wasn't interested in her. And she loved him enough to step aside, to not make things difficult and complicated. Besides, she knew that for some men, Ginger was the sort of girl you fooled around with and Mary Ann was the sort you married. It was possible that Gilligan was just practicing with Ginger. But Mary Ann still felt funny about the whole business and wasn't sure if she wanted Ginger's hand-me-downs. With clothes, sure. Ginger had wonderful, glamorous taste. But Gilligan meant a lot more to Mary Ann than an old gown.

Then everything changed with Ginger seeming to step aside. But it wasn't as if she said, "Mary Ann, I'm going to be noble and let you have Gilligan," or even "Well, I'm done playing with the boy. He's all yours now." She just said something about Mary Ann teaching Gilligan to dance, which they both knew was nonsense. And then Gilligan himself showed up and Ginger said she was tired and sent them off into the night.

Mary Ann was prepared to give Gilligan dance lessons, but not anything else, especially not when Gilligan now knew more about fooling around than Mary Ann did. Mary Ann had never even necked! Well, yes, once in a dream that she had always wondered about. But that didn't count, did it? Even if it was with Gilligan.

Last Spring, she had bumped her head and, so the others told her later, thought she was Ginger. She thought the island heat had expanded her clothes, so she cut down some of Ginger's clothes to fit. And in the dream, she was wearing one of Ginger's leopard print outfits. She was acting like Ginger and wanted to act with Gilligan. She had a love scene to rehearse and she wanted him to practice with her, which was odd, because at the time Ginger would've more likely chosen the Professor to rehearse with.

At first, Gilligan ran away in her dream, but then he came back and was very cooperative. She of course never asked him if anything like that had ever happened in real life. She would've been too embarrassed to ask and he would've been too embarrassed to tell. Or what if he looked at her like she was crazy? That would've been worse.

She supposed that it wouldn't be like Gilligan to take advantage of her delusion even if she had asked him to. Besides being so shy about romance, he was very considerate. Still, the dream was a sign that she knew on some level that maybe Gilligan had the potential to be romantic and maybe even passionate. So his recent experimentation with Ginger didn't entirely surprise her.

She had assumed at first it was just a physical thing, but she had noticed that he looked increasingly infatuated with Ginger that week. She didn't feel comfortable talking about it to him or Ginger. They didn't need her acting possessive of someone who had never been and never would be her boyfriend. She'd just try to be happy for them, but it wasn't easy.

She ended up talking to the Professor that evening. It wasn't easy to approach him of course. He usually seemed so aloof and unemotional. Mrs. Howell would've obviously been more sympathetic. Mary Ann remembered Mrs. Howell trying to set her and Gilligan up on a date a couple years ago. It had been awkward but nice, until the Howells quarreled, and then everyone focused on reconciling the married couple. But Mary Ann thought Mrs. Howell still wanted to see her with Gilligan, and not just so the older woman could plan a wedding. Mrs. Howell could be very sweet and approachable sometimes, even motherly, especially towards Mary Ann and Gilligan. And she'd dated other men before Mr. Howell, so she understood romance in a different way than Ginger did.

But Mary Ann had always wondered if the Professor had feelings for Ginger. After all, their kiss in the movie that was supposed to get them all rescued had been a lot more passionate than the situation of Ginger thanking the Professor called for. And there had been other moments over the past three years when he'd shown subtle interest in the red-haired actress.

Mary Ann had no doubt about Ginger's feelings for the Professor, or at least she hadn't before this involvement with Gilligan began. It was possible that Ginger had decided that the Professor was a lost cause and Gilligan would be much more pliable. After all, he was young and cooperative, and Mary Ann knew he was a big fan of Ginger's even before they came to the island. She'd seen most of Ginger's movies but she didn't have them memorized like Gilligan did. If they were ever on a quiz show, competing in knowledge of the filmography of Ginger Grant, Gilligan would go home the big winner and Mary Ann would get Turtle Wax and Rice-a-Roni.

"Do you think Turtle Wax would work on turtles?" Gilligan had asked her that during the preparations for the turtle races a couple years ago. It was the sort of thing that made the others think Gilligan wasn't too bright, while she thought of him more like a young male Gracie Allen, seeing the world from his own unique perspective, with his own kind of logic. And sometimes he was wise in ways that surprised her, coming up with insights and solutions that none of the others could imagine, because they were all limited in different ways.

Still, it was true that Gilligan didn't know much about women. He should've realized that asking her to make love with him, just so he could figure out if he was in love with Ginger, was a bad idea, even if he didn't know how Mary Ann felt about him. Mary Ann was old-fashioned, even if some of what she'd done in the past three years would've shocked her mother, not to mention Uncle George and Aunt Martha. Certainly Martha would've frowned at some of the outfits Mary Ann wore, never mind that this was a tropical island, and miniskirts and short-shorts just felt more comfortable.

Would she have made love with Gilligan if he had never gotten involved with Ginger? Maybe if she and Gilligan had gone on dates, to the extent that dating was possible on the island. But only if he said he loved her. She'd have known it would've been true because Gilligan couldn't lie. In fact, he'd been too honest tonight.

She was angry at him but more at herself. She shouldn't have fallen into the role of the sympathetic, listening friend. The role that she'd asked the Professor to play a couple hours ago.

"I've got the fire going," Gilligan called to her from the middle of the cave.

It was cold in the doorway. It would be warmer by the fire. She slowly went deeper into the cave.