Carson Keller used to think her biggest problem was their rivalry against the Kooks, but that was until buried secrets rose to the surface. Now her biggest problems included a dangerous treasure hunt and a hot-headed teenage boy.
✰ season 1-3 ✰
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CARSON HAD BEEN AVOIDING her friends for too long. She had no idea what was going on with the cross and they had no idea what was going on with her. She supposed it was time to push past her conflicting feelings and step out of her self-pity. The only good part about going to the bonfire was that it would be acceptable to show up drunk, which is exactly what she did.
Carson pushed through the crowd as she searched for her friends, stumbling slightly over her feet as the alcohol began to take effect. When her eyes caught sight of JJ, instead of being happy to see him, she felt anger rush through her. Some girl was a little too close for comfort and once again, she was not in the mood. She made her way over to them and gave the girl a fake smile with her arms folded against her chest.
"Thanks for keeping my boyfriend company," she said sarcastically.
"Carson?" JJ said, not having expected her to actually show up. But that was obviously not the reason that he was talking to the girl, she had just come up to him and he had not been reciprocating any kind of attention to her, so he didn't think anything of it. That's where guys didn't seem to get it.
"JJ didn't seem to be under the impression that you were coming," the girl said, as if Carson's presence or not would have made a difference in what the girl's intentions were.
"So because of that, you seemed to be under the impression that you could get with him?" Carson replied. The girl let out a laugh and rolled her eyes.
"Damn, lighten up. Who died and made you boss?" she said. At that point, Carson had reached her limit, so she stepped forward and shoved the girl. The girl looked up at her and threw her beer at Carson in return.
"You bitch," Carson said as she went to lunge at her again. She was quickly stopped when JJ wrapped his arms around her waist from the back. "I swear to God, JJ, if you don't let me go."
"You're drunk, Car," he said. He carried her away from the other girl until they were at a bit away from everyone else.
"So?"
"So, we haven't seen you in days and then you decide to show up drunk and start a fight?" he pointed out.
"She's the one that was all over you," she argued. JJ sighed and ran a hand through his hair before staring at Carson, not wanting to fight about this right now. He knew that she was just drunk and upset.
"Are you okay?" he asked after a few moments.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about Ward. She only came because she wanted a distraction and figured the bonfire would be the best way to get that. It's why she walked forward and grabbed him by his shirt, smiling up at him. "Let's go show that bitch that you're mine. Have a little fun. You still know how to do that, right?" He laughed and shook his head in amusement.
"I will say, I've always wanted two girls to fight over me," he joked.
"You want me to let her win next time?" Carson asked.
"Nah, I like the crazy ones," he teased. She laughed and went to walk away, but he grabbed her and pulled her back in to press his lips against hers. She moved her hand up to grip his hair as she kissed him back. After a few seconds, he pulled back. "I missed you," he admitted. He understood that she was probably in shock of what had happened and just wanted to be alone, but he had hated that she refused to see even him.
"You can't go two days without seeing me?" she teased. "Someone really is whipped."
"Did John B and Pope tell you to say that?" he asked dryly. She laughed and shook her head.
"No, which means it must be true," she joked before sliding her hand into his. "But I missed you too."
"That's what I thought," he said, sounding proud of himself. "Now, let's go have this fun you speak of." They walked through the crowd until they reached Pope. Carson threw her arms around him and burst into laughter when he jumped.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite ancestor of Denmark Tanny," she said.
"Lower your voice!" he said. It's not like anyone was listening in the first place or would even really know what she was referring to, but ever since he learned that bit of information, he felt on edge.
"Don't worry, Limbrey's not lurking in the darkness," Carson teased. "Or is she?" Pope gave her a blank stare.
"Did you break into JJ's liquor supply?" Pope asked straightforwardly.
"I have my own, thank you very much," she replied. "Now can we please go dance?" She grabbed the two boys' hands and began yanking them towards the crowd when they heard people screaming. She walked over towards the edge to find Topper holding down John B and the rest of the Kooks and Pogues going at it. "Oh, shit."
"JJ!" Pope said. He jumped down and immediately ran in to help John B. The three ran into the fight with the two boys going to help John B while Carson headed towards Kiara and Sarah. Carson reached her hand down to help Sarah up after she had been pushed down.
"You okay?" she asked. Sarah nodded her head and brushed herself off. All of a sudden, Carson was once again getting drenched in beer. She turned around to find the same girl that had been all over JJ standing there with a smirk on her face. "Really? You might want to get a different move." She started to advance towards her but she was, once again, being stopped by JJ.
"Nope, no time for that, Car, gotta go," he said as he basically dragged her away as they ran to leave the bonfire until they reached the van. "Well, that was a little unexpected."
"Was it?" Kiara said. She looked over at Carson who was ringing out her beer-drenched hair with an annoyed look on her face. "What happened to you?"
"JJ has another girlfriend," she said in a monotone voice. They all whipped their heads over towards him.
"That is not true," he said immediately. He then glanced over at John B who looked less than happy to be there. They all knew what it was about: Sarah. "Hey, maybe she'll come around."
"It's like everything that happened to us didn't matter," he mumbled sadly. Carson sighed before jumping into the van, letting herself lay across him as she wrapped her arms around his neck in attempt to cheer him up.
"It mattered," she assured him.
"You're getting me all wet," he told her. She reached over and grabbed the beer from his hand to take a sip with a smile.
"That's what she said," she said. And just like that, he finally broke into a smile of his own.
