Kook King

In Hot Water

Kiara picks me up around seven o'clock. I'm brushing my hair for a third time so it's extra soft and silky, even though it will probably get wet in JJ's hot tub later, when Kiara shows up. I grab my phone, which is the only thing I'll need, and slip into my old, beat-up converse then run out to her idling SUV. "Hey," I say, shutting the door.

"You ready?"

"Hell yeah. Let's go."

Our hair blows in the wind as we cruise down the street and pull up to JJ's. The sun is almost vanished below the horizon. JJ bursts out of his door and meets us with two packs of beer in his hand. Kiara and I hop out with smiles. "Woo! Let's go!" Kiara shouts excitedly.

"I'm ready!" I cry, heading over to JJ's backyard. For being a pogue, JJ actually has a nice yard. A couple of years ago, I helped him wrap the white lights around the large tree that looms over the hot tub. It's the perfect place to sit back and stare out at the water way beyond. I've always loved coming to JJ's to just hang out and have fun.

"You better be, Y/N, since you ditched everyone last night!" JJ says.

I roll my eyes with a smile. "I didn't ditch you. My car broke down."

JJ gives both me and Kiara a hug, and we walk over to his hot tub. "Oh, yeah?" he says. "And how the hell did you get back home if you didn't have a car?"

Rafe pops into my mind. His face as he invited me to some party at his house pops into my mind. I still can't believe he invited me to his house. Why? Because I slept with him once? Shouldn't I be the one chasing him since he's the kook and I'm the pogue? It feels like some kind of joke.

I feel my face turn red as both JJ and Kiara remain quiet, waiting for my answer. "Um, I called an Uber," I lie. I can feel both of them staring at me as I avoid their gaze and dip my hand into the hot water. "Are we getting in or what? I wanna start this party."

JJ seems to snap out of whatever trance he was in while staring at me. "Yeah! Jump in. I'll break these beers up."

"I'll start the music!" Kiara says, pulling her phone out.

I peel my shirt off to expose my baby blue bikini top. I set my shirt down on the bench and look up to see JJ looking at me. When he realizes I caught him staring, he ducks his head.

We think JJ likes you. Ava's words haunt me. As much as I don't want to admit that she may be right, I think she is. JJ doesn't look at Kiara the way he does me, and he doesn't ask her about her day like he does with me. This realization makes me anxious and I try to shake it off. I grab a beer, pop it open, and raise it up in the air. "A toast!" I announce.

Everyone is in the hot tub. JJ and Kiara raise their beers up.

"To being a pogue," I say. "To... forever friendships and poguelandia!"

Kiara smiles softly at me like she knows something. JJ, on the other hand, hollars and tosses his beer back. "Poguelandia!" he shouts. Within seconds, every last bit of beer in his can is gone and he's grabbing a second one. I giggle with Kiara, knowing already he'll be getting fucked up tonight. It's happened plenty of times before where we have to lug a lifeless JJ into his house and dump him on his bed, all while drunk and clumsy ourselves. They're honestly some of the funniest memories, though.

Everything is hilarious once we're all drunk. Empty, crushed up cans of beer lie scattered in the grass around the hot tub as we keep tossing them aside. "Good thing I got, like, a hundred," JJ says, his words slurred.

***

My chin drops against my chest and my eyes snap open. I blink until my vision is clearer. My body feels like its detached from me as I look around and try to recognize where I am. This feeling is too familiar. Then I hear the sound of water trickling.