𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐈 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭

I stared at the gun in my hand.

I wanted to. I wanted to so bad.

I just couldn't.

"SHIT!" I huffed, clicking the safety back on.

I dropped the gun and the bag, which Kiara quickly bent down to pick up.

She dug for through the backpack as I turned my attention to JJ and Pope.

I got as close to Pope as possibly, Topper holding him tight in a chokehold.

"Remember the golf course?" I asked. "What I did after Top and Rafe left?"

He looked at me as he gasped for air, pleading with his eyes for me to help.

I wanted to. I wanted to so bad.

I just couldn't.

"Never gonna happen again, Pogue," I spat.

Suddenly an orange hue filled my vision, and an extreme heat surrounded me.

After taking a moment to comprehend what had happened, I realized that the movie screen was on fire. Kiara, who had been crouched down on the ground, stood up and started yelling at the guys to let JJ and Pope go.

The realization hit me that Kiara was the one who had set the movie screen on fire. She did it because she wanted us to stop. She wanted them to stop. And hey, it worked.

Rafe stepped back as Kelce and Topper let go of the two Pogues. They instantly fell to ground, both of them in a coughing fit.

"Holy shit, you almost killed him, man!" Rafe laughed, looking at Topper.

"Yeah..." Top mumbled. He felt bad. I could tell.

Kelce came beside me, draping an arm around my shoulders as we walked away from the three Pogues.

"You good, A?" He asked. "Your nose is bleeding,"

I brought my fingers up to my nostril, feeling the blood drip down.

I shrugged, wiping it away. "Pope got me good a few times, it's probably from that. No big deal,"

"Damn, I know so many other girls who would be sobbing right now," Kelce laughed. "My girl's fuckin' tough!"

I was a bit taken back when he referred to me as 'his girl.'

I mean, we were doing a lot of couple-like things so I understood why he did it, but it just made me feel weird. It made us feel like an actual couple, which I honestly didn't like the idea of.

I liked Kelce, but when it came down to it, I couldn't see myself being in a real relationship with him.

Apparently, he had liked me for years, so I couldn't even imagine what he was feeling when I kissed him at the party. It was one of the only times we were able to talk one-on-one, so I was finally able to notice his behavior around me.

The smile that spread across his face when I would speak, his interest in what I was saying, the way he looked at me. I noticed everything right there at the party, even though it had probably been happening for a while.

Nobody had ever acted that way towards me before so I immediately developed a liking towards him. It just wasn't enough to actually date him, and I was finally realizing it.

God, just another thing to stress about.

Fucking great.

-

The next day Rafe and I found ourselves at Topper's, just hanging out. I desperately wanted to talk about my problem with Kelce, especially since Midsummers was that night and I knew he would want me to be his date, but I knew that neither of them would be of any help.