addicted vol 1 | rafe cameron

𝟏 | 𝐏𝟒𝐋

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Just hold still, I'm trying to clean it, okay?" JJ says.

"With what? Water?" I ask.

"Sometimes you just gotta trust the process, Juli."

He continues to "clean" the wound on my leg as John B drives us back to his house, the Chateau. All of us hangout here, just about every hour of the day. By all of us, I mean me, John B, JJ, Kie and Pope. We just checked out this missing guy's motel and ended up finding suspicious stuff in a safe. Long story short, the cops showed up, so JJ, John B and I tried to hide outside the window. I slipped, and the shingles on the roof tore up part of my leg.

"Do you mind?" I say as I instinctively whack JJ's hand away.

He mumbles jokingly and shakes his head.

JJ Maybank and I met back in the first grade and instantly clicked. A few years later, he met John B and sort of added him to our duo to make a trio. We eventually added Pope and Kiara as we met them and became the inseparable group known as the Pogues. That's what we call ourselves, at least. We have this ridiculously tight bond that makes it seem like we might as well be family. We do, however, have a few ground rules. Number one: no Pogue on Pogue macking. It's a unanimous decision that we agreed upon a long time ago, because relationships inside the friend group would just mess everything up. Our only options are other people from our side of the island, Kooks (rich kids), or Tourons (moron tourists).

✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .

Once we arrive back at the Chateau, we go back and forth on what to do about the motel situation. JJ found an alarming amount of money in the safe and he wants to keep it. Meanwhile, Kie argues that it should be given to the missing man's (Scooter Grubbs) wife, because it's "bad karma." I basically zone out while the four of them continue to argue. All I can really think about right now is the move.

My mom ran a volunteer hospital on the Cut (our side of the island), which basically means that a huge majority of her work in treating people was non-paid. She really only cared about helping people who can't afford medical care, which I've always admired about her. But sadly, we've barely been able to make ends meet in the past two-ish years, with me and my two siblings for my parents to take care of. So, my mom had to apply for a real job at a real hospital about a year ago in Figure Eight, the rich asshole side of town.

She quickly began to make a lot of money, and my parents told us about a month ago that we're moving across the island to a nicer house on Figure Eight. Quite honestly, I'm pissed off. My friends and I have always gotten into arguments with douchebags over there. I've hated them ever since I learned to talk.

"Juli?" JJ snaps his fingers in front of my face.

My eyes begin to focus on his hand as I start listening to the conversation going on around me. "Hmm?"

"What do you think?" he asks, leaning back up against John B's bed-frame.

"About what?" I question, clearly oblivious.

"Down for a kegger tonight?" John B asks with a grin on his face, telling me it was his idea.

"Oh, yeah. I'm always down." I smile brightly.

✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .

Tonight starts out like any other night in the OBX. My friend group supplied the beer, like always. While John B hands red solo cups out to everyone, I spot JJ flirting with his new Touron of the week. A few feet away, Kie is ranting about astrology to some of our mutual friends, and Pope is trying to flirt with someone from our school. Although, I saw JJ giving him tips the other day, so there's a high likelihood that Pope is embarrassing the shit out of himself.