𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚 𑁍 𝙟𝙟 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢

JJ shook his head from his spot beside her. "Don't worry Blue, he'll be fine. His beer won't survive though." His eyes locked onto the can that John B was holding very loosely as he switched from one foot to the other, testing his balance.

The group had decided that their first celebration for Blue's sweet sixteen would start there; a construction site on Figure Eight that was bound to have security coming at some point. Loitering in empty, half-finished mansions wasn't anything new to the Pogues. The guards knew their names and the teens knew theirs. They also knew that it'd take the officers at least an hour to arrive on site given how slow and incompetent Kildare's law enforcers were.

Blue felt a sense of peace wash over her as she looked out onto the morning sky. It was painted a light blue, still lightly hued from its previous pink shades, and definitely a beauty to look at. The wind was warm and tickled against her skin, leaving a salty perfume in its wake. If this was what sixteen would be like - enjoying beautiful weather, getting into trouble with her friends, and sitting next to the boy who always made her smile - then she was excited to live it out and see what else the year had in store for her.

"They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers." Kiara interrupted as she emerged from the half-built mansion. Disgust for the future of the property shown through her tone and expression as she made her way out onto the deck.

Being a fellow environmentalist, Blue knew seeing the excessive future mansion would bother her hippie friend. Even though Kie was rich and lived on the Eight, she definitely didn't act like it. Blue remembered when she first met Kie, back when she was only five years old, and how they quickly bonded over catching bugs and surfing in the ocean. Kiara was her first real friend on the island; her soul sister. It didn't matter that the Carrera girl was an anomaly in their group - she was one of them, and nothing would ever change that.

"Of course they are, why wouldn't they?" JJ responded to Kiara with a roll of his eyes.

"This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles, I guess?"

"I can't have cold towels!"

As Kiara looked up at John B, a sly smile made its way onto her baby face. "Can you please not kill yourself?" She asked teasingly.

"Maybe now he'll listen." Blue muttered, causing JJ to chuckle. She had a theory there was something brewing between the two, but she decided to keep quiet about it - for now.

The blond boy looked up at John B again as he raised his drink to his lips. "Don't spill that beer! I'm not giving you another one."

Seconds after the words hit the air, John B's grip on his can slipped, and the beer went tumbling to the ground below. The four teenagers on the deck laughed and shook their heads while the Routledge boy groaned dramatically.

"Of course you did! Like right when I told you-"

"Smooth."

"A-plus."

"Dumbass."

Their chorus of insults stopped when Pope looked over the balcony and then turned to his friends with an anxious smile. "Hey, uh, security's here! Let's wrap it up."

Just with one look, Blue could tell that Pope was itching to leave before anything could happen. He was the golden boy, the one with a bright future, the one with something to lose. If anything intercepted his path to earning his merit scholarship and going to a top college, the boy would positively lose his ever-loving mind. She wouldn't blame him.