One Stupid Thing

1:4:15

Pope gives JJ a panicked glance. JJ takes his eyes off of me and asks, "Where is he?"

"Right there." Kie gestures behind us.

Pope whips around in his chair to look in that direction. Rafe, Kelce, and Topper are staring back menacingly. Something happened and I can tell that Pope and JJ know something that Kiara and I don't.

"Great, the whole death squad." Pope's voice cracked with fear.

"Don't stare, bro." JJ pushes his friends head back around. "Just warning you, bro. If they corner me, I'm coming out swinging, okay? Slice and dicin'. I'm on edge right now. If that doesn't work, I got this right here." He lifts up his bag. Kiara has a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah. So, we just gotta stay in the group. They can't get us in the group," Pope anxiously convinces himself.

"Like a school of fish," JJ adds.

"Stay in the school. Can't leave the school. Stay in the school," Pope repeats to himself.

Realization spreads over Kiara's face. "I'm sorry, JJ.... Please tell me that you did not bring a gun here. JJ, there are kids."

"No. Kie, I didn't bring the gun. Everything's fine, okay?" He tells her.

I sit down on the grass in front of them and sigh.

"Wow, thank you. That's really convincing. I love that, JJ," Kiara spits.

"Just tell us what happened. We can help you," I plead. JJ looks down at me, but he quickly looks away and shakes his head.

"Founding principal, you guys. No secrets amongst Pogues," Kiara reminds them. "What is Rafe talking about?"

I shrink back at her choice of words. Even in a serious moment she takes every opportunity to make sure that I don't feel welcome. I look down awkwardly, unsure if I should take my leave now or not. When I look back up, JJ's eyes are fixed on me. They are full of pity. I hate that he pities me. Then, they turn to Kie and I can tell that he is as frustrated about her choice of words as I am.

Pope leans in closer to Kiara and says softly, "Kie, it might go down tonight."

Kie's expression remains unchanged. She remains as confused as I am. "What does that mean? 'Might go down tonight.' What did ya'll do?"

Pope looks to JJ for guidance, but JJ just shakes his head and mutters something under his breath.

"Well, this seems like a Pogue matter, so I guess I should leave now," I say bitterly. I stand up and walk back towards my bike without a second glance. I half expected JJ to run after me, but I'm sure Kie wouldn't have allowed him to.

Instead of going home, I settle myself beneath a tall tree and watch the movies that play. I wasn't going to let the Pogues ruin my mood, and why shouldn't I be here? If anything, they are the ones that don't belong on this side of the island. However, deep down I don't really believe that. The fine line between Kook and Pogue has blurred and now I'm not even sure if I belong on this side of the island anymore. But, if I don't belong on Figure Eight or on the Cut, then where do I?

Later that night, after the sun had set, the Addams Family was playing on the giant screen. About halfway into it, I notice two silhouettes break from the crowd and disappear behind the screen. Oddly enough, another group of people followed them shortly after. Curious, I get on my feet to peer further into the darkness when I see Kiara grab JJ's backpack and run in the same direction. The Pogues are in trouble and I have a funny feeling that this has something to do with what Rafe mentioned earlier.

Quickly, I dart after Kie and when I reach the other side of the screen a whole battle has already broken out. JJ, Pope, Topper, Kelce, and my brother are having a full on fist fight. I rush to Kie's side and she looks over at me with determination. For the first time I think we might actually understand each other. Both of us care deeply for our friends, so maybe we are more similar than I thought. We give each other a knowing nod and join the fight.