salt water | outer banks

9| a nickname basis

KOOK PARTIES WERE FUN. That was something Venus had no choice but to admit.

She loved spending time with the Pogues and friends from the Cut, but there was just something about a Figure Eight party that made her crave it a bit more than a kegger in the Boneyard.

Maybe it was the expensive alcohol the kids would steal from their parents stashes, maybe it was the fancy speaker system that flooded the houses with the perfect music, or maybe it was the premium weed that always seemed to be at every table Venus found herself near. Whatever it was, she could never quite figure it out.

One positive thing about Kook kids, though, was they always liked to keep their drugs clean. Their parents would have their heads if they ruined the family image by overdosing and dying, so if they were unsure, they didn't buy it.

Venus knew Rafe got his supply from Barry, who also didn't mess around with lacing when it came to his dealing. Barry was an asshole sometimes, but he was also safe. She pulled up to his house more than once while he was testing batches for fentanyl, and without fail, he had made her wait until the test result came back negative before giving her what she'd come for.

"Yo! Look at who showed up!" A familiar voice echoed out, the boy it belonging to not trailing far behind.

A boy that Venus recognized as Kelce, a friend of Topper and Rafe's, appeared out of the crowd and reached a hand towards the Beck girl and the blond Kook she stood beside.

Her attention was taken off of the lights and crowds of people inside the house and now turned to the interaction going on before her. The curly haired boy gave her a smile before directing his eyes to his blond friend.

"What's up, man?" Rafe connected his hand to Kelce's, sliding into a handshake before pulling the boy into a hug.

Venus saw Rafe's mouth move, words she couldn't make out over the loud music flowing between them. Kelce gave him a knowing nod and turned to the girl.

"Good to see you, Miss Venus. Didn't know y'all were hanging out now." He held out his hand to her and did a similar handshake, carefully and swiftly sliding a small paper roll into her palm.

Rafe's less-daring friends knew better than to ask why he was hanging out with a girl from the Cut. After all, why would you question the hand that fed you?

Instead, Kelce innocently poked around, not too concerned, but also not ignoring the unusual duo. Rafe normally wouldn't be caught dead spending time with a Pogue—but then again, Venus wasn't just a Pogue.

Venus looked down to see a joint resting in her palm, making a smile coat her lips as a soft laugh escaped from her.

"Don't worry about us, okay?" Rafe deflected the inadvertent question with a lighthearted chuckle. "Just spread the word, alright?"

Venus brows furrowed at the request, but she quickly put two-and-two together, running their interaction back in her mind and the way he spoke to Kelce during their handshake. Rafe was using the party to deal out drugs—which, she had to admit, was effective and perfect if you needed to make a lot of money in a little span of time.

"Alright, I'll see you guys around." Kelce shot an inviting smile to Venus and gave a nod to Rafe before bounding off back into the crowd.