Two Sided

A Day of Illusions

It seemed as if I had grown accustomed to standing silently in bafflement: First from JJ, and now from Rafe. It was like they both had a way with their words, a hint of mischief and enigma all mixed into a single tone. I hated it. I mean, what was the point? I didn't want to find myself in the crossfire – frankly, I did everything I could to stay out of it. But by Pogue association, Rafe deemed it necessary to pile me into his list of enemies; let it be known, by use of threat, that he'd ruin me before I could even tell my side of the story.

It was bullshit.

My friends were based solely on three things: humor, kindness, and trust. All of which Kooks had a hard time possessing. So, because of that, I made it my mission to stay as far away from Kooks in any setting. Sure, I occasionally accompanied my parents in the outside world, but that didn't mean I had to converse with anyone. Yet, Rafe was acting as though I made it a personal attack on him. Like I chose to identify as a repellent Pogue to ruin both our family's names. And honestly, it was a bizarre thing for him to even think of – because Rafe and I had nothing tying us together.

I swiveled my neck towards the left, observing as Rafe fleetingly greeted the crowd as he trudged past them: It was a normal thing to do, say hello to the guests at your own party – but with the way he did it, I couldn't help but gag. His sly grin mixed with the swirling of his ring had every female in a whirlwind. It appeared as if each girl would involuntarily lick their lips, waiting for their moment to be waitlisted as the next Kook Kings plaything. And I knew Rafe could discern it too, because even with his back turned to me, I could feel the arrogance emanating from his poster. But what was worse than his flirtation, was his equable stature. He was acting like the interaction between us never happened; as if he didn't just threaten me.

... Yeah, this vacation is going to blow.

I tightened my jaw, the grooves of my teeth gnawing at the inside of my cheek while I continued to watch Rafe in contempt. It wasn't until the taste of metal filled my mouth that I turned my body away from the Kook boy and towards the blonde-haired Pogue that patiently stood his ground nearby. His shoulders were stiff, the rounds of his irises glancing between my hip and ear; but even with the tilt of his brows, I couldn't make out any emotion. Frankly, I don't even think he knew what he was feeling. But I understood why he was so deadpanned; anyone who witnessed Rafe's closeness to me in the kitchen without hearing any sound would've assumed it was intimate.

Only, that notion was the farthest thing from the truth, and JJ would've known that if he was somehow closer. Or if I told him. Yet for some reason, I felt like divulging into that territory was worse than him imagining venereal actions between Rafe and me. Don't get me wrong, I wanted him to know the truth. The idea of him stuck inside his head due to a false thought was a horrendous thing to accept ... but if he found out that the Kook King whispered threats into my ear, the whole party would've been shut down in a matter of seconds. And I didn't need my best friend arrested over something as stupid as words. So, I played it cool: I shook my head, shrugging my shoulders faintly as I extended the end of my tongue out, resting my head to the side as if I was pretending to play deceased.

Well, at least physically – mentally, I was most definitely dead inside from this get-together.

I positioned myself back upright, watching as JJ contemplated the idea of laughing alongside my outlandish attempt at lightening the mood. And while luckily, he decided to follow my sarcastic footsteps, it wasn't the same joyous feeling that usually emanated off his presence: His normal laugh was nowhere to be seen, no backwards tilt of the head or grin plastered on his face – his actions were entirely fake ... Just like mine were. For crying out loud, his chest hardly wavered with each staggering breath he took. From where I stood, I don't even think he tried to make his laugh realistic. Which was all the more reason to stay away from him tonight; I didn't need to be bombarded with questions on top of a Pogue/Kook lecture.