"It's The Cut Topper not the Ozarks,"
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"Oh come on Kie," JJ Maybank pleaded as he followed one of his best friends through the Chateau. "You seriously can't be mad at me for taunting that guard. All I did was make him chase us a little," the blond boy argued, causing Kiara to shoot him a glare before she pushed the door open and stepped onto the front porch.
"You could've gotten him hurt," Kiara reminded him as she rolled her eyes at JJ.
"But he wasn't hurt!" JJ spoke, a lot louder this time. "Pope, Pope, you agree with me right," JJ gestured his hands to the boy laying on the outside couch. Pope Heyward, the brains of their group, looked over at the blonde shaking his head.
"Eh," Pope shrugged, not wanting to get involved or disagree with Kiara.
JJ waved his hand dismissing Pope then ran to follow Kiara down the stairs of the porch. "Come on Kie, he deserved it. Chasing us out like that," JJ continued.
This group, better known as the pogues, were constantly getting themselves into some kind of trouble. This time their crime was breaking into an unfinished house in Figure Eight, where the rich folk lived and where they weren't allowed. It wasn't a surprise when security showed up, but it sure was fun running from them.
The pogues were at the bottom of the food chain, they always had been. Southside trash from the Cut. The pogues have been treated like dirt for years while The kooks are treated like royalty. It wasn't fair but it's the way it was. They couldn't change the families they were born into.
Kiara groaned knowing it would take a long time for one of them to be crowned victor over their little argument, and while she wished it could be done with already she wasn't prepared to lose to JJ. She turned around catching JJ by surprise and making him freeze in his spot, just as she opened her mouth the sound of a car driving towards the Chateau made her stay silent.
It didn't take them long to realize that the car didn't belong to one of their own. No pogue would be driving around a brand new 2019 white Audi convertible. It was, however, a typical Kook car.
As the car got closer the person in the driver's seat became more and more clear. Just the sight of her made Kiara's stomach hurt.
Everyone on Kildare island knew that the kooks and the pogues didn't play well together. They all seemed to hate each other and that's just the way it's always been. The pogues thought that the kooks were just entitled brats with a trust fund, while the kooks thought the pogues were dirty second class citizens. They rarely hung around each other and whenever they did it never ended well.
The pogues all watched as the car came to a stop, the girl in the driver's seat turning it off. Despite being less than twenty feet away from them, she didn't seem to notice the prying eyes of the three pogues on her. They all watched as the door to the convertible opened and Emerson Rhodes got out.
Emerson Rhodes wasn't any different than the rest of the kooks. If anything she was more kooky than the others, not that she realized. Emerson had the kind of family who'd appear on the cover of Today's Parents Outer Banks edition, if it was a thing. She was the perfect kook. Her hair was always perfectly done, her clothes were always styled to each occasion, everything she did was perfectly planned. Everything Emerson did was for her family and her reputation.
"Oh this'll be good," Pope whispered to himself, sitting up slightly to get a better view of the scene in front of him.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Kiara spat, not bothering to try and lower her voice as Emerson closed her car door.
The kook lifted her sunglasses allowing them to sit comfortably on her head. JJ couldn't help but smile when he saw it was her. He loved messing with the kooks, it was one of his favorite past times. While Kiara who still stood beside JJ wanted to hurl at the sight of her. Just before Emerson could reach the pogues Kiara stormed off, walking down to the dock.
"Nice to see you too Kiara," Emerson called out, making JJ snicker when Kiara lifted up her middle finger as she continued to walk away.
"Hey princess," JJ waved, , catching Emerson's attention.
Her eyes met his as she shook her head at the nickname he used for her. She put on a fake smile as she stood a little bit taller. JJ wasn't surprised by this reaction, typical kook.
"I'm not here for you JJ," she shot back, making the boy dramatically reach to put his hand over his heart.
"Oh, Emerson, you hurt me," He said dramatically, making the kook roll her eyes at him. He took a few steps closer to her, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention, lucky for him both Kiara and Pope seemed to have moved on from the kook's presence.
"JJ..." she said her tone giving off some kind of warning.
Everyone in Outer Banks knew that JJ was a flirt. He'd try to hook up with any innocent girl that just happened to walk by him. Kook, pogue, tourons, it didn't matter. Now Emerson wasn't much different, only the reputation she built for herself was completely by accident and a result from heartbreak. But that reputation existed nonetheless, and it made her interactions with JJ that much more entertaining.
"Emerson," He smirked, taking another step closer.
"Is John B here?" She asked, taking a small step away from him.
JJ took another step closer, ignoring her previous question. "Come on princess, live a little. Show me that dark side you're so famous for," he teased.
"My dark side?" She questioned with a small laugh.
"Every kook princess must have a dark side," JJ told her, now standing directly in front of her. "And I've already seen some of it-"
"Shut up," She whispered sternly. Suddenly glad there was no one around to witness this conversation. "I'm better now JJ. I think it's time you forget what happened."
"Oh come on, that version of you was fun," JJ smirked as he took another step closer to the Rhodes girl. "We had a lot of fun."
"Just tell me where John B is," Emerson said, desperately wanting to move onto a new topic.
"I'm right here," John B announced, making the two, now flustered, teens turn in his direction. He held a beer in his hand with both his eyebrows raised at the very strange conversation he accidentally became a witness of. "What's uh... what's up?" He asked, confusion still heard in his voice as he looked between the kook and the pogue.
Emerson blinked twice momentarily forgetting the whole reason she was forced to drive to the Cut. "Uh..." she faltered before pulling out an envelope out of her purse, "my father wanted me to drop this off," she said, giving John B the envelope.
John B quickly peeked in, trying to conceal a smile when he saw a couple twenty dollar bills which he could use on new beer and food. "Cool, thanks."
"He wanted to make sure you had some extra cash before the storm hit. He would've come himself but he was working," Emerson explained, so it wouldn't seem like she had volunteered to go to the Cut.
"You didn't bring anything for me? I know how you can make it up to me," JJ pretended to pout, earning a smack to the arm from John B.
"Can I... get you a beer, or something?" John B asked, trying to move past his best friend's idiodic question.
Emerson glanced over to Kiara, who was back to glaring at her from the docks. If looks could kill. "Probably shouldn't. Thanks for the offer though," she said gratefully. Her mother would be proud to know she raised a daughter who used manners even around pogues.
"No problem," John B said awkwardly. Emerson gave them both a quick nod before walking back over to her convertible. The pogues all watched as the car quickly drove away back to its life of privilege and trust funds.
"Thank god she's gone," Kiara spoke, finally reappearing from the safety of the dock. Both John B and JJ shot her looks of annoyance making the dark haired girl very confused. "You can't be serious?"
"She's not that bad Kiara," John B shrugged, "in kook terms she can be kind of nice."
"Plus she's hot," JJ added.
"No. No, you cannot like her," Kiara said, almost frantically. "Please, anybody but Emerson Rhodes, anybody else."
"Oh great," John B brought his hand to his forehead causing a worried expression to appear on Kiara's face. "Kie you just made Emerson something JJ can't have."
"Yeah so? She's a kook, JJ couldn't have her even if he tried."
"Wanna bet?" JJ asked with his eyebrows raised.
"No! From this point forward Emerson Rhodes does not exist," Kiara declared before storming off towards the chateau.
"She'll be mine one day," JJ announced.
"You just keep telling yourself that," John B said putting said, putting his hand on JJ's shoulder before following Kiara back into the chateau.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
"I'm surprised they didn't try to rob you," Topper Thornton said dramatically after finding out that Emerson had been in the cut earlier that afternoon, "I can't believe your dad actually sent you over there."
"It's The Cut Topper not the Ozarks," Emerson reminded him.
"Still," Sarah sighed.
The kooks, per usual, were spending their day laying out in the sun doing absolutely nothing. Sarah Cameron has been Emerson's closest friend since kindergarten, they've been practically inseparable since they met. They also knew way too much about each other for them to get in a fight without serious consequences. Then there's Topper, Sarah's newest boyfriend and Emerson's life long friend. He was the only guy she actually felt like she could talk to.
None of them knew what it was like to be a pogue, they never worried about running out of food or not having electricity. It wasn't that everything came easy for them, they just had a much more privileged life.
The two girls were laying on towels by the edge of Sarah's pool while Topper was pacing in front of them, occasionally throwing a football up into the air.
"Those pogues don't deserve shit," Topper stated, something he believed with everything inside him.
"Don't say that Topper," Sarah shook her head at him. He gave her a confused look, not understanding the sudden sympathy towards the pogues. "You know what, I'm gonna go get more drinks," Sarah said quickly, wanting to avoid the rant she knew Topper would start. She stood up and went back inside before her boyfriend or best friend could say anything to stop her.
"You know that I'm right Emerson. The pogues will never be like us," He told Emerson who sighed before standing up so the two of them were directly facing each other. "I don't understand how you and Sarah don't see that."
"Believe me Topper, I didn't want to go over there. If it was up to me someone else would've gone," Emerson said, trying to get Topper to see that she was indeed on his side. "I was forced into going, it's not like I'd willingly go to The Cut."
"You should've had me go with you, I could've made sure nothing happened to you."
"Top, nothing happened. I dropped off some cash then left, it was like a drug deal," She shrugged with a small smile appearing on her face.
"Funny," he said with a fake smile on his face. "Seriously though, you shouldn't go there alone. I just want to make sure you're safe."
Emerson glanced over at the patio door, making sure that Sarah wasn't about to walk out the door. "It's not your job to make sure I'm safe, Top."
"Of course it's my job," Topper shook his head at her. "Those pogues can be dangerous, you don't know what they'll do."
"Aw, are you scared of the pogues," Emerson laughed.
"What? No!" Topper practically shouted. Emerson stepped closer to him, knowing how much it was stressing him out. "I am not afraid of the pogues."
"Right," Emerson nodded, unconvincingly. She smiled at him and he smiled right back at her. Topper could never be mad at her, and she knew it.
"I brought drinks," Sarah said, breaking the silence that had filled her backyard. Sarah noticed how Topper and Emerson both plastered on a smile when they heard her voice and they both graciously took the drinks from her hands. "What happened while I was gone?" Sarah laughed awkwardly.
"Nothing," they answered at the same time, only to realize their quick answer made them seem even more suspicious.
"Just talking about the pogues and the threats they impose on us," Emerson smiled sweetly, sending a quick smirk in Topper's direction making him roll his eyes.
"Ah of course," Sarah laughed, choosing to believe her friend instead of overanalyzing the weird looks her best friend and boyfriend were exchanging.
"You're laughing now," Topper said in a warning tone.
"Oh my god. Can we just forget about the pogues?" Emerson asked him. "We are going to enjoy this summer and not let the pogues ruin it."
"I agree, this is our summer. They probably aren't doing anything that we need to worry about anyway," Sarah insisted, not knowing how wrong she was.
(edited 2/14/2023)