An hour later everyone begins to leave. Kiara, Sarah, Rafe, Topper and John B are the only ones left. We're all standing around the kitchen.
"Are you feeling okay?" Sarah asks me and I nod slowly. It was such an intense night I don't think any of us really had anything left to say. Rafe seems the most quiet, he fixes his eyes on a spot of the floor and doesn't move them.
"We should get going," John B says to Sarah. "No I think I'll actually stay over if that's okay," She says looking at me and I nod. "Me too," Kiara says.
I instantly feel comforted that both of them would be there for me tonight. I wondered whether Rafe would've asked to stay over again but I wasn't sure if I really wanted him to.
"Alright then," Topper says as he and John B make their way to the door. Sarah and John B hug before him and Topper leave.
Rafe is still standing in the same spot in the kitchen. "We'll be upstairs." Kiara says as she and Sarah leave. They both seem so much calmer about the Rafe situation and I couldn't appreciate it more.
I walk over to him and lean against the counter opposite him. We don't say anything for at least a minute or two. "I should leave." Rafe says slowly.
I nod. He looks up at me and I see how sad his eyes are. Before I can really stop myself I walk up to him, give him a small kiss and wrap my arms around him. I nuzzle my head into his chest and hug him tighter than I ever have.
He doesn't respond to this at first, he slowly wraps his arms around me and leans his head on top of mine. I watch the little kitchen clock near the counter and count as three minutes of us staying this way passes by. I finally let go and Rafe sighs.
He looks at me and nods before walking over to the door and letting himself out. We didn't really speak any words to each other but I didn't feel like we needed to.
I head upstairs and find Kie and Sarah talking in bed. "How'd it go?" Kie asks me as I walk in. "We didn't really talk or anything." I say softly.
The vibe of the night had taken a really sad turn. I think all of were faced with an actually scary situation and we didn't have time for our petty drama anymore. "I just feel so bad for him." I say and Sarah and Kie nod.
I take a seat on the bed next to them and they both hug me lightly. I feel some tears swell up in my eyes and wipe them away slowly.
I wasn't exactly sure why I was crying. "What should I do about Rafe?" I ask them. "I think it's obvious you both really like and care for each other." Kie begins. "Did you not see him do coke off another girls body?" I ask her and she nods.
"I hate to tell you Ev, but that's the way it'll always be with Rafe. He's chaotic as shit and he's not the type of guy who stops to think about anyone else's feelings." Sarah says softly.
I knew she actually meant what she was saying and was putting her feeling aside. I nod and lean onto her some more. "It'll be okay." She says.
"Do you think that Barry guy would come back here for any reason?" I ask them and they both shake their head. All three of us can't seem to take our mind off what took place tonight. We eventually fall asleep later on.
I wake up the next morning and the three of us get ready and leave to John B's. All the boys crashed their last night, except for Rafe.
We wake them all up and decide we need to call for another group discussion. "What is this, our fourth family meeting for the summer?" JJ asks and we all ignore him.
"Look you guys, the kind of shit that went down isn't what we're used to normally. I mean we never get held at gunpoint by a fucking drug dealer." Topper says and everyone agrees.
"Bro I know it looked like I was ready to give him sum, but I was shaking inside." JJ confesses. "Yeah we know." Pope cuts him off.
"Look you guys, this summer isn't gonna be fun if we're spending it in jail. And that's honestly where it's heading." Pope finishes.
"Pope's right. We need to make sure what happens last night never happens again." Kiara says. "How do we even do that?" Sarah asks sounding helpless.
"I know," Topper begins. "There's only way really. We all stay away from Rafe." He says while looking at me.
It annoyed me that Topper of all people was the one proposing this. I wanted him to be on my side. "Topper come on, he's our friend." Kiara begins. "He's not my fucking friend," Topper says while laughing.
"Topper come on." Sarah says. "I'm sorry did you guys not hear him say he wanted to put me in the ground last night?" Topper says and we roll our eyes. "Yeah, maybe it'll be Rafe pointing a gun at me next." He says.
"Topper you're being hysterical right now." I say to him.
"Oh yeah that's rich coming from you Evelyn. Why don't you run off with your coke snorting, psychopath play boy who is so fucking proactive the only thing he'll do is get you both fucking killed." Topper yells.
"Okay Topper you're really losing it now." Kie says stepping in front of him. "You know Rafe has caused the most trouble for us this Summer." John B says agreeing with him.
"Thank you!" Topper says throwing his hands up. "You guys we can't ghost Rafe this whole summer." Kiara says. "Actually I think we should." Pope says. "Alright, all those in favor of ghosting Rafe's ass this summer put your hands up." Topper says happily.
I swear I could kill him right now. John B, Topper and Pope raise their hands up. Kie shakes her head in disbelief. "JJ, come on." John B says. "I don't know man," JJ says hesitantly as he raises his hand up as well. Sarah and Kie are both staring at me unsure of what to do.
"Come on Sarah. You're literally at his throat every fucking day and have nothing to say now?" Topper says. Sarah shoots me an unapologetic look before raising her hand as well.
"Alright that's 5 to 2. Majority wins." Topper says as everyone puts their hand down. "This is a joke." I say before walking away.
"Can you see what you just did?" I hear Kiara shouting at Topper. "I guess she's out too then." I hear Topper mutter and I almost feel like crying at how much those words hurt me.
I can't stop myself from charging back. "Fuck you Topper." I yell as I push back on his chest and he stumbles backwards lightly. "Woah woah woah." He says as the whole groups huddles together trying to calm us down.
"You know real friends don't give each other ultimatums." I tell him. I was so hurt and furious. I could take shit from anyone but not from Topper, he was supposed to be on my side.
"Real friends don't put each other in fucking gun point situations because their crazy coked out boyfriend's idea of fun is drug dealer roulette." Topper shouts back at me. I feel Sarah lightly grab my arm and try to pull me back slowly.
I shake my head in disbelief. "You were supposed to be on my side." I say full of hurt as a tear falls from my eyes. I notice Topper's face soften instantly. This has honestly been way too much, I begin backing away and I'm more than ready to get out of there.
"Evelyn, wait." I hear Topper behind me and I don't care as I keep walking away. Kiara runs up next to me and tells me she'll drive me home. I cry the entire way there and don't even know how to process this.
We park outside my house and talk for a bit. "Are you feeling any better?" She asks me slowly. I lean my head against the window for a bit. "I guess." I say.
"Look the group has every right to be concerned, I'll admit it. I'm concerned too. But I haven't seen you feel this way about anyone else before. I know how you feel about Rafe and I really think you need to make this decision for yourself." She tells me, speaking really softly.
"And you don't think this whole drug dealer episode is too much for me to deal with?" I ask her.
"I think Rafe needs to sort his shit out and not put you, or anyone else at risk like that again. But, remember when John B was literally wanted by the coops like a summer ago?" She says and I laugh lightly.
Each summer really did have its own drama that came along with it. "You're right Kie. Thanks." I say as I lean over and hug her. "I got you." She says as she hugs me back.
"And you've got company." She tells me. I pull away and notice Rafe pull up in his dirt bike onto
my driveway.
I say goodbye to her and get off the car and walk towards him. He looks more relaxed than before and smiles at me lightly. "Are you okay?" I ask him and he nods.
"What about you?" He asks and I shrug my shoulders back. "Where were you this morning? I came by." He says. "I was with the others, we were talking over things." I tell him.
"And?" He asks me. I hate to be the one to tell him but I do anyway. "So what? No ones going to talk to me for the rest of the summer?" He asks me in disbelief.
"I'm pretty sure they'll come around." I begin saying. "No I don't really want them to, I'm clearly 'too fucking dangerous' to be around." He says scoffing.
"You know it's funny half of those guys don't mind me pulling all the coke they want for them, but won't have my back the second I fall into shit for it." He says. He actually makes a really solid point.
"Anyways, that's not what I came to talk to you about." He tells me and I look up at him. "Oh?" I ask. "What are you doing tonight?" He asks me.
"There's that party at Kelce's." I say and he nods. "Why?" I ask. "Come home with me tonight." He says and my heart starts beating a little bit faster. "I'll try to take your mind off all of this." He says with a slight smirk on his face.
I smile lightly but I'm not at all sure if I should. "I'll let you know." I say and he nods. "I'll see you tonight then." He says as he gets back on his bike. I watch him drive away and I feel a little bit sad that he's gone.
Once I'm in my room I frantically look around for something to wear to the party tonight. I find this gorgeous little back dress.
It was super short and cinched in perfectly on my waist. It was a killer dress and the perfect occasion was tonight.
I get to party pretty late. I wasn't exactly excited to see anyone else but Rafe here. It didn't feel like a party I would myself enjoying at all. Once I'm inside I notice everyone together, they notice me and just look up. I ignore this and move past them.
I find Kiara by the drink table and she pulls me into a hug. "You look stunning!" She says and I smile. "Any special plans tonight?" She asks me while winking. I truly appreciate Kiara more than a anyone else in this moment.
She had really stuck by my side, even when the others were all being jerks. "You know, your plans for tonight arrived an hour ago and has been looking for you since." She says looking to the left side of the room.
I turn and see Rafe talking to Kelce in the corner. He looks really good. After all the hostility I was receiving at this party, I honestly couldn't wait to get out of here. Leaving with Rafe was becoming more attractive by the second.
I take another look back at the group and see Topper's eyes on me. He seems soft and I can tell he's trying to make things better. But I wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood.