.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
We spend the next few hours making a plan at the Wreck, and then eventually searching this old lady's house for the gold. Thanks to Pope, we discovered a deep well underneath the home that most likely carries the gold. After heading back to the Chateau, John B left to get Sarah and eventually brought her to the Chateau to join us.
"No effing way! You brought her here, so what, she's in on this now?" Kie asks.
"Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share." JJ shrugs as he sits on the couch next to Pope.
"You know, I don't remember taking a vote. This is our thing. A pogue thing." she argues, propping herself up against the screen door.
"Kie, I don't understand why you can't just be open-minded." I interject. "Sarah's not actually the bitch that you claim she is."
Kiara looks like she was just stabbed in the back. "Huh?" she yells. "Since when are you siding with Barbie?"
"Since I actually got to know her at all the Kooky stuff my mom's been making me do."
"Bullshit." Kie says. "You know, other than Juli, I think we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." she says, turning her attention back to John B.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here." Sarah furrows her eyebrows, finally speaking up.
"Then leave." Kie replies.
Sarah scoffs before looking to John B. "I told you."
"Told him what, exactly? That you're a liar?" Kie asks.
"No, that you're a shit-talking bitch, Kiara." Sarah looks up at her with a glare.
Pope and JJ start to place bets while watching all of this go down. I get up and sit next to them in an attempt to avoid whatever is going on with Sarah and Kie.
"Everybody shut up!" John B finally yells amidst the arguing. "Kie, you're my best friend, right? And Sarah, you're my..." his voice fades out in hesitation.
"Say it." Sarah says quietly.
"You're my girlfriend." John B admits.
I can't help but smile. Even though everyone else is pissed, I've been Sarah and John B's number one fan since Sarah told me about it.
"She's your girlfriend now?" Kie crosses her arms. "What was all that talk about you were 'just using her for information, get a map, cut her loose'?"
"You said you were using me?" Sarah turns to John B.
"No." he shakes his head.
We all chime in with different variations of 'yeah, you did.'
"Look, love just walked in, okay? I didn't expect it. It just... it kind of happened. And I'm not gonna deny it." He looks at the group before focusing on me. "You understand, Juli."
"Yeah." I nod, slightly embarrassed.
"Okay, Juli has no fuckin' room to talk." JJ objects.
Kiara soon makes John B decide who he's going to choose. Her or Sarah.
"Both." he shrugs.
With that, Kiara walks out and leaves.
"It'll be cool, right?" Sarah says, as if she's mocking something John B said earlier. She walks into the front yard, grabs her bike, and makes her way home.
"I guess that's my cue." I gather my things and start the short walk to my dad's surf shop.
✧ ˚ · .
I walk into the store to hear the classic door chime, which makes my dad's head turn to see who entered.
"Juli!" he cheers. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just at the Chateau, so I thought I'd swing by."
"Aw, well." He shifts through the money drawer. "I'm glad you're here. And I like that you're still hanging around your old friends. I know your mom wants you to be involved in all of the Figure Eight stuff, but..." He smiles. "I like your little Pogue friends."
I smile. "Yeah, I like them too."
He taps the countertop. "Well, now that you're here, do you wanna help out a little bit?"
"Sure. What do you need?"
"There's a few boards over there that need waxing. With the both of us, we could easily knock it out in about thirty minutes."
"Okay, let's do it."
We make our way over to the corner and grab all of the necessary supplies. After working on the boards silently for a few minutes, with the radio playing faintly in the background, I decide to speak up.
"Um, so.. dad. There's something I probably should tell you."
"What is it, sweetie?" He looks up from the board but continues waxing.
"I definitely love my Pogue friends, like you said." I stop moving the wax and hold it still on the board. "But I've been meeting some new people on Figure Eight that I really like."
"Yeah, I remember you talking about Sarah." he says, still focused on working. "Is she nice?"
"Super nice. Her and John B are actually dating now, surprisingly."
"No way?" He looks up. "That's an unexpected duo, for sure."
"Yeah." I laugh slightly. "But, um... she kind of introduced me to a lot of her friends. And her siblings and stuff, too."
"Oh, really?"
"Mmm-hm." I stay silent as I try and think about how I want to word this.
Noticing my sudden quietness, he stops what he's doing and looks up at me. "Is there anything specific you wanna say?"
"Rafe Cameron just asked me to be his girlfriend. Last night. At Midsummers." I spit out. "And I said yes."
"Ward's son?" he asks.
"Yeah. Sarah's older brother."
"How long have you known him?" he questions, starting up his waxing again.
"Since I met him on moving day. But I've gotten to know him a lot since then."
"How old is he?"
"He's gonna be a senior, I think, so.. eighteen."
He falls silent for a moment, but I keep my eyes glued to him. "Well, I'm happy for you, Juli." he finally says. "As long as he treats you right, I'm okay with it."
I walk to the other side of the board and give him a hug. "Thank you." I close my eyes and sigh in relief. "And, um... don't tell mom yet. I want to tell her."
He nods and we continue to wax boards for the next twenty minutes or so, until I feel my phone buzz in my pocket.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘∘₊✧──────✧₊∘∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
pope😎
SOS John B and JJ got the boat caught in the marsh
We need you and Kie's help with the tow
Go to the docks by my dad's place ASAP please
ummm okay
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘∘₊✧──────✧₊∘∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
I'm confused as to why the boys would need my help, but I might as well go anyway.
"Pope wants me to meet everyone at the docks, so I gotta go." I say quickly. "Bye, love you!" I give him a quick hug and run out the door.
"Love you!" he shouts behind me.
✧ ˚ · .
"Why do you guys need me for this, again?" I ask as I step onto the boat.
"That's what I said." Kie rolls her eyes.
"We need you guys for mechanical." Pope states, as if it makes perfect sense.
Kiara and I give each other a weird look as Pope begins to steer the boat toward the marsh.
Once the drive is over, Pope pulls up next to the bigger boat and lets Kie and I jump onto it. We walk inside the cabin to see John B and JJ working on something inside the floorboard.
"What happened?" Kie asks, clearly annoyed.
"Uh, the alternator's not, uh... alternating anymore." JJ says.
"It's not charged." John B adds.
"Did you check the plugs?" I ask.
"No, no... you guys should check 'em." JJ hands me the screwdriver.
"You guys are useless." Kie says and takes the screwdriver from my hands. After scanning the alternator, she makes a confused face.
"What is it?" I ask, just as confused at the piece of machinery in front of me.
"Uh, is this a joke? There are no plugs, like, at all." she says.
After hearing a splashing noise behind me, I whip my head around to see JJ and John B swimming quickly toward Pope's boat. I sprint to the edge of our boat and throw up my hands. "What are you guys doing?!" I shout.
"John B! Let me out! John B?!" I hear Sarah's muffled voice screaming from what sounds like under the floor.
Kie runs toward the commotion and opens up the hatch in the ground to reveal Sarah staring back at her.
"What?" Sarah's eyes widen after looking at Kie.
The two of them run toward where I'm standing. Noticing the boys plan to leave us stranded here, we start to yell out at them.
"Are you serious?" Sarah shouts.
"My phone is at 1%, JJ!" I scream.
"Are you joking?" Kiara yells. "Get your asses back here."
"We can't! Not until you three figure it out!" John B insists, climbing onto Pope's boat.
"I will kill every single one of you!" Kie threatens.
"You can't just leave!" Sarah yells.
"There's food in the cabin and JJ rolled a blunt!" Pope tries to assure us.
"Hydroponic!" JJ adds with a thumbs up.
Sarah jumps into the water in an attempt to catch up to the boys, but proves to be no match. I hold up my phone to try and get a signal. I told Rafe I'd call him.
"Shit!" Sarah screams. "I got stung by a jellyfish!" she squeals before climbing onto the boat.
"Oh my god." I stare at the red burn on her torso. "That looks really bad."
"Dramatic, both of you." Kie rolls her eyes.
"You know what they say? About curing jellyfish stings?" Sarah asks, sitting down on the floor.
"Nope. Absolutely not." Kie turns away.
I give Sarah a pitiful look. "Sorry, but I'm not pissing on you."
"I have a better idea." Kie says.
✧ ˚ · .
Kie and Sarah smoke the blunt that JJ left while I sit near them, watching the sunset. I don't like getting high or anything like that, it's not really my thing. Kie goes easy on it, but Sarah practically inhales the smoke.
As night falls, we all lay on one side of the boat and look up at the stars. Sarah is laughing her ass off at every little joke she tries to make. Kie is clearly not having it, and I got tired of her around ten jokes ago. I've never seen Sarah high before, let alone anybody this high.
"Would you rather have— I was imagining you like this just now, it was pretty funny." she giggles, slurring her words and looking at me. "Would you ima— would you rather, have nipples for eyes or eyes for nipples?"
I lay my head back and sigh. "Sarah, please never smoke again. Ever."
"What?" She acts offended but then starts to laugh. "It's so fun, you should've done it with us." She stares at me and licks her thumb.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"You've got a little something." she says and starts to reach for my face. Before I realize what she's doing, she's already wiped the makeup off of my hickey. "Boom, Rafe mark!" She falls over on her side from laughing.
"What the hell?" Kie jumps up and looks at my neck. "I thought JJ was exaggerating about the macking thing!"
"No, no, Kiara." Sarah shakes her head, suddenly serious. "They are madly in love. Like, deadass. They have already had sleepovers and made out like a gazillion times—"
I cover Sarah's mouth with my hand. "Sarah, shut up! Please!"
"So first John B, now you?" Kiara stares at me with disappointment in her eyes. "You both just went off and hooked up with random Kooks?"
"We didn't really hookup..."
"Bullshit." She points at me. "Rafe is such a douchebag, Juli! What could you possibly see in him?"
"I'm not talking to you if you're just going to yell at me." I shrug before walking toward the hatch on the floor of the boat. "I'm going to bed." I climb into the underground area and lay out some random towels using the light from the moon. Once I'm done, I close the hatch and lie down.
While I'm tossing and turning, I hear their footsteps walk across the hatch and stop once they reach the cabin. I guess they're sleeping there.
I would blame Sarah for revealing my hickey, but she's high off of her ass. She wouldn't do that normally. Who I can blame, though, is Kiara. I can't believe she would act like that. Well, I can believe it, actually. But it was really uncalled for. She seems to conveniently forget about the fact that she left all of us during her Kook year two years ago. I just need the two of them to figure it out and stop dragging me into this mess.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ
I wake up to the hatch being abruptly opened, which causes the sun to shine directly onto my eyes.
"Morning." Kie says.
I cover my eyes with my hands until I eventually climb onto the main deck.
"I'm sorry about last night, Juli." Sarah says. "I don't remember it, but Kie told me everything."
"You mean you guys didn't kill each other while I was asleep?"
"Nope. We actually kind of ended up working it out." Kiara admits defeatedly.
"So, you guys are cool now?"
They exchange glances and smile.
"We're cool." Sarah nods.
"And I'm sorry for how I reacted last night." Kie turns to me. "I guess I just didn't want you to leave me, so I didn't know how to respond. I believe that you know Rafe better than I do. Hopefully."
I pull the two of them in for a hug.
"But he's definitely still a douchebag." Sarah says. "I can attest to that."
We all laugh and sit down on the edge of the boat, waiting for the boys to come.
✧ ˚ · .
"Uh oh!" Pope yells out. "You need a tow?"
"You guys forget your keys or something?" John B yells.
"Don't give them the satisfaction of thinking this worked." Kie says so only Sarah and I can hear.
"Never." I say.
"Absolutely not." Sarah crosses her arms.
As their boat comes closer to ours, the boys continue to tease us.
"So, did you guys... you know?" Pope asks.
"Reconcile our differences?" Kie responds. "Not even close."
"Nope." I say.
Sarah shakes her head. "But, we're... willing? To work together?" she asks as if it's still undecided.
Kie and I nod.
"You know what?" John B says, looking to the boys. "That's victory."
JJ high fives the two of them. "You know what it was, guys? Hydroponic."
"Don't say that." Pope pats him on the back.
We all laugh as the boys help us onto the boat. Pope grabs Kiara's hand, John B reaches for Sarah's, and JJ takes mine.
"I blame you for any missed calls." I say to JJ as I hold up my dead phone.
"Why, is your boyfriend gonna kill me?" he teases, making me roll my eyes.
John B takes the drivers seat, like always, and we head toward the Chateau. On our way, we pass the main docking area. I see a figure standing on the land by one of the docks, staring at us. I squint my eyes until I recognize who it is.
"Wait, guys, that's Rafe. Stop the boat." I quickly stand up and grab onto JJ's shoulder to balance myself.
"Seriously?" JJ says, annoyed.
"John B, stop the boat." I repeat.
John B reluctantly steers toward the dock. I barely wait for him to stop before I jump onto the platform and walk toward Rafe, who's pretty far down the dock.
"Hey." I say once I get close enough.
"Hey." He wraps his arms around me and hugs me.
He always gives good hugs, but this one feels extra tight for some reason. Like he needed it more than I did.
"Where have you been?" he asks.
"Well, the boys trapped me, Kie and Sarah on a boat to 'reconcile our differences'." I say with air quotes. "I couldn't get a signal, and then my phone died."
"Okay." he nods with pursed lips.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to call you. Seriously."
"It's fine." he says, but I can tell he's lying.
I notice a weird look in his eyes, like something bad happened while I was gone. That's when I look down at his forearm to see a horrible burn.
"Rafe." My expression grows in concern as I hold onto his arm gently. "How did this happen?"
"Uh... I burned it on my dirt-bike."
I look at him with a blank face, waiting for him to tell me the truth.
He looks at his feet and takes a deep breath in. "I was late on a payment, and my guy got mad."
"Payment?"
He looks back up at me before biting the inside of his cheek.
"Oh." I say. Drugs.
"My dad found out about everything and kicked me out." he says.
My eyes widen. "Are you serious? Where did you stay last night?"
"Top's." He nods. "I'm fine, though. I'm fine."
I know he doesn't want me to worry, but his eyes look drained. I know he's not fine.
I pull him into another hug, even tighter this time. I can feel his body relax from its previous tense state. The fact that he feels this safe with me makes me want to cry.
"I have something to do with my friends tonight, but I'm free until then. Do you wanna come to my house?" I ask.
"No sneaking in this time?" he grins.
"No sneaking in." I laugh lightly. "You can meet my family."
"Yeah, let's do it." he says.
I turn around to see the Pogues docked, still waiting. "I'll go tell them I'm leaving."
"Yeah." He puts his hands in his pockets before walking back off the dock.
My friends all watch in anticipation as I walk toward them.
"Trouble in paradise?" JJ yells with one eye closed, squinting at the sun.
"No." I stop once I get close enough to the edge.
"Why aren't you getting in?" Kie asks, already suspicious.
"I'm gonna hang out with Rafe for a little bit." I tell them. "But I'll meet you guys at the Chateau later so we can search Mrs. Crain's house for the gold. I'm not gonna miss that."
"He's got you good." Pope says, earning a laugh from JJ.
"Have fun, Juli!" Sarah smiles. I can always count on her to have my back.
"Meet us at the Chateau at 10, okay?" John B says.
"Okay, I will. Bye guys." I wave before walking back over to Rafe.
He looks up from his dirt-bike. "Is this okay?"
"Mmm-hm." I nod. "It seems fun."
"Good. There's only one helmet though." he says as he hands it to me.
"What?" I take the helmet in my hands. "Why am I wearing it?"
"You're precious cargo." he says, doing his classic Rafe smile.
I kiss him and put it on over my head. He helps me fasten it before placing me on the back end of the bike. Once he's on, I hold onto him tightly and close my eyes. He revs the engine and takes off quickly, weaving in and out of different objects while the wind blows in our faces. I never let go of my grip because I may or may not be slightly scared. Eventually, though, the nerves wear off and I start to have fun.
✧ ˚ · .
When we arrive at my house, Rafe parks the dirt-bike near the side, so it's mostly invisible to my parents. He takes my helmet off and looks at me. "You still want the hickey hidden, or no?"
"Shit, I forgot." I panic and touch the spot on my neck.
Rafe starts to cover it up with my hair until he's satisfied with the job he's done. "I think it's better now. Your hair covers most of it, 'cause it's more on the side."
"That's so thoughtful of you to not put the hickey right on the front of my neck, Rafe." I say sarcastically.
"I thought so, too." he responds with a grin and takes my hand into his.
We walk up the front steps of my house and I slowly put my hand on the door handle, opening and closing it as quietly as possible.
"My mom still doesn't know anything, so stay right here while I go tell her." I whisper.
"And your dad?"
"I told him yesterday, he's cool with it." I reply. "Be really quiet, okay?"
"Okay." He cracks a smile and watches me walk into the kitchen.
"Hey, mom." I smile, resting my arms on the counter.
She looks up from cutting fruit. "Hey, honey. Where have you been?"
"Just running around with my friends." I say casually.
"Oh, good." She combines the strawberries and kiwis into a bowl together. "Try a few, they're really good together." She pushes the bowl toward me and begins chopping other fruits.
I use a spoon and start eating them. "Mom?"
"Yeah?"
I take a deep breath in. "There's this guy I like, and he likes me too, and we've been hanging out and stuff, and he—"
"Is it the Cameron's son?"
"No, it's— wait. Yeah, it is. How did you know?"
"I could tell." she says proudly.
"Well, he asked me to be his girlfriend the other night, and I said yes, obviously. I already told Dad."
"Oh, that's so fun! I love his parents." She claps her hands together excitedly. "When do we get to meet him?"
"Now, if you want." I walk into the entry way and grab Rafe before leading him back to the kitchen. "I brought him over, Mom, but we're just gonna hangout in my room for a little bit."
"Rafe." He holds out his hand. "Great to meet you."
My mom wipes her hands on her apron and shakes his hand. "I'm Marisa. It's great to meet you, too." She smiles at the two of us. "Well, I'm gonna finish cutting up some fruit. I'll let you know when I'm done if you guys want any. Feel free to make yourself at home, Rafe."
"Thank you, Mrs. Moreno." he nods politely.
"Thanks, mom." I look at him. "Let's go."
After running into my room, I shut the door and lock it behind us.
"So, what do you think of my room?" I ask. "You know, 'cause you've definitely never been in it or anything. This is totally your first time at my house."
"Oh, for sure. I've never seen it before." He pushes his bottom lip out and shakes his head, playing along. "And I definitely have no idea that there's a Matthew McConaughey poster on your door."
"Right." I take the poster off of the door and set it face-down on my desk. "That would be weird."
"So weird." Rafe smiles and moves his face closer before closing his lips over mine. "Is he still my competition?"
"You're catching up." I laugh. "Not quite there, though."
"I'll take that as a challenge."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." He looks at my lips before kissing me again.
I pull back. "No hickeys this time, Rafe."
"Yes ma'am." He grins as he puts his hand on the small of my back and pulls me up against him, kissing me harder.
"Juli, I've got some fruit for you guys!" my mom says from outside the door. "Do you want it?"
"Yeah, sure!" I yell and quickly straighten my hair in front of the previous hickey.
Rafe sits down on my bed as I go to open the door. "Hey, mom. Thanks." I take the two bowls out of her hands.
"You're welcome, Juli." She closes the door and walks back down the hall.
I lock the door again before handing the second bowl to Rafe. "I should probably cover the hickey up again. And change clothes." I pick up the remote and throw it at Rafe. "Find something good to watch."
"Will do." he says as he starts to turn on the TV and look at options.
I choose some white linen pants with a mint green crop top that almost looks like a thin bandeau, but with straps. I change quickly in the bathroom and sit down at my vanity once I'm finished.
I look through my drawers for concealer and a brush. I apply a small amount onto the hickey, blend it out, and put powder on top until it looks good. Through the reflection of the mirror, I notice Rafe looking at me instead of the TV.
"You're supposed to be looking for something to watch." I say, still focused on perfecting the makeup.
"I know." he runs his hands through his hair. "It's not my fault that you look cute while you're focused."
I close the lid to the concealer and join him on the bed, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You do, too." I kiss him.
"When have you ever seen me focused?" he laughs.
"When you watch the stars. And before you even try to lie, I know you do." I touch the moon and star necklace on my neck that he gifted me.
He touches my necklace, too, before kissing me softly and picking up the remote to look for a movie. I grab the blanket at the end of my bed, throw it over us, and make myself comfy in Rafe's arms. My favorite place to be.
He eventually picks Oceans 11 for a movie. For the next two hours, Rafe shouts out things at the screen and get annoyed with characters' decisions, which makes me laugh.
Once the movie ends, I look over to find him sleeping. He was talking a minute ago, so I guess he just fell asleep. It doesn't seem like he got bored of the movie, though. It looks like he genuinely needed the rest. I can't help but feel horrible for him.
I decide to check my phone that's been on the charger for a while. I haven't looked at it since yesterday. I tap on the screen to see that it's 2:44pm, I have two missed calls from Rafe, and a text message saying 'is everything okay?' I wish I could've been there for him and made him feel better. I hope Topper didn't judge him for anything whenever he let Rafe stay the night.
I scroll through my phone for a little bit until I decide that I might as well nap with Rafe. Since his arms are already around me, I press my face into his chest and close my eyes. Once our breathing aligns, I drift off to sleep.
✧ ˚ · .
After a few hours, I feel Rafe jump up underneath me, which makes me jolt awake. He pants for a second and looks around. As soon as his eyes lay on me, a look of relief wipes across his face.
"You good?" I ask.
"Yeah." he replies. "What time is it?"
I pull my phone off the charger and check. "6:57."
"When did I fall asleep?" he asks.
"I think like three. I fell asleep a little after."
"Oh, okay."
I sit up and turn off the TV. "I'm gonna go see what's for dinner, I'll be right back."
I quickly run down the stairs and enter the kitchen. I can smell chicken and dumplings coming from the stove, but my mom is no where in sight. I walk over to the pot and see that the burner is off, and the meal looks completed. I grab two bowls, fill them up with the hot soup, and walk carefully back to my room.
"Mom made chicken and dumplings." I announce as I walk through the door and hand a bowl to him.
"Hell yeah." He smiles and opens up the blanket for me to climb into.
"I think we've got time for one more movie before I have to go. But I get to pick because you picked the last one." I say proudly.
"Fine." he responds. "But not something stupid."
"No promises."
I settle on Flipped, which he acts annoyed by at first, but I can tell that he actually enjoys it. He plays with my hair and kisses me randomly throughout the movie. I turn around a few times and catch him looking actually invested in the plot and the characters, even though he denies it.
As the credits roll onto the screen, I turn the TV off. "What did you think?" I ask.
"It was okay." He shrugs his shoulders.
"Liar."
"I've seen better." he insists.
I give him a look that says 'seriously, Rafe' and he laughs at my expression and kisses me. I laugh back and check the time on my phone to see it's 9:34.
"I should probably go." I say.
"Do you need me to take you?" he asks.
I open my mouth to say no, but then I realize it would be easier if he did. "Yeah, probably. Thank you."
"Of course."
We smile and get really close until our noses touch. I kiss him softly and get out of the bed. "Let's go."
✧ ˚ · .