EIGHT
❝ I dare you. Say it. ❞
*ೃ༄
"HEY, HEY, HEY. SARAH!" Ava's able to recognise the voice immediately, and from her seat in the sand, she turns to glance over her shoulder, noticing JJ try and shove a cup of beer into Sarah Cameron's hands.
Quickly, Ava's rushing to stand up before she's jogging over, stepping beside her brother with crossed arms while the twins watch JJ drunkenly speak to the Kook Princess and her preppy boyfriend, Topper Thornton.
"Sarah, can I interest you in— in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ waves the cup in front of the girl, the alcohol inside jumping over the side and falling to the sand at their feet.
"No, thanks, JJ," She declines politely with a small smile as she sends him a kind nod.
Taking her words the wrong way, JJ tilts his head as he raises his voice, "Is it not fancy enough for you?"
"No. We were just leaving," Sarah continues to speak kindly towards the drunk boy, trying to hide her surprise at his stern tone.
The twins turn their heads, peering over at each other with wide eyes and a small smirk on their face at the drama when Topper steps in.
"Hey, you know what? I'll take it," Topper speaks up, holding his hand out, "I'll— thank you, man. I appreciate it," Hd reaches forward, attempting to grab the drink, but JJ moves back swiftly, nearly stumbling and Ava's hand comes to his back, keeping him in place.
"That's nice. But I didn't ask you," JJ snarls, "If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't."
"Oh, pretty please," The Kook boy repeats with a nod of understanding before pouting and tilting his head like a child, "Pretty please?"
"Yeah," JJ grimaces at the boy, before averting his gaze back the girl at Topper's side, "So, Sarah, you can have it." He extends his arm once more, offering it to the girl, but Topper's hand shoots forward, flipping the cup from the blonde's hands, causing the liquid to spill right over Ava's chest.
"Just fucking christ, Top," Ava snaps angrily, dropping her hand from JJ's back to feel her soaking t-shirt with a grimace.
JJ's head turns to look at Ava, and his eyes linger for several moments on the wet patch seeping through her shirt, before he's lunging towards the Kook boy. His fists curl around Topper's collar, but he's shoved away before he has a chance to land a hit.
Ava steps in front of him, but his eyes are still stuck on Topper as he pants in surprise, cursing at the blonde angrily at his now creased shirt.
"JJ," Ava taps his cheek gently, finally getting his gaze to drop down to meet hers, "Let's not do this now, hm? You know I'm all for a fight, but it's Topper Thornton. His family could put us all in jail for just skimming our pinky finger against his."
With his chest continuing to pump and down, and his hair falling in front of his eyes, JJ opens his mouth to speak to her, but a shout carries over them, causing both of them to stop still.
"DIRTY POGUES!" Topper roars over towards them, his girlfriend attempting to shut him up.
Rolling her jaw, Ava lets out a laugh before she whirls around on her heel, charging over towards the Kook and curling her hands around his collar just like JJ did. She throws him to the ground roughy, causing him to let out a groan of pain. He raises his dizzy head to look at Ava she marches towards him, and he swallows, fear surfacing over his eyes.
She bends over him, her face hovering over his as she grabs his collar once more, lifting his torso up from the floor so they're even closer, "Say that again. Go on, Top. I dare you. Say it."
He writhes in her grip, before spitting out, "Dirty. . . pogues."
Running her tongue over her teeth, she drops him back to the sand as he grunts before landing a punch across his cheek bone, her rings slicing the skin as he lets out a loud yell of pain, the blood already seeping from the wound. From behind, Sarah let's out a shrill scream, along with a few of the crowd, while others cheer her on.
"Do something, Pope!" Kiara yells at her friend when Ava lands another punch, the boy beneath her. The short haired boy shakes his head, stepping back with his arms raised in a surrender, causing her to snap her heads to John B and JJ, "Hey! Do something!"
JJ gawks at her, motioning towards the struggling boy below Ava, "The fucker deserves it, Kie!"
Scoffing at the boys in disbelief, Kiara rushes forward just as Ava raises her fist once more. She curls her arms around her friends waist, pulling her away. Ava let's put a yell of protest, jerking her leg towards the boy and kicking him in the gut as he attempts to scramble up and away from her.
"Ava!" Kiara calls, pushing her boy in front of Ava's roughly, "Snap the hell out of this!"
While the Kie shouts at Ava, the both of them fail to notice John B charge towards Topper, but quickly the Kook is clambering on top him, even with the blood dripping down his face. The crowd's noises become louder again, causing the two Pogue girls to look back at the fight in confusion, their eyes landing on Topper throwing John B into the sea with a single kick.
Ava's face falls flat once more, and she throws herself towards her struggling brother, but this time JJ's arms circle around her waist, pulling her away quickly. He shoves her into Pope and Kiara's arms before standing in front of her, dropping his face in front of hers.
"You did your part, okay?" He says quietly.
Ava let's out a deep breath, noticing Topper kneel down in the water, her brother's body no longer being in sight due to the waves, "Then go do your fucking part," She snarls at the blonde boy in front of her.
Her two friends holding her turn to look at one another in confusion but before they have chance to speak to JJ, he's already throwing his backpack to the side and striding into the water and beside Topper. Ava's released when JJ reveals the gun, the barrel pressing against the Kook boy's temple. Everyone in the boneyard let out gasps of horror, but they all stay rooted or the spot.
"Yeah, you know what that is!" JJ shouts over the waves and the audiences shouts.
Sarah let's out a shrill screech, her hands coming up to slap over her mouth in shock "Ava! Kiara! Can you check your psycho friend, please?" She screams frantically, arms now waving around.
Letting out a laugh of disbelief, Ava yells, "Oh? My psycho friend? What about your fucking boyfriend, huh?" She begins to stride over to the Kook girl, who starts to step back in a hurry, "He's the one who just tried to drown my brother. You're such—"
"OKAY!" JJ bellows, stepping out of the water, and raising the gun into the air as the beach falls silent, "Everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!" His finger drops to the trigger as he fires two shots, causing every teenager to let our screams of terror and rush away in an instant.
While her friends begin to argue about the use of the gun, Ava watches as Topper and Sarah hurry away before she sprints into the water, dropping to her knees beside her brothers limp body, his face just above the surface. She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, trying to ignore the sight of his bruised and bloody face. Staying silent, she manoeuvres his body around so his arm is thrown over her shoulder and she's able to drag him from the floor. With the rest of the group still having a screaming match a few metres away, Ava manages to pull her brother towards the Twinkie without being undetected.
*ೃ༄
AFTER GETTING HER brother home and onto his bed all by herself, Ava began to clean his minor wounds with an old med kit she fished out of from the back of the bathroom cupboard. He has yet to even batter an eyelid, and all she has to rely on to make sure that he's still alive is his heavy breathing.
She perches on a squeaky chair beside his bed, gently and precisely running a cotton bud around the cut on his face, cleaning away the wet blood before dabbing a wet wipe over the small wound, disinfecting it.
A knock rattles the bedroom door, causing her to jump and whirl around on the seat, a sigh of relief escaping her lungs when she realises it's Kiara leant against the doorway with her lips pinched between her teeth as she stares at John B.
"He gon' be okay?" She asks, stepping into the room and standing in front of his dresser, tapping her fingers against the wood.
Ava hums, turning back around to wipe some hair from his face, revealing his fully cleaned face, the purple form the bruises running her work slightly, "He'll be fine. A few cuts and bruises is nothing. Thanks for your help getting him home, by the way."
Kiara sighs, sensing the familiar tone of sarcasm in her friend's voice, "We're so sorry. JJ was kicking himself on the ride home, and I had to force him to go home because he wanted to apologise to you. Pope sends his. . . condolences. He has some studying to do, like usual."
"It's fine," Ava laughs, beginning to pack up the med kit as she spins around in the chair, "And condolences? Does Pope think someone's died?"
Chuckling, Kiara shakes her head, "No. He just wanted to think of a smarter way of saying he's sorry," She steps after Ava as they exit John B's room, "Do you want me to stay over tonight?"
"Kie, you have a shift at the Wreck in the morning," Ava reminds her, slamming the bathroom cupboard shut before rushing out into the living room, "You've been complaining about it all day. Now, go home and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."
Kiara groans as she remembers, falling back onto the sofa bed as Ava begins to clean up the kitchen, "How was Charlie?" She questions with a mischievous smile.
"Nice," Ava states, "Not what I expected, at all. He left early, and tried to lie about it, so clearly I did something to ruin it, but, he was cool."
"I don't think it was you who ruined it," Kiara says with a sigh, her eyes staring up at the ceiling, "JJ interrupted, didn't he? Jesus, he was so beyond jealous about it. What's up that anyway? You two a thing now?"
Standing over the sofa bed, Ava snorts at the idea, "You're funny, Kiara," She holds out her hand towards the girl, pulling her up from the sofa, "Real funny."
Raising her brows as she walks down the hallway, Kiara says, "Real realistic," Her hand curls around the front doorknob, pulling it open, as she turns to look at Ava, "I hope John B's better tomorrow, and remember Ava Routledge, JJ Maybank isn't a ladies man, never will be."
Ava waves her off, rolling her eyes at the stupid moto, "Oh, be quiet, you. And go get some sleep before you wake up grouchy and blaming me," She points the girl, "And remember, Kiara Carrera," She copies, "Pope Heyward is a ladies man, especially your man!"
"Fuck you," Kiara laughs, stepping out onto the porch and slamming the door shut before holding her middle finger up shading the glass window in the door, causing Ava to smirk before she steps into her own room.
. . .
kie and pope are gonna be more of thing in this book
word count:
2010