Chapter Three
Love Made Me Crazy
✧
WHEN EDEN RETURNED HER WAY TO THE KOOKS, she already had five beers in her body. That's how it ends when John B decides to show up and piss her off. She's a big angry girl, actually. Eden had big problems with anger issues, it only took one thing to bother her and that is shit. But, she manages them very well. All the rage she builds up in a day ends up coming out when she plays the mean girl to Topper or to her family. It's pretty sad for Topper, he's literally like a punch bag for her. No, this is kinda funny. Isn't it?
What pissed her off even more was how she had to keep acting like a good girl next to Rafe when he was just a jerk. Speaking of him, he was completely gone after his 'discussion' with Eden. Probably still gone to do drugs, or go see other sexier girls. Oh, 'cause, yes. Because, sir, he had the right to see other girls, but if Eden dared to approach another guy, she could easily earn a shot of lead from Rafe. Which she wants to avoid at all costs, because she can't help but laugh seeing him like that and it annoys him even more, and he leaves. To return the next day, apologizing like a poor child.
A real lost cause, this dude.
"Hey, guys!" Eden shouted, walking towards her three girl friends, a glass of beer in hand. "Have you seen. . . Seen Rafe?"
Sarah rolled her eyes, as Drea took the beer from Eden's hands, emptying it onto the sand. "Sweetie, are you an alcoholic?"
Eden laughed, a little too much for Josie's taste. "Absolutely not. My father was. But— Anyway, where's Rafe?"
"Um, over there." Josie informed her, pointing to the back of a large standing rock. "But, Ed', I think he's on drugs. Maybe you should—"
Eden shook her head, her eyes narrowed as she was already starting to walk towards the rock. "Don't worry! I have the situation under control. As always."
The girls didn't try to hold her back, and let the girl join the rock in the distance. If she would have had all her head, she wouldn't even have gone to see him, but there, she didn't even know how to walk properly so. . . Had to give her a chance.
The more she advanced, she already heard voices. That of Topper, Rafe and another stranger. She went to join them, but what she heard stopped her. "I don't understand her. I compliment her on her dress, and she dismisses me as garbage. She's just obsessed with this Pogue. John. . ."
"John B." Topper confirmed. "Man, she was a Pogue only a year ago. She remains a little Pogue whore." His words froze her in place as her brain suddenly came to its senses.
Rafe sighed before sniffing white powder, which Eden saw when she tilted her head to the left. "Got to talk to that John B." He admitted, looking at the two guys in front of him. Eden recognized Topper, and next to it was Caden, Josie's friend. "Top, you take care of it. Teach him a lesson."
Topper faked a laugh. "Yeah, good joke. It's not my problem, Rafe. And plus, Eden is just a bitch. I don't defend bitches like her."
"Shut up, Topper!" Rafe ordered, stashed him on the rock. This startled Eden who let out a mini cry, hiding her mouth directly afterwards. "She— She's not like them. She's a good person, all right? So shut up, man."
"Okay, okay! Chill out, man." Topper said, and Rafe kept his eyes on him before leaving.
"Look, maybe it's because of her father. He's dead, right? She's probably to evade, mh?" This time, the perfect boy, Caden had decided to speak up. "She. . . She actually looks cool."
Rafe rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "There, her father! Her fucking father is dead, what the hell? He's not in our relationship, dammit."
He didn't even care to have empathy for her, he only wanted to be the sole possessor of her. What an asshole.
"She's a Pogue, and always will be." Topper repeated, causing Eden to leave suddenly.
And always will be. So all the time she spent with them for over a year, their gang night in Sarah's pool, the fake smiles she gave, the quality linens she bought to look less 'Pogue', it had been useless, because for them, she would always be the Pogue who had lost her father and who was now a girl in need of love to survive.
Eden wanted nothing more than to be herself. She wanted to go back to being the girl who fetched water from the sea with John B to help the birds nesting on his house roof. But with the Kooks around her, she couldn't even smile the way she wanted. Her life was no longer fun, more harm than good. More pain than joy. More of everything except little Eden Winslow who was waiting to resurface to live again as before. But. . . Deep down, the older Eden knew that she had been dead for months already. Her colorful life ended the day her father died. Since then, her life has remained in black and white.
And she was okay with that. When we are used to it, our life becomes just a nightmare where we are used to being.
Her eyes irritated by the tears she's been holding back, her head spinning from the alcohol, and her legs moving at an incredible speed, she goes to get another drink of beer. Thomas Perez was an alcoholic. Can it be transmitted through genes?
"John B described you well." A girl's voice burst into Eden's ears. She turned around, only for Kiara Carrera in front of her.
"What?"
Kiara shrugged. "The perfect Pogue before, and now the perfect Kook. The girl with the thrilling smile, but also the most unpleasant to see. The one who changed in two seconds just to become an unknown. That's you, huh?"
Eden felt a tight pinch in her throat hearing her words. "Oh, and what are you? The perfect Kook before, and now the perfect Pogue? We're not really different, Kiara. So. . . That's my question. Why hating me when we barely know each other?"
Kiara frowned, like Eden. "I don't hate you. I'm just being careful. You've already broken the hearts of my three friends. So it's best if I stay away from you."
Eden laughed ironically. "Broken heart? I wasn't in a relationship with them."
"People can be heartbroken in friendship, too." She confessed, walking past her to leave, but she stopped. "You don't even know how much you hurt people, Eden."
Eden let her cold gaze scatter between Kiara's eyes. She lowered her head, then continued walking. "You don't even know me, Carrera, so don't come and tell me I'm breaking hearts or hurting people. Everyone has their problems, everyone handles them how they want. Me? I become a ghost." Kiara didn't even turn around, then went back to see the three boys in the distance who had been watching them from the start.
Eden gave them a nice middle finger, an arrogant smile on her lips, before taking her beer and going back to Sarah, Josie and Drea still talking.
"Look who's back." Drea saluted, throwing her arm over Eden's shoulders. "We were planning to go for a swim in the sea, but Jo' is too afraid of crabs."
"Hey! You know crabs love toes? No way I'm losing another one." Yeah, yeah. It's true. Josie is missing a toe. She was born like that, no one knows why. But this doesn't affect Josie at all, on the contrary, she thinks she's the most unique girl in the world without her toe.
"Usually, I would have said yes. But I wanna go home and eat ice cream while watching a romance. Not you, guys?" Sarah nodded like the other two girls. "But, Fred Barrow has decided to take his ass home. Again. . ."
"I'm sorry, Eden." Sarah said, pouting which quickly disappeared when she saw Topper coming towards her. He took her in his arms, lifted her from the sand and spun her around. "Top! Topper, idiot!"
He put her down, while Caden took a seat next to Josie, and Rafe took a seat next to Eden, not even receiving a glance from her. "We're going to go, huh, Sarah?" Topper said, raising his eyebrows.
Everyone understood why, but Drea had to say something, "Burk, yucky. Get yourself a room now, or an apartment. Even better, a house!"
"Truly." Eden agreed. "Come on, Drea, we're going to have some fun, too." She joked, dragging her by the shoulders.
Drea nodded, eyes serious, taking a vape out of her pant's pocket. "This is what we're going to pass the time with."
"Oh, yeah. Give it to me." She did what she said, while Topper and Sarah left, laughing like children.
Rafe came closer to Eden, sticking his shoulder on hers. "Wanna come with me? I know a pla—"
His words stopped when someone shouted, fifteen meters two away. "Hey, Sarah! Sarah, can I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?"
"No, thanks." Sarah declined, with a small smile to be polite.
Rafe frowned. "What the hell he's doing?"
Eden left her eyes riveted on the discussion in the distance, frowned. "It's not fancy enough for you?"
Sarah shook her head, taking Topper's hand in hers. "No. We were just leaving."
"Hey, you know what? I'll take it." Topper stepped in, reaching out to take the beer JJ had. "Thank you, man. I appreciate it."
JJ shrugged, tilting his head to the side. "That's nice, but I didn't ask you. If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't."
Eden rolled her eyes, started to come towards them to avoid things getting out of hand as always. Because yes, despite the efforts that everyone puts in to have a good evening, it always takes one to ruin everything. And it was always a Pogue, or a Kook ( more often the Kooks, actually ).
"Oh, pretty please." Topper continued to insist, remaining calm. "Pretty please?"
JJ asked Sarah to take it again, which got him the glass of beer in his face after Topper knocked him down on purpose. Eden was now next to Sarah, who tried to catch Topper's arm to pull him away from the blonde. JJ pushed the Kook, but John B came between the two.
"Well, Topper, are you looking for a fight tonight or what?" Yeah, I know what you guys think. Maybe Eden was obsessed with annoying this guy, but why blaming her? It was funny after all.
Topper turned to Eden, his teeth clenched. "For once, don't fucking piss me off. No need for a bitch like you always in my
way—"
"Hey, don't talk to her like that, man." John B warned, pushing him ( slightly ) in turn. Eden's eyes fell to the tips of John B's hands, who were tight, but kept his composure.
Topper resurfaced, advancing toward JB, stepping purposefully as if to scare. "What are you into, Pogue? We all know she's just a little whor—"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence when John B's fist was already flying through the air to land on Topper's cheek, like a ball. The Kook's head fell to the side while Eden looked at John B with a bewildered look. The brunet swinging his fist to erase the pain that coursed through his veins. He never started a fight, usually he was the one who avoided it. But when Eden's name dared come out of another guy's mouth, his anger washed over him and he couldn't even concentrate as his fists dictated to punch the guy.
"What did you say, Topper?! Huh, what did you say!" John B yelled angrily, grabbing him by the collar. Not a word came out of his mouth as the Pogue glared at him. "Never talk to her like that again, Top, I'm warning you."
John B took his hands off Topper's shirt, stepping back giving Eden a look, who was staring at him. She drew a mini smile to her lips to thank him, before Topper came back in to add more, and pushed him hard which was followed by a punch in the face as well.
"Guys!" Sarah yelled, hands out in front of her to get closer without taking a beating.
John B who was now lying on the ground, Topper continued to kick him in the ribs, causing him to roll over into the salt water of the sea. "Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?"
John B's gaze stayed on Topper like an arrow, anger and rage mingling in his Pogue gaze. Topper already making his way victoriously towards the cheering people for a fight, John B suddenly got to his feet, pushing Topper into the water with him.
"Stop, you guys!" The curly-haired girl rang in everyone's ears, but the two boys were only focused on finishing this battle and hearing the applause for the famous winner.
The punches followed one another while they were now standing, turning in circles like two animals waiting for the signal to attack. Their adrenaline was only rushing as people were all screaming in their ears, like a boxing battle you see on TV.
Eden ran her hand through her hair. "Sarah, take control of your boyfriend. Damn!"
Eden's head returned to the two boys, but now she only saw Topper's head while John B's was floating between the water and the freedom to breathe. She stared at the scene, her legs shaking as she tried to move to get Topper away from him. But before she could muster up the courage, a gun was pointed at the back of Topper's neck, which froze him.
Rafe, who was still next to Drea, whistled. "Oh, shit. He's crazy, that guy."
Gasping, Topper slowly freed his hands from John B's head. "We're good, man. We're good." Topper repeated several times, fear coursing through his voice. People were running around, running away from what was becoming more than just a fight.
"Stop! JJ! Put the gun down." Sarah snapped, her hand still in front of her to keep things from getting worse.
Eden didn't take the time to take care of them, and walked towards John B who was lying in the water. "Hey, John. Are you there? Hello?" She tapped again on his face, until time to see his pepilles open slowly. Eden let a sigh come out of her dry throat, before feeling arms wrap around her waist.
"Eden, we gotta go." Rafe helped her up, but she struggled with his grip.
"He needs help, Rafe. I—"
"Why the hell are you worried about him? He's a Pogue, shit! We go now!"
Eden let herself be dragged by Rafe, while Sarah helped Topper to get up. "Okay, everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!" JJ Maybank shouted loud and clear, wanting to bring terror down here. Two shots then ignited in the air, surprising all the people who had set foot at this party tonight.
Kiara and Pope shouted things at JJ, while Eden walked away from them with the enemies. She looked back, hoping to see John B give her a thumbs up to make sure he was okay, but all she saw was three people running towards him. At least she knew he was going to survive. Well, maybe not if JJ try giving him mouth to mouth.
Rafe wasted no time, and jumped onto Topper's shoulders, gripping him tightly. "That was crazy, man! You almost killed him. Whoa-ooh!"
Topper, Kelce and Rafe laughed, while the four girls stayed behind. Josie was now alone, Caden having disappeared when the battle broke out. Sarah put her arm around Eden's, put her head on her shoulder.
Eden felt helpless and above all stupid to have let that happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, it was supposed to be her decompression party but it turned into a tragedy again. The Pogues and the Kooks, two tribes, one island. It had always been like that, but the Kooks were always the winners of everything. Richer, nicer, more sumptuous, more of everything. But. . . Who said they absolutely had to be enemies?
Nobody. They decided it themselves because they were too different. Eden was even more different. She was once a Pogue, and now a Kook. So the real question is. . . Who are her real enemies on this island?
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OFTEN, WHEN EDEN WINSLOW WANTED TO FORGET EVERYTHING, she simply took a bottle of champagne that her mother took only for special occasions, and swallowed a few sips of this delicious delight to erase all the delirium that passed through her and came out of her head. She let herself be swallowed up by the softness of her bed, and stared at the stars glued to the ceiling of her pink bedroom.
Who the hell had the idea to give JJ a gun in first? No, but hello?! JJ is the only one who must not have a gun because, that's how it ends. But he is like that, he protects those he loves. And Eden didn't really blame him. If he hadn't pulled out his secret weapon, who knows where John B would be? So, yeah. She was ( sort of ) glad he pointed the gun at Topper's head. Does that make her a psychopath? Totally, but she assumes.
He had to save John B, he had to
because— Yo, what the fuck?! Eden, stop being worried. He's fine, and he doesn't care that you care.
The bottle of champagne flew freely to Eden's mouth as as her eyebrows twitched. Her head swirled when she heard the doorbell of the house ringing like an alarm in a horror movie. Her hips twisted to the left, then she brought her feet up to her body before letting them touch the cold wooden floor. She let the bottle brown on her bedroom desk, before she descended the moon-shaped steps, her slippers slipping on them.
When she opened the door, just a cold draft hit her in the face. No one was there. Shit, she igniting now? She tapped her soft skin lightly, as if to wake up, but she was there ( and alive ). She sighed, and as she went to close the large white door, she saw an envelope hanging from it.
Eden took it in her hands slowly and with a cautious movement. Only three words displayed FOR CUTIE PIE. She left her fingers hovering over it after closing the door with her foot, then she ran for the kitchen, clicking her heels on the rich floor of the sumptuous residence. She didn't even take the time to sit down, and tore the white paper, making it fall into a thousand pieces between her fingers with gold nails with purple.
Silence fell on the house, making Eden's brain wake up, releasing the alcohol from her body. Her thoughts raced when she read the letter she held in her trembling hands.
A smile appeared on Eden's face. A smile of hope. "Ain't no way. . ." She whispered under her short breath.
But her eyes widened like a fish when she read the last sentence. Or rather, the last name.
JOHN ROUTLEDGE.
"What the hell."
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authors note: hey you guys!! how ur doing? good? i hope cause this chap was pretty. . . bad, huh? yeah, i'm sorry but PLOT TWIST IS NOW PUBLISHED!! what was saying in the letter? mmh good question dude. YEAH I LIKE THAT!!!!
oh and protective john b? THAT! that was so freakin cool to write like aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!
oh and eden and kiara first real interaction?? they are litteraly ennemis to friends, and i love that!! gonna try to introduce pope and eden in the next chap <3
anyway love you guys!! see you soon :))