˗ˋˏ 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙 ~ 𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑛 ˎˊ-

𝑡𝚑𝑟𝑒𝑒

oh my god...

when she noticed the door opening she expected to find sarah standing there, not him. the same guy she'd noticed the other day. the one who seemingly had a fight with his dad and sped off on his motorcycle. that time she'd seen him from a distance. but now, up close, he was better looking than she even imagined.

"uh, hi" she made the first move, surprisingly.

"hey" he gave her a smile, a smirk even, shamelessly checking her out. not that she could deny she wasn't checking him out just a minute ago. he had another polo shirt on, classic. she assumed it was the dress code for wealthy males on this 'side' of the island. since every man she had seen - outside her home - supported the polo shirt and khaki shorts combo, just like him.

she let her eyes rake back up to his face. he was gorgeous, she'd seen 3 boys yesterday but not one of them compared to him. he was tall - taller than her, not that it was hard to be taller than her, she had to crane her neck slightly to look up at him.

"is uh.. sarah in?" she asked, timidly. where's your confidence gone now, angel?

his smile dropped, and so did her heart. shit. what did she say? was it wrong? was this not even sarah's house?

"yeah" he ran a hand over his face. "she's just-" he started, but was quickly cut off by an angry guy storming his way down the stairs, pushing past her and sarah's brother at the front door. he was also dressed in a polo shirt. maybe she has two brothers? she didn't mention a second one.

"rafe, your sisters a bitch man" this guy said as he barged into angels shoulder, not even acknowledging her. alright. so maybe she doesn't have two brothers.

"tell me about it" rafe shouted out the door, as the guy walked down the driveway in a hurry to seemingly get away from the house.

rafe. that's his name. cute. hm.. wait a second. he said what about his sister?

but just as angel was going to open her mouth to protect her new friend, she came flying down the same staircase. "topper!'" she was shouting but she quickly lowered her voice when she saw angel and rafe standing at the door.

no one said anything for a few seconds. sarah was clearly in distress, angel was confused, and that smirk appeared back on rafe's face. but before he could open his mouth, sarah cut him off. "shut your mouth, rafe" she pointed a finger at him.

his smirk didn't leave, instead, he just put his hands up in faux surrender. "alright, i'll leave you and your friend in peace" he said, walking away from where her and sarah were stood not before looking angel up and down once more.

sarah scoffed, walking over to angel, inviting her in properly and closing the door behind her. "are you okay?" angel spoke in a soft voice. sarah sniffled, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"yeah, um" she took a deep breath "follow me."

so, she did. sarah's house was beautiful, with a giant spiral staircase, multiple stories, big rooms and a massive front and back garden. angel followed the girl up the said spiral staircase and into a room. sarah's room.

once they entered, sarah sat down on her bed - composing herself. angel slid the jacket, which belonged to sarah, off her shoulders. setting it down next to her. "i bought you this back" she gave a warm smile, not knowing how to cheer the girl up.

sarah lifted her head from her hands, acknowledging what angel had said. "thanks" she gave a weak smile. it didn't quite reach her eyes like normal. sighing, angel sat down next to her, slinging her arm around sarah's shoulders.

"what's wrong?" she asked in a whisper, leaning into her. the tears fell from sarah's eyes again. angel just held her closer. letting her cry onto her shoulder.

"m-my boyfriend, i-i broke up with him a-and" she stuttered out in between cries "he s-said some..hateful w-words". her head shook as she leaned into angel more.

angel was confused, she didn't say anything for a moment. she thought sarah's boyfriend was the guy she was cuddled up on the beach with. but it seemed now that sarah's real boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, was the guy she named 'topper', who ran out of the house when she arrived.

"whatever he said, don't let it affect you. he was probably just salty that the most beautiful girl on this entire island broke up with him" she tried cheering her up. it worked, when sarah's head rose from being buried into her shoulder, she gave a small laugh. sarah's laugh sent a smile on angels face as sarah - once again - wiped her tears, took a deep breath and stood up from the bed.

"I'm glad your here, i need your opinion" she exclaimed, walking to her closet.

"what? is it another boyfriend?" sarah turned around in fake shock, scoffing playfully as she couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face.

"girl, no" she shouted as she disappeared into the walk-in wardrobe she had in her bedroom. fancy. she reappeared a second later with four garment bags in her hand. "i need help deciding"

angel raised her eyebrow in question. "where are you going?"

sarah dropped the bags onto the bed and looked at her new friend. "you don't know?"

"oh my god, who is keeping these secrets on this island"

sarah chuckled, unzipping one of the bags to reveal a beautiful plain white dress with off the shoulder sleeves.

"wow" angel was mesmerised, it looked expensive. "where are you going in a dress this pretty?"

"it's an event" sarah started "its called midsummers, all the kook families attend it"

"a kook is.?" angel asked, still confused from the explanation she got from jj on the beach.

sarah rolled her eyes playfully. "a kook is me, you, the people that live on this side of the island, the cut- some people call it." she paused, making sure angel was following along. "we have money, big houses and nice jobs"

"well, that's not our fault, we didn't ask-"

"shhh" sarah cut her off "let me finish!" she exclaimed.

"fine!" angel giggled.

"the pogues, aka the people you met yesterday, they live on the cut. they don't have a lot of money, not very nice houses and they usually work for the kooks"

angel frowned. "most kooks hate the pogues, unfortunately, they're always getting into trouble but, i think they're cool"

"me too.. and i've barely even spoken to one" angel laughed again.

"you know the girl who tried to tell you being a kook is a bad thing?" sarah asked "kiara, her name is"

"oh..yeah. what about her?" angels stomach dropped, remembering how upset she had gotten over the girl she didn't even know.

"guess what" a smile spread over sarah's face, slightly comforting angel.

"what?"

"she's a kook too"

"no way" angels mouth dropped open. "why was she so bothered?"

"she turned full pogue or something, much to her parent's disappointment"

"is she going to this midsummer's thing?" angel wondered.

"yeah, probably" it went silent for a minute before sarah spoke up. "technically, you should be going - if you're, you know 'a kook'. " she made air quotes with her hands.

"I'm not sure, i have no idea what my dad does all day, i barely even see him"

"oh" sarah said, confused. "we go every year, my dad owns something i think, he always does a speech, i'm not really sure. i only go for the alcohol, to be honest" she admitted.

"wow, how do i secure myself an invite" angel didn't think her dad was very involved with that sort of stuff. she didn't even know what midsummers was.

"you could come with me, if you wanted" sarah offered.

angel thought about it for a minute. "when is it?"

"next week."

she would still be grounded by then. it was one thing to sneak off in the day for a couple of hours, but to sneak off to a party where the whole of the island could be, was a little risky. "i'll think about it" she offered a smile, already deciding the answer was probably no, but she'd entertain the idea anyway.

"now, show me the rest of the dresses."

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊

about four hours later and the pair had tried on about everything in sarah's closet, performing their own little runway show. she and sarah had decided on the first white dress although, there was a cute light blue dress that came as a strong runner up, angel wished she could of had that one to herself.

the two girls were now lying on her bed, exchanging embarrassing stories from their childhoods.

"when i was in first grade, i wanted to be a dolphin" angel started, laughing already - emerging a chuckle from the other girl who didn't even know the story. "one day, i had all these red bumps form on my upper body, and i thought i was turning into a dolphin" sarah let out a loud cackle, angel shushing her "i haven't even told the story yet!"

"sorry, sorry, continue miss dolphin" sarah composed herself.

angel sighed playfully and continued on. "i ran to my teacher crying because i didn't want to be a dolphin yet... turns out i was just allergic to yogurt" the two girls burst into fits of giggles, rolling around on the bed until one of them eventually tumbled off of it, making the situation even funnier.

once they'd come around, angel - who was now lying on the floor - spoke up. "i haven't eaten all day" she groaned.

"what!" sarah shot up from her space on the bed, jumping onto the floor and pulling angel up by her arm. "c'mon, you like pizza?"

"fuck yes!"

angel let sarah drag her to the living room, where they sat on the couch and decided on which pizza to order.

"pineapple on pizza?" sarah questioned the other girl.

"ugh.. the best" angel smirked when a scowl crossed sarah's facial features.

"ew, we can't be friends anymore"

angel rolled her eyes sarcastically, leaning over to get a look at the menu. they eventually decided on what they wanted, turning on the large flat screen television for entertainment while they waited for the delivery.

fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang. angel looked over at sarah who was too engrossed in the episode of pretty little liars they'd turned on. "you go get it, this is my favourite part"

angel sighed, before getting up from the couch and padding her way over to the front door. she opened the door and was met with a young boy, around her age. he smiled at her, although it was more of a grimace, their hands touching as she took the pizza.

"there you go, pretty lady" he gave her a wink. angel was uncomfortable, hoping she could just close the door and scurry back to the living room to eat her food, but the boy opened his mouth again. she sighed internally, mentally telling herself she'd hear what he had to say once more before she closed the door on him.

like a fish, his mouth opened and closed, but no sounds came out. angel wondered if she was having a stroke, if her hearing had gone for some unknown reason. but when the boy's eyes drifted behind her figure, she couldn't help but turn around.

stood behind her was none other than rafe, the boy who she'd just met a few hours before, who practically insulted his own sister and left before another snarky remark could leave his mouth. he had one eyebrow raised as he stared at the timid boy in-front of him.

"s-sorry" the boy squeaked out before scurrying off from where he came from. god, he wasn't that intimidating surely. but, as soon as he appeared he was gone again. when she turned back around, she caught the back of him as he headed to another room. she stood there for a minute, gathering herself. what the fuck just happened?

"angel" sarah called out from the living room.

"coming" she replied breaking out of her daydream.

"was he cute?" sarah asked with a wink when angel set the boxes down on the coffee table

angels eyed winded "what?" she asked, franticly.

"the pizza guy, silly"

"oh" she coughed "no he was, no" she shook her head laughing.

"shame, thought i could set you up with one"

"oh shut up" angel rolled her eyes collapsing back onto the seat to resume the episode and eat her pizza.

they quickly finished the pizzas, spending another hour watching another episode of the show. then, angels eyes snapped to the giant windows, noticing it had gotten dark.

"shit" she swore to herself. making sarah's attention snap to her friend.

"what?" she asked

"my dads gonna kill me if i'm not home, it's already dark" she stood up, getting ready to leave and - hopefully, not get caught by her dad.

"i think your dad needs to loosen up a bit" sarah smiled

"tell me about it" angel shouted as she walked to the front door. "bye!" she added, turning around to give sarah - who was shocked at how quickly she'd managed to gather her things and leave - a wave.

"bye, call me!" sarah shouted back, returning the wave.

as soon as sarah heard the front door shut, rafe turned round the corner. she eyed him as he also followed the path to the front door.

"rafe" she caught his attention, his eye brows raised in a questioning way. "can you.. make sure she gets home alright?" she asked sheepishly.

he rolled his eyes. "why don't you look after your own friends sarah, i'm not a babysitter"

she huffed as she sat back on the couch, tired of her brother's attitude. but unbeknownst to her, he had actually followed through with her request.

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊

outside, angel walked down the driveway at a fast pace. wrapping her arms around herself for warmth, she didn't realise how cold it gets at night here. well, maybe for her because she isn't used to it. she was lost in her thoughts when she approached the gate, pressing in the code she remembered, frowning when it didn't open. she tried again, but to no avail. she huffed, but before she could pull out her phone to check the code, she felt a presence behind her.

she turned around to be met with none other than rafe - she didn't know his last name yet but she made a mental note to ask sarah later.

"can i help you?" she called out to him over the wind.

"i think i should be asking you that" he chuckled, walking closer

"yeah.." she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "what's the code?"

he, begrudgingly walked over to her space, bumping his arm against her shoulder as he punched in the right code combination, making the gate swing open.

he held out his arm "ladies first" there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

she rolled her eyes at him this time but went forward anyways "charming" she muttered under her breath. but as soon as she rounded the corner where her house came into view, she froze.

"fuck!" she whisper-shouted turning around to hide but only to be met with rafe's solid chest. his arms grabbed her shoulders on instinct as a string of apologies left her mouth.

"what?" he cut off her rambling, looking around for a threat or any person, only spotting a nicely dressed man on the driveway of the house next door. he knew a family had moved in, his dad said he worked with the man, said he was a nice guy, had a few family issues but apparently they moved to the outer banks to 'sort them out'.

"my dad" she whispered, "keep your voice down."

"he won't hear us over the wind.. wait, your dad?" he asked, slightly shocked. when he'd seen this blonde girl turn up at his doorstep he assumed it was another one of sarah's pogue friends. he had no idea she was a kook.

"yes, oh my god he's gonna be so mad" she was slightly panicking almost pacing up and down the small gap they were hidden in.

"why? what have you done to make him so mad, little miss kook" he teased.

she stopped her pacing to look up at him in offence. "don't call me that" she scowled. "i'm grounded for two weeks, okay?" she threw her hands up in the air.

"damn, what you do?" two weeks seemed a little harsh? did she commit a serious offence or something, he wondered.

"i-" she hesitated "doesn't matter i just.."

he smirked a little, placing his hands on her shoulders and guiding her towards her house. she thrashed in his grip. "what are you doing!" she exclaimed, but he just shushed her and walked her to her house. he easily overpowered her so getting her there wasn't an issue, he just had to make sure it didn't look like a kidnapping to any passers by.

he let go of her once they got to the path that led to the house. "just follow my lead, okay?" he whispered to her, bending down to her ear level.

angel sighed, she didn't know whether to trust him or not, she'd met him a couple of hours ago and he was either gonna make her punishment from her dad worse, or make it better. she decided to trust him, although she basically didn't have a choice, her dad had already spotted her.

he looked angry as he approached her, a scowl on his face. his mouth already open, ready to lecture his daughter about breaking his rules. but rafe spoke up first, stepping in front of the girl as to protect her.

"hey sir, i'm rafe, i live next door" he pointed to his house and angels dad's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

"nice to meet you, mr cameron, your dad has told me a lot about you" he held his hand out for rafe to shake.

"likewise mr.." he left the question open, waiting for a last name.

"seaver" her dad smiled, angel had never seen him smile before, it felt weird.

"likewise mr seaver, all good things i hope" rafe shook his hand, noticing the firm grip and the tight smile on his face. this was odd.

the older man nodded his head, eyes drifting back to his daughter. "care to explain what you're doing out?" he sounded calm, but angel knew the layers to his tone.

"dad i-" she went to retaliate.

"she was helping me with some work, mr seaver" rafe butted in.

the man looked suspicious for a minute "what kind of work?"

"math, it's for my dad's business, i help him sometimes," rafe said, squaring up his shoulders to seem more confident.

"angelica, you are failing maths" he deadpanned to his daughter.

shit. "it was easy maths, dad" she knew better not to argue.

her dad turned back to rafe, they seemed to have a silent stare down for a moment before he dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "well, off you go son, i'll take her in"

"alright" rafe eyed her, giving her a knowing look as her dad guided her inside. "see you later, mr seaver" the name sounded like poison rolling off his tongue. rafe had known the man for 2 minutes max, but he already seemed like no good.

meanwhile, angels dad guided her inside. she internally cringed at the thought of the harsh punishment she was about to receive, but nothing happened. he didn't shout any cruel words at her or send her to her bedroom for another few years. instead, he walked into the kitchen and asked her to sit at the dining room table.

her brother, tommy, was already there, surprising angel when she rounded the corner. she took a seat next to him, kicking his feet as a way to silently say hello. her dad sat down opposite them. whatever's happening can't be good. fear rolled through her body. what if something happened to her mom, that's why he didn't punish her. what if-

"angelica, you are no longer grounded" he spoke, suddenly.

her eyebrows raised in shock. was this some sort of joke? "really?"

"don't make me regret it" he said, his eyes boring into her, making her sink back into her chair.

"but" he started and angel internally sighed, of course, there's a twist.

"we, as a family, need to attend this event."

"event?" her brother, tommy asked.

"its called, midsummers."