"YOU ARE AWARE THAT I'M A MINOR, RIGHT? SO YOU CAN'T TECHNICALLY BE INTERROGATING ME WITHOUT AN ADULT PRESENT." Talia told Sheriff Shoupe as he sat on top of his desk, looking down at Talia who sat upright in a chair, her arms crossed. He rolled his eyes at the girl, knowing she has a smart mouth.
"I'm not interrogating you, Talia. Just having a chat until your mom comes to pick you up." He told the girl, rolling her eyes at the mention of her mom.
"Whatever, I'm not saying anything anyways." She told the sheriff, slumping farther in her chair as she looked around the police station, officers running about busily. She anxiously tapped her foot, trying to keep her mouth shut. She bit her tongue until words just bursted out of her.
"Okay, let me just say that John B and I did nothing wrong. That guy was crazy and-"
"Talia Clair!" A shrill voice shouted, a voice that Talia could recognize anywhere. Maria Thornton, her mother. She rolled her eyes as her mother walked up to the desk, slightly stumbling. Talia knew she had already thrown back a few drinks, but you wouldn't be able to tell from her appearance. Her hair was still perfectly placed in her updo, her pearls falling gracefully around her neck.
"Mother." Talia groaned, as she smiled brightly at Shoupe.
"Sheriff Shoupe. I am terribly, deeply sorry for whatever trouble my daughter has caused. Thank you for bringing her in and teaching her a lesson." Her mother said sweetly, her tone making Talia want to vomit.
"Of course ma'am, it was no trouble. Only thing you have to do is pay her bail, which isn't much. You may also want to pay her friends, he doesn't have anybody and I really don't want to keep him overnight." Sheriff Shoupe explained, to which Maria nodded.
"Of course." She told him, not wanting to ruin the family's image as perfect philanthropists, helping anyone in need. Talia knew that was far, far from the truth. Her mother gripped her arm, yanking her out of the chair and towards the front desk. Talia caught a glance at John B, who was sitting in Peterkin's office in the same position she had been in moments ago.
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"Thank you, Ms. Thornton." John B said as him, Talia, and her mother walked out of the police station towards her G-Wagon. She stopped and looked at the boy up and down, disgust painting over her face.
"Don't even start with me, young man. If I don't get every penny of that bail money back, there will be hell to pay. Understand?" She told him, gulping nervously as he nodded. This was the first time he had ever met Talia's mother, and now he understood where the girl got her intensity from. She turned on her heel towards the driver's side of her car, instructing her daughter to get in. Talia stayed put, the weight of the compass suddenly feeling heavier by in her pocket.
"Talia, now." She growled at her to which Talia asked for a second alone with John B, which she reluctantly rolled her eyes. She opened the door of her car and slammed it loudly. The two teens moved to the other side of the car, out of her mom's sight. Talia sighed and reached into her pocket, pulling out the compass and placing it in his hand. He looked down at it sadly.
"Hey, you're gonna be good." She told him, just as her mother honked her horn, making Talia jumped slightly. "Sorry." She whispered, before turning around and slamming the door to the luxury car. Before she was fully in, it seemed, Maria sped off in the direction of their house.
"When I was younger, Talia, never did I imagine having to pick up my daughter from the police station." Maria told Talia, who rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"Well, when I was younger, I didn't imagine having a drunkard mother, but here we are. How many drinks have you had today, Mother? Five? Six?" She questioned her mother, who pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and told her daughter to shut up. The rest of the car ride was silent, Talia looking out the window and Maria trying to make her vision less cloudy from all of the alcohol she had ingested.
Maria had no idea what to make over her wayward daughter, even when she was a little kid. Her husband took more of a liking to the girl, leaving their son to be the one Maria groomed to be the perfect, golden child. To be honest, Maria avoided her daughter because she reminded her of what she had missed out on in her teenage years. She married Talia and Topper's father when she was very young, her husband being much older than her. It was an arranged marriage, more of a business partnership than a relationship. She loved her Talia deep down, but it was easier to let Talia roam the island as she chose rather than keeping tabs on her for no reason at all. As long as Talia showed up to her social obligations, Maria didn't care what the girl did. She acted like she did at times, but Talia knew that it was only a phase that would only take days, maybe even hours to pass. After a short drive, Maria pulled into the driveway of their house.
"Go to your room, and stay there." Maria told her daughter, who merely rolled her eyes and got out of the car as fast as she could. Talia watched her mother speed out of the driveway, her tires making squeaking sounds as she drove away. Talia rose her middle finger to the car as it moved farther down the street. Shaking her head, she walked through her front door into her house, finding it empty. She let out a sigh of relief, knowing her brother wasn't home. Once he heard about her little run in with the cops, she knew she would never hear the end of it.
She climbed the stairs up to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her as she flopped onto her bed. She went through her day in her head, specifically her kiss with John B. If only she had reacted sooner, she could have told him her true feelings that she had been harboring for months. Even hours later, she could still feel his lips on hers, and she smiled at the feeling, knowing that it was probably the last time she would ever feel his lips connected with hers. Before she knew it, her eyes drifted closed and she fell into a deep sleep, her exhaustion from her day taking over.
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It was dusk when Talia awoke, her eyes squinting as the last bit of sun streamed into her room. She could hear a light tapping on coming from somewhere, causing her senses to be more alert. She looked to her right and saw Kiara tapping on her window, a smile on her face. Talia smiled in relief as she climbed out of bed and walked over to the window, letting her best friend in.
"Hey, I heard what happened and figured you'd be here. Did you get any tattoos in the slammer?" She jokingly asked, which made Talia chuckle.
"Oh yeah, got one of Channing Tatum's face on my ass." She joked back, which made Kiara laugh. The girls sat face to face on her bed, laughing at the joke.
"I'm really sorry we left you and John B at the lighthouse, it was not my decision." Kiara told her friend sincerely, to which Talia gave her a smile.
"Don't worry about it, seriously. I do have something to tell you about, though, that happened after you guys left us to fend for ourselves." Talia told Kiara, who raised her eyebrows and signaled for her to start her story. She told Kiara the debacle from start to finish, including the part where John B said why he kissed her.
"Oh, wow, okay. So John B kissed you and you didn't kiss back, and he said that he only did it because of the DCS and what is going on with his dad?" Kiara clarified, her friend nodding, flopping onto her back and staring at the ceiling. Kiara moved to join her.
"I think he only said that because he thought I felt awkward about it." Talia wondered out loud, Kiara letting out a small laugh.
"Well, yeah!" Talia glared at her friend, who mumbled a small apology.
"Did you want him to kiss you?" Kiara asked, her friend letting out a sigh.
"You know I did, Kie, and that's why I freaked out. I was so shocked that it was happening that it ended as quickly as it started." Talia explained, to which Kiara nodded in understanding.
"Was it nice?" Kiara asked, turning her head to face Talia, her head still on the pillow. Talia sighed dreamily.
"Yeah. When I thought about it happening before, I thought it would be weird, but it wasn't. Besides me just being frozen in place, it was perfect. It almost felt right, as cliche as it sounds." She struggled to find words on how to describe it. Kiara smiled at her friend.
"Okay, that's extremely cute, but it kinda makes me want to throw up." The two girls laughed, staring up at the ceiling, remembering when they did this all the time a year ago, before work, family, and boy problems got in the way. Talia was glad she got to spend one on one time with Kiara, to talk about their issues that she couldn't talk to the boys about.
"Listen, boys suck. Especially John B. Whatever you see in him, I don't know, but know your affection towards him is mutual. He adores you, Tal, whether he can show it properly or not. You know John B, he doesn't exactly have a way with words, but I can tell that he likes you too. We all can see it, even JJ." She told Talia, which caused her to snort with laughter. Talia smiled at her best friend, grabbing her hand in thanks.
"Thanks, Kie. I needed to hear that." She said seriously, to which Kiara nodded and jumped up from the bed.
"Okay, I have to go to the Wreck and help clean up from the hurricane, if you want to tag along." Kiara offered to her friend, to which she gladly took up her offer.
"Please, I need to get out of this house." Talia told her Kiara as she climbed out the window, Talia following not far behind her.
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Talia sat on top of the Wreck back counter, spackling holes in the wall that he appeared from Agatha. Kiara was next to her, joining her in the project. It wasn't uncommon for Talia to help out at the Wreck occasionally, when she was bored or when it was a busy time and they were short staffed. She refused to have Mr. Carerra, Kiara's father, pay her whenever she helped out, though. She didn't need the money, and she was happy to be helping out her friend whenever she asked, to which Talia said she needed no compensation for. She scooped more of the substance onto her tool, filling in the hole and making it as smooth as possible. Talia and Kiara's comfortable silence was interrupted when Pope barged into the restaurant, looking for the girls. They turned around to see who had barged in, smiling when they saw Pope.
"Hey, John B told me to come and get you guys. He says that he figured something out and he needs us to go with him." Pope explained, to which Kiara gladly put down her tools and went to stand next to the boy. Talia stayed, the substance in her tool slowly dripping back into the container. "Come on, Tal, it's gonna be dark out soon." Pope urged, but Talia stayed put.
"You guys go, I'm gonna stay." Talia told her friends, making them look at her in confusion.
"What? What do you mean you're staying?" Pope asked, as she returned to her job.
"Look, I've had enough excitement for one day, I'm just gonna lay low for tonight. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She told them definitively, her back facing them. She could hear them bickering over whether to push the girl further, but they eventually left, leaving the girl filling holes. It was quiet for a minute or two, until she heard a voice she knew all too well.
"Um, hey. What are you doing?" John B asked the girl, who payed him no mind as she smoothed over the final hole.
"What does it look like?" She told him, sticking her tool in her bucket and climbing off of the counter.
"Spackling can wait." He told the girl, who only rolled her eyes. "We're about to make history." He told the girl, who pushed past him towards the outdoor seating area.
"Are you on something that made you forget that the past 7 hours didn't happen?" She asked him as he followed her closer to the door.
"No, I'm completely fine. Look, I know you're just being a good friend and-" Talia cringed at the word friend, only wishing that they would be more. "And I know that you're not trying to enable me in my delusion, but listen to me." They stopped in the doorway, John B gripping her shoulders.
"Please, listen to me, please. You're my best friend and I need you right now. And I'm sorry about the kiss thing, I feel awkward about it, but I need you, and I'm begging you, I'm begging you." He pleaded with her. It pained her that he felt awkward about the kiss, and it was all her fault that he did. If what Kiara told Talia was true and his feelings were mutual, he would feel just as heartbroken as her. But he had other things to worry about, like his dad potentially trying to contact him from beyond the grave. She didn't blame him for pushing his feelings about her aside, if she was in his position, she would probably do the same. After looking at him, and seeing the pain in his eyes, she finally cracked a smile.
"Jesus, JB. Get on your knees, why don't you? Where are you taking us now?" She asked him, causing him to smile and grab her hand.
"That's my girl." He told her as he led her out of the Wreck towards the van.
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"You mind if I just relax on this one? It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just gonna lay low, do you want some of this?" JJ mumbled as he offered his blunt to Pope, who took it out of his hand.
"I keep the signal clear." Pope told the boy, who pouted and reached for his stolen blunt. Talia chuckled at the two boys, but John B's voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Look, I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, all right?" John B admitted to his friends, who stopped their conversations as his voice cut through the night air. "And wrong about everything else going on. But I was right about one thing: my dad is trying to tell me something." He told the group as he pulled in a gravel driveway, leading to a tall iron gate.
"Oh hell no. You've got to be kidding me." Talia mumbled as she climbed out of the van, knowing exactly where she was: Redfield Cemetery. The teens swiftly climbed over the fence, John B urging them to hurry.
"I'm coming. This place is scary." Kiara said, linking her arm with Talia, holding her flashlight in front of her.
"John B, what are we doing?" Talia asked, causing John B to shush her.
"You know when you hear a song, but you can't remember who sings it?" John B explained, to which the group nodded in understanding. "So, Redfield, this whole time I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place, it's a person." He told the group, walking up to a crypt that had REDFIELD carved into the stone. He held his light up to the name, glancing back at his friends, who all had shocked looks on their faces.
"Voi-effing-la." JJ mumbled, slightly high from the blunt he had in the car ride over.
"My great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name." John B said, Talia squinting around the dark cemetery. She had been here a few times, when she considered herself a Kook, her and her friends would come here to see if they could find any ghosts.
"Help me with the door, come on." John B encouraged his friends. They all pressed their bodies against the door, pushing their body weight against it, but to no avail.
"This door's like 700 pounds, man. It's not gonna budge." Pope told them, who stopped putting pressure on the door.
"We didn't come this far to get this far, alright?" JJ said, and Talia looked at him confused. Wasn't he the one who said he wanted to lay low? Just after he finished speaking, the group her a hiss, causing them all to jump back in fear. A dark snake slithered from a hole in the wall. Kiara grabbed onto Talia's hand, while Talia looked at the snake and groaned.
"That's a moccasin, all right. Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth, death in tall grass." JJ said as he started barking at the snake. The group shushed him, not wanting to alert anyone who could be around.
"You're gonna wake the dead, man." Pope told him, his hands on JJ's chest.
"They're afraid of dogs, everyone knows that, man." JJ told Pope as if it was common knowledge. Talia rolled her eyes, as she, John B, and Kiara all inched closer to the door again. JJ stopped them, still a safe distance from the door.
"If there's one, there's probably dozens." JJ informed them, Talia's eyes widening.
"Oh my god, can you stop, you're scaring me." Kiara told him, scratching her arms nervously, letting go to Talia's hand. JJ continued to bark, frustrating everyone.
"Stop barking at the snakes!" John B yelled, pushing him away from the door.
"Just making sure it's clear." JJ mumbled, adjusting his headlamp. While the boys and Kiara argued, she moved closer to the door, noticing there was a small hole, just big enough for her to get through. She shined her light into it, making sure there was nothing that could poke her. Just as Pope told John B he thought they should just leave, Talia spoke up.
"I can get in." Talia said, shining her light towards the hole. They all stared at her and John B shook his head.
"No, no, no, no. You think you're gonna fit through that hole?" He asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"Look, this is about your dad. If this could somehow lead to an explanation of where your dad is, it's worth it because you deserve to know the truth. If I could get an explanation of why my dad did what he did, I would. So, who's helping me up there?" Talia asked, her friends looking at each other and sighing. Pope and John B pulled the vines that slightly blocked the hole, so Talia could have a clear path. JJ put his back to the wall and crouched down, linking his hands together.
"I'm gonna boost you, okay. I've seen it in the movies several times." JJ explained, and Talia nodded, shoving her flashlight in her back pocket. Kiara gave her hand a comforting squeeze as she walked towards JJ and put her foot in his hands. "Ready?" He asked her when she turned to John B.
"Remind me what we're looking for again?" She asked him, just as she did at the lighthouse earlier. He blew a piece of hair that had fallen in his face out of the way.
"You'll know when you see it." He responded, giving her the same answer as before. She nodded and placed her hands on JJ's shoulders, ready to push herself up. JJ told her to go on three, but she pushed herself up, climbing through the small hole.
"Okay, never mind, forget about three." She heard JJ mumble as her feet hit the ground inside the crypt. She grabbed her flashlight, switching it on to reveal a overgrown room that no doubt had many animals living in it. She looked around, finding nothing that was out of the ordinary.
"You alive? Y-You got like a-a heartbeat, and everything?" She heard John B ask her, making her smile slightly.
"As far as I know." She answered, earning a sigh of relief from what she could assume was John B. "Uh, I need some more light, please." She asked, to which John B stuck the lantern he was holding through the opening. She looked around for a few more seconds before her flashlight landed on something that didn't belong in a crypt. A large FedEx envelope, stuck in some vines, labelled For Bird, written neatly on the front.
"I'll be damned." She whispered, inching closer to the envelope.
"Did you find something? Is there gold?" JJ asked as she reached out to grab the envelope, her hands shaking slightly. She walked back over to the hole and stuck her arm out, the envelope in her hand.
"That's not gold." Pope said as Kiara and JJ helped Talia out of the small opening.
"Holy shit." John B muttered, holding the package at a distance. "This is from my dad." He said, Talia letting out a slight smile. As JJ let out a puff of whatever he was smoking, they heard a vehicle approach.
"Code red, code red. Square groupers, square groupers!" JJ alerted them, to which they all took off at a run. "It's the guys who robbed your house." JJ added as the group ducked behind a wall.
"Light." Kiara said, signaling for everyone to turn off their flashlights, except John B who struggled to turn his lantern off, tucking it under his shirt. They heard a door slam, causing JJ to stick his head out to see what was going on.
"Homie's got a gun." JJ said, as Kiara rolled her eyes. "Screw this." She said, taking off and the teens followed behind her. They ran towards the fence, to which they all climbed over with ease, except Pope. He somehow got caught on the iron, leaving him hanging from the gate. Talia looked back and couldn't help but laugh as she slid open the door to the van and climb in.
"Pope, hold on." JJ said, pulling the gun out of his pocket and pointing it at the boy. John B shoved his arm away and pushed him into the back of the van with Talia.
"You're gonna rip me, you're gonna rip me, you're gonna rip me." Pope said as Kiara tried to pull him down. She finally pulled hard enough to where Pope was finally over the fence, but his shorts still on the fence. He ran to the van quickly, only in his underwear and a hand protecting his junk.
"It's like a little tootsie roll." JJ taunted as he ran into the van, Kiara laughing loudly and closing the door. As the teens drove away back to the Chateau, they still laughed about Pope being pant less.
"You know, I would have never taken you for a tighty whitey type of guy, Pope." Talia told him, sending the whole car into howling laughter as they crossed the bridge back to the Cut.
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When they returned to the Chateau, the group flooded into the kitchen, looking for some sustenance. Talia had somehow found a bottle of water in the fridge and JJ had found bread, peanut butter, and jelly, making himself a sandwich.
"That bread had mold on it three days ago." Pope told JJ as he spread the peanut butter onto the bread.
"I'll just pull off the bad parts. Besides, mold's good for you. It's just a natural organism." JJ explained, Talia rolling her eyes at his comment.
"A natural organism that can kill you." Talia told the boy as he took a sip of her water, making her way into the other room where John B, Pope, and Kiara were all standing over the envelope. "JJ!" Kiara yelled, signaling for him to come.
"Yup, yup, yup. Hot damn! Let's do it." JJ told the group as he bounded over, sticking his sandwich in his mouth, spitting it out immediately. John B tore open the envelope, unfolding a map of the island and water surrounding it. There was a small X placed on the map, not too far from shore.
"X marks the spot." Pope pointed out, while John B muttered something about longitude and latitude.
"Maybe there's something else in here." He said, flipping the envelope upside down to reveal a tape recorder falling out and clattering onto the desk.
"What's that?" JJ asked, still recovering from his disgusting sandwich.
"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kiara informed him, rolling her eyes at his stupidity. John B pressed play, a voice immediately emitting from the gadget.
"Dear Bird," It began, causing JJ to ask who bird was. "That's what my dad called me." John B answered, his eyes trained on the small electronic in his hands.
"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. And you doubted you old man. I suspect at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self-loathing after our last fight, but don't kill yourself just yet, kid. I didn't think I would find the Merchant either. You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly father of the decade. But what can I say, kid. I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand new sugar shack in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling permits. If not, and you're hearing this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If something happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you Bird, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side." John b clicked off the tape recorder and let it fall onto the desk. His friends looked around at each other in disbelief, not quite believing what they had heard. John B got up and walked away, leaving his four friends still frozen in place. He was about to walk out the door when he collapsed into the door frame, his body shaking with sobs.
"Holy shit, he did it! Big John, he found the Merchant-" JJ was about to say when Kiara cut him off.
"Can you-can you please?" Kiara asked him, placing her hands on the back of her head. Talia pushed herself off the table she was leaning on and walked towards John B, lightly placing her hand on his back. Almost on instinct, he turned around and pulled her small body into a hug, catching her by surprise. She wrapped one arm around his back and one went to the back of his head, running it through his hair.
"I'm so sorry, John B, I'm so sorry." Was all she could think to say as he continued to sob into her shoulder.
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After they had listened to the tape, Talia, Kiara, JJ, and Pope went to the end of the dock and sat in silence, trying to make sense of the message they had just received. John B eventually joined them with some beers, his eyes still bloodshot from crying. Kiara strummed her ukulele, trying to end the silence. She sat on top of the railing of the dock, Talia next to her and the boys scattered around.
"How much was it again?" JJ asked, taking a sip of his beer.
"Four hundred mil." Pope answered, shaking his head, still not believing that they could potentially get all that money.
"All right, let's talk the split. And before you say evenly, may I remind you that I am the only one who can defend those groupers who were after us. Protection? Not cheap." He told them, raising the gun in the air.
"You haven't trained. You've had no training." Pope told him, rolling his eyes. "Youtube, bro!" He responded, to which Talia shook her head.
"I actually have taken self defense classes, so if anyone is getting a raise here, it's me." Talia said, and JJ nodded.
"Any objections to me and Tal getting a raise? Didn't think so." JJ asked, ignoring Kiara and Pope's raised hands.
"What're you gonna do with your 80 mil, Pope?" Kiara asked him, the boy looking out onto the open water.
"Pay for college in advance. And also textbooks. Those are expensive." Talia nodded, hoping he wouldn't have to do that since he would hopefully be getting the scholarship.
"What about you, Kie?" JJ asked, looking towards the girls.
"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Pope asked, causing Talia to snort in laughter. Kiara sighed.
"I just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the Pogues. The way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it in Marley Studios, Peter Tosh producing." Kiara told them, causing Talia to look at her in confusion.
"Peter Tosh is dead." Talia and Pope said at the same time, their inner nerd coming out.
"I know. But the spirit of Peter Tosh never dies. What about you, Tal?" Kiara asked the girl next to her, Talia's blond hair blowing in the night breeze.
"I don't know, put some of it into savings, probably. Then, move out of my mom's house and get emancipated." She told them, nodding at her plan.
"I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure 8 and go full Kook." JJ said, glancing around at his friends who chuckled.
"You're gonna go full Kook?" Pope asked him as he nodded.
"Yep. Gonna get a marble statue of myself and then I'm gonna get a koi pond." He said definitively, causing the group to laugh.
"I'm never visiting." Kiara told him, to which Talia nodded in agreement. She looked towards John B, sitting at the opposite end of the dock in his lawn chair, deep in thought.
"What about you, Johnny boy?" Talia asked, as they all looked at him expectantly. A small smile appeared on his face, raising his beer bottle.
"To going full Kook."
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Talia walked down the main street of the Figure 8, her skateboard tucked under her arm. Much to her dismay, she decided it would be best to leave John B alone for the night, giving him time to process the day's events. So many cars lined her street that Kiara had to drop her off at the end, leaving her to walk not very far to get to her own house. When she got closer, she realized that the blasting music she could hear from across town was coming from her house, meaning Topper was having a party. She groaned loudly, just wanting to go into a quiet house and collapse on her bed. She was about to run into the house and scream at Topper when she noticed a girl, sitting at the edge of her driveway crying. She approached the girl cautiously before realizing it was Sarah Cameron.
"Are you good?" Talia asked, causing Sarah's hands to leave either side of her head and look up to see who was speaking to her. When she realized it was Talia, she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not like you would give a shit anyways." She responded, placing her hands back on the sides of her head. Talia sighed, placing her skateboard next to the girl and sitting down on top of it.
"Look, as much as I pretend to hate you, I don't. Other than your horrible taste in men, you're actually a pretty cool person. And I don't think you hate me either. Also, when I see a girl crying by the side of the road in the middle of the night, I get a little concerned. So do you wanna tell me what's going on?" Sarah sniffled, looking at her former best friend, who had worry written all over her face. She sighed and wiped her eyes.
"Well, as you can see, Topper's having a party." She referred to her house that had many lights on and music blaring from it, not to mention the screams of joy from the probably hundreds of teenagers that were there.
"And we were on the roof, looking at the stars, and things were starting to get heated. I thought I wanted to do it, but then I told him to stop. He got mad at me and pretty much called me a tease." He chuckled at the last part as Talia shook her head in disgust. She reached out for Sarah's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I am so sorry that happened to you, Sarah. No guy, especially my brother, should dictate whether you're ready to do something or not." She told Sarah, who smiled at her as tears ran down her face. She nodded at the blonde haired girl.
"Thanks, Tal." She told the girl while letting go of her hand and standing up. Talia got up and grabbed her skateboard, standing face to face with Sarah. Sarah pulled Talia into a hug, to which Talia slowly wrapped her free arm around her, smiling slightly.
"Friends again?" Sarah whispered in her ear, and Talia nodded, pulling away from the hug. "Sure." The two girls smiled at each other.
"If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask." Sarah told her as she walked towards her driveway, and Talia chuckled.
"I may need to take you up on that soon." She replied, Sarah looked at her confused, but nodded anyways. She watched Talia walk towards her own house, the party still going on.
"You going to party now, too?" Sarah yelled at the girl, who turned around and smirked at her.
"Nope. Going to have a little chat with my dear brother."
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Before Talia could even walk fully through the door, she could smell the expensive alcohol. It was almost like a haze as she entered her front door, her nose scrunching at the scent. She pushed past the sweaty bodies of teenagers dancing drunkenly looking for her brother. After stepping out onto the porch, she noticed her brother walking into the empty kitchen, stumbling slightly. She pushed past some more people and entered the kitchen to see her brother grabbing more booze from the fridge. Once Topper turned around and saw his sister standing there with an angry look on her face, she couldn't help but laugh.
"Look who it is, the prodigal sister returns. Thought you spend the night at your boyfriend's house." He told her, trying to push past her and go back to the party. She grabbed his wrist just before he walked out the door.
"I would have, but I decided after the extremely long day I had, I could come home to sleep in some peace and quiet. But on my way, I saw your girlfriend sitting at the edge of the driveway crying. What the hell is wrong with you?" He scoffed and sniffed, and Talia saw that the skin around his nostrils was red, which was sign of something she knew all to well from her fling with Rafe.
"Oh, so Rafe finally got you onto that shit, huh? Surprised it took him this long, seeing that you let everybody control every aspect of your life." Talia sneered, letting go of her brother's wrist. He slammed the cardboard carrier of beers on the counter top so hard Talia thought the glass bottles would shatter. He faced her, anger gleaming in his eyes.
"At least I'm not hanging around dirty Pogues all day." Topper told his sister, and she let out a laugh.
"Oh my god, I am so tired of having this same fight again and again. Can you get any new material, because this is getting really old." She yelled to him, only receiving a scoff and head shake in response.
"Look, your girlfriend was on the side of the road crying her eyes out after you called her a tease because she wouldn't fuck you. Have you really sunk that low, Topper?" She asked him as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Is that what she told you? And you believe her?" He snapped back, Talia crossing her arms and scoffing.
"Yeah, I do, because you aren't giving me any reason not to right now. Where is this going to get you, Topper? In three years are you gonna be Rafe, a college dropout still living at home with a crack addiction?" He launched towards his sister, pinning her against the cabinets. Talia's breath caught in her throat, not expecting her brother to show this kind of anger towards her. He lowered his eyes at her, raising the hand that wasn't pressing her against the cabinets to point in her face.
"You watch your mouth." He practically growled at her, the cocaine that he took and the alcohol taking over. Talia matched the glare in his eye as she pushed his hand out of her face.
"Don't think I won't slap you again, because I will." She used all of her might as pushed her brother off of her, sending him stumbling back into the counter. She left the kitchen, tears of anger welling up in her eyes. She pushed past the sweaty teenagers once again, finally getting to the door and picking up her skateboard that she had discarded on the porch. She flew down the porch steps and onto the road, wiping away the few tears that had fallen from her eyes. She threw her skateboard to the ground and sped off towards Kiara's house. She knew that she couldn't stay at her house, and all she wanted to do was sleep this horrible day away.
hello! this chapter is a little longer, but i had a lot that I wanted to fit in. this is kind of out of order from the actual episode, but i thought it could still make sense. next chapter will be up soon!
-brooke :)