"Cause if you dare, you'll see the glare
of everyone you burned just to get there."

[POV: June]

As I was about to reveal the truth to Wyatt, the door of the restaurant suddenly opened. This one made the sound of a bell ring loud on the space.

We both looked towards the restaurant's entrance and spotted Kie making her way inside.

Kie: "Hey, June." -she smiled, later on walking my way and giving me a hug.

As she glanced across from us, the smile she had on her face vanished completely.

Kie: "Wyatt?"

Wyatt: "Kiara." -he mumbled, fidgeting with his hands nervously.

I frowned my eyebrows completely confused over their weird attitude, then I glanced at Kie again and saw how she looked slightly pale.

June: "You two know each other?" -I asked, receiving a nod from Wyatt.

Kie: "We used to go to the same school, you know, my kook year like the boys call it."

I nodded as I comprehended what the girl said, looking over to Wyatt who still seemed extremely nervous.

Wyatt: "I didn't knew you two were friends."

Kie: "I didn't knew you were James Martin's son."

The pair stayed quiet making the whole space feel tense and awkward, I clapped my hands suddenly and gained their attention once again.

June: "Uhh, I'm gonna go start doing the tables outside. Kie, want to help me out?" -I asked, placing my hand on her shoulder.

She agreed quickly and walked with me outside without exchanging any other words with Wyatt. The boy continued doing his job inside as we walked through the white flooring on the outsides of the beautiful place.

The breeze was pretty strong, I was almost taken aback by how much sound it was causing. I missed days like these ones, they were always sort of comforting.

I began preparing some tables with the help of the curly head, she was pretty concentrated so I didn't bother her.

Then, a couple of minutes later she walked towards me, I looked up at her confused and saw how serious her expression was.

Kie: "I feel very uncomfortable right now."

June: "Why is that?" -I questioned, taking a sit on one of the already set tables.

She took a sit as well and placed both of her hands under her chin, I could see some discomfort on her expression.

Kie: "Wyatt."

June: "What about him?" -I asked, glancing over to the insides of the restaurant and seeing the boy cooking.

Kie: "I haven't seen him in quite a while, in fact, I thought he even left the island. The last time I saw him...well....things didn't end well with each other."

I glanced her way completely bewildered, she then took a deep breath and fidgeted with her curls that were now dyed blonde.

Kie: "I basically broke his heart."

June: "Oh." -I mumbled, covering my mouth out of surprise.

She closed her eyes shut filled with embarrassment, I knew she felt extremely bad for the boy by her expression. I grabbed her hand carefully, beginning to rub it gently.

Kie: "He even cried and I never apologized, I was such a bitch."

June: "Hey, don't say that. I'm sure he doesn't hate you or anything like that, you guys should just talk."

Kie: "I don't know...I feel really embarrassed about it." -she replied, looking behind her to observe the boy.

He never noticed us looking thankfully, he was pretty focused on what he was doing as well.

Kie: "Now I sort of have this thing with Pope and he's coming her-"

June: "You have a thing with Pope?" -I quickly asked, seeing her annoyed expression.

Kie: "We just kissed, I don't know if I want something with him though."

She then spaced out while glancing at the distance, I continued to stare at her and wait for her to speak again. Her eyes then suddenly widened, making me observe her confused.

June: "What's wrong?"

Kie: "Oh wow, is that...Kayla?" -she whispered, pointing at the distance.

I turned around and spotted the blonde one, she arrived the same way I got here, which was riding our bikes.

June: "Yeah, that's her."

Kie: "She looks so different, the bright blonde looks much better than the dirty blonde she used to have."

I glanced at the girl confused over how much detail she gave, seeing how she rolled her eyes after noticing my expression.

Kie: "What? I pay close attention to people."

We then looked back again and watched how the girl made her way up some steps that led to the restaurant.

She spotted us quickly and smiled shyly, we grinned back and signaled her to come over.

Kayla: "Hey, girls." -she spoke, reaching the spot we were in seconds later.

June: "Hey, thanks for coming."

Kayla: "Of course, I wouldn't have said no."

She then made eye contact with Kie, the both just smiled awkwardly at each other.

Kie: "Hi, I'm Kiara." -she spoke, stretching her hand towards the girl.

Kayla: "I'm Kayla."

Kie: "Yeah, I know." -she replied with grinned eyes, making me sigh nervously.

Kayla grabbed her hand and shook it up and down, looking over to me then.

Kayla: "So, what was that help you needed from me?"

I pointed at the restaurant and made her look towards the space as well, she instantly smiled by the sight and glanced at me again.

Kayla: "You want that guy's number?"

June: "What? No! I already know who he is." -I quickly said, seeing her look of realization.

Kayla: "Oh, sorry. What is it then?"

June: "You know how to bake, right?"

Kayla: "Yeah, my dad taught me some stuff."

She then glanced at the restaurant and opened her eyes widely, I watched how she turned quickly my way and her eyes kept opening.

Kayla: "You want me to bake?" -she asked, receiving a short nod from me.

June: "He's struggling currently, besides, don't you find him cute?"

Kayla: "He's cute...not my type though."

I rolled my eyes and pleaded for the girl's help with my expression, she quickly caught up to it and sighed.

Kayla: "I'll just do it for you."

June: "Thank you." -I replied, watching how she then walked closer to the building.

Her tracks suddenly stopped and I observed her with confusion. She turned around, walking back to me to place her purse on top of the table.

Kayla: "Also, does your boyfriend JJ have a motorcycle?"

Kie: "Boyfriend?" -she asked with widened eyes.

I instantly coughed, this out of the sudden surprise. Her question caught Kie and I, obviously off guard.

June: "What?!"

Kayla: "Isn't he your boyfriend?" -she quickly asked, only seeing how my eyes widened.

June: "No, never."

She mumbled an "oh" and flipped her hair back out of embarrassment, I then saw how she sighed and looked over to me.

Kayla: "Well, he's just been showing up to your house a lot every time I'm there." -she mentioned, making me look at her with grinned eyes.

June: "He just cares for me as if I'm his sister."

Kayla: "Okay, you didn't answer my question though." -she spoke, tilting her head slightly.

June: "Right, I think he does own a motorcycle."

Kie: "Yeah, he actually does." -the girl mentioned, frowning her eyebrows as she replied.

Kayla: "Oh, well he's been working at a restaurant on town."

June: "Wait, really?"

Kayla: "Yeah, I saw him coming out earlier before I got here." -she explained while looking at her rings carefully.

June: "That's weird, he hasn't talked about it."

We then stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, but then the girl spoke again.

Kayla: "That was all I had to say, I'll be back once I finish."

Kie and I nodded, watching the girl walk away to enter the restaurant seconds later.

I kept thinking what she had just mentioned about JJ, I didn't even realize Kie was now talking to me again.

Kie: "Juney! Hey, are you listening?"

I glanced at her as she caught my attention again, she sighed and pointed behind me. My eyes darted back and looked down at the dock, familiar faces were the first thing I spotted.

JJ: "There's my favorite ladies." -he shouted, going up the steps followed by Pope.

I smiled gently and watched them approach us quickly.

Kie: "Are y'all ready to work?"

Pope: "Hell yeah."
________________________________

Night had officially arrived, there was already a lot of guest on the restaurant. Thankfully, no one had given me dirty glares or even talked to me.

We worked pretty hard on getting everything to look right for Mr. Martin, he was gratefully satisfied with how everything looked.

I talked to Nadia for a couple of minutes, she was very happy to see me. The Pogues were also able to meet Elena, it was their very first time. Even though only a month had passed, the baby girl was looking much bigger.

Kayla: "So, you feeling all right?" -she asked, handling me a cup of lemonade as we walked through the dock near the restaurant.

I grabbed the cup carefully and nodded in agreement while looking at the people around the area.

June: "Yeah, I guess so. Thank you again for helping out, I really appreciate it."

Kayla: "No problem."

We kept walking until reaching the table where the pogues decided to sit at. It was near the entrance of the sea area, making the breeze hit abruptly our way but it felt nice.

June: "Hey y'all." -I greeted, making all of them smile out of relief.

JJ: "We thought you weren't coming back."

June: "Say thanks to Kayla, she pulled me out of that kitchen." -I mentioned, hearing the blonde girl's chuckle.

We both took a sit at the table, I sat beside Kie with Kayla. The two boys were sat across us, the pair was eating a hamburger James had prepared for them as a thank you.

Pope: "This is too good." -he mumbled, covering his mouth that was filled with food.

I chuckled by his expression, then I passed him some of my lemonade since he didn't have anything to drink.

Kayla: "Shoot, I should've brought some drinks for you guys." -she mumbled, covering her face out of disappointment.

Pope: "Don't worry, JJ can go get them."

JJ: "What? Why me? I'm eating as well, dude." -he argued, bringing a smile to all of our faces.

Kie: "You know what? I'll go get them, be right back and don't spill any tea without me."

We all nodded in agreement and watched her disappear into the crowd of people around the restaurant.

JJ: "So, June, how do you know James Martin, so well?"

I stood still by the blond one's question, looking over to Pope who had his eyes widened after hearing what JJ said. He dropped his hamburger on the plate, glaring at the blond one then.

Pope: "Dude, are you serious right now?"

JJ: "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Pope: "He was Bailey's uncle." -he replied in a whispering way, making me sigh since he didn't really did a good job at hiding his reply.

I could feel Kayla's eyes on me so I exchanged a glance with her, she mumbled "it's okay" to me which instantly brought comfort to me.

JJ: "Sorry, June...I sort of forgot."

June: "It's fine, don't apologize." -I replied, flipping my hair back as I spoke.

I observed around the party area then and spotted Wyatt alone, he was just glancing at the people around the space awkwardly.

June: "Wyatt!" -I shouted, receiving confused glances from my friends.

They all looked over to the direction I was staring at and spotted the boy, I waved and signaled him to come over to where we were.

JJ: "Is that actually him?" -he whispered, making me nod in agreement.

Kayla: "He's cute for you, June."

JJ: "No he's not."

I glared at JJ as I heard his annoyed tone, hitting the top of his head suddenly. He grunted out loud and stared at me with grinned eyes.

June: "He's just a friend, that's all." -I mentioned, watching how the boy was inches away from approaching our table.

He eventually did and smiled nervously at everyone around.

June: "Hey, come sit with us." -I spoke, pointing at the empty spot beside Pope.

He greeted the boys and sat beside them awkwardly, I chuckled by his actions and continued to speak.

June: "Everything going well?"

Wyatt: "Yeah, dad's got it all covered now."

June: "Glad he does, also happy that we all could help in something." -I smiled, seeing how he nodded after my words.

Wyatt: "He's really grateful for all the help, genuinely."

JJ: "He better be." -he suddenly said, receiving surprised glances from all of us.

Even Kayla was taken aback by the sudden comment. JJ then glanced up with a smile covering his face, he lifted his hands up in surrender and observed Wyatt.

JJ: "Just kidding, man." -he quickly reassured, allowing all of us to sigh.

Wyatt: "Thought for a second you hated me or something."

JJ: "Nah, as long as you don't do anything stupid to my friends...you're good."

We all laughed and then watched Kie approaching us, she held a tray filled with lemonades and placed them on top of the table.

Kie: "Here you go, ladies and gentlemen." -she spoke proudly, glancing then towards Wyatt.

The boy was already observing her features carefully, she smiled shyly and passed him a lemonade first.

Kie: "Strawberry lemonade for you."

Wyatt: "My favorite, thanks."

Both Kayla and I exchanged glances with each other, we knew we were both thinking about them looking cute together.

Kie: "Which one you want, Kayla?" -she asked, pointing at the tray.

Kayla: "Just a normal one."

Kie nodded and passed her the drink, she gave the other drinks to the boys and handled me the last one.

June: "Blueberry."

Kie: "You like it, right?"

June: "Yup, favorite flavor in almost everything." -I smiled happily, drinking some of the liquid right after.

The girl than sat beside me and now we were all enjoying our lemonades quietly. The music echoed throughout the space we were in, it was slow relaxing music.

We then continued to speak about certain stuff from our schools. For the first time in a while, life felt a little better than before. I hadn't laughed like I did right there and then, but obviously...things are never that simple, right?

As I was reading some of the orders in the menu, Kayla spoke and said something that instantly gained my attention.

Kayla: "You've got to be shitting me." -she suddenly said, making me glance at her.

She was looking towards the restaurant which made me do the same, everyone turned and observed as well.

And there he was, Rafe Cameron.

He was carefully walking around the area with some friends accompanying him. The friend group drifted away from him as he spoke to some girl, I instantly felt my heart sinking, tears also accumulated on my eyes instantly.

Kayla: "Dude, he's always following me. I told him I didn't want anything with him anymore, June." -she mentioned but I didn't care at that moment what she had to say.

I wasn't mad at the girl or anything, my only anger was towards him. I was mad at the boy because of the actual reason I should be mad at.

He caused everything.

June: "What's he doing here, Wyatt?" -I asked while taking deep breaths.

Wyatt: "Uhh, I actually don't know. I don't think we even invited him."

He glanced at me then and frowned his eyebrows with concern, Kayla did the same.

Wyatt: "Yo, you good?"

I saw how my three friends quickly looked over to me with widened eyes, they knew I wasn't going to sit there and not do anything.

June: "Fuck it." -I mumbled, wiping a tear away from my cheek.

Pope: "June, don't."

I stood up from my seat and quickly began to walk towards the boy, I heard distant shouting coming from the pogues. They tried their best to stop me but they couldn't, I walked too damn fast.

I then made direct eye contact with, Rafe. His eyes instantly widened by the sight and he stumbled back.

Then suddenly, just when I reached his way, my hand impacted his cheek harshly.

Everyone around us gasped out loud, I didn't care though. Rapid footsteps approached from behind, these ones belonging to all of my friends.

Kayla: "Holy shit." -she mumbled, grabbing my arm later on to try and calm me down.

Rafe just stared at me in complete shock, everyone doing the same as well.

June: "Who do you think you are?" -I whispered, stepping closer to the blond one.

He glanced around the space and stepped near as well. JJ quickly then pulled me back, placing me behind him.

JJ: "Stay the hell away from her."

Rafe: "You should do the same with me." -he replied, smiling our way.

JJ: "Get out of here before you regret it."

Rafe only chuckled as he heard what JJ mentioned, glaring then at him with that devilish look he had began to do far too well.

Wyatt: "What's going on?" -he whispered right behind me, but I didn't say anything.

Kie: "Stay quiet." -she ordered, grabbing my hand right after speaking.

We all just glared at Rafe angrily, I was able to push the group's grip away from me. I walked towards the boy again and grabbed his shirt's collar.

June: "You should be ashamed of yourself. How could you walk around the streets after everything you did?!" -I shouted aggressively, pulling onto his shirt abruptly.

The group pulled me away from him instantly and Rafe walked away, but suddenly, he stumbled across James. The man had a dark gaze covering his expression, he knew something.

James: "What are you doing here?" -he questioned with a dry voice, walking closer to the blond one.

The blond boy began to step away from James as he kept getting closer, his hands lifted up in surrender.

Rafe: "Just paying a visit to my favorite restaur-"

James had suddenly punched Rafe on the jaw, everyone shouted out loud in complete shock.

Seconds after, he sat on top of the boy and continued to beat him up repeatedly. We all watched with horror covering us, almost not even being to react.

Nadia: "James, stop it!" -his wife pleaded, covering her mouth out of horror.

I looked around the area in search for Wyatt, as I spotted him, he was completely shocked about the situation that was currently happening. My hand reached for his shoulder and then shook the boy, he reacted quickly and glanced at me.

June: "You need to stop him." -I said, seeing him nod.

He then walked away from us and ran towards his father rapidly.

Wyatt: "Dad, what the fuck?!" -he shouted, trying to pull James away from Rafe.

The boy was unfortunately unsuccessful and couldn't pull him away, Kie interlaced her hand with mine and turned me around.

Kie: "He's going to kill him." -she spoke with widened eyes, pointing at the pair.

Part of me wanted James to continue beating Rafe, but at the same time didn't. I knew the consequences of the situation were going to be bad, James was going to have to go to the police station if cops were called.

Karma was going to arrive sooner or later to him, that's just how life works sometimes.

June: "Boys do something!" -I exclaimed, seeing how then JJ and Pope ran to help Wyatt separate the pair.

They were finally successful after a couple of tries, Rafe was unconscious after all the punches he took.

People were screaming and running away from the place completely horrified by what just had happened.

The girl I saw talking to Rafe took a sit next to him and held onto his face, she cried uncontrollably and shook him continuously.

Random girl: "Someone call 911! He's not responding!" -she cried out loud, continuing to try and wake the blond one up

I glanced at James filled with fear, he's bloody knuckles instantly brought flashbacks to that traumatic day.

Just the sights of blood triggered that feeling of panic, I took deep breaths while being held by Kayla.

The man held eye contact suddenly with me, he then pointed at all of us but specifically looked at me.

James: "You gotta go, I don't want the cops to question you guys about anything." -he demanded, glancing at me seriously.

June: "But Mr. Jam-"

James: "June, leave." -he interrupted, pointing at the steps that led to the exit.

I felt Kayla rubbing my back and then her voice echoing very close to my ear.

Kayla: "Come on, let's go." -she whispered, pulling me with her accompanied by Kie.

We walked down the steps pretty quickly, all of us completely quiet.

People also were filled walking around the parking lot, the place was just filled with people whispering about the situation.

Kayla: "Do you guys have anyone that can give you a ride?" -she questioned right after we reached the final step.

I noticed how she was staring at everyone's bikes, which made me realize she was planning on getting someone to drive us home safely.

Kayla: "I could call, Topper."

Kie: "No, please no."

The curly head's eyes were widened completely, which was then noticed by Kayla who just nodded.

Kayla: "You're right, I don't have anyone else though." -she mentioned, then all of a sudden Pope spoke.

Pope: "My dad can pick us up, including you Kayla."

Kayla: "Oh, that's not necessary."

Pope: "It's fine, just let me do it." -he quickly said, dialing Mr. Heyward's phone number.

JJ: "Are you sure he can, Pope?"

The boy nodded and placed his phone near his ear.

We all stood quiet and waited for the call to be answered, couple of seconds later, Pope began to speak with his dad.

Everyone just looked shocked after what happened, including Kayla. Her hands kept shaking uncontrollably, this made me grab them to comfort her.

Pope: "He's coming soon."

Kie: "Thanks, Pope." -she smiled faintly, receiving a nod from him.

JJ: "I guess we just wait now."

End of chapter.

Sofia's notes:

I told you this chapter was going to be juicy 🤭 next chapter is going to be interesting as well so stay very tune :) I hope you enjoyed chapter 30, this is just the very beginning hehe.

Also I understand this chapter was probably kinda short compared to my other chapters, but there's a reason to that and it will make sense on the next upcoming chapter.

I'll see you all soon, love you sm 🥹🫶🏼

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