─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
mind altering drugs.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

        Kennedy and Rafe had gone cliff jumping—it had left Kennedy's entire body rattling with shakes of adrenaline afterwards. It had gained a lot of attention too, adults watching on in concern as the teens littering the beach whooped and cheered in encouragement. They'd been alright, landing perfectly in the water and swimming back to shore where they were praised for taking such a leap of faith. Attention was something Kennedy was used to—and something she particularly enjoyed. She had well and truly soaked up all of the ass-kissing.

           She'd spent the rest of her day with Rafe and her friends before eventually going home where her mother reminded her that they had one of her big events the following day. Caroline wasn't only a doctor—but a well-known fundraiser on the island. She had never forgot where she had come from and always gave back, especially after times like the hurricane. Which was why she was throwing a fundraiser, where Kook's could donate large sums to food banks and housing on the Cut—it made those who donated look good, but it made Caroline feel good.

             The following morning, Kennedy had gotten dressed with her mother. Her mother had picked an outfit for her—a two piece Chanel outfit, a black and white tweed skirt and a matching cropped blazer. Beneath the blazer, she wore a plain white T-shirt. Her mother had blown out her hair for her before sticking some pearl pins in it, clipping back the left hand side away from her face. She was also wearing little black heels for the first time in a while that squeezed the life out of her toes. Kennedy always felt ridiculous attending those events. But she was doing it for her mother.

           Kennedy walked into the ballroom area where the luncheon was being held at a fancy hotel, holding onto her mother's arm. Caroline was wearing an elegant white dress and silk elbow-length gloves. Her mother always looked effortlessly put together at events—whilst Kennedy felt like she was wearing someone else's skin, just pretending like she fit in there.

           Her mother lifted a glass of champagne from a tray on a waiters hand. Kennedy reached for one but her mother swatted her hand away. Kennedy groaned, "How do you expect me to make it through this shit fest without a drink?" She complained, tipping her head back to look at her mother.

          Caroline looked down at her, eyebrows pulled downwards, "Because you're sixteen and not legal to drink alcohol," Kennedy groaned again. Caroline turned to face her, grabbing her daughter's hand. "Pumpkin, please just try and smile? This is a really important event for the charity. If we raise enough money, we'll be donating it to the food bank on the Cut and—"

         "Okay, okay," Kennedy spoke over her, nodding her head. She smiled up at her mother. "I'll behave, mom. Promise," She said, making her mother breathe out a sigh of relief. Kennedy gave her mother a nudge. "Now, off you go and mingle. Get that bread or whatever." She dismissed, waving her hand as if swatting a fly.

           Caroline chuckled and placed a kiss to her daughter's head before disappearing into the crowd of rich, pretentious assholes. Kennedy hated those events because a large portion of the people that attended, didn't give a shit about the charity. They just wanted to look good and throw their money around to show off that they had it. No one cared as much as Kennedy's mom in her eyes—her mom was a fucking Saint. She actually wanted to help people. They just wanted to help themselves.

           "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Kennedy turned around at the voice from behind her. Her eyes fell on Drew Lonsdale approaching her in a black suit, her face immediately falling. Drew was the type of guy you always got in trouble with. His father owned a boating company and had made his millions—making Drew untouchable. No matter how many drugs he would take and get rowdy at events, he was never punished because of his name. Kennedy had been close with Drew a few months back when she first found out about her fathers affair, but she had been avoiding him like the plague recently.

          Kennedy straightened her back out, staring the dark-haired boy down with a fierce glare, "Not interested, Drew." She told him, getting straight to the point.

          The boy feigned offence, "I just wanna talk to one of my favourite people—"

          "Well, she doesn't want to talk to you," Kennedy spoke over him. His eyes glimmered mischievously at her, making her glare intensify as she grabbed his arm. "Drew, look, this is my mom's event, okay? I need to be—"

         "On your bestest behaviour," Drew interrupted her in a mocking tone. "Yeah, I don't buy that shit, Kenny. You hate these events—maybe more than I do," Kennedy shook her head, looking away from him. "Come on, let's go get shit-faced so we can stand to look at these people." He put his hand over hers, giving it a tug as he tried to drag her to where the bar was through a set of French doors.

           Kennedy yanked her arm out of his grip, "Drew, I am not getting drunk with you," She refused as he looked down at her, arching an amused eyebrow. "Go find someone else to be a loser with." She hissed up at him, folding her arms at her chest.

           Drew turned his full body towards her, lowering himself to her height, a sly smile crossing his lips, "Where's daddy dearest today?" Kennedy felt her teeth grit together. She regretted telling Drew a single thing about her family problems a few months back—but in her defence, she had been high out of her mind and the words had just tumbled out of her mouth. "Not here, huh?" Kennedy glared into his eyes.

           "Fuck you, Drew." She spat.

          Drew whistled through his teeth, "So much anger in that tiny little body of yours," He scolded, tutting her. He lowered his face to hers. "Have a drink with me, Kenny. Then I'll leave you alone—scouts honour, I swear." She stared him down, watching his expression carefully.

    She sighed heavily, "Fine. One drink." She gave in, making Drew grin hugely at her before offering her his arm. Kennedy took a look around before letting out an even heavier sigh and taking Drew's arm, knowing she had to keep up appearances. God, she really fucking hated those pretentious events.

         Kennedy was borderline drunk—well, tipsy, at least. That kind of tipsy where she felt giggly and like she was capable of anything. She could still walk straight at least, and put together coherent sentences. But she just felt better, like all of the problems in her life had momentarily disappeared.

          She was sitting outside the hotel, on a golf cart with Drew. They were far enough away from the event that they could sip from the bottle of Vodka Drew had managed to bribe the bartender into giving him without anyone seeing them. Drew could make anyone do anything, that was something Kennedy had learned pretty quickly about him when they started spending time together.

            Kennedy was giggling to herself as she rose the Vodka bottle to her lips, "No, I'm telling you, it's true—he was so drunk we managed to convince him he had joined a Cult and we were his humble followers," Drew continued telling her the story he had been reminiscing. "Dude really took a reign of authority after that. I think I'm actually kind of scared of him." Kennedy laughed, throwing her head back. He was telling her a story about Jonathan Bates, a guy from the year below them at the Kook Academy. He had been tripping on acid and somehow, Drew managed to convince him that he was a Cult leader.

           Silence washed over them as Kennedy's laughter died down, smiling into the glass bottle. Drew nudged her side with his arm. His suit jacket had been thrown over the back of the golf cart whilst Kennedy's heels were by her feet and her legs draped over the steering wheel.

          Kennedy turned to face him, "I really missed that laugh of yours," Drew told her, pushing his forehead against her shoulder, making her chuckle a little. "I missed you, actually. And all the crazy shit we'd get up to." He confessed, his voice dropping an octave.

          Kennedy took in a deep inhale, "I was going through a lot back then, Drew. My head was fucked," She reminded him, twirling with the ends of her hair as she stared straight ahead at the hotel. She exhaled shakily. "As much as you bug me, you really did help me take my mind off of things. So thanks for that." She said, turning to face him with a tipsy smile.

            Drew shrugged, "That would have been the mind-altering drugs," Kennedy laughed again. Drew leaned closer to her. "Do you remember that night at Lexi's party? We got super bored real fast and ended up taking Molly on the roof. It took a while, but once it kicked in you were so—you were so free. You made me dance with you on the roof, shit, we almost fell off like five times but you didn't give a fuck." Kennedy watched him as he spoke from memory, a glazed over look in his eyes.

             Drew looked up at her through his eyelashes, "I really wanted to kiss you that night." He admitted, his face inches away from hers. Kennedy blinked. She couldn't remember if the feeling had been mutual—she wasn't even sure the feeling was mutual right then. Her mind was too hazy from the alcohol, making it harder for her to process her thoughts. When she had met Drew, she and Rafe had been on a break—but they certainly weren't on a break anymore.

            Drew's lips brushed against hers making her suddenly jumped back, as if his touch was poison. Drew leaned back slightly, taking in how she wouldn't meet his eyes. He scoffed bitterly, "You always were a tease." He said under his breath, shaking his head.

           Kennedy reeled back, sobering up a little, "Excuse me?" She demanded.

           "You heard me," Drew said in a sharp tone. "That's all you ever did, use me and lead me on—"

            "Drew, I don't owe you shit," Kennedy spoke over him as she got up from the golf cart, grabbing her heels from the floor. She tucked her hair behind her ear, feeling flustered. "Just because you've made me feel better a few times doesn't mean I have to kiss you." She informed him, narrowing her eyes.

             Drew laughed bitterly, "Doesn't it, though?"

          Kennedy stared at him in disbelief before shaking her head, "Fuck you," She spat. "Don't ever fucking talk to me again—I mean it, Drew. Stay away from me." She growled before turning her back on him and stomping across the golf course barefoot.

"Tell your boyfriend I said hi!" He called after her, making her roll her eyes as she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

            She pulled out her phone as she stopped on the porch of hotel. There were a few unopened messages from the cheerleading girls she decided to open.

CHELSEA.
party at trini's place @ 7.

LEXI.
kenny, u in???

KENNEDY.
u bet ur ass im in💃

TRINITY.
yessss, babe. c u soon!!

              Kennedy shut her phone off and walked back into the Country Club. She found her mother, who was gushing about the thousands of dollars they had raised in the last few hours. She'd also had a few glasses of champagne, putting her in a good enough mood to allow Kennedy to leave early when she asked. She even gave her some cash to pick up some snacks on her way there and for a cab back.

               Just as she was heading down the hall, she heard some chatter coming from a room. The door was closed, but the voices had piqued her interest—because she knew they belonged to the Pogues and none of them belonged in a four star hotel except for Kiara—who would rather drop dead.

She leaned up against the wall, craning her neck and trying to eavesdrop on what they were saying in the computer room. She couldn't hear much, just something about coordinates and money—a lot of money, five hundred mil to be exact. Which made her all the more curious.

Footsteps coming closer to the door made her take a few hasty steps backwards, reaching for the next available room but the door was locked. She jiggled the handle relentlessly but to no avail would it open, "Fuck." She whispered to herself, just as the group piled out of the computer room. One thing she did hear though, was Pope exclaiming if they could do something that wasn't illegal for money just once.

"Kennedy?" Her name came from John B's lips as he stopped to stare at her, hand on the door handle, eyes wide, like a deer caught in headlights.

She turned around, putting a smile on her face, "Hey," She drawled out, looking between the group who had all stopped to stare at her. "I was just trying to find the bathroom, this place is like a fucking maze. What're y'all doing here?" She turned the tables on them, trying to get their suspicions off of her, and instead, making them the suspicious ones.

The group looked between one another, as if telepathically trying to come up with something to say, "Uhh... Pope had to check up on some emails about his scholarship," JJ was quick to say, earning rapid nods from the rest of his friends. JJ clicked his tongue. "Y'know, no power on the Cut." He added, holding Kennedy's gaze.

She stared at him before tilting her head, "Well, you know, you need a membership to use the facilities at this hotel," She pointed out, making them look at each other nervously. "Y'all don't happen to have memberships, do you?" She was teasing them a little, enjoying the wave of paranoia she could feel coming from them.

"You're not gonna—you're not gonna tell, are you?" Pope worriedly asked.

Kennedy pretended to think about it, "Nah," She said, earning sighs of relief. "Wouldn't want to interfere with Pope's scholarship, would I?" But you guys really should be leaving, before someone else sees you here. Someone who isn't as lenient as me." She told them, folding her arms at her chest, giving a small smile.

Kiara scoffed at her words.

"You don't have to tell us twice," John B said. "Alright, guys. Let's go." He said, ushering them down the hallway as Kennedy watched them go, the smile still on her lips.

"Bye now!" She called after them, giving a small wave as they hurriedly rushed out of the hotel. The moment they were gone, the smile dropped from her lips. Between their weird ass infatuation with Scooter's boat and then overhearing them talk about coordinates and money, Kennedy couldn't help but feel even more suspicious of them. She didn't exactly know what she was suspicious of, but if she did know one thing, it was that the Pogues were up to something—and she wanted to know what.

( authors note )

             hi 😈

           — taylor x