The day for the Herrera's was hard, being woken up by the sounds of her sister's puking from the night before, where Elena had figured out that Wheezie and her, spend the night out, drinking. Then there was her father, who didn't sleep much but it wasn't because he had pain, it was because he couldn't sleep, but the morning he had fallen into a deep one, and snores overcome the house. Elena couldn't take it anymore, she got out of her home and sat at the stairs of the front porch, she tapped her foot on the stairs and tried her best to listen to the sounds of the chirping birds.

She wasn't really in the mood of going to Midsummers, the rich event Kie had invited her to, but she knew her friend didn't want to be alone at that party and honestly, Elena didn't want to be here another minute. It also meant she had to see the faces from last night, Rafe, Topper, and Kelce would be there, she didn't want that. Elena shook her head trying to take her mind out of those memories but now the memories of the night before with JJ kept haunting her, wanting to take power over her thoughts, she needed to apologize for her actions, she didn't mean to kiss JJ, especially when she knew he had feelings for Kie and Kie well is her friend, a friend who probably felt the same way towards JJ.

She noticed the Maybank's Jeep pass next to her house and saw briefly JJ's face looking out the window, bloody and his eyes tearing up. Elena stood up and followed the car carefully, being cautious about not being seen. Maybe this wasn't the right time to apologize but she could at least check upon him.

"Get in the house boy, right now" the scream of Luke made her jump, for whatever reason, JJ's father was furious. Maybe this is a terrible idea, she thought to herself, stopping briefly and shook the idea out of her mind before starting her steps again. Keeping her head down, she made her way through the back door, the blaring of rock music started, and all Elena could hear was Luke screaming at his son, cursing, and just being a complete asshole.

"You are a worthless piece of shit, tell me where the hell are you going to get 30k?" the screams of Luke scared Elena. Whatever had just happened, she knew it could end up being a mess if she knocked on the door. So she waited outside on her back porch, seconds turned into minutes, and those turned into hours.

Elena kept on pacing side to side biting the nail of her thumb and cracking her knuckles, there was silence on their house and JJ hadn't come out just yet, that was until she heard the engine of the motorbike, her attention quickly went towards the blonde who drove pass her and returned.

"I'll drop you off at Kie's, hop on." JJ said and without thinking, Elena did as told sitting on the back of the motorbike and grabbing the helmet JJ gave her, wrapping her arms around him and hearing the engine of the motor start "You ready?" He asked her making Elena nod her head and just like that the motor drove away from the houses towards their destinations.

JJ arrived at Kie's house and stopped the motorbike in the entrance, Elena hopped off and took off the helmet, adjusting her hair making it look more presentable, a smile appeared on her face, it was a pained smile, she could see the dried up blood on his face, the swollen lip and bruises forming in the corners of his lips and eye. And there was no way she would talk to him about last night.

"JJ" Elena tried to look for his eyes, he did his best to avoid meeting her gaze and just rode away, the helmet kept on her hands, she just saw him riding away, becoming smaller and smaller, Elena blinked a few times biting the inside of her lower lip. "What the hell?" she mumbled to herself and turned around walking towards the door and knocking a few times.

"Oh thank god you came." The voice of Kie brought Elena back to reality and ignored all questions of what just happened out of her mind. "What's wrong? Is that JJ's helmet? Is he okay?" She asked and pointed down to her hands.

"Um no, I mean, everything's okay, and yeah JJ, I think he's fine, he brought me here, just left but I forgot to give it back to him and well ask him anything really. " Elena said with a closed-lip smile before entering her house after her friend. "So what's the plan?" Her brown eyes set on her friend who happily grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs to her room.

"Okay, we need to get ready, honestly I would love to skip this disgusting party and go back to our place, we should've stopped JJ and just drive behind him or something, I just really don't want to be here when my friends in the cut barely have any electricity or food." Ranting her heart out Kie didn't notice how Elena just sat down on her bed, eyes lost and quiet.

"Kie," interrupting her friend Elena looked up to her biting the outside of her lower lip "Do you like JJ?"

"What do you mean?" Kiara tilted her head to the side and lines formed between her eyebrows.

"I mean, do you like, like, him?" Hoping to be explicit on her question Elena really hoped she said yes, she hoped Kiara liked JJ and that they could be together at some point. All she really wanted was for her friends to be happy.

"I don't know, I mean he's JJ, he's a likable guy. Why do you ask?" The attention of her friend was straightening to Elena even more now.

"Just asking, out of curiosity." Elena stood up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom. There she saw the dress she was going to wear, a two-piece set of white color with floral decorations, the lower piece three inches above her knees. It was a beautiful dress.

"You ready Elena?" Kiara called her out and saw from the reflection of her mirror Elena walking out "Oh wow El, you look stunning, I knew that dress was going to look amazing on you, come, come, sit down. I'll do your hair." Kiara smiles and grabbed Elena's arm pulling her towards the chair.

Her dark brown hair was loose and curly, a flower crown was placed on her head and accessories around her neck and wrists. Elena felt different somehow, she didn't look that much different, she wore dresses back in her hometown, but here at Outer Banks, she felt different.

"There you go, you look gorgeous El." Kie said smiling at their reflections, the brunette stood up and hugged her friend tightly, the arms of Kie surrounded the back of Elena as the hug was close. "Come on, we got a social suicide event to attend to." She whispered in her ear and chuckled taking her hand in hers and walking outside.

Kiara greeted people Elena didn't recognize and some she had seen at the Kegger, Elena saw the group of guys she wanted to avoid the most, Rafe, Kelce, and Topper, all with drinks in hand and talking about something.

"Come, I think I just saw Pope." The voice of Kie distracted Elena from looking at the guys who met her gaze and smiled at her, lifting up their glasses. Kiara was right about seeing Pope, he was working with his father serving food, food that seemed so delicious and something she hadn't eaten in the Cut side of Outer Banks.

"Excuse me sir?" Kiara said with her best British accent "do we have to shuck these ourselves?" Pope turned around and the annoyed look on his face changed to a smile as he saw Kiara in front of him "Because it might mess up my costume." Kiara chuckled and did her handshake with Pope.

"We wouldn't like that now, would we?" Pope said smiling, "Hi El." He greeted the girl with a kiss on her cheek, both girls stood on his side and looked around. "That accent was bad."

"Bad? It was awful, sorry Kie, just telling the truth here." Elena chuckled and looked at her friend who agreed with her about how terrible it was.

"You've ever seen this many Kooks in one place'" Kiara asked.

"Yeah," Pope agreed "Last year."

"Oh, you guys should definitely visit my hometown during weekends, Kooks everywhere." Elena added and sighed, she looked at the place, rich people were all gathered up with champagne glasses on their hands and fake smiles and laughter.

"Hey, have you heard from JJ?" Pope made the question but his eyes were looking at Kie, shaking her head her brown eyes fell on Elena.

"I haven't heard anything, but over here, Elena has, JJ brought her." Both of them looked down at the girl, Elena sighed and turned away from their gaze.

"He's fine, he went back home, I think, but, he will be fine, I know it." Elena looked away when her eyes noticed Kelce looking at her.

"He'll be alright, he's got the survival instincts of a cockroach." Kie added to the comment, there was a need to lift up the mood and she really tried her best to do so.

"It's all my fault."

"Uh, you didn't do this, Pope. Topper almost killed you. Remember?" Kiara turned to look at Pope, she wasn't going to let him have the responsible card. The faint sound of clapping got the three of them looking at the entrance of the home. "Here come Lord Capital and the exploiters." Rose and Ward came out, followed by Wheezie, Sarah Cameron, and Topper stood on the side waiting for his girlfriend.

"Hi, um," Elena said, both of her friends looked at her "I'll be getting my drink, I'll see you in a moment?" Kie and Pope nodded their head and watched how the girl walked away and towards the inside of the house through another door.

Elena walked through the house, she searched for the bar or at least someone that could make her a drink and she could be able to see what they were doing, the inside of Cameron's house was filled even by more people, she could even feel the difference of the weather compared to outside, it was humid and Elena all she wanted now was to get her drink and leave.

"Elena?" A male voice was heard behind her, the brunette turned and saw Adrien making his way to her, wearing a maroon suit with the two first buttons of his shirt were undone, his smile widened when he had reached her "Hi, I didn't know you were making an appearance."

"Yeah, a friend invited me, she didn't want to be alone with this too many people she doesn't get along with." Elena answered and looked around "Hey, uh, where's the bar? I really am in need of a drink." She chuckled, Adrien smirked in response to her.

"I know where to find the bar, follow me." He said and walked away from the living through a corridor, Elena walked behind him and as people started to disappear from their surrounding, the girl joined by his side. There were times Adrien had looked behind him to check on Elena and make sure she was following him but when she was walking by his side he kept on looking at her with his smile, the two of them then reached a kitchen that was filled with waiters taking orders and giving out their orders, there was chaos in the room but Adrien managed to walk through the crowd grabbing Elena by her hand pulling her with him until stopping before the bar.

"Best seats to order your drinks, am I right?" He chuckled and turned to look at the bartender "Give us two glasses of whiskey please." The bartender nodded his head and got to work, Elena looked around and noticed how people weren't paying attention to them, the workers were too invested in getting drinks and snacks ready, in some way, there was peace but the noise wasn't really that helpful.

"So Elena," Adrien's voice made the girl turn to look at him and pay all attention to his voice, "Kelce told me you were living on the cut side, be honest with me, how's the life there?" His brown eyes were looking at her, there was no hint of sarcasm or malice in his voice, maybe he wanted to know but maybe, he was too good at faking the interested voice.

"It's nice, I mean we don't have the luxuries you guys have of course, but there's more peace, we got more freedom probably." Elena chuckled at her words, the bartender placed the glasses of whiskey on the stool and Elena looked down at it. She wasn't a drinker so she didn't really know the taste of this, her eyes were looking down with her eyebrows furrowed together.

"You have never tried whiskey before right?" Adrien asked after he took a sip of his drink, a smile on his lips as his eyes looked down at the alcohol too. Elena shook her head and apologized "Don't apologize, Elena, not everyone drinks like everyday, unlike the Kooks here," Adrien grabbed his glass again and look at the girl for her to do the same "All you do is take a little sip, don't take it all in, don't like it? Don't drink it, won't force you to do so." Elena smiled and took the glass in her hand, Adrien clicked his glass with her and both took a sip. Elena's scrunched her nose when the alcohol touched her taste buds, it wasn't a horrible taste, she liked it but it was something strong for her.

"Adrien, we need you." Rafe appeared in the room, neither of them noticed at what moment he had walked in, Rafe ignored the girl completely and Elena couldn't be happier, Adrien looked at her, his smile wasn't there anymore.

"Go, I need to head back outside with my friends, nice seeing you here." Elena smiled and took another sip of the whiskey before leaving and heading outside. The yellow sky was dark now, she didn't stay inside for long so it was surprising that the sky had changed quickly. Elena looked around searching for Kie, but her eyes fell on Pope, maybe he could tell her where she had gone.

"Where were you? Kie has been looking for you all over the place." Pope whispered when the girl stood in front of him.

"I went inside for a drink, found Adrien, but that's not the point right now, where's Kie?" She asked and followed Pope's finger where he was pointing, Kie was standing next to her parents on the porch. "Thanks, Pope." She walked away and when reach her friend she tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Thank God, where were you? I thought you said you were going for a drink here outside, there's a bar there." Kie sighed and grabbed Elena by her arm pulling her close to her before walking away from her parents. "They are annoying me with the talks about the good things money is making and how they are going to spend it away but," She groaned and shook her head, Elena just stared at her confused "Sorry, sorry, anyway, let's get away from this area at least."

Elena and Kie walked away from the porch and made their way to some benches and stared at the people who were drinking and dancing, there was live music coming from center stage, people were looking like they were having fun, and this was the moment Elena wondered why Kiara hated this so much, she could see the point of view where the Kooks spend their money and not help the Cut side, but also if they could have fun why couldn't they just enjoy the night away. Elena smiled at the sight of a group of little kids dancing, Melissa would've loved being here and having fun, she wished she was invited by Wheezie, but this wasn't the case and honestly, her dad needed someone to keep him company.

"Hey," Adrien's voice was heard again, both girls turned and looked at him "Hi, I'm Adrien." With a stretched hand for Kiara he introduced himself, Kiara just looked at Elena confused.

"Uh, yeah, um, Kie this is Adrien, I met him at Sarah's home and he got me something to drink," Elena explained as she looked at Kie's face softened and smiled "And Adrien, this is Kiara, this is my friend, she's the one who invited me over." She said smiling and turning to look at Adrien, "Now you know each other, but, what can I do for you, Adrien?" She asked the boy whose smile and chuckle were seen on his face.

"This might be too bold for me to ask since we barely know each other but, may I ask for a dance?" Elena was taken back by the sudden invite, yeah they just met, and now a dance? Kiara nudged her and nodded her head.

"Go have fun, I'll be talking to some "friends", go." Kiara stood up and looked at Adrien from head to toe "You better take good care of her Adrien, she means a lot to me, and if anything happens, I got Pogue friends who would hurt you for hurting her." Adrien chuckled and said he understood, Elena just looked at Kie confused, and widened eyes, then she was alone with him. The brunette stood up and took Adrien's hand, the live music wasn't upbeat to dance like a maniac but it wasn't calm for them to have a slow dance, so whatever type of dancing they would have started making her feel anxious.

"Sorry for asking you out to dance just like that, I just think you seem interesting, you are a Pogue, but not how the rest of Kooks describe them, you seem different and I mean this in a very nice way, I don't want to offend you," Adrien's word stumbled with each other, he was nervous too and she didn't get why "You look like a very sweet girl and the way Kelce talked about you, made me want to know you." Adrien had his hand around her waist, while the other one grabbed her hand, a slow dance.

Elena looked down at her feet trying to hide a smile that wanted to peek out. Kelce talked nicely about her, was Kelce image going to change? What was happening to her? Last night she kissed JJ and felt how her heart fluttered and how her breath was lost, but then there was Kelce who seemed to be a guy who liked her but he was also mean and a bully who had tried to kill JJ, and there he was, Adrien, a guy she just met and was very attractive and sweet, a guy who wanted to know her. What was happening? Elena was confused and too many things were happening, all of this happening in Midsummers.