CHAPTER ELEVEN: TAKE CONTROL
( episode five: midsummers )

✲*'。

"It was me."

"JJ, no—" Arden tried to protest, slinking forward to try and grab his arm.

"He tried to talk me out of it," the blonde boy cut off Arden as she grabbed his arm. JJ simply shook her off without even looking at her, plastering on his best smirk as he waltzed up to the car like he had all the time in the world on his hands. "But I was mad 'cause he'd just been beaten up. I was so sick of those assholes from Figure Eight that I lost my shit."

The silence was so thick, you could've cut it with a knife. Shoupe was nodding slowly, his face remaining blank as he shared a look with his colleague. From where she was standing, Arden could see that Shoupe was unimpressed. He had come here to arrest someone. He wanted it done with now.

"Pope, I can't let you take the blame for somethin' I did. You've got too much to lose."

"JJ, what are you doing?" the boy in question hissed, looking terrified with his arms restrained but just as fearful over letting his best friend take the blame.

"I'm tellin' the truth. For once in my god damn life, I'm going to tell the truth." He looked around at each of his friends before meeting the skeptical and entirely confused gaze of Mr Heyward as he said, "I took his old man's boat, too."

"What the hell?"

"JJ, come on," Pope shook his head. He was on the brink of tears.

"Shut up, Pope. Just shut up."

"He's a good kid," he murmured to a frowning Shoupe. "You know where I'm from."

"Yeah."

At JJ's words, Arden felt a protective urge wash over her. All she wanted was to grab JJ by the arms and pull him into a tight hug, keep him out of Shoupe's grip. She wanted to crush him in her arms so he would back down from this idiotic idea.

"Where he's from shouldn't matter," Haven snapped, voicing Arden's exact thoughts. "Shoupe, you can't be serious—"

"Haven, just leave it alone," JJ shouted, refusing to look her in the eyes as he shot Haven a warning glare. He was doing this, no matter what she said. Even Arden's tear stained eyes that he could see as clear as day wasn't enough for him to change his mind. "This was all me."

"And that's the whole truth, Pope?" Shoupe questioned.

"Whole truth, swear to god," JJ muttered.

He rolled his eyes. "I know what you think, damn it. I'm asking Pope."

"Yeah, that about covers it..."

And so the handcuffs were removed from Pope's wrists and placed on JJ's. He was smirking to himself as he was pushed inside the truck, Shoupe slamming the door on him before nodding at Heyward and getting behind the driver's wheel.

"You pathetic excuse of a man," Haven snapped as she glared at him through the windshield.

Before they knew it, the car was disappearing around a bend and out of sight. Arden promptly burst into sobs, Kie bringing her in for a hug while attempting to murmur reassurances into her ear. Kie was the one thing currently holding her up right now, Arden's last line of support in her plummeting world.

The father of her child was a felon now. The chances of trying to convince mother that JJ should be in her babies life was slim to none

"Pope, wait!" Heyward shouted, starling Arden's head out from Kie's shoulders as she watched a horrified Pope sprint off in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to the station," Haven declared to those who remained in the yard.

Kie immediately frowned at Haven over her head. "Have, there's nothing you can do. I was just saying that to Arden."

"I don't care," she spat.

"Haven, Kiara's right," Mr Heyward spoke up. "I know he's your cousin, but he got arrested for a reason."

"I'm sorry sir," she said. "But I have to go."

After Haven had rounded the corner, trying her best to catch up to Shoupe, Kiara turned around to stare at Arden. Her eyes had unknowingly followed after Haven.

"You need to go home, you need to go back to your Moms. There's nothing we can do." Kiara muttered, watching as Arden turned her attention back on her.

"But ... but ...."

Kiara gently grabbed Arden by the shoulders. Dark brown meeting soil brown.

"Ard, trust me on this." Kiara gently murmured as she led Arden back to her car.

And very reluctantly so, Arden did trust Kiara on this. The last thing her mother needed was to hear was that Arden had gone to prison to try and bust out her ex-boyfriend.

✲*'。

Arden focused on the repetitiveness of applying a light coat of makeup, covering up her blemishes---- her pimples, the bags under her eyes and most importantly the haunted look in her eyes. She was in the middle of applying a light coat of brown eye shadow when her mother barged into her room.

"Your not ready!" Eun-Cha barked. Arden's eyebrow ever so slightly squinted, the only give away to Arden's cold facade.

"Midsummers doesn't begin for another two hours mother."

"But we need to leave now! How else can I make a good impression Arden? Would you ever use that head of yours!"

Arden huffed, plastering a fake smile onto her lips, spinning around to meet her mother's dark stare. She needed to ease this in correctly or she would never be rid of her mother. She sighed to herself, drumming her fingers against her vanity.

"Are you sure it's such a good idea for me to arrive so early with you Mother? You know how everyone reacted to my .... 'scandal.' Wouldn't it look too presumptuous if I was to arrive with you now?"

Arden bit her lip to stop the smirk quirking on her lips as her mother pondered her words. "That is true .... your scandal has already done so much damage to our reputation ---- it's beginning to improve thanks to the Cameron's."

Arden quickly pinched the outer layer of her skin so she wouldn't be tempted to skin her mother alive.

"Yes that sounds reasonable. Edwardo will be back to pick you up in an hour and fifty minutes time. Do not be late Arden."

When her mother had finally left, Arden dug into her vanity, holding the box of black and blonde hair dye close.

"Trust me Eomma, I wouldn't dare dream of it...."
✲*'。

Arden felt the bundle of nerves laying on her belly, beginning to wrack her stomach as the car approached the golf club. Her hand nervously began to play with the two strands Arden had dyed black earlier to contrast her blonde strands. Arden could already feel her mother's glower and she hadn't even arrived at the event yet. The hair statement had been the only daring action Arden attempted.

She still wore her crown of fake daisy flowers that she had made only the other day with Sarah, gleefully in the hopes of trying to make something of the boring event. She had happily slipped into the dress Kie had gotten her earlier. In fact she was glad that the dress was so tight around her belly, it was daringly showing off her bump in a way that would leave Arden's mother pissed for days. In the end, Arden decided against wearing heels. The thought of them was enough for her to want to rub her feet. Instead, she had settled for a metallic silver, gladiator themed sandal.

Arden and her little jelly bean were comfortable. That was all that mattered to her...

"Thank you Edwardo," Arden spoke in a low voice before leaving the car. She inhaled softly, straightening her face into a confident smile, walking directly over to Sarah, past her mother whose eyes narrowed in anger at Arden's two toned hair style. She shot Ward Cameron a smile full of teeth, linking her hand through with Sarah's.

"Look at you rebelling," Her friend commented, a wry smirk on her face as Sarah's hand reached up the make the two black strands more pronounced against the flower crown. "What can I say, I felt like I needed to really piss my mother off."

Sarah smirked, shooting a glance back towards her step-mother and Arden's mom. "You know what would piss them off even more?"

"Oh you must tell me more bitch," Arden commented, intrigue blossoming on her face. "I think it's time for the return of Sarden, in a more public fashion?"

Arden lips formed a proud smile as she caught onto exactly what Sarah was implying. The summer before hand, before Arden and JJ, even before Haven came to the outer banks, Arden and her best friend had the briefest of flings. It was one of those sort of flimsy relationships that even didn't last the week. The girls friendship had been way more important to them to risk it and so they returned to being joined at the hip; in the platonic sense. It was something they had kept under wraps, only Kiara had found out after the fling ran it's course.

Arden couldn't help the devilish smirk that formed on her lips as she wrapped her arm around her friends neck, while Sarah's fell to Arden's hips, her palm encircling the base of her bump.

"Shall we m'lady?" Sarah asked bowing down her head in a mocking fashion.

"Unfortunately I may have to excuse myself on this front. I don't want to piss my mother off too much."

Sarah shot her a sad smile, gently laying her hands onto Arden's cheeks. "Remember, the moment you give me the green light we can be on the first flight out of here to Europe."

Arden could only smile weakly back at Sarah, humouring the idea for a moment. If she was to actually consider Sarah's words, Arden's first and primary concern was how exactly she wanted them to both survive. If both her and Sarah just suddenly upped and left, neither of them would receive a cent from their parents. It wasn't the most logical of plans, but the fact that Sarah cared enough to even mention it to her was enough to make Arden incredibly grateful to have Sarah as her friend.

"I'll see you on the flip side," Arden mockingly saluted, slinking off into the crowd, determined to stay out of sight and out of mind to get this night over and done with.

✲*'。