CHAPTER SIX
"I've never done anything like that before"

EVELYN HASN'T SEEN SARAH for the entire day and time ticks by, she doesn't think she's going to. The two of them are supposed to go down to watch the movie tonight but she assumes that isn't happening anymore. She doesn't really want to go by herself either.

Grabbing her phone from the table, she scrolls through her contacts until she finds the one that had been put in there without her knowledge. Not only did the blonde pogue manage to snag her phone when she wasn't looking at some stage, but he'd also made sure to save his number. Clicking on the 'JJ 😍' with a roll of her eyes, she begins to type out a message.

'You guys going to the movie night?'

It only takes a few minutes to get a response. 'Yep'.

It's vague but at least it's an answer. 'You guys need a ride?'

'I'm not gonna say no'

So that is how she finds herself with Pope, JJ and Kiara in her car a few hours later. John B isn't with them and none of them seem to have any idea where he is either. At least she isn't the only one who is having their best friend ghost them, Sarah Cameron still missing in action.

"Sarah isn't coming tonight, is she?"

It's Kiara who asks the question, a glum look on her face as she mentions the blonde. It's a fair ask really, usually this is the kind of thing that Sarah and Evelyn would go to together.

"I don't think so. She hasn't answered any of my texts today so I don't really have any idea where she is," Evelyn shrugs, turning into the parking lot.

She parks in a spot that is a little far from where the screen is but she doesn't have much choice. It's pretty packed, just like it always is. Evelyn gets out and waits for the others to follow before locking it. They begin to walk and JJ casually throws an arm over her shoulder.

"This'll be your first time experiencing this pogue style though," JJ grins, giving her a little shake.

"We're watching a movie, JJ. It can't be that different," Evelyn rolls her eyes fondly, elbowing his side lightly.

"Oh but it is—"

"You're not one of those people who talk through movies, are you? Because if that's the case, I'll be sitting as far away from you as possible,"

"When have you ever known JJ to be quiet?" Kiara scoffs and Evelyn supposes she has a point.

Evelyn allows the blonde boy to guide her towards where they'll be sitting, the girl not missing the fact that there's somebody staring at them. Topper is there, his eyes narrowed in distaste as he looks at the duo. She can tell he's not happy, about what she's not sure. Perhaps it's because Pope sunk his boat or maybe it's because he still thinks he has some sort of reason to be 'protective' over his girlfriend's best friend. She remembers that day in front of her house when he was worried that JJ was going to hurt her or something, when in reality it's probably him and Rafe that she should be more scared of.

"You know, sometimes I think he has a thing for you," JJ snickers, his eyes now on the boy who is standing by himself. "Either that or he has a staring problem,"

"I'm going to go with the second option," Evelyn replies.

"Topper is here?" Pope whispers from beside the two of them, eyes wide.

"Evelyn," It's Kiara who is speaking now, cutting off any sort of conversation between the trio. They all turn to look at her. "Come and get some drinks with me?"

It's the first time that Kiara has really extended an olive branch to her so Evelyn would be an idiot not to grab onto it with both hands. She nods her head and walks side by side with the other girl towards where they can get some drinks.

"Look, I know you aren't like Sarah, ok? But I don't get this whole hanging out with us thing. You've never shown any interest before," Kiara says quietly, glancing over to Evelyn a few times.

"I enjoy JJ and Pope's company. In case you haven't noticed, Kie, Sarah is really my only friend," Evelyn shrugs her shoulders.

"Why not make friends with some of the other kooks then?"

Evelyn sends her a look and for the first time in quite a while, Kiara's lips flicker up into a small smile. She knows that Kiara doesn't like any of the people on Figure 8, not since her kook year anyway. It's still hard to wrap her head around the fact that Kiara and Sarah were such good friends at one stage when they can't even stand the sight of each other now.

"Two Pepsis please," Kiara starts before looking over to the other girl. "Want anything?"

"I'm okay, thanks. I bought my water," Evelyn replies, shaking the bottle in response. She places it on the table as they wait.

Evelyn spots him before Kiara, Rafe Cameron walking over with what she can assume isn't good intentions. She hasn't forgotten what he did the other day, she doesn't think she will ever be able to forget the way that Pope looked after he'd been attacked. It was also the final nail in the coffin when it came to her positive feelings about him, he isn't the same boy she grew up with.

"Hey Kie, Vee," Rafe greets so casually that Evelyn kind of wants to throw one of the drinks over his head. "How's it going?"

Evelyn gives him a look and she knows Kiara is doing the same.

"Fine," Kiara responds shortly, grabbing the two drinks from the person at the stand.

"Hmm great. Uh tell your boy that we know what he did," Rafe's voice is incredibly condescending and Evelyn doesn't miss the way his gaze moves over to her for a few moments.

"Sorry, what boy are you talking about?" Kiara asks.

"He'll know, I know Evelyn certainly does. You help them, Vee?"

Evelyn shrugs her shoulders rather calmly considering the nerves that are jumping around within her. "I don't know what you're talking about, Rafe. Come on Kie, we'll miss the movie if we don't hurry up,"

Evelyn and Rafe share one final look before the girl walks off with Kiara right behind her. JJ and Pope aren't looking in their direction when they approach but they give almost all their attention instantly when Kiara mentions she'd spoken with Rafe mere moments before.

"I left my water," Evelyn groans softly, turning around to walk away again but Pope's hand shoots out and gently grabs her wrist. The girl looks at him.

"You can't go back over there," He says rather urgently, eyes straying to Rafe who is now standing with Topper and Kelce.

"They're not going to jump me in front of all these people, Pope. I'll be fine, I'm just grabbing my drink,"

The boy watches on somewhat helplessly as she walks away, JJ and Kiara still in a deep discussion about what might 'go down' tonight. Neither of them have even noticed the other girl's disappearance.

Evelyn smiles at the worker, picking up the water from the table and silently cursing at herself for being incredibly stupid. She turns around and stops short when there's somebody standing in her way. Maybe Pope was right to be worried.

Topper is standing in front of her, thankfully on his lonesome, with a drink in his hand and an expression she can't quite read on his face. "Can I talk to you?"

Evelyn watches him for a few moments before slowly nodding her head. She follows after him, desperate to get this conversation out of the way so that she can go back and actually enjoy whatever movie they're deciding to show tonight.

Pope gently slaps JJ's arm a few times to pull his attention away from his conversation with Kiara. "Dude, what?"

Pope nods over to where Evelyn and Topper are going. The two kooks are standing where everybody can see them but it's private enough that they can have an actual conversation without other people listening in. JJ goes to stand up when Kiara grabs his arm to stop him, shaking her head.

"Don't. Topper won't do anything to her," Kiara mumbles. "Sarah would kick his ass,"

Evelyn looks up at Topper with an expression that shows both lack of interest and trust in whatever he's trying to achieve.

"We know what he did," Topper states with his jaw clenched. "We also know that you were there when he did it,"

Evelyn stands stoically, not letting his words get to her. "I think you know why he did it,"

"I wasn't the one who attacked him,"

"You stood there and watched, Topper! You watched as Rafe beat the shit out of him with a golf club and did nothing to stop it,"

Topper moves his eyes away from her gaze for a few moments, her words obviously causing a reaction.

Evelyn folds her arms over her chest. "I used to think you were an alright guy, Topper. Not my favourite person in the world but still a decent guy. I can't see that anymore. You and Rafe are the same, two guys who think they can hide behind their parent's money and not face any consequences for their actions,"

Topper scoffs and grabs her wrist when she goes to walk away again. "Your little pogue friends are going to pay for what they've done. And you know what's going to protect you, Evie? The fact that you're a kook. Ironic, isn't it?"

His words hit her rather harshly, the girl flinching slightly. The smug look on his face appears almost instantly, knowing he'd managed to land some sort of damage in this exchange.

"We're more alike than you think. When you finally realize that they're just using you, maybe we'll find it in our hearts to welcome you back," Topper sneers.

"Sarah deserves so much better than you," Evelyn breathes out. "And I hope she finds it because you're the furthest thing from good,"

JJ and Pope are watching them from their seats, the blonde's hands clenching as she flinches at the other boy's touch. It's not hard for them to see that she's upset by something he's said and Pope wants to intervene but he knows it'll spell trouble for all of them. Evelyn pulls away from the boy's grip and begins to walk back to them, eyes on the ground.

"They don't care about you, Evelyn!" Topper calls from behind her. "You're one of us!"

Her footsteps pick up and she returns to the Pogues, a frown on her face as she sinks into the available seat beside Kiara.

Kiara looks over to her. "You okay?"

Evelyn nods shortly.

Turns out that Kiara was right about JJ being the type of person who talks through movies because he and Pope have been whispering back and forth for the last few minutes. She's already irritated by her conversation with Topper and they aren't helping her out by interrupting the movie.

It's when they get up that her annoyance quickly shifts to worry, watching as JJ says something to Kiara before the two boys wander off.

"What are they doing?" Evelyn whispers over to the girl.

"I don't know," Kiara mumbles, eyeing the retreating duo suspiciously.

It's not long before Evelyn notices a small group heading in the same direction that JJ and Pope had gone. Kiara and her share a look and then they're both quickly on their feet, rushing off. They're already fighting by the time the two girls get there, the three kooks clearly overpowering the duo.

Kiara jumps on Topper's back, trying to stop the boy from attacking Pope whilst Evelyn rushes towards where JJ is getting beaten up by Kelce and Rafe. She grabs onto Rafe and pushes him with all the force she can muster, catching him off guard and causing him to stumble backwards. Kelce is expecting her shove though and he doesn't move.

Evelyn has no way to prepare herself for the way Rafe uses his shoulder to push her to the ground, falling onto her back with a thud. A pained whimper leaves her lips as a few rocks dig into her back, JJ calling out her name as she pushes herself upwards into a seated position.

"Stay out of it, Vee," Rafe hisses as he lunges at JJ again.

Evelyn scrambles to her feet and follows Kiara's earlier move, jumping on Rafe's back and trying to keep him from instilling any more hurt on anyone. He tries to swat her away but her grasp tightens around his neck even further.

"Leave him alone, Rafe!" Evelyn exclaims. "Leave him, asshole!"

"This isn't any of your business!" Rafe rages in response, still trying to throw her off his back with no success.

Kelce manages to make his way over and pull her off, slinging her to the ground without much effort. She grabs hold of his ankle to stop him from hurting JJ again, pulling on it and causing him to fall over.

"Fire!" Rafe calls out.

Evelyn looks up to see that the material the movie was being projected onto is now alright, flames flickering and causing the screams of the people in attendance. The three kooks flee from around them and Pope walks over to the fallen girl, holding his hand out.

She gratefully takes his hand and stumbles up, his grip the only thing stopping her from falling right back down.

"You okay?" Pope asks.

"I've never done anything like that before," Evelyn breathes.

"If you're going to hang around us, expect it a lot more,"

Great.

NOTE !

Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading :)

made by fireandbloods