Slater never did get wind of whatever exciting news John B had discovered, and she went to bed the night after Midsummers without so much as a single text from any of the pogues. She'd messaged Kiara after returning home, asking her to relay to her any updates. Certainly Kie would at least have some complaints about having to work alongside Sarah. She stayed up as late as she could, but nothing had come through before her eyes fluttered closed after a very long day.

By the time she woke up, it was after one o'clock in the afternoon, and there was someone knocking at her door. In her half-dazed state, part of her hoped that it was JJ knocking at her window again. But it was her door, and it was her mother behind it.

"Slater, sweetie! Are you awake?"

Slater groaned and shoved her head under her pillow. "Kind of," she called out.

The door opened and Leanore appeared, looking frazzled. "Your father has gotten us into a pickle."

That piqued Slater's interest, and she emerged from her cocoon of blankets and pillows. "What?"

"We're invited to the Camerons for dinner," Leanore said, running a hand through her dark hair. "To the Camerons. When have we ever been invited to the Camerons?"

"We're going to the Camerons?" Slater repeated, her stomach sinking. "I don't want to go."

Leanore let out a sharp laugh. "Me either, if we're being honest," she whispered. "I mean, what does one even wear to dinner at Rose Cameron's house? Nothing I have could ever compare to anything she has."

Slater frowned. She thought her mother was beautiful, much more so than Rose Cameron, with her botox and lip fillers and rich people skin care methods. "Mom, please don't tell me you're comparing yourself to Rose Cameron."

Leanore pursed her lips and shook her head. "Never mind that. But, get up and get dressed. Not only has your father gotten us invited to dinner, but we're heading over early to, I don't know, hang out with them, I guess. Apparently, Ward's been meaning to show Vic his whiskey collection."

"Oh god," Slater groaned, shoving her face back into her pillow. An afternoon with Rafe and Sarah Cameron? Part of her was wishing she was at the bottom of the ocean with the Royal Merchant.

Leanore headed downstairs and Slater reached for her phone, only to find that it was dead. After waiting up all night to hear from the pogues, she must have forgotten to charge it. She plugged it in and got out of bed, heading to her closet for an outfit worthy of dinner at Tannyhill.

She decided on a sage green sundress that looked pretty against her tan skin, bronzed from a summer of surfing in the hot Carolina sun. She showered and dried her hair, then headed downstairs, where her mother was pacing around the kitchen, a nervous wreck.

"What time are we headed over there?" Slater asked, digging for something to eat in the fridge.

"Three," Leanore replied.

"Three?" Slater groaned. She could have gotten in at least another hour of sleep.

"You didn't need to sleep the whole day away, Slate," Vic said from his recliner, where he was watching some boring western film he'd probably seen a hundred times. "What do you have to be so tired for anyway?"

Slater rolled her eyes and plopped down next to Maeve at the table, who was watching a video on her phone. Slater reached for her own phone, only to remember that it was upstairs, charging. She shoved down the last bit of the banana she was eating and quickly ran back upstairs, grabbing it from the charger. It was only partially charged, but that was enough. It was lit up with tens of notifications, most, if not all of them, from the pogues, trying to reach her. She tried to scan them all quickly, but there were a lot.

Slater, are you there?

We need to talk, NOW

If you're still up, please call me asap!

Not knowing who to respond to first, she called Kiara, who picked up on the first ring.

"Oh my god, Slater. Where have you been? You disappeared off the face of the earth."

"Sorry, I was sleeping," Slater muttered, her brows furrowing together. She'd waited up for them to text her anything, and they hadn't until she was actually asleep. "What's going on?"

Kiara let out a loud sigh. "A lot. First of all, John B is fine, but --"

"Whoa, what do you mean, John B is fine?" Slater asked, her heart beating rapidly. Had there been some kind of accident? Where was JJ?

"You know the Hawk's Nest, right? Well, John B met Sarah there last night, and Topper must have followed her or something, because he was drunk and they got into a fight, and he pushed John B off of the top," Kiara said, her voice angry. "I can't help but wonder if this whole thing is all her fault --"

"Wait a minute, Kie." Slater stopped the girl, not much caring to hear her rant about Sarah at that moment. "John B fell off the Hawk's Nest?"

"Yeah," Kie replied. "Topper shoved him."

"Is he okay?"

"He broke one of his arms, but beyond that, he'll be fine, thankfully," Kie said, slightly more calm. "Oh, and get this. You'll never guess where he's recuperating. Tannyhill."

"Tannyhill?" Slater echoed. The same place where she was about to have dinner with her parents? "You're joking."

"I'm not. Apparently, Ward offered to be JB's legal guardian, until they track down his uncle."

Topper pushed John B off of the Hawk's Nest? Ward was now John B's legal guardian? He was living at Tannyhill?

"Jesus." Slater frowned. "I missed a lot."

Kiara laughed. "You could say that again. But, it's probably for the best. At least you're not getting re-grounded. JJ said you lied your ass off to your dad last night."

"Yeah, well ..." Slater trailed off, a smirk filling her face. "It's easier to lie to my dad than he thinks it is."

"Maybe we are bad influences on you, Slater Cambry."

Slater grinned. "Everyone needs a little bad influence in their life. But, it's funny you mention Tannyhill, because apparently that's where we're having dinner tonight."

Kiara let out another loud laugh, and Slater was about to say more when her phone buzzed, alerting her to another incoming call.

"Kie, I have to go, but I'll talk to you later."

"You better. I want to know how this dinner goes."

Slater hung up and looked at the other call, seeing it was from JJ. Butterflies danced in her stomach at the sight of him calling her. She was about to answer when her mother called from downstairs, saying that they would be leaving soon.

She declined JJ's call, her heart sinking a bit. She was looking forward to talking to him, as they hadn't really gotten a chance to talk much the previous night. She sent him a quick text, saying that Kiara had filled her in on what happened, and that they were headed to the Camerons and she couldn't talk.

She shoved her phone into the pocket of her dress -- dresses with pockets were the best -- and headed downstairs, slipping into her Chacos and waiting by the door for her parents and sister.

"I don't see why we have to come with," Maeve grumbled as the two sisters reluctantly followed Vic and Leanore to the car. It seemed Victor was really the only one that wanted to go to the Camerons.

"Ward has a daughter your age, Maeve," Vic said as he started the engine. "You can make a new friend."

"I already have enough friends. I don't need to be friends with Wheezie Cameron. What kind of name is Wheezie anyway?" Maeve said, leaning her head against the car window as they pulled out of the driveway.

"Just be nice," Leanore said, though Slater knew her mother was no less enthused about the dinner than her daughters were.

The drive to the Camerons' house was pretty quick, since technically the Cambry-Shoupe family lived in Figure Eight, although their house paled in comparison to any of the other homes in the area.

They pulled up the gated driveway and Slater found that Vic's car, though it was only a few years old, looked junky in contrast to the expensive cars that littered the Camerons' driveway.

They had barely parked before Ward was outside, waving to Vic like they were old friends. Slater knew that her father was friendly with Ward, but she didn't realize that they were on "drinking whiskey together" terms. She must have missed quite a bonding experience the night before at Midsummers.

"Vic, Leanore! So great of you to come," Ward said, smiling like they were all old friends. "Girls." He nodded politely at Slater and Maeve, leading Slater to believe that Ward didn't even know their names.

He led them inside, where Rose was waiting in the foyer. Ward and Vic immediately disappeared into Ward's study, and Rose led the women towards the back of the house and outside, to a deck that overlooked the Camerons' dock and the marsh.

Rafe, Sarah, and Wheezie were already seated, and none of them looked any more thrilled to be there than Slater felt. Slater's eyes drifted past Sarah and landed on John B, who sat with a cast on his hand. He looked out of place in the Cameron home, with his messy head of curls and black eye. His eyes widened as he noticed Slater.

"Kids, you know Leanore Shoupe, and her daughters, Slater and Maeve." Rose gestured to the Cambry girls.

Slater's face turned red as she met Rafe's eyes. He was watching her with an amused expression. "Oh, we've met," the Cameron boy replied, leaning back in his seat.

"Hi, Slater." Sarah offered a polite smile, and though she didn't trust the Cameron girl, Sarah was much nicer than her brother.

Wheezie, the youngest Cameron child, looked up briefly from her phone to nod at Maeve. They were the same age, but they didn't hang out in the same circle. Wheezie went to the private school that Sarah and Rafe did, and Maeve, like Slater, went to public school.

"Why don't you kids play cards or something?" Rose quipped, earning an eye roll from her two older stepchildren.

"No one wants to play cards, Rose," Rafe said, his voice cold.

"Maybe I could give them a tour of Tannyhill?" Sarah offered, to which Rose nodded with a grin.

"Yes, that's a great idea!"

Slater looked to Sarah, who was whispering something to John B. She supposed it was an okay idea. It would give her a chance to talk to John B and Sarah in private about what had happened last night. It wasn't like she needed a tour of Tannyhill. She'd seen enough of it the previous summer.

Maeve was seemingly uninterested in seeing Tannyhill, so she sat next to Wheezie and struck up a conversation with her about some YouTuber that they both watched.

Slater stood and followed Sarah and John B into the house, relishing the blast of cool AC that hit her as they stepped out of the Carolina humidity.

"I hear you two had an eventful night," Slater quipped as she followed them down the hallway.

"You could say that again," John B muttered, running his un-casted hand through his hair.

"Kie said you broke your arm. Beyond that, you're sure you're fine?" Slater asked, eyeing him curiously.

"We brought him to a doctor," Sarah said. "He's fine."

"Yeah, he's fine alright," Slater said, an edge filling her voice as she looked at John B's cast. "Thanks to your boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Sarah said, not that it really mattered in Slater's opinion.

"Right." Slater pressed her lips together, suddenly not giving a shit about the inside of Tannyhill. Besides, she'd seen it already. She looked to John B, wondering if he was going to say anything, but he just watched the two girls with a blank look on his face. Slater wished Kiara was there. She'd have torn him a new one. "I think I'll head back outside."

Slater understood why Kiara was so mad. Sarah had wronged her, and John B was acting like he didn't care at all, despite all the time that he and Kiara had been friends. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

this was a fun chapter to write, but the next one was even MORE fun to write ;) anyway, did y'all see the promo stuff released for OBX season 3? so psyched.

ps - i was actually in charleston for work when they were filming, but i didn't see anyone :( still was cool to know they were there while i was though! 

xx,

madi