CHAPTER THREE
[3]
song: typical by goodbye honolulu

"What's going on?" Rafe says, shaking his head as he meets his dad at the bottom of the staircase. "Why is she in our front yard?" He gestures out the front door as Rose shuts it behind her.

"Come here, son." Ward says, waving Rafe towards him. Rafe does as he says, stepping over to his father, still confused. "You've got a case against you, alright? They're not closing it. And that means there's gonna be a trial."

"What— what do you mean they're not closing it? It was John B, they've got fucking wanted posters all over town?!" Rafe says, flailing his arms out.

"I know, son. I know, but look—" Ward says. "You've got a girl out here whose been gone for... how long, eight months? A year?"

"A year, yeah, what?" Rafe wasn't following.

"Okay, she's been gone a year. She has no idea what happened on that tarmac. All she knows is what her brother and his friends told her."

"What's your point?" Rafe was shaking his head, waiting for Ward to elaborate.

"My point is, if you can get someone on your side, someone who is close to that group of kids, that would look really good for you." He says. "Her car broke down. She needs a ride home."

Rafe scoffs, almost laughs, as he rubs his temples. "So what? So I'm gonna—" he searches for words, "gonna drive this girl home, and then she's just gonna go and defend me in court?"

"No, Rafe. I'm saying it could be really easy to get this girl to question things. Question her friends." Ward says. "Just give her a ride home. That's all I'm asking."

Rafe clenches his jaw. "That's not all your asking." He mutters, as he walks past his father to grab his keys off the table by the door.

"Hey!" Ward raises his voice, unexpectedly. "It's your ass they're after. Not mine. I'm trying to help you."

Rafe wiped his nose, trying to keep the anger he felt in his lungs at a surface level. "Yeah, yeah. Alright." He waves it off, then opens the front door.

Cassie Maybank stood in his front yard, a phone pressed to her ear as she glanced around the property. She wore torn up, white sneakers, a black tennis skirt and a black polo shirt with The Island Club logo on the pocket.

She'd gotten taller, scrawnier, somehow. It'd been been weird not seeing her running around with her usual group for the past year, and Rafe had heard several rumors on where the hell she disappeared to. 'Moved back to Texas.' 'Never left the house.' 'Shipped off to drug rehab.'

The latter was the most believable rumor of the three. He'd seen Cassie Maybank at Barry's house one too many times to believe anything different.

She'd looked rough, then. Sunken in, lifeless eyes. Pale lips, her movements slow, like it physically hurt her to put forth any energy. She looked good now. But with the crowd she surrounded herself with, it was only a matter of time before she got involved in that lifestyle again.

Not his problem. He had absolutely no desire to involve himself any further with those Pogues. But apparently his father had other plans.

"Car's this way."

—

"You can just let me out here." Cassie says after a while. "It gets really muddy, and your tires will get stuck." Over-explaining was one of her own anxious ticks. She should've just left it at let me out here. He was driving a jeep. The tires would be fine.

But Rafe does as she says, pulling the car off the side of the dirt road. He tried to look ahead, at The Chateau that John B once called his own, but Cassie had stopped him far before he would be able to get a look at it. Or even better, before her friends would be able to get a look at her getting out of his car.

She unbuckles her seatbelt and goes for the car door, but Rafe speaks again.

"Just think about what I said, alright?" He says, her back to him as she kept her hand on the handle.

Cassie nodded without turning back around, muttered a 'thank you' and got out of the car.

She watched as he whipped the car back around, and drove off. As soon as he was out of sight, she let out a deep, deep exhale.

"Jesus." She muttered, rubbing her eyes, unsure if the entire past thirty minutes had even really happened.

She turns in the direction of The Chateau, hearing voices, and music over the speakers, and started her walk down the road.

As she approached the house, she saw the usual. Kiara, Pope and JJ all sat around the fire, beers in hand, grilling something, talking amongst themselves. Pope notices her first.

"What are you—" he looks around. "Where is your car?"

Cassie squeezes her eyes shut, embarrassed. "Um. Being towed out of Figure Eight."

Kiara's eyes widened. "You walked here?!"

"Why were you in Figure Eight?" JJ asks, confused.

Cassie glances in his direction, halfway expecting him to ignore her for the rest of the day. "I pass through it to get to my grandma's." She says, then stops in her tracks, and looks at JJ quizzically. "So are you gonna apologize, or?"

"For what?" JJ shrugs annoyedly, looking at his sister from the lawn chair he sat in.

"For getting me fired?!" She flails her arms out like that part was obvious.

"Ope." Kiara mutters, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly as her and Pope exchange glances.

"You didn't wanna work in that shit hole anyway. I did us both a favor." JJ waves it off, taking a sip from his beer.

"JJ, no one wants to work, we just—" she stops herself. Realizing how much it wasn't worth it to argue with him. He was too stubborn. Even if he realized how in the wrong he was, he'd never admit it. And that's all she was looking for.
She took a breath. "Ward Cameron's on your guys' asses, by the way." She says, plopping down besides Kiara in the empty lawn chair.

"Kie, I told you." Pope groans, burying his head in his hands.

Kiara scoffs, shoving a salsa covered tortilla chip in her mouth, then shrugging. "I never said we wouldn't get caught."

"He's gonna sue us." Pope sinks back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"He's got bigger things to worry about right now." Kiara says, annoyed.

"Wait—" JJ leans forward, looking at Cassie. "How do you know?"

Cassie leans forward to the plastic table and scoops salsa onto her own tortilla chip. "Know what?"

"Know that Ward Cameron's on their case?" JJ's eyes were narrowed.

"Well—" Cassie took a bite, then looked at Kiara, like she would be able to help defend her, but Kiara was just as confused as JJ. "Well, my car broke down in front of their house."

"Oh, perfect." Pope says.

"And he..." JJ was trying to get more of answer. "And he talked to you?"

"He thought I did it, so he, like— just came at me, but then he chilled out, because—" she didn't really know how to explain how that went down.

"So you walked here all the way from Tannyhill?" Kiara asks, looking at Pope confused.

"No, I didn't walk." Cassie says, chewing.

"So how did you get here?" JJ asks. "'Cause I'm still not seeing a car." He gestures towards the road Cassie just walked herself up.

"I got a ride." Cassie shrugs, taking a jab at not over-explaining, though no one was making it very easy. She tried to change the subject. "Can we go swimming later?"

"From who?" JJ asks, still hung up on it. Cassie looks at him, and immediately he knew she was trying to avoid telling him something. "Jesus Christ, Cas. From who?" He rubs his eyes.

Cassie shrugs, looking, once again, to her friends for some support, but only getting confusion. "From—" she searches for words. "Like, their son."

JJ shoots up from his seat. "Their son?! Their son Rafe Cameron?!"

Cassie sinks into her seat. "Yes, their son Rafe Cameron." She mumbles.

"You were in a car?! With Rafe Cameron?!" Pope says frantically, as JJ begins to pace back and fourth.

"Yes, Pope! That is usually how one person gets from point A to point B, thank you!" Kiara retorts, then turns to Cassie. "Are you okay?!"

"What the f— why didn't you call me?!" JJ says, flailing his arms out towards his sister.

"I did, you idiot!" Cassie raises her voice just as loud as him.

"What did he say, did he say anything?" Kiara asks, shaking her head.

Cassie figured it was best to keep that conversation to herself. It would do nothing but make JJ angrier, and that was the last thing she needed right now. "No, it was silent—" Cassie looks up at her brother. "JJ, can you please calm down?! You're so dramatic, oh my god—"

"You are aware the guy killed the Sheriff, right?" He puts his hands on his hips. "Shot her? With a gun?"

"Yes, I'm aware, can you sit down?!" She scoffs, shaking her head and gesturing for him to take a seat. "Ward was trying to play it up in front of the cops. Make it seem like Rafe was a 'good kid'," she used air quotes. "It was literally silent the entire ride home. Can we change the subject, now? Before JJ gets a hernia?"

JJ plops down in his seat and rubs his forehead frustratedly. Pope and Kiara exchange awkward glances, before Kiara rises from her seat, stretches, then speaks. "Pope, come help me with the anchor."

As Kiara leaves, she snaps her fingers in front of JJ's face, then with a very un-subtle gesture, insinuates he needs to talk with Cassie.

Pope and Kiara leave, walking down towards the water where the small motorboat sat tied onto to the dock. Cassie runs her tongue over her teeth, waiting for JJ's inevitable next comment.

"Cas, I know you've been gone a while." JJ starts, trying to find the right words. "But god, things are so different now. It's dangerous. It's not fun and games anymore. Seriously."

"I know that." Cassie says, shrugging slightly.

"I know you do, I know— I just—" JJ takes a deep breath. "Look, I already lost my best friend. I don't want to lose my sister."

Cassie feels her heart sink. She knows it's hard for JJ to express his feelings, to be this vulnerable. So hearing this meant a lot to her. "You're not gonna lose me." She nodded firmly. "Promise."

"Alright, alright." JJ says with a slight smile, putting his hands up defensively like he was done with the conversation.

Hearing laughter, both JJ and Cassie turn to see Pope and Kiara trying to keep balance, standing up in the motor boat, Kiara holding onto Pope's forearms.

Slowly, Cassie turns her attention back to JJ with narrowed eyes, his attention still on them. "Is something happening there that I'm not aware of?" Cassie questions suspiciously.

JJ turns back around to face her, shrugging it off. "Nah, no. I don't know." He gives them another quick glance, before taking a sip from his beer and shaking his head.

Which was JJ's way of saying, 'yes' and 'I'm jealous'. It was no secret, at least for Cassie, that JJ had had a crush on Kiara for a while. They had both spilled their secret crushes to each other a couple months before she left for Kitty Hawk.

Cassie had taken a liking to John B. Actually she'd taken a liking to any boy who looked in her direction. Short-lived, but it was there. JJ had confronted her one night, telling her she was flirting too much, to which she called him out all the same, and said he couldn't keep his eyes off of Kiara the entire day. The 'no pogue-on-pogue macking' rule was getting harder the older they got.

"Also, I need a ride to school tomorrow now." Cassie says.

JJ smiled innocently, and Cassie knew she had walked herself into this one. "Why don't you ask Rafe Cameron?"

—

For the first time in a long time, Cassie Maybank felt pretty. She got to curl her hair, she got to put on makeup. At Kitty Hawk, you rolled out of bed and got to work. This, waking up early to make sure you would present nicely, felt like a luxury.

In her closet, she ran through all the clothes she hadn't seen in forever. Cashmere tank tops with embroidered roses and daisies, silk skirts and oversized men's dress shirts.

Today she would wear a white sundress with blue flowers, and she would put her long blonde hair in a french braid, and tie a blue ribbon at the end.

It was strange to see herself like this, like how she used to be. And she loved the way it made her feel. Delicate, and feminine, and pretty.

After getting the 'outside' text from Kiara, Cassie went downstairs, took a granola bar from the pantry, told her grandma she was going to school; and that she'd run by and pick up the car from the mechanics after.

Heading down the steps and towards Kiara's car, she could feel the shift in atmosphere as soon as she waved in their direction, and only got a weak smile from Kiara back.

She was excited for school. But she'd forgotten how much people would whisper. Not only about her, but John B.

Opening the door, she peaked her head inside and saw JJ in the seat beside her, and Pope ahead in the passenger seat. She swallowed harshly as she crawled inside, set her tote bag in front of her legs, and shut the door.

"We ready?" Kiara looks at Pope with a slight frown, and as Pope nods, she starts driving.

Cassie looks over to JJ, whose arms were crossed and eyes focused out the window. It was a silent car ride all the way to the high school, and all it did was make Cassie ten times more nervous than she already was.

Pulling into the parking lot, Cassie saw all of the faces that she'd forgotten over the past year, wondering if they'd done the same. Almost hoping that were the case.

The group pile out of the car, Cassie clutching onto her bag like it'd be some sort of extra protection. She turns to JJ to ask him a question, only to catch him taking an extra sip from a flask before leaving it in his seat.

"Hey, chill out." Kiara says to him, before shutting her door.

"If I black out, just don't remind me." JJ says.

"That's not funny." Kiara responds, sparing Cassie a glance before turning back to JJ.

JJ looks around for his sister as she comes around the car with Pope. He takes a deep breath, then speaks. "What are you wearing?"

Cassie feels her face drop, almost shocked that that was what he chose to say. "A dress." She responds through partly gritted teeth.

"Come on, Jayj, seriously?" Kiara smacks his arm.

"What?!" JJ looks at Kiara confusedly. "I just haven't seen her in a dress before!"

Cassie clenches her jaw, feeling her face flush with embarrassment and frustration as they start to walk towards the entrance. She pulls at the end of the blue ribbon in her hair until it falls, and shoves it into her bag.

Conversations start to turn into whispers, and anyone who was walking by about their day, stops to turn and watch them.

"It's them."

"I didn't even think they'd show up."

"I thought she was still in rehab?"

"I heard they got arrested."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"Think they have something to do with it?

"They had to."

Ahead of them was a yellow surfboard half buried in the grass, and in black paint, was John B's full name. Taped to it were pictures of him with old classmates, surrounding it were flowers, and letters, and stuffed bears.

JJ looks down, swallowing harshly. Cassie could feel how hard this was for him right now. He wasn't acting like his usual self. He hasn't sense she'd been home. Losing someone you love is hard, and she knew it all too well. She put a gentle hand on his back for reassurance, a reminder that she was here for him, he took a deep breath.

"I feel like everyone's staring at us." Kiara says.

Cassie looks up, making more eye contact with people than she wanted to as she glanced around. It was like they were animals in a zoo, and the onlookers were completely unaware to the fact that, yes, they can see you too.

"Oh yeah." JJ nods.

"Guys, I can't be late." Pope says, pushing forward past the group and walking towards the door.

"Hey, hey." Kiara says, stopping him. "We gotta stick together." Frowning, she holds out her hand for him.

Cassie was positive this group would have fallen apart long ago if it weren't for Kiara. Pope reluctantly accepts her hand, and then he holds out an arm for Cassie. She links hers around his.

"Stick together, yeah." JJ mumbles, walking past them with his hands shoved in his pocket, but Kiara catches his arm before he got too far.

In class, Cassie was finding it hard to stay focused. There was too much going on for her to want to think about the R Method or The Roman Empire. She felt herself dozing off as her teachers spoke, wondering how her brother was doing only a wall away in the same history class she'd had first period.

Mr. Sunn made sure to pull her aside at the end of the class to tell her that he's happy to pair her up with a tutor, if she starts to feel like she's falling behind. To which he proceeded to hand her a massive textbook, with pages hundreds of specifically marked on what she had missed. Mr. Sunn was nice, but not so great at putting anyone at ease in terms of stress.

She smiled, nodded, and said thank you anyways.

In trigonometry, when Mrs. Mitchell was walking through the aisles of desks— unbeknownst to Cassie— she got a tap on her notebook, insinuating that Mrs. Mitchell saw that she was doodling circles on the pages instead of solving any problems.

"Sorry." Cassie whispered quietly, then went to erase them.

And in chemistry, Cassie's eyes stayed glued on the bubbling liquid ahead of her. Mrs. Brown thought she was observing its behavior after being mixed with chlorine, while Cassie was instead using it as something to keep her eyes on as her mind went elsewhere.

Why was it Ward Cameron insisted on having his son give her a ride home? He very well knew how she felt about this situation; a product of association. How bold it was to assume Cassie wouldn't lose her shit on him. Did she really come off as that passive? As that oblivious to it all?

And she could just smack herself for getting in a car with Rafe Cameron. He could have pulled a gun on her, he could have driven her far, far away, to the middle of nowhere, and killed her. He was capable of that, he'd gotten away with it before— why stop there? She was one of the few people who truly believed he was guilty, why not get rid of her?

It would have looked very bad for him if he did. His dad did say he'd take her home, in front of a cop. But by the way that deputy handled the situation, it was very clear that Ward Cameron had them all in the palm of his hand. Rafe could've killed her, and probably gotten away with it if he really wanted to. But he didn't.

"What are you thinking?" Mrs. Brown asks, startling Cassie.

Cassie leans up from her elbows against the lab table, looking at her teacher through mucky goggles. Cassie nods eagerly, trying to think of something believable to say. "Oh, um— it's very..." she looks at the liquid as it's reaction bubbles out. "Very fizzly."

And as Cassie looks up to speak to Mrs. Brown, to show that she knows her choice of words were quite lackluster in terms of science, she sees three heads poking through the window on the classroom door.

Pope, Kiara, and JJ were gesturing to their phones, then waving for her to get up, and urgently.

Cassie glances back at Mrs. Brown, then back to her head, shaking her head no, subtly.

JJ was trying to mouth words through the door, holding his phone up to show a picture of something she couldn't make out.

"I can't—" Cassie started to respond out loud, then stopped herself, cleared her throat, and returned her attention to Mrs. Brown, smiling innocently. "Can I use the restroom?"

Mrs. Brown glances at Cassie's lab partner, who seemed just as zoned out as the rest of the class, before nodding.

"I've already missed a month of school here, thank you for—" Cassie was interrupted as Kiara handed her her phone, as the four quickly walked down the hall.

On the screen, was a picture of John B and Sarah.

"What is this?" Cassie says, confused.

"A picture all three of just got sent from a random number." JJ says, shoving open the doors to the back courtyard.

"I mean, is that even possible?" Kiara says, quickly stepping down the stairs and heading to an empty lunch table. "Shoupe said they didn't make it. He said that."

"Wait—" Cassie says, trying to keep up with her. "You think they're alive?"

"I think we're overreacting right now. We— we can't rule out the possibility that this could all be apart of some cruel joke." Pope says.

Cassie takes a seat next to Kiara on the table, zooming in on the picture. Just a selfie, John B and Sarah smiling. She closed out of the picture to reveal the random number that sent it, and the group chat she her number wasn't added into. She handed the phone back to Kira.

"I'm just gonna ask." Kiara says, dropping her bag off of her shoulder.

Cassie didn't even process what exactly was happening until she looked at her brother, clutching onto his own chest, breathing shaky. "What if it's actually him, though?" He asks, running his hands through his hair, stressed.

"Just hold on, JJ. Don't—" Cassie stops herself as she looks down at Kiara's phone.

kiara carerra:
WTF is this you???

And whoever was on the other end, was typing.

"What did he respond?!" JJ asks, quickly walking back over to them.

"He's typing." Kiara says.

JJ, Kiara, and Pope's phone all buzz at the same time as a new text is sent. All Cassie could do was look around and wait for someone to tell her what was said.

She glanced down at Kiara's phone.

unknown number:
is JJ there?

jj maybank:
i'm here bree

unknown number:
did you pimp my short board?

Cassie felt her hand slap to her mouth as soon as the final text was sent, a deep state of shock that washed over her system. She looked up at her brother, as he nodded, and smiled. "It's him." JJ said proudly.

Kiara let out a disbelieving scoff, turning to face Cassie with even more disbelieving eyes, that quickly flooded with tears of relief. She felt the brunette pull her in for a tight hug, that Cassie was more than happy to melt into.

John B was alive.

John B was alive and texting them. Joking with them.

Cassie choked out a laugh, feeling the of lift off her shoulders like a ten pound weight. And with it, the worry for her brother gone too, as she heard him laugh and cry tears of relief.

And as soon as Kiara pulled away, JJ hugged Cassie next, about knocking her off the table. And then, he went for Pope, and then, he pulled his baseball cap off, and let out a very loud, "Yeah!" towards the sky.

"Laying super low in Nassau." Kiara reads the next text to come through, as Cassie watches JJ paces around with a grin on his face. "How the hell did they get to the Bahamas?"

"You can't kill a Pogue, dude." JJ shrugs, happily. "What'd I say, Cas? Everything was gonna be okay. I said that— you remember that?"

"I remember, I remember." Cassie said through quiet laughs.

Another text comes through.

unknown number:
Can you clear my name?
I want to come home

"Hell yeah we can clear your name." JJ says.

unknown number:
Be in touch. P4L

It was that that really got Cassie, it was that that made it all feel real. She felt an aching feeling in her lungs, an urge to let out a loud sob, to let her face fall in her arms and just cry.

P4L. the last thing she heard John B yell out to her, getting in her car to drive home after a day at The Chateau, the last night she spent in the OBX before being taken to Kitty Hawk.

It was corny. They all knew it. But when they said it, they really meant it. And that night, it was as if John B knew it'd be a long time before any of them saw her again. And so he yelled it to her from his front porch. And she hung onto that all year.

Cassie's lip quivered, looking up at Kiara for the first time with a tear rolling down at her cheek. Kiara frowned at her, and Cassie choked out a laughed-mixed sob.

JJ climbed up on one of the table tops, and yelled. "P4L, baby!"