——

"You're going."

"I'm working," Emelina told her friend Kiara as she wiped the countertops that belonged to The Wreck. "How? No one is here." Kiara stated, moving her arms around to showcase the empty restaurant.

"I opted to help your parents clean up the mess that Agatha created." she clarified and tossed the rag into the sink.

"Why do you even bother working here? You have the money." Kiara questioned and took a seat in one of the chairs. "You know why. I appreciate you giving me this job, but that doesn't mean I have to oblige to every request you make!" Emelina gave her friend a look, crossing her arms.

"It's just one small party with a pony keg." Kiara reminded her, brushing away the little strands of hair on her face, "And I want you to meet my friends."

"I have met your friends. Not a big fan."

"You don't know them like I do."

"Why are you throwing a keg party anyway?" Emelina asked, shifting the conversation back to the beginning.

"We're celebrating," Kiara responded with a small grin. "Celebrating what, exactly?" she asked, intrigued. Emelina leaned her body against the countertop; her elbows propped upwards to hold her face.

Kiara stood up from her seat and walked closer to her friend. "You would know if you didn't ditch my boat invitations every time."

"Okay, okay. I'll go." Emelina gave in, throwing her hands up in defeat. She had been in the mood to go out and drink, but Kiara's pleas to build a friendship with a few annoying boys had her not wanting to oblige. However, Kiara can be pushy.

Emelina knew who Kiara's close friends were. They'd come in nearly daily to steal the leftover food made for the customers. She tried her best to avoid serving them as much as possible because there was one particular person who Emelina refused to interact with.

"I'd say thank you but, you'll only be thanking yourself. Be at the beach before the sun sets."

§

Emelina reached the boneyard beach before the Kooks flooded their way in. That was what it was like in Outer Banks, Paradise on Earth, two tribes on one island. The Kooks and the Pogues.

Kooks lived on the island's northern side, also known as Figure 8. They were raised in a wealthy background, thanks to their parents. Pogues, on the other hand, have to work hard to get a meal for the day. They live on the opposite side of the island called The Cut. There was a rivalry between the two, and there was no telling if it would ever end.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Sarah climbing a red buoy with a broken chain implanted in the sand. The Kook Princess, as they would call her. Emelina watched from afar, noticing Topper below waiting for his precious girlfriend to come down.

She noticed her heart skipped a beat when she saw him holding out his hand for Sarah to take once she was done pointing to the seamless ocean. Sarah jumps into his arms, her floral dress flowing in the wind. He catches her with ease and a smile is embedded on his face. Something he once gave Emelina.

"Lina!" She heard a voice and she whipped around to find Kiara running toward her. "Did you see her?" Kie lowered her voice.

After the scandal between Kiara and Sarah, Emelina sided with Kiara and the two became an inseparable duo. It was hard for Kiara to trust someone again, but Emelina hadn't given her a reason not to trust her, and now Kiara's main goal was to join her in her small family.

"Did I see her? It's not hard to find the Kook Goddess in golden light." Emelina replied sarcastically. "She really does the most to draw attention to herself. Anyway, I have people you need to meet officially." Kiara grabbed her hand without any hesitation and led the brunette to the three boys.

"Hey, boys. There's someone I want you to meet. Emelina." Kiara smiled excitedly and shoved her friend in front of them. John B was the first to notice her, taking in every beauty she radiated. She took of her sunglasses, letting the sunlight hit her hazel eyes that glowed like gold. Her light steel blue bikini was showing through her tight white shirt accompanied by her shorts. Her styled curls blew in the wind, making her one of the most gorgeous woman they've laid eyes on.

This wasn't the first time they had seen her. They always see her out in about working at The Wreck, flawlessly taking orders from everyone but them. They have always wondered why a higher class like herself worked for tips. Kiara told them it was an independent thing, so they stopped asking.

"Hey. I'm John B. This is Pope, and that's JJ." he said with a welcoming smile. Her eyes moved to JJ, who was barely noticing her, surprisingly. She has made contact with his staring eyes way too many times while delivering drinks to customers.

"You brought a Kook here?" JJ finally spoke, his fingers tapping lightly on the red solo cup. "Hey, JJ," Emelina's voice brought attention from the small group, "still trashing homes?"

"And are you still trying to gentrify homes in The Cut?" JJ retorted back, clenching his jaw slightly.

"Come on, JJ, you can't blame her for what her mom and others tried to do." Kiara gave her friend a stern glare, trying to keep the peace flowing. "And you can't blame me for doing justice on our side of the island," he responded and raised his arms.

Emelina opened her mouth to speak, already regretting letting her friend drag her all the way here, but Kiara beat her to it. "Someone make her a drink, please."

John B left to the pony keg whereas Pope stayed and JJ wandered off to a touron, ones who visit the island for the weekend.

"Sorry 'bout JJ. I thought he'd be over that by now." Pope looked at his blonde friend, who was now flirting with a girl, and sighed.

Because she was the daughter of a real estate agent, JJ likes to blame building houses on the south side of the island on her. Of course, none of it was successful since JJ, his cousins and countless other Pogues refused to let it happen.

Emelina shrugged, not really caring about what JJ thought of her. Her fingers twirled the necklace that looped around the neck as John B came back with as many cups as he could carry.

"Here you go." John B handed the red solo cup to the brunette, who started drinking the low-carbonated beer. "Thanks."

Pope gave John B a five-dollar bill in a way that would go unnoticed if Kiara hadn't pointed it out. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving him my dinner." Pope deadpanned with an annoyed expression. "Care to elaborate?" Kiara asked, sitting down on the sand. Emelina followed her movements; her back leaning against a bleached tree due to the sun.

"A couple months ago we made a bet on who can talk to her first. I won." John B waved the dollar bill around that was stuck in between his two fingers. Emelina laughed, which she hasn't done in awhile, already starting to like the two boys she tried desperately to avoid.

"You two are pathetic." JJ joined the crew, leaning on a tree the opposite way of Kiara and Emelina.

"Hey, K." A familiar voice rang. Everyone turned to look at who made their appearance. No other than Sarah Cameron herself, with her boyfriend by her side.

"Hey," Kiara replied, getting up, and the rest followed suit. The tension was thick. That was noticeable. Topper's hands were securely wrapped around Sarah's waist as soon as he saw Emelina's presence, and does everything in his power not to look into her eyes.

"Haven't seen you at the regatta lately," Sarah said to Kiara and glanced at Emelina for a split second. "Not really a regatta girl these days. You know that." Kiara answered back.

"Let's roll, Sarah." Topper tugged his girlfriend, wanting to steer away from Emelina as much as possible.

Sarah hesitated, then started to go with Topper, but JJ couldn't help himself and stopped them. "Hey, Sarah, can we offer you a tasty Old Milwaukee beverage?" He held out a red solo cup that he stole from John B.

"No thanks." Sarah declined. "Oh, come on. Not fancy enough?" JJ snickered and Topper stepped forward, aiming for the cup. "Oh, you know what? I'll take it. Thank you, man, I appreciate it."

The sun had already set by now, and the nearby partiers started getting interested in this heated conversation among the drunken teens.

JJ pulled the cup back from his grasp with a taunting smile, "I didn't ask you, Topper. If you'd said pretty please, maybe. But you didn't, so too bad. You can have it, Sarah. Not Topper."

"She doesn't want it, asshole." Topper slapped the cup away causing the liquid to splatter over JJ. "See what happens?" Topper laughed. JJ immediately reacts, pulling Topper closer by getting ahold of his collar.

Emelina stood there, unable to think about what she should do next. She decided to stay by Kiara and not involve herself. It's not her business anyway.

John B and Pope yank JJ off Topper, pulling him aside. "We're laying low. Being normal." Pope whispered, but Emelina heard it, and she was not sure what he was referring to. Maybe she should've joined them at the boat when Kiara asked her this morning.

"Dirty Pogues." Topper sneered, and John B turned around to throw a jab at him. "John B! We're supposed to be incognito, remember?!" Pope reminded them once more.

"Babe, babe, babe, babe-" Sarah stepped in, trying to stop Topper from doing anything out of the norm but instead he punched John B, which resulted in him falling to the sand on the shoreline. "Guys, guys-chill!"

"Hey, John B. Don't make me drown you like your old man, alright?" Topper towered over John B. "Topper, stop it!" Emelina made her presence known and Topper froze for a split second, only she could notice that, but he ignored her protest.

John B was instantly enraged and got up to lunge at Topper, who sidestepped and retaliated with a punch that knocked John B down. The fight began.

Everyone was now aware of what was happening and stood aside to gawk at the scene. The words fight, fight, fight were repeated by the watchers. JJ and Pope kept encouraging John B, wanting the last punch to be by him, whereas the girls kept pleading with them to stop.

The fight continued, and each boy kept tossing the other around and throwing the hardest punch. Then, Topper pushed John B down and dragged him to the water to hold his head under.

"Topper!"

"No! He's drowning him!" Pope gasped beside the two girls. "I know..." Kie said with a worried expression. "We have to do something," Emelina said and watched JJ turn around toward his backpack.

Her gaze goes back to John B struggling to catch a breath, and then-"Yeah, you know what that is, huh? Your move, Broski."

JJ pointed his gun at the back of Topper's head. Emelina widened her eyes, taking a step backward. Topper held his hands up and backed up slowly. The ones who surrounded the fight started sprinting away.

"JJ! Chill, chill."

"Put the gun down, JJ!" Sarah begged but JJ kept the gun where it was, "Did you say something, Princess?"

Sarah's voice trembled a bit but she kept her confidence where it was. "Kie, can you check your psycho friend please?!"

JJ stepped away from Topper, shoving him away from his friend. He raised the gun to the sky, his voice calling out to all the Kooks and Tourons, "Okay, everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!" The gun fired, and everyone ducked and scattered away.

Emelina turned to leave the scene, but Kiara grabbed her wrist and told her to stay. Kiara shoved JJ, "You're an idiot!"

"Why would you do that? You're going to jeopardize everything!" Pope shouted at his friend and started walking away.

"Yeah, sure. I just saved his fucking life." JJ scoffed. "You didn't have to pull out a fucking gun, JJ," Emelina said, shaking her head. The one time she accepted Kiara's plead to join her friend group, hell broke loose. No wonder she avoided them for this long.

"Yeah? Why don't you keep your ex in check and stop him from drowning people." JJ spat back. Emelina gulped and looked at Topper, who was leaning on Sarah dragging him away from the area.