Chapter two| A Chapter

"Out pretty late last night, huh?" Grace asked as Lila walked into the kitchen, a rub to her eyes. The jean shorts around her thighs and the hawaiian shirt that was tied above her belly button, showing off the piercing she'd gotten a few months back.

"Oh, yeah. Just was making friends." Lila shrugged her shoulders as she opened the cabinet. The small house they were staying in wasn't bad, cheap even. It was poorly build and from wood but Lila actually liked it, she found out it wasn't too far from John B's.

"Making friends at two in the morning?" Grace asked her, half jokingly and half interrogating, her toxic trait. Lila had one of her own, quite a few actually but two were only ever obvious. She often did reckless things without thinking, things that always got her in trouble or hurt. Coming in second was her terrible habit of not know when to back away from something dangerous, something that could ruin her life but she was so drawn to whatever or whoever it was that her life was worth it. Those were her toxic traits, but she wasn't ready to admit that to anyone.

"Oh, sorry, yeah. Some kid got a little roughed up and I was just helping him out." Lila nodded her head as she took a bite of the granola bar.

"Alright, fine by me." Grace shrugged just as Lacey walked in from the porch.

"Good morning my loves." she smiled while pressing a kiss to Lilas cheek.

"Found these outside, figured you'd want them." the woman said as she put two Lila flowers into her daughters palms.

"We have Lila trees around here?" the blonde asked confused as she put one of the Lilas behind her ear and the other around her belt loop.

"Possibly, found those two little guys just sitting on the steps." Lacey shrugged as Lila blinked, a sigh leaving her lips.

"I'll be back." Lila said as she headed out the door.

"Sarah! Hey, Sarah!" Lila called out as she walked into the backyard, holding herself back from gushing at the scenery. The Cameron girl sat on the back porch, setting up what seemed to be a breakfast table. The blondes head snapped up at the voice, seeing Lila walk up the steps.

"I see you're back, arms are open for you." Sarah said as she held out her arms, dropping them when Lila didn't embrace her.

"Is leaving purple flowers at my door your way of apologizing for you psychotic boyfriend?" Lila asked her with a raise to her eyebrows.

"Purple flowers? What flowers?" Sarah asked her. Lila could tell on her face that she wasn't lying, she had no clue what she was talking about. Embarrassed ran through Lilas body now, she really just marched all the way to the other side of the island just to confront a girl who didn't do it.

"But I am really sorry about Topper, terrible first impression, I know." Sarah explained with a huff as Lila nodded her head.

"Oh, yeah. Completely, I mean, makes me wonder if he meets everyone while trying to kill people." Lila explained as Sarah tried to hold back a smile, not knowing if she was joking.

"Go ahead, laugh, it was a joke." Lila urged her on as Sarah let out a loud laugh making Lila grin back at her.

"Thought you said they were called Lilas?" a second voice was heard as Rafe suddenly walked out into the porch, dressed in his usual kaki shorts and button up. Sarah and Lila looked at him for second, not sure what he was meaning.

"You called them purple flowers, but yesterday you called then Lilas." Rafe corrected her as he sat down in one of the chairs as he stared at her, a arrogant grin on his face as Lila stared at him.

"I should go." she said, pulling her eyes away and looking to Sarah again.

"Yeah, you should. You're rolling around with Pogues now, aren't you?" Rafe asked her, more so he was telling her. His shiny blue eyes, the first pair Lila saw when she got to the island, staring at her with a unreadable expression.

"Rafe." Sarah scolded him with a knowing look.

"Beats golfing like a grandpa, see you later Bert and Ernie." Lila said as she waved the two off and turned on her heels, walking away from the large house.

Lila made her way on the other side once again, walking alongside the small boradwalk that lined the water, "Hey! Lila!"

Turning she saw the same four from last night in a small boat, riding along side the water. Lila smiled at them, Kie being the one to call out for her, "Hey, there."

"Wanna come in?" JJ asked her as John B stopped the boat as close to the side as he could.

"Where we going?" Lila asked, taking Kies extended hand and getting onto the boat.

"Scuba diving, hi." John B said as he gave her a smile as she sent one back, sitting down next to Pope.

"For the money? So John B can be rich?" Lila asked as John B turned his head to JJ quickly.

"You told her?" the brunette boy asked him.

"Had to, John B! Pretty girl walks me home and you expect me to keep my mouth shut?." JJ said back with a snap to his fingers.

"I won't tell anyone, don't worry." Lila said as she kicked the back of John B's legs making him stumble slightly at the loss of balance.

"Hey, what's the deal with Rafe Cameron?" Lila spoke up as John B took off toward the marsh once again.

"Rafe Cameron?" Pope asked her with a raise to his eyebrows.

"Hold up! Don't you tell me you're macking on Rafe Cameron?" JJ asked her with a crazy look, pointing a finger her way.

"Macking?" Lila asked confused, not hearing the term before.

"She's not macking on Rafe, JJ!" Kie yelled back at him, slapping his hand away from pointing at her.

"Pogues don't mack on Kooks." Pope informed her as Lila nodded, "You live on The Cut, that's makes you a pogues. He lives in Figure Eights, makes him a Kook."

"I'm not macking on him! I'm just curious what his deal is." Lila said as she held her hands up in defense, "He's kinda a ass."

"You do not wanna get involved with Rafe Cameron." John B said to her with a shake of his head.

"Probably best if you just avoided him at all cost, save yourself the trouble." Kie said as Lila nodded her head, putting her hand out as the water hit it slightly before John B came to a slow stop in the middle of the marsh.

"Is there any gators out here?" Lila asked as she looked over the boat.

"Scared of gators?" Pope asked her as Lila shook her head.

"I read about a guy that got eaten whole by one. It wasn't near here but i'd kill to see one." Lila said as Kie and Pope shared a look while John B began to get the gear on.

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kie asked the boy with a stupid look.

"Oh, man. The B in John B clearly doesn't stand for brain." Lila said as she leaned back in the seat more, John B throwing her a look.

"Okay this ones a quarter full. It's enough for one of us." Kie announced as she looked at the last tank.

"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope huffed from where he leaned in the drivers seat.

"Does anyone know how to dive?" Kie asked as she looked around, all of them staying silent, "Any body?"

"It's kinda a Kook sport." JJ said with a shrug to his shoulders.

"I read about it." Pope spoke up as Lila slapped his shoulder and hummed.

"Yeah, I watched a murder mystery about it." She nodded in confirmation, leaving out how the story went exactly.

"Great, Pope read about it and Lila watched a murder mystery on it, so someone's gonna die." Kie explained while throwing her arms up.

"Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breath. How hard can it be?" JJ spoke up, using his hands to speak.

"Well if you come up too fast, nitrogen get into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope pointed out as he looked over at the blonde boy, who held a look of pure confusion.

"Bends like, bend over and-" JJ began before Pope cut him off, clearly seeing where this was going.

"The Bends kill you." he confirmed as JJ blinked, not expecting it.

"I can- I can dive." John B said as he cut the conversation short.

"Are you positive? Hate for you to hit the bends and then we have to dump your body somewhere because the police will suspect us." Lila said as Kie gave her a look, a shut up look.

"Yes, Lila, I can dive." John B said as she shrugged back.

"Yeah, you can dive, i'm cool with that." JJ said in confirmation.

"Since when can you dive?" Kie asked the tan boy next to her with a annoyed look.

"I'll do it. It's fine." he said before Pope sat up better.

"Let me do some calculations real quick." the boy said as John B gave him a annoyed look.

"Are you serious?" Kie asked with a roll of her eyes.

"So that boats about thirty feet down. So it'll take twenty five minutes at that depth. Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet. All right? For two minutes." Pope said to him with a seriously look.

"Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." John B said just as Kie jumped off the side of the boat into the water as the four on the boat gave a odd look.

"That was a little dramatic." Lila said with a shrug to her shoulders, "I like her."

"What was that all about?" Pope questioned confused much like the others.

"I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." JJ said as he stared off to where Kie jumped off moments before.

"Uh, alrighty. So, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside, twist, and pull out, okay?" JJ asked as he stood with John B.

"Woah, easy, JJ. Remember, Pogues mack on Pogues, not keys." Lila said as she flew a stray hat on the boat at him.

"Nope, that's not allowed either." JJ said as he motioned toward Lila, throwing it back at her.

"Are you kidding?" she asked in disbelief.

"Stick in, twist, pull out." John B said in confirmation with a nod.

"My dad moved weight back in the day." JJ added in before Pope cut in.

"Who didn't?" the smarter boy asked with a wave of his hands.

"Hey! I tied my tee shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." Kie said as she swam up from under the water.

"Cool." John B nodded and Pope began to help him get suited up.

"So cool." Lila agreed with a nod.

"Keep a eye on this. You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress." Pope said as he held up the small monitor.

"How much do I need?" John B asked while looking up at him.

"Unclear. Breath as little as possible." Pope said as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Bring me back a gator, John B!" Lila said as she patted his shoulder before moving to help Kie back into the boat.

"Zen. Think Zen, you know?" JJ asked as he began to breath in.

"Got it." John B said, getting him to stop.

"Hey if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed so.." Pope trailed off as he looked around for any sign of someone.

"Better put your rear end in gear!" Lila announced, slapping the boys behind as he jumped.

"Copy that." he nodded her way. Kie stood up as she pressed a kiss to John B's cheek with a sweet smile.

"Diver down?" he asked after the small amount of shock left his body.

"Divers down." Kie said back as John B hesitated before jumping in the water.

"So that's okay?" Lila asked with a odd look.

"See, Lila makes since. She puts her toe in Kook water, she macks on Rafe Cameron, she realizes its bad,and now she's a full blooded pogue, smart move." JJ said as he snapped his fingers at her.

"I didn't mack on Rafe!" Lila announced with a crazy look, something she knew they wouldn't let go.

"Lila, Lila, we're saying it's okay that you did, you learned your listen." JJ said as Lila groaned.

"I didn't though." she pointed out.

"Maybe not, think she wants to though." Pope said as he looked to JJ.

"Pope!" Lila said as she threw her sunglasses at him.

"Leave Lila alone, she's not macking on anyone." Kie said as she slapped both the back of the boys heads.

•••••••
look.. look at her... fitting in perfectly... so proud of my bby.