"I don't wanna swim the ocean,
I don't wanna fight the tide."

⚠️ Sensitive topics are going to be mentioned on this chapter, reader discretion is advised. ⚠️

[POV: June]

IF I KNEW IT ALL THEN...would I have done it again? Yes, I would have. If it meant keeping my brother and two friends alive, I would've done everything again no matter what.

My whole life has drastically changed into one I would've never expected to turn into.

After John B and Sarah died accompanied by Bailey, I kinda felt time stopping right there and then. Life wasn't moving like it used to, it was moving very slowly.

Was I glad that the draining adventures ended? 100% yes. But it ended with me loosing everyone I loved and cared for.

And now life needed to be continued with me receiving dirty glares from people around the island, just because they believed my brother was a criminal.

I stood completely still in front of the wooden door that led me inside of John B's door. My hand kept on reaching for the door handle, I wasn't successful in getting it open though. I kept shaking and feeling my palm sweating extremely bad.

Kayla: "Hey...I can do it for you." -she reassured, rubbing my back gently while looking at me from over my shoulder.

I sighed and closed my eyes shut completely, turning around without looking back at the door.

Kayla: "What do you need from inside?"

June: "There's umm...there's a poem book on top of the bed. It belonged to my dad and I really need it."

I stuttered slightly, covering my face that was extremely puffy over all of the tears I had let out for a month now.

Kayla: "Okay, I'll go get it for you quickly."

June: "Kayla you don't have to do this, okay?" -I spoke, looking over to her quickly.

I watched how her eyes darted around the small hallway we were in, this ones avoiding to look at me.

June: "You've been missing school because of me and coming here every single day. I appreciate it, but I don't need you to grief with me."

Kayla: "Look, I don't plan on leaving you alone anytime soon now. School can wait, I'm staying here." -she replied, crossing her arms together.

June: "Why are you doing this?"

Kayla: "June, I'm here to be your friend and take care of you because right now...you can't be alone."

June: "Why is that?" -I asked, watching how she sighed and looked up at me nervously.

Kayla: "Please don't make me say it."

June: "No, say it...come on." -I whispered, frowning my eyebrows her way.

She took a couple of seconds to reply, she seemed to be contemplating the words she was about to say.

Kayla: "Because a month ago you...you try to-"

June: "I tried to kill myself? Yes, I tried."

She nodded in agreement with teary eyes, avoiding to glance at me again.

June: "You wanna know why though? Because I'm tired of people treating me like actual shit just because of something my brother didn't do!"

I shouted loudly, grabbing onto my head aggressively in between words. She approached me carefully but I pushed her away.

June: "He died because some old motherfucker that has way more money than us framed him and people chose to believe him instead."

Kayla: "June, calm down."

June: "Don't tell me to calm down!" -I snapped, pointing my index finger her way.

She lifted her hands up completely afraid of my sudden movement, later on looking behind me. I turned to face whatever she was looking at and spotted Topper entering the château.

Kayla: "Top...what are you doing here?" -she mumbled from behind me.

Topper: "I've been looking everywhere for you, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school."

Kayla: "I came to visit June, got a problem?"

He glared her way deeply and them back to me, I only stepped away from the girl and made some path for her to walk through.

June: "Go on with your brother before he calls the police and says I kidnapped you."

Kayla: "June, it's fine." -she whispered, rubbing my arm which I quickly pulled away from her touch.

June: "Go."

She stayed looking at me for a couple of seconds, looking behind her then. I watched how she opened John B's room quickly and entered the space. It didn't took long for her to come out, but when she did I noticed the poem book I needed.

Kayla: "Here." -she said, placing the book on top of my palm.

I then watched her walk off and approach her brother who stared at her with pure anger. She turned around and mumbled "call me" which made me wonder if I should or not.

The pair whispered something that I couldn't hear to one another and began walking off. This ones suddenly then stumbled across a familiar face, they stepped aside and allowed the person to walk in.

JJ: "What the hell are you doing here?" -he quickly asked, glaring at Topper.

Topper: "We were just leaving man, chill out."

They walked off finally without exchanging any other words and I was left alone with the blond one. He turned around and walked over to me with worry covering his facial expression.

JJ: "What were they doing here?"

I sighed by how angry he sounded, brushing my hair back and placing the poem book down on a nearby table.

June: "Kayla's been visiting me every single day...Topper was just picking her up." -I replied, walking over to the nearby living room.

I heard the boy following closely behind, which made me stop my tracks to face him again.

June: "What are you doing here?"

JJ: "I brought you some books I found at the antique shop you like." -he mentioned, beginning to search for the books that rested inside of his backpack.

I smiled by his reply slightly and watched him pull out three books.

JJ: "I hope you like them, I don't really know anything about books but I do know you like poetry so, yeah."

He handled me the books and I quickly gratefully took them.

June: "Thanks, JJ. You didn't have to do that at all, you know?"

JJ: "Just being a good friend, that's all." -he mumbled, smiling over to me softly.

I stood awkwardly for a couple of seconds just looking at him, he did the same though. The silence was thankfully broke out by a familiar voice suddenly echoing through the space.

James: "June?!"

My eyes darted towards the front door of the château, I was quick to spot James, Bailey's uncle making his way up the small steps of the house.

JJ: "Who's that?" -he whispered, looking over to the man confused.

I opened my mouth widely filled with surprise, quickly pacing towards the living room.

June: "A friend."

I then walked towards the front door and opened it to reveal myself to the man. He smiled as soon as he noticed my presence, stretching his arms open towards me. I gave him a tight hug and heard how he chuckled.

Since everything that happened a month ago went down, Bailey's uncle has been taking care of me and helping out with the bills at the château. He had left the island for a couple of weeks to pay a visit to some other family members of his, now he was finally back.

James: "Hey, how have you been feeling?" -he asked, pulling away from the hug to take a good look at me.

June: "I guess a little better."

Yes, I lied. I couldn't just tell him right there and then I was doing way worse then before, I knew it would completely vanish the bright smile he had on his face.

James: "I'm happy you are. Has Wyatt come visit these past days?" -he asked, looking around the château's front yard.

JJ: "Who's Wyatt?"

I turned around to look at JJ, the boy had been listening to the conversation the whole time. I had completely forgotten about his presence, even though only a couple of seconds had passed.

James: "Is this your boyfriend?" -he asked, making me quickly turn to look at the man.

June: "No, God, no...he's just my friend."

I chuckled nervously and glanced over to JJ's direction again with a glare.

June: "Wyatt hasn't stopped by since last week, he's been taking good care of Elena though." -I spoke, looking at the man with a proud smile.

James: "I'm glad...I just wanted to come visit to ask you something."

June: "What's that?"

James: "Do you want to come over tomorrow to my restaurant? My wife's making me do this big dinner thing with some people and I need some costumers."

I was surprised by the sudden question and so was JJ, I noticed how his eyebrows arched up completely.

June: "I don't think I can, sorry. It's really hard going out these past days."

James: "It's okay, I understand. I promise there's not going to be that many people and I won't let anyone bother you." -he reassured, looking then over to JJ.

James: "You can bring your friend too."

I placed my hands beside my waist as I thought about the sudden request, my guts were telling me to say "no" again but I could win some necessary money out of this. I needed the money for some groceries since I was already running out of food.

James: "Look, Nadia and Wyatt really want you to go. We all care for you as if you're part of the family, please do this for me."

I sighed out loud and took one last glance at JJ, he was already looking at me with reassurance. He nodded slightly my way, making me nod back and turn to look at James, who waited patiently for my reply.

June: "Fine, I'll go."

James: "Yes, thank you so much, June." -he smiled, placing his hand on top of his chest out of relief.

June: "Can I ask you something though?"

He nodded after my question, crossing his arms while waiting for me to speak again.

June: "Can I invite more than one friend?"
________________________________

Pope: "So he let us come by as well?"

June: "Yes."

Pope: "That man is suspiciously too nice."

We were all currently sitting outside at the hammocks, Kie had brought some of her dad's restaurant food and gave it to all of us as dinner.

The breeze kept hitting my body gently, this one continued to bring some odd comfort I enjoyed.

I sat across JJ, this one kept looking over to Pope and Kie as they sat together on one of the hammocks as well. There was worry covering his expression, I moved my leg suddenly to gain his attention which ended up working.

JJ: "Everything okay?" -he asked quickly, making me nod.

June: "Are you okay?"

I spoke making the "you" sound much more louder than his.

JJ: "Yeah, I'm just thinking."

June: "Of what?" -I questioned, fidgeting with some of my nail polish that was already chipping.

JJ: "Everything."

Everyone looked at him as he responded, instantly showing realization. We all knew what he meant by his comment, it sucked.

JJ: "We lost a really big piece of us, man. Each of us...we don't even know how to cope with it anymore."

Kie: "JJ."

JJ: "No, listen. We lost three friends and almost lost June right after. Everything because of some asshole that everyone chose to believe cause he's a kook." -he spoke, drinking right after from a beer bottle he had been holding.

Pope: "There's nothing we can do about it, dude."

JJ: "There's gotta be! I'm not just going to sit here and slowly see the three of you disappear from sadness, that including me."

He finished and placed the empty bottle down on the grass, looking over to Pope.

JJ: "We need to find a way to prove we were right, find a way to proof Ra-"

June: "Don't say his name." -I interrupted rapidly, placing my hand up.

JJ looked at me awkwardly and nodded in agreement, exchanging glances with Pope and Kie.

I knew he regretted what he said after seeing my expression, everyone did. They all instantly had this worry expression covering them.

Kie: "Umm, June why was Kayla here today?"

She totally asked to try and change the topic slightly, which I actually appreciated it extremely. My hands moved behind my head as I rested it against the soft hammock.

June: "She's been checking up on me since she heard what happened. I mean, she was there for me the exact day everything happened."

Kie: "Are y'all on good terms already?" -she questioned, touching her curly hair nervously.

June: "We haven't really talked about what happened. She did apologized though, but nothing else has been said."

The girl nodded and took a sip of her beer awkwardly, the rest just looked around the area in silence almost contemplating if they should speak or not.

June: "I'm heading inside, you guys can sleep wherever you want. Remember to go to sleep early though, we have work tomorrow." -I spoke, rising up and walking away to the château.

I walked inside the quiet and cold home, the ambience just felt so tense and unpleasant to be in. I stepped near dad's office, peeking through the wooden door to take a glimpse of the small space.

It sometimes feels like I can still see or feel him, as if he still spends all of his hours inside that room and I just don't know.

The same feeling happens with John B's room, I don't even enter anymore cause it's too hard. The amount of guilt I feel it's immense, which bothers a lot.

Knowing him...he would be telling me that this isn't my fault, but I feel like it is.

My room felt so cold now, everything felt frozen. I stumbled across some boxes I had on the floor, instantly letting out a grunt over the impact I felt on my foot. I then noticed the box had all of the stuff the police station had classified.

My hands reached for the box and instantly opened it. I grabbed the only object I was interested on seeing, which was a picture of my mom and dad together.

Part of me wondered and wanted to know how my mom was doing, but she didn't care and it showed. She never called me since the day I left, there was never a call or text from her.

I placed the picture on my nightstand, seconds later started to accommodate myself carefully on my bed. I didn't know how to feel about tomorrow, it was my first time going somewhere crowded on the island after a while.

The nerves just started to eat me up, instantly.

[Next day]

The restaurant was thankfully empty when I arrived at the place, the only car near the area was Wyatt's truck. I walked towards the entrance of the beautiful building, it was made out of white wood. The only modern thing about it was the crystal windows and doors.

I entered the building shortly after looking around, it was also empty inside.

June: "Hello?!" -I shouted, looking carefully around the space as I closed the door.

My attention was suddenly brought as I heard music playing near, this one came from inside the kitchen area of the restaurant.

I then walked towards where the melody came from and entered the room. The first thing I saw was Wyatt's back moving constantly throughout the kitchen. The boy was very concentrated on whatever he was doing on the kitchen's stove.

June: "Wyatt." -I spoke, placing my hands on top of the bar.

The blond one turned around slightly surprised by my voice and smiled as he noticed my presence. He lowered the music down and looked up at me again.

Wyatt: "June, hey! It's so good to see you." -he smiled brightly, walking towards me with open arms.

I exchanged a hug with him and pulled away quickly as I noticed he had flour on his face.

Wyatt: "Ignore the mess."

June: "I'll try, you seem stressed." -I spoke, hearing him chuckle.

Wyatt: "That's right, my mom thinks I can bake which to be honest I can't."

I could've sworn a light bulb turned on in my brain as I heard his words, I smiled slightly as I realized I could help and looked at him.

June: "I'm not a baker neither but I know someone that's very good at it, maybe they could come over and help."

Wyatt: "That would mean a lot to me, I also have to go pick up Elena at home and bring her here."

June: "Yeah, um, the problem is that she's probably not gonna want to come." -I explained, scratching my neck nervously.

Wyatt: "Have I met her before?"

I wondered instantly if he could have, both were kooks that lived near their neighborhoods. Every kook basically knows each other, I learned that because of Kie.

June: "Do you know, Kayla Thornton?" -I asked, seeing his eyes open slightly wide.

Wyatt: "Uh, yeah, sorta? She's Topper's sister, right?"

June: "Right."

Wyatt: "I do, she's good friends with one of my friends."

June: "Well, her dad is a very known baker and she learned some stuff thanks to him. I could ask her to come by, only if you want."

He nodded in agreement but something about his body language seemed nervous, I decided not to ask since I didn't want to bother him by asking.

I grabbed my phone out and began searching for her contact. Wyatt continued to prepare whatever he was trying to bake, but suddenly he left  me alone for a moment as he went out to probably look for something.

As the phone rang for a couple of seconds I finally heard the call being answered.

Kayla: "June?"

June: "Hey, Kayla." -I mumbled, beginning to bite onto my nail over how nervous I felt for a weird reason.

Kayla: "This is..."

June: "Weird and random, I know. I just have to ask you something."

Kayla: "What's up?"

June: "Do you know the restaurant "Malibu farm?" It's kinda near the neighborhood you live in." -I asked, hearing how she exclaimed all of a sudden.

I opened my eyes by the sudden reaction and pushed the phone away from my ear.

June: "I suppose you do then."

Kayla: "Yeah, I do. Um, why the question, though?"

June: "Well...I sort of need your help with something on the restaurant." -I explained, looking outside through the crystal window.

Kayla: "I'm on my way."

My eyes opened filled with surprise by the girl's response, I looked around to see if Wyatt was near but he wasn't yet.

June: "You didn't even hear me explain why I need your help."

Kayla: "It's fine, explain it to me once I get there."

She then hung up the call and I only stared at my phone in shock.

Wyatt: "Hey, is she coming?"

I turned around kinda startled by the deep voice behind me, then I let  out a deep sigh after realizing it was just Wyatt.

June: "Yeah, she is. Is there anything I can do to help though?"

He looked around the area and began to think carefully of a task to give me, I waited patiently until he finally looked over to me again.

Wyatt: "You could set the tables outside, all of them have these boxes beside them."

June: "What's inside those boxes?"

Wyatt: "Decorations for the table. Flowers, candles, the menu and some other stuff." -he replied, mixing some flour rapidly.

June: "All right, I'll see you in a bit then."

Wyatt: "Thanks, good luck."

June: "You too."

As I was about to exit the building, the boy's voice suddenly stopped me from doing so.

Wyatt: "Hey, June."

I turned around as I held the door handle, raising an eyebrow as I looked at him confused.

Wyatt: "Thank you genuinely for the help, this means a lot to my family...you know, after everything that happened."

His serious tone caught me off guard all of a sudden, Wyatt wasn't the type of boy to suddenly be too serious. I've known him for a short while, but he's always been a dork.

Hearing the boy speak his true thoughts slapped me harshly across the face, I knew he meant it.

Wyatt: "And also, don't listen to what others say about your brother. Believe it or not, I know you and your friends are telling the truth."

June: "You...believe us?" -I asked, feeling a knot forming on my throat.

Wyatt: "My dad says that Bailey would never help a killer. My cousin stayed helping your brother for a reason, not the reason everyone believes though."

Wyatt: "He's innocent and whoever did the actual crime deserves to pay."

I nodded in agreement and watched how his eyes crystallized suddenly.

Wyatt: "Let's stick together and get justice for them."

June: "It's not so simple, Wyatt."

Wyatt: "Why do you say that?" -he questioned, placing the bowl he had on his arms down.

June: "The actual killers are too smart, everyone supports them instead of the actual victims."

Wyatt: "Killers? How do you know that?"

I stayed quiet after his question, proceeding to remember the exact day my whole life took a turn for the worst. I stumbled back suddenly as I lost my balance, remembering the fear I felt as I saw Rafe holding that gun.

Wyatt: "June, who are the killers?"

End of chapter.

Sofia's notes:

She's backkkkkkkk!! The way I'm too excited currently lmao 😭 this chapter ended in a bit of a cliffhanger but next one is going to be so juicy that you should obviously stay tune 🤭

I missed writing this book so much and all I can say is that act two is going to be SO GOOD.

leave your thoughts or theories of what you think is going to happen next chapter here:

Also here's how the restaurant looks hehe

NEW COVER TOO.

See you soon 🫶🏼