Pilot.

CHAPTER THREE , THESE DIRTY POGUES KNOW HOW TO PARTY

CONTENT WARNING!!! Depictions of abuse

Skip if needed!

━━━━━━━━━━

"Oh, shit..."

Leah's sad eyes stay on Lana as she cries over her husband's lifeless body.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ asks.

The girl who had showed them the picture of the closeup on Scooter's body turns back to them. "Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady-White."

Leah closes her eyes and lets out a breath through her nose. Of course...

"Everyone's out looking for it."

Leah opens her eyes and watches the Paramedics wheel away Scooter's body. Lana follows after her husband and Leah couldn't help the tight feeling from appearing in her chest. She couldn't imagine losing the one person she dedicated her life to.

How could someone move on from that?

John B stands up, "Meet at my place in an hour." He tells the other three Pogues before walking away.

Leah exchanges a worried look with Pope. She knew that if anyone would be as worried as she was, it would be Pope. Leah came off as someone who doesn't think twice about her actions, but when it came down to life or death Leah wasn't going to take any chances.

Leah and JJ were walking together to her house. "You didn't have to walk me." She keeps her eyes on her Nike's.

"Eh, I mean, What else was I going to do?" JJ shrugs.

Leah shrugs, "Go with John B?" She suggests.

"And listen to his theories about what's going on? No, thank you." JJ shudders.

"You mean, John B won't have sex with you?" Leah turns to him. JJ stops and turns to her, his blue eyes immediately meeting her brown ones. "Lee, I'm not walking with you, so we can have sex."

Leah looks to the side, her face getting hot with embarrassment. "I shouldn't have said that. Sorry."

JJ tilts his head, "You've been...snappy."

The girl raises her brows, "What do you mean?"

"With Kie on the boat?"

Leah inhales a breath and rolls her eyes. "You guys noticed that?"

JJ laughs, "How could we not?"

Leah was known as non-confrontational among The Cut. So, when the boys hear her throwing shots at Kie; it catches them off guard.

"You should talk to her," JJ suggests.

"I don't need to talk to Kie." Leah softly laughs. "We're fine, just not as close as we used to be."

"Okay, Lee. Listen up!" JJ claps his hands together and stands in front of her. JJ walks backward while Leah continues forward, with a small smile on her lips. "Oh, god...another JJ 101 lesson?"

"Yup, open up your ears."

Leah playfully rolls her eyes, but she cups her ears. "I'm all ears, J."

JJ's face gets hot. He wasn't going to lie and say that Leah's attention being only on him didn't make him feel good. JJ notices how he's silent for a moment too long and clears his throat. "Okay, this group is a family, correct?"

Leah softly hums and nods her head, "Correct."

"And this group works only if we are acting like a family," JJ says, he slows his walking which causes Leah to do the same. She stands in front of JJ, her brown eyes on his blue ones.

"The only way we'll work is if you and Kie talk," JJ says.

Leah inhales a breath, holding it. She hated confrontation. But if everyone had already noticed she wasn't on the same page as Kie, then Leah had to fix this. JJ watches as Leah goes through her inner turmoil and he couldn't help but chuckle.

Leah's pulled out of her thoughts from his laughter and looks at him. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's just cute when you try to hype yourself up for confrontations." JJ smirks.

Leah's face heats up, "Well, I can't help it if I just hate hurting people's feelings."

"You need to be more like me." JJ wags a finger like he was saying something inspirational. "Be someone who cares a little just not too much."

"Wow..." Leah hums. "You are...an inspiration to every people pleaser out there, J."

JJ bunches his shoulders and softly chuckles. "It's a gift..." he then turns to her. "...and a curse."

Leah snorts before letting out a laugh.

...

"Okay. So, um...we didn't see anything." Pope says, stepping up to the porch. "We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia."

"Really? No, hello or hey?" Leah shrugs.

Pope points at Leah. "Amnesia, Lee."

Leah snaps her fingers and points a finger gun at Pope. "Of course I'm gonna have amnesia. That's my number 1 rule. When in doubt...have amnesia."

"Is that why you always say you forgot you ate my Oreos?" John B asks the girl.

Leah purses her lips and pinches her brows together. "Oreos...?" She shakes her head.

John B rolls his eyes, but he couldn't help but smirk.

"Actually, Pope's right for once," JJ says, he stands up. "See, I agree with you sometimes."

"Deny, deny, deny," Leah says with a wag of her finger.

"Guys, we can't keep that money." Kie voices.

"Okay, not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara." JJ huffs.

Leah raises her brows and shapes her mouth into an 'O'.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs," Kie says. "Otherwise, it's bad karma."

"Yeah, mm-mm." Leah shakes her head. "I can't handle bad karma. Get rid of the money." She leans back in her seat.

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too," Pope adds. "We gotta go dark."

"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." JJ nods.

John B pulls himself out of his thoughts and clasps JJ's shoulder. "I don't agree."

"What? Why?" JJ asks.

"Just think about it." John B says. "This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about, right? Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole."

Leah snaps her fingers and points at John B.

"One time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas." Leah tangles a hand into her hair. "I felt bad."

"And lemme guess, you gave him some change?" Pope looks at her.

Leah sheepishly smiles and shrugs. The Peterkin has always been the kind of person who just couldn't say no. She was a people pleaser. Even for people she barely knew.

"We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden, he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'." John B throws his hands up.

Leah leans over to Kie, "Does that count as talking ill of the dead?"

Kie nods her head, "Totally."

Leah frowns, "All righty then."

The group all left the chateau to clear their heads. They moved their conversation to the dock, hopefully to get another perspective. Pope throws a line into the water.

"All right, so think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady-White?" John B inquires.

"Prostitution."

John B exchanges a look with Leah and the girl softly snorts.

"Square groupers, bro." John B emphasizes. "Okay, flying under the radar no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane."

Leah cluelessly blinks, not understanding.

"What does that mean? JJ?" John B points at the sand-blonde boy.

"They were straight smugglin'."

"Smugglin'."

Leah snaps her fingers, "I...I was gonna get that."

"Of course you were."

"And I guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck." John B states.

"Hell yeah."

After fishing, the group all went back to the Chateau to hear Pope's plan.

"For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it...it probably belongs to someone else."

"Someone dangerous." Leah holds up her pointer finger.

Pope points at Leah, "And that dangerous someone could come looking for it." he adds. "Taking it would be catastrophically stupid."

Leah nods her head, "Yeah, catastrophically."

JJ takes the money back from Pope's hands. "Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time." he holds up the money. JJ then shifted his ocean blue eyes to the Peterking girl and Leah couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips.

Even with just one look, JJ could make Leah throw all logic out the window. So, when Pope looks at Leah for backup and she looks at him with a sheepish smile he rolls his eyes. Leah slightly opens her mouth, "Look, all we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck, right?" she looks at her friends. "Until then, like Pope said...we have amnesia."

"We lay low and just act normal."

A heavy sigh comes from Pope. "Right. And how exactly do we do that?"

Silence fills the room. Kie looks at each of her friends and shrugs, "Kegger?"

Leah's back straightens and her expression perks. A playful smile was across her lips and when she exchanged looks with her friends, they had the same smiles.

☆

"No, no--absolutely not."

Sarah tilts her head to the ceiling and a playful whine comes from her lips. "Come ooon..." she shakes Emilia's arm. Emilia quietly groans as she continues to do her homework.

"The kegger could take your mind off of everything." Sarah sings softly.

Ever since she had heard about it, Sarah had been trying to convince Emilia to join her at the kegger. But not surprisingly, Emilia shut the idea down every single time she brought it up. Emilia wasn't into going to parties, more specifically ones that her former friends were throwing. She couldn't just show up there, especially since she lost contact with them ever since she left the cut. She hasn't been there in so long and her mom made her vow to never set foot over on that side again.

"Topper and I are going." Sarah plops onto the seat next to Emilia.

Emilia then chuckles, "So, you want me to be a third wheel?" she looks at Sarah. "No, thank you."

"No, no, no. You're not gonna be a third wheel." Sarah wraps her arms around Emilia's neck. "Topper is."

Emilia softly huffs, "I really need to study." she murmurs. "This college is no joke. And neither is my mom. She'll freak out on me if she even finds out I'm there."

"Then tell her you're staying over tonight." Sarah unwraps her arms from Emilia's neck.

Emilia tenses, "Sarah--"

"Emilia Wilson." Sarah cups Emilia's cheeks and forces her to look into her blue gleaming eyes.

"You are going to this Kegger with me and Topper."

"But, I don't drink." Emilia murmurs with squished cheeks.

Sarah then sighs, "You don't have to drink in order to have fun, all right?" she then pulls her hands from Emilia's face. "Look, if you don't drink then I won't drink."

Emilia presses her plump lips into a firm line. Sarah slumps her shoulders. She knew that convincing Emilia was going to be difficult, but come on. Sarah then lets out a breath, she looks to the side and thinks for a second. An idea then pops into her head and she looks back at Emilia with a smirk.

"Your mom loves me."

Emilia blinks. The girls had discussed the difference between how Emilia's mom treated her daughter and her friends, so having this heartwrenching conversation brought up again hurts her.

"Okay...?"

"So, if I ask her if you can sleep over, she'll say yes." Sarah raises her brows.

Emilia frowns, she stays silent for a moment which makes Sarah wait anxiously for Emilia's decision. The platinum blonde tilts her head to the side and softly hums. "Okay--"

Sarah throws her arms up and cheers.

"but..."

Sarah's hands then drop.

"tell her that I'll bring my study materials here to work on."

Sarah moves her head to the side and sighs. "Fine, deal." the girl then looks to the side. "I don't know why you decided to take classes in the summer anyway."

Emilia then points her mechanical pencil at Sarah. "Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready, Sarah."

"You seriously won't give yourself the day to relax?" Sarah raises her brows, searching Emilia's eyes.

Emilia presses her lips into a small smile. "I'm giving myself the night, isn't that enough?"

Sarah rolls her eyes and grabs her phone. "Off to convincing Aubrey, I go..." she walks into another room.

Emilia stayed silent, and she could feel her anxiety slowly creeping through her body. She began to fidget with her fingers as she got more in her head about her decision. Her mother was going to say no and then take her anger out on Emilia. Fear slowly clouded her mind, and she jumped onto her feet. Emilia speed-walked through the house in the direction Sarah went.

She was ready to tell Sarah that she'd changed her mind. She couldn't go to this party—the amount of judgment she'd gain from her mother and the friends she had lost contact with years ago. I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't—

Sarah pulls open the door with a triumphant smile. She holds her phone up and waves it back and forth. "She said yes." Sarah then pulls her brows together when she notices Emilia's expression. She instantly recognized the look on her best friend's face. "You've changed your mind."

Emilia swallows the lump in her throat and pushes her regretful thoughts deep into the back of her brain. The platinum blonde scoffs, "No, no. I-I didn't..."

Sarah squints her eyes, hoping to get a better read. "You sure?"

Emilia forces a smile onto her lips. "100%"

Sarah frowns, "Oh, awesome!" She loops her arm through Emilia's. "This is going to be the best night ever!" Sarah let out a loud gasp of excitement that caused Emilia to jump.

"And I have the perfect top for you!" The blonde then drags Emilia up the stairs.

☆

Leah doesn't get jealous. She wasn't the jealous type.

So why is she getting bothered by JJ laughing with other girls?

Because they're blonde and beautiful.

Leah lets out a small scoff and looks away from the girl with her hand in JJ's hair. They weren't even dating. Leah shouldn't care. She promised JJ that if they continued whatever this was, she wouldn't fall for him. But Leah was dumb and so was JJ. Obviously, she was going to fall for the boy who took her virginity. And of course, JJ was going to believe Leah when she said "I'm not gonna fall for you that easily. Nice try, J."

What a fucking liar she was.

Leah remembers when she first brought up the idea of losing her virginity to JJ. He was shocked that the Peterkin girl hadn't already lost it, but he was even more shocked when she revealed that she wanted him to take it. I mean, JJ and Leah were best friends--of course, they were. But there was also a thought in the back of JJ's head. What if someone found out he slept with Leah? Then, he'd be forever known as the boy who had sex with the Sheriff's daughter. The little reputation he had would be ruined.

But JJ didn't want to tell Leah that. What she hated the most was when people identified her as the "Sheriff's daughter". JJ denied her offer.

Then one night he was walking her home. Just from the way, Leah looked under the moonlight. And her smile...

All logic had flown out the window that night. Leah knew the walk home was different because JJ had never looked at her the way he did that night.

The next day the two teens woke up in Leah's bed, the girl thought JJ was going to say it was a mistake; and she was ready for that pain.

But surprisingly, he kissed her and said "When have I ever slept with someone by mistake?"

And that oddly made sense to Leah.

And ever since that night, the two have been best friends with casual sex on the side. Leah always thought it was better to be that than to be just friends. But now seeing how happy he was with these other girls, Leah wasn't so sure.

Leah looks down at her empty red solo cup and a harsh breath comes from her lips. She needed another drink. Leah turns away from the scene and walks over to the keg.

As soon as they got to The Cut, Emilia felt like she was going to be crushed by the weight on her chest. She hadn't been back home in years. Emilia wonders if her biological parents even still live here. Maybe they weren't even alive anymore. That thought made her stomach turn. Emilia could hear Topper complaining about the trash on the side of the road and how overcrowded the island was. Emilia just rolled her lips into her mouth and let Sarah reprimand him. She had to remember that she was a Kook now. It's been five years. Why was she still feeling guilt and fear over seeing them?

Sarah runs across the sand with Topper right behind her. "Sarah, wait!"

Emilia presses her lips into a firm line. If she ran, she would most likely catch people's attention. And that was the last thing she wanted. The platinum blonde looks around the beach and her eyes land on a large secluded boulder. Emilia lets out a breath of relief and quickly walks over to it. She leans against the boulder and slides down to the ground, her legs hitting the warm sand. Emilia found herself closing her eyes, remembering what it was like to be at the beach every day with her best friends. God, she missed when her life was easy to live--worth living.

"What is she doing here?" Kiara asks, her dark brown eyes practically piercing a hole through Sarah Cameron. Leah raises her brows and sips her drink. "It's party, y'know?" she then shrugs. "Kooks love a good party."

That's Sarah Cameron. Kook princess. Kiara's best friend in ninth grade, and worst enemy in the tenth grade. I work on her dad's boats, so, you know, I've seen her around.

The group watched as Topper walked over to Sarah and grabbed her hand.

Then that's Topper, her not-so-pleasant boyfriend. Topper actually thinks Pogues were bred to mow lawns.

Sarah looks around and her eyes land on her best friend sitting against the boulder. "EMILIA, GET OVER HERE"

Even though the music was still playing, you could hear the beat of silence. And just like that, all eyes were now on her.

"Seriously?" Kie scoffs.

Leah frowns, "You know what? I actually agree with this one--why is she here?"

John B turns around, following Sarah's line of vision. His eyes land on the blonde who looks like she is going to throw up.

Aaaand there's Emilia Perez. I didn't think I'd have to introduce her, because I never thought she'd show her face around here ever again. Before she became a Kook, she was a Pogue. More specifically, she was apart of our friend group. But she got adopted by a rich family and became too Kook for us. Then she lived happily ever after and never talked to us again. But, of course, she's here to drink our beer...Nope, I'm not bitter at all.

Emilia keeps her eyes glued to the sand and she speed walks over to Sarah and Topper.

"She can't even look at us." Kie huffs.

"Why would she need to? We'd be a waste of her time." John B sat before sipping his beer.

"Makes sense, though." Leah hiccups. "I mean, if I left without a word I wouldn't want to look at you guys either."

"Scream a little louder, why don't you?" Emilia softly seethes.

Topper grips Sarah's waist, he spins her around; which forces Emilia to roll her eyes. Topper then sets her to the ground. Emilia bites the inside of her cheek. She knew coming here wasn't a good idea.

Sarah walks over to the platinum blonde. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot you were trying to be incognito," she whispers while holding her hands up like she was a ninja. But Emila doesn't even crack a smile. Instead, she grows even more tense and begins to hug herself. Sarah's smile lessens.

Topper stands next to the two girls. "What, did you catch unwanted attention?" he teases.

Emilia squints her eyes at the boy. "Actually. Yes, I did, Topper."

Topper chuckles, "You do know that no one remembers you being a Pogue, right? Don't worry about it."

"Oh, trust me..." her head slightly turns and her eyes meet her former best friends. "...some remember."

☆

"I can't believe she had the nerve to show up."

"Why wouldn't she show up?" Leah asks, sipping her third beer.

JJ turned to the girl, and any words he had thought about saying before had disappeared from his mind. His eyes trailed up and down her body. Her skin under the sun always glistened like art, it made his heart skip a beat. Damn, she looks good.

Forgetting that they were surrounded by their friends, JJ swipes his tongue across his lower lip and steps toward her. Leah's eyes slightly widen just from the lust written across the blonde's face. She raises her hand and slides it into JJ's hair, keeping him a comfortable few inches away from her. JJ groans as Leah ruffles his hair. "Personal space, dude." she quickly glances over at Pope.

JJ follows her eyes, realizing what he almost did. Pope wrinkles his nose, "Get your hand out of his hair, weirdo." he lightly smacks her hand out of Jj's hair.

"Ow." Leah pushes her lower lip out, pouting. And she touches her hand.

"Lee, look..." JJ sighs. "we haven't seen Emilia in 5 years. She's never shown up to a kegger until now. So, my question is..."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Pope finishes.

JJ snaps and points his finger at Pope. "Exactly--and what is up with her hair?"

Leah rolls her eyes, "She dyed it. Obviously."

"She shouldn't have to." JJ sighs with a shake of his head. Leah squints her eyes and her jaw clenches. "Why do you care?"

"You've been looking at her for a while now--do you have a thing for her or something?" Leah moves her head to the side.

JJ lets out a small laugh and rolls his head to the side. "Oh, come on, that's--"

"A good point, actually," Pope says, agreeing with Leah.

Leah sends JJ a cheeky smile. The blonde's face heats up, nervous. He then scoffs once he realizes that Leah is coming off as jealous. "You guys are ridiculous."

"You know who's also ridiculous?" Leah asks, a smile tugging on her lips.

"Who?"

"Your mom."

Pope rolls his eyes from the giggle fit now coming from Leah. "Aaand the mom jokes have arrived."

The first sign that Leah was always buzzed? Her telling your mom jokes.

JJ hums, "That's weird. I could've sworn my mom ran off."

Leah raises her brows and frowns. "Huh. Y'know, my dad did the same exact thing."

"Weird." They chorus.

Pop huffs, "You guys trauma dump a lot."

"It helps us cope, Pope," JJ says.

"Ha! That totally rhymed."

"I am walking away now." Pope walks away from the two, having heard enough.

Once the two were left alone, JJ found himself looking at Leah again. "Hey."

The Peterkin girl turns to JJ and pulls her brows together from the look of curiosity across his face. "What's up?"

"Why were you defending Emilia?" JJ asks. "I mean, she's the traitor."

Leah inhales a small breath and her eyes trail back over to Emilia. She was standing beside Sarah and Topper. Sarah tried her best to make Emilia comfortable the entire night, but that was hard to do when Topper wouldn't give her one second of alone time with Emilia.

"She looks out of place," Leah speaks. "She was our best friend at some point."

"She's a Kook." JJ retorts.

Leah rolls her eyes. "She's Emilia."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they changed her name to something like...Jessica or Krystal with a K?" JJ shudders.

"Krystal with a K?" She deadpans.

"And a Y." JJ takes a sip of his beer.

Leah understands everyone's anger towards Emilia. She was angry herself, of course. I mean, Emilia was their best friend and she disappeared off the face of the planet and now she's here. But that was just the thing. Emilia was here. Now. And all Leah wanted to do was pull her into a warm long-awaited embrace. It sure as hell looked like she needed it.

Leah's compassion was a gift. At least that's what her mother said. And Leah hoped to god it was true.

"You look good, by the way."

Leah blinks and she looks back at the boy. His eyes were looking across her body. Leah smirks, "Yeah?"

JJ nods his head. "Oh, yeah. But honestly...?" he looks around to make sure no one was watching them.

A chill rushes down her spine as soon as JJ lightly touches one of the straps on her shoulders. "you would look so much better against that boulder over there."

Leah arches a brow, "You sure you don't want to use that line with someone else?"

JJ blinks, "Wait, what?"

Leah looks at him with a peeved expression. She glances at the blonde who is staring at him. The same blonde who had her hand in his hair earlier. JJ  follows Leah's gaze and he raises his brows.

"Oh..."

"Yeah...oh." Leah scoffs.

"You're jealous."

Leah snaps her eyes over to him. "NMo. I'm not...shut up."

JJ laughs and points at the girl. Leah presses her lips into a firm line. She pinches his arm and JJ winces.

"Ow!" JJ whines which causes Leah to smirk. JJ strikes back. He pinches Leah's arm and her mouth hangs open. "Ow!"

"Ha!"

"Okay, fine!" Leahfinishes the rest of her beer. "Maybe, I might be a little jealous. But can you blame me? You were looping arms with Sandy--"

"--Cindy."

"That's what I said." Leah folds her arm and looks away from him. JJ smirks from the Peterkin girl's frustration. "Lee, do you know why I'm over here talking to you instead of her?"

Leah looks down at the empty red solo cup in her hand. "Why?" her voice was quiet over the music.

JJ takes a step forward and a jolt runs through her body. Leah looked at the blonde and a small smile was on his lips. "Because I want you. Not...Sandy."

"Cindy." Leah softly corrects him.

"That's what I said."

Leah softly laughs and looks at the sand. She then rolls her lips into her mouth to contain her smile and excitement. Leah looks around the beach and bites her lower lip. JJ raises his brows out of surprise. Normally, whenever Leah saw JJ talking to another girl she would find his words of defense lame. But right now, JJ was making her feel like the only girl in the world.

To JJ, Leah was one of the only people in the world that mattered to him. But he has never told Leah that.

Leah grabs JJ's hand and pulls away from the swarm of partyers on the beach. The teenagers rush over to the larger boulder and hide behind it. JJ pins Leah against the rock and pulls her into an intoxicating kiss. She could taste the cheap beer on his lips, but that didn't matter to her.

JJ's hands gently gripped her waist and he slid his hands under her top. Despite it being warm, Leah shivered. The blonde pulls away from her with his lips still brushing against hers. Leah flutters her eyes open and meets JJ's gaze. A smile graces JJ's lips and he cups the side of her neck. "You know I'm crazy about you, right?"

Leah's stomach flutters and her lips stutter for a moment. JJ has told her many times before that he was obsessed with her. And with the way he looked at her, Leah always believed it.

Leah cups the back of his neck and a smile ghosts her lips. She pulls him into an urgent kiss, needing every inch of his body against hers.

☆

As the night went on, Emilia grew more nasty. She was just waiting until Sarah and Topper said the word to leave. She didn't care for partying. That's not who she was anymore. Besides, she was never good at it. And she sure as hell wasn't going to be in the mood for it when she was a third wheel.

Emilia watched as everyone else had fun and she could feel her body grow heavier. Why couldn't she bring herself to relax just one night? Sarah was so excited to bring her to this party, but all Emilia did was pout all night. Emilia pinches the bridge of her nose. In all honesty, she wanted to go to bed.

"Emilia, hey!" Sarah and Topper walk over to the platinum blonde.

Emilia looks at the couple, forcing herself from her self-deprecating thoughts. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"We were about to head home," Sarah says. "Are you coming?"

Emilia presses her lips together. "Yeah, of course."

Sarah notices the girl's small expression. "Hey, you okay?" she lightly touches Emilia's back.

Emilia softly smiles, "I'm good. Just tired."

Topper laughs, "Tired of what? You were leaning against this telephone pole all day." he taps his knuckle against it.

"I don't know, Topper. Maybe I'm tired of you butting into our conversations." Emilia snaps her eyes over to the boy.

Sarah laughs, "Emi, chill."

Emilia looks back at Sarah. The blonde was begging Emilia not to start another argument with Topper. Emilia wasn't a fan of Topper Thornton. She wouldn't even consider him a friend.

Emilia presses her lips into a firm line. Calm down...

"I'm sorry, like I said before. I am tired. So, can we leave, please?" Emilia forces out in a soft tone but she's obviously growing impatient.

"Apology accepted, Wilson." Topper nudges her arm. Emilia quietly groans and they all start to walk away.

JJ was standing with Leah and John B, mixing a drink when he finished. The group cheered for him. He holds it out towards Leah and she covers her nose. "Sorry, J. I've reached my limit tonight."

"Oh, weak." JJ seethes.

Leah giggles, "Then you drink it."

"Me? No, I can't try out my own concoction." JJ shakes his head. That's insanity, and I can't believe you even threw that idea out."

Leah purses her lips and raises her hands. "Oh, my bad," she giggles again.

JJ catches sight of Emilia walking with Topper and Sarah a few feet away from the group. He knows he shouldn't. But...

"Wait! Hey, hey, hey, Emilia!"

Leah lets out a heavy sigh. "JJ, leave her alone."

"He's already over there." John B clicks his tongue. Leah shakes her head, "This might not end well..." she then shrugs a shoulder. "or maybe it will."

Emilia stops when she sees JJ, Leah, and John B standing in front of her with two red solo cups. She immediately tenses from the faces of her best friends. Former best friends. "Hey..." she shifts her gaze to John B and Leah. "what's up?"

"Can I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ holds the cup out to her.

Emilia gives him a small smile. "No. Thank you, for the offer, though."

"Oh, come on. You love these." JJ says. "What, is this not good enough for you now?"

"J, come on." Leah huffs.

Emilia sucks in a small breath. "No, it's just I'm about to leave."

"Hey, hey, you know what? I'll take it." Topper takes a step forward. It causes Emilia's anger to grow while Leah wrinkles her nose. Emilia folds her arms and looks at the sand.

"Thank you, man. I appreciate it." Topper reaches for the cup.

"That's nice, but I didn't ask you." JJ replied passively. "If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't."

"Oh, pretty please." Topper scoffs. "Pretty please?"

"Yes, that's what he said, Topper." Leah snaps. "And she already said, no." she looks at JJ. "Leave her alone."

Emilia exhales through her nose. She didn't want any confrontation. And she sure as hell didn't want it to be her fault. Emilia scratches the corner of her brow. "You know what? Yeah, sure, I'll take--"

Topper smacks the drink out of JJ's hand and it spills all over Emilia's top. The girl lets out a gasp and raises her hands.

Leah scoffs, "Oh, you're such  fucking dick!"

JJ grabs Topper by his shirt and pushes him back. Leah takes a step towards Emilia, "Oh my god. Are you okay?"

Emilia opens and closes her mouth. "I am so sorry." her voice trembles.

"What do you have to apologize for?" Leah meets Emilia's shaky eyes. Leah pulls her brows together from the expression across Emilia's face. She was genuinely terrified. Sarah lightly touches Emilia's wrist, "Em, you okay?"

Emilia gathers herself and pushes her fear back down. "Fine." she forces out a chuckle.

John B and Pope pull JJ off of Topper.

"You're so funny, man!" JJ calls out.

Sarah walks over to Topper and pulls him back. Emilia wipes at her soaked shirt. "Can we just go?"

"Dirty Pogues!"

"Fuck you, Topper!" Leah snaps.

"Topper!" Emilia grabs his arm.

John B shoves Topper back. He stumbles back and John B walks back over to his friends but Topper quickly follows him.

"Topper--"

Topper punches John B across the face. Emilia slaps a hand over her mouth. Topper kicks John B into the water. "Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?" he kicks John B again.

The crowd begins to chant 'Fight' across the boneyard. Topper turns away from John B and Emilia rolls her eyes. She then looks over at her friend. Emilia never understood how Sarah could be with someone like that.

"Some friends you have."

Emilia turns and looks at Kie. The Wilson girl's jaw clenches and she swallows her shame. John B tackles Topper into the water. Emilia looks back at the two boys fighting and her breathing quickens.

"Guys, stop!"

"Kick his ass, Topper!"

"Shut up, Kelse!" Emilia snaps. She then shakes her head. How could anyone actually condone and encourage fighting?

John B punches Topper in the face.

"That's what I'm talking about!" JJ shouts.

"Fuck him up, Johnny boy!" Leah encourages.

Topper punches John B and stumbles back. Topper goes to punch the boy again, John B ducks and rams his fist into Topper's stomach. John B slams Topper into the water.

"Come on, Topper! Let's go!" John B shouts. "Come on!"

"Guys, please stop!" Emilia tangles her hands in her hair.

John B swings at Topper, but Topper blocks his hit and punches John B across the face. "Come on, man!"

John B runs toward Topper, but he grabs John B's arms and slams him into the water. Leah's mouth drops open.

Whatever upper hand John B had at the beginning, Topper managed to take it right out from under his feet. Topper walks over to John B and shoves his face back into the water.

"Shit!" Leah runs a hand over her hair. "Topper, get the fuck off him!"

Emilia's heart drops into her stomach. "No, stop!" she takes a step forward, but Kelse grabs her arm.

"Get the hell off me!" Emilia growls.

"Topper's got this," Kelse says.

Emilia's eyes blow wide and she looks at Kelse as if he was the dumbest person to live on this earth. "I don't give a shit about Topper--he's drowning John B!"

"He's drowning him!" Pope shouts.

Leah shifts her eyes to JJ, whose gears are already turning. She watches JJ grab his backpack and her eyes widen.

"JJ--"

"He's killing him, Lee," JJ says, desperation heavy in his voice. "Trust me, okay?"

Leah swallows thickly, but she nods her head. He grabs the gun from the bag and Leah's stomach twists. JJ stalks over to TYopper and presses the gun on the back of his head.

One by one, everyone notices the gun against Topper's head.

"He's got a gun!" Chaos ensues and everyone begins to run away.

"Come on, chill dude!" Pope holds his hand out to JJ.

"JJ put the gun down!" Emilia pleads.

"You say something, traitor?" JJ keeps the gun on the back of Topper's head.

"We're good--we're good." Topper shakily assures. He quickly lets go of John B.

"Kie! Can you please check your psycho friend, please?" Sarah snaps her eyes over to Kiara.

Emilia urgently grabs Sarah's arm. "I don't think you should be calling the person with a gun a psycho right now, okay?"

JJ turns away from Topper. "Okay, everyone, listen up!" He waves the gun around.

Emilia flinches, taking a step away from JJ with her hand still latched around Sarah's arm. Topper stumbles onto his feet in a panic and runs over to Emilia and Sarah.

"Get the hell off our side of the island!"

"Guys, let's go. Now." Emilia urges, her voice shaky.

JJ fires two shots into the air, causing more panic. Leah slaps her hands over her ears, eyes still glued to JJ.

The three kooks are sent running away from the boneyard. Pope and Kiara reprimand JJ and smack him. Leah pulls her hands off her ears and a small gasp escapes her lips from seeing John B still in the water. She stands up and runs over to him, her knees immediately meeting the water. Leah checks his pulse and a breath of relief comes from her mouth. "Aj, shit, John B. I'm totally gonna make fun of you for this." she hooks her arms underneath his and pulls him out of the water. "Parties over, let's get him home!" she shouts.

Leah turns to see her three friends still yelling at each other. "A little help would be nice!"

The shouting eases and everyone turns to Leah, who was holding John B up. But in all honesty, she wasn't doing a very good job. Half of his body was slouching and his head was lopped to the side. JJ and Pope run over to Leah and grab John B from her arms.

Leah grabs the gun from JJ's hand. He quickly turns to her and opens his mouth to object, but she holds her free hand up.

"I don't think carrying a gun while carrying your friend is such a good idea." Leah states.

JJ keeps his mouth open and thinks for a second. He closes his mouth and nods his head, agreeing with the girl. JJ and Pope begin to carry John B off the beach.

Leah shakes her head with a heavy sigh. Kie holds the bag out to Leah, "Here."

Leah turns to Kie and her jaw clenches. She gently sets the gun into the bag. "Uh, thanks."

Kie gives Leah a small smile. She looks back at the boys walking off the beach and she huffs. "I can't believe he really fired two shots into the sky."

"It was excessive, but it worked." Leah shrugs. "I do think he could've just hit Topper over the head, though."

Kiara bites the inside of her cheek. "Shit's gonna get messy."

"Even messier than it already is?" Leah raises her brows, her voice filled with sarcasm. She motions her head forward. "We should go." She walks past Kiara without another word.

Kiara lets out a breath and tilts her head to the night sky. Getting Leah to talk to her was going to be harder than she thought.

☆

On their way back to their side of the island, Topper wouldn't stop talking. Sarah would glance at Emilia every now and then, noticing how antsy she was getting front Topper's nonstop comments about the Pogues. Emilia hated how easy it was for people to talk bad about Pogues.

"I mean, what the hell?" Topper scoffs. "He was gonna shoot me—he was gonna kill me, Sarah! I guess you can't be surprised. Pogues are so--"

"Jesus, can you please just..." Emilia inhales a sharp breath. She runs a hand over her brittle blonde hair. A small scoff escapes her lips. "...I'm going home." She turns to walk away from them.

"Wait—Emi, come on." Sarah calls out.

Emilia looks at the couple. "Dirty Pogues?" she snaps, her eyes glare at Topper. "Then you tried drowning John B--"

"I was joking—"

"--and I quote 'Just like his father'." Emilia scoffs. "Are you really surprised you had a gun pulled on you?"

Topper's eyes blow wide. "How can you say that?! He was going to kill me—I would be dead right now if because of those Pogues—"

"I used to be them, Topper!" Emilia shouts. "You seem to forget that!"

"Can you blame me for forgetting?" Topper retorts. Emilia pulls her face back. Sarah slightly opens her mouth and looks between her best friend and her boyfriend. "Guys, let's not do this. It's late, we should all just sleep—"

"The way you changed your appearance, the way you act—you want people to forget who you used to be!" Topper shouts.

Emilia hated to admit it but she knew that Topper was right. Emilia tried so hard to make her mother proud and to keep her happy that she was willing to do anything for her.

"Believe it or not, but you're one of us, Emilia." Topper's voice was calmer than before. "Get used to it."

Emilia's jaw clenches and her eyes blur with tears. Topper kisses Sarah and walks away from the house.

Sarah looks away from Topper and shifts her gaze to Emilia. The girl was staring off into space, taking in Topper's words. Sarah's eyes soften, "Em, I'm sorry. Sometimes he can be—"

"A dick?"

Sarah frowns, "Hey, you said it. Not me."

Emilia exhales, "He's right, though."

Sarah shakes her head. "No, listen. He was just talking—"

"I think..." Emilia gnaws on her lower lip. "I just want to be alone tonight, okay?"

Sarah's eyes soften. She could tell by Emilia's shaky breathing that she was gonna cry soon.

"I'm sorry, Sarah—"

"No, you have nothing to apologize for." Sarah wraps her arms around Emilia.

Emilia hugs Sarah back, a lump forms in Emilia's throat. "I should go..." she says softly.

"Yeah--okay. I'll see you tomorrow?" Sarah raises her brows.

Emilia presses her lips together, "Of course."

...

Emilia stares at the door and her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest. She didn't know that she stood that far on the Kook side to be considered a traitor. But it hurt her to even think. She didn't even consider herself a kook. This just establishes that Emilia didn't fit in with anyone. Emilia grabs her key and unlocks the door.

Emilia enters the house and she closes the door behind her. As soon as she locks the door, the light flit on. Emilia flinches and she quickly turns around to meet her parents' faces.

"Mom--"

"I thought you were sleeping over at Sarah's." Aubrey pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I-I changed my mind. I didn't feel into it." Emilia grips the straps of her bag.

Aubrey tilts her head and she squints her eyes. "So did you change your mind about the sleepover after you went to that party with those Pogues?"

Emilia's eyes widen, her eyes shift to her father and he looks away from her. She looks back at her mom.

"I went to the party--yes. But I didn't do anything that I shouldn't have." Emilia says.

Aubrey folds her arms and walks closer to her daughter. Emilia pinches her brows together. Aubrey examines Emilia's shaken expression. She's always known Emilia has been intimidated by her. Truth be told, as long Emilia does as she's told, Aubrey didn't care.

"You smell like alcohol," Aubrey growls. She grips Emilia's chin and forces the girl to keep eye contact. "Do you know what we have done for you?"

Emilia shakily nods her head.

"All we want is for you to be..." Aubrey trails off her sentence. She grits her teeth together and tightens her grip around Emilia's face. Emilia softly whimpers in pain.

"Say it." Aubrey orders. "I want you to be...?"

"Th-the best of the best." Emilia finishes. "You want me to be the best of the best."

"Exactly." Aubrey chuckles. "Exactly, Emily."

Emilia's chest tightens. Aubrey has always hated Emilia's name—Her true self. Aubrey only called her that to bury who Emilia really was. That's the same reason Emilia was forced to dye her hair blonde too. Where she was from. Who she was. Sometimes Emilia can't even remember who she was. It was so hard to keep track.

"You could be the best of the best, but you're not." Aubrey squeezes Emilia's face and a squeak comes from the brunette.

"I-I'm sorry, mom--"

Aubrey slaps Emilia across the face, the girl's head snaps to the side and her hand flies over to her cheek.

"We have loved you. We have given you everything. So many opportunities, so you won't be known as the street trash, and yet you go back to them. You drink and party." Aubrey shakes her head in disgust. She shoves Emilia's face back and the girl stumbles back and slams into the door. Emilia's lips quiver and tears blur her vision.

"You could be so much better," Aubrey says. "Not a disappointment."

Aubrey wipes her face, she looks at her husband. "Get her out of here."

Jake walks over to Emilia. "Okay, Emi--"

"Mom, I'm sorry." Emilia cries out.

Aubrey scoffs, "Just go to your room! I can't--I don't want to look at you..."

Emilia looks at her dad and he gives her a tired expression. Like always. She starts to walk towards her room, but Aubrey speaks again.

"And Emily."

Emilia quickly stops and looks at Aubrey. "Remember what I have said," she says. "Tears..."

Emilia swallows the lump in her throat, she wipes her tears and sniffles. "...are for the weak."

"And you are what?" Aubrey growls.

Emilia rolls her lips into her mouth, she takes a deep breath and speaks.

"Not weak."

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

hoping to update this story a LOT more <3

words : 7817