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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧
midsummers

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・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Kyla walked up to Tara at Midsummers, wearing a navy blue chiffon dress that went down to the ground. She was also wearing gold heels.

Tara was wearing a tight, long velvet colored dress with an open back accompanied with silver heels. "Well, don't you just look stunning," Tara said once she saw Kyla come up to her.

"So do you," Kyla said with a smile. "I can't wait to see what Sarah looks like. We literally didn't see her all day yesterday and today."

"I know!" Tara exclaimed. "And speaking of a Cameron, have you spoken with Rafe at all?" Tara asked.

Kyla shook her head. "I haven't gotten around to it. And technically he's my date to this thing, so that's...kind of awkward," Kyla told her. "I mean, I'm totally right about not wanting to speak with him, right? He literally threw my sister to the ground and beat up two other people!"

"Well, they did deserve it," Tara pointed out, making Kyla give her a wild look. "They sunk our boat, Ky."

"Okay, yeah, but they didn't deserve to almost get choked out," Kyla argued softly while Tara just shrugged, hiding her annoyance. Kyla then looked over once everyone started to clap, to see the Cameron family walk out. Kyla sighed once she saw Rafe notice her and start to walk over.

"I'll just go now," Tara said bluntly, walking away as she grabbed a glass of champagne from the tray a waiter was holding.

"Hey, Ky," Rafe said sweetly once he made it over.

"Hi," Kyla replied, unimpressed.

"Look, I-I messed up, Ky. I know I did," Rafe started to say.

"Yeah, you did," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry. I-I should've never ambushed those — those Pogues. I was trying to, uh, avenge Topper's boat," Rafe told her, wiping at his nose to hide his sniffle.

"A boat is different than a person, Rafe. You could have killed them," Kyla said, crossing her arms.

"I know, and I'm sorry. Kyla, I...I love you and I've just been stressed out lately and I've been making bad decisions. But — but you, Kyla? You help me and I-I need you," Rafe told her, placing a hand on the side of her arm.

Kyla licked her lips, looking down at the ground before she looked backed up at Rafe's pleading face. How could she reject him when he looked like that? She thought that would just be completely bitchy! "Just promise me no more fighting, okay? I don't need you or anyone else getting hurt," she told him.

He smiled. "I promise," he said.

She grinned before she placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Thank you," she said genuinely, before she grabbed his hand and placed it in hers.

Tara watched them from afar as she drank her champagne, almost breaking the glass because of how angry she was.

Rafe then brought Kyla over to Topper, who seemed mad and sad at the same time, so that he could apologize. "Kyla! Oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I was completely lost in the moment and it was my first instinct to hit you. I promise, it'll never happen again."

"Thank you, Topper, I forgive you."

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Kyla danced around with a tipsy Sarah on the dance floor as Tara watched them on the porch next to Topper, with an angry expression. The two twins seemed to be angry, but it was for two completely different reasons. While Tara was mad that Kyla and Rafe made up and that Sarah was dancing with Kyla and not herself, Topper was mad about the fact that Sarah might have cheated on him.

"So, where were you yesterday? You weren't answering any of my texts," Kyla said as she danced along with the Cameron girl.

Sarah laughed. "Nowhere important," she told her.

"Are you sure? You seem...happier," she pointed out, making Sarah's smile widen even more.

"Just...with a friend," she said, hinting at the fact that maybe it wasn't just a friend.

Kyla's eyes widened at that. Did that mean that Sarah was cheating on Topper? Honestly, Kyla thought that Topper and Sarah together, as a couple, didn't work out. But if Sarah had cheated, she would feel somewhat bad for the boy. That was just how she was. "And what friend was this?" she asked teasingly.

Sarah shrugged. "That's a secret I'll never tell," she replied, making Kyla roll her eyes playfully. Kyla's eyes then widened when she saw JJ tap Sarah on the shoulder. What is he doing here? she thought. "JJ?" Sarah said in confusion.

JJ brought a finger up to his mouth before he answered, "Yep."

"What?" Sarah asked as JJ slowly spun around to pretend that he was dancing.

He then pulled out a folded piece of paper, holding it up in front of Sarah's face. "I got a, uh, note from Vlad," he told her, handing it to her. Vlad? Is that the guy she met up with? "Shh. Yeah."

"From Vlad?" Sarah asked as JJ danced around her.

"Yeah," JJ confirmed.

"Okay," Sarah said with a laugh.

"Just read the note," JJ told her, pointing at it before he backed away.

Sarah smiled and walked away from the dance floor as Kyla quickly followed. She tried to look over Sarah's shoulder to read the note, but Sarah closed it too fast for her to see. "Who's Vlad?" Kyla asked, making Sarah spin around to face her.

"Uhh...no one," Sarah said with a smile, biting her lip slightly.

Kyla scoffed. "Oh, come on, he's obviously the guy you — Wait, how would JJ know who he is?" she asked in confusion, furrowing her brows.

"Uh, I don't know, you would have to ask JJ," Sarah told her before she quickly walked past the girl with a giddy look.

Kyla sighed and turned around, watching Sarah run off. She then looked around the crowd to find JJ, her eyes landing on him on the porch with...Rafe and the other Kooks trying to corner him. She scoffed, realizing that Rafe hadn't kept her promise. "Oh, my God. You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, making her way over to the porch before JJ had started to sprint away from the group of boys.

She started to pick up the pace, obviously not as fast as them since she was wearing heels and a long dress. She then made it inside, rushing down the hall to see if she could hear the boys talking.

She then looked over towards the boys bathroom, hearing some voices coming out of it. She walked up to it and pressed her ear against it, hearing Rafe's voice. She sighed, before looking at the door. She wouldn't be able to get in there unless she got someone that could.

She quickly backed away and ran down the hall, trying to find security. Once she did, she stopped right in front of the officer, out of breath. "Is there a problem, miss?" he asked.

"Yes. I think something is happening in the men's bathroom," she told her.

"How would you know?" the man asked.

She sighed. "Because I was trying to find the ladies room and I heard some angry shouts come out of the men's. Just — I don't want to have a fight going on at this fine party. The Camerons wouldn't be happy," she told him, using that to her advantage.

He seemed to contemplate it a second before he nodded, quickly walking over to the bathroom followed by the Carrera girl.

He then pushed open the door and Kyla followed behind them, now not caring that she was in the men's bathroom once she saw Kelce holding onto JJ with Rafe standing in front of him.

The officer flashed his light and said, "Gentleman!" Kelce quickly shoved JJ away, making him fall over slightly. "Is there a problem here, guys?"

JJ glanced over at Kyla quickly before he looked back at the officer. "Pardon me, officer. No, there's not an issue. I just — Oh, actually, yes. No, there is an issue. Uh, we got a criminal trespass in progress. Beep! Call it in, right? Blatant disrespect of private property."

Rafe clicked his tongue. "Yeah," he said, sending Kyla a look, to which she ignored.

"I'm in violation of all kinds of shit, sir, but these young gentlemen..." JJ said, placing a hand on Kelce's tie.

"Don't touch my shit," Kelce whispered through clenched teeth, aggressively pushing JJ's hand away.

"...Uh, caught me, sir, and they're about to take me away. And that's what you should do, escort me out of here. You got me," JJ continued, putting his hands up as if the officer was going to handcuff him.

"Come on," the officer said, grabbing JJ's arm as he started to pull him away. Kyla followed after them, crossing her arms.

"All right. Fix that tie son. Oh, you're lookin' spiffy, too. You Powerpuff Girls have fun," JJ called back to them and Kyla rolled her eyes at him.

"Tell Kiara she looks pretty hot for a Pogue!" Rafe called out, making Kyla turn around with wide, angry eyes just as JJ pushed away from the officer to try to get back at Rafe.

"Hey! Stop it. Come here!" the officer said, pulling JJ back.

"Let's go!" Rafe urged, making Kyla's nostrils flare.

"You think I'm afraid of you, bro?" JJ questioned as the officer pulled him out.

"Hey, safe travels back to The Cut!" Rafe shouted.

"This ain't over!" JJ relied.

"Hey, hey, it was really nice seein' you again, JJ!" Rafe added before the door shut behind JJ and the officer.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Rafe?" Kyla questioned, her angry expression still on her face. "You promised me you wouldn't do this. And now you're out here calling my sister hot? With me in the room? What is wrong with you?"

"Kyla, look, baby, he—"

"No," she cut him off, sending him a glare. "No, I'm done hearing your mediocre excuses. Do not talk to me for the rest of the night," she said before she backed away from him, turning around and pushing open the door. She didn't realize that Tara was leaning against the wall, listening in on their conversation with a smirk on her face as Kyla walked away.

Kyla then made her way outside, wanting to know why JJ was here and who Vlad was and just, well, why everything was so bad all of a sudden! She used to feel safe with Rafe, but now...she didn't even know if she could trust him anymore.

"It's okay, everybody! Do not panic!" she heard JJ shout once she got outside, making her sigh. "Leave it to the men and women in uniform! Huh?! Let's hear it for them!" he continued as he clapped. "Rose! You look like Lady Liberty. It's good to see you again."

Kyla quickly made her way across the porch, coincidentally finding herself next to Kiara. "Let go of him!" Kiara shouted, making Kyla look over at her. "You can't just boot him!"

"Excuse me, ma'am?" the officer said.

"Really?" Kyla heard Rafe mutter next to her, so she took a step closer to her sister.

"Look, I invited him here," Kiara told them.

"Kiara!" their, Anna, mother warned from behind them.

"Kiara, stop it," their father, Mike, whispered.

"I'm a member of this club!" Kiara pointed out before JJ pushed the officer into a table, making Kyla gasp softly.

"Sorry about that. Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Kie," JJ said, pointing at Kiara. "Pope, you as well, all right? Rixon's Cove. Let's roll. All right, Kie, come on. Workers of the world unite! Throw off your chains!" JJ yelled as he backed away through the crowd.

"You can't hang around these kids," Mike whispered to the younger sister.

"I'm sorry..." Kiara said before she rushed away from the family, making their parents call after her.

Kyla just watched her sister run towards JJ and Pope, now accompanied by John B, not saying anything. Honestly, it was probably better to go with them than stay at the party with Rafe and his goons roaming around. Kyla couldn't believe that she was thinking like that, but after tonight...she just wanted to get away.

And that's what she was going to do.

She started to walk down the steps slowly so that it wouldn't alert her parents and make them think she was running away, too. But, before she made it down, Rafe had grabbed her arm. "Where are you going, Ky?" he whispered, staring at her face longingly.

"I told you, don't talk to me for the rest of the night," she said through clenched teeth, ripping her hand away and continuing to walk down the steps.

Rafe ran a hand through his slicked back hair, trying to figure out how to fix this before someone placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look over. It was Tara. "I'm sorry about her," Tara said to him, licking her glossed lips. "You know, I honestly only came to this thing to see you, Rafe."

Rafe swallowed hard, looking Tara up and down. "What are you trying to say, Tara?" he asked as he leaned in closer to her face.

She smirked and leaned towards his ear. "I only wore this dress so that you could take it off," she whispered in his ear, sending a chill down his spine. She then leaned back, reading his slightly surprised face.

A grin then creeped its way onto his face. If Kyla wasn't giving him the time of day and Tara was standing right in front of him, offering him something that was too good to pass up, he would be stupid to say no. "Lead the way," he whispered back to her and her smirk grew before she turned around and lead Rafe to an empty room, shutting the door behind them.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Kyla sneaked down to Rixon's Cove, trying to find the Pogues. She didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she knew she wanted to get away from Midsummers. And she also wanted answers, so she might possibly have to eavesdrop.

She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She then stopped behind some bushes when she heard Pope's voice and a fire crackling, crouching down even more. "Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" he asked.

"Might ask well tell him, man, before we're gaffed," JJ said after a moment and Kyla furrowed her brows. Gaffed? she thought in concern.

"You ready for this?" John B asked quietly.

"Yeah," Kiara replied after a moment's hesitation.

"So...the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant," John B started to explain. The gold? The Royal Merchant? What are they talking about? she thought in confusion, wanting to know more.

"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this," Pope said in annoyance.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ told Pope.

"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island," John B revealed.

"Are you serious? Oh, my God!" Kiara said breathlessly in shock.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism," Pope said almost robotically.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present my evidence, sir?" the Routledge boy asked, using an accent at the end of his sentence.

"Proceed."

"All right! So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny," John B said and Kyla moved a little more forward to see him pull a piece of payout of his back. Denmark Tanny? she questioned internally. She had no clue about what they were talking about.

"Who the hell's that?" Kiara asked.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck," he explained. "Check this out."

"What?"

"Here you go," John B whispered, handing the letter to Kiara. "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom." Kiara whistled and handed the letter to JJ. "After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is..." John B trailed off as Kiara smacked her legs repeatedly, "Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kiara questioned.

"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then...they decided to lynch him," John B continued, making Kyla grimace in disgust. "So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

"Where?" Kiara whispered.

"'Harvest the wheat in parcel 9, near the water'," the brunette boy relayed to them. "Except...there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." Kyla moved closer, squinting through the bush to see John B point to somewhere on the papers to have Pope flash his flashlight on it. "'The gold is in parcel nine, near the water.'"

Kiara let out a shocked laugh as Pope muttered, "Holy shit."

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold," John B finished.

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true," Pope pointed out.

"Dude, it's like King Tut!" Kiara exclaimed.

"I am a genius," John B said before JJ went over and picked him up. "Hey! Whoa! Hello! Fire, fire! You're near the fire, you're near the fire. You're gonna burn," John B quickly told the blonde, who set him down.

"I'm so proud of you right now," JJ told him.

"Thank you. That's really sweet of you," John B replied, cupping his face jokingly before they both pulled away.

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asked.

"Good question. So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She's gonna bring an original survey map—"

"Wait, wait, hold on," Kiara cut John B off as Kyla made an even more confused face. Is Sarah apart of this? "Sarah? Wh — Why Sarah?"

"Um..." John B trailed off.

"This is gonna be good," JJ commented.

"Sarah, um, she — she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter," John B admitted, making Kyla's mouth drop. Is John B...Vlad? she thought in utter and complete shock.

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kiara questioned slowly.

"Yeah, um—"

"He was mackin' on her," JJ cut the brunette off.

"I wasn't macking," John B told him.

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron." Kyla face scrunched up, shaking her head in disbelief at JJ's words.

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access," John B explained, but Kyla wasn't convinced at all. Seeing Sarah look so happy that night...she had a feeling that, well, they were definitely 'macking'.

"There was access, all right," JJ muttered, making Kyla roll her eyes at his dirty joke.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara asked.

"I was just trying to get into the archives!"

"Is that a yes?"

"I-I left out key details."

"Yo, what? You let a Kook in on our secret?" Kiara questioned loudly.

"Wouldn't be the first time," JJ muttered, making Kyla narrow her eyes. Is he talking about me? I was there that day when the two men came to kill us, she thought.

"What about Pogue Life? What about the T-shirt company, bro?" Kiara continued without paying attention to JJ.

"I wa — I was just using her for information," John B assured her, making Kyla tilt her head slightly. She could tell in his voice that he wasn't telling the truth, but she could never be too careful with Pogues. And apparently, Kooks as well.

"Why don't I believe you?" Kiara replied matter of factly.

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here," John B told her, making Kiara roll her eyes. "Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or — or, uh...send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies," he said, gesturing to Pope. "Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?" John B asked.

"Uh..." JJ trailed off.

"Do you want us to answer that, or—"

"Just — just — just stop," John B cut Pope off, pointing at him.

"Look, you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her!" Kiara told him, making Kyla sigh quietly.

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club," Pope pointed out, making Kyla look down guiltily.

"Rafe and Sarah are two different human beings," John B replied defensively.

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asked the Carrera girl.

"She's like a — like a spitting cobra!" Kiara exclaimed, making Kyla make a face. "First, she — she blinds you, and then—"

"This is a bad analogy," Pope told her,

"Listen to me! Whatever we do, she's gonna try to take," Kiara told them. "She did it with my sister," she added quietly.

Kyla's mouth parted, wondering why her sister sounded...sad. She then sucked in a breath and stood up from her hiding place, walking around the bush so that she could fully see the Pogues. "That's not true," she said, making them all look over at her in shock.

Kiara immediately stood up, her eyes wide. "What the hell? How long were you there for?" she questioned, looking around at her friends that didn't know what to say.

"All of it," Kyla told her, making Kiara give her a wild expression. "Look...I wanna help you guys."

"No. No way," Kiara said almost immediately, shaking her head.

"Why not, Kiara? I literally just heard everything and wouldn't it be better to have more people on your side to help? Sarah is already helping and honestly, she would have probably told me later," Kyla told her.

"No. You're untrustworthy just like her," Kiara replied stubbornly.

"How? I'm your sister, Kiara! Do you think I would give you up to some random person?" Kyla questioned.

"Not a random person. Rafe," Kiara said, crossing her arms.

Kyla sighed. "I—"

"No, she helped me just before instead of helping Rafe," JJ cut Kyla off, making everyone look at him since he would probably be the least likely person to defend a Kook, especially since he had that argument with the girl earlier. But only the two of them knew about that. "If she hadn't brought the officer into the bathroom...my face would have probably been dented by her boyfriend. Why would she help me?"

"Yeah, and she did help me after Rafe and Topper jumped me," Pope pointed out.

Kiara scoffed. "Seriously?" she exclaimed. "You're siding with her?"

"Kiara, that's not what they're doing," Kyla told her, making her sister look back at her. "Look, just let me help you for once. I wanna be apart of this. Okay? And not just for this supposed gold. I wanna be here for you 'cause...I never am," Kyla told her.

Kiara narrowed her eyes and gave her sister one last look before she stormed off. Kyla clicked her tongue, glancing down in defeat. "Look, there's no point in you not helping since you did hear the whole thing. Just...don't tell anyone, okay?" John B spoke up.

Kyla nodded. "I wouldn't tell a soul. But—"

"But what?" John B cut her off, not playing around.

"But as long as you don't hurt Sarah. And...I'm sorry about what I insinuated the other day. About your dad."

John B nodded slowly.