CHAPTER TWO.    Loveless Bones

Children aren't always made from love. She told her daughter that when she was twelve. Sometimes they're happy accidents. Sometimes they're a chaotic result. Sometimes they're just...convenient. Made from your blood and yet they are nothing like you. That's what they think when they're sixteen, she says. It's never true. It's often the opposite. A funny ouroboros path. You're so scared of becoming them, that it forces you into it.

That's what happened to Lindy Bremer. She hated her family. Hated her mother. Hated her father. Hated their money and their stupid house on Figure Eight. So she ran. She ran into the arms of a man from the wrong side of the tracks. Malcom Sallow. She loved him, at least somewhat. She had a daughter with him, she had to have loved him at some point. Despite the fact she left her privileged life to live on the cut. Despite the kitchen table bills that would sometimes become a struggle when the hurricanes would hit.

She couldn't tell you when their marriage fell apart. Maybe before they had a child, maybe after. All she knew was by the time Juliet turned seven, she had the divorce papers drawn up. Lindy let him have the house. She was no pogue, after all. She was a kook at her core. She knew this. Kildare knew it. She moved back home. Back to Figure Eight where she stumbled into Paul Madison. Charming, funny, rich. No sense of worrying about the bills or the way people looked at her.

She had truly loved Paul, more than she'd ever loved Malcom. They wanted the same things, knew the same people. They spent their mornings at the golf club Paul owned. They introduced their daughters. Willow and Juliet. They had the perfect family. Perfect photos in the hallways, perfect conversation starters with the other rich snobs. Their daughters even went to the academy, on the road to a very progressive future.

I couldn't tell you where the marriage ended and the resentment began. Lindy stopped going to Paul's events. Lindy had started staying home more often, spending time with the girls. Then Lindy stopped doing that, too. Lindy stopped making dinner. Juliet and Willow started making meals for themselves, bringing their mom a serving. Paul stopped sleeping in the bedroom. He started staying in the guest bedroom on the main floor. Juliet and Willow started leaving more. Spending their times at their friends houses or parties. Paul started drinking more. Lindy started smoking more. Lindy was sad. Paul was angry. Their fights became louder. Their fights became daily. Their perfect family home cracking in the foundation. It all just...ended.

Juliet Sallow climbed out of her car, wearing a pair of gray shorts and a pajama shirt from Kiara's. She had an oversized sweatshirt on over her clothes. Her crochet tote bag hung on her shoulder, her keys falling into it as she walked up the driveway and up the front steps of her home. She didn't see Willow or Rafe's cars, a signal her sister wasn't home.

Juliet walked up the stairs to her bedroom, not bothering to see where her mom or stepdad were. She'd hoped they were outside. Hurricane Agatha had done a number on the town. Instead, Juliet stopped in the doorframe. There was no door, taken off the hinges months ago. She could see her mom standing there with a bunch of flat boxes and bags and totes. Juliet licked her lips, crossing her arms. "What are you doing?"

Lindy looked at her. She was pretty. Light eyes and dark hair. Didn't really look so much like her daughter. She stood up straight from the box filled with Juliet's books. There was a time Juliet loved reading. "I, um, I figured I'd start early. Movers will be here soon."

Juliet sucked her teeth as she watched her mom open her dresser, pulling out her clothes and shoving them into a box. She jutted out her hip, leaning into the doorframe. "Mom." Lindy ignored her, shoving her things away. "I can do this myself."

Lindy looked at her daughter. This layer of sadness that swept over her. A mother's guilt. She had rotted for too long. Her daughter paid the price. Lindy was a dead weight and she had drowned her daughter in it. Her daughter was now nothing more than a shell. She looked down at the box, patting the side as she tried to figure out what to say. "I don't want you to." She whispered.

"Mom—"

"Juliet."

They were at a stand still. An awkward silence. A desperate child. A hopeless mother. Neither of them knew what to say. Juliet swallowed the lump in her throat. She started messing with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, staring at the ground. Lindy blinked back her tears, turning away. She covered her mouth. She was crying. A loveless mother's tears.

She looked down at the box now. A slow shaky breath. Lindy felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Maybe a stroke. "I know how hard things have been for you." Juliet tensed up. Her skin felt like it was too tight. Her bones were going to burst. "And I know I haven't been the mother I should've been. And, and you might have some resentment towards me. But I love you." Juliet was biting the inside of her cheek. I love you. She didn't believe her when she said that. Maybe Lindy meant it. But Juliet didn't feel it. "And I think, I think we'll all be happier like this."

The teenage girl raised a brow. Amused. "Who's we? You're miserable. Paul's miserable. I'm miserable." She shrugged her shoulders, smiling bitterly.

"I just want you to be safe." Lindy breathes. Juliet bit the inside of her cheek. Hard. She knew what her mother meant by those words. A stupid jab. "Therapist says you could use a change. Maybe it'll help you."

Juliet rolled her eyes, to the point her head hurt. "I thought the point of therapy was to be the help." She deadpanned, shrugging her shoulders.

"Your father is already in talks with your therapist and the psychiatrist." Lindy ignored her daughter, turning back to the boxes and putting more things away. "He's going to take your door off. Make sure you're not-"

Lindy stopped talking. She shook her head in dismay. She was almost angry. How could her daughter be so selfish? To destroy herself like this? She was a good child. A golden child. Her life was good, too, Lindy thought. A good home. A mother. A father. A step father. A step-sister. Friends. Family. A good school. What else could Juliet want from her? What did she do to deserve this?

Lindy looked at her daughter, smiling pitifully. She gripped the box in front of her tightly. "I'm so sorry," She whispered. Juliet scrunched her face in confusion. "I'm so sorry that I failed you."

Juliet knew better than to answer that.

"Am I that horrible? Your own mom?" Lindy's face was now wet with tears. "You'd rather, you'd rather live with your father than me. You'd rather be on the cut than here."

"You told me to call Dad. I did."

Lindy rolled her eyes. "I've done everything I can! I put you in therapy, I started family nights, I let you see your friends whenever you want!" She was desperate, throwing her arms frantically. "I can't do it anymore, Jules! I can't!"

Juliet's own eyes widened now. "Are you kidding me?" She hissed. "I've done nothing but take care of you! For months! While you rotted away I took care of you! I took care of everyone! I have done nothing but be the adult here, Mom!" She felt the anxiety in her chest. Pent up rage and pent up resentment.

A starved child bites the hand that feeds her. Because it no longer did. The child fed itself. The mother was just a bystander. Like those kids who never do the world for a science project but take the credit anyway. What did Lindy Madison-- Bremer do for her daughter? I mean, I guess she paid for the groceries. She picked out movies they'd watch in her death-like bedroom. But that was almost it. She held her daughter, but not to comfort her. No, she hugged Juliet tight to comfort herself. She cried to her daughter. She searched for solace and hope and love and reassurance in her teenage girl. Tell me I'll be okay, she'd say over her tears. You're supposed to say you love me. Juliet would say it back. Why don't you spend time with me anymore, Julie? Juliet would spend the whole day with her mother just to appease her.

"I know I'm a shit person!" Lindy snapped. "I know I'm a horrible mom! And I'm unlovable and I'm such a disgusting human you can't even stand to be in the same house as me!"

Juliet looked at the woman. The shell of the woman that had raised her. The woman that once tucked her in at night. Once made her dinosaur chicken nuggets and broccoli as the trees when they lived on the cut. Once read her bedtime stories and watched princess films. None of those things happened anymore. Juliet now tucked the woman in at night. She was the one that made dinner (and Juliet did not know how to cook much). She read herself bedtime stories. Maybe there was a mother somewhere deep in the woman. But Juliet didn't feel it. She didn't see it anymore.

"Do you even hear yourself?" Juliet asked. Her voice was low. Her brown eyes were wide in shock. Her head was starting to hurt. She thought she might scream. "I can't be your parent. I can't be your therapist. I can't be your maid. Or your emotional support. I can't do it anymore." She looked around the room that was once her home. A place that nowadays felt cold and empty, even with all of her stuff.

"Get out."

Juliet looked back at her mom. Lindy Madison glared at her with wide eyes that were almost insane. She stood up straight, stepping closer in her daughters direction. "Get. Out! Get out! Get out! Get out!" Juliet stumbled backwards, moving back down the hall and down the stairs to get as far away from her mother as possible.

She wiped away the tears as she climbed into her car again, slamming the door harshly. She fiddled with her bracelets, layers and layers of bracelets on her left wrist. She fumbled with the rubber band. A snap into her skin that left a low sting.

A lonely man sat at a small table outside of Heywards Seafood. He was tall and lean, funny and strange. It's why people liked him. It's why Bobby Hayward came out and handed him an extra water while he waited.

Kildare had taken a hit from Hurricane Agatha. The entire Southside had lost power. The Northside was fairly decent. Most houses having backup generators or solar panels to keep them going. Docks and boats were messed up, houses and cars were surely damaged. But the island kept going. The island kept living.

He saw her instantly. Her brown hair, her glowy skin. Her gentle smile. He knew her anywhere. His pride and joy. The only thing he had ever made that didn't fall apart at the seams so quick. "Julie, girl!" He chimed, reaching for his daughter in a quick swoop.

Juliet Sallow's smile didn't reach her eyes when she wrapped her arms around her father. Malcom Sallow. He was a good man, underneath layers of incapability of deep emotions and beer bottles. He hugged her tight all the same, grunting with happiness as he tried to lift her up.

"I was worried you weren't comin'." He chimed, shifting his weight as he smiled. "Maybe got held up by Mike."

Juliet shook her head, her hair tied back into a pony tail. "No, we just had to make sure the power was running. I helped Kiara clean up." She lied, knowing very well Kiara was off with the Pogues. She didn't want to talk about what happened at home.

It seemed Malcom knew it too, waving his arm. "I saw the Heyward boy, not too long ago. He's a good kid, side from all the havoc him and his buddies cause." The two of them started walking into Heyward's Seafood. Juliet tried not to feel strange. She'd been here regularly, sure, but there was a time she basically grew up in this shop. A time where she and Pope Heyward would talk about his peculiar interests and study for tests while their friends goofed off and surely broke something.

"Well well well, if it isn't Julie Sallow," Bobby Heyward breathed as he threw his fishing net down and walked toward the girl. She smiled wide, Bobby always being her favorite out of her friends parents growing up. "All grown up, aren't you?"

"Hope not," Malcom chimed.

"Your father says you're moving back home. That right?"

Juliet pursed her lips into a line, trying to keep a polite curve to them as she answered. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." She responded.

Bobby raised his head slightly. "Do the boys know?"

Everybody knew what happened between Juliet and her friends. It was a year and a half ago, Kiara was a at the academy. She wanted to try and fit in with the kooks. Little did she know, it'd make her miserable. Even her friendship with Juliet had taken a hit. The straight haired brunette not wanting to pick a side. Kook versus Pogue. She'd kept up the balance for some time. Spending the school weeks with her mom on Figure Eight, heading to the cut for weekends and vacations. But people change. Juliet's life became more filled with expensive clothes and brunch at her stepdads gold club. Her friendships had changed and her status in town had changed. Pogue princess to Kook princess.

And then a party. A silly little party where the Kooks and Pogues would get along, amuse the tourits (tourons). A party where the Romeo and Juliet of Kildare, more like Verona, were together, holding hands and kissing lips and sipping each others drinks. But then Romeo and Juliet fought. Romeo was no prince, he was a scoundrel from the Southside, and his Juliet was exactly what everyone called her. A kook princess. Their lives were no longer aligned, the stars disheveled and the clouds formed over their love. Their tears and their screams could hardly be heard over the wind that whipped into their skin. Their hearts shattering into the sand as they realized they'd never work.

They hadn't spoken since that party.

Juliet Sallow swallowed thickly. She shook her head. "No, no they don't," She muttered. Bobby's eyes went sad, shaking his head. He knew Juliet. Watched her grow up in his own shop. But he didn't argue, he didn't say what was on his mind. Instead, he turned away, grabbing the order Malcom had asked for.

"You're always welcome here, Julie," Bobby said. Juliet nodded, mouthing thank you. She turned away, straightening her posture as she tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest. She played with her bracelets, snapping the rubber band into her skin.

Willow Madison walked along side Rafe Cameron as they walked up the Madison estate. Trees had been uprooted from the ground thanks to the hurricane, the house was covered in dirt and plants. But for the most part, it was okay.

Except for the U-Haul truck in the driveway.

Rafe had an arm around her waist, "Who's moving?" He asked. Willow shook her head, unsure. She looked around, playing with the hem of her skirt as she hopped up the steps of her home.

She walked inside, stumbling out of the way of a mover carrying a box. Willow narrowed her eyes as she read the side. "Wait, that's Jules's stuff," She says. The mover keeps moving. "Wait, stop, what are you doing!?" She follows the mover back out the door, watching him get closer to the U-Haul. She stands on the front porch, eyes wide and lost.

"Willow, you're back early," The couple turned around to see Lindy Madison. She looked down, solemn. "Uh, I know this might be confusing-"

"Why are you packing Jules's stuff?" Willow cut off her stepmom, looking around the house. "And where is she?"

Willow loved Lindy. Before the rot, Lindy was a better mom to her than her real mother. She was kind, she was funny, she always tried to be a safe place for Willow. She was a warm soul. But then her soul died. She rotted. She decayed into nothing but flesh. Willow wasn't sure if she still loved Lindy. She thinks she does. It's a complicated thing, I guess.

Lindy nodded her head. "She's at her dads, figuring out some things before the movers arrive." She says.

Rafe is quiet, scratching the back of his head as he realizes what's going on. He shouldn't be here for this. He is not the family turmoil type. He dealt with it enough himself. He knew Juliet, of course he did. He didn't feel one way or another about her. Most of their interactions he was too many lines in and had vague memories later. Once, he'd passed out on their couch when their parents were out of town. Willow had crashed in her own room, sleeping off her hangover. Juliet had made them breakfast. Rafe woke up to one of those frozen sausage egg and cheese croissants on a plate next to a bottle of ibuprofen. He'd never told her thank you.

Willow stands there. In a way, she looks like a kicked puppy, Rafe thinks. The puzzle pieces are starting to click into an ugly picture that made her sick. She stutters over her words and shakes her head. "What? I, I don't get it." She says as she looks between the stairs, where another mover comes down, and Lindy. "What is happening?"

Lindy's eyes are hard to read. Is she sad? Is she happy? Is she just as numb as her blood? "Your sister and I thought it might be best if she goes back and lives with her father for a while," The woman explains. Willow's face falls. "It's been a very hard time for all of us, and-"

"You kicked her out?" Willow's voice is louder than she means it to be. She walks around Lindy, storming through the house and into the backyard where Paul Madison is helping a worker clean up debris. Their backyard was a mess of branches and water. "You kicked Jules out!?"

Paul Madison was a simple, boring man. He liked money and he liked golf. There may have been a time he truly loved his family. It's hard to say. Lindy says he's a narcissist. She's probably right. But Paul is just as much rot as his wife. He just did it better. He spent his days out at his Golf Club on the island. He wore his fancy clothes and his fancy watches. He drank his fancy whiskeys more than he drank fancy water. And when fall came, he went off to the main land for hunting season in his fancy guns and his fancy gear. There was no time for his daughters anymore, after they turned thirteen he stopped going to their school events. There was no time for his wife, who he only saw at dinner and their mutual work events, but even they stopped going to those. Paul Madison was a miserable man.

The man stood up straight, pressing his lips into a line. He debates his words, at first. "Jules has been having a lot of problems recently."

"Oh, my god," Willow says in disbelief. She brings her hands to her head, trying to figure out if this was real or not. Surely this was a joke. "You guys are insane." She pointed at Lindy. "You're daughter has been mothering you for months, maybe even years, but now she's too much?" Willow looked at Paul. "And you, what? Let your ex-wife walk all over you until one of you moves out?"

Rafe reached forward. "Will, let's just grab your shit and go," He says, not liking the anger rising from her.

Willow ripped out of his grip, storming past her family and back up the stairs. She pressed her body into the wall as a couple of movers stumble by with Juliet's dresser. This couldn't be real. She practically ran down the hall, hand over her mouth as she sees Juliet's room basically packed away already. There was no posters of everything Jules loved. There was no stacks and stacks of books because Jules only hoarded two things; CD's and books. Juliet's bed was already gone. No sign of the girl with brown hair anywhere.

Rafe came up the stairs, cursing under his breath as he saw his girlfriend pace back and forth. He walked into the doorframe, "Wills," She didn't answer, muttering and swearing under her breath. She was so angry. "Wills, stop." She shook her head. She was starting to shake. "Willow."

She started screaming.

Like a toddler having a tantrum. Willow started screeching bloody murder as she threw her hands at her sides. Her face turning red. Rafe wrapped his arms around her, ignoring her pushing and shoving and the way his ears hurt. She screamed. She screamed.

She just kept screaming.

Juliet looked around. Her childhood home sat on top of a hill. Her dad was more fortunate than most people on the cut. His house was halfway decent and was fairly large. A two bedroom house with the master being the only room on the second floor. When Lindy and Juliet moved out, taking nearly everything with them, Malcom had moved into the second bedroom on the main floor. Juliet's old room.

"I figured you'd want your own space, so I didn't bother moving upstairs." Malcom explained as he watched his daughter look around. The home was a decent size. An old gray carpet with ugly teal walls (thanks, Lindy). The kitchen with an old yellow tile. Everything was nearly the same. Juliet smiled softly at the memories of her and Kiara's sleepovers. Memories of the boys knocking on the front door for Juliet to come outside and play.

That felt like a lifetime ago.

"Your momma already got a load of your stuff here," Malcom says, causing Juliet to look over. "Most ambitious she's ever been in her life."

Juliet walked up the carpeted stairs, leaving her dad down below. The bedroom door was off its hinges, the only one with that problem in the entire hallway that overlooked the downstairs. Across from the bedroom, a towel closet, and at the end of the hall was the bathroom with a spongey paint pattern (thanks, Lindy).

Her bed was in the middle of the room, a box of her sheets and blankets next to it. Her old purple nightstand she got when she was six. An old bookshelf her mom left there years ago. Bare bones and all. Juliet sucked in a breath, looking at the two windows on either side of the large room. The window on the left looked out into the worn down culdesac. The window on the right looked out into the trees and the marsh a few neighborhoods over.

She couldn't tell if she was happy or sad. She slowly sat on the bed, looking at the boxes by the two closets. Her entire life forced to change by her parents. She pulled the rubber band on her wrist. Snap.

The sound of footsteps caused her to look up. Willow Madison and Rafe Cameron. Both of them looked at the doorframe with no door. Rafe looked uncomfortable, scrunching his nose at the way the house hadn't been updated, ever. Willow, on the other hand, sighed in relief and rushed to hug her step sister.

Juliet and Willow were as close as sisters could be. They'd known each other most of their lives and didn't know any different. Their rooms were next to each other. They'd sneak into each others rooms late at night and watch movies and eat snacks. They'd use Juliet's window to sneak out and hang out with their friends during the summer. They were so in sync, not far off from being the same person.

What were they going to do?

"I can't believe they're throwing you out." Willow sat on the bed next to her sister. "You should've seen my dads face when I walked out of the house."

Juliet winced at the idea. "What did you do?"

"After I grabbed some clothes for Rafe's, I told Dad he was a sad man who only cared about himself and money." Willow started, "And then I called your mom a pathetic woman with a drinking problem and no sense of self."

Rafe spoke up, "She got it from your diary,"

"You read my journal?"

"It was the only thing not packed away yet," Willow turned to her bag, digging into it and pulling out a small blue notebook. "I grabbed it before your mom could read it. If she didn't already."

Juliet gave a grim smile. "Oh, I'm sure that would've made her even happier," She said sarcastically.

"You know what would make them even happier?" Willow wiggled her brows, smiling wide. Juliet narrowed her eyes, confused. "You. Me. Party at the boneyard."

The brunette girl sighed, shaking her head. "Wills, I'm not in a party mood-"

"I don't care. You're moving out. We have to have one last big hoorah. You haven't been to the boneyard in forever," Willow explained, waving her hands as she talked. Juliet looked at her bracelets. She hadn't been to the boneyard since the night she stopped talking to Kiara's friends. The last night they were ever her friends. "So, we are going to sit here, make Rafe open boxes, and we are going to find out what we're wearing tonight."

Rafe shook his head. "I'm not playing fucking dress up." He said lowly.

Willow turned and looked at him. "Fine. Don't. Go home and Jules and I will do it ourselves." She shrugged casually, looking up at him with a glare.

"I'm not going to a stupid pogue kegger." Rafe added on, grabbing his keys in his pockets.

"Then go, asshole." Willow snapped, She reached into a box, pulling out a pillow and whipping it in his direction. It smacks him in the back as he turns away. He curses at her, walking down the hall. "I love you!"

"Whatever,"

Willow rolled her eyes. She turned back to Juliet, smiling wide. "Surely you can find your speaker in this shit, right?" The two girls started looking around the room and the boxes, giggling quietly.

Kiara Carrera laughed as she chatted away with her friends. John B and JJ challenged each other who could drink the fastest, meanwhile Pope had gotten the music started and was talking to a girl about...well, corpses. Kiara had talked to a guy about astrology, but he had lost interest fairly early on.

She tried her best to ignore the kooks, who had arrived with the rest of the towns teens. Topper Thornton and Sarah Cameron. Sarah Cameron, her best friend in the ninth grade, and her evil bitch enemy in the tenth grade. Topper Thornton, as kook as you could get.

"I kicked your ass!" JJ Maybank shouted. A golden haired boy with a cocky grin and a dirty mouth. He was the most rebellious, every parent's least favorite.

"Did not."

Pope nodded, "He totally did," Pope Hayward. Dark skin and a pretty smile and the smarts to get him out of this town and off this island. He was going places, no matter the oddball.

John B rolled his eyes. John Booker Routledge. Dark blond hair. Freckled skin. Hazel eyes. A bandanna he never took off. He was a pogue down to his core and he was the prince of the cut. Romeo of the Montague family, Shakespeare may say.

JJ looked around, stepping back as if he had been pushed. The others look at him, seeing the shocked look on his face. "Well, I'll be damned." Everyone turned their head to see what he saw. A set of girls. Step-sisters. Walking side by side onto the party scene.

Willow Madison and Juliet Sallow. Juliet of the Capulets, Shakespeare would say.

They looked different. Willow was wearing a red skirt and a black and white gingham print top. She pushed her raven black hair back, her braided bleached pieces framing her face. There was no Rafe Cameron by her side, a surprising revelation for most people. There wasn't many times one was without the other. Especially at parties.

But John B was more focused on the girl next to her. The girl with brown hair and shy eyes. She was wearing a red dress with a dainty white floral print. Surely something Willow picked out so they'd coordinate. She walked through the crowd, smiling softly at their classmates as they started spiking up conversation. John B couldn't believe it. He hadn't seen her this close before. Not since-

"What's she doing here?" Pope asked, his tone light and curious. Surprised, like the rest of them. Pope and JJ looked back at Kiara, the only one still in contact with the Sallow girl.

Kiara shrugged. "I have no idea." She muttered. JJ raised his brows, tilting his head. Kiara held up her hands in defense. "I'm serious! I didn't tell her!"

Kiara could guess, though. Judging by how Juliet's eyes carried a heavy sadness. She fumbled with the bracelets on her wrist. She stayed close to Willow, never straying too far. It was a bad day, and Willow brought her to make her happy. A kind gesture, really. Maybe a feeble one.

JJ slapped John B's back, gripping his shoulder harshly. "You good, John B?" He asked loudly.

John B couldn't even move. His mind reeling over the last time he saw her. On this very beach. Her hair had been longer and her hands had been wrapped around his arms instead of herself. She had been giggling at something he said. He'd kissed her next to the fire. She was wearing a necklace he'd bought her with money from working for the Cameron's. He was looking at her like she had hung the moon and the stars for him and him alone.

And then it all went to shit.

The sun set and the storm blew in. Two teenage lovers screaming at each other. I'm not leaving the academy. I'm not leaving my mom. And I'm not leaving Willow! She'd shout over the wind. I have to stay, John B! John B would shake his head, And what about me? Huh? What about us? He'd shout it as he clenched his fist. She'd shake her head. She couldn't understand him anymore. She wasn't the same girl he loved. I'm not wild and I'm not reckless and I'm not confident and I'm not-

A Pogue.

John B stood up straight in his spot, turning away from her now before she saw his eyes boring into her. He sipped his drink, shaking his head slowly. He couldn't believe she was back. Not that she was ever truly gone. They'd seen each other in passing at parties and shops on the island. They'd seen each other at The Wreck when she was getting off work and he and the boys were going in to eat leftovers. They'd seen each others cars when they'd drive past each other.

But they'd never seen each other like this.

Willow Madison laughed with her step-sister, her eyes going over her shoulder. Her smile dropped, "No, fucking, way." She grabbed Juliet's shoulder, causing the brunette to frown in concern. "John B is here."

Juliet's face paled, but she turned around anyway. She could see him. He was wearing a worn out t-shirt and his dad's bandana. He was laughing with the other Pogues. She straightened her posture to get a better look at them all. She couldn't believe how much things had changed. There they were, all laughing together and sharing drinks. Meanwhile, she was standing with the kooks. A side she'd never had believed she'd be on years ago. A guilty feeling swam through her chest. She swallowed the lump in her throat, tugging her rubber band and snapping it into her skin hard.

Willow looks the Pogues over, all of them she knew one way or another. "They don't know, do they?" She asked. She looked to her older step-sister for an answer, receiving nothing in return. "Spicy,"

Juliet rolled her eyes, looking away from the group she once called her second family. She tilted her head, "How are you and Rafe? You didn't seem to care that he didn't come tonight."

"Oh, we're cool." Willow deadpanned. She shrugged her shoulders, careless and unbothered. "I knew he didn't want to come. He didn't want to babysit me, Sarah, and Topper."

Juliet turned around, looking at the red bouy that had swept up onto shore. Sarah Cameron clambered on top. She was wearing a light blue dress with pink flowers. She was the definition of a princess. She was rich, funny, kind, outrageously pretty. In that effortless sort of way. Her warm blond hair she dyed a couple years ago and never looked back. Her smile that made you smile. That innocence that people like Juliet envied.

She wasn't friends with Sarah. They'd been friends, once. Willow and Sarah were friends. Sarah Cameron seemed to like Juliet. She couldn't fathom why. Always smiling and sparking conversation. Always complimenting her one way or another. Inviting her to everything even when Topper started to protest. Sarah Cameron was sweet. A tanned peach.

She had to get away.

Juliet walked toward a group of people with drinks, asking for one. Kiara was sitting on a log, gasping in surprise. "Juju! I was just talking about you!" She gushed, reaching forward and grabbing her best friends hand. "I was talking about virgos and how organized they are, I started talking about you and how you're organized."

"I'm not organized at all," Juliet pointed out.

"But you are! You just organize in a way that makes sense to you." Kiara leaned in close, smiling wide. "I'm so happy you're here."

Her arms wrapped around Juliet. The straight haired girl pressed her lips together, looking down at her lap again. The aching feeling wouldn't leave. The pit of her stomach constantly churning. She felt like she was going to suffocate. She watched as Willow talked to Topper down the beach, Sarah beaming happily and chiming in. She watched as John B was talking to another pogue. JJ was dancing around, doing stunts off the fallen trees. Pope was talking to a tourist.

She felt like the odd one out.

The sun had eventually gone down, but the party raged on. John B weaved through the crowds of people, looking for any sign of his friends. There were so many people. The Pogues; the working-class derelicts from the cut. The Kooks; the rich second-homers who are mostly from poncey-ass boarding schools (just rich trustafarian posters) and the pogue's natural enemies. And finally, the tourons; the totally clues tourists who are on the island for a week on vacation with their parents. Chum for the sharks.

John B slowed his steps, turning his head at the sound of a familiar laugh. Even after so long, he heard it over the waves, over the people, and over everything else. Juliet Sallow, in all of her glowing skin and brunette beauty. She was standing at the bouy, drink in hand as she talked to another person. She looked healthy. Filled with an innocent glow as she giggled at the tourist boy who was leaving in a few days.

He unconsciously took a step forward. Then, he froze. He looked at her, debating on if it was smart to do so. They hadn't spoken since that night. Since what happened between them and she left their friend group. Since she had left and became a kook princess. But as he watched her fiddle with her bracelets, he wanted to know. He wanted to know how she was. What she was up to. Kiara would never tell him. Sworn to secrecy by friendship. It ate at him for so long.

A whistle caused him to look away. "John B!" JJ called out.

"How you doing!?"

The boys approached each other. "I got this for you. Want it?" JJ held up a cup.

"For me? Yeah, I'll take a sip."

JJ looked over his friends shoulder, watching Topper Thornton and his girlfriend walking by. Abruptly, JJ side-stepped in front of the couple, still holding a red plastic cup in his hand. "Hey, Sarah!" The blond girl slowed down, looking over at JJ. "Sarah, can I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?"

Smiling, Sarah shook her head as she looked down at the drink. "No, thanks,"

"Oh, come on, is it not fancy enough for you?"

"No. We were just leaving after we find Willow."

Topper let go of Sarah's hand, moving in front of her. "Hey, you know what? I'll take it." He said as he gave the Maybank a fake smile. "Thank you, man. I appreciate it."

"Oh, that's nice of you to suggest that, Topper, but I didn't ask you." JJ snapped. Topper's smile turned into a frown as JJ just kept talking. "If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't."

Topper scoffed, "Oh, pretty please." He said as he held out his arms. "Pretty please?"

JJ stepped around Topper, causing the girls eyes to go wide. JJ held out the cup. "Here, Sarah, you can have it." The blond girl gasped as Topper swung his hand, the cup flying in John B's face.

"She doesn't want it, you-" Topper started as JJ grabbed him by the shirt. Finally, John B pulled JJ away as Pope came rushing over.

Juliet turned from her conversation, frowning as she watched John B pushing JJ back. Willow had even gotten involved, telling Topper and Sarah to just go, her and Juliet would find their own rides. JJ was drunk. He was looking for trouble just like he always was. That's what JJ Maybank was. Golden trouble.

"Dirty Pogues!" Topper shouted over her shoulder. Willow barely had time to react as John B stormed forward. Sarah shouted in surprise as John B shoved Topper backward. Juliet excused herself from her conversation, walking up the sand to the scene.

Pope grabbed his friend. "John B. We're supposed to be incognito, remember?" He asked the boy with dark blond hair.

Sarah turned towards Topper. "Babe, stop," She tried stepping in her boyfriend's way, but he just walked around her. "Babe, babe, babe, babe!" Juliet gasped as Topper punched John B in the face, sending him into the sand. JJ tried to jump at Topper but was pushed back by Pope. "Guys! Guys!" Sarah shouted, going to step forwards. She feels a hand around her arm, causing her to turn around and see Kelce, one of Topper's friends.

Kiara came running over as John B fell into the sand, right into the water. "Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?" Topper shouted.

"Topper, stop!" Willow shouted. Juliet stumbled next to her step-sister, eyes wide in horror.

John B tackled Topper to the ground. The statement had made him snap. Everyone was chanting, but the Pogues and the girls were shouting in protest. "John B, let it go!"

"Stop, you guys!" Kiara shouted, putting her hands over her head.

"Topper! Stop!"

Juliet felt sick. She looked back and forth anxiously as she watched John B and Topper. They stumbled back into the sand, throwing punches. The crowd cheered, but Juliet wasn't happy. She wasn't excited. She wanted the sand to open up and suck her in. She wasn't breathing. Her ribcage hurt. Her brain was short circuiting. This couldn't be real. Willow was screaming. Sarah was shouting. Juliet was numb.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion. She couldn't process anything fast enough. Topper charged John B, the two of them back into the water. John B was on the ground. She felt like she was going to throw up, She might actually throw up. She grabbed onto herself, her fingernails digging into her skin harshly.

Sarah gasped as Topper flipped John B into the water. He wouldn't let John B up. Fear struck over Sarah Cameron's face as she took steps forward, Kelce keeping her back. "Topper! Topper, stop!" She screeched. She was terrified.

"Topper, knock it off!" Shouted Willow, her eyes wide with fear and rage. She looked over, in Juliet's direction.

Juliet was running.

The brunette girl jumped onto Topper's back. John B choked out for air, unable to comprehend what was going on. People shouted in protest as the brunette clutched onto the kook for dear life. Topper grabbed the unknown person on him, throwing them into the water.

The crushing sound of the waves were in her ears. Juliet closed her eyes tight as her head went under the surface. Topper stood over her. Proud of himself. His smirk she'd always hated. When Sarah Cameron would smile at her, Topper would glare. Juliet was sure he was only respectful for Sarah. But not now. Not tonight. Not under the sickening moonlight as Juliet tried to pull herself up from the water.

"Oh, how romantic. Juliet and her pogey Romeo."

John B was struggling for air. Juliet was hardly sitting up when she saw a familiar blond. Her stomach sank as JJ took strides towards Topper. A gun in hand (where the hell did he get a gun?), JJ pressed it against the kook's head. Topper froze, the safety on the gun clicking as the gun pointed at his head. Other party goers began to go quiet, seeing the same sight. "Yeah, you know what that is," JJ said coldly. Everyone began to scatter. Willow shouted in protest as Kelce and the other kooks began to drag her off. Toppers hands moved from John B, fear wrapping around the Thornton as he looked towards his cousin in the water. "Your move, broski."

"JJ!" Kiara shouted at her friend.

Juliet sat up in the water, turning to John B. On her hands and knees, she started to crawl over to him. She was heaving, a disgusting grunt escaping her chest. She pulled him up, getting him out of the water. She winced, looking down at him. "John B, John B look at me," She whispered.

"Stop! JJ!" Shouted Sarah, "Put the gun down."

"Did you say somethin', princess?" JJ asked the blond coldly.

Topper shouted out. "We're good. We're good."

"Put the gun down!"

Sarah turned towards the female pogue she knew once upon a time.. "Kie! Can you check your psycho friend, please?" She asked loudly. JJ dropped Topper. Juliet coughed harshly as she focused on the boy in the water. Topper rushed towards Sarah. John B began to sit up, breathing heavily as he looked around dazedly.

JJ spun towards the rushing crowd. "Okay, everyone, listen up!" He shouted as he waved the gun in the air. "Get the hell off our side of the island!"

Kooks and Pogues alike began to split up. All of them running in different directions. Willow shouted in protest as Topper and Sarah shoved her towards their car. Juliet grabbed John B's face. "John B," She forced him to look at him. Their eyes met. They were really looking at each other. They were real. This wasn't some dream or awkward bypass. This was real. Juliet had jumped into the water to help him. She was right in front of him.

"Are you crazy? You idiot!"

"Stupid! It's not worth it!" Kiara and Pope shouted at JJ.

"I'm saving his life, okay?"

"Stupid! You're gonna jeopardize everything!"

Juliet looked at John B, pushing his hair out of his face. "Are you okay?" She asked him. John B only blinked, his eyes growing tired. As he starts to fall back, Juliet grabs the collar of his shirt and tugs him forward. He collapses into her, her arms wrapping around him as she tries to hold him above the water.

The brunette girl couldn't tell the difference between the ocean water or her tears. She turned her head, looking at the three teenagers. "Guys!" She screamed, catching their attention. They all looked like they'd seen a ghost. Maybe they had. "Help him!"

JJ and Pope ran into the water. Juliet was panting as they started to pull John B out. "Is he okay?" Kiara shouts.

"He'll be fine." JJ dismisses.

"Topper just tried to drown him." Pope pointed out.

Juliet rubbed her forehead, shaking her head. She stepped out of the water, her entire outfit soaked. "We have to get him to the chateau." Juliet blurted. Kiara and the others looked at her, surprised she had said we. She didn't seem to catch it. Not yet at least.

Kiara nods first. "The Twinkie is this way," Kiara gestures, leading the way out towards the cars. JJ and Pope struggle carrying their friend, and Juliet sucks in a slow breath as she starts to follow them. She looked around. No sign of Willow. She must have gotten a ride, she assumes. Maybe from Topper and Sarah back to Rafe. That was usually how it went.

Juliet was quiet as she climbed into the familiar van. She sat farthest away from everyone. She didn't look up from her bracelets, fumbling with them and pulling at the rubberband.