𓂃 𓈒𓏸⋆𓇼⋆𓏸𓈒 𓂃

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨
𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚

Hurricane Agatha kicked ass.

Figure 8 was covered in debris from trees, the ocean, pieces of houses, and boats. It was a mess.

The de Portiers estate took a hard hit, especially their backyard and the dock. Their boat was thankfully anchored down and prepped, but their dock was in shambles, parts of it far too unstable to stand on for longer than it takes to step over it.

Even now, a day later, the clean-up crew was scattered around the backyard, and Gen sighed as she lifted her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head. Her father stood with a worker, who was pulling debris from their pool, "Hey, Daddy."

Gen smiled as she approached him, the man beaming when he saw his daughter, "Hey. sweet pea. Have you seen your brother?"

Gen shook her head, "Might be over at the Cameron's with Wheezie. I heard they're working on their generator." Robert nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "Well I don't want you hanging around all of this stuff, there's a lot of sharp edges out here. Why don't you head over to the Camerons and watch Aster, yeah?"

Gen nodded with a smile, "For sure, dad. I'll see you later." Robert kissed the top of her head once more and went back to talking with the crew.

The Cameron Estate was only two houses down, and the walk over there was brisk and easy. The other houses took some damage as well, and Gen groaned at the thought of having clean-up crews and construction crews going in and out of their street for the next week or two to come.

The Camerons took a just as aggressive hit, with Rose's art pieces in the pool and a hole in the front deck. But as she passed the Camerons neighbors, she happened to glance at their open backyard, where she surprisingly saw her friends.

"Rafe!" Gen shouted, watching with a smile as Rafe, who stood with Kelce and Topper, turned towards her and smiled. "Hey, Gen." He held his to-go mug of coffee in one hand and reached out to her with the other, wrapping it around her shoulders playfully and pulling her into conversation. "We were just talking about that party at the boneyard last night." Topper spoke, and Gen raised an eyebrow, leaning into Rafe, "What happened at the boneyard last night?"

Topper scoffed, "Those dirty fucking pogues, man. John B and I got in a fight 'cause he was up in Sarah's business, and that JJ kid brought a fucking gun-"

Gens mouth fell open, "He had a gun?"

Topper nodded, "And he fucking pointed it at the back of my head, man. And shot it into the air. Sarah was there, man. He could've gotten her hurt."

Gen brought her fingers to her mouth in shock and shook her head, "They never know when to stop."

"You gotta get a piece, man." Rafe mumbled, removing his arm from Gens shoulders and pointing at Topper with the hand holding his cup, the four of them moving through the backyard, "What do you mean?" Topper looked up at his friend.

"You gotta fight fire with fire, protect the homestead. Right?" Kelce nodded at Rafe in agreement, "Yeah, 's better than being caught without one."

"L-Listen guys," Topper stopped them, pausing in his place. Gen looked over at him with a raised brow, " 'M gonna get him back, alright? I'm making it a little project of mine."

"Yo- That's Sarah." Kelce caught their attention, Gen furrowing her brows and looking over at the younger Cameron girl as she spoke to a young girl.

"What is she doing?" Topper mumbled as Sarah began to climb on a boat, one that crashed in the water right below a broken electric line. Gen lifted her sunglasses onto her head and watched closely. Rafe scoffed and brought his cup to his lips, "Watch her fall and make a big drama out of it."

Gen nudged Rafes stomach, keeping her eyes on his little sister.

"Hey, there's 14,000 volts in those wires!" A woman, the wife of the man who owned the house, leaned against the back porch. "Hey, Sarah, be careful!" Topper shouted.

"Sarah! Get down. Now!" Rose shouted, but the girl didn't budge.

"Relax! I'm an athlete!" Sarah giggled back, carefully walking along the side of the boat. Gen shook her head, "Seriously, Sarah!" She shouted, making eye contact with the girl, "Be careful, please!"

"You're gonna get electrocuted, get down!" Sarah's stepmother was obviously stressed to death about the poor girl, but she was making it too fun for her. Sarah laughed, doing a little dance on the edge of the boat.

"Sarah, that's not funny," Topper stressed, running a hand through his hair. "When I tell your dad about this, Sarah!" Rose groaned, shaking her head in disbelief.

This was typical Sarah Cameron, always doing something to stress out the people who love her. Gen loved Sarah, like a little sister. She absolutely adored the young girl. But Sarah indeed loved the attention.

"Rafe, your sister's crazy, man." Kelce chuckled, and Topper scoffed, nodding in agreement.

"I see her!" Sarah shouted back to the little girl, and Gen brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she watched nervously.

Sarah leaned down, and a piercing scream ripped from her as she fell into the boat. Gen gasped, Topper running towards his girlfriend in fear. Rafe, Gen, and Kelce followed after the boy, Topper calling out for her.

Suddenly, Sarah was giggling and waving the disconnected electric line in her hand.

Gen released a relieved breath, shaking her head and turning towards Rafe as everyone in the backyard groaned in frustration with Sarah.

Gen chuckled as the anxiety fled her body, Kelce and Sarah teasing poor Topper. "That fucking girl, she's gonna kill me." Gen mumbled, bringing her sunglasses back over her face as Rafe chuckled.

"Congrats, pussy." Rafe patted Toppers arm, "You're officially her bitch."

Gen laughed in sync with Kelce, watching Topper roll his eyes at Rafe.

𓇼

Gen hadn't originally planned on stopping by the Club, but after an intense fight with her mom, she needed to get some stress out on the court.

She played for over an hour, finally feeling relieved enough to head back home and deal with the fall out.

She had been walking out of the locker rooms when she spotted them, 4 very familiar faces that did not normally show themselves on that side of the island. Gen raised an eyebrow, clutching the strap of her tennis bag tightly and quickly following after them, watching as they snuck into the computer room.

She scoffed. The one place on the island with internet, of course kids were gonna sneak in. But that wasn't her problem, she didn't care about them using the computer.

Quickly, she walked over to the door and pressed her ear against it, listening as they talked about diving.

Gen rolled her eyes, opening the door and stepping inside, quickly closing it behind her. "Hello, boys. Hi, Kie."

They all gaped at her, John B slapping JJ's stomach, "I thought you were looking out!"

"I'm not gonna report you, calm down." Gen chuckled, walking closer to them with her eyes trained on JJ. "I just wanna talk with Maybank."

JJ raised his brows, pointing to himself in surprise. Gen nodded, "I know the cops don't know about what happened at the boneyard, and I'd like to keep it that way. I just wanna tell you that, if you ever fucking fire a gun near Sarah Cameron again, I'm telling Peterkin. And then your ass is grass, you're dead, Maybank. Understood?" She glared at the boy, a stark contrast to her still evident smile, and JJ nodded.

"Good. Now whatever you guys are doing here, make it quick, and don't get caught. Nice to see you, Kie."

Kie smiled nervously and waved, "You too, Gen."

Gen nodded at the boys, turning on her heel and walking out of the computer room. Once the door was closed, JJ chuckled, "I can't tell if I'm feeling threatened or turned on."

John B rolled his eyes and pushed JJ, "You're all big and bad towards kooks until one of them is hot." Kie scoffed, "What the hell was that? And why isn't she turning us in?"

Pope shrugged, "She's best friends with Rafe, you and Sarah were friends once, maybe she did it for you." Kie shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Nothing that girl ever does is for anyone but herself and her stupid friends."

𓂃 𓈒𓏸⋆𓇼⋆𓏸𓈒 𓂃

Kelce's party was in full swing, people in the pool, outside, inside, upstairs. Everywhere. Topper was the first person she saw when she entered, chugging a beer in just his swim shorts. "Yo, Topper!" Gen shouted, tapping his shoulder, "Where's your sister?"

Topper turned towards her and shrugged, "Out back, I think."

Gen nodded and patted his shoulder, squeezing through the inside crowd and into the outside crowd, looking for the head of bright blonde hair in the sea of people.

"Alice!" Gen smiled when she noticed her, approaching the girl in her bathing suit. Alice was very...endowed. Blessed by mother nature, and she wore them well. The bright pink bikini was a contrast to her tan skin and blonde hair, and the girl had clearly already had a few to drink. She had known the eldest Thornton since they were in 5th grade, the two girls practically two peas in a pod. Alice left for UCLA in a week, and his would be their last shindig together before her parents going away party for her. So of course she's gonna go all out.

"Hey! Genevieve! Come take a shot with me!" Gen laughed and nodded, walking up to the table where several people stood and taking a plastic shot cup from the girl after she poured it. Gen and Alice clinked the plastic together, before Gen threw the shot of vodka into her mouth.

Gen winced, coughing back her gag at the warm alcohol. "I'll do another." Gen giggled, allowing another shot to be poured and downing it in a flash.

Three more shots later, and Gen was shoving her way through the crowd in search of Rafe. She wasn't drunk, no her tolerance was too high for that, but she was tipsy. And when she drinks, she gets clingy. Specifically to Rafe, not that he's ever minded it.

Making her way to the downstairs patio, she raised an eyebrow at Topper snorting a line on the couch. She knew the boy liked to party, but she didn't think he'd ever done any hard drugs before. And then she noticed Sarah wasn't with him, which was a rare occurrence for her at parties.

"Hey! Theres my girl." Rafe appeared beside Gen, the girls frown quickly flipping up into a grin as she spun towards him smiled down at her best friend.

"Wanna do a bump?" He mumbled, right hand reaching up to place itself on her bare hip, flesh exposed by the crop top she was wearing to cover her bathing suit top. Gen bit her lip and nodded, "Mhm."

Rafe grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to the table and sitting in a chair. He pulled her down onto the couch beside him, pulling her loose hair back behind her head as she leaned down and snorted the substance.

She winced, watching as Kelce cheered for her and clapped. A few girls around the table smiled at Gen as she rubbed her nose clean, instantly feeling the effects of the drug.

After that, everything was more of a blur. She was dancing with Alice by the pool, and then she was eating pizza, then smoking a joint with Kelce, and then, somewhere around the end of the party, by the time the drugs had worn off and she was just left with the buzz of the drink in her hand, she found herself standing in the pool.

The party had cleared almost entirely, leaving a handful of people Gen knew and another handful of people she didn't.

Alice had passed out in Kelce's guest bedroom an hour ago. She knew this because Gen had to help the girl up the stairs, had to hold her hair back while she puked and had to get her into bed. Poor girl.

Sarah had disappeared, probably at home. And Topper, Kelce, and Rafe were on the downstairs patio laughing and drinking. She would be up there with them, but Gen liked the water. It was freeing, made her feel weightless. She didn't have to carry the weight of her family on her shoulders when she was floating.

Now, of course chlorine was no match for the beautiful salt water that crashed against the sandy beaches that she so adored. But it worked for now.

Her head looked back as Topper said his goodbyes to his friends, the boy sending Gen a smile and wave before heading out. Kelce gave Rafe a handshake before walking away, approaching another group of kids to tell them the party is officially dead. Rafe smirked at Gen, standing to his feet and approaching the edge of the pool.

"Come on. Lemme take you home."

Gen smiled and shook her head, drinking the rest of her vodka soda and tossing the red solo cup over onto the floor outside the pool. "Get in with me."

Rafe chuckled dryly and shook his head, "I don't wanna swim. Get out of the pool so we can go home, I'm tired." Gen smirked, slowly sinking under the water, ignoring Rafes frustrated scoff as she did.

When she finally reemerged, Rafe was biting his cheek with his hands at his hips, "I'm serious, Gen. Get out or I'm leaving you here."

Gen frowned at his sudden dip in mood, taking in the way his demeanor changed. She nodded, slowly climbing out of the pool and wrapping herself in a towel. Rafe bent down and grabbed her clothes, fringing waiting for the girl to dry off enough to change. "Take your bathing suit off, I don't want to get my seats wet."

Gen furrowed her brows, looking around the now complete empty backyard. Music was still playing softly from inside, and Kelce was nowhere to be seen, but she sure as hell wasn't stripping here.

"I'll go change."

"No, you'll be okay." Rafe taunted, reaching out and taking the large towel from her before wrapping it around her back and placing the ends of the towel against each other, completely shielding her from anything outside the towel. "Seriously, Rafe-"

"You're fine, no one can see you. I can't even see you."

She sighed, looking around once more before bending as much as she could to peel the blue bathing suit bottoms off.

She reached up, yanking her skirt from where it rested on Rafes shoulder and quickly sliding it up her legs. The breeze was intense, and that much was made obvious the moment she untied her bathing suit top and dropped it to the floor. Rafe chuckled as he watched around them for any peeping tom's, keeping his eyes away from her exposed chest as well. Gen scoffed at the smug smirk on his face, slipping her crop top over her head and pushing herself away from Rafe.

Rafe smiled and removed the towel, arms out in a victory, "See! Told you that you'd be fine."

Gen scoffed and slowly bent down to grab her bathing suit, careful to shield her privates from the exposure of her short skirt. "You're an asshole." She grabbed her heels from the ground and hooked her fingers into the straps, wet hair dampening the back of her shirt as she stomped through Keleces backyard towards Rafe's truck in the driveway.

Rafe didn't rush after her, just tossed the towel down on a pool chair and shoved his hands in his pockets, slowly walking behind her as she disappeared from view.

When he got to the car, she was standing by the passenger door and tapping a now heeled foot. He couldn't help himself when he saw her, standing there in a tiny skirt and a thin crop top that left little to the imagination due to the cool air. He should've made a move on her years ago, but instead there he was, gawking at a girl that wasn't his.

He wondered if she ever felt the same about him, sometimes he thought she did. She was affectionate and caring with him, defended him and supported him, like any good best friend would. But sometimes he'd catch her staring at him out of the corner of his eye, sometimes she got a little too drunk and flirted with him a little more than their usual flirty banter.

She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to unlock the doors. He shrugged, clicking his doors open and rounding to the other side, hopping in the drivers seat.

Why the fuck was he being an asshole? He always opens the car door for her, and now he's got a stick up his butt?

Gen scoffed and climbed into the truck, slamming the door closed and crossing her arms across her chest. "Why are you being a brat?"

"Why are you being an asshole?" Gen quipped back, sending him a raised brow. Rafe rolled his eyes, "Sorry I didn't want to go swimming. Happy now?"

Gen groaned, "You made me change in Kelces backyard, Rafe. What if someone saw?" Rafe started the truck, the engine roaring to life as he shook his head, "Who would have seen? Kelce was probably already dead asleep on his couch and everyone else had gone home. You're being dramatic."

Gen rolled her eyes, "You piss me off."

"Yeah? Well you piss me off."

Gen glanced over at the boy, who was already staring back at her with a darkened look.

He looked hot. Too hot. And not having anything on under her clothes had her suddenly feeling a type of way.

"Just take me home, Rafe. I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now. Don't do that shit again." Gen glared at him, making Rafe nod with a downturned smirk, reaching out to put the car in reverse.

"Yes, ma'am."