The next day, my father was sending me off with Sarah to do this Youth Bible Group. We weren't even Christian, or religious, but this was his form of punishment for me. After I'd run off during mid–shift, stolen a Deputy's car, and pretty much ignored every single call from him all day, he'd been furious.

I hadn't even returned the cop car, I had left it at John B's, forgotten it really after JJ and Pope dropped me off at Kildare Sheriff County.

At least Sarah would be there, I thought. I'd have Sarah.

When I arrived at the beach Kooks my age were milling around, holding trash bags, picking up pieces of garbage all along the strip of the beach. I stood there for a moment, watching his Sheriff's car drive off, and wondering why I even agreed to this stupid Youth Bible Group. Right. Because this was Dad's punishment.

"Mercedes!" Sarah tugged me over to where Topper and Kelce were standing.

"You in?" Topper handed me a water bottle filled with what looked like piss.

"Hard pass," I wrinkled my nose.

"I promise, it tastes better than it looks," Sarah giggled. "See?" She took the bottle from Topper and took a big gulp.

"Makes this thing way easier," Kelce said.

God, what a douche.

"Pass me that," I ordered. I would definitely be needing a little something to get me through a full Youth session with Kelce.

They cheered as I took a sip. Sarah had lied; it tasted just as bad as it looked.

Suddenly, Ward Cameron appeared, and I quickly shoved the alcohol inside a cooler.

"Heeey, dad!" Sarah subtly kicked the cooler away.

"How's everyone doing? Enjoying this beautiful day?" Mr. Cameron chuckled.

"Yessir," Topper and Kelce nodded violently.

"Yep. So beautiful," I echoed.

"You all continue doing a fabulous job! I think I'll go and help Wheezie out there," he said, and then left.

We all looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. Sarah and I wheezed, holding on to each other while Kelce and Topper just rolled their eyes. That's why I loved Sarah so much—we could laugh looking like we were dying, but we both would get it.

Suddenly, I felt that this whole Youth Bible Group session would be just fine. Sure, Kelce was a noob. But at least he didn't deliberately push me away, at least he didn't treat me like crap.

At least he didn't treat me like JJ did.

↬——✾——↫

A couple of days later I was at the country club with Rafe and Topper. Rafe, being a couple of years older than us and best friends with Topper, who also happened to be dating Sarah. It was a little strange, but I didn't comment. I was there because as Sarah's best friend, I was always designated a spot.

The boys said they were heading off to do a couple of shots (golf ball shots not drinking shots), Sarah went to the wash room and said she would join us back out, so Topper, Rafe, and I headed out by the golf park.

"Man, that party was insane." Rafe ignored me and he and Topper started to talk about the Kook party that'd happened last night. I'd skipped out, of course. A couple of times Topper had tried to drag me back into their conversation, but I was happy walking behind them alone. Mostly, I kept checking back for when Sarah would come back. What was taking her so long?!

"Yo yo yo—look over there!" Rafe excitedly tugged Topper over. He pointed at Pope who I saw was carrying a couple bags of groceries.

"It's fine—just let him go," I said quickly.

"Nah, I don't think he's a member. Let's go," Rafe started to urge us in the direction.

"Let's just stay here," I said a little desperately.

"Topper, man, they put a gun to your head. You just gonna let that pass?" Rafe scoffed, "Yeah, didn't think so."

Both boys ignored my protests and started off after Pope.

"Just let him be!" I said angrily, but we'd already come up to Pope, and both boys circled him like sharks.

"Is that a couple of beers?" Rafe jeered, and knocked the grocery bag out of Pope's hand.

"There not for you, it's already paid for," Pope crouched down to pick up the bags.

"Just give us a beer, man!" Rafe kicked Pope, and he crumpled over.

"What the fuck, Rafe!" I helped Pope stand and pick up the scattered groceries.

"Stay outta' this," Rafe muttered to me.

"You probably stole this," Topper scoffed, and Rafe agreed, pushing Pope down even more, so that Pope took a mouthful of dirt.

"You asshole!" I pushed Rafe off of Pope, distracting the two Kooks. Pope was able to stand up and get a good punch in at Topper.

"What the hell," Rafe rubbed his shoulder where I'd shoved him.

"Buy your own shit," I said coldly.

Rafe punched me hard, and I fell to the ground in the whole force of it. I tasted blood, and I was sure I had broken a cheekbone or something painful.

I was in a world where I wasn't sure if I was fully passed out from the pain, but everything sounded funny and the ground swam before my eyes.

I heard Pope groaning, as both boys continued to beat him up, until Topper said worriedly, "We should go. She's Shoupe's daughter, for god sake! What were you thinking!"

I felt something kick me, hard, right in the ribs, and I groaned.

"Bitch," Rafe muttered, and I heard the sound of feet running off.

"Are you crazy?!" Topper's voice was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

↬——✾——↫

"Mercedes?" Pope's face worriedly swam before my eyes.

I blinked several times, and everything cleared up, "You alive?"

"Funny," he helped me stand, and we both started limping away from the country club.

"I can't believe Rafe and Topper," I swore. "Those idiots!"

"Yeah," Pope said. I could tell he was upset, more than usual. He never seemed to get upset over anything, but this time there was a fire in his eye that I hadn't seen before. A sort of dangerous, almost JJ-like rage that never seemed to stop.

We both limped away from the country club, talking, but my mind kept drifting. Where was Sarah? What was I going to do about her? Her boyfriend and her brother had just full on punched Pope and I. I couldn't tell her that, she would be crushed. And I doubted Topper or Rafe would be pretty eager to tell her either. I didn't want to give the Kook boys the upper hand, but at the same time, Sarah's feelings mattered more.

God. I hated being the 'bigger person'.

Our conversation wasn't awkward, in fact it was the complete opposite. I think Pope trusted me now, and I trusted him. He was cute, I decided, in a nerdy sort of way. He wasn't John B cute—John B was more like a sweet, adorable baby boy that had the personality of a gentleman. Pope was cute in a quirky, nerdy sort of way.

We got back to the boat, where JJ full on screamed at Pope for 'getting beat up by a girl'. Once we quickly explained that Rafe and Topper had done the 'beating up', not me, he calmed down.

"We need revenge," JJ shook Pope's shoulders.

Pope was hesitant.

"Pope, come on! Aren't you sick of the Kooks winning all the time? Aren't you tired of them being rich assholes?"

Pope looked away, and it was clear that he was exactly that.

"2020 Malibu, 24-MXC. World's fastest wakesetter. This is war, Pope. Do it!" JJ said.

Pope threw off his shirt, and jumped off our boat. He swam over to Topper's insanely expensive Kook boat, unplugged the rutter, and even from Haywards boat, JJ and I could hear the steady glug glug glug as it started to sink.

"JJ ... this isn't going to solve things," I said to him as we watched Pope swim back.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock," he turned to me, finally noticing that I was here. "So Rafe and Topper beat you up too, huh?"

"...Yeah ..."

"You fucking deserved it," JJ spat at me, and shoved me hard to the edge of the boat. "I can't believe you let them jump Pope!" He said in my face, spit flying.

"I helped him," I said angrily.

"You did that to him, you did it," JJ said, and he shoved me overboard.

I fell into the water with a splash, and swallowed a bit of ocean. I immediately surfaced, spewing salty water out.

"JJ what the hell?!" I shouted up at him, as he roared with laughter from the boat. I treaded in the water, "I'm not even wearing a fucking bathing suit, you asshole!"

"You look like a drowned rat," he howled, clutching his tummy as I climbed onto the boat, sopping wet. My whole was outfit ruined, but fucking JJ Maybanks.

"What was that for?!" I yelled at him.

Pope climbed back into the boat after successfully sinking Topper's boat. "I don't even want to know," he sighed at my clothes and wet hair.

"JJ pushed me into the water!" I said.

"Let's just go," Pope sighed, and he steered the boat out of the marshes.

Pope insisted that I come back with them to John B's, to patch up a few cuts and bruises with him. He also said that Kiara would be more than happy to lend a few clothes to me, since mine were ruined. I wasn't so sure about that part, but I shrugged and went along.

It was late evening, the sun was setting by the time we'd parked the boat at his dock. I was shivering as we walked out to the hammocks. Kiara went and fetched me some clothes, though she was definitely not happy about it, and I changed inside. (Without JJ looking, thank god).

When I went out to join the other Pogues, Pope was already all patched up. I sat in the same hammock as him as he pulled out his medical kit and started to wrap tape around my bloodied nose.

When I asked if they had found anything about the compass, they looked secretly at each other. I took that as a yes. Apparently, there was this whole big deal about this Royal Merchant, that would have 400 million dollars on it. They were going on a desperate treasure hunt.

JJ and Kiara were not happy when Pope and John B told me this, in fact, Kiara was even more upset than JJ.

"What the hell are we doing," she looked at John B as she said this, before angrily stomping away.

"Are you two fighting?" I looked at John B, eyebrows raised.

"No? No!" He yelped.

"I dunno, man, that looked a little like sexual tension to me, man," JJ raised his hands.

"You two are dating?" I said, as Pope added a little band-aid to my hand where I'd punched Rafe in the face.

"It's complicated—well, no, not really," John B said awkwardly.

"Shouldn't you be going?" JJ looked pointedly at me.

"Yeah, probably," I stood up from the hammock. It was dark out, and dad was definitely pissed at me for missing yet another shift again.

I said goodbye, and started to walk off when I heard JJ yell at me, "Don't come back, bitch!"

I gave him the middle finger, and didn't look back.

↬——✾——↫

Sarah and I decided to go the Kook's outdoor movie. My Dad thought I was on a security shift with Gary, but I'd managed to do a little fib again.

Things were off with Sarah and I. She was hiding something, I could tell. And I still hadn't told her what had happened between Rafe, Topper, and I. I still hadn't told her about the few times I had 'hung out' with the Pogues.

I didn't want to damage her relationship between her brother or her boyfriend. And as awful as both boys were, I wasn't evil. I was putting Sarah before them, even if it was letting Topper and Rafe have an upper hand, and that they wouldn't be getting the punishment they deserved.

Sarah immediately spotted Topper, Kelce, and Rafe sitting together, and suggested that we joined them.

"Well ... I don't know ..." I tried to stall. "I'll just get some drinks."

Sarah was oblivious, and she went to sit next to Topper, tucking herself into him. I wandered over to where they were selling iced teas and soft drinks, and bought two cherry sodas. I was buying my time, counting the change in my pocket and dreading having to go back to the boys and Sarah.

When I started to drag my feet over to them, Pope started to wave me over to him. He was sitting with Kiara and JJ, both who looked just thrilled that I was being invited over.

I looked from the Kooks to the Pogues, judging my options. "Pope!" I smiled back at him, and went to sit with the Pogues.

"Is that a cherry soda?" JJ snatched it out of my hand. He took a sip, then burped it all over my shirt.

"JJ!" I was seriously starting to get annoyed, he obviously was doing this on purpose. First the beer, now the soda? Seriously?

"Sorry," he said in a tone that sounded like he wasn't sorry at all.

Kiara had pulled out her phone, and was staring at it the entire time. She obviously was not happy that I was with them either.

Pope was perfectly oblivious to the entire situation. He and I talked for a bit, and honestly, it wasn't too awkward. I decided that I liked Pope.

Just before the movie was about to start, I saw Sarah waving at me.

She mouthed, What the fuck?!, her expression totally shocked.

I just shrugged, smiled in a what-can-you-do sort of way and turned back to Pope.

She was totally going to be mad at me, I knew it. I was sitting with her mortal enemies, the Pogues. Not only that, but Topper must have known by now that Pope had sunk his boat. There was no way.

The movie started, and we sat back to watch. After a bit Pope and JJ left to go pee, so it was just Kiara and I sitting together. Every so often I could hear my phone ding, and I knew it was Sarah spamming me with 'WHY ARE YOU SITTING WITHOUT ME??!!!' texts.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Topper and Rafe quickly follow them. They were going after Pope and JJ, I knew it.

I stood up, and ducked out of the way.

"Where are you going?!" Kiara hissed at me as I crept after them.

"Come on," was all I said to her, and she surprisingly obliged.

We found the boys already fighting behind the movie screen. All I could think was: Seriously? Not even two seconds had passed and of course they were already fist-fighting.

All the boys were wrestling, and it looked like Rafe and Topper were winning. Even in the dark, I could see the outlined figures of them punching each other, and I could hear both JJ and Pope yelling.

"Get off him!" I ran at Rafe who had tackled JJ, and tackled him, throwing him off JJ who was choking.

"GRAH!" Rafe threw me off his back, and I landed on my back, the wind knocked out of me.

JJ punched Rafe while I got back on my feet, but I knew I was heavily bruised. Meanwhile, Pope was on the ground while Topper kicked the shit out of him. Kiara was off somewhere, I didn't know.

I jumped on Topper, knocking him to the ground, and we rolled. Topper shouted something unintelligible at me, and he punched me, hard.

I heard something crack—my nose, and it immediately started gushing blood. I knew I was just about to black out when suddenly, light grew. The screen was on fire! Topper and Rafe backed off, and they ran off in the crowd while Kiara, JJ, Pope, and I ran back to the Twinkie and drove off.

"I was fine, you know," was the first thing JJ told me in the car.

"Shut up," I held my sleeve up to my nose, as blood continued to pour. I was just so fed up with him.

"Here," Pope handed me a roll of toilet paper, and I took it, holding it up to my nose.

"What did you all do," Kiara almost snarled to us as she drove the car back.

"Those idiot's sank Topper's boat," I told her.

"Are you all insane?!" Kiara hissed.

"No," Pope said quietly. We all shushed for a moment; Pope was never this serious.

"I handled it," JJ told me.

"Yeah, sure you did," I scoffed.

"I had it!"

"Keep fucking dreaming, JJ."

"About me?"

"Oh my god, just shut up already!"

"You two are giving me a headache," Pope groaned.

"Ditto," Kiara said as she drove.

"Tell that to the asshole," I muttered.

"Tell that to the bitch," JJ muttered back.

"What the hell is your problem with me?" I spun to him. "What have I ever done to you, huh?"

"It's sort of like you exist, if you get what I mean ..." JJ took out a cigarette, and took a drag.

"You—!"

"What, so you can call me an asshole, but I can't call you shit?" JJ glared.

"Both of you, quiet." Pope said, and that was that.

The Pogues dropped me off in front of my house, and I went in to see Dad at the dining room table.

"And just where exactly have you been?" He crossed his arms.

"I—hanging out. With Sarah Cameron," I said. Well, it wasn't exactly that far off...

"Really," Dad raised a brow.

Crap. I had never been a skilled liar, not in the way JJ was.

"Yeah. We just hung out at her place for a bit," I said, toeing at the carpet.

"So you skipped your shift's down at Kildare?" Dad was not impressed.

"...Something like that ..." I trialed off.

"Mercedes!" He was not happy.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just, it's summer, you know. I thought at least I'd have a little bit of a break from shadowing you around."

"You've never asked for time off," Dad furrowed his brow. "And what was all that talk about gaining experience? What about applying for the apprenticeship here? Growing up to be a literate Sheriff?!"

"I just want a little more time off," I said feeblily.

He sighed, and pinched his nose, "Next time, just tell me in advance if you can't make it to a shift. I had to call Garry in to sub for you!" Garry always did a half ass job at work, and always had a cigarette or some Weed nearby.

"I'll come in for the shift tomorrow?" I requested.

"Good girl," he patted me on the back and went upstairs.

I was left standing there, alone.