chapter zero, PROLOGUE

Emelia never expected herself to fall so far out of the loop in her life. Ever. But there she was, sitting in her history classroom halfway through sophomore year. She hadn't stepped foot into the school for the past year after she basically fell out of the motivation to live. Her freshman year and all throughout middle school, she was basically the most known girl in the school, and she was very pretty. But stepping into the high school in her sophomore year just sent her.

She noticed how every girl looked, how skinny they were, the clothes they wore, and how many guys they had at their feet. Emelia was undeniably skinny and definitely had many guys drooling as she walked, but her mind played tricks on her, sending her into the worst mental state she possibly could've been in. Many people noticed, especially her best friends. John B, JJ, Pope, and Kiara all noticed something was wrong with how Emelia had started acting, but the denial that came from her side kept them guessing.

She fell into a pit of drugs and alcohol and partying, into an endless loop of all-nighters, bad grades, and hangovers. Her and JJ really bonded with their common interests in this time, before she just completely ghosted them. Not just them, everyone. She dropped out of high school in her first semester of sophomore year, stopped going out, didn't utter a word to her friends, and nobody knew where she had gone.

She wasn't herself when she disappeared, everyone knew that, but she also wasn't herself when she came back more than a year later. Everyone noticed what she had put herself through. She had lost way too much weight, and way too much emotion. Her eyes were always dark, her face always emotionless. She had started going out more nearing the end of her hiatus, but she still didn't talk to anyone. On her first day back at school, she got stares from everyone, but hugs from her friends.

Kiara noticed her first, and immediately ran to her, enveloping her in her arms. Kiara had missed her everyday, every hour. She missed her best friend, her sister even. During their hug, the rest of the group found the two and immediately joined in on the hug. Inevitably, questions were thrown at her but she kept her answers as shallow as possible. She didn't want their help at first, but slowly they stopped accepting no for an answer, and they brought the real Emelia back. Their Emelia.

They helped her gain her weight and emotion back, they helped her find herself in the darkest corners of her soul, and helped the girl come back to life. She spent day and night with them, and they all made sure they didn't lose her again. Of course, she never lost the habits that she had. She still smoked, drank, and did some drugs now and then, but not as often as she used to. She got her relationship with food half back, but every now and then she'd look back in the mirror at herself and remember the days where she fought against food, not accepting anything if she wasn't starving.

Someone who she hung out with the most during her journey of being brought back was Pope Heyward. They bonded everyday and he always watched over her. They went out together, as friends of course, and they did nearly everything together. He helped her with her schooling troubles (obviously), and they became the closest of all the Pogues, something she didn't expect would happen as they, not before and not now, had anything in common.

But there she was, the summer between the Pogues sophomore and junior year, healthy and happy, sitting next to JJ on the balcony of a new house being built for the Kooks. Pope was playing with some of the power tools, and Kiara was inside giving herself a tour of the house. John B on the other hand was being the most stupid with his actions. With one foot planted on the roof, the other lifted in the air and a beer in his hand, he was definitely going to fall.

Pope walked forward and looked up at him, shouting something at him that Emelia tuned out, looking out at the ocean, the waves crashing along the shore, and in the distance, she swore she saw a pod of dolphins. Kiara walked out of the house as Emelia stood up to get a beer.

"This used to be a turtle habitat!" She complained, and Emelia smiled. Kiara was obsessed with the turtles that lived on the island, and she wouldn't let the harming of the poor species slide. But in some cases, even her being a Kook was too little of a declaration to change things.

"Don't drop that beer, I'm not giving you another one!" JJ shouted, and as if on cue, the beer fell from John B's hand and landed right at Emelia's feet, splashing her with beer. "Really, John B?!" She shouted as Pope looked over the railing. He turned back to his friends.

"Hey, security's here!" Pope announced and JJ and John B came down to the ground as they started running out of the house. At some point, Kiara, John B, and Emelia broke away from JJ and Pope to go grab the Twinkie. They pulled up just as Pope and JJ were hopping the fence, and Emelia laughed as the two ran into the van. John B was driving and Kiara, Pope, JJ, and Emelia were sitting on the floor in the back.

"Hey, slow down," JJ said to John B, and he listened, the van starting to slow. JJ stuck his head out of the window and waved a beer in front of Gary. "Come on man! You got this!" JJ said, throwing him the beer at some point. "We love you!" Emelia shouted to the security guard.

"You pricks!" He shouted, and Emelia laughed. "No profanity, asshole!" She shouted as she shut the door and sat back down. Her legs were parted in a 'V' shape, with Pope in between them as she massaged his shoulders.

"I saw you fall," Emelia said, smiling as Pope rolled his eyes. Kiara and JJ were talking, not paying attention to the conversation, but definitely had smirks n their faces because of the two. "I thought you were better at hopping fences," Emelia chuckled, still massaging his shoulders.

"If you havent noticed, I don't hop fences as much as you and JJ do," Pope said as Emelia scoffed. "Nonsense! I could've sworn that was you who hopped the fence into a Kook's backyard!" Emelia said sarcastically. "If I recall, that was you," Pope said, smiling as he got up, helping Emelia up from her spot on the floor as they arrived at the chateau.

"They're so cute," Kiara whispered to JJ as they all walked inside.

( NOTES ) 

no because emelia massaging his shoulders... 😍