𝟎𝟗𝟓.                           𝐤𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐯𝐬. 𝐩𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬

get back ──── britney spears

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖪𝖮𝖮𝖪𝖲 𝖵𝖲．𝖯𝖮𝖦𝖴𝖤𝖲．

It's always been like that. For as long as I've been breathing, I'm sure there's always been that divide between the island with the Kooks on one side and the Pogues on the other. Heck, even in the simplest of things like riding the largest wave in the water results in some kind of power play.

We were just enjoying ourselves, splashing and kicking our hands and feet in the water whilst sitting upon our surfboards── me upon JJ's as I don't technically have my own board. Regardless, we were bathing in the sun, enjoying the touch of water and the hit of each wave.

Then a storm came in the form of Topper Thornton, subsequently ruining our parade. However, because of Storm Topper, I got the satisfaction of watching him falling off his surfboard because of my boyfriend who didn't play fair.

Then again, I should've known JJ wouldn't play fair. I should've known that when it comes to the Kooks, especially if said Kook is Topper, that JJ wouldn't be exactly civil. He's anything but nice when it comes to Kooks, not that I can blame him after all they've done to us, so I applauded him when he conquered the biggest wave and knocked Topper away.

While John B and Topper agreed to keep the peace between the two sides of the island, JJ crushed that peace awfully quickly. Though I'll be honest, I'm proud of him for doing so as he mastered the largest wave the water has ever seen. Besides, the wide smile and shrug in his shoulders made it all the more worth it.

We're now by the Twinkie again, relaxing in our deckchairs and in the sand. I lean back into JJ, feeling perfectly content in his arms. His arm is around my middle, his hand splayed over my stomach as I lean my head into his chest. Sitting next to him is Emory, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure they're playing an intense and heated game of Tic-Tac-Toe in the sand. They're trash talking one another like they're in a serious fight to the death, and it's quite amusing because out of the six games they've played, they've tied on each and every one.

Matilda sits at my side, head absentmindedly leaning into my arm as she doodles in my sketchbook, completely caught up in her own world. I think she's tired as her eyes keep closing for a beat, but she attempts to keep herself awake through drawing. I realise I need to get her home but she's had a really good day today, and I'd hate to crush that. Although, if she stays with me any longer, somebody will absolutely realise and I don't want to be arrested for kidnapping a child.

I lift my hand, knocking it into her arm gently. "Hey, kid." She hums, keeping her head against my arm. "I gotta get you home."

"No," she whines, beginning to scribble vigorously on the pages of my sketchbook.

I sigh, hating that I'm about to crush the fun she's had today by taking her home, but she can't spend every single day with us, not when she has a home and a grandmother. Believe me, I'd love to watch over her everyday and pretend we don't have this looming task at hand of getting a fucking crown, but our lives are messy and no place for a six-year-old.

I glance at JJ, seeing that he's noughts and Emory is crosses. Once again, I watch as they tie, neither of them having won a game just yet. "You're doing this on purpose," JJ mumbles, drawing a harsh circle in the sand.

"Doing what? I haven't won."

"Well, neither have I," he argues, following on from her cross in the top hand corner.

"So what am I── Oh, my God. Ha!" She drags her finger through her three crosses, laughing at the realisation that she has won. She raises her arms, grinning at a sulking JJ. "Loser."

JJ stares at her win in disbelief, head shaking. "You suck," he comments, acting real mature as Emory sticks her tongue out at him, also acting incredibly mature.

My God, they're children.

"Hey." I cut through their glaring. "Sorry to interrupt... this, but──"

"Uh, B, give me a congratulations, please."

Reluctantly and with a hard stare from JJ, I offer my congratulations to Emory, seeing that smug smile of hers only widen. "Anyway, I need to take Matilda home so..."

"No," Matilda whines again, digging her face into my arm. "I don't wanna go."

We don't need to take her home yet, but she definitely needs to go home when we leave the beach as she's already been in my care for the past twenty-four hours when she has a whole life outside of me. She has a grandmother. She has a house. She needs to go home, though she's always welcome to come back to us whenever she wants. I just want her to check in at her house every once in a while, it's only fair.

"We don't need to go yet, okay?" She nods, continuing to doodle mindlessly in my sketchbook. I have no idea what she's drawing nor do I ask as she seems perfectly content in her own little world.

I watch Matilda, seriously wondering if I have any kind of right to just keep her here with us. No. I know I don't have any kind of right, but I really care for this kid, more than I thought I ever would. I hate the thought of just sending her back to a house she obviously doesn't want to be in, not without a mother, but she isn't my kid so she can't legally stay with me all the time. Sadly, I can't just keep her.

"Hey." JJ presses his lips against my temple, his fingers pressing into my stomach as he attempts to bring me out of my head. "You okay, angel?"

I hum, though I don't entirely hear him. I open my mouth, about to speak when Kiara steals my attention. "Guys!" I snap my head away from Matilda and over to Kiara who is rushing away from us, eyes honed in on the sand. "There's a turtle hatch."

"What?"

"Guys, there's a turtle hatch!" Kiara repeats, running to said turtle hatch, and I begin to stand up, freeing myself from JJ who totally didn't want me to move based off the groan he lets out. Matilda also comes to stand beside me, looking absolutely exhausted, but hello, she wants to see the turtles.

We all join Kiara, and we each watch as several baby turtles begin to crawl their way out of the sand. "Holy shit," Emory utters, a laugh rippling out of her.

"Language," Matilda speaks, yawning.

"Sorry, kiddo."

"Aw, they're so little," Sarah laughs, crouching down to get a closer look at the sweet little things that begin to move away, aiming to go straight to the water.

"Look at these little nuggets!" Never thought I'd hear John B describe anything as a nugget, but there's a first time for everything.

"I want one," Matilda squeals, also crouching down at Sarah's side.

"Wait. Wait." Kiara stands back, holding her arms out. "Wait, back up. Give them some space. You can't touch them."

"We gotta make a path, right?"

I tug on Matilda's hand, bringing her back so she doesn't disrupt the turtles from reaching the ocean. "Come on, kid. Help clear the way."

JJ, John B and Emory bend down, starting to work on making a safe path for the turtles so they can travel straight to the ocean without fault. "Sarah, keep the gulls off," Kiara instructs, and Sarah looks up at the sky to check for pesky seagulls.

"I don't see any!" she yells, stumbling as she looks to the sky. "Can you see any, Matilda?"

She peers up at the sky. "No!"

I move towards the turtles, watching as they start to follow the constructed path JJ, John B and Emory have contributed to making. "Aw, come on, little ones," I beam, finding this to be sweeter than I ever could have imagined.

There was one time, a long while ago, when Kiara invited me to look for turtle hatches. It was very early on in our friendship, seeming like a million years ago, but anyway, I obviously took her up on the opportunity, but we were unsuccessful in finding any turtles. However, that was the day our friendship formed, and now look at us── each other's bestie for life.

"We should make a highway," John B suggests.

"A turtle highway," JJ adds, laughing.

"Come on, kids!" Sarah calls out, sounding so perfectly content. I know she and Kiara have looked for turtle hatches in the past before their big falling out, so this must be exciting for them. It certainly is for us, that's for sure.

"Follow your human daddy straight to the ocean," John B bellows, moving his arms in the direction of the ocean like they can see him.

"Yes, and I'm your super cool human auntie," I say, adding on to his joke. "The ocean is fun. You're gonna love it, kiddos."

"Woo!" Matilda cheers, clinging onto my hand as we watch the tiny turtles scuttle across the sand, heading towards their new home. "They're so cute and little," she giggles, tugging on my hand.

Behind me, I hear a car's engine revving loudly, and I feel a pang hit me square in the chest. I look over my shoulder, noticing one of the large Kook trucks heading right for us, and I feel my anxiety skyrocket as the truck is moving towards us at an awfully quick speed.

"Hey!" Kiara raises her arms, waving towards the truck. "Hey, stop. There's a hatch!" Despite her waving her arms in warning, the truck is not making any attempt to slow.

I slip my hand out of Matilda's, going to aid Kiara in yelling and waving my arms. "Hey!"

"Yo!" JJ joins in the moment he realises they aren't going to stop, clearly not understanding what a fucking brake is.

"Hey! There's a hatch! Stop!" Kiara jumps, continuing to wave her arms as the turtles continue to move behind us, but I fear most won't reach the water before the truck gets to us.

"Stop!"

"Hey, go around!"

The longer we shout and yell for the truck to go around us or stop, the faster I realise that they're plummeting towards us intentionally. They have no intention of stopping, not for our sakes nor the turtles that we're about to lose at the hands of these bastard Kooks.

"There's a hatch!" Kiara yells, but she knows deep down that the truck won't be stopping.

The truck inches closer to us, still continuing to accelerate. Instinctively, I pull Matilda to one side, away from the truck just as it heads right towards us. "Kie!" Emory yanks her girlfriend away, my other friends diving off to the side as the truck plows through, speeding right by us.

"Why did they do that?" Matilda asks, voice timid, and I hate that she just had to witness such hostility. She's too young to bear witness to something as cruel as this.

The truck swings around, facing us head on. I swear, if you look close enough, the truck has eyes and those eyes are challenging us to a duel. Let's face it, we know who will win, and it ain't us. "What the hell are they doing?"

Emory keeps a hand on Kiara's back. "Those fucking bastards," she mutters, keeping her voice low so Matilda doesn't hear and call language, not that I think she will as she just looks afraid.

"I think that's Ruthie and Topper."

"No. Hell no." She moves away from Emory, starting to wave her hands again at the truck. "There's a hatch!"

"Hey! Stop!" JJ yells.

"Stop!" I peer down at Matilda, seeing her also waving her hands and yelling in retaliation, attempting to defend us, but I hate to tell her that it won't work, not in this world, not when it's a world of Kooks vs. Pogues.

The truck sets off, travelling towards us, faster than I thought possible. We continue to yell, but it's completely useless. Keeping ahold of Matilda, I move us out of the way once again, my friends also jumping out of the way just as the truck passes by once again. Except this time around, that bitch Ruthie throws her alcoholic drink out of the window, hitting my best friend.

Oh, hell no.

"Suck it, Pogues!" Ruthie yells, a sickening laugh bubbling out of her as she continues to speed off, Topper in the passenger seat like the pussy that he is. I'd love nothing more than to hang that bastard by his balls, I swear.

"Oh, my God."

Matilda presses her face into my hip, arms coming to tighten around me. I place a hand upon her head, feeling both angry and upset. Angry because of what those Kooks just did to my best friend, and upset because this sweet six-year-old girl had to bear witness to something so horrible.

I look over to find Kiara lowering to her knees, head falling into her hands. Emory is already falling at her side, wiping away the alcohol that drips down her face, her jaw hard. With Matilda still clutching onto me, we move towards Kiara.

"Kie, are you okay?" Sarah asks, also crouching down beside our best friend.

"You okay?" John B and JJ ask, but it's clear that she's not okay, not in any sense of the word.

"Kie," I exhale, a tightness at the base of my throat that worsens when I hear cheering in the distance. The fucking Kooks are celebrating what they just did, those damn bastards. I inhale a sharp breath, continuing to look at Kiara who is breathing heavily, visibly upset.

Instead of answering our questions, Kiara rises to her feet, moving away and to where the turtle hatch had been. I keep Matilda facing away from the hatch, my fear already being displayed before Kiara confirms it by crouching down to pick up one of the tiny turtles that didn't survive like the rest.

"No, no, no," she cries, holding the dead turtle in her hands. "No." I feel Matilda's arms tighten around me, and I really, really hate that her good day has been crushed by a swarm of dicks who are celebrating killing this innocent and small turtle.

I catch Emory looking off into the distance, glaring at those Kooks like she can turn them to dust with her revengeful eyes. She's pissed, that much I know, and I can't say I blame her. I'm equally as pissed, and there's only one thing I can think to do to resolve the upset I feel in my chest.

I want to fight. I want to yell. I want them to see what they've done wrong.

Kiara stands, breathing heavily. The dead turtle remains in her hands as she casts a look at us. "Stay here."

Kiara begins to walk off, and Emory is already following her, both of them looking murderous in the way they storm off. I didn't expect Emory to stay put, not when her girlfriend is on a vengeful path to make those Kooks feel fucking sorry for what they did, if that's even possible.

JJ looks to me, knowing I could likely stop Kiara from doing something irrational, but I'm all for whatever she plans on doing, so I just shrug. "Kie!" JJ jogs after Kiara and Emory. "Kie, listen."

As JJ follows the girls, I bend down and squeeze Matilda's shoulder. "Hey, kid. Stay here for me, alright? Wait in the van." Her bottom lip quivers, a wave of sadness hitting me as I hate to see her like this, afraid and upset. "Stay in the van." I wipe a hand across her cheek delicately. "I'll just be a minute, okay?"

She obeys, going to sit herself in the van as I follow after JJ, Kiara and Emory. "Kie, listen, I know I'm the last person to say something like this, but we just need to be smart about this, alright?"

"I don't care," she bites out, not even casting a glance over her shoulder at JJ as she's got a mission── get fucking revenge.

"No? Alright. We're just a little outnumbered in this situation."

"I don't care!" Kiara snaps, finally looking to JJ while continuing to walk.

"They deserve whatever they've got coming," Emory yells, and if I didn't know any better, I think she might lunge at somebody. She definitely looks like she wants to attack, break something with her bare hands, bandaged or not.

"Here she comes, guys! On a warpath! Get ready!" Topper dares to open his disgusting mouth. It's almost like he's begging to be punched, I swear to God.

Kiara reaches the swarm of Kooks who are joined together like a fucking disease. "Look what you did," she yells, holding the dead turtle in her palm. "Is this okay?" I catch Ruthie looking away from what she did.

I stand next to Kiara and I snap my fingers in Ruthie's face. "Hey, you look at what you freaking did," I bellow. "There was a turtle hatch, you bastards! You drove right over it!"

Topper holds his hands up defensively. "I understand you're upset."

"I'm more than upset, Topper," Kiara yells.

"Alright, but it was only one," Ruthie defends like she can justify what she just did. "I mean, look, there's so many more of them. A hatch is, what, like, a hundred turtles? Most of 'em don't make it anyway." She shrugs, acting like she didn't do such an inhumane, careless thing.

"It's like one in a thousand," Topper adds, he and his girlfriend just praying to be smacked.

Kiara shakes her head, at a loss for words. "So?"

"Yeah, you know what, you should go throw that to the seagulls," Ruthie suggests, and my mouth gapes, truly horrified that she actually suggested such a thing.

"How about we throw you to the seagulls instead?" Emory bites out, stepping closer, looking just about ready to throw hands for the sake of her girlfriend. "With a face like that, I'm sure they'd just love to have a peck at you."

Ruthie looks Emory up and down, obviously trying to place her as Emory isn't exactly well known on this island, not even for being a Pogue. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, you so don't wanna know," Emory replies.

Ruthie pulls her eyes off Emory, looking back to Kiara and opening her mouth again like it's doing her any favours. "It's the cycle of life, right?"

"Oh, keep talking, I dare you," Emory mutters.

"Cycle of life?" Kiara repeats, disbelief etched in her pained voice. "Getting flattened by a truck is not the cycle of life!" Kiara steps forward, shoving Ruthie with one hand. Topper steps up to his girlfriend's defence, grabbing Kiara's wrist.

"Oh, you don't touch her, flip-flops," Emory snaps, grabbing his arm and digging her nails in until he releases Kiara and steps back.

Ruthie stares right at Kiara, still choosing to speak. "Your move, Kie. What are you gonna do?"

I look at everybody, head shaking at these waste of breaths. Seriously, how can anyone be so cruel? It makes no sense to me, how anyone can do what they just did. They are literally a waste of space, waste of oxygen, waste of life. I'd love to see them flattened by a truck just for the hell of it.

Kiara takes a single step back, tears brimming in her eyes. Emory's eyes flicker from an upset Kiara to a bitchy Ruthie, and I swear I see a flash of red in her eyes as she stares right into Ruthie, clenching and unclenching her fist. "Ruthie, is it?" She takes a single step forward, watching as Ruthie looks to her like she's shit on the bottom of her shoe.

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Yeah. Who's asking?"

"Hm." Emory nods along, and before I know it, she reels her injured hand back and throws her fist into Ruthie's jaw. I gasp, immediately lunging forward to pull Emory back who is laughing manically, shaking her hand off like she didn't just punch Ruthie square in the jaw with her injured hand. "I'm Emory," she quips, smiling as I begin to push her back and away from Ruthie before she gets anymore wild ideas. "Nice to meet you!"

Ruthie looks towards us, holding her pained jaw, and I imagine she's going to get quite a mark from the force at which Emory punched her. Topper steps forward, going to push Emory back further but his hand grabs my arm, intentionally or not, I don't know, but he goes to shove me.

His hold slips faster than his grip, and I turn my head to find JJ grasping his shirt, shoving him away from me completely before he has any kind of chance to push me. "Don't touch her," JJ spits, raising his own fist in warning.

I look to Ruthie whose mouth gapes, shock in her expression like she can't believe that she has been hit. I'm sorry, she had it coming, and if there wasn't a phone camera trained on us right now, I'd high five Emory for that beautiful punch.

Topper pushes JJ back who continues to glare at him, just about ready to fight for my sake. "We're not doing this. I'd walk away." Topper looks to his girlfriend, holding a hand out to her as he goes to check if she's okay after the knockout punch Emory offered her.

"Who the hell even are you?" Ruthie spits in Emory's direction as she walks backwards, still staring right at Ruthie. She straights up, shoving Topper's hand away from her.

"Oh, I thought I was clear," Emory begins, pushing against me as I attempt to push her back before she gets her hand more injured. "I'm Emory. Need me to spell it for you?" She looks to the person who is filming on their phone and she fucking waves.

My God, Emory Thorne is something, I tell you.

Kiara glances at her girlfriend, knowing pride in her eye, and I suspect she appreciates Emory defending her, though she knows Emory is already injured enough as it is so I catch that concern hidden behind the pride.

Kiara looks away from Emory, glancing back to the Kooks. "There's seriously something wrong with you people!"

"Guys, let's go," JJ urges, placing a hand on my back. Emory is still glaring at Ruthie, looking like she wants to kill her. JJ claps his hands at her, forcing her attention away from Ruthie. "Let's go."

She steps back, holding both her middle fingers up at the Kooks before she turns away to follow her girlfriend. I move behind the couple as JJ leaves the Kooks with a final threatening message. "You come near any of them again, especially Brooke..." He steals a glance at Topper. "...and I'll come back and kill every single one of you."

JJ falls back, moving to rejoin us. His arm slips around my back as we walk away, knowing the Kooks aren't going to be so quick to just let us get away with that shit, not when they have proof on camera. Not sure if they caught Emory punching Ruthie, but they definitely caught JJ threatening them just now.

Whatever. They can do whatever they want. We'll just fight back harder.

Kooks vs. Pogues. Same shit, different day.

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❀ soph speaks

i was so lazy in writing this chapter like ugh

had to have emory defend her girl like hello

was gonna have brooke punch ruthie but it seemed right for em to do it as, you know, kie is her gf after all

anyway,, thankyou for reading!!