𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑

"Yo, Topper's on the roof!" I hear someone shout and I look up from my place sitting by the pool to see my blonde friend.

"Topper! Topper!" Sarah laughs, climbing out the window to join him.

"Sarah!" I laugh loudly.

The crowd starts chanting my best friend's name and she beams down at me happily.

"Hi, guys!" She calls out before howling like a wolf.

Everyone starts chanting the word jump and I smile up at them in amusement, lightly kicking my legs in the water. Topper quickly scoops Sarah up bridal style and she screams in surprise, clinging onto him with wide frightened eyes.

My eyes widen in surprise as everyone cheers loudly when Topper pretends to jump, making Sarah scream and flail around in his arms. The chants of jump soon turn into loud cheering when Topper actually jumps.

"Oh, my God!" Sarah shrieks, her voice being swallowed by water when they hit the pool.

They resurface and I cup my mouth with my hands, hollering loudly at them through all the cheering.

"Whoo! Can you believe this girl right here?" Topper laughs.

"The coolest chick in the OBX!" I scream.

"Damn right!" Topper points at me with a wide grin "That's what I'm talking about!"

"You're crazy" Sarah giggles wrapping her arms around the boy as they climb out of the pool.

I watch as the giggling couple head inside and pull myself to my feet, slipping my dress back on over my bikini. Kelce catches my eye as he runs up to Rafe and I smile, skipping over to them.

"Hi, Rafe!" I call out but he ignores me "Rafe!"

He turns from the dark haired girl next to him and looks at me, running his fingers through his hair.

"Hey, babe" He pastes on a smile.

"Where have you been? You've been missing all the fun" I grin, throwing my arms around his neck.

"Just been running some errands" He shrugs vaguely.

I get a whiff of perfume from the collar of his shirt and a frown tugs at my lips, knowing it's not the perfume I wear or even Sarah's.

"Like groceries?" I question, hoping that it's my imagination playing tricks on me.

"Like errands, Allison" He states firmly.

He pushes me off of him in annoyance and I stumble into Kelce who drunkenly catches me, looking from the girl he's chatting up down to me in concern.

"You good, Alli?" He smiles as I watch Rafe walk away from us.

"All good, Kel" I paste on a happy smile in return "Do you know where Sarah went?"

"Her and Topper went upstairs" Kelce smirks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh" I reply, nodding softly.

"Why?" He wonders aloud.

"Just feeling a little sick. I think I'm gonna go home" I tell him.

"Okay, be safe" He warns me.

"I will, thanks. Tell Sarah I went home if you see her, okay?" I ask.

"Will do, Alli" He assures me.

The boy pats me on the back and I shoot him a smile before making my way to the exit.

I walk for a while until I see the warm light of the Wreck and I feel drawn inside, wrapping my arms around myself as I enter the restaurant.

"Is that little Allison Blake I'm seeing?" A friendly voice chimes and I smile at the Carrera man happily.

"The one and only" I joke, still feeling a little drunk.

"You been hiding from us? Anna and I have missed you being around" Mike tells me with a big smile.

"I've missed you both too. It's been a while since I was over" I reply, leaning on the counter in front of him.

"You should come over for dinner one night" He suggests.

"That sounds like fun" I agree.

"Are you free Sunday? Anna's been searching for a reason to try out this new recipe she found a couple weeks back" The man asks curiously.

"This Sunday?" I ask in surprise and he nods "Oh! Well, yeah. I'm not busy. Completely free actually"

"It's a plan then" He grins "Now, can I get you anything?"

"Can I get one of those smoothies you used to make?" I question.

"Sure thing, sweetheart" He hums.

"Hey, man, can you make that two?" A masculine voice adds from behind me.

"Coming right up, son" Mike counters, heading off to make the drinks.

I turn curiously and my heart swells in my chest at the sight of the curly haired boy that smiles back at me.

"Makoa!" I squeal in happiness, practically throwing myself at the boy in front of me.

"It's nice to see you too, Alli" He chuckles, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"I thought you were never coming home" I mumble dramatically into his chest.

"I told you that I'd be home for summer, drama queen" He laughs, rubbing my back.

I lay my chin on his chest and grin up at him happily, the boy smiling down at me in amusement.

"I've missed you, Koa" I tell him.

"I've missed you more, Alli" He counters.

"You tell lies" I accuse him playfully.

"No lies here. Scouts honour" He argues.

"You were never in the scouts!" I gasp, slapping his chest and he laughs.

"Two smoothies" Mike announces and I turn to see him placing two yellow filled glasses on the counter.

"How much is that?" I ask the man.

"Five dollars" The man answers.

Makoa pulls a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and hands it to Mike before I can even pull the cash out the back of my phone case.

"Keep the change" My friend smiles kindly and the man smiles gratefully, heading over to the till.

"You didn't have to do that" I scold the boy as he picks up our drinks.

"I don't know if you realised but I'm, like, really fucking rich" He sasses me and we sit down at a table.

"Oh, shut up" I scoff, taking a drink of the smoothie.

The taste of pineapple fills my mouth and I hum in content, smiling over at the boy I haven't seen in months.

He smiles back at me until he glances behind me and his smile is wiped clean off, his eyes widening a little.

"Is that who I think it is?" He questions, looking as though he wants the ground to swallow him whole.

I turn around in my seat and my heart drops to my stomach, my expression most likely mirroring Makoa's.

Stood at the counter talking to Mike is Kiara Carrera and the other Pogues.

The boys spot me and JJ grins wickedly, causing me to spin around in my seat to see Makoa with a menu covering his face.

"Allison, why the fuck are they coming over here?" Makoa panics.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit" I mutter out.

"Hello there, princess" JJ announces his presence "Trying to hide from us, are ya?"

"I'm not hiding" I blurt out.

"Who's your friend?" John B asks with an amused grin.

"You don't know him" I lie in panic "He's really shy"

"Is he gonna hide behind that menu all night?" JJ asks curiously, his brows furrowing as he scans my friend.

"Probably" I nod frantically.

"You look a little pale, blondie" John B points out.

"I'm naturally very pale" I lie again.

"You're acting weird" Pope comments.

"You're acting weird!" I retort accusingly.

"Okay, that's enough of that" JJ chirps, swiftly snatching the menu out of Makoa's hands.

Everyone stills and I can almost feel the tension as Makoa smiles awkwardly at the Pogue boys.

"Hi, guys" He mumbles.

"Yo, you're back and you weren't even going to say hi" John B gasps in fake hurt.

"You even got Alli lying for you. Not cool, man" Pope shakes his head.

"I-I was going to say hi. I just wanted to spend my first night home with my very dear friend Allison" He stutters out "Right, Alli?"

"Exactly" I agree.

"I'm going to be honest. I didn't even know that you two were friends" Pope states.

"Since when?" John B asks in confusion.

"Koa and I have been friends since we were in preschool" I answer, glancing at my friend with a frown "You didn't tell them that we're friends?"

"Yeah, what are you hiding this beauty for?" John B adds fuel to the fire.

"I just wanted to keep my Kook life and my Pogue life separate. Is that a crime?" Makoa retorts defensively.

"What are you doing here?" JJ finally speaks up.

"I was hanging out with Alli-" Makoa is cut off.

"Not the Wreck, Makoa. Why are you on the island at all?" JJ snaps.

"I got kicked out of boarding school" Makoa breathes out defeatedly and I look at him in surprise "My dad doesn't want anything to do with me anymore so he sent me packing back to my mom"

"Koa" I frown, reaching out to take a hold of his hand.

"It's whatever. I don't even care. He's a fucking asshole anyways" Makoa shrugs.

"It's good to have you home, brother" John B smiles encouragingly.

"It's good to be home, JB" Makoa replies, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Who's hungry?" I hear Kiara's voice as she squeezes between John B and Pope, her eyes landing on me "Allison. Hey"

"Hi, Kiara" I smile softly.

"Is it just me or is it really hot in here?" John B asks with a grin.

"Practically suffocating" Pope agrees.

"Will you just sit down" Kiara hisses at them.

"Yes, ma'am" John B salutes her.

The boys all take a seat at our table and Kiara finally spots the lanky boy opposite me.

"Makoa! You're back" She grins happily.

"And better than ever" He winks at her and I frown.

"Thank God. Bullying JJ on my own isn't as fun" She tells him and he chuckles.

"I'm right here!" JJ objects.

"It's okay, JJ. We can bully them back if you'd like" I assure him and the blonde grins widely at me.

"I knew I liked you for a reason" He states before smirking at Kiara and Makoa "How do you like them apples, bitches?"

"I feel like I'm missing part of this story" Makoa furrows his brows "How'd you all start talking? Last I remember, Kiara and Allison were on fallouts and none of you boys had ever even looked in Alli's direction"

"I met JJ at a party in the boneyard and made up with Kiara at the same party" I answer.

"Then she got drunkenly lost in the cut and stayed the night at the chateau" JJ adds.

"Terrible sense of direction" Makoa tuts.

"Tell me about it" Kiara snorts.

I pout childishly and JJ pats my back with an amused grin.

"Oh! And we almost got shot by two thugs. So I guess we kinda trauma bonded" I chirp.

"Shot?" Makoa stresses with wide eyes.

"Oh, babe. You have a lot to catch up on" Kiara tells him and I ignore the way my stomach twists at the nickname she gives him.

"Clearly" He scoffs.