"I KNOW THAT YOU'RE SCARED
BECAUSE IM SO OPEN."
- harry styles, golden

Avery had opted out of going with JJ and John B that morning. It had been a few days since she had cleaned the house, and it was starting to smell more like body odor and sweat than the Decker was pleased with, so after lighting a few vanilla candles and getting a few of the tree-shaped air fresheners for cars to hang from the curtain rods, Avery ended up scrolling on Instagram despite the heap of dirty laundry on the couch.

There was a loud knock on the downstairs door, Avery furrowing her brows and grabbing a random t-shirt, turning it right side out before pulling it on over her sports bra. It was still hot as hell in her house due to the generator not being brought over yet, but she was actually fairing well.

The knocking continued as bare feet patted down the stairs, only growing more insistent and causing Avery to roll her eyes.

"Coming!" she yelled bitterly, but the knocking continued. The brunette yanked the door open, none other than Rafe Cameron standing on the other side.

Almost mmediately, Avery moved to slam the door shut, but Rafe stopped her, pushing it back open.

"Wanna try that again?" He asked, voice gravelly like the day prior at the grocery store.

"I don't want your Girl Scout cookies." Avery deadpanned, moving to shut the door again, but Rafe pushed it back open again. "You have exactly five seconds to get your ass off my porch before I call the cops."

"Always so bitter." Rafe taunted. "It's honestly a shame, Decker, I really like you, too."

"Feeling isn't mutual." Avery replied bitterly.

"Well, you're not trying to shut the door on me anymore, so clearly, we've made progress." Rafe fired back, a smirk painted across his pale lips.

"Because you won't let me shut the door." Avery replied with brows furrowed in confusion. "And honestly, if you drove all the way out here to tell me you like me, I'm flattered. however, I would stick my head in a barrel full of rattlesnakes before I went out with you, so I guess I'm sorry to disappoint."

Rafe bit his bottom lip, clearly not getting the reaction from Avery he had expected after harassing her the prior day in the grocery store.

"I'm not askin' you to go out with me." He replied coolly. "Not everyone's in love with you, y'know?"

"Then what do you want?" Avery snapped. "I'm busy, Rafe, I don't have time for this shit."

"I wanted to invite you to a party." The Cameron boy replied, voice sincere without a hint of sarcasm. "Topper's having one in a couple days and I wanted to know if you were interested. I'm sure there'll be some of your favorite there, if you know what I mean."

"As polite as it is for you to offer, I have plans." Avery replied bitterly. She most definitely didn't have plans, and the sore spot still remained from JJ almost immediately shooting her down this morning when she asked to hang out with him and John B. "Maybe next time."

"Sure, it's always that." Rafe replied, his once sincere voice bitter.

"Well, let's not get our panties in a twist." Avery retorted, the southern accent she had lost after a few months in the Outer Banks shining through. "Why do you so desperately want me to hang out with you?"

"Come on, Bandit, don't act like you don't know." Rafe replied, voice firm.

"I don't know, Rafe." Avery replied, clearly confused.

"Avery- you're pretty, you're popular, everyone on this damn island is practically in love with you- you stole my sister's title as the princess within a week of being here!" Rafe exclaimed. "You act like everyone on this island isn't in love with you, I can't tell if you don't realize it or you just really don't know."

Avery was silent at the brunette's words. Sure, she was well known on the island as a party animal and someone who could score weed and kegs for a get-together, but she didn't think she was the princess. as far as the Decker knew, that title had been entirely reserved for Sarah Cameron.

She had her own titles, none of them being princess. Despite her wealthy upbringing, she was a known shoplifter, fake I.D. carrier, and product of lots and lots of daddy's money.

"So I'm a popularity card for you?" Avery asked, leaning against the open door and holding onto the top of it. "You think that if you show up to party with me and a couple sixer's that you'll be the shit? Then I'm definitely not going to your stupid party."

"Avery- Bandit- you're not a popularity card." Rafe attempted, but avery shook her head.

"Save it." She mumbled, this time slamming the door successfully and turning the lock over. surprising, Avery heard Rafe's car start not long after and the sound of gravel crunching as he pulled out of her driveway, the girl sighing heavily.

She definitely wouldn't be the princess after that.

The sun was starting to set, and Avery was growing concerned at the fact she hadn't heard from any of the Pogues all day. It was never a good sign, and she knew none of them worked today. All of her calls to JJ and John B had gone straight to voicemail, leaving the girl chewing her bottom lip anxiously as she stared at the phone on the coffee table, silently begging it to ring.

However, the door behind her slammed open, JJ barging through it and glancing around frantically, eyes falling on the brunette on the couch.

"It's about time." The girl spat, grabbing her phone and shoving it in the pocket of her shorts, JJ looking at her sympathetically.

"Ave, look, I'm sorry-" He started, Avery cutting him off.

"Oh, you're sorry?" She asked, laughing dryly as she did. "JJ, you dodge my calls all day, blow me off when I say I wanna hang out with you and now you show up out of the blue?"

"I said I was sorry!" JJ exclaimed. "Look, Avery, I wanted to call you, I did, but-"

"But what?" Avery yelled back, JJ clenching his jaw. "Come on, spit it out!"

"John B's house got broken in to." JJ deadpanned, Avery's previously defensive demeanor faltering.

"What?" She asked, voice barely audible.

"The guys who shot at us yesterday, they showed up at the Chateau." JJ explained.

"Why were they at the chateau?" Avery asked. JJ didn't reply for a moment, just nodded his head for Avery to follow him outside. The girl wrinkled her brows, but complied, following her blonde friend out the door and to the van.

"Okay, let's catch her up." JJ said abruptly.

"Catch me up on what?" Avery asked, sitting next to the Maybank in the backseat, looking between John B and Pope, who were in the front seat, and JJ who was next to her.

"JJ-" John B started, but JJ cut him off.

"John B, she's helped us too much in the last year to leave her out. We're not lying anymore." The blonde said flatly. The Pogues had been lying to Avery?

"We never lied to her, we just didn't tell her." Pope said bluntly.

"Then we're telling her now!" JJ exclaimed.

"I'm right here!" Avery yelled. "Someone tell me what is going on."

She was greeted with silence from all three boys, scoffing at the fact they wouldn't tell her what was going on.

"All of you can go to hell." Avery said flatly, pulling the door of the Twinkie open.

"Avery, wait-" JJ started.

"No, you guys clearly don't trust me, and it's really shitty that you don't after how much I've done for you- John B wouldn't even still be on the island if it wasn't for me, and you can't talk to me?" She asked the brunette in disbelief, who hung his head and looked at the floorboard.

"It's not that we don't trust you, it's just..." Pope trailed off.

"I don't believe this shit." Avery whispered, shaking her head at the three boys. "If you guys don't wanna hang out with me anymore, then just say so."

"We found John B's dad's compass." JJ said suddenly, everyone's heads immediately turning to the Maybank. "I didn't want you to go because we were going to Lana Grubbs' house this morning and I had a really bad feeling about it, but I wasn't about to bail on John l B, and the guys from the marsh were there. They were looking for the compass and then they showed up at the Chateau."

Avery was silent as cocoa eyes stared into ocean ones, JJ silently begging her to get back in the van.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Avery asked John B. "Why were you so damn determined for me to not find out?"

"Because it was JJ's idea." John B deadpanned.

"What?" Avery whispered.

"I was protecting you, Ave." JJ explained. "Rich girl gets thrown into the mix? I didn't want those guys to come after you because of me."

"I can take care of myself, I don't need you guys to protect me." Avery spat.

"Ave, we were just trying to help-" Pope started.

"No, you weren't." Avery replied firmly. "You thought that I was incapable of taking care of myself, so none of you wanted to tell me what was going on-"

"We're making sure you don't get shot." John B intervened. "These guys tried to kill us, Avery- they would have killed us if JJ hadn't brutally murdered my chicken."

"JJ killed your chicken?" Avery asked abruptly, turning to the blonde boy. "You little bitch- I bought him those chickens- with one did he kill?"

"The rooster?" John B mumbled in confusion.

"You killed Fettuccine?" Avery asked lowly.

"Fettuccine was gonna get us killed." JJ deadpanned. "Now that you're no longer mad that we kept a secret from you, get back in the van, John B's going through an Edge-Lord phase and won't tell us where we're going."

"This isn't suspicious at all." Avery replied sarcastically, climbing back into the van with jj. "So, what else aren't you telling me?"

"Nothin'." JJ replied firmly, looking Avery directly in the eyes as he did. She noticed early on in their friendship that JJ avoided eye contact when he was lying, so she had no reason to doubt his statement. "Just that I killed Fettuccine."

"That's such an asshole move." Avery scoffed. "What else happened today, seriously. I know there was no way a home invasion lasted twelve hours."

"John B got arrested." Pope chimed in from the front seat. "Kie's dad had to bail him out- he was pissed."

"Why wouldn't you call me?" Avery asked the Routledge boy- if anyone would cover his bail with no questions asked and do so in a heartbeat, she couldn't understand why of all people to ask to get him out he had picked Mike Carrera.

"'Cause Kie was with me so he got called anyways." John B explained. "if you could give me the money to pay him back anyways, then that would be great, I think it was like five hundred bucks."

"I gotcha." Avery assured, the Twinkie stopping outside The Wreck as Pope bailed out of the front seat to go retrieve Kiara.

"So, how was your day?" JJ asked, Avery shrugging.

"Rafe Cameron showed up and invited me to a party- I told him no, by the way." Avery added, JJ raising his eyebrows.

"You typically aren't one to turn down a party, what's different about this Kook party than any of the others you've gone to?" He asked, Avery shrugging.

"I just don't feel like being around Topper and the goon-squad right now, especially with everything that's been happening with you guys. I don't wanna get a call that you've been shot when I'm higher than cloud nine on Figure Eight." Avery explained. "I also think Rafe's in love with me and he seems like the type to spike a drink."

"That's the truth." JJ said through a dry laugh, Pope walking back out the door of the Carrera family's restaurant, leaning over the railing to yell down to John B.

"She said she's not coming!" He hollered, John B leaning his head back against the seat in annoyance. Avery looked at her friend skeptically before glancing at JJ, who only shrugged at her.

"Did her dad ban you from seeing her after he bailed you out?" The Decker questioned, John B letting out a huff of agitation.

"What'd you do to her, John B?" JJ asked, but his brunette friend was already starting out of the van towards the restaurant, Pope returning and joining the Maybank and Avery in the backseat.

"Ten dollars says they kissed today." Avery said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, he already told me they did." JJ confirmed with a nod, Avery rolling her eyes.

"So I'm gonna miss out on ten dollars because you guys left me out of everything you did today?" She confirmed, JJ nodding abruptly.

"Yeah, pretty much." He stated, Avery sucking on her teeth and shaking her head.

"I will tell Pope and Kiara what you said at the motel." The brunette girl threatened, Pope looking between the two of them with raised eyebrows.

"What did JJ say at the motel?" He questioned curiously, but JJ immediately began digging in his pockets, pulling out two crumpled five dollar bills and forcing them into Avery's hands.

"Thanks, Babydoll." Avery replied, Southern accent laid on thicker than that morning with Rafe, JJ rolling his eyes at her antics as John B and Kiara strolled out of the restaurant.

"Has he told you guys what's going on?" Kiara asked, the rest of the Pogues shaking their heads.

"I just know that JJ killed the chicken and his house got broken into." Avery deadpanned, smoothing out the bills JJ had handed her before folding them neatly and putting them in the back pocket of her shorts. "And that you two kissed."

"You told me you wouldn't tell anyone!" John B exclaimed from the front seat.

"She threatened to tell Pope and Kie what happened at the motel, my hands were tied!" JJ defended himself.

"I got ten dollars in the mix." Avery added, taking her phone out of the opposite pocket of her shorts and opening Instagram. It was an app she tended to avoid looking at since leaving Texas, mainly because her so-called friends had never reached out or acted upset in the slightest by her departure.

They hadn't begged her to stay the way JJ had, and it made Avery nauseous to think that these were people she had given everything that she loved and cared about for just to be abandoned and left in the dust as soon as she was sent halfway across the country, and not even by her own will.

JJ would surely still call if she went back to Texas for the summer, right? John B would still text her goodnight every night, wouldn't he? Kiara would surely still send her updates on whatever turtle nest she was currently watching over, make her aware of when the hatch happened and send her videos of the little turtles making it to the water. And Pope would surely still bombard her with what she thought were useless science facts but turned out to come in handy for her tests.

Surely the Pogues wouldn't forget about her if she had to leave, would they?

"Y'all mind if I sit this one out?" JJ asked, pulling a pre-rolled blunt from the front pocket of his shirt and resting it lazily between his pale pink lips. "It's been a weird day, all sorts of shit's gone down."

"If I had to go, you do too." Avery said immediately, JJ striking his silver Zippo a couple of times before lighting the thin-paper wrapped object in his mouth, exhaling a puff of smoke before pulling it away from his lips with his middle and index fingers before passing it to Avery.

"Y'know you want it." JJ taunted the girl who was eyeing the joint skeptically before shrugging and plucking it from her friend's callused fingertips and placing it between her lips, inhaling a long hit before exhaling the smoke from her nose and mouth.

"Avery!" Pope scolded, the Decker rolling her eyes and passing the blunt back to JJ.

"One hit of weed tonight isn't gonna ruin my life." She retorted, turning to throw her legs onto JJ's lap. "Besides, I saw you drink at that kegger, Mr. High-And-Mighty."

"Look, I was wrong, okay?" John B exclaimed suddenly. "About the lighthouse, about lying to Avery, a lot of things." He added, glancing in the rear view mirror at the Decker girl, who was now gnawing on her bottom lip. "But I'm right about one thing. My dad is trying to tell me something."

Avery glanced at JJ with eyes full of concern as the Twinkie rolled to a stop outside a cemetery tucked into the woods of the Outer Banks, Avery looking around skeptically as she climbed out of the back of the van with JJ and Pope right behind her.

"I don't like this." The brunette girl whispered uneasily as she glanced up at the tall wrought iron gate closing off the entrance. "And this absolutely can't wait until morning?"

"You'll be fine." JJ assured gently, grabbing Avery's hand gently and running his thumb across her knuckles. "I'm not gonna let anything hurt 'ya, baby."

Avery's stomach erupted into butterflies, both due to the Maybank's gentle touch and the way he had called her 'baby'. He was her best friend, sure, but ever since his confession outside the motel of finding her hot, she had been considering the standings of their relationship.

"Let's go." John B mumbled to the group, the five of the starting over the black gate, JJ boosting Avery up before climbing up himself and throwing himself over, demanding Avery stay on top of the gate.

"I gotcha." He assured, letting Avery step down into the palm of his right hand while his left coiled around her waist, pulling her away from the gate as her shoes hit the gravel.

Maybe he was only acting like this towards her because of the blunt that was still loosely hanging from his mouth, but Avery would be lying if she said the treatment wasn't something she was enjoying. Contrary to popular belief, she had never had a serious boyfriend despite being sixteen.

The Pogues were trudging across the cemetery, assorted headlamps and flashlights illuminating the still-damp grass that hadn't dried from the hurricane.

"Okay, you drug me to a cemetery at almost eleven at night, let's drop the mysterious rich uncle act and tell everyone why we're here." Avery demanded, but the group kept walking.

"Okay, so y'know how you hear a song and you can't remember who sings it?" John B asked, glancing back at the Decker girl and practically blinding her with his headlamp, but she still nodded at his question. "So this whole time, the 'Redfield' in the back of my dad's compass, I thought it was a place. But it's not, it's a person."

The boy stopped in front of a rather extravagant looking stone tomb, John B shining a light to the top where the name 'Redfield' was carved into the stone.

"It's my great-grandmother, Olivia." The Routledge boy explained.

"How did your family lose all their money?" Avery breathed, looking up at the large tomb.

"Voi-effing-la." JJ chimed in, glancing over at the brunette girl who was still staring up at the white stone of the tomb. "Anyone in your family got one of these, Moneybags?"

"All my grandparents, actually." Avery confirmed. "They're not as expensive as you'd think."

"Help me with the door." John B told JJ and Pope, the two boys immediately moving to help him shove the door open.

"You're doing amazing!" Avery praised the boys sarcastically- they hadn't moved the door an inch."

"This doors like seven hundred pounds." Pope gritted, the trio still attempting to move the door.

"How do they plan on putting it back?" Kiara whispered in Avery's ear.

"I don't think we're planning that far ahead." Avery replied quietly. A loud hiss made the two girls look back up to see the boys scrambling away from the door as a large snake slithered out of the hole towards the top of the door.

"Holy shit!" Avery exclaimed, managing to move farther away from the door than she already was by some miracle, JJ joining next to her and grabbing her hand, the Pogues all watching as the black-scaled snake made its way into the brush overgrowing the tomb.

"That's a moccasin, alright!" JJ exclaimed. "Ye' Olde Dr. Cottonmouth- that's death in tall grass!" He added before beginning to bark at the snake like a rabid dog, Avery immediately clamping her hand over the blonde's mouth.

"JJ- J- shut up!" She gritted, pulling her friend away from the brush.

"JJ, shut up!" Pope whisper-shouted at the same time. "You're gonna wake the freakin' dead, man!"

"What?" The Maybank asked cluelessly as he looked at Avery. "They're afraid of dogs, everyone knows that."

"That's not how it works, sweetie." Avery whispered, John B, Pope, and Kiara starting back towards the door of the tomb.

"Wait, wait, wait." JJ stopped his friends, the three turning back to him annoyedly. "If there's one, there's probably dozens."

"Would you stop?" Kiara asked uneasily. "You're scaring me!"

JJ barked at the door of the tomb a couple of times before John B turned towards him angrily.

"Stop barking at the snakes." He exclaimed through gritted teeth, Pope grabbing the Routledge boy by the shoulders.

"John, we're not opening that door. It's not gonna happen." He told his friend firmly, Avery shining her flashlight at the hole the snake had emerged from, noting how she could probably get through if she went in at the right angle.

"I can go." Avery spoke, interrupting John B and Pope's steady bickering.

"No you can't." JJ told her almost immediately.

"Yes, I can." Avery insisted. "I can fit through the hole."

"You're gonna fit through the hole?" John B asked.

"Is that not what I just said?" Avery bit back, nodding towards the gap between the wall and where part of the door had broken off. "Just get me up there and I can fit through."

"You're gonna fit through that hole?" John B questioned further.

"Are you calling me fat?" Avery joked. "Look, I've tried to help you as much as I could since your dad disappeared, I'm not about to stop tonight. You deserve to know what happened to him, John B."

JJ glanced at his friend, almost silently begging him to try and talk Avery out of going into the tomb, but the Routledge nodded.

"Fine." He mumbled. "We'll get you in the tomb."

"Gimme a boost." Avery directed JJ, the blonde boy reluctantly trudging over to the tomb and leaning against the door in a wall-sitting position as he cupped his hands for Avery to step into. "What am I looking for again?"

"You'll know when you see it." John B answered shortly and unhelpfully.

"On the count of three." JJ instructed, but Avery had already put her right foot into the Maybank's hands and grabbed the ledge with her hands. "Or not, forget about three, who needs three?"

The brunette ignored her friend's protests, swinging her leg around so she had one leg through the hole. She move one hand to reach up and grab the ledge overhanging the roof, while she placed the other just behind her hips so she could swing her other leg through the hole.

"See you on the other side." She mumbled to the Pogues, giving her friends a thumbs up and pushing herself through the hole, letting herself hit the ground on the other side with a thud.

"You good?" JJ called almost immediately, Avery nodding as she shined her dim flashlight around the tomb.

"Yeah, I'm good!" She called back. "I need some more light!"

"More light- got it!" John B called back, followed by assorted mumbles Avery couldn't make out before putting a lantern on the ledge of the hole, the tomb becoming almost entirely illuminated.

"Yeah, that's good!" Avery called back, turning towards where the actual coffin rested on one of the side walls, a white FedEx envelope propped up against the side of it.

"You found anything?" John B asked, the previous hope in his voice fading more by the second.

"Yeah, yeah, I did." Avery replied, grabbing the white package and looking at the scrawl across the front that read 'For Bird'. "I definitely found something!"

The brunette placed the envelope on the ledge, John b grabbing it. Avery saw JJ's hand reach over the ledge, Avery taking a moment to consider how wrong it was morally to climb on a coffin, but also realizing she wasn't going to get out of the tomb any other way. Stepping onto the stone lid of the coffin, she grabbed JJ's hand and managed to climb out of the tomb, brushing cobwebs off her frame as she got out on the other side.

"Holy shit." John B mumbled as he stared down at the package the Decker girl had retrieved. "This is from my dad."

Avery's senses were overtaken by a puff of smoke JJ had exhaled behind her, the girl turning to scold her friend for not putting out his joint before their arrival at the cemetery, only to be greeted by a golf cart shining it's headlights on them.

"Guys." JJ breathed. "Square groupers."

"Square what?" Avery questioned, clearly another subject that came up in her absence.

"Are you sure?" Pope asked.

"Homie's got a gun." JJ confirmed, the Pogues almost immediately diving behind the side of the tomb, JJ grabbing Avery by the arm and pulling her with him.

"Lights- turn off your lights!" Avery demanded, shutting her flashlight off only to look to her left and see John B shoving his lantern under his very see-through shirt, which only illuminated the light more.

"Your light!" Pope snapped, grabbing the lantern from John B and shutting it off.

"What're we supposed to do now?" Avery whisper-shouted. "Whose idea was it to hide here?"

"We're sitting ducks." Pope added, Kiara shaking her head from next to the Heyward.

"Screw this." She mumbled before getting up and tearing across the graveyard towards where they had left the Twinkie, the rest of the Pogues following close behind her.

"Up you go!" JJ exclaimed as he boosted Avery over the gate once more, the Decker jumping over the other side herself this time rather than waiting for JJ. Pope, however, managed to catch the leg of his shorts on one of the spikes decorating the top of the gate.

"Guys- guys, I'm stuck!" The dark haired boy whispered in a panic, Avery looking up to see the golf cart approaching them steadily.

"Pope- Pope, don't move." JJ said suddenly, Avery turning to see that her friend had the gun clutched in his hand, pointing it at the Heyward.

"No!" She exclaimed, grabbing the barrel of the gun and yanking it from JJ's hands, turning the safety back on just as John B grabbed his friend who was still perched on top of the gate and pull him down, the sound of his denim shorts ripping echoing through the air. Avery turned to see Pope in a pair of white underwear, the girl unable to bite back a laugh at the site.

"Nice, bro!" JJ praised his friend, Avery clapping the boy on the shoulder, his face red as a strawberry.

"I'm surprised you aren't surrounded with bitches- look at him rocking those grandpa underwear!" The Decker praised sarcastically as she piled into the back of the van with JJ and Pope, Kiara laughing from the front seat.

"Who got the envelope?" John B asked as the Twinkie sped away from the graveyard, Avery holding it up from its previous spot under her t-shirt.

"Aren't you guys lucky I'm here?" She asked.

"I love you so much, RiRi." John B breathed from the front seat, high-fiving Avery, who was sitting on the floor behind the driver's seat.

"If this is something that could've been an email, I might find your dad and kill him myself." Avery joked with the Routledge boy, who scoffed at her comment.

"You act like you've never met my dad." He retorted. "Everything had to be done the most difficult way possible, a grave robbery sounds right up his alley."

"Big John taught me how to shoplift." The brunette girl replied. "Can I afford everything I've stolen? Absolutely. Is it fun that way? Not at all."

"You're not the only one." JJ contributed to the conversation. "I told him I needed new surf wax once and he pointed me to a blind-spot of the security cameras and then told me to put it under my hat."

"Why not in your pocket?" Avery questioned as though they weren't talking about the same man who once told her to just stuff a package of gum into her bra because she had forgotten her wallet.

"Because I was nine and didn't want people to think I was carrying chew." JJ answered simply. Avery couldn't help but notice how John B had become distant within the couple of minutes she and JJ were talking, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was slightly upset with them that they had taken time from him that he could've spent with Big John. Like he felt like JJ and Avery had taken those moments from him.

But she wasn't going to stop supporting her friend no matter how much he pushed her away, because John B- no matter how much he refused to admit it- had needed his friends more in the last nine months than he ever had before.

kens speaks 🪐

these 5k chapters aren't me idk who's taken over my body but it's not kensie and i love it

anywho im probably gonna go watch young sheldon instead of write so idk when chapter seven is gonna be up, ig just whenever it is (mara will know dw)