Ocean and Alcohol ✘JJ Maybank✘

Storm and Fire || Rafe's POV ||

Rafe was nine years old when he first met Elma. His dad and Gerald, Elma's father, started to work together as close partners. That mean Elma, at seven years old, and her baby brother, were over at the Ward residence often. She spent most of her time taking care of Bradford and the rest of her time playing with Sarah. She barely even looked at Rafe.

Until he made her. He wasn't 100% sure why he did it, but he started picking fun at her, just to get her attention. It didn't bother her, almost as if she had heard it all before. It made Sarah angrier than it did Elma.

It took time, but he slowly learned what things made her more agitated than others. Calling her by her first name was one. Messing around with Bradford was another. If he could poke at the little things for long enough, she would explode. And then her attention was nowhere else but on him.

The first time she hit him, he wasn't prepared for her to be so strong. He hit her right back, despite the pain in his face from her fist. They swung at each other, pulling each other to the ground before either of their parents could get them off.

The two of them learned rather quickly that punching each other meant getting pulled apart and separated and Rafe couldn't have that. Instead of punching, they started "play" fighting. Rolling around in the grass or trying to drown each other in the pool or shoving each other back and forth, it didn't matter as long as no one actually swung. Both sets of parents would laugh and watch them, thinking it was all fun and games.

Elma really wanted to kill him. Rafe just wanted to be the center of her attention.

The years past. Elma got more and more angry, making it easier for him to get on her bad side. Asking her about strange bruises or her broken nose or the cut on Bradford's eyebrow was always a sure way to get her fired up.

And then her mom left. The weeks following up to her departure, Elma was untouchable. If Rafe even looked at her, she flinched. So, he left her alone. But news went around quickly that her mom had up and left in the middle of the night. No one knew why and no one asked.

Elma changed after that. It was like she grew up over night. She got a job, dropped out of the academy, barely ever left her house. She was ten times more protective of her brother, who had taken the name Kid. It was also ten times harder to make her angry.

Rafe didn't see her for almost an entire year. The first time he saw her was at a party. She was dancing with his sister, downing a cup of something or another. Rafe's heart spiked at the sight of her. She moved to the beat of the music, her hips swaying like trees in the wind.

Heart pounding in his chest, Rafe walked over to the dance floor. But when Elma opened her eyes and saw him, the only look she gave her was one of disgust. He was taken aback by the contempt in her eyes. Before he could stop himself, he was saying something horrible to her. He didn't even hear what he said, but he watched her storm away and saw the irritated look on Sarah's face.

"Why are you such a douche?" Sarah asked, pushing past him. Rafe pursed his lips, his hand tightening around his red solo cup.

"Dude, that was kinda harsh," Kelce agreed from the side.

"Shut up," Rafe growled, turning and walking away.

He wasn't sure why he couldn't just walk up to Elma and tell her that she was beautiful or that he admired the fire that was in her eyes. All he could get to come out of his mouth was his own hatred. At this point, he had spent the last eight years calling her names, picking fights, pushing her around. There was no way he was going to be able to move on from it, no way he could repair the damage he had done. Still, she never even looked at him if he wasn't insulting her.