The Sinner

02

"What's going on with you?"

I hear Sarah's voice pull me out of a deep thought. I blink as I see her standing in front of me, she was on her second drink. She was a bit tipsy, I could tell by the sloppy smile that was on her face.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I take a sip of the foul tasting beer.

She rolls her eyes. "You've been acting different since you got this sweatshirt." I shrug, downing the rest of the beer. "Was it the situation with Kiara?"

"No," I say quickly while shaking my head. I stand up from the log and start to walk over to the keg. "I could care less about her. I don't know why I'm acting weird."

That's a lie.

"Maybe you just need more to drink," She suggests. I grab the tube and press down on the button that pushes the beer out.

"Someone has to drive home," I say as I look at Topper and Rafe. They were both completely trashed, especially after I rejected Rafe.

I stop when the cup isn't even half full and take a sip. The two boys were talking about something, quite loudly with a bunch of their friends from high school.

"How was Nassau?" Sarah asks with a smile. I gladly return it, as she swirls her finger in front of my face. "Your freckles came out this year."

"It was good," I say. "My dad's in the process of building our house."

"How far is it from mine?" She asks, looking down at her drink.

"Not far, maybe a five minute walk down the road." She nods as she finishes her last drink. "What did you do while I was gone?"

"Oh you know, mostly hung out with Topper," She explains with a shrug. "I'm happy you're back though. I can only see him so much."

Sarah and I walk down towards the water when I hear someone call out our names. I see JJ jogging towards us, a cup in his hand.

"Can I interest either of you girls in another cup of our finest beer?" He asks, John B soon following behind him. I look down at the odd color of the liquid, before giving him an unsure look.

"No, we're good," Sarah says immediately. I think she had decided she was done for the night.

"Is it not fancy enough for you?" I could tell JJ was drunk. I knew if this conversation was going to last any longer, it wasn't going to end well.

"We have to drive," I tell him. He smirks at me as I watch him look over my shoulder. Why was he insisting so hard that we have this? "What, did you spit in it?"

JJ chuckles, "No I did not spit in it." I push my lips together as I slowly shake my head.

"We don't want your odd looking drink JJ."

"You have to drive back to Kooklandia, what, is that a ten minute drive? Here you'll be fine," JJ says as he tries to extend the cup to me.

"Hey thanks man, I appreciate it," A voice says next to me. It was Topper, and he had a dangerous look in his eye. I feel myself suddenly grow worried as I watch Topper attempt to grab the drink.

"That's nice of you Topper. But I didn't ask if you wanted it," JJ says, a smirk still on his face. "Although if you said pretty please, I'd think about it."

"That's real cute JJ," There was a smirk on Topper's face now too.

"So, Sarah, would you like this drink?" JJ asks again.

"No I'm fine," Sarah says sternly. He moves to me next, stepping backwards as he loses some balance.

"How about you, Corrine?" JJ asks. I shake my hand immediately.