𝐏 𝐎 𝐒 𝐒 𝐄 𝐒 𝐒 𝐈 𝐕 𝐄 || 𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

[ 𝟎𝟔 ]

It was Friday afternoon, and The Wreck was crowded with incoming guests. Graciella walked back around the counter after having gotten the food orders from a family who she just seated. Handing off the orders to the chef, she sighed and thought about that party tonight. She wanted to go, but she knew she shouldn't. Especially with her cravings for nicotine or alcohol coming back slowly—and her giving into smoking last night, she knew it wouldn't be good for her. There would definitely be drugs at the party for sure.

The door opened and JJ walked in and up to the counter. Graciella expected whoever it was that approached her to say they wanted a table, but they didn't. She looked up confused and saw JJ.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Oh nothing, just coming to stop by and see my friend," he winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes. "Are you coming to the party tonight?" Graciella looked down, fingernails tapping on the counter below her as she contemplated what to do. "I don't know." She answered. "Come on, nothing bad is going to happen if you do. Maybe a few fights, but that's nothing new, right? Now tell Kiara's dad that you can't work late because you're busy, and I'll see you at the party."

As JJ left, Graciella nervously looked at the clock to check how many hours she had until then. It was nearly seven, and the party began around nine-thirty. Then she remembered the plan her and the Pogues made; they needed to find out about where Rafe and Barry took the cross.

On that note, she walked into the back rooms and searched for Kiara's dad.

Graciella climbed down her bedroom window again, and saw Kiara standing there waiting for her. "Ready?" She asked. "Yeah, let's hurry." The two girls ran to the John B's car and got in, riding off to the party.

"Do you think the Kooks are going to be there?" Graciella wondered, feeling sort of hesitant about going through with their plan. It wasn't a big deal and they weren't going to be doing anything drastic, but she still had a bad feeling about it.

"If they are there," JJ started. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. "And if they try to do anything, I'll pull this baby out and shoot them right in the chest. How's that sound?" He laughed as Kiara smacked him. "Put the gun away. Tonight is about having fun but also keeping an eye out for anything Rafe—or anyone else says about the cross. Try and not stick together for long periods of time or we're going to look suspicious." Kiara explained as Pope pulled up near the beach.

The four of them exited the van and walked to where the party was. Music was blasting from two huge black speakers, and tons of red solo cups were being passed around by the keg.

Graciella walked up to the keg and saw Topper. "Hey, G—" "Graciella." She sternly corrected before giving a friendly smile. He couldn't care less about the fact that she only wanted her close friends calling her by nickname. "Want a beer? Or we've got the good stuff over there if you know what I mean." Topper motioned to a small table set up with lines of white powder on it, along with rolled up dollar bills.

"I'll take the beer, thank you." She said, trying to keep her voice as sweet sounding as possible, even though she despised all the Kooks. She despised being a Kook as well, but that was besides the matter. Taking the solo cup from Topper, she sipped it and walked away from the keg.

"Everything good?" JJ asked once Graciella approached him and Pope. "So far," she answered, sipping her drink. "Where's Kie?"

"Over there, talking about zodiac signs or some of that weird shit she's into." He nodded to where Kiara sat, on a rock with another guy, talking. Graciella then glanced over at the table, now unoccupied. "I'm going to go get a refill."