𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚜/𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗

𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

"Blair!" I made out Pope's clear shouts coming from the HMS Pogue as I stroll past a colossal tree that I may or may not had been hiding behind, and revealed myself to my friends, who I'd missed dearly.

"Guess who's back!" I fling my arms up in the toasty air and brace myself for an estimated rugby tackle from one of the boys, thrown in with a couple of hugs, I'd hoped. "Thank god you're back, didn't know if I could bear these lot much longer without you" Kiara teased as she rolled her eyes in the direction of the boys, who stood in front of me like a trio of lost puppies.

Kie jogged towards me, her fuzzy hair bouncing up and down as she nears me before I envelope my arms around her, appreciating her warm welcome.

"Was it as bad as you thought?"John B asks, his floppy brown hair masking his forehead and he sure looked delighted to have a grinning Sarah clinging tightly onto his arm.

Where do I even start?

"You know what," I announce whilst I uncapped a beer bottle and leaped onto the boat, "it wasn't too bad." I cheered my beer into the air, everybody else's bottle immediately clanging against mine, as we necked our beers, Pogue style.

It was a written rule that whenever somebody declared a cheer, whoever's drink wasn't gone within the next 10 seconds had to face up to a Pogue dare. The worst kind of dares, ever.

My mind flashed back to the time where I lost to the law, the time when I was dared to run my golf cart into the pool at the country club, while they watched, Something my parents still to this day make very clear they'll never forgive me for. Obviously, they were forced to pay for the golf cart, which meant my friends had a slightly wider grin on their face, that day. They find money amusing.

'So your brother and Rafe didn't end up being too complicated, then?' JJ questions, his sunlit eyes glaring at me, as if he'd hoped I had returned with some stories I could share. I shook my head, unable to look my friend in the eyes, unable to speak about him. 'That's weird, you know, with them being the douchiest people to exist' the blonde boy comments.
'Cheers to that' Sarah and Pope simultaneously shout, both opting for another beer from the pile in the middle of the boat.

——————-

'So, you excited for midsummers?' jj asked me, as we strolled along the pavement towards my house, his words reminding me of the torture I'd be forced to face tomorrow.

Midsummers is a yearly occurrence, held at the Kiawah Island Resort, here in outerbanks. It was an excuse for the rich to be rich, you know, dress in expensive clothes and order food for the same price as a Pogues monthly wage.

'What'd you think?' I scoff as we continued our way down the sidewalk, making sure I nudged his shoulder as his sarcastic question bothered me, but not in a bad way. It's just jj's way of being annoying.

'Well I'm not sure about you, but I'm devastated I'm not gonna be able to join all you kooks inside"
His finger draws little circles in the air, then points to me, "I'm sure it will be heaps of fun' He openly grinned at me, his pearly white teeth blazing in my direction.

I freezed in my tracks, and amusingly watched him walk a few seconds ahead before he span around with furrowed eyebrows at the realisation I wasn't next to him.

'Stop stealing my dads fucking twinkies' I point my finger at him, the blonde boy widening his ocean eyes before racing off, knowing he'd been caught red handed.

I chased after him, our vibrant laughter replenishing my hometown of Charleston.

—————

'You look absolutely stunning!' my mum declares, before sliding the pearly strap of my dress above my golden shoulder, and planting a considerate peck on my cheek.

I allowed myself to appreciate the reflection in the vintage mirror I was reluctantly standing in front of, distracted by the agonising natters of rich folk downstairs, and classical music playing from the band.

The coral red sleeveless maxi dress I was wearing forced me to contemplate whether to go downstairs, for my Pogue friends to see. I'd been so captured within their gleeful yet simple lifestyle, that I became embarrassed of my opulent one.

'Come on, sweetheart. There's people waiting for us' I glanced to her, a turquoise gown complementing every womanly curve on her body, her short blonde hair arranged into an elegant bun.

She offered her hand before I observed the rhinestone bracelet on her wrist, something considerably more expensive than john B's and JJ's house, combined.

I sighed, nodded my head and hesitantly placed my slightly shaken hand in hers, before treading down the stairs pained by a couples ignorant conversation about real estate prices, making me automatically cringe.

Time to put on a brave face.