Kook King

The Wreck

Whatever anxiety I felt last night has dissipated. Instead, I wake up in Rafe's arms feeling like everything is right in the world. He's still sleeping, but when I roll onto my back, he awakens. His arm is draped across my stomach, pinning me down. "Morning," I coo.

"Hi." His eyes are still shut and his voice is quiet and raspy.

I smile and kiss his forehead. "Hey."

His eyes open.

"I love you."

Rafe breaks into a smile. Then he kisses me long and deeply, until he grows tired again and rests his head on my chest. "I love you."

***

I'm still filled with butterflies later that afternoon as I park my bike beside three other's and lean it against the bike wrack. I watch as a group of teenagers mingle outside the screen door of The Wreck, a seafood restaurant owned by Kiara's parents. It's pretty successful, despite being on The Cut side. A lot of people hang out here, chat, and drink. There's a permanent smell to it, like fresh, salty, seafood and melted butter. It makes everyone's mouths water the moment they catch a whiff of a cooked lobster. It's always bustling with employees and local customers whose names everyone knows. I was just another one that visited The Wreck pretty often. Usually, Kiara and her friends, including JJ, come by and hang out for a bit. That always makes me more excited to stop by, but now I feel nervous.

I spot Kiara right away when I step inside and side-step a tourist couple taking a picture together. Some summery pop song blasts through the speakers overhead. I weave my way through the tables and find an empty one by the windows that overlook the ocean beyond. A gust of cool wind blows in from behind me, sending several napkins at the next table tumbling onto the floor.

I keep my head ducked behind the large menu. Not that I need to read it. I have it memorized, of course. When I glance up, I feel like a deer caught in headlights. Both Kiara and Sarah Cameron, Rafe's sister, are staring at me. Kiara offers me a small wave, which I awkwardly return. I'm not sure what she's heard. I'm sure she knows I'm with Rafe now. And as for Sarah, I've only talked to her a couple of times when I've bumped into her at Rafe's. I wonder if she feels the same about me and her brother as her boyfriend, Topper, does. I know she won't talk to me, but she glances at me as she munches on a French fry up at the bar beside Kiara.

I scroll through my phone while I eat, not really looking at anything, and nearly jump when I notice a figure looming over me. When I look up, Kiara is leaning over the chair on the other side of the table. Her hair is tossed up in a messy bun, and the apron around her waist is covered in grease and who knows what else. "Hey," she says.

I set my phone down. "Hi." I haven't seen Kiara since that night at JJ's. I fell asleep then woke up after she left. Before we sort of collapsed, we had fun.

Kiara glances back over her shoulder then looks at me again. "So. You and Rafe, huh?"

I swallow, preparing for the worst. Another lecture. "Yeah."

She nods then, to my surprise, she smiles. "Who knew a pogue would tie him down?"

Slowly, when I realize that Kiara isn't going to give me the same shit everybody else does, I smile back at her. The butterflies in my stomach and chest return when I think about last night at Rafe's; his lips, his skin, the warmth of his body as we fell asleep together after about a hundred "I love you's". I never thought I'd tie a kook down, either. My cheeks warm. "Yeah. He's actually... pretty great."

Kiara pulls the chair out and sits down. She snatches a fry from my plate and pops it into her mouth. "So, what do you guys do, exactly? Are you, like, doing a bunch of kook things now?"

I giggle. "Um... actually, no." Other than taking me to the country club golf range where he shows me how to hit the ball from behind, and spending afternoons on his dad's boat, Rafe and I actually don't delve into his kook world very much. He spends a lot of time with me in The Cut where we skip pebbles on the water at The Boneyard and I wait for him in his car while he sells somebody a bag of weed. "We just, uh-- we just... hang out."

Kiara's brow furrows. She opens her mouth to say something when someone taps her on the shoulder and tells her a table needs to be cleared. She rolls her eyes at me, waves goodbye, then gets back to work. Sarah continues to eye me, thinking I don't notice. Just say it, I want to snap, but instead I act like I don't even realize she's there.

When I finish eating, I stack my plate so it's easier for Kiara to grab. Then I head over to the cash register by the front door where Mr. Cerrera, Kiara's father, stands with a smile. "Hello, there, Y/N! Haven't seen you in a while. Where've you been?"

It's a common question these days, one I'm getting tired of. I smile, though, and shrug. "Just busy." I pull out a wad of cash from my pocket and hand Mr. Cerrera the correct amount.

"Thanks, kiddo," he chirps. "I hope you're not getting into too much trouble." He wags his finger.

Does he know, too? I wonder. Over by the bar, Sarah wipes her hands clean and pushes aside her empty plate. Kiara clears another table that's been left trashed by a group of teenagers. To Mr. Cerrera, I politely say, "I'm not. Most of the time, anyway," and I give him a wink.

He laughs loudly and deeply, like Santa Claus. I waggle my fingers at him then turn for the door. I let a group of people in before I slip back onto the ramp towards my bike.