"Alright, who's jumping first?" Topper asks with a wide smile, staring down at the pool down below.
Shouts echo against the wall of Kelce's house, lights flashing around the pool and music rumbling the ground they stand on. Topper turns his head towards Kaia, smiling down at her with a teasing, convincing smile.
"Not me, no thanks. I am not drunk enough for that, so don't even consider me as an option," Kaia says, shaking her head in protest, sitting comfortably on the shingles. "Topper, get your girl up here and take her down with you."
"Her royal highness is coming up here as we speak," Jae says, widening his eyes as he speaks and a teasing smile spread across his cheeks.
Jae was someone who went to school with Kaia and remained in Outer Banks after his graduation. His tall frame and dark hair were what originally attracted Kaia to him, resulting in plenty of hookups throughout their time spent as close friends. He was her first, yet no one would ever hear that. She didn't exactly what people knowing that she had lost her virginity in her junior year—which she personally wouldn't be insecure about, yet most of her friends lost it years before.
Sarah peeks her head out from the window. "Topper! What are you doing, you maniac?"
Top shoots Kaia a look of pride for claiming that his girlfriend would join them seconds before she did. To that, she rolls her eyes and leans forward over her bent legs. Looking down at the pool below, heads are tilted up at the small group of people occupying the roof.
Few people chant Topper's name when they recognize the boy waiting to jump. Soon enough, Sarah realized what he was trying to do and while she had come onto the roof wearing her bikini, she wasn't planning on jumping off. Glancing at Kaia who leans her elbow against the roof, protecting her skin with a pile of her scattered dress, Sarah's eyes widen with a plea.
The outdoor space echoes with chants, the ongoing roar of people urging them to jump slowly becoming convincing. Topper glances at Sarah, "Alright, do you trust me?"
"Do I have to?" She responds with a breathless chuckle, attempting to hide her hesitation.
He doesn't hesitate to pick her up with a laugh, swinging his arms underneath her legs to hoist her towards his chest. Kaia watches, raising her hand to her mouth to anxiously chew on some skin, hoping with a desperation that whatever actions Topper is about to do doesn't end horribly.
Kaia hides her face between a cup that she had been gradually sipping out of since she had arrived up onto the roof and watches as her two friends bicker back and forth about the water down below. Topper takes things into his own hands by curling his arms around Sarah and bringing her to his chest. She freaks out, but Kaia can tell that she feels safe in his arms, even with the distance down towards the pool.
Kaia, clearing her throat, watches as Topper's feet leave the roof and he and Sarah drop to the pool below. She ignores the cheers of excitement and the laughter of Sarah when she comes up for air. Lifting her lips into a crooked smile, she glances around the rooftop, acknowledging the few people still up here who she recognized.
A sly smirk tilts up Jae's lips and he inhaled a deep breath, his shoulders rise as he puffs up his chest with confidence. Kaia chuckles as he makes his way over to her, holding his hand down towards her. She reluctantly grabs it and he brings her to her feet. Tilting her head to the side, she can see over the roof and down to the pool below. Topper and Sarah splash around in it, gathering the attention of people crowded around the pool.
Jae's arms wrap around Kaia before she realizes what is happening, and curls her towards his chest. "Put me down! I said that you're not doing this."
