𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒍𝒗. 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔

"COME ON, TATE, TIME TO WAKE UP NOW."

Tatum stirred in her sleep as Kiara lightly nudged her. John B had just stormed into the house, taking one of the girl's brand new guns and claimed he was going to shoot Ward Cameron with it. Which, fair enough, considering the man killed his father, but they couldn't have two of their friends going to jail for murder.

"Thomas," she mumbled sadly, stuck in her dream, and watching him die all over again.

Kiara ran a gentle hand through her hair, pulling the girl up so her head was laid over her knee. "We'll pick some nice flowers for him today; I'll pay to get him cremated for you."

Tatum suddenly sat up straight, smashing her head off a startled Kiara's chin. She furrowed her brows in curiosity. "Would smoking someone's ashes be considered cannibalism?"

"No," answered Pope from the kitchen, who was making himself a ham sandwich before they went out to find JB. "There's no laws about it, at least, because you're not actually digesting them - you're just inhaling them."

Tatum nodded slowly. "So if I wanted to, I could get high off Thomas?"

"Theoretically, yes, but you'd have to mix the ashes with weed, obviously."

"Mhm."

JJ, who was spread across the pull-out, Kiara and Pope all watched the girl for a moment in confusion. "You're not actually considering that, right?" her girlfriend asked.

Tatum shook her head quickly, jumping out of her thoughts. "No, I was just wondering." She rubbed her eyes tiredly, her face burning from all the tears she released the night before, as she took time to look around the room, Kiara's arms still wrapped around her. "Where's JB and Sarah?"

JJ threw a clean t-shirt at her. "That's what we're gonna find out," he said as she looked down at his blue top blankly.

"Or you could stay here and rest for a little longer," Kie added with a small smile, doing all she could to comfort the girl. "It's your choice. But we're going flower picking tonight; I promise."

Tatum smiled back. Then she turned to the boys, who were just as concerned for her health as her girlfriend was. Without Thomas, they weren't sure what to expect of her. They were nowhere near as experienced with her meltdowns as he was. All they wanted was for her to be happy. But deep down, everyone knew their friend would never be completely fine. "If something's up with John B, I wanna know," she told them confidently. "Besides, I could use a distraction. And Sarah's pretty hot."

Kira playfully rolled her eyes and slapped her in the arm.

"What?" she giggled, squirming in her seat, full of energy. "You're the one who used to crush on her."

JJ frowned ever so slightly, finally noticing the signs. Every downfall she had started with hyperactivity. But, then again, she was Tatum, which meant she was always hyper - high or sober, sad or happy.

Tatum jumped off her place on John B's bed and walked out the door, which was always open so they could all see and talk to each other, and threw one arm around Pope. "What flowers do you wanna get for Thomas? He didn't like flowers very much, but he loved robbing kooks. Maybe we could steal some of Topper's mom's flowers - she has an entire garden of them..."

𑁍𑁍𑁍

"HOLD UP - WARD KILLED BIG JOHN?"

On the way to the Cameron mansion, the remaining three pouges explained to Tatum about what John B had said - or rather, shouted - before she woke. Her mind was completely blown, to say, at the least.