The Kooks

The Kook Year

She remembered sleeping around. She remembered staying up at night with the bluelight illuminating her face while she scrolled through pictures of JJ and John B. She remembered seeing Rafe and pulling him aside. Closets, bathrooms, or couches, any place that the two could escape a little bit of the pressure that was building up. 

Those memories had been suppressed so far deep into her mind, it almost hurt for them to resurface.

Her eyes were drowsy and hurt. But she remembered. She remembered every second of how she felt that year.

It had been a shitty year. Cass had been drinking herself to sleep every night and waking up just in time to slip on her kook clothes and drive hungover to the kook academy. She'd stumble into class and even then, she was a magnet to both boys and girls. Her blonde hair would be either waved down her shoulders or slung into some updo that sagged near her neck.

She'd pop a piece of gum into her mouth before excusing herself to the bathroom to then find Rafe Cameron sitting outside the smokers area like a fresh body for grabbing.

Cassie wouldn't dumb herself down in front of him. She hated him, like she hated her parents.  She thought that she was comforted by the fact that she believed that he didn't care about her. She find herself up against him, brushing his lips with hers teasingly before he would grab her and lock their lips together, earning a squeal from the blonde.

He would smirk arrogantly at her reaction and tug on her lip with his teeth. "Missed you, Cass. I don't even know why you pick those lame parties over coming over anymore."

She'd roll her eyes and lace her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, closer. "Shut the fuck up." She kissed him aggressively once more which he always seemed to respond so easily to.

He would kiss and give her so much attention just pulling her towards his car and holding her hand the whole drive to his house. They'd sneak upstairs, carefully avoiding the maids and locking the his door before going back to their original program. He'd wrap his large arms around her waist, towering over her even as she hung her arms over his shoulders and around his neck.

Kissing him was intoxicating for Cassie. While her first kiss had been with JJ in the seventh grade, nothing more had come from it besides a simple peck. Rafe had helped Cassie explore more in that department.

And where was JJ you may ask? Off on the Pogue side of town, he picked up girls and dropped them ever other day. Pope took to studying, Kiara was off in her wonderland life, and John B stuck around near JJ long enough to stay out of his way when a girl was over.

This was how Cassie felt her life was going. Lying in positions for Rafe to take her as she pleaded for the pleasure to override the pain of everyone abandoning her. 

Rafe wouldn't abandon her. Would he?

Maybe she liked the thrill, the thrill of not knowing what he would do next whether it be cliff diving or buying her ice cream. He was a thrill. A safer thrill with nothing attached. 

Or so she thought.

Then, the parties, the jealousy, the possessiveness that snapped her of her dream world. 

The last straw was one of the last parties of the school year. Cassie always found herself dreading going to these lame alcoholic fests where every teen stumbled or sat intoxicated in every corner. But, she always attended. 

She remembered wading through the sweaty bodies. She remembered the music coming from the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the fridge. By her third, she found a cute senior brunette that seemed to be taking an interest in her. She knew Rafe was coming to the party, but she couldn't help herself. They always came to her when she started dancing and giving glances. When he came over and whispered in her ear, pushing his hips into her own from her back, she pulled him upstairs.