Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

Don't Make It Harder On Me

I drove back home with the small cat sleeping in my passenger seat. I wanted to drop her off before heading back to John B's place. The Château.
The sleeping animal purred quietly as I pulled into my driveway. I glance over at the porch, seeing a figure sitting on one of the white wicker chairs. My eyes focused as I realized it was Rafe Cameron.
"What is he doing here?" I asked myself, hopping out of the Jeep, and pulling the cat into my arms. She remained asleep as I approached the porch.
My keys jiggled in my hand as I walked up the steps. Rafe finally meets my eyes. A small smile appeared on his lips as he leaned comfortably in his seat.
"Hey, Carrera." He greeted. His tone was playful and light. "It's Carrera-Devereux." I corrected him. I took a seat in the empty chair next to him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, petting the soft fur of the cat. "I didn't know you had a cat." Rafe says, changing the subject. "I found her today." I answered. Rafe leans closer to me as he looked at the cat.
"She's cute." He says, reaching out to pet her. "Um...yeah." I furrow my brows. "Look, Rafe." I start. "I know you didn't come here to discuss the cuteness of a cat. Why are you here?" I asked again.
He lets out an exaggerated sigh, leaning back in his seat. He runs his fingers through his blonde hair.
"I wanted to apologize." He says. I blink several time. "I can be a little...belligerent." He states. I pull my lips into a thin line. "Yes." I agreed. "You're right about that." I nod. "Have you always been so pugnacious?" I asked. "I mean, every time I try to be civil with you, you're always so quick to start something." I explains.
"Can we just start over?" Rafe asked. His cold, sullen eyes locked with my soft brown eyes. "Only if you promise not be an ass around me." I smirk.
"I'll try my best." He says. "To be honest, why would anyone ever want to argue with a demure soul like yours" He compliments. "You've probably never done anything bad before in your life." He says, smiling at me. "That's not true." I say. "One time this girl called me a racial slur during dance class. So I stole her clothes." I explains. "We'll that's different. She deserved it." Rafe says.
"We'll, don't try to butter me up now, Mr. Cameron." I smile. "You still have to prove yourself around me." I point. Rafe playfully rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I will. And before you know it, we'll be best friends." He leans towards me.
"Okay, so as your future best friend, I would like to know what are you going to do about that Barry guy?" I asked, leaning forward as well.
Rafe's facial expression immediately goes form playfull to agitated. "Be..." He trails off with a sigh. "Oh, don't think I forgot, Rafe. You owe him money. He's going to come after you if you don't come up with it in a few days." I explained. "Yeah, yeah. I know." I says.
He leans back into his chair once again. "That's why I was hoping a rich girl like you could loan me some money." He suggested. A sly smirk appeared in his lips as he looked at me with eagerness.
"First of all, I'm not rich. And second of all, absolutely not." I answered, quickly. "Why the hell not, Be!" He snaps, jumping out of his seat. He stands over me.
I stand up from my seat, leaving the cat in the chair. Rafe towers over me once again. I tilt my head up towards him, stepping back a little to get a better view of his face.
"How many times do I have to tell you!" I snap. "You can call me Phoebe." I sigh with annoyance. "Who care, Be." He mocks. "All I'm asking you to do is to spot me at least two thousand dollars in cash." He says.
My eyes widen. "Two thousand?" I asked, shock. "Rafe, you have a serious coke addiction." I tell him, crossing my arms. "Why don't you just tell your dad. I'm pretty sure he will help you." I say.
Rafe suddenly takes my arm in his hands, squeezing me just a little to tight. "Are you crazy, Be?" He exclaims. "My dad will kill me!" He says, shaking my body a little to hard.
"You're being hyperbolic." I state. "He might be mad at you for a little while, but I'm sure he will forgive you." I tell him.
"You don't know my dad, Be." He says. "He's not the type of father who lets thing slide." He explains. "We'll then, I don't know what to tell you." I break out of his tight grip. "Because, I find it funny how you've only known me for a few days, and yet I'm the one you come to with your problems. Did you even ask Topper or Kelce for help? Or do they not know that their precious Kook Prince is not as strong minded as they thought. Or are you just being pretentious?" I demand.
A huge grin appears on forms on Rafe's lips. He flashes his teeth at me like the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland. "I like you." He says. "You're very feisty, Carrera." He says, taking another step towards me. "Are you ever going to get my name right?" I asked.
"That depends..." His voice trails off as his fingers begin to graze my arm. His pale fingers, rub against my brown skin. A slight chill runs through my body as he moves up my arm to my shoulder.
His breathing is heavy. I can see his chest moving up and down as he begins to rub his hands toward the nape of my neck. His fingers tangle with my brown locs.
"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" He breaths. "I don't need anyone to tell me that I am beautiful." I state. "Yeah, well, it doesn't mean it not nice to hear sometime." He says.
"I have to go, Rafe." I quietly say. Rafe drops his hand from my neck. "Where are you always running off to with them Pogues?" He asked, annoyed.
"No where. Just hanging out." I tell him. "Well, why don't you hang with me later this week. I can teach you how to make a Double Bogey on the course." He says. My eyebrows furrow in confusion.
"It's a golf term." He says. "Oh, well then. You better make sure you get your little situation fixed then if you're gonna teach me how to score a hole in one." I smile.
    "Yeah?" He rolls his tongue along the inside of his cheek.
    "Yeah, whenever you get that situation taken care call me." I smile, flirtatiously. "I don't have your number." He states. "Give me me your phone." I say. Rafe pulls his phone from his pocket handing it to me.
   I quickly type in my number, before giving him his phone back. Rafe looks over the number. "803?" He asked.
    "It's a Columbia, South Carolina number." I explain. "Okay, I'll see you around then." He says. He turns away walking down the steps leaving my house. I watch him walk down the street until he's out of view.
    I turn back to the cat, picking her up. "Come on." I cooed using a baby voice.
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    I drove my Jeep through the backwoods of The Cut. John B's house was on a back round that faced the marsh.
    Finally pulling up; I look over at the Château. The house is old and warped. Most of the wood is tarnished with flaking paint. Weeds and vines grew all over the yard making it hard to see the path to his door.
    I could see the Pogues sitting on the front porch. Most of them sitting down; except for Kiara who was standing and glaring at none other than Sarah Cameron.
    I opened the screen door. "Hey, guys." I said awkward. I could feel the unwanted tension that Kiara radiated towards Sarah.
    "No effing way!" Kiara snaps. "You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?" Kiara asked. John B looks at the rest of us, seeking validation from his friends.
   "I dunno?" Pope shrugs. "I just want Kiara to be comfortable with this." I speak. "Look, all I care about is that her cut comes out of your share." JJ says, nonchalantly.
    "You know I don't remember taking a vote." Kiara says. "This is our thing. A Pogue thing." She points outs. "I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." Pope says. "Thank you." Kiara nods.
    "When are you not uncomfortable?" John B snaps at his friend. "Well, I don't know. I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably." Pope states. "It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him." JJ adds.
     "Phoebe." John B looks over to me. "Can you help me on this?" He pleaded. I pull my lips into a thin line. "Don't make it harder on me." I sigh, shaking my head.
      "You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." Kiara glares at Sarah. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Sarah suddenly speaks up. "Then leave." Kiara says, leaning forward.
    Sarah scoffs. "I told you." She says, looking towards John B. "Told him what, exactly?" Kiara asked. "That you're a liar...?" She begins to list.
    "No, that you're a shit-talking bitch!" Sarah spat. "Oh, yeah?" Kiara steps up to Sarah who is seated on the couch. "Hey, you're the one that was a shitty friend to my cousin!" I suddenly chime in.
    "You two are such brats!" Sarah shouts. "You get somebody close to you-!" Kiara says. "I didn't lie about shit!" Sarah says.
    "Everybody shut up!" John B yells, causing everyone to grow quiet. "Kie, you are my best friend, right? And Sarah you're my..." He trails off. "Say it." Sarah says, quietly. "You're my girlfriend." John B admits.
     "She's your girlfriend now?" Kiara scoffs. "What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map. Cut her loose." Kiara repeat John B's words he said a few days ago.
     Sarah looks over to John B in disbelief. "You said you were using me?" She asked, sounding hurt. "No." John B lies. "Yeah." Kiara and I say. "You did."
       "Look, love just walked in, okay? I didn't expect it. It just kind of happened." John B shrugs. "Oh, vomit." Kiara rolls her eyes. "I'm not gonna deny it." John B admits.
     "Look, cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in. I'm out." Kiara states. "Kie, I'm not doing this. I can't." John B sighs. "You are gonna decide. I'm very interested, actually. Me or her?" She asked.
    "Both." John B spoke.
Kiara looks down at her feet then back to her friends.  "This is bullshit." She says, under her breath, before stomping off. Leaving the rest of us shook.
    I cross my arms over my chest. "Sarah why can't you just admit what you did?" I say to the girl. Sarah looks at me sadly.
     "I'm out, too." I say, leaving the rest of the Pogues behind. I storm off the porch. I quickly hop into my Jeep, starting the ignition.
     "Wait, wait, wait." JJ runs up to my window banging on the glass. "What?" I asked, annoyed, pulling the window down. JJ leans on the windows seal. His blonde hair blows in his face from the AC coming from the car.
      "Can you please just talked to Kiara?" He asked. "I did talk to her. When she called me last summer about it. Sarah drops anyone who gets close to her, okay. And I'm not just gonna let that slide. Especially, if my cousin is hurt. If Kiara decide to help y'all; then I'll help, too. And I'm sure Sarah is a nice girl, but it's not in my favor to forgive her." I explained.
     "I'll see you boys later." I sighed. "Yeah, sure. See ya, Be." JJ waves. He steps away from the Jeep, letting me pull off.'