Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

Safety Net

Rafe and I pulled up to a huge mansion that stood on top of a hill looking out onto the ocean.
I could feel the engine of the motorbike cool off as Rafe pulled the keys out of the ignition. I hopped off the bike pulling the helmet off and setting it carefully onto the seat. I slip my bag of my shoulder hanging it on the bike handles. Rafe pulls himself off as he shoves his keys into a pocket of his swim trunks.
The music from the party was vibrating against the ground as I watched tiny gravel from the streets bounce up and down from the noise.
"This is pretty inviting." I say sarcastically. "You don't like parties?" Rafe asked. He puts his hands on the small of my back, guiding me towards the front door.
"I do. But I don't usually stay long." I answered. "Whenever I would go with a friend back in South Carolina; we would usually stay for an average of two hours before we got bored." I explained.
"That's because you've never been to a Kook Party." Rafe smirks. The two of us finally make it to the front door. I raise my finger towards the doorbell but Rafe lightly slaps my hand away.
"You know we could just walk in." Rafe says. "Oh." I hum, pulling my lips into a thin line as Rafe opens the front door.
The muffled sound of music is suddenly too loud as we step inside the house.
Crowds of sweaty bodies fill the foyer. "Come on." Rafe nods head towards the crowd. "His large calloused hands take mine as he pulls me through the the crowd. He guide my body to stand in front of him as he rest his free hand on my waist; making sure no one bumps into me.
The feeling of Rafe rubbing his thumb against the back of my hand feels numb against my skin. I tilt my head up looking back at him. I stare at his face as he searches the crowd.
     He seems so comfortable with me. How he immediately finds ways to touch me without seeming too desperate for skin contact.
     I look up at Rafe as he continues to search over the dozens of heads. His eyes roam the room as I stare at his.
     I catch myself smiling at him as his eyes immediately light up once he spots a tall man across the room. "Yo, Rafe!" The man shouts, holding a beer in his hand. He maneuvers his way through the crowd finally making it to us.
"You made it." The man smiles. "Of course, Elijah. I wouldn't miss a party with easy access to alcohol." Rafe says.
"Who are you?" Elijah slurs his words as he notices me standing next to Rafe. His eyes travel up my body before stopping at my face. More importantly, my lips.
"I'm-." Before I could introduce myself; Rafe cuts me off. "This is Be." Rafe says.
    His grip on my hands tightens as he pulls my back closer to his front. Both of his hands slither around my waist as he rest his chin on my head.
           "It's Phoebe, actually." I correct.
"Oh cool like Phoebe Buffay from Friends?" Elijah slurs once again. "That's one way to remember it. I guess." I smile.
"Well...I'm about to get drunk." Elijah smiles before turning in his heel, disappearing into the crowd of drunk teens and young adults.
"He was charming." I smile up at Rafe. He rolls his eyes. "Give him a break. It's his 21st birthday. It's tradition to get wasted." He says, pulling through the crowd.
The house is moving with color as lights bounce off the walls. As we make it towards the back I see a group of people doing lines against the table.
Rafe immediately pulls away from my body, joining the strangers. He leans down, lining his right nostril with the coke before snorting all of it in one take.
    I suddenly begin to feel cold without the touch of warmth of Rafe's body heat.
     Goosebumps begin to rise against my skin as I become out of place. These people weren't just drunk; they were also high.
I nervously looked around the party. A girl and boy standing in the corner swallowing pills filled with God knows what.
Three guys standing near the kitchen as they stick a needle up their arms.
I turn my attention back to Rafe. He snorts another line before lifting his head up in ecstasy. His eyes are closed and his chest is moving up and down at a fast pace.
I watch him come down from his high. He slowly opens his eyes before meeting mine.
My face heats up as I instantly grow upset. I pull my eyes away from him walking towards the backyard.
The pool is filled with drunk couples making out as their bodies bob up and down in the water. The moonlight from the moon reflects off lights making seem incredibly bright.
"Be!" I hear Rafe calls out. I can feel his hands begin to caress my arm. I pull away. "Don't touch me!" I snap, crossing my arms over my chest.
"I don't understand?" Rafe begins. "Why are you mad?" He asked; stepping in front of me. I look down at my feet as I try to avoid eye contact.
"Be." Rafe touches my face, trying to turn my attention to him. "Don't." I say. "Why are you ignoring me?" He asked.
"Hmm let's see..." I start. "Maybe because you failed to mention that this party was filled with a bunch of drugged up assholes like we're in some episode of Euphoria!" I shout.
"Relax, Be. It's just a party." Rafe says, putting his hands up in surrender. "It's not just some party Rafe. You lied to me. I don't want to be here." I say, turning away.
     "Be, come on." Rafe whines. "Relax and just have a beer. Trust me you'll feel a lot better." He says. "I don't want a fucking beer. And I don't want to fucking be here any longer!" I shout.
     I suddenly become over stimulated with the bodies rubbing against mine and the loud music vibrating off the walls as I struggle to get through the crowds.
      "Why are you being such an buzzkill." Rafe catches up with. Me hands two beers in his hands. He shoves one of the bottle in my face.
    "Come on. Just have a drink." He say. "No, Rafe. Take me home." He demand.
     I finally make it out front walking back to the bike. I take my bag off the bike handles. I can feel my eyes begin to burn with tears. I feel overwhelmed and upset that with myself. I should have just stayed with my friends.
     "Be!" Rafe shouts joining at his bike. He chugs down the bottle of beer before opening the second bottle and chugging that one as well.
     I wipe my cheek with my hand as I begin to cry. "Oh my, God." Rafe sighs dramatically. "Stop crying." He says.
     "Fuck you! Don't tell me to stop crying." I shout. "You lied to me, Rafe. You brought me here." I explain. "Okay, whatever!" He shouts over me. "Get over it. There's no need to keeping acting up. Just get on the bike." He says.
      "No forget it. You're drunk and you're high. I'm not going anywhere with you!" I back away from him, but Rafe suddenly takes my arm in a tight grip pulling me back to his bike. "Let go off me!" I shout as I struggle. My bag falls off my shoulder as I try to fling my arm out of his hand.
     "I'm barely drunk, Be. You're just being dramatic." He says. I immediately start kicking and screaming. "I can't do this. I won't do this!" I cry. "My parents died from a drunk driver! The last thing I want to do is get on a motorbike with some loser drunk!" I snap.
      "What the fuck did you just call me you stupi-." Rafe stops himself. "Stupid, what?" I question the Kook.
    "Stupid Ass Bitch!" Rafe yells. "Fuck you!" I pull myself out of his grip. Rafe stumble back a little before I lay one big slap across his cheek. Rafe begins to tower over me. He grabs my roughly by the shoulders, shaking my body. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Huh? I take you to a party and you decide to bitch out over something I can't control!" He shouts in my face.
      "Rafe, stop!" I sob, closing my eyes as hot tears run down my cheek. "Forget you!" He yells before throwing my down on the hard pavement.
     My hands scrap against the concrete. A whimper leave my mouth as I begin to feel my palms bleed.
     "Fuck you." I shout again. "You're just like the rest of them. And ungrateful waste of space." Rafe spat looking down at me as he towards my body. The street light illuminating his silhouette.
      "You know what? Fine. I'm going back inside. Have fun getting back home, Bitch." He spits before stumbling back inside the house.
      A choke sob leaves my throat as I cover my cries. How could I have been so stupid. Why the hell did I go to this party with him.
     I crawl over to my bag, picking it up off the ground; pulling out my phone. 1:32 am.
"How the hell am I supposed to get home." I whisper to myself as look down at the empty dark street suddenly becoming cold from the night air.
I open my contacts carefully scrolling through the names.
Pope, John B, JJ. My mind shift gears as my thumb hovers over the three names. My fingers hits JJ's name.
The phone rings three times before I hear his voice. "What's up, Be." JJ shouts into the phone.
"JJ." I sob into the phone. "What's wrong, Phoebe?" JJ asked, sounding concerned. "JJ I need you to pick me up." I tell the Pogue as I begin to walk away from the house.
"What are you talking about? Shouldn't you be home by now. It's like 1:40 in the morning." JJ says. "JJ please. I'll explain everything when you get here." I cry.
"Uh...okay. Where are you?" JJ demands. "Um...I think I'm in Kill Devil's Hill." I say. "Phoebe what the hell. That's like forty-five minutes away!" JJ scolds. "JJ just come an get me." I cry harder.
"Okay, okay." JJ sighs. "Let me wake John B up. I gotta find the keys to the Twinkie." JJ says. "No!" I shout.
     "Don't tell anyone. I just need you. Know one else." I said. "Okay, okay. I'm on my way." JJ sighs. "Thanks J." I say before handing up the phone.
I sit back down on the sidewalk pulling my legs up to my knees. My hands were now covered with dirt and blood as I tried to wipe the sticky substance off with my dress.
The music from the house gets louder as time passes. Even after 2:00 hits the party doesn't seem like it's gonna end anytime soon.
The sound of an old engine catches my attention. The Twinkie finally pulls up under the street light. I quickly jump up from my spot on the ground grabbing my back and walking over to the window on the passengers side.
"Thanks for coming." I smile sadly at the teen before opening the door and hopping in. JJ silently watches me as I get comfortable in my seat pull the seatbelt across my chest.
"You good?" He hums. I nod, signaling for him to drive away. JJ pulls out the neighborhood before turning the van onto the highway which will lead us back to Kildare County.
The ride is quiet as I try my best to ignore JJ's side eye. I look out the window pretending to be interested in the marsh.
"So you gonna tell me what happened?" JJ says, breaking the silence. "It's complicated." I answered, looking at the Pogue. "Well, we got a forty-five minute drive back to the Château. You better start talking." He demands.
I look down at my hands. The cuts are still very swollen. "Does it have to do with the reason why your hands are bleeding." JJ gestures over to my hands.
"Um...kinda." I sigh. "I lied to you guys earlier. I didn't have a shift at The Wreck." I start. "So where did you go?" JJ asked. I close my eyes; taking a breath before opening them back up. "I went to a party. With Rafe." I finished.
"Yo, what!" JJ snaps immediately. "I don't understand. I thought you weren't hanging with that jerk anymore?" JJ says.
"I wasn't. But then he came over a few nights ago and slept over-." JJ cuts me off. "Hold on. Rewind." He shouts. "Rafe Cameron slept over? At your place?" I nod. "Does Kiara know about this?" He asked.
I shake my head. "No, and you can't tell her. You can't tell anyone. The last thing I need is for Kiara to be pissed off at me too. And if she kills Sarah on that boat tonight she will definitely kill my ass, too." I explain.
"So why didn't Rafe take you back home?" JJ asked. "We got into a fight. Turns out that party was full of drug addicts to high to differentiate the difference between vodka and water." I say.
"I got upset and immediately wanted to leave. Rafe said I was over reacting. One thing led to another..." I trail off.
"So he pushed you." JJ states. I nod. "Yeah. But I'm his defense I did slap him." I say. JJ shakes his head. "Phoebe, no! That doesn't make it okay for him to hit you. If you slapped me right now that doesn't give me free will to punch you in the face." He says, scolding me.
"You promise you won't tell anyone?" I asked. JJ nod. "Yeah, sure. Of course. Think of me as your Safety Net." He smiles at me looking away from the road for a second to meet my eyes.
We finally pass the Kildare County sign. The town looks almost perfect t at this time of night. No tourist roaming the streets. No fights between Kooks and Pogues. Just a sleepy town.