One Stupid Thing

1:1:2

After a long day of manual labor, cleaning up the mess that Hurricane Agatha left behind, Sarah and I go inside to get some refreshments. Unfortunately, the backup generators haven't kicked on yet, and Tannyhill is still without power.

As I am stirring a pitcher of lemonade, Sarah's phone rings. She picks it up quickly.

"Sorry, I have to take this," she says and hastily walks into another room but, I am curious. What could she need to be so secretive about? So, I follow her down the hallway and eavesdrop. Why not?

"Hey, Top. What's up? How is your family doing after the hurricane?" Sarah asks.

Of course it's Topper.

"Oh, that's good. Why'd you call?" She pauses as Topper responds. "At the Boneyard? Sure, I'm in. Pick me up at 8? Sounds good. See you later."

Sarah hangs up the phone and walks through the doorway. She sees me standing there and jumps. Busted.

"Jees, El. You scared me."

"What's this I hear about a party at the Boneyard?" I inquire.

"Of course you were eavesdropping. Typical. Well, don't even think about coming. The Boneyard is dangerous." Sarah walks past me and back into the kitchen.

I follow after her and reply, "But you're going, so it can't be that dangerous. I'm not even a year younger than you, Sarah. I'm old enough to take care of myself."

Sarah begins pouring the lemonade into glasses as she responds. "I said no, El. End of discussion."

"Fine, whatever. You win." I sigh dramatically and sulk up to my room.

But Sarah hasn't won. I refuse to let her treat me like a child. I have to go to that party and what Sarah doesn't know won't kill her.

Sarah is all dolled up when Topper picks her up in his fancy Jeep a few hours later. It's go time. I get ready quickly; put on some makeup and throw on a nice outfit. It will be my first time at the Boneyard. I have to make a good impression.

As soon as I am ready to leave, I slip out the front door, hop on my skateboard and head towards the Boneyard.

It is reasonable of Sarah to think that the Boneyard is dangerous. It is located on the poor side of the island, or the Cut, and some shady things happen over there, but I'm not concerned. There will be so many people there that nothing can possibly happen. Right?

Once I arrive, I am astonished at the sight. The crowd of people is way larger than I had expected it to be. Music blares and people dance. The sharp tang of alcohol is stuck in the air, and I am sure that I can smell weed, too.

I lean my board on a dead tree nearby and make my way through the sand into the heart of the party. There are people from all over the island here. Pogues, Kooks, and tourists having fun together. It is as if the labels that separate us disappeared. I hate those labels.

A little way from me, beside a bonfire, stands a tall boy with sandy blonde hair. My heart skips a beat. It's JJ Maybank. I have had a crush on him for what feels like forever. Yeah, he's a Pogue, and he's involved in quite a lot of trouble, but that doesn't matter to me. I don't know much about him yet, but I do know that he has quite a reputation around here.

Standing to JJ's left is John B Routledge. His father disappeared 9 months ago at sea. Pretty much everyone on the island has heard the story. Some think he drowned, others think he just fled to some remote island, but I believe that not everything is what it seems. John B works on our boat, the My Druthers, so he isn't exactly a stranger.

Sitting on the sand across from them is Kiara Carrera and Pope Heyward. Pope is so smart that it's common knowledge, but he's also a bit of an oddball. His father owns and runs a seafood store and it pretty much supplies the whole island.