𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 // 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌 \\

Chapter Sixteen

*I mentioned earlier that Valerie had brown hair, so just pretend that the hairstyle in the picture is brown.*

It was finally Midsummers. An event filled with Kooks. Valerie had taken some time to buy herself a dress. It was a long, red, silky, off-the-shoulder dress. Valerie paired the dress with plain black heels. "Mom, I'm driving there with Kiara." Valerie grabbed her keys off the table by the door. "Alright, sweetie. Don't be late!" Tracy shouted to her daughter. Valerie rolled her eyes jokingly as she closed the door behind her and started the drive to Kiara's house. Kiara didn't live far. Only about a two minute drive.

"Kie?" Valerie shouted once she entered her friend's house. "No need to shout, Valerie." Mike commented with a chuckle as he fixed his watch on his wrist. "Sorry, Mr. C." Valerie replied. "Kiara's upstairs. She should be down soon." Mike said. Valerie nodded. "Hey, Val." Kiara entered the room after a few minutes. "Hey, Kie. You look good." Valerie said as she looked at the girl's outfit. "No, I look like a bourgeoisie pig." Kiara huffed. "Would you stop saying that? Hi, dear, you look gorgeous." Anna, Kiara's mom, walked downstairs, giving Valerie a hug. "And we're leaving. Bye!" Kiara shouted quickly grabbing Valerie's hand. "Have you seen yourself? God, JJ would die if he saw you." Kiara laughed. "Kie! Let's just get to Midsummers. I already want to leave and I haven't even gotten there yet." Valerie groaned earning a chuckle from Kiara.

"Alright, here we are." Valerie stopped her car. "Driving slow was the right idea." Kiara commented as she exited the car. Valerie got out of the drivers seat and locked the doors. "I know." Valerie smiled. The two walked hand-in-hand inside. "Excuse me, sir. Do we have to shuck these ourselves?" Kiara asked in an English accent, walking up to Pope. ""Cause it might mess up my costume." Kiara continued when Pope turned to the two girls. Pope chuckled. "We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Pope dd the pogue handshake with both girls. Kiara stood between the two as they looked at all the Kooks. "That accent was bad." Valerie commented.

"Yeah it was. I was gonna let it go." Kiara laughed. "You ever seen this many Kooks in one place?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah. Last year." Pope answered. "We're in the lions den." Kiara commented. "Exactly." Pope agreed. "Hey, have you heard from JJ? Val?" Pope asked. "No... He'll be alright. He's got survival instincts of a cockroach." Valerie replied. "It's all my fault."

"You didn't do this, Pope. Topper almost killed you. Remember?" Kiara looked at the boy with a sympathetic smile. Everyone started clapping when the Cameron family walked out. "Here come Lord Capital and the Exploiters." Kiara said.

"She's gonna poke someone's eye out with that." Valerie commented, looking at Rose Cameron who was wearing a spiky headband. "Definitely." Pope agreed. "I'm gonna go over to the parents." Valerie said as she pointed somewhere in the crowd. "Who seem to be dancing..." Valerie rolled her eyes hearing laughter from her two friends. "Mom!" Valerie tapped her mother's shoulder. "Valerie! How is it so far?" Tracy gestured her hands to the party. "It's okay. I've been with Kie and Pope most of it." She responded. "Maybe you need to hangout with other people. Like Sarah Cameron." James came behind Tracy. "No, Kiara would kill me." Valerie answered her father. "You look beautiful, sweetie." Tracy put her hands on her daughter's arms. "Thanks, mom." Valerie looked around to see the one person she least expected to be here. "I, uh, gotta go." Valerie smiled at her parents before pulling away from them.

"...For once in your life, trust someone else. John B and I got it all sorted out." Valerie walked up beside the two boys. JJ was holding Pope's face. "Did I interrupt something or..?"

"No, but we're gonna be filthy rich man. We're back in the G-game, baby." JJ whispered. "G-game? I thought we lost the gold?" Pope whispered. "Yeah, well, we're in overtime now." JJ responded. JJ turned to Valerie. "I'll leave you two alone." Pope said. "Uh, Hey, Val." JJ looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Are you okay, JJ?" Valerie laughed. "Y-Yeah. You look gorgeous. Your hair looks, um, nice." JJ scratched the back of his head. "Thank you, JJ. I assume you're here for a reason so I won't keep you long." Valerie smiled as she leaned her head up and kissed his cheek. She looked at him for a few more seconds before turning around and walking up the stairs to find Kiara.

"Kie." Valerie leaned on the railing next to her friend. "Val." Kiara responded in the same tone. "JJ and John B have something planned. JJ's here." Valerie whispered. "Really, where?" Kiara asked, looking in the crowd. "I don't know." Valerie shrugged. The two girls made small talk for a while. Meanwhile, JJ had ran into some trouble with Rafe, Kelce, and some other kooks. The five had trapped him in the locker room. Kelce grabbed JJ and held him still. "Your face looks really bad. Starting to look like your dad a lot more." Rafe leaned into him. JJ spit in his face causing him to take a step back. "Oh, shit. Alright. It was-" Rafe started to say, but was cut off by a guard.

"Gentlemen!" Kelce let go of JJ as they turned to the guard. "Is there a problem here?"

"Oh! Pardon me, officer. No, there's no issue. I just--" JJ paused for a moment looking at the group of boys. "Actually, yes. No, there is an issue. Uh, we got a criminal trespass in progress here. Beep! Call it in, right? Blatant disrespect for private property." JJ said. "Yeah." Rafe nodded. "I'm in violation of all kinds of shit, sir, but these young gentlemen..." JJ fixed Kelce's bowtie causing him to snap. "Don't touch my shit." Kelce whispered. "...uh, caught me, sir, and they're about to take me away. And that's what you should do, escort me out of here. You got me." JJ held up his wrists. "Come on." The guard grabbed JJ's wrists and pulled him towards the door. "Alright, fix that tie, son. You're looking spiffy, too. You Powerpuff Girls have fun." JJ pointed at them as they turned around.

"Tell Valerie she looks pretty hot for a pogue!" Rafe shouted. JJ snapped as he got out of the guard's grip and charged at Rafe. Kelce got in front of Rafe and grabbed JJ. "Hey, come on. Stop that!" The guard grabbed JJ again, pulling him away. "You think I'm afraid of you? Don't talk like that." JJ shouted. "Safe travels back to the cut." Rafe shouted as JJ was escorted out of the room. "I can walk myself!" JJ grunted as the guard walked him outside where everyone was. "I got legs. Can you see that, brother?" JJ shouted. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to JJ and the guard. Valerie's parents stood behind her while Kiara moved to her parents who were closer to JJ and the guard.

"Look, I really appreciate what you did back there, just let me walk by myself." JJ was being shoved by the guard. "Oh, Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of you. I'm actually gonna down that." JJ took the man's drink and finished it off, handing the empty cup back to him. "What the hell's the matter with him?" The man asked. "Sorry, sir." The guard apologized.

"Aah, whoo!" JJ trudged down the stairs. "I really appreciate the discretion, Daryl, you know?" JJ spoke. "It's okay, everybody! Do not panic. Leave it to the men and women in uniform." JJ shouted gaining everyone's attention. JJ started clapping loudly. "Let's hear it for them. Rose! You look like lady liberty. It's good to see you again." JJ shouted and pointed at Rose. Valerie had a smile on her face, but the smile faded when she noticed the guard's tight grip on him. "Let go of him!" Valerie shouted. "Hey, hey, hey." James walked behind his daughter. Everyone turned their attention to Valerie. "You can't just boot him! I invited him here!" Valerie shouted. "Really?" Tracy whispered, putting on fake smiles. "Valerie, stop it!" Tracy whispered harshly. "I'm a member of this club." Valerie continued.

The guard was distracted for long enough. JJ pushed the guard off of him into other people. "Sorry about that. Mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Val." JJ pointed at the girl. "Pope, Kie, you aswell, alright?" JJ told them as he walked backwards. "Rixon's Cove. Let's roll."

"Alright, Val, come on! Workers of the world unite!" JJ shouted. Kiara started to run away from her parents to JJ and John B. "You can't hang around these kids, anymore." James whispered. "I'm sorry!" Valerie shouted as she watched Pope run away from the food station. That just left her. Pope and Kiara ran to John B. Valerie ran down the stairs and saw the opening where her pogue friends waited for her. "Come on, Val!" JJ shouted. Valerie held up the ends of her dress as she was a few feet away from her friends. JJ opened his arms for the girl. Valerie smiled as she jumped into his arm's. He spun her around before putting her on the ground and taking hold of her hand. "Let's go! P4L, baby!" JJ shouted. How Valerie managed to run in her heels, she didn't know. Valerie began to fall behind the pogues, but not so far. "Hey, you good?" JJ asked her.

"I'm, uh, fine." She replied. JJ noticed her heels. He knelt down, picking her up bridal style and walking the rest of the way with Valerie, the girl he deeply loved, in his arms.