Golden Hearts | Rafe Cameron

30

June 29

30

Because of everything that happened earlier at that party, I've barely had time to think about Sarah. Our argument and all that, I almost forgot about it. But today when I woke up, all my thoughts came back to it.

Rafe and I were together all day yesterday. We watched lots of movies and talked to each other.
He did left quite early in the morning because he needed to be somewhere. But I'm glad he seems to be feeling better again.

I'm sitting in a sun lounger in the yard of my house, reading one of my books. The storm has passed, but it left a lot of stuff behind. It's messy, and the power was out this morning and part of the night, but it came back pretty quickly in the morning.

I hear the sound of someone walking and I turn around to see Sarah walking towards me. Do I really want to talk to her right now? If she's here to scold me, she doesn't need to stay. Then she's not welcome here.

"What are you doing here?" I ask when Sarah stops in front of me.

"I know you're probably mad at me for acting like that, but I heard what happened at the party, and I'm sorry I wasn't there," Sarah says. It's hard to be mad at someone like Sarah, and I don't think we've ever been at odds for as long as we have this time.

"It's okay. Everything's fine now," I say, setting aside the book I'm reading.

"By the way, I talked to Kiara. I felt stupid for getting so mad at you, and we've actually sorted things out now," Sarah says.

I look at her in surprise and then start to smile. "Really?"

"Yeah. I was actually thinking of going over to her now, but you're welcome to come along if you want," Sarah says.

"I think she's at John B's then. Might as well go there," I say.

"The Kook queens are heading to the Pogues. No one would believe it," Sarah laughs loudly as we walk towards the cut. It's about a fifteen-minute walk to John B's, but it's not a boring walk at all. We talk about everything under the sun, making time pass by quickly.

"I hope none of them get mad that we're coming over," Sarah says.

"They should be grateful to have two new girls in the group," I say.

"The group," Sarah laughs, making me laugh too as we walk into the chateau where we're met by the others, who look surprised to see us.

"We're here for Kiara," Sarah tells the guys. Kiara smiles when she sees us.

All three guys look at us wonderingly as if we're crazy. But there's something soft in John B's gaze as he looks at us.

"It's okay, you're welcome to join us," Kiara says, smiling as she stands up to hug me and then Sarah. They're truly friends again.

"First of all, since when are y'all friends again? And secondly, is this group soon going to consist only of Kooks?" JJ says from the couch where he's sitting, though he doesn't seem angry that we're here, which I'm grateful for.

"So what should we do now that we're all here?" Kiara asks, looking at the guys.

"How about truth or dare with beer?" JJ suggests, which makes Pope sigh loudly.

"Yeah, that's actually a good idea," John B says, looking at us girls. Kiara hesitates a bit before she responds.

"Sure," then she turns to us. "Is that okay with you?"

"Okay," Sarah says.

What's the worst that could happen? They're just Pogues; they won't force us to do a bunch of crazy things like Kooks usually do at Kook parties.

"Sure," I say, smiling.

We all sit down in a circle outside, and John B has brought out beer that's placed in the middle of the circle so that whoever doesn't want to answer has to drink. However, I'm not really interested in beer, and I don't think Sarah is either, so we'll just answer the questions and do as they say. They're probably not going to be too harsh.

"I'll start," JJ says, looking around at all of us before meeting Pope's gaze. "Pope, truth or dare?"

"Truth," he says, seeming completely uninterested.

"Do you have a crush on Kiara?" JJ asks, and Pope immediately becomes uncomfortable and doesn't seem to like the situation.

"Um..." he clears his throat. "Who said-"

"Okay, you don't have to answer, we get it," says John B. "Your turn, Pope."

"Okay... Uhm... John B, truth or dare?"

"Dare," says John B.

"Drink a whole beer in ten seconds," Pope says, holding out a can to John B.

"That's easy," he says confidently and opens the beer. He drinks it in big gulps, and in just ten seconds, the whole can is empty. Quite impressive.

"Okay, JJ, I want you to go next. Truth or dare," John B says.

"Dare, of course," JJ says while smiling proudly.

"Kiss the prettiest girl here," he says.

JJ's eyes immediately meet mine, and I feel a bit uncomfortable. I'm not going to kiss him. Yet JJ approaches me.

"I have a boyfriend, you know," I say, but JJ just smiles and leans down to touch his lips to mine.
I don't kiss back, and the kiss is short as I try to get out of it as quickly as possible. This feels wrong towards Rafe even though our relationship is fake.

"Why did you kiss her when she said she's in a relationship?" Kiara says angrily, and Sarah looks clearly mad at him too.

"Sorry," JJ says as he sits back down. "Adeline, truth or dare."

"Truth," I say without hesitation, not wanting that to happen again. It's a bit awkward between us now.

"Are you really in love with Rafe for real?" JJ asks.

"We're dating," I say a little surprised by JJ's question.

"Yes, but are you really in love with him for real?" JJ asks. The others seem clearly wondering why he's asking that question.

I hesitate a bit before answering, "Yes," feeling Sarah and Kiara's gaze on me because they're the only ones who know I'm not really dating him.

"Okay, maybe we should talk about something else instead," Sarah says, clearly noticing the awkward conversation. "So what do you Pogues usually do?" She says to change the subject, which I think we're all grateful for.

However, something makes JJ, John B, and even Pope quiet. They look up at something behind me, so I turn around to see Rafe walking towards us, clearly very angry. How could he know I was here?

I stand up immediately, and so does Sarah. "Both of you, into the car, now," Rafe says when he reaches us. He looks mad at both me and Sarah before giving the others disgusted looks. Sarah rolls her eyes when she hears Rafe.

"No, I'm not going to listen to you. We're staying, Addie," Sarah says, grabbing my arm, but I know it's best for me to go with Rafe before my dad finds out everything.

"I can't be bothered with you, Addie, come on," Rafe says to Sarah before he puts his arm around my waist and leads me to the car parked right next to the house.

"Goodbye, Addie," I hear Kiara call out behind me, but I don't turn around because I know Rafe doesn't like it.

We get into the car, and I notice the tense situation. Rafe is not happy about this.