Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After carmen unsurprisingly turned down her invitation, kiara drags pope and jj to the obx summer movie night. "aren't you guys glad i made you come?"
"ecstatic." pope answers sarcastically, trailing behind with jj as they lug beach chairs across the lawn.
"my couch was pretty comfy, i'll be honest." jj shrugs his chair from his back, setting it up on the in the middle between pope and his girlfriends.
kiara heads over to the concession stand, pulling three dollars from her back pocket. "hey, can i get two pepsis please?"
rafe cameron spots her from the side, approaching the younger girl as the cashier hands her two soda cans. "hey, kie. what's up?" he asks again when this initial greeting is ignored, "how are you?"
"i'm fine."
"good, good." rafe nods, "um...tell your sister that we know what she did."
kie raises an eyebrow, "sorry, what?"
"she'll know."
kiara rolls her eyes, grabbing the sodas and walking off without another word.
"bye!" rafe calls after her.
the brunette calls back over her shoulder, "douche!"
she rejoins jj and pope, handing each one of the pepsis. "just saw rafe, and he said, and i quote, 'tell your sister that we know what she did.' what is that?"
popes eyes widen as he turns to jj, who hisses, "motherfucker."
unfortunately for them, kie doesn't miss the way the two boys clearly know something she does not. "founding principle, you guys, no secrets amongst pogues. what is rafe talking about?"
jj lowers his voice, leaning in closely. "don't worry about it. carmen's a good fighter."
"oh that's reassuring, jj, thank you." kiara widens her eyes, "what did she do?"
carmen is working the lunch shift at her parents restaurant the next morning when kiara comes storming in, leaving her friends waiting out front as she grabs her sisters wrist and harshly drags her out back.
"jesus christ, kiara!" carmen yanks away. "what is going on?"
"i should be asking you the same thing!" kiara hisses, "what the hell did you do to blake?"
carmen's eyes widen fearfully. "why, did he say something?"
"rafe cameron came up to me at the summer movie series last night." she informs quickly, "you need to tell me what's going on right now."
"i don't need to tell you shit." carmen retorts defensively, crossing both arms in front of her middle.
"god, i knew this would happen." the elder girl sighs, running a hand through her hair. "you shouldn't have gotten involved with them, carmen. you need to tell your 'friends' that you can't be friends with them anymore. they're dangerous."
"it's not that easy,—"
"what do you mean, it's not easy?" kiara leans against the wall, exasperated. "carm you're getting wrapped up with the wrong people and sooner or later you are gonna—"
"i'm gonna what?" carmen narrows her eyes, "you've got a lot of nerve, kiara, acting like you actually give a fuck all of a sudden. you don't know shit about me, or about me and blake, so back the hell—"
"carmen?" mike carreras voice carries into the kitchen, "there's someone here to see you."
confused, the two sisters reenter the restaurant to see officer shoupe waiting at the front counter.
carmen pales. "good afternoon, officer."
"i have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property." he responds, approaching the girl.
"wait, what?" mr. carreras eyes widen as he steps forward.
shoupe continues toward carmen, "keep your hands on the counter where i can see 'em."
"wait, wait." anna carrera rounds the corner, "shoupe, what'd she do?"
the officer simply pulls carmen's hands behind her back, "take a look at the warrant."
"i'm sorry, you're arresting her?" kiara is appalled, watching as the officer begins leading her sister away. "be careful!"
"you're just gonna arrest my daughter?" mr. carrera follows behind.
"you have the right to remain silent." shoupe begins tightening handcuffs onto carmens thin wrists, "anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. you have the right to an attorney—"
"how much did they pay you, man?" jj shouts, springing from their table to join the carreras.
carmen can barely hear over the sound of her heartbeat as officer shoupe walks her out of the restaurant, ignoring shouts of protest from her family and sisters friends.
just as he is about to lead the girl into the back of his squad car, jj shouts over the pounding in carmen's ears, "it wasn't her! it was me."
the blonde slowly steps forward. "she tried to talk me out of it, but i was mad because they'd been treating her like crap for years. i was so sick of those assholes from figure eight that i lost my shit." he pauses, facing carmen. "i can't let you take the blame for something i did."
jj turns to shoupe, "she's a good kid. you know where i'm from."
the officer nods, "yeah." he looks to carmen, "that the whole truth?"
looking back, carmen isn't exactly proud of this particular moment. but at the time, she was deathly afraid of blake and would have done anything to get him off her back. "yep, that adds up."
shoupe removes his handcuffs from the young girl before grabbing jj's arm and leading him into the squad car.
"shit!" kiara curses, angrily facing carmen as their parents retreat back inside. "did you do it? carmen, did you do it?"
carmen doesn't respond, brushing past her sister numbly and making her way home on foot.
