G-GAME: The Cross of Santo Domingo

Chapter 1

Three weeks. 

It had been three weeks since John B and Sarah went missing and were presumed dead. 

Those three weeks were some of the slowest I have ever seen. Anyone has ever seen. And now, we had one day left of what should have been, a glorious summer before school began. 

Within those three weeks, the Pogues and I came to terms with John B and Sarah's deaths. We made a memorial for John B at the Château. Pope took an axe to the oak tree in the yard and carved out a heart shape. JJ took a wood burner to the tree and burned "John B Routledge 2003-2020 P4L" inside the heart. We all put our favorite belongings and memories of John B inside of a box that we buried at the foot of the tree. We were saying goodbye. 

"To John B." JJ muttered, as he raised his flask in honor of John B, while we stood at the memorial.

"And to Sarah." Kie added, as she looked over at me with sad eyes. 

We all raised our drinks in a toast and took a sip in their honor. 

It was within those three weeks that I finally gave in to drinking. I know it's something that JJ has been nagging at me to give in to at some point, but I never thought it would be so soon. The pain of losing John B and Sarah had become too much for me, so I decided that I needed something to numb the pain. Drinking helped with that, at times. I want to be clear, though. I was not becoming an alcoholic, but I also wasn't keeping the signal clear anymore.  

Also, within those three weeks, was Peterkin's funeral. My family went to pay our respects. However, I found it extremely odd that the murderer of the sheriff and his family were also at the funeral. And Rafe knows that I found it odd, based on the looks I shot at him during the ceremony. 

Along with what I find being odd, is the fact that my father is Ward Cameron's lawyer in the case following the murder of Big John. Apparently, the night that John B and Sarah went missing at sea, the SBI agents got Ward to talk to them on the intercom as a means to try to bring them back to shore. While on the intercom, John B admitted to everyone that Ward murdered Big John. Since then, Shoupe has done further questioning on Ward, and of course, my father is defending him. This makes it quite hard to go home at night, as it kills me knowing that I now have a liar in my house too. 

My mother, on the other hand, insisted that I last-minute join the debutante season. This was the last thing I wanted to be doing with my summer, as it felt like the Kook-iest thing ever, and better yet, Sarah wasn't there to keep me sane. 

It wasn't totally awful though. I met some interesting people, so that kept me entertained. 

"Oh, my Gosh. Riley, is that what you're wearing to the deb ball?" Cece Drummond asked, excitedly as we stood in the dress store downtown. Cece was one of the girls I met during the season. She's from Figure Eight, like me, and her parents are loaded. They're movie directors and have been out west all summer. 

"You would look so killer in that dress, Riley." Julie Hunter added, with a smile. Julie is another girl I met at debs. She's a Kook, just like Cece, but she's definitely not as Kook-ie as the others. She's super down to earth and always spikes the drinks during deb rehearsals. I'm surprised I never knew these girls before, but if one good thing has come from these past three weeks, it would probably be having gotten to know these girls. 

"OMG, you're so right, Julie!" Cece exclaimed. "Holden is going to be drooling when he sees you." 

Holden Thomas, my date to the deb ball. It's not like I asked to be set up with him, but seeing how close his mom and my mom are, it was a match waiting to happen. My mom has always talked about how much she loves the Thomas family. She's practically been begging for Holden and I to get together since the first grade. But, to be honest, I don't think I have really talked to Holden since sixth grade. And now, here we are, as deb partners.