TOXIC | A Rafe Cameron Love Story

Chapter 3: Full Kook

     Casey's first few weeks at the Kook academy went surprisingly well. It's amazing how easily a Pogue can pass for a Kook when a little makeup and a preppy school uniform is involved. Rafe and Sarah Cameron were the only ones who knew she came from the cut, and they kept her secret. To everyone else, she was just another transfer student. All of the guys thought she was hot, which instantly boosted her reputation, and when Rafe invited her to a start-of-school rager, she was in.

    Despite Casey's preconceptions, she didn't despise the Kook academy, and for a while, she was able to keep her foot in both worlds. School with the Kooks during the day and surfing with the Pogues in the evenings. However, as time passed, it became harder and harder to keep her worlds separate.

     "What do you mean you can't go?" JJ Maybank sat up on his surfboard, giving Casey a disapproving look as they bobbed on the waves.

     "I just can't ok," she said. "There's a party tonight and–"

     "A Kook party?"

     "What's up?" John B Rutledge paddled up to them, still panting after riding a wave halfway to shore. 

     "Case is bailing on our kegger," JJ frowned. "You know, the one everyone in the Cut has been waiting for since the summer."

     "Guys, listen," Casey protested. "You don't get it. If I start skipping out on major kook parties, I'll be a total outcast."

     "Oh no, god forbid you become an outcast," JJ said sarcastically, clutching a hand to his chest. "I wonder what that's like? Cus it's all sunshine and rainbows over here on the Cut, isn't it John B?"

     "JJ, chill," Casey rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. I'm forced to be with these people everyday. I'm just trying to make my life less miserable."

     "Do they know you're a Pogue?" JJ asked, his frustration building.

     Casey looked to John B for assistance, but he didn't say anything.

     "No seriously," JJ insisted. "Do they know? You can't be both, Casey. What happens when they find out your dad is a drunken dead beat without two dimes to rub together?"

     "Whoa..." John B, held out his arm, trying to let JJ know he had gone too far.

     "I don't know JJ," Casey spat back, feeling anger rising in her chest. "What do people usually tell you when they figure out where your black eyes really come from?"

     The group was silent, and JJ and Casey stared each other down. Casey should have regretted what she said, but she didn't. The flicker of defenselessness in JJ's eyes gave her a sickening satisfaction.

     "Guys come on," John B tried to mediate, but it was too late. Shots were fired.

     "Have fun at your kegger," Casey said, before paddling off towards the shore.

     That was the last time she spoke to the Pogues. Casey was full Kook.

     Keeping up the charade wasn't as easy as she had hoped. At first, Sarah Cameron would lend her some clothes to help her blend in outside of school, but eventually Sarah's generosity ran out and Casey could tell she was getting annoyed. As a last resort, she came to Barry, hoping to make some quick cash so she could afford new clothes. Naturally, he offered her the best option he had: become a dealer.

     At first, Casey was hesitant. After all the effort she had put into making friends at Kook Academy, the last thing she needed was to have them all think she's nothing but a scummy drug dealer. Not to mention one wrong move could get her expelled—or worse. Still, she had no other option. Dealing for Barry was the best way to make a lot of cash and make it fast.

     To her surprise, this actually made Casey more popular than ever, and she was invited to twice as many parties as before. Even Rafe Cameron, the Kook king himself, began helping her out.

On the day of the fall semester rager, Casey was in high spirits. As she walked through the halls, everyone greeted her cheerfully, and her phone buzzed constantly with messages from friends asking about her outfit for the night. For the first time in her life, Casey felt like she truly belonged.

     "Hey," Casey greeted Rafe Cameron as he swung open his locker. "I need a favor."

     "Oh god," he sighed with a playful grin, as he pulled a heavy math textbook from the top shelf. "What do you want this time?"

     "I need to go shopping before the party tonight, and I was hoping you would come with me and help me find something to wear," she said, scrunching her nose and crossing her fingers in front of him as she awaited his response.

     "Why can't Sarah come with you?" Rafe questioned, shutting the locker and scrambling the letters on the combination.

     "Because..." Casey lowered her voice and tugged the corner of a ziplock bag that was tucked discreetly in her front pocket. "I have a little stop to make on the way."

     Rafe rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a smile as he leaned against his locker. He would never admit it, but he liked the Pogue side of Casey. No Kook girl would ever be caught dead selling drugs, let alone carrying them around in her uniform at school. There was something about her that piqued his curiosity, and he couldn't get enough of it. Rafe tucked the corner of the bag back into her pocket and smirked. "Do I get a cut this time?"

     "Only if we double our sales tonight." Casey said, fixing his shirt collar and patting him on the cheek jokingly.

     "Meet me on the steps after school!" Rafe called after her.

     She threw him a thumbs up.