When a shy girl from Figure Eight suddenly gets whisked into a dangerous treasure hunt involving four pogues known for their knack for trouble, she finds herself navigating not only the troubled waters of adventure but also the complexities of frien...
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The stillness of the morning mirrored the quiet inside Sydney Lyons. The sun blazed high in the sky, casting a golden hue over the backyard, but she barely noticed it. Lying next to the pool, a book half-open on her lap, her thoughts wandered far from the words on the page.
Everything that had happened yesterday with the Pogues left her feeling... unmoored. Sydney had always been certain she wasn't built for their chaotic lives—always together, always stirring up trouble like it was second nature. Yet, after that small peek into their world, she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she had been missing out. They had something she didn't—friendship, adventure, people who genuinely cared about each other. Her days, on the other hand, had always been spent cooped up in this empty, white-bricked manor, surrounded by nothing but silence.
It wasn't that she disliked being alone. She was used to it. Ever since her mom passed, and her dad's business trips became more frequent, solitude had become her closest companion. She was the girl who spent weekends buried in novels and movies instead of at parties, who knew more about astronomy and classic literature than the latest gossip from Figure Eight.
But lately, being alone didn't feel the same. The peacefulness she once cherished now felt... hollow. The silence that used to comfort her was starting to feel like a weight on her chest. Maybe it was the endless summer days blending together, or maybe it was hearing the laughter and voices of her neighbors through the fence—lives she watched but was never a part of. Or maybe, she thought, it was hanging out with the Pogues yesterday. Even if they had almost gotten themselves killed, their reckless energy had sparked something inside her, a kind of restlessness she couldn't ignore.
Sydney shifted in her chair, adjusting her red bikini, though the shimmering pool beside her barely registered in her mind. The water, clear and still, reflected the life she had lived so far—calm, untouched by the chaos outside, but ultimately... unmoving.
She sighed and set the book down without marking the page. She'd been re-reading the same sentence for the past ten minutes anyway. Something about this summer was different. She couldn't shake the nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, it was time for something to change. She'd promised herself to make this summer count, and she had—in some strange, twisted way. After all, in how many of her previous summers could she say she'd been shot at, or nearly caught by the cops for doing something illegal, or had JJ Maybank walk her home while the two actually enjoyed each others company?
She didn't have to do anything new now, right?
But she couldn't lie to herself. She didn't know how to be anything but alone, but after yesterday, after feeling that spark of life and danger, her old comfort no longer fit. For the first time in forever, she had felt alive.
A soft breeze rolled through the yard, and Sydney closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the warmth on her skin. She had always been the observer, the quiet one. Watching from the sidelines while others lived their lives had been enough before.
