Faded Heart

XIV. Midsummers

Today was Midsummers, which meant that my mom was running around all morning to make sure that everything was perfect. She was too focused on the celebration to even care that I hadn't been home for over twenty four hours. She was more worried about all the small details which I thought was the most pointless thing ever. Also, It was kind of annoying she could just so easily pretend like she didn't hire two goons to wreak havoc around the island and that there was half an island without power while we didn't have to worry about anything.

    Although my mom picked out my dress, this year she actually didn't pick out something that I hated. She actually did good this time. The dress was a dusty blue strappy midi dress with small white floral embellishments throughout. I liked how the lightness of the dress contrasted my dark hair and tan skin. So, if I was going to have to spend the entire day at the country club, I might as well be in something I didn't hate.

    The entire time I was getting ready all morning, I still couldn't help but worry about everything that was going on around here. Right now my closest friend was at the police station and who knows what was happening to him. Every scenario just crept through my mind. I was worried about his dad coming to get him at the station. I knew they didn't have a good relationship to begin, I couldn't imagine what he would do once he found out JJ got arrested. I didn't want him getting hurt, but right now, there wasn't anything that I could do about it. That killed me more than anything.

    Plus, added on to that I had to pretend that everything was okay with my parents. I had all this information about them and all these questions, but I knew they were both too busy preparing for Midsummers to even indulge talking to me for a minute. There was never going to be a good time to confront them about everything, but right now was a horrible time. I just needed to make it through today before anything could happen.

    Like usual, my family and I were one of the first families to arrive at the country club. My mom had to have her hand in setting everything up and making sure it was perfect. This meant that my dad, sister, and I usually sat around hanging out and waiting for more people to show up so we could sneak away from my mother's watchful eye.

    Luckily, my eyes landed on a familiar face, Pope and his dad were preparing to catar the celebration. Both of them guys were working hard like usual. Today, JJ was supposed to be with them. But, by the sight of it, the blonde boy was nowhere to be found.

I knew that with the help of my dad, I could easily sneak off to talk to him. "Hey Dad, isn't that Heyward?" I asked, pointing towards the two of them on the other side of the country club. I knew my dad was old friends with Pope's dad, so this was the perfect chance to talk to Pogue boy and find out what he knew and if he'd seen JJ today.

    "Yeah and his boy. Do you want to come say hi with me?" My dad offered, but not even waiting for me to answer. Instead, he just stood up and headed off. I eagerly followed behind him. "Hey, my friend." He said, going to shake Heyward's hand.

"My man." Heyward greeted my father with a giant smile.

"Hi, Pope." I whispered, sneaking to stand next to him. Both of us watched the interaction between our fathers. Today Pope sported  the signiture brown apron that he and his father wore when they catered Kook celebrations. Midsummers would never be the same without that families famous Oysters.

"Emerson, how are you doing?" Pope questioned as he moved his dark eyes between me and our parents. He seemed very nervous. Yesterday was quite a day for the both of us. He's the one who almost got arrested and could've lost his scholarship. And today he was right back in Kookland with the same people who tried to have him arrested. It was expected of him to be this nervous.