In Deep Water || JJ Maybank

fourteen

I stared in the mirror, analyzing myself. Tonight, I was supposed to go to a kook pool party with Maddie. I'd hung out with kooks before, but this would be my first kook party. I'd heard stories about them around town and how crazy they can get. There was usually a whole lot of booze, a whole lot of drugs, and a whole lot of bad decisions.

Since it was a pool party, I picked out my favorite orange bathing suit. I threw on a pair of shorts over it with an unbuttoned hawaiian shirt. As I analyzed my reflection in the mirror, I picked apart everything that didn't look perfect. Now that everyone saw me as the new "kook princess," I needed to look the part. Everyone would be watching, waiting for me to slip up, and I couldn't give them the satisfaction.

I wasn't used to being the center of attention like this. Back home, Maddie and I were friends with the popular crowd, but she was the one who really stole the show. Everyone knew us as Maddie and her sister, Sierra. Now, everyone wanted to know everything they could about Sierra Cameron. All the girls wanted to be me, and all the guys wanted to sleep with me.

It was a level of pressure I wasn't familiar with, and I didn't like it. If I had JJ by my side, I wouldn't have been so concerned. Having a boyfriend is usually enough to keep most guys away. Since I had to convince everyone I cut the pogues off, they thought I was single.

"You look really good, you know," Wheezie said.

I jumped, turning around to see her standing in the doorway. She walked into the room, sitting down on the bed.

"I know tonight is a lot of pressure for you, but you shouldn't let the stress convince you that you're anything less than perfect the way you are," she said.

"It's just so hard. I know I'm going into this place where everyone is going to expect me to be just like someone I never even met. I'm not used to this kind of attention," I said, turning back to the mirror.

"No one is expecting you to be like Sarah," she said, "At least they shouldn't be."

"They are, Wheezie. I heard people talking about the new 'kook princess.' Everyone is so weirded out by how much I look like her that they just expect me to be a clone of her," I said, fiddling with my hair.

"People are going to love you for who you are," she said, "I know I do. Do you remember how sus I was about you the first day you moved in? It's barely been a week and I already can't picture what life was like without you in it."

"Thank you, Wheezie. You know, I can't picture what my life was like before you either," I said, smiling, "Now be honest, what do you think of this outfit? It doesn't feel like a kook princess outfit, but it definitely is my style."

"I think you should wear it. You look good, and it'll show everyone that you aren't what they expect from the start. You'll stand out, but in a good way," she said.

"Okay, good," I said, pulling my phone out, "Come take a picture with me before I leave."

She walked up next to me, and we took a few pictures in the mirror. I posted one on my story and put my phone away. Wheezie left the room to let me finish getting ready, and I went to find my Juul. Once that was in my pocket, as well as my phone, and my shoes were on, I grabbed my car keys. I headed downstairs, looking for Rafe. He was sitting in the kitchen, stuffing his face.

"You ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's roll," he said.

Over the past few days, Rafe had finally started to be less of an asshole. The pervy comments were a thing of the past, and the pogue insults were almost entirely a thing of the past. Things were still rocky between us, but it was more of a sibling relationship than we had before.