𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒊𝒍𝒙. 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The second she seen that jet in the sky, Tatum Quinn picked up a knife and shot it as hard as she could in the air. Needless to say, it didn't land anywhere near Ward Cameron's jet, and some random person from the town over would be going home with a bloody eye. But it was worth a try. Kind of. Kiara wrapped her arms around the girl before she could toss anymore deadly weapons at poor strangers.

While JJ kicked in an old chair, it was Pope's unusual outburst destruction that caught everyone's attention. "Fuck!" he screamed, grabbing a metal bat and smashing every piece of wood in sight. Which was everywhere, considering they were in his dad's shed next to the dock.

"Pope!" Kie tried calming him down the way she did when all her friends got angry.

But he didn't hear. "God damn it!" he cursed while swinging the bat over more woodwork. "Shit! Fuck!"

If this were JJ, Tatum, or even John B, it would be normal, and everyone would be a little less concerned. (Actually, probably not if it were Tatum anymore.) But this was Pope - their smart, logical, basically emotionless, awkward best friend - who never had breakdowns or outbursts.

"He's going to hurt himself," Tatum whispered worriedly over all his yelling as he smashed the whole shed up, sharp wood shaving flying back at him.

"Pope!" Kiara tried again.

He dropped the bat and launched a trash can through the air.

"Pope!"

Hyperventilating and finally catching up with his brain, the boy collapsed onto the rotty outdoor couch with tears falling from his eyes.

"Pope," repeated Kiara once again, her voice now soft, eyes scanning the shed he just trashed.

Tatum sat beside him, slinging her arms around his neck and pulling him into a warm hug she knew she would want if she was in his frame of mind. He wrapped his arms back around her and a shaky sob was released from his throat as he leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah, dude," said JJ, because he honestly didn't know what else to say. He stepped closer to Pope when he and Tatum pulled away. "I was wondering when this was gonna happen."

Tatum didn't usually catch onto things fast. But this - when it came to JJ and drugs - she knew exactly what was going to happen next, and it made her grin and shake Pope's arm excitedly. The blonde boy send her a nod, and she obediently pulled out a pre-rolled joint from her bra. "Here you go, chief," said JJ as it was handed to the boy. "A little weed never hurt someone."

Kiara scowled at the two of them for their corruption. "Or maybe it has hurt someone," added Tatum quickly, looking back and forth from her angry girlfriend and her even angrier best friend. In her eyes, both of them needed to get high. But Pope Heyward never got high.

"Relax, Kie." JJ knew why Tatum instantly went back on his words, and turned to their overprotective mother with rolled eyes.

"You know he doesn't smoke," she pointed out, gesturing to a very sweaty Pope.

Before Tatum had a chance to take away the joint like her girlfriend clearly wanted to, Pope took it out her hand and inspected it.

"And that is the closest you'll ever get to boobs," joked the blonde.

Kiara scowled again. Tatum rolled her eyes with a light laugh, holding her hand out for her girlfriend, and pulling her forward to watch Pope's first take.

"Pope," Kie tried to warn as JJ sat beside the boy with eagerness and encouragement. "Yeah, what is that going to help?"

Pope looked up at the two girls with teary eyes. "I lost my scholarship," he finally revealed, causing Tatum's smiley face to drop. That meeting meant so much to him - it was his one chance. "Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every - it's gone. It's not gonna happen."

"You did that for us?" asked Kiara, tightly clutching Tatum's hand as guilt filled her insides.

"No, not for us," he said, pulling himself up from the chair and getting up into the girl's face. JJ pulled Tatum away from the two of them and sat her down on his knee, so she didn't get involved in the drama she didn't want to be a part of. "For nothing."

"I'm here for you, Pope," said JJ, tapping his back, holding into the joint. He pointed to Tatum, who was now resting on his knees. "Welcome to our world, okay?"

"JJ -"

"What, Kie?" he snapped, earning a playful slap from her girlfriend. "He's right. It doesn't matter anymore."

They all stood up when Pope put the blunt into his mouth. Tatum cringed as he soggied it, but lit it up for him anyway, despite her girlfriend's anger over it all. But it wasn't Kiara's choice whether Pope smoked or not, and she and JJ had been waiting forever for this moment.

"You don't have to do that," the Carrera girl carried on trying to get him to stop.

But the influence of the immatures were too strong. Pope sucked in a breath, took the smoke back to his throat, and blew it out. Tatum's eyes widened at the way he did it so perfectly the first time. She remembered how she was when she took her first hit of blow. Seven years old and sitting in Barry's trailer, Leroy gave her it in order for her to shut up with the childish temper tantrum she was throwing. Moments later, she was coughing wildly, sure she was going to die, and her brother found it funny to record her. Then she began to giggle. And everything was fine. Leroy even hugged her that day; she thought about it for weeks, because it meant so much. She always wanted to be just like her oldest brother. Now, she couldn't think of anything worse.

"What do you care?" Pope challenged.

But before Kiara had time to answer, someone new stepped into the shed. The four friends turned around to find John B. Frozen in his place, bloody hands.

"That's my boy!" squealed Tatum, running towards him and swinging her legs around his waist. She didn't see why he was so shaken up after killing Ward; he completely deserved it. And she didn't feel like this when she killed her first person. She didn't even care. She smiled about it. But John B looked crushed.

However, while she was happy and proud, Kie, Pope and JJ were worried, throwing questions at the horrified boy. Tatum furrowed her eyebrows, genuinely confused as to why he wasn't jumping around in glee, and let go of him, landing her feet back onto the floor. He dropped his bloody hands to his sides, not hearing his friends' questions over the loud buzz in his ears, and continued to stare blankly.

Sirens blared through the streets, and he was immediately snatched into action, hiding behind a plank of wood with the others.

"Thomas would admire you so much right now."

A/n: i can't believe im on the last fucking episode of season one