the middle ≫ jj maybank

xxiii. the girls

True to her word, Sarah Cameron snuck Kiara and Slater back into the country club, leading them through a door that was clearly marked "employees only," down a long hallway, and eventually into a room that looked like a broom closet.

Except, it wasn't a broom closet.

It was a room filled to the wall with crates and crates of liquor.

After each of them had pulled at least five shots, the girls made themselves comfortable amongst a pile of extra tablecloths and chair cushions that Sarah found. Sitting knee to knee, like a trio of preteens at a sleepover, they giggled and passed the bottles around, spilling on the tablecloths and themselves.

Slater's head was spinning, and the fight with Rafe and JJ was still fresh, echoing around in her drunken mind. If she didn't focus her attention solely on Kiara and Sarah, she was going to burst into tears any second.

"So, now that everyone else knows about it, you have to talk about it," Kiara began, locking eyes with Slater. "HOW did you ever get involved with Rafe Cameron?"

Slater's face flushed and she shook her head. "Listen, he was very charming at the time, and I was very impressionable."

Sarah fake-gagged, and it was so realistic that it almost made Slater want to real-gag.

"Okay, umm, I need to forget the fact that you fucked my brother, pronto," Sarah said, taking a large swig of a bottle of Titos that they had already almost finished.

"Please, I need to forget the fact that I fucked your brother," Slater replied, reaching for the same bottle.

"Maybe we should open another bottle," Sarah said, reaching a shaking hand towards the shelf of vodka.

"Let's mix it up a little?" Kiara suggested, reaching for a bottle of tequila instead.

"Agreed!" Sarah and Slater cheered at the same time.

"This is fun," Sarah said, taking a sip from the tequila bottle before passing it to Slater. "It's nice to have some real girl friends, you know?"

"This is fun," Slater agreed, a frown filling her face. "But I wish it had happened under better pretenses."

"Listen, the boys will get over it," Kiara said, rolling her eyes. "Slater, it's really not a big deal, okay? So you slept with Sarah's brother --"

"--Stop referring to him as Sarah's brother," Slater groaned.

Kiara sighed. "Whatever. You're a pogue now, okay? We're your friends, and we're here for you. The boys will get over it, if they even care in the first place."

"Yeah, but you didn't see the way he looked at me," Slater mumbled, tears filling her eyes.

"Who?" Kiara asked.

Slater ignored Kiara and pulled her legs to her chest, burying her face in her knees as tears streamed down her face, ruining the fancy makeup her mom had made her wear. "He's never going to speak to me again," she sobbed.

"Slater, who are you talking about?" Kiara asked, wrapping an arm around her friend. "Rafe?"

"You didn't see the way he looked at me," Slater whispered, wiping at her eyes. "Like I was dirty. Like I had punched him in the face. Like he hated me."

"Slater, I know we're drunk, girly, but we're going to need you to elaborate," Sarah said, setting down the tequila bottle.

"JJ!" Slater cried.

Sarah and Kiara slumped against the wall, looking at Slater in shock. Confusion danced across both of their faces until Kiara muttered, "Shit! Oh my God, Slater. You don't hate him."

"You and JJ?" Sarah echoed Kiara's disbelief.

Slater looked away, unable to meet either girls' eyes as the "no pogue on pogue macking" rule echoed through her drunken mind.

"Holy shit, since when?" Kie asked, her arm still around Slater.

"Longer than you'd think," Slater admitted. "But it doesn't matter now. JJ is right back to hating me."

Kiara frowned and shook her head. "Slater, as much as I'm in a bit of disbelief about this, if you think this would make JJ hate you, then you don't know him as well as I do. JJ is the most loyal person I know. If he really feels this way about you, if he ... likes ... you, then sleeping with Rafe last summer isn't going to change that."

"It wasn't just one time, with Rafe," Slater admitted. "It was the whole fucking summer."

"The whole summer ...?" Sarah echoed. "Did you ... did you guys come to my house? How did I never notice?"

Kiara shot Sarah a look before turning her attention back to Slater. "Still, Slater. Go easy on yourself. JJ will get over it. I doubt he's even really mad at you. He's probably just pissed at Rafe."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "Boys are the worst with jealousy."

Slater sighed and slumped against Kiara, as the Carrera girl gently rubbed her shoulder.

"But, really? The whole summer?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah."

"Sorry."

"I thought he was so cool, and he was, you know, this big shot rich kid, son of Kildare County's favorite kook, and he was charming and funny and easy on the eyes -- sorry Sarah -- and I didn't realize he was a goddamn psychopath."

Kiara bit her lip to prevent from laughing. "Well, you know, we all make bad choices."

"Okay, but ... did you guys hook up at Tannyhill? Oh my god, the Druthers? I need to know, because it's kind of grossing me out. Is anything safe --"

"Sarah!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

this was a short chapter, and i apologize for that! but it was a lot of fun imo :) love seeing the pogues be pogues, and i love seeing the girls hang without the boys. 

i also think slater was so focused on jj and the boys finding out about her past relationship with rafe that she COMPLETELY forgot about the fact that he's sarah's brother, lol

ALSO: time for some self-promo. i recently published a new obx fic called TURNING VIOLET, and i would love for y'all to go check it out! 

thank you so much for reading! let me know what you think!

xx,

madi