Sunshine in the Rain

49. Bonfire

The Bonfire. A place other than the bone yard where Pogues and Kooks get together in one place. All the Kooks and Pogues. An Obx tradition. It's the same weekend every year. We get to the Bonfire and JJ and I grab some beers.

"Ready to get drunk?" JJ asks me.

"Hell yeah." I say. I stab the beer with a knife and so does JJ. We both shotgun our beers and then grab more beers.

I catch a girl staring at John B and I roll my eyes. "JB, you have an admirer." I say. The girl throws a beer can at JB.

"That's you, I'm outta here." JJ says. He walks away and so do I. JJ and I go get more beer and we chug a bunch. Now we're both drunk as fuck.

"I neeedaa peeeee." JJ say, drunkly. He walks away and I walk over to grab more beer.

I see Sarah and Topper and I roll my eyes. "Heeeyyyy Sarahhh." I say.

Sarah laughs. "Drunk Ash is my favorite Ash." She says. I give her a hug and then I go get more beer.

"Byyyeeeee Saraaaahhh." I say. I walk over to the bathrooms and I see two people making out. I look closer and I see blond hair. Blond hair and a shirt with cut off sleeves and sides. JJ.

For a minute everything feels real. Everything hits me. My drunken mind is gone. JJ is cheating on me. No no no. I knew he didn't love me. I can almost feel my heart break. I run over to the keg and grab more beer. I can't deal with this. I get drunk more and more by the second.

"Woah, Ash, slow it down." Pope says.

"Fuck off, Pope." I say. I see JB and that girl dancing. Then Sarah and Topper walk over. Oh shit. It's about to go down. Topper and JB start yelling at each other. I walk over and JB punches Kelce.

JB and Topper go at it so I shove them away from each other.

"Topper, get the fuck off of my brother." I say. Then Topper punches me and I get pissed. I start beating the shit out of Topper. JB shoves me away and I see Sarah on the ground. That bitch that JB was with pushed her.

I run and shove the girl onto the ground and we start fighting. She scratches me with her nails and I punch her in the face. Then she punches me and I kick her. I feel someone's arms wrap around my waist. JJ's arms.

"JJ!! GET YOUR NASTY ASS CHEATING HANDS OFF OF ME!!" I scream. Everyone goes silent. JJ looks speechless but his eyes are full of regret. "Yeah, I saw you making out with that random girl by the bathrooms!!" I say. I slap him and when I see the look on his face, I run.

JJ's dad beats him and I just slapped him like his old man has many times before. He looked betrayed but his eyes were full of regret.

I run through the woods. I run far away, would I run off the world someday? I run and run until my lungs can barely breath. I stop on the side of the street and sit down. I start crying.

JJ's POV:

I look over and see Ash fighting some girl so I run over to stop their fight. Then Ash shoves me off of her.

"JJ!! GET YOUR NASTY ASS CHEATING HANDS OFF OF ME!!" She yells. Then I remember. I made out with some girl at the bathrooms but I'm drunk as fuck. I go sober for a moment. I regret it immediately. I was drunk and I didn't know what I was doing. Then Ash slaps me.

I deserve it. I deserve more than to be slapped. My father showed me that. But Ash isn't my father. She's just mad. Then she runs away and I go to run after her but I see JB fighting so I go to help him instead.

We leave in the Twinkie a little bit later, I'm fucking wasted. "Well, that was unexpected." I say.

"Wait, where's my sister?" JB asks.

"She ran." JJ says. I tell him about me and the girl.

"Where could she have gone?!" JB asks, slightly panicking.

"I'm sure she'll show up." I say, still feeling guilty but knowing that she'll come back. I love her. If only I had the courage to tell her.