Entanglement | jj maybank

the shot heard 'round the world

The next evening, the plan is to meet at Kiara's house before heading to Sarah's party. John B and I arrive first, courtesy of our dad, who drops us off on his way to poker night with his buddies.

"Be safe tonight, you two," he says as we exit the van. "Call me if you want a ride in the morning."

"Will do. See you tomorrow," John B says as he slams the door shut.

Kie greets us at the front door. "Hey y'all," she says as she opens the door wider and lets us in.

"Hey, bitch, you ready to see John B go down in flames tonight?" I ask. I throw my overnight bag on a bench by the door. She laughs as John B gives me a look.

"I'll have you know that ninety-nine percent of the time, I am successful in my flirting attempts," he says with a sense of cockiness.

"I'm successful one hundred percent of the time," I remind him.

"You're a girl, of course you are," he scoffs. I shrug.

"So you're really gonna hit on Sarah tonight? Just to piss Dylann off?" Kie asks as she leads us into the kitchen. She skunks a couple of her dad's beers from the fridge, handing us each one and keeping one for herself.

"Yeah. Doesn't hurt to try and shoot my shot." He takes a long drink of his beer. "Maybe I can bag me a kook girl."

"We'll see," Kie says doubtfully. We hear knocking at the door. "That must be Pope or JJ." She leaves the kitchen to check the door.

"Maybe I'll go for a Cameron tonight, too. Rafe's kind of cute in a douchebag way," I say casually.

"He's too old for you," John B replies.

"He's a couple years older, no big deal."

"Who's a couple years older?" Pope asks as he walks into the kitchen with Kiara.

"Rafe," I answer. "I was just telling him I might go for a Cameron tonight as well."

Pope makes a face. "Please don't," he says seriously, and I laugh.

"I'll just have to see where the night takes me." I take it upon myself to grab him a beer from the fridge. "Where's JJ?"

"On his way. He had to fix something on his bike," he says as he cracks open the can.

"Well, he better hurry his ass up, there's already a fuck ton of people there," I say as I look at my phone. "Kelce is live right now. Look," I say, turning my phone to show everyone the live stream from Instagram. Bodies are packed into the backyard of the Cameron residence. Everyone is holding drinks, and it's loud and chaotic. Music plays so loudly in the background that the lyrics are distorted.

As if on cue, there's another knock at the door. "Must be him," Kie says as she walks out of the kitchen again. She returns moments later with JJ in tow.

"Squad's all here. Let's roll," John B says enthusiastically. We all gather our beers to get ready for our walk over to Sarah's house.

"Wait, wait, I need one," JJ says as we start to file out of the kitchen. He quickly grabs a beer from the fridge and follows the rest of us out. Kie locks the front door behind us.

The walk to Sarah's isn't super far, and the party has grown so big that we can hear it long before her house comes into view. I'm truly impressed at the size of the crowd as we head around the side of the house to join what looks to be every teenager on the island in her backyard.

"Should've worn my trunks," Pope says as he surveys the people who have already jumped into the pool. Plastic cups and empty beer cans float along the surface between the people swimming around.