PARADISE | JOHN B ROUTLEDGE |

pre-season 1: trusting you was my biggest mistake

TALIA WASN'T SURE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT SHE HATED MORE THAN KOOK PARTIES. Even when she was a small child, she tried everything she could to get out of them, much to the dismay of her mother. Whether she faked sick or just flat out refused to go, she always tried to get out of the high class social gatherings. It was very rare that her mother let her miss one, Talia had to be dying or dead to miss an event. This one was more important than most, however. This was the first event her family would be attending since Talia's father had up and left.

  Talia's mother Maria was more strict than usual about how Talia looked and acted at this event. Normally, she would give her wayward daughter the normal spiel about acting 'ladylike' and being civil, but this time, it was that talk on steroids. She made it very clear that Talia was not to anything, in her words, 'erratic' that would 'disgrace the family name even more than it already was.' Deep down, Maria knew there was truly nothing she could or say that would stop her daughter from doing whatever she wanted. Talia always had her own way of doing things and was very stubborn in terms of changing her ways. Like the old saying says, like mother like daughter.

  Talia sat in the passenger's seat of her mother's luxury car, checking her lipstick in the side mirror. Wearing makeup was already foreign to Talia, but wearing it in the middle of summer when it would come off due to the heat seemed fruitless. She wanted more than anything to wipe it all off, grab a bikini and go surf with the Pogues, but she knew her mother would make her life actual hell if she did.

  Much to her mother and brother's objections, she continued to hang out with the Pogues and had been for about a month now. She felt like she knew them better and related to them more than her Kook friends she had known her whole life. After Kiara had introduced Talia to the boys, they all had been hanging out almost everyday. As cliche as it sounded, Talia had felt like she finally found her people. They didn't judge her for her family's status or treat her any differently, which she was eternally grateful for. It felt nice to forget who she had to be on her native side of the island, the perfect daughter of the perfect family. She could be herself without any judgment, and it was a feeling she didn't want to let go of.

She was pulled out of her daydreaming when her mother's shrill voice cut through the silence of the car. "If you ruin this night for me, Talia, so help me god." Maria trailed off, both of her hand's gripping the steering wheel. Talia roller her eyes, wondering how many drinks her mother had that day.

"I could say the same for you, Mom. You better get a mint because if everyone else can smell the alcohol on your breath like I can, the whispers about Dad won't be the only whispers at our family's expense tonight." Talia shot back, making her mother take her eyes off the road and look at her glaring daughter.

"The way you speak to me. You're lucky that Cameron boy puts up with you." Maria scoffed, making Talia shake her head. Saying Rafe Cameron and Talia Thornton had an on and off relationship would be putting it simply. The two would be screaming at each other one minute and all over each other the next. No matter how many trials and tribulations the two had gone through, they always found their way back to each other. Some would say it was toxic, but both Talia and Rafe knew that they were essentially betrothed to each other and had been since they were toddlers. Their whole lives, they grew up with the understanding that they would eventually get married and have a family together. So no matter how much they hated each other, they always knew no matter how hard they resisted, they would end up together.