𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟻 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘-

"honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere / nothing scares me anymore / kiss me hard before you go / summertime sadness."

As soon as Tate stepped into the Midsummers celebration, she felt out of place. Even in her fancy dress with her hairdo and dramatic makeup, she knew she didn't belong. There were people everywhere, all talking about golf and business and the latest gossip that Tate wanted no part in. Her life was a mess. He mother had abandoned her. Her dad was a drunken mess. Her only remaining relative, John B, was missing and the last she'd heard of her boyfriend he was in jail. She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be galavanting around with a bunch of rich people while she didn't know if JJ was alright.

She waded through the crowd right behind Kiara and Kiara's parents, greeting people where she could but mainly keeping her eyes cast to the ground. When at last they'd made their rounds, Mr. and Mrs. Carrera turned to the girls. "We're going to go talk to the Joneses," Mr. Carrera said, his tone ever so slightly condescending. "You two are on your own, so don't get into any trouble. Represent this family well."

"Thanks, dad," Kiara said, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you for taking me, Mr. and Mrs. Car-" Tate started.

"Come on," Kiara interrupted her, sounding annoyed. She grabbed Tate's arm and pulled her in the opposite direction. They weaved through the crowd and didn't stop until they were on the outer edges. "Sorry about that," Kiara said breathlessly. "You're doing great."

Tate laughed. "Thanks, I guess."

Kiara scanned the outer perimeter of the party, and then she smiled. "There's Pope. Come on." She led the way over to where Pope was manning the grill with his dad, his back turned to the girls. "Excuse me, sir," Kiara said in a false English accent. "Do we have to shuck these ourselves?" Pope took a deep breath and turned around, expecting to see a Kook, but his face brightened when he realized it was just Kiara and Tate. "Cause it might mess up my costume," Kiara finished, giggling.

"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Pope said in an even worse accent, stepping forward to do his and Kiara's handshake. Tate stepped back and watched in amusement. She wanted Kiara and Pope to get together almost as much as she wanted to find the Royal Merchant. "That accent was bad," said Pope.

Tate and Kiara turned to look back at the party with Pope and Kiara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, it was," she said in her normal voice. "I was gonna let it go."

"I wasn't."

"Thanks, Tate," Pope chuckled.

"You ever seen this many Kooks in one place?" Kiara asked with a sigh.

Pope was silent for a long time, thinking. "Yep," he said at last. "Last year."

"We're in the lion's den," Kiara said darkly.