"This is disgusting"
"I know, it's just horrible" Anna, Kiara's mom, sarcastically quipped to her daughter, "I'm asking you to relax and go to a fun party"
Celeste smiled, "Kie, I think you look amazing. The dress fits you in all the right places"
Kiara glared at the girl, "I look like a bourgeoisie pig"
"The hottest bourgeoisie pig on the island" Celeste winked at her friend, who just sighed at her dramatically.
"You can say that, just because you look like a goddess in that blue dress Cel"
Celeste began stumbling over herself to deny the girl's compliment before getting cut off by Luna, "she right Celeste. You're both right, actually. You girls look absolutely stunning"
"You girls really do," Anna nodded before putting in her own earrings, "but Kiara, will you please not worry about socio-economic injustice for one night?"
Kiara rolled her eyes, "Mom, people not three miles from here have no power, no running water and we're going to Midsummers. That's so tone-deaf!"
"Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island Club?" Anna asked her daughter.
She rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time, "yeah, mom. How could I forget? You had to grovel for, like, ten years..."
"Twelve" Kiara's mother corrected, "and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough and do you know why we did that?"
Kiara snarked, "To keep up with the Joneses"
"No. So you could have the experiences that I had as a child. Honey, do you know what the Island Club is?"
Celeste raised her hand sarcastically, "ooh I know! I know! A mother's meeting for privileged pieces of sh--"
"Celeste" Luna warned her daughter as Anna gave her a small disapproving glance. Celeste just held her hands up in joking surrender.
"A factory farm for debutantes" Kiara also remarked after nodding in approval at her best friend's response.
Anna looked visibly frustrated but put on an obviously fake smile at them all, "It is a nice place, with nice people, where you can do fun stuff"
"With out-of-touch rich people, while the island sinks slowly into the ocean" Kiara added.
"Okay, I want you to put on your party face, Kie, if you wanna live. You too Celeste" Anna warned jokingly as she strolled out of the room. The girls sent a look to each other in dread before looking over at Luna, who just sheepishly smiled at them before following Anna to continue getting ready.
---
Arriving at the Cameron's for midsummers together was practically a tradition for Kiara and Celeste. As neither were Kooks, they stuck together as much as they possibly could. Always stealing drinks, sneaking away early, causing mischief to the unsuspecting rich folk – they made the most boring event in OBX actually... fun.
As soon as they walked onto the front lawn, Celeste spotted Pope at the far end, working the event with his father. She looped her arm with Kiara's and pulled her along, leaving their parents behind to mingle.
They walked up to Pope, giving each other a sly smile.
"Excuse me, sir" Kie announced in an English accent, "Do we have to shuck these ourselves?"
Celeste hummed at her, "And I would hate to break a nail"
They smiled teasingly at the boy as he turned around, looking utterly bored with the event already before realising it was them and a wide smile broke out on his face, replacing the look of dread prior.
"Because it might mess up our costumes"
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Pope replied in a similarly bad English accent. They all laughed before joining each other side by side, looking out at the Kook covered lawn. "That accent was bad"
"It was, I was gonna let it go" Kie responded.
"I don't know guys, I thought mine was pretty good" Celeste spoke up before being given looks from her two friends. "Okay okay we were all shit"
Kiara chuckled lightly before changing the subject, "You ever seen this many Kooks in one place?"
"Yeah. Last year" Pope told her.
"We're in the Lion's den"
"Exactly"
"Guys, come on, they can't exactly do any shit here. It's Midsummers. Practically every Kook is parading around as if they're better than everybody else. It would be disrespectful for them do start anything" Cel smirked a little at the thought of being able to tease the Kooks and them being unable to do anything about it due to the hordes of rich folk and their oh so precious image.
A silence hung in the air as they all looked around. Pope finally broke it.
"Hey, have you heard from JJ?" as soon as the words fell from the boy's lips, Celeste's heart dropped and any trace of a smile on her face had been washed away. For a minute she had forgotten about the blonde boy.
"No, have you Cel?" Kie asked the girl who visibly gulped at the question.
Her voice was shaky, "Uh no I haven't" she was obviously uncomfortable with the conversation topic.
"He'll be alright. He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach" Kie attempted to reassure the girl but it didn't make her feel better in the slightest. Yet, she nodded along anyway.
"It's my fault"
"Uh-- you didn't do this, Pope" Kie spoke, "Topper almost killed you. Both of you. Remember?"
Pope and Kie continued to look at each other, speaking with no words. Celeste continued to look towards the ground as her mind grew consumed by a certain blonde with deep blue eyes.
Was he okay? Had he gotten out? Did his father know?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of applause, and she looked up in time to see the Cameron's make their big entrance. The rest of the Kook community might as well have bowed down and kissed their feet by the way they were acting.
"Here come Lord Capital and the Exploiters" Kie commented. Celeste couldn't resist but to let out a small laugh.
Pope commented, referring to Rose Cameron's large crown with golden spikes, "She's gonna poke somebody's eye out with that"
"Hopefully mine so I'll get to leave this hellhole" Celeste commented. Pope and Kiara nodded at her in agreement.
---
An hour or so later, Celeste was stood at one of the balconies, looking out into the night sky with fairy lights glistening behind her. She held a nearly empty wine glass in one hand, having taken her time to sip the wine to waste time. She could just about hear the crashing waves from the sea over the noise of people behind her, making her have a strong temptation to go surfing. The noises around Celeste faded into the background as her mind gravitated back to a certain blonde boy.
The thoughts and questions from before were making their rounds inside her mind once more.
Was he okay? How did his dad take it? When will she see him next?
