THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

051; pearl

Rafe was stood by the bonfire out by Barry's place, a red solo cup filled with beer in his hands. The fire burned warmly, sending light out into the dark night. He gazed around, seeing a lot of people roaming around at the home located in the most rural part of the cut, but not her. The worn down home and the large yard was filled with pouges of all types and ages, but none of them were Myra, the only person he looked for. The only person he wanted to hang out with. He glanced down at his wrist, seeing the time on his expensive watch. It was a quarter passed ten, so he assumed that she would show up anytime soon. He waited, rolling back and forth on his heels as he slowly sipped on his beer. He swallowed a mouthful, reaching his right hand down into the pocket of his light washed jeans, nervously fiddling with a small paper package that he kept hidden there. His gift to her.

"Country club!"

Barry's loud voice echoed throughout the chilly night air, ringing over all the chatter and the laughter that had spread around the party. Rafe turned around, pulling his eyes away from the hypnotizing orange flames of the bonfire. He saw the pouge boy with the messy dark hair and the fiercely dark eyes walking towards him, a bottle of cheap whiskey in his hand. "Barry" Rafe hummed, nodding as to greet him, "what's up man? How are you?". Barry stopped before Rafe, lifting the glass bottle up to his lips to take a sip of the brown liquor. "I'm good, I'm good" he slurred, eyeing Rafe up and down, "where's your girlfriend huh?"

Rafe furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Barry, unsure what he meant by that. "What?" he asked, needing clarification. Barry was well aware of Rafe's casanova status around figure eight. The tall boy wasn't unpopular by the girls out on the cut either, that was for sure. "Little miss Maybank" Barry slurred on ever so loudly, a smug grin finding its way onto his dry lips before he took another sip of his strong alcohol, "blondie". Rafe pushed his lips together as his grip around the red plastic cup tightened. He felt his heart skip a beat, a weird feeling spreading throughout his veins. He parted his lips as to answer Barry, but he didn't manage to get a word out before a sweet voice rang out, making him turn around.

"I'm right here you crackhead"

"Myra Maybank" Barry exclaimed loudly, a lousy chuckle slipping past his lips. He extended his arms out into the cold air, smiling widely. "It's good to see you" he added, stumbling a little. Rafe watched Myra as she appeared out of the shadows of the nearby woods, skipping along the dry grass as if it was fluffy clouds. She made her way past Rafe only to stop by Barry, shoving him forward in the chest playfully. Barry stumbled upon his feet once more before he regained his balance, reaching over to pat Myra's cheek a few times. "She's feisty this one" he told Rafe, his gaze flickering in between the pouge girl and the kook boy, "have fun"

As Barry turned on his heels to walk away, Myra gazed over at Rafe, now fully facing him. "Hi" she hummed gently, seeing how tense he looked. "Hey" he then muttered back, taking a big gulp of his beer. "So uhm, you heard..." Rafe trailed, his gaze wandering all over Myra as he fiddled with the cup in his hands. "Him calling me your girlfriend? Yeah, I heard that" she filled in with a funny tone in her voice, taking a step closer to Rafe, "but it's fine, I don't care, it's not like it's a real thing". Rafe nodded once, feeling his inner panic ease just a little, but the weird feeling throughout his whole body lingered. "Yeah right, cause I don't..." Rafe trailed once more, vigorously nodding his head as he held onto his plastic cup tight. "You don't do the girlfriend thing" Myra stated, staying completely still, "I know"

A moment of silence fell upon the two teenagers as they stood by the bonfire, further apart than any of them had wished. The universe was dragging them together, they could both feel it. "Did your thing with your brother go okay?" Rafe asked, not caring about JJ in the slightest but needing to break the ice with something. Myra looked taken aback for a split second as she gazed around, clasping her hands together in front of her body. "Oh, uhm yeah" she mumbled, a faint smile finding its way upon her lips, "it was fine". She wore her cherry chapstick again, Rafe could smell the faint scent of it as he dragged his feet over towards her, needing to get closer than before. He could also see a slight hint of a very light red as his blue eyes got stuck on her lips, lingering for a little longer than they probably should have. Myra seemed to take notice for she tilted her chin up a little, almost inviting him in.