The evening of midsummers
Myra washed the sand and salt out of her hair at the back of the personnel room, letting the hot water that flowed out of the shower head wash over her face for yet another minute before she got out and got dressed for work. The special event of the night required a special attire, of course. She took a moment to glance at herself in the mirror, running a brush through her wet blonde hair. She felt a little stupid standing there in her black sheath dress and nylon stockings. The dress was short, but still in a modest way, and it had cap sleeves. With a sigh Myra grabbed her white handkerchief scarf, tying it around her neck. She looked ridiculous, like some kind of flight attendant. It was way too clean cut for her, she thought.
"Hair up honey" Cheyenne cooed as she walked into the room, seeing the young girl, "and wow look at you little miss, you look nice". Myra turned around, laughing a little. "Stop it" she urged towards her coworker as she began to pin her hair back into a bun at the top of her neck, a hairstyle which was requested for the night from every girl working. The boys who were working had to wear black dress pants, a white pressed shirt, a black vest and a bow tie, with no special hairstyle required.
"Ready?" Cheyenne asked Myra, now standing in the doorway awaiting her. "Mhm" Myra mumbled, nodding her head before she put the last pin in her hair. She glanced at herself in the mirror once more before she followed her coworker out towards the roaring party that was about to begin. Her hair was still wet and a little messy, but she didn't care, it was up at least. Soon Myra saw Pope and his father lugging things off of the back of their truck, about to set the grill up. Myra gazed around, looking for her brother, but she didn't see him anywhere. He was seemingly a little late, as always.
Myra saw the place slowly filling up as the sun began to set on the sky, showering everyone with a golden hue. She greeted Pope and his father as they got their grill started, about to serve their famous oysters to all the guests. "Hey Pope, hey mr Heyward" she gently hummed as she wandered up to them. "Hey Myra, how are you?" Pope spoke back quietly, keeping his distance. "Ah, I'm alright... you?" Myra trailed. Before Pope had a chance to respond, his father interrupted him, greeting Myra, "mini Maybank, keeping out of trouble I see". She laughed, flashing the aging man a amused smile. "I'm trying" she confessed. "Not like your brother, he's a pain in my ass" Heyward laughed back, stroking Myra's cheek quickly. "Dad" Pope muttered, making Heyward shrug his shoulders before he corrected himself. "Ah, JJ he's a golden kind of pain in my ass"
"Excuse me sir, do we have to shuck these ourselves?"
The three of them were soon interrupted by a gruesomely butchered British accent, making them look up only to be met by Kiara's amused grin. "Cause it might mess up my costume" she went on, making Heyward shake his head as he walked off. "We wouldn't want that now would we?" Pope questioned with a chuckle, doing a handshake with the girl that stood before her. "Hi Myra" Kiara then spoke, smiling gently at her. "Hi Kie" she hummed back, gazing over Kiara, "you look beautiful". Kiara chuckled, taking a step back, "thanks but I look like a bourgeoisie pig". She definitely didn't look like that, Myra thought, with flowers in her hair and a purple tinted silk dress that made her golden skin glow. She rarely saw Kiara so done up with makeup, a nice hairdo and pretty jewelry.
"That accent was so bad" Pope pointed out, relaxing a little in the brown haired girl's presence. "Yeah it was, I was gonna let it go" Kiara agreed. The three of them glanced around, taking a slow moment to breathe before it was time to work, the calm before the storm. "Have you ever seen this many kooks in one place?" Kiara asked a little lower, her hands clasped together. "Yeah" Pope sighed, gazing down towards the grill, "last year". Myra nodded her head in agreement, having unfortunately worked last year too. "We're in the lion's den" Kiara breathed, the grin upon her lipstick clad lips now fading. "Exactly" Pope huffed, glancing over at Kelce who was helping Topper adjust his tie, it just had to be perfect.
"Hey have you heard from JJ?" Pope then asked Kiara, his demeanour changing too, slowly turning into something more worried and mellow. "No" Kiara spoke shortly, pushing her lips together. Pope then turned to Myra, gazing upon her as if he was looking for answers. "Did you get to him at the police station?" he then asked, to which Myra glanced down at her feet. "Uhm yeah I did, he's alright" she spoke, a little white lie laced within her words, "but I haven't seen him since last night". Pope's gaze was still on her as he spoke, "so he got out?". Myra nodded he head, "yeah dad paid his bail"
"Bail?"
"Yeah bail Pope, that's what happens when people get arrested... they have to post bail" Myra huffed, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "And he was home?" Pope went on. "Yes he was home, took off this morning though, I don't know where he went" Myra clarified. "Probably to find John B" Pope muttered lowly, turning towards the grill, "are you sure that he's okay?". Pope's worry stung a little within Myra and when she didn't answer Kiara stepped in. "He'll be alright, he's got the survival instincts of a cockroach" she mumbled, gazing away. Myra could tell from the look upon Kiara's face that she was worried too. Pope then scoffed, making the two girls turn their heads to look at him. "It's all my fault" he muttered, gritting his teeth. "No Pope, uhm, you didn't do this" Kiara tried to comfort him, "Topper almost killed you, remember?"
Their conversation was soon interrupted by a loud wave of applause and cheering, making the three of them look up. Through the large entrance way walked Ward Cameron, a gold medallion hanging around his neck and his beautiful, yet a little noticeably younger, wife Rose on his arm. They were smiling big, like they owned the universe and were completely aware of it. Behind them walked Ward's three kids. Young thirteen year old Louisa in black heels and a navy blue dress filled with colourful flowers. Sixteen year old kook princess Sarah with a white long flowing off the shoulders type of dress and a flower crown upon her head. And lastly, nineteen year old Rafe Cameron, sporting a light blue suit paired with nice shoes, a bow tie and his hair slicked back.
"Here come lord Capital and the exploiters" Kiara hummed bitterly as the Cameron family walked out. She was clearly against these kinds of overly pretentious kook parties, even though her parents had forced her to go. Myra stood by Kiara and Pope, unable to pull her eyes away from the tall kook prince. She couldn't deny the fact that he looked handsome, even if the thought nauseated her. The light blue suited him well, it really brought out the colour of the ocean in his light eyes. "She's definitely gonna poke somebody's eye out" Pope huffed, referring to the golden pointy sun shaped headpiece that Rose was wearing. "Mhm" Kiara muttered in disgust. Myra cleared her throat, looking away from Rafe. Seeing him had made her breath get stuck in the back of her throat for a moment, which she greatly denied to herself. "Well I've gotta head back to work" Myra spoke a little disoriented, flattening out the bottom of her waitressing dress with the palms of her hands, "but it was nice to see you two"
Myra walked around the party, serving glasses of champagne to the guests, most of them not even thanking her or looking her way. She was searching for her brother, but not seeing him anywhere. "Come on JJ" she mumbled to herself as she turned a corner, catching a glimpse of Topper and Sarah. The kook girl stormed off, a look of irritation upon her pretty face. Topper didn't look too pleased either, but he was soon joined by Kelce and Rafe. Myra watched them as she placed a few glasses containing the expensive champagne down by a table where a older couple sat. "Thank you darling" the woman spoke, smiling kindly towards the young pouge girl. "No worries madam" Myra spoke politely, smiling back.
As Myra began to walk around again, she was soon faced with Rafe. She sighed, the fake smile she had been plastering on now fading. "Hey" Rafe spoke, great self confidence dripping of off his tongue. Myra didn't answer instantly, instead she raised her eyebrows towards him, making him take a step closer. "I said hey" Rafe repeated himself, "usually when someone says hello to you... you say it back"
"Hey"
Myra wasn't amused by his sudden closeness, and the way he would seek her out. At least it seemed like he was doing so. "So there you are again, sure you're not following me?" Myra then added bitterly, wanting the kook boy to go away. "Look around, you're on figure eight now baby" Rafe laughed, lifting his hands up into the air. "Don't call me that" she spat. "What?" he teased, leaning in a little closer, "baby?". She sighed, gazing away as she felt his blue eyes staring directly at her, his gaze almost burning onto her skin. "Mhm" she answered lowly. "What? You don't like people calling you baby?" Rafe asked, the teasing tone lingering within his smooth voice. "It's weird, you don't even know me" Myra answered, her voice a little louder as she snapped her head back to look at him, their eyes meeting for a split second.
"Well let me introduce myself, I'm Rafe Cameron"
Myra looked down, seeing the tall kook boy's hand extended in front of him. She didn't grab it, instead she huffed as she looked away again, taking a step back. Rafe chuckled bitterly, pulling his right hand back, dragging it slowly against the back of his neck. "Someone's in a mood tonight" Rafe teased again, listening intently as a frustrated laugh slipped past Myra's lips. "Well you said it yourself, this is figure eight and I'm stuck here for the rest of the night, such a thing tends to bring ones mood down" Myra teased right back, her gaze flickering around. "Yeah yeah you're right, this is figure eight so look who's following who now... you're on my side of the island" Rafe countered, a smug grin growing upon his face. Myra sighed once more, needing this conversation to be over, "I work here dumbass, I have to be here"
As Myra began to walk away Rafe followed her, tapping her on the shoulder. "Can I have one of those" he asked, motioning towards one of the champagne glasses. "Are you twenty one?" she asked, pulling the tray of glasses away from him. "No" he said shortly, the grin lingering upon his lips, "but I'm sure you can make an exception for me". Myra shook her head, turning around to walk off just before Rafe stole two glasses off of the tray, downing them quickly. "Classy" Myra muttered towards him, rolling her eyes. "Well what can I say? Midsummers isn't really midsummers if you're not shitfaced" he confessed. Myra scofffed, ignoring the tall kook boy as she began to walk away again.
She caught a glimpse of her brother about ten minutes later. He was running around in his white shirt, vest and bow tie clearing glasses. His hair looked nice for once, but his face wasn't matching his nice attire. The left corner of his lip was busted and he had a red bruise on the right side of his jaw. Myra waved as she saw him, flashing him a reassuring smile. JJ waved back, mouthing to her that he was okay. He was late, but no one had seemed to notice. Soon he was out of her sight, being quick on his feet. Myra continued to serve drinks as she saw JJ sweep by Sarah, seemingly handing her something small, something that looked like a crumbled up piece of paper.
A sudden hot breath on the back of her neck made Myra jump slightly, turning around to be faced with Rafe once more. "Hi again" he said, his gaze flickering from her face to the tray of alcohol that she was carrying around. "You're like a fucking fly, I shoo you away but you just keep buzzing back" Myra muttered lowly, making Rafe chuckle. "Look at that, you've only got one glass left... let me take that off your hands" the boy before her spoke, completely ignoring her last comment as he quickly stole the last glass of champagne off of the tray. "You shouldn't be drinking that" Myra said, raising her eyebrows. "My dad was crowned the almighty knight of the... uhm, whatever flower tonight" Rafe trailed, clearly a little tipsy, "so it's my right, as his next of kin, to celebrate however I want"
"Well I'm out of champagne now so go lurk around some other waitress" Myra muttered before she walked off. Rafe followed her through the party, his steps quick and his voice velvety smooth. "I don't wanna do that" he spoke. "And why's that?" Myra asked, stopping by the bar to look at the kook boy. "None of them are as pretty as you and I enjoy looking at pretty girls" Rafe spoke, like it was nothing. Myra however got a bit flustered, looking away as her cheeks flushed a little. She hoped that Rafe wouldn't notice in the dim evening light. No boy had ever called her pretty before, except her brothers JJ and John B but that wasn't the same thing. It didn't mean the same thing. "You're blushing" Rafe pointed out, a sweet smile spreading across his lips. "I'm not" Myra argued, feeling her heart skip a beat. "You are" Rafe stated again, lifting his right hand to drag his fingertips along her cheek, "right there"
Myra didn't know what to say, so instead she pulled away, going behind the bar to fill up her empty tray with glasses of alcohol. "Hey man, can I get a vodka soda?" Rafe asked the bartender, leaning on the bar with his left elbow. "Coming right up" the bartender spoke. Myra grabbed another bottle of champagne, eyeing the bartender cautiously. "He's not twenty one you know" she outed, nodding her head towards Rafe. "Yeah but he's a Cameron" the bartender spoke, placing a glass down in front of Rafe who was quick to hand him some cash. Myra rolled her eyes, leaving to serve more alcohol. "What's your name?" Rafe called out after her. "That's irrelevant to you" Myra answered, leaving him with a nonchalant response, her back turned towards him as she disappeared into the crowd.
Rafe managed to follow her again, the glass of vodka soda in his right hand. Myra groaned loudly as he stopped before her for a third time, blocking her way. "What do you want?" she questioned. "Have a drink with me" he spoke confidently. "No" she urged, shaking her head. "Why not?" Rafe questioned, clearly not accustomed to people turning him down. "I don't want to, besides I'm working" Myra muttered, handing a few glasses out to kooks who passed them by. "We could go to the back" Rafe tried, to which she laughed. "No" Myra urged as she shook her head, "absolutely not, that sounds like a trap"
"You think I'd do that to you?"
He seemed a little amused and slightly offended at the same time. "I don't know you" Myra gasped, now extremely fed up with the fact that the kook boy was following her around the party like a lost puppy. He didn't speak another word, instead he laughed, taking a few sips of his drink. "Where's your friends anyway?" Myra asked, watching Rafe glance around. "Topper and Kelce?" Rafe clarified, downing another mouthful of vodka soda. "I suppose so" Myra shrugged, handing out some more champagne. "I don't know, they're somewhere... last I saw Top he was arguing with my sister and Kelce is probably somewhere hitting on some girl" Rafe trailed.
A moment of silence found its way in between the two of them, the kook and the pouge, as Myra did her job and Rafe sipped slowly on his drink. "You look good in that dress" Rafe then blurted out, eyeing her up and down. Myra raised her eyebrows, feeling her heart skip a beat once more. It was a funny feeling, being around him. "Thank you" she said lowly, looking down at her feet. He nodded, seemingly a little pleased with himself as he downed the last of his drink. He then caught a glimpse of his friends. Myra watched as the tall boy put his empty glass down on a nearby table before he took of, yelling a overly confident "I'll see you around front desk girl, think about that drink" to her.
JJ had seen his sister around, her disappearing and reappearing every now and then. He saw Rafe stood by her, sipping on a drink only seconds before the kook appeared in front of him with one of his sidekicks, Kelce. Rafe's hands had grabbed onto JJ's shoulders, swiftly turning him around. "I'm wondering if you could get me a mai tai my friend" the kook boy spoke sharply, glaring at the pouge boy that stood before him. "Yeah pouge, how about you make that two?" Kelce added cockily. JJ wasn't in the mood for another fight tonight, he had gotten enough these past few days. "Yeah well I'm on the clock right now but you guys look spiffy" JJ said, trying to hold back the bitter tone in his voice, "you know, uhm, I've got a couple of orders ahead of you so why don't you guys just go ahead and wait at the bar?"
"No, we're going to wait right here" Rafe argued, still holding onto JJ's shoulders as he continued, "and you're gonna get us those drinks right away, we don't like to be kept waiting". JJ pushed his lips together, trying really hard to remain calm. "Well you see, I can't right now, but I'll get to you... until then, help yourselves to the hors d'oeuvres" he spoke as nicely as he could, slowly backing away. Rafe wasn't having it, his temper running out. Besides he had downed a little too much too quickly, making him feel a nice kind of buzz inside of his body. "Yeah guys, JJ's gonna serve us some hors d'oeuvres, right?" he muttered, stepping after the blonde boy. "Oh well here are the hors d'oeuvres right here" JJ spoke in a rush, pointing his hand towards a table filled with all kinds of finger food.
"Okay" Rafe smirked, inches away from JJ as he continued to try and back away. "I'll be right back, okay?" JJ tried to calm the situation, looking past the two kooks boys to try and get away, but they had cornered him. "Hey, yo... we're actually gonna follow you in here just to make sure" Rafe spoke clearly just as JJ took off running. Rafe stuck his hands into the pockets of his nice dress pants, a posse of four kook boys now following him.
"Ah shit!"
It didn't take long until the kook boys had caught up to JJ, shoving him around in the back locker room. JJ was growing angrier by the second, still not in the mood to fight. He shoved one of the boys right back, earning a loud "ey, fuck you man" from him. "Wow that's a cute outfit" JJ muttered to the kook boy now approaching him. "Shut up!" Rafe yelled, grabbing a hold of JJ from behind, shoving him towards Kelce who managed to get a firm grip around the blonde boy's neck, pressing against his throat. JJ grunted, shuffling around as he tried to break loose from the chokehold.
"Hold him still... what, uhm what do you think? A four iron, right?" Rafe slurred a little as he lined himself up on the middle of the floor as to pretend to play golf. He did everything he could to get under JJ's skin. "Alright keep his head still, I'm gonna line this up" Rafe went on as JJ clawed at Kelce's head. "Very brave of you Rafe, five on one?" JJ questioned with a cough, glancing around at the three kook boys that stood around watching. "Okay if you could please stop talking? It's very disrespectful when I'm trying to hit a ball right?" Rafe hissed back, not caring about the pouge boy's truthful words, "okay, learn your etiquette my friend"
"Come on" JJ huffed, trying to catch his breath as he pulled and pulled in a attempt to break free from Kelce. Rafe leaned in, a little amused as he spoke, "your face looks really bad, you're starting to look like your dad a lot more". JJ felt his jaw clench out of pure anger just before he spat at Rafe, making him back off. "Oh shit" Rafe huffed, wiping his cheek, "alright, it was..."
"Gentlemen!"
The fight was soon interrupted by a security guard, making Kelce let go of JJ quickly. "Is there a problem here guys?" the guard asked, glancing at the six boys in the room. "Oh, pardon me officer, no" JJ was quick to respond, taking the blame for the whole thing, "no there's not an issue I just... well actually yes, no, uhm there is an issue, we've got a criminal trespass in progress here". JJ didn't want to fight anymore, he was tired. He didn't want to escalate a already bad situation any further. "Beep, call it in right? Blatant disrespect for private property" he went on. "Yeah" Rafe agreed, scratching his ear as his vision blurred a little. "I'm in violation of all kinds of shit sir, but these young gentlemen..." JJ trailed, fixing Kelce's bow tie to which the dark skinned boy smacked his hands away. "Don't touch my shit" the kook boy muttered. "...uh they caught me sir, and they were about to take me away and that's what you should do, escort me out of here, you got me" JJ went on, holding his hands up in front of the security guard who grabbed him.
"Come on" the guard mumbled as he pulled JJ away. "Alright, fix that tie son" JJ breathed, turning around to point at Rafe and then to his posse, "you're looking spiffy too, you powerpuff girls have fun". Just as JJ was about to leave the room Rafe found his chance to hit him one last time, right where he knew it would hurt the most. The tall kook boy took a step forward, fixing his tie before he spoke so clearly, his cocky voice echoing in between the four walls;
"Tell your sister she looks pretty hot for a pouge"