Party Crashers

Chapter 12: Party Crashers

The last week had been relatively dull. Most of the Pogues were still incredibly banged up and had been using the time to recoup. John B had picked up a few extra shifts whereas CJ had opted to use some of her vacation time. She could easily work still, but a few extra days off didn't sound too horrible. Besides, John B had insisted that she need to rest. So, she traded cooking food and waiting tables for helping JJ fix up the van. It had broken down, so anytime JJ wasn't off cleaning up the island for extra cash, they were working on it.

By now, the bruises from Luke Maybank's assault were practically gone. They all were on the outside, but the deeper bruising in the ribs had been worsened by their latest fight. No remnants of that tussle could be seen in the face, but if you looked lower, the Pogues still wore patches of blue and yellow.

This was good for what day it was. July fifteenth, the day Midsummers was held every year. CJ always found it ridiculous that the Kook's legitimately had a big party just because it was the middle of the summer. Kie had begged the Maybank to go with her and despite desperately wanting to do anything other than attend a Kook ball, CJ was a good friend. Meaning she was now standing in Kie's bedroom looking through dresses. At least she got to use the girl's fancy jacuzzi tub.

"What about this one?" The islander questioned, holding up a floor-length blue gown. CJ titled her head slightly, looked it over, and shook her head. In response, the girl groaned, throwing her head back in exhaustion. "I don't even want to go to this stupid thing. I hate this."

"Yeah, well your mom might not despise me, but if you don't find something to wear soon, she will blame me." CJ reminded her, snacking on a graham cracker.

Kie huffed, walking back to her closet to stuff the thing back in. With a bit of shuffling, she pulled out the next one; a purple piece the seemed to be made entirely of silk. It had bikini straps and the material over the chest fell a little in the middle. Not enough that it would show anything, but enough that it looked sophisticated and classy. "What about this one?"

CJ took a moment to look it over. It would compliment her skin tone nicely and keep her cool. Running her eyes over the material one more time, the Maybank met her friend's eyes and nodded her head with a timid smile.

"Oh, thank god, now we can start getting ready."

The first thing the girls did was take off their bracelets. Where Kie had a bunch over her right wrist, all of CJ's were on her left. They consisted of small music bands and braided leather or string. Kie's necklaces were pulled off next, along with the chain around CJ's neck that held a key to the tiny cabin. That was put in her shorts pocket. Neither of them took off their rings as they never did. The one on CJ's middle finger matched the only one Kie wore and the one on her pinky matched the one on JJ's; they made them when they were eleven.

While Kie slid the purple dress over her legs, CJ pulled up a midnight blue one. This one had two-finger width straps and a v-line neck. It showed off a good amount of cleavage and had a high-low bottom; the front ended just past her knees, but the back continued down to her ankles. Where the top was tight, it tiered off at her waist, ending in a pretty ruffled out bottom with about a foot of lacey overlay.

The girls chatted about random things and fastened dangly silver necklaces from each other's necks. Kie wore a pair of earrings as well, but CJ didn't even have her ears pierced.

After a while, Kie's mom finally came around and helped them with their hair. CJ would gladly just go with it how it was, but the woman insisted that it needed to be touched up. So, CJ's natural beach curls were pinned up until it looked like she had a short bob. She had no idea how the woman had accomplished this, but she had to admit, it looked nice.

It wasn't until the girl's were switching their shoes - CJ from white low top Chuck Taylor's to black sandal wedges and Kie from yellow vans to buckled silver pumps - that Anna noticed they both still wore one of their bracelets. As much as the woman complained, neither of them would take the piece of orange bandana off their right wrists. That was something that never came off.

"We're all cut from the same cloth. Now it's just literal." CJ said with a smile, tearing five strips from her second favorite bandana. When she was finished, she twisted them and wrapped them around each person's wrist. "Now it's like we're always together, even if we're apart."

Ever since that day their eighth-grade year, they'd never taken them off. Not even when Kie ran off with the Kook's. They weren't about to take them off now for some dumb Figure Eight event.

"I feel like a pinup doll!" CJ called, now alone in Anna's room. The mother had shuffled the two into her bedroom, pushing her daughter into the bathroom to properly curl and put up her hair.

"Well, deal with it, Claire." Anna replied, picking up a piece of Kie's hair to twist in a curling iron. "You look beautiful."

Groaning, CJ was about to fall back on the bed but resisted. God knew if she messed up her hair, she'd have hell to pay. So instead, she just sat there and tapped her toes, slightly admiring the shoes on her feet. This whole dressing up thing wasn't her forte, but if she was honest, she liked the shoes. Maybe in some other life where they had enough money for stupid things like going out to a nice dinner, she would own them. But that just wasn't them.

Sitting there, CJ complained in her mind about how she'd rather be at home. John B finally had a day off, the van was fixed, and JJ wasn't helping clean up the island. It could've just been a nice night at home, chilling by the candlelight, but instead, she was going to one of the last places she wanted to be. Running into Topper and co was bound to happen and she was so tired of the conflict. They'd managed to stay out of it for the week, trying to recoup before they hit the Kook's back. It was in no one's best interest for only the female Pogues to be poked and prodded by OBX's finest.

CJ sighed, messing with her fingernails that Kie had properly filed and buffed. They were all shiny now, something that the Maybank had never seen. She'd never had the privilege of getting her nails done. Once, when she was about ten, she got her hands on some red nail polish and painted JJ's nails in his sleep. It was just supposed to be a joke, but when Luke saw it, he gave JJ his first black eye. The man was convinced that his son was 'some type of pansy' and he wouldn't have that under his roof. CJ hadn't touched the substance ever since.

"This is disgusting."

Looking up, CJ noticed that the mother and daughter duo had walked back into the room. Kie was standing in front of a floor-length mirror, looking over her completed ensemble. Her hair was pined up in a nice updo with a flower crown sitting atop it. Though she was more used to these things than CJ, that didn't stop the fact that she hated them. There was a reason she ran with the Pogues: this wasn't her life.

"I know. It's just horrible." Anna replied, sarcasm obvious in her tone. "I'm asking you to relax and go to a fun party."

"I look like a bourgeoise pig." Kie told her mother, turning around with a sour look on her face. It truly didn't matter what the girl was wearing, if it wasn't along the lines of a comforting t-shirt and shorts, she would complain.

Anna walked across the room, her movements being followed by CJ's eyes. "Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?" She requested, grabbing a pair of stud earrings that matched her off-yellow dress.

"Mom, people not three miles from here have no power, no running water, and we're going to Midsummers. That's so tone-deaf."

As Anna turned and just barely glanced at CJ before facing her daughter, the Maybank faced the other direction. She had no intention of becoming part of this argument. "Honey, do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island Club?"

"Yeah, mom. How could I forget? You had to grovel for like ten years-"

"Twelve, and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough, and do you know why we did that?" Anna questioned, coming back into the room from her closet.

"To keep up with the Joneses?"

"No, so that you could have the same experiences that I had as a child." Anna explained, stopping for a moment to lean on the banister of her bed before walking toward Kie. "Honey, do you know what the Island Club is?"

"A factory farm for debutantes."

CJ had to try hard not to scoff at that one. The reply just came so quickly and she had to raise the back of her hand to her lips to keep it from slipping out.

"It is a nice place..." Anna started, reaching toward her daughter's face with a smile plastered on her own, "with nice people, where you can do fun stuff."

"With out-of-touch rich people while the island sinks slowly into the ocean." Kie wasn't having any of it. She respected her mother for trying to do nice things for her daughter, but that just wasn't who Kie was. She didn't like the balls or mingling with old rich people or being around the kids in her school that hated her guts. Not to mention, she knew a big reason her mother did all this was to relive her own glory days, not so that Kie could find her own.

"Okay, I want you to put on your party face, Kie, if you want to live." Turning toward the bed where CJ was acting like she wasn't listening, she gestured at the girl. "Be happy your friend is coming, okay? And just..get in the spirit, because you're going."

With that, the woman took off, most likely to make sure Mike was ready. CJ watched Kie grumble before she turned to her best friend, plastering a fake sarcastic smile on her face. "Whoo, partay."

The Maybank giggled, turning onto her front to crawl over to the tanned girl. "Come on. With any luck, someone will crash the party and we can steal a bunch of crab legs."

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The girls had stuck pretty close to Pope all night, finding it safer and more appealing than being anywhere near the people on the dance floor. Eventually, Anna noticed what they were doing and pushed them toward people, demanding that they 'mingle and have a good time.'

As if this was their scene.

So now, they were just ambling around, making jokes about the stupidly dancing Kook's that thought they were brilliant. They made an ample effort to stay away from anyone affiliated with the bullshit brigade and probably ate more crab legs and celery sticks than was permitted. In their defense, they simply didn't give a shit.

It was quite hilarious though. Kie and CJ's favorite pastime throughout the dwindling afternoon was watching Sarah skirt around Topper while he had the biggest resting bitch face. Must be trouble in paradise. They ended up having to run for cover at one point because Topper caught them giggling at his expense.

By the time it started getting dark, the two were honestly pretty tipsy. They'd been snagging glasses of champagne from set down trays and got their hands on a few half-drank mint mojitos. They were currently snickering, making their way through the crowd, trying to get to the bathrooms. Kie had to pee and if CJ didn't readjust the stupid flower crown on her head, she might just throw it in the ocean.

"Oh my god, did you see her? She almost f-fell into the water." Kie spoke in between giggles, partially bent over as she tried to hold herself together. People were glancing over at them, but they couldn't care less. "I swear, I-I would pay all the money in the world to push her overboard myself."

They were talking, of course, about Sarah Cameron. The girl had been off on the dock and had stumbled or tripped over something and had almost fallen into the water. Luckily - for her - she managed to catch herself before she completely ruined her family's image.

"Fuck, can you imagine?" CJ questioned, her mind in a slight haze as they finally got into the big bathrooms. By sheer luck, there were no rich wives in their powdering their noses or snobby teenagers putting powder up them. "H-her step-mom would've blown a god damn fuse."

Both of them slowly started to get a grip as Kie disappeared into one of the stalls and CJ stood in front of the wall of mirrors, adjusting the dark blue and purple flower-filled crown. She couldn't help but snort as she thought of JJ with the thing on his head. He'd look like a princess.

All of a sudden, the door to the girl's bathroom was slammed open, making CJ jump. Glancing back in the mirror, fear seized her heart but she quickly covered it with anger and spite.

"Oh, I didn't know you three were ladies. Makes sense since you always seem to be on your period."

Turning around, she faced the Kooks, Rafe in front with Topper and Kelce backing him. The oldest wore a twisted expression on his face as they started stalking toward the girl.

"Funny thing, my bike broke down. Mechanic said water must've gotten into the gas line somehow. You know how that happened?"

"How would I know what happened to your dumb ass bike, Rafe?" CJ growled, holding her ground as they got closer. She could hear Kie trying to hurry herself up in the stall.

Rafe just laughed. The laugh that only maniacs have before they do something maniacal. His right hand reached up to wipe around his lips and he looked toward the distance before glancing back toward her. "Yeah, well, daddy dearest says otherwise. I hated having to bring my bike to that Pogue," he sneered, "but I've gotta say, it's pretty ironic. Now, I dunno which one of you did it, but my bet's on you." He growled, getting up in her face, pointing at her. "You know why? 'Cause Papa Maybank said the first time he'd seen this was when his darling daughter put water in his old pickup truck."

CJ started to back up as Rafe got more and more in her face. She was truly terrified. Her tipsy nature had almost completely been wiped away since the three stepped into the room. She was slowly sizing them up but anyone knew that she was at a disadvantage, even with Kiara a few yards away.

"Yeah, you see, my dad's a liar." She emphasized, leaning slightly forward as she continued to back up. "He blames anything he can on us, even if we don't do it. I never put water in his precious Toyota and I didn't put water in your fuckin' bike."

Finally reaching the corner, pressed tightly against the sinks and a wall, Rafe raised his arms and trapped her in. CJ's heart was racing, and not in the good way. "You know what I think? I think you broke down your daddy's truck and you broke my bike and I think you're gonna pay."

"Have fun proving it, buster."

"Oh, I don't need to prove it." Rafe drawled out, raising one of his hands to twist a piece of her hair between his fingers. A devious smile spread on his lips and he sniffled, an obvious sign that he was high. "I don't care about the money that you don't have, Claire. I care about that pretty face of yours being so beat up that John B couldn't fathom ever looking at you again."

It was at that moment that everything sped up. Rafe moved to grab her by the nape of the neck and at the same time, Kie finally rushed out of her stall. CJ was quick to duck under his arm, yelling at Kie to run as they made a mad dash for the secondary exit. The girls had grabbed each other's hands and were rushing through the building, slinking around people as the Kooks chased them. Every once in a while, one of them would yell, but CJ couldn't process what they were saying.

Eventually, the girls ended up in a locker room where the Kooks managed to block them in. Once they saw Rafe, they started to back up, but simply almost ran into Topper and Kelce. CJ was ripped from Kie's arms and the islander cried, trying to reach for her as she was held back by the dark-skinned Kook.

"Oh, you can run, but you can't hide." Rafe drawled, looking like an absolute madman. The boy was starting to unbutton his sleeves, rolling them up. CJ struggled in Toppers hold, but he was strong. The way she was held back made it impossible for her to headbutt him and the Kook had her arms pinned.

"Go to hell."

"You first." He mocked, slowly walking closer. "Now-"

Before he could get another word out, someone else entered the scene. Barreling through the doorway, JJ stood there in a slightly rumpled tux that he'd stolen a few years ago. It was obvious that he'd been on the Kook's tail just as they had been on Kie and CJ's; his breathing was slightly heavy and his face screamed murder.

"Look who decided to crash the party!" Topper called, his voice ringing in CJ's ear. The girl was still struggling in his hold, but the Kook simply wore a crooked smile.

JJ didn't say a word, he just rushed forward, trying to get to his sister. In a matter of seconds, Rafe had grabbed him, Kie had been locked out of the room, and JJ had been tossed over to Kelce for safekeeping.

"You're outnumbered, Pogue."

"Hey, Rafe? That stick in your ass? How about you go fuck yourself with it." JJ suggested, fire dancing in his eyes as he nodded at the older boy. In response, Kelce pulled the arm around his throat tighter.

"Let him go, you stupid son of a bitch!" CJ yelled, trying her hardest to wriggle an arm free so she could elbow Topper in the face.

"Oh, yeah, of course. Anything for the lady." Rafe said, eyes blown wide as he turned and gestured toward Kelce. "Yeah, yeah, you heard the lady, let him go." When Kelce made no move to do anything, Rafe straightened up and turned to CJ with a big grin. "See, look at that. We don't listen to you."

The twins continued to struggle and as Rafe got close enough to CJ, she spat in his face. "Oh, shit. Kitty got claws."

"Oh, I've got more than claws, bitch."

As Rafe was starting to make his way closer to her again, the lights suddenly flicked off and on a few times before going back to normal.

"Gentleman!" The Maybanks were abruptly thrown out of the Kooks' hold at the sound of someone else in the room. Now able to turn and see, they noticed a built man walk in - security. "And lady...is there a problem here?"

"Pardon me, officer, yes- yes, there is an issue here. One: these tuxed up assholes were chasing my sister, who is a guest here. Two: we have a criminal trespass in progress here. Yep, call it in, right? Blatant disrespect for private property. I'm in violation of all kinds of shit, sir, and you should escort me out of here. You got me."

As the security officer grabbed JJ by the arm, none of the Kooks moved as CJ followed after him. The blonde kept an eye on them, making sure none of them tried anything.

"Alright. Fix that tie, son." JJ called behind him as he was lightly dragged away. "Oh, you're lookin' spiffy too." He said, pointing at Topper's gross ensemble. "You Powerpuff Girls have fun."

"You know, your sister might be hot," Topper called, cocky smirk growing, "and I would know, but she's still a Pogue. A dirty, trashy Pogue just like you."

As JJ ripped himself out of the security guard's arms, CJ called for him to stop. A tussle had almost started once again, but the man managed to get ahold of the chaotic blonde, tugging him out of the room while Rafe yelled after them that this wasn't over.

It was never over.

It didn't take long to get through the house and both Maybanks were getting quickly annoyed at the way JJ was being manhandled. Sure, he'd trespassed, but the Kooks were the ones that started a fight. The only reason JJ was even a part of it was because he'd been trying to protect his sister.

"Look- look, man, I can walk myself. I got legs. Can you see that, brother?"

"Come on."

"I really appreciate what you did back there. Let me just walk out by myself." He said, struggling in the man's hold. It was then that they came across Kie who had been waiting for the security officer to come back with them.

"Hey. Hey!" She called and finally, the security guard turned to face her. "Let go of him, he didn't do anything!"

"He's trespassing, miss." The tall man replied as JJ continued to squirm in his arms. At this point, the whole party was watching as the Maybank continued to be tugged through the crowd. Stopping at a random table, JJ grabbed an older man's drink and downed it in one gulp.

"Rose!" He called out, pointing to Sarah's step-mother who had some weird crown on her head that Pope was sure she'd stab someone's eye out with. "You look like Lady Liberty."

"You're not helping yourself." CJ hissed, turning toward the security guard. "Seriously, we'll both leave, just please let him go."

The man didn't listen to her pleads, but she respected him slightly, nonetheless. He'd been kind for the most part and his hold on JJ was loose, sometimes non-existent when he wasn't trying to make a mad dash away. He'd looked to CJ with solemn eyes that said he couldn't do anything.

"Hey, stop! I invited him here! I'm a member of this club." Kie emphasized, following them as the man continued to pull him along. CJ's heart stopped in her chest, knowing the islander would most certainly be getting into it with her parents after this.

It was then that CJ noticed the look in her twin's eyes, mumbling a 'shit' under her breath. In the next three seconds, JJ had shoved the man away with CJ yelling apologies over her shoulder. She'd grabbed ahold of her brother's hand as the two started backing away.

"Alright, let's go!" He yelled, gesturing for Kie to follow them. "Pope, you comin'? Come on, workers of the world unite! Throw off your chains!" He shouted extravagantly, CJ being pulled along with him. Part of her felt bad and didn't want her friends to get in trouble and the other part was smiling at her twin's utter extraness.

Both Kie and Pope's parents had rounded on them, telling them they couldn't leave. That they needed to stay away from their friends. Neither of them listened, taking off after the Maybanks with big smiles on their faces. For better or worse, this was their family, and they weren't going anywhere.

The world came to a slight standstill as they got to the edge of the property. There was John B, in all his glory, standing there in the tux he'd worn to his cousin's wedding. The sight took CJ's breath away and for a moment, she didn't move, until she was rushing away from her brother and jumping into his arms. The Pogue spun her around, laughing loudly as she squealed in delight. Behind her, a similar scene was happening between Kie and the firstborn Maybank. Once Kie had been released, the Pogue pulled Pope into a big hug, leaving an exaggerated smooch on his cheek. And they ran off into the night without a care in the world.

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"So, do I look the part?" John B questioned as they stood alone on the dock. The rest of the Pogues were inside the house, their raucous laughter still able to be heard from across the yard.

John B was standing in front of CJ, his hands held in her own as he smiled down at her. The girl looked absolutely gorgeous and he twirled her in his arms just to see the full picture. The skirt of her dress lightly lifted, spinning around as she did. With a giggle, she stood straight again, both hands back in his.

"You look very handsome." She told him, a slightly shy smile on her face as she blushed. He'd never seen her in a dress. Not counting the few times in third grade that she'd been forced to wear that god awful yellow thing.

"Why thank you, my lady." Releasing her hands for only a moment, he reached into his pocket. Pulling out his cell phone, he tapped a few things before a song started playing through the speakers.

"Oh, my god. I thought it was dead?" CJ wondered, laughing lightly as he set the phone on the wooden railing. The boy turned back to her with a cheesy grin, twirling her once more. This time, she ended up in his arms.

"Some old guy gave JJ a portable charger for helping clean his yard. Figured having at least one working phone might come in handy."

CJ hummed, swaying in his arms as he stared down at her. "You know, I love this song."

The grin that had died down into a sweet smile tugged higher up as John B looked to the water for a moment. "I know you do."

Backing away, John B spun CJ out of his hold and the girl squealed. The sound made his dimples pop and when he pulled her back into him, her back was pressed against his chest. The Maybank's breath hitched and she could feel his heartbeat pounding against her skin. John B's chin rested on her left shoulder, moving them from side to side as he desperately kept himself from kissing the joint.

'Oh, me, I fall in love with you every single day and I just wanna tell you I am.'

The two swayed from side to side until John B spun her once again, pulling her into him. The girl giggled, placing a hand flat on his chest. Glancing up at him, she looked down, laying her head over his heart.

'Place your head on my beating heart. I'm thinking out loud; maybe we found love right where we are.'

John B's left arm was wrapped around her waist, his right held in her left. Twirling around the deck, they both barely paid attention to the music.

'When my hands don't play the strings the same way, mm, I know you will still love me the same.'

"We both know you only love me for my prowess with a guitar."

CJ slapped him lightly, giggling. "Oh, shut up. You'd be lost without my musical expertise."

A big grin lit up John B's expression as he leaned his head against hers. He'd be lost without her, period.

'I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways. Maybe it's all part of a plan.'

John B's thumb started rubbing lightly against CJ's back, the feeling sending shivers up her spine. It made her lean into him farther and the boy easily accommodated, pulling her closer. The two continued to move leisurely around the dock as John B's hand left her back to lift her face up.

'I'll just keep on making the same mistakes, hoping that you'll understand.'

"You look so beautiful." He whispered, the words just barely coming out. She heard them anyway, her eyelashes fluttering softly as she stared up at him. His eyes looked so pretty and they were swimming with an emotion that CJ didn't quite understand. The hand that had slightly dropped after lifting her chin was now softly holding her face, thumb rubbing against her cheek. CJ looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. The two were pulled in like a tether and after what felt like hours, but was only a few seconds, CJ's lips were pressed to his.

'But baby now, take me into your loving arms. Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars.'

The kiss was sweet and the hands that were still intertwined quickly fell, finding new places. CJ had wrapped her arm around his waist whereas his hand pressed lightly into her hip. Both party's minds were swimming. John B couldn't believe this was happening and CJ didn't even really realize what was happening.

'I'm thinking out loud, that maybe we found love right where we are.'

It was when CJ realized what was happening that the party ended. Pulling away from him, CJ looked up at him in shock. Her mind was running rampant, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. She stood there for all of three seconds before she bolted, taking off up the drive with John B desperately calling after her.

'Oh baby, we found love right where we are.'

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So, I couldn't find somewhere to add this in, but John B and JJ crashed Midsummers because they were worried about Kie and (mainly) CJ being around the Kooks alone. Turns out they were right and the boys saved the day 💪💪 JJ had gone around to look for them while John B waited to join.

Thoughts on the end? 🙃🙃🙃 Did you expect it? Sorry if it seemed kind of anti-climactic, I'm not good at this lmao

~SiriusCatBennett