CHAPTER TWO
[2]
song: keep your eyes peeled by ultra sunn

Holly St. James and Tyler Rutherford were dead. And all eyes were on Summer Sullivan.

The girl and her family were at the scene with the rest of Kildare County the moment the news hit the streets. Crowded around the Rutherford's home, staying behind the yellow tape and waiting for updates.

Summer wasn't sure what kind of updates people were expecting— they were dead. Everyone saw their bodies get pulled out on gurneys and taken away. Yet, she remained close by her dad and waited in anticipation with everyone else.

Tyler was her boyfriend. And Holly one of her best friends. And now they were both so dead, that their bodies had to be covered with a black tarp as they were brought from the home. But all she could think about was what the fuck was Holly doing at his house?

"You shouldn't be seeing this." Her dad turned and looked at her, concerned. "I can have Julie take you home—"

Summer realized she wasn't appearing as distraught as one should've at the scene of such a crime. She quickly glanced around the crowd, meeting eyes with a couple on-lookers who were desperate for the show they came here for.

She turned back to her dad, eyebrows upturned and fighting a trembling lip. "What am I gonna do?" She let out, her voice breaking.

"Oh, Summer." her dad frowned as he pulled her into a close hug.

It was too easy. "I should be here. I need to be with Camila. She lost a friend, too." She says before pulling away, and looking up at her dad.

"Okay, just stay close." He said.

The last thing Summer needed was her father feeling like adult supervision was necessary.

She gave him a quick nod before she turned to the rest of the crowd. She peaked around everyone on her toes, squinting from the bright police lights. She got a couple pats on the back, a couple of Oh, Summer. We're so sorry.' and even a 'Oh, Summer, is there anything I can do?' To which she replied, 'I don't know. I don't know what to think right now. I just need to find my friends.'

After pushing past more onlookers an accidentally walking between a camera and a live reporter, she spotted her friends standing in the shade of a tree.

Camila whipped her head around after Noah pointed out that Summer was approaching. To which she, whose eyes were red and puffy from tears, came rushing over to the blonde. She about tackled Summer over from the hug. "Are you okay?!" Camila asked.

Summer glanced around at everyone else over Camilla's shoulder, patting her back. "I'm okay, yeah." She took a breath.

Maybe now was when the grief was really starting to kick in. Seeing her friend group all standing together without Tyler and Holly. A knot formed in her throat.

She pulls away and looks at her friend. "Are you?"

Camila's eyes widen. "No?!" She seemed shocked. "I'm totally freaking out?!"

Summer looks past Camila to Noah, Celine, Topper, and Kelce. They all looked devastated. Mortified. Summer swallowed, putting a gentle hand on Camila's back as she walked her back to the group.

"This is scary shit." Kelce says, shaking his head. "I'm not fucking dealing with this."

"What's there to deal with? They're d—" Topper stops himself from finishing his sentence, eyeing Summer as she approaches.

"Did you hear how they found him?!" Kelce continues. "His guts were completely cut out from his body and—"

"Oh my God." Camila let's out a cry, bringing her tissue back to her eyes.

"Seriously, Kelce? Read the room." Celine walks over to Camila to console her, giving Summer a look, observing her stature. "You look spry." She comments passive aggressively, as she leads Camila back over to her.

"I'm in shock." Summer sends her a forced smile to the girl. "But thanks for the sympathy."

This group of friends had been a Kildare County staple since middle school. Summer, the obvious leader, had kept the same people close for a multitude of reasons.

Camila, Summer's closest friend, held something so sweetly innocent in those brown eyes. She was naïve, and easy to manipulate, which earned Summer's pity. But Summer envied Camila too. Her compassion, and her willingness to see the best in people. She sometimes wished she was more like Camila, but realized if she were, she wouldn't hold her position as self-proclaimed ruler of the Outerbanks.

Noah, someone Summer had known since she was very young, has always been a great listener, someone for her to lean on when needed. He was also very cute, and had such a massive crush on her he'd do practically anything she'd ask. And she knew that.

"This doesn't feel real." Noah speaks up, letting out a stressed sigh as he runs his hand through his buzzed hair.

Summer clenches her jaw, looking back over her shoulder to the house. His parents were surely inside, watching all of their friends treat their son's murder like their choice of entertainment for the day. Police were flooding the neighborhood for evidence, asking for security cam footage, interviewing people nearby.

"You think they're gonna talk to us?" Summer says, turning back to her friends.

"Who?" Topper asks.

Topper was an idiot. He was a family friend, her father and his grandfather worked together at the law firm. Which forced them into many shared dinners. He was nice, not a lot going on up there but the every-so-often spurts of aggression when his girlfriend pissed him off.

"The cops."

"You got something to hide?" Celine raises an eyebrow.

Celine, perhaps the only girl in the county that could hold a candle to Summer's attitude. She admired the girl's lack of fear of what Summer could really do to her if she pissed her off too much, and Celine always teetered on the edge of that for the thrill of it. Summer loved and hated her for all the same reasons. She was rich, pretty, and a raging bitch.

Noah gives Celine a look that said not the time for your usual bitchy antics. "I think they'll talk to all of us." He lets out a short sigh.

"We were the last people to see her alive." Camila realizes, her eyes wide and zoned in on the ground. "She— why was she—"

Summer let's out a quiet scoff, shaking her head as she turns back around to face the house. Cramps my ass.

"Sarah!" Topper shouts, rushing past Summer and over to his girlfriend who was heading this way.

Sarah was Topper's girlfriend. Someone Summer had never been very fond of at all. She saw right through this nice-girl act she constantly upheld, and knew she never really fit in with the rest of them. Sarah was a Cameron, which meant she was also filthy rich, and privileged, yet she insisted on acting like that wasn't the case.

Summer was too focused on the house, watching as police came in and out with plastic bags full of evidence, taking pictures of every little thing. She turned back to Kelce. "What are they saying happened?" She asked. Kelce looked over to Noah, unsure on whether he should tell the full truth. "I wanna know."

Kelce was Camila's boyfriend of three months in the seventh grade. And he'd stuck around since then. He was closest with Topper, and only really had a personality when there was another guy there that he could make crude jokes with. Summer always thought he was gay.

Kelce took a breath, hesitating. "From what I've heard— someone broke in and killed Tyler first. Cut him up good and left him in the bath—"

Tyler was Summer's boyfriend. That was it. An athlete, a jock. Good in bed, but that was it. Summer kept him around for entertainment at this point.

"Kelce..." Noah said quietly and turned to his friend, shaking his head.

"And Holly?" Summer pushed.

But Holly, Holly was lovely. Bubbly, and always excited to see you, and happy, and loyal. Or so Summer thought.

"Why was she even there?" Celine asked. "Wasn't he your boyfriend?"

"Jesus christ— you guys?! Our friends are dead. And somehow you're still taking the chance to make drama out of it." Noah flails his arms out. "Be normal, empathetic humans for once in your lives. Please."

Celine runs her tongue over the bottom row of her teeth, crossing her arms as she leans her back against the tree behind her.

Summer feels an arm brush past her and she lets out a quiet scoff at the lack of excuse me's being exchanged. When she realized it was Rafe Cameron, walking over to Noah and Kelce, her initial shock at the lack of pleasantries wasn't so surprising anymore.

Of course his first appearance of the summer would be here and now. Talking to his friends and paying her absolutely no mind.

Rafe. Sarah's older brother. Someone who'd found himself dipping in and out of the friend group when it was most convenient to him. Needed drugs? He was their friend. Going off to college? They were too childish for him. Summer hated Rafe. She hated how smug he was. She hated how he pretended he didn't see her.

She felt a hand on her back and she turned around to see Sarah, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

Summer wondered how many of these exchanges she would have. This all only happened last night. Everyone only found out a couple hours ago. She would surely have to go to funerals. Two funerals. And then she was going to be the girl with a dead boyfriend and a dead best friend for the rest of her life. So who knew how many 'I'm so sorry's' she was about to get.

She pulled away. Inhaling sharply before speaking. "I'm sorry too. They were all of our friends." Summer could see the way Sarah hesitated. She knew she wanted to say 'but he was your boyfriend'. But the idea that Holly was alone with him so late at night, was just going to be something everyone had collectively decided not to talk about. At least not now.

"We should stick together." Noah adds, earning Summer and Sarah's attention.

"Oh, guys—" Celine looks at Noah with a smirk. "Let him have his movie moment."

Noah was unamused. "I'm serious. Whoever did this is still out there. No one should be alone."

"You think they're gonna strike again?" Topper asks, concerned.

Summer let's the breeze sweep her blonde hair gently across her face, watching Rafe as he continued his conversation with Kelce across the circle.

She wasn't sure why she expected him to never show his face around her ever again, these were all his friends just as much as hers. Maybe she thought he'd enjoy college so much that he'd choose to never come back. Maybe she hoped that was the case.

He glanced over and met her eyes, a subtle smug look— that only she would catch— taking over his expression. "You alright, Sully?" He nods towards her slightly.

She kept steady eye contact, trying not to look phased by his attempt at acting like nothing had happened between them, and the use of her nickname on his lips. "Fine." She responds, with little to no emotion in her voice, then quickly returns her focus back to the conversation Noah was leading.

She felt his eyes stay on her, and knew she wouldn't be looking in that direction for the remainder of however long they'd all linger outside this crime scene.

"You seem to know a lot about this killer's plan." Celine leans up off the tree and looks at Noah with narrowed eyes. "Almost like... they're your plans." She says amusedly.

Noah rubs his eyes, and mutters under his breath. "You're all sociopaths."

—

A memorial service was planned only a day after the news spread, hosted at The Island Club by Holly's family. It seemed the entire town had once again gathered for the two murdered teenagers. However, this time they wore formal attire, and had instead gotten all of their whisperings out of the way the day prior.

It wasn't a funeral. The bodies were still being autopsied. But the St. James' weren't the type to miss out on a chance to throw a social event.

Summer sat in between her father and stepmom who stood and shook the hands of those around them. Accepting grievances in Summer's place, as she was too preoccupied staring off into space to accept them herself.

Chairs were set up on the outside deck in front of two big photos of Holly and Tyler, in between them a mic stand. Dr. St James, Holly's father, approached the mic with wet eyes, and everyone quickly quieted their conversations to take their seats.

"First, I'd like to thank you all for being here with us today." He began.

Summer swallowed harshly, unsure how well she was going to take this. Hoping to distract herself enough to not let any real tears form, she fidgeted with her charm bracelet.

She felt a harsh tug on a strand of her curled hair behind her, and her head yanked back with it. Quickly, she turns around to see Rafe walk past her in the row of seats to sit with his family, hiding a smirk on his lips.

She clenches her jaw, trying her best to hide her own as she turned back around. Barely a week back in town and he was already on her nerves again. Or whatever it was she wanted to call this feeling.

"Holly was always surrounded by the most wonderful, supportive friends. Kiara Carrera, who was her first friend since we moved here in '09. Noah Holland, who never hesitated to give her rides to school since she was too stubborn to get her license. Camila Baldwin, who always made sure Holly was—" his voice cracked slightly. "—getting her chemistry homework done."

Summer heard a mix of a cry-laugh come from assumedly Camila somewhere in the seats.

"Summer Sullivan, who planned Holly's Sweet 16 all on her own."

Summer felt people turn and glance at her, but she kept her eyes focused straight ahead. They weren't thinking 'how nice of Summer' they were thinking 'I wonder if she knows Holly was fucking her boyfriend?'.

Now she did.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Dr. St. James continued on for what felt like another hour. An hour of sitting in the front row, feeling everyone's eyes on the back of her head as they talked about 'Tyler and Summer.' Boyfriend and girlfriend since the eighth grade.

Perhaps it was acceptable to up and leave a memorial service if the people you're remembering were your boyfriend and best friend. Maybe people would think she just couldn't take it anymore and that she had to go cry in private. She just needed a drink.

She choked out a couple tears. Real or fake, she didn't even know herself. It was once she got a pat on the back from her father, she knew she was game enough to make an exit.

Tyler's mother stopped in the middle of her speech to watch Summer stand and make a quick exit inside, as did the entire rest of the town. 'Oh, poor girl.' She heard someone say from the seats.

There was no one left inside but the bartenders. And although the doors to the deck were wide open, you could really only hear the sound of the waves now.

She held her purse in her hand and approached the bar, wiping leftover tears off her cheeks. "Vodka soda with lime?" She says before she even sits down.

"Can I check your ID?" He asks.

Summer stops situating herself on the bar seat to give the guy a bored look. "Seriously?"

He swallows harshly, glancing outside before sending her a quick nod. She lets out a deep sigh before rubbing her eyes. Reaching into her purse, she pulls out a small handheld mirror to check what was left of her makeup. Her mascara had smudged a bit, and the trails of tears had left empty streaks in her blush.

Behind her she saw a figure sweep past. She jumped a bit, closing the mirror in the process as she whipped her head around. It was only Rafe, who was making his way out of the bar area and down another hallway.

She turned in her chair, leaning up a little bit, curious to see where he was going. She glanced at the bartender, sending him a look that read 'hurry it up', and the look on his face read 'I hate my job.'

He put a lime on the rim and before he could even set the glass down on the bar, Summer had taken it and was up and out of her seat.

What game was he playing at? She wasn't exactly sure how one usually went about something like this. But he was being so cocky. Like it wasn't him begging for her.

She sipped her drink through the tiny straw, holding her purse in her arms as she slowly followed behind him, a good distance enough away so that he wouldn't be able to hear her heels on the marble floors.

There were a few stragglers inside, who were too drunk to realize the service was going on outside. One of them, someone's dad— she assumed— stood to approach her, a sad look on his face, when she shot him a nasty look, he quickly sat back down.

Rafe glanced around, and Summer quickly ducked behind a pillar to make sure not to be caught. When she heard a door open, she slowly peaked her head back around, watching him slip into one of the card rooms.

Her eyebrows furrowed together, confused as to why he of all people was sneaking around The Island Club. She took another sip from her drink, as she tip-toed closer to the door.

It was barely cracked open, leaving just enough room for her to watch whatever it was he was doing from out here.

He scratched his head, letting out a frustrated sigh as he came around the table and leaned against it, on his phone.

That was it. He just sat there and scrolled on his phone.

Summer was expecting something a little bit more exciting than this.

"What are you doing, Summer?"

She didn't even realize her name was said at first, she turned around to see who was speaking only to realize it was Rafe.

She swallowed harshly, pushing the door open a bit further. His back was to her, and his head was barely turned over his shoulder to face her.

She was about to make a snarky comment about why he looked so depressed, then quickly remembered they were at a memorial service for two of their friends. She inhaled sharply before speaking, "What are you doing?" She asks, slipping inside the room and shutting the door behind her.

Rafe finally leaned off the table to turn and look at her. Immediately she wanted to sink into herself, but the girl had perfected the art of faking confidence. She lifted her chin and raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"I missed you." He ignored her question. There was no sense of any genuine feelings in his voice. He only said it to get some sort of reaction from her.

"I'm sure you did." She smiled proudly. "I can't say I spent much time thinking about you."

Rafe smiled softly as he shrugged, his eyes tired. "I guess things worked out in the end." He added, his eyes trailing down to his own hands as he fidgeted with the rings on his fingers. He looked back up at Summer to await her response.

Her eyebrows narrowed. "Meaning what?"

He came around the poker table, slowly stepping closer to her. "Meaning..." he began. "You were both cheating on each other. That should make you feel a little bit better, right?"

Summer's mouth gapped open in shock. "I wasn't cheating on him it was one time—" she spoke in a quieter voice now.

"Twice." Rafe corrected.

She let out an annoyed scoff, wondering why and how she ever let anything happen between them. He so easily got under her skin, and he lived for moments like these where he made her so flustered, she had nothing snarky left to say.

"Are you okay though, really?" He asked.

Summer looked up at him, searching in his eyes for some sort of sign that he was just playing with her, but this question felt genuine. Maybe Rafe was smart enough to realize that there were some moments that didn't need to be so hostile. A memorial service was one of them.

She clenched her jaw. "I'm fine."

Rafe didn't respond for a second, waiting for her to continue. His eyes searched for something that would reveal the truth. But now wasn't the time for her. Not yet.

And like clockwork, any sign of authenticity in the boy had disappeared in an instant. He shrugged with a sigh, taking a step closer to the girl. "If you need something to take your mind off of it..." He started smoothly.

Summer's eyebrows lifted and she felt the tug of a smirk on the corner's of her lips. She brought her hands up to the collar of his shirt, straightening it out a bit before tugging him closer to her face.

She admired the initial shock on his face, feeling satisfaction at how easily he let his walls fall down around her. She took a deep breath before speaking, "Never again." She whispered, frowning in his face.

Summer pushed him away, turning to leave, but stopped as she felt his hand latch onto her wrist. She almost spilt her drink as she spun back around.

"Summer." He gave her a stern look. One that was made up of desperation and anger. One that reminded her that their past together was never a game, that this was all much more serious than Summer had made it out to be in her head.

They held eye contact for several seconds, before she shook his grip off of her and slipped out the door without another word.

a/n
i hope you enjoyed the first 2 chapters !! i'm reworking the chapters much quicker than i thought so expect another update soon :)

if you've read my other books u probably know my bsf carly ( geminivvvv ) who makes edits for all of my work because she is so amazing and talented and i love her and i will die for her. anyways she's already made a ton of edits for this book so go follow her on tik tok (@/geminivvvv) and support her even tho i don't have an account myself shower her w love and comments and likes for me <3

thank u for reading ~
- jane