CHAPTER TWO
POGUES VS KOOKS

THEO HAS ALWAYS HATED THE WAY the people around him seem to dismiss their wrongdoings as if they'd done nothing wrong at all. Topper Thornton has been getting on his nerves all morning, constantly blabbering about the fact he'd had a gun held to his head the night before, almost as if he wasn't the one who tried to drown somebody to begin with.

When Maisie had told Theo she wanted to help with some extra clean up from the hurricane, he assumed she meant for somebody who would actually need their help, not going down to the Cameron's. If he isn't going to get paid for helping, he at least wants it to be for a good reason - there are people on the other side of the island who don't even have power right now.

"I heard you actually left the house last night, Silver?"

Theo turns his gaze to Rafe who is sipping on a beer, his shades hiding his eyes but Theo knows there is a twinkle of mischief in them. If Theo disliked Topper, then he despised Rafe. There's just always been something about him that rubbed Theo the wrong way, an attitude that makes him want to pour a drink over the guy's head.

"Yeah. Mais wanted to go to the kegger so I went with her," Theo responds quietly, playing with the cup in his hands to try and distract himself from the glances of the others.

"So you saw what happened with Top and the pogue?"

That catches his attention, Rafe and Topper both staring at him with a look he isn't so sure he likes. The older of the two has gone at him before, pushed him because of the way he conducts himself. Rafe doesn't like the idea of any kooks hanging around with Pogues, even if he isn't really associated with them himself. Theo and Rafe aren't friends, they're hardly acquaintances, and yet he seems to care about the brunette's business.

"You mean when he had the gun pointed to his skull? Yeah I remember it pretty vividly," Theo says, raising his eyebrows as if to ask what Rafe is getting at. "I also remember watching him try to drown John B,"

Maisie kicks him lightly with her foot, somewhat mortified that he'd brought it up. Rafe's relaxed expression sours very quickly, Topper looking less than impressed as well.

Maisie let's out an awkward chuckle. "T had a lot to drink last night, he probably doesn't remember it too clearly,"

"Not enough to render me incapable of comprehending what was happening in front of me. Kind of a dick move by the way,"

Topper scoffs, disbelief at the fact he's actually being called out. "You can't actually be serious? You think it's okay that he pointed a gun at my head?"

"I never said that, I just said that maybe you shouldn't try to drown people's friends and they wouldn't have to take such extreme action,"

Maisie looks as if she currently wants to be anywhere else but here, Rafe looks furious which definitely isn't a good thing and Topper still has that look of disbelief plastered across his face. Rolling his eyes, Theo grabs his phone from the table in front of him and walks away, leaving the small group to chat amongst themselves. He ignores Maisie's call of his name, knowing that if she really wants to speak with him, she'll find him later.

It's a pretty easy decision when it comes to knowing where to go, the beach always holding some sort of homely feeling for him. Growing up, his father was a huge lover of the ocean, which explains why their home has such a good view of it.

He makes it his mission to put as much distance between him and the kooks he'd just spent part of his day with, moving further towards the Cut rather than staying in Figure Eight. It's a lot more peaceful, a couple of boats out on the water but nothing compared to all the ones near home.

Theo sits down in the sand, bringing his knees up and wrapping his arms around himself. His eyes don't leave the waves, the water washing up onto the shore and brushing the edges of his shoes which are in desperate need of replacing. There's quiet chatter picking up from around him, but the air is enough to soothe the pulsating feeling against his skull that had come about due to his excessive drinking from the kegger.

His phone is buzzing in his pocket, more than likely it's Maisie trying to reach him but he's not really in the mood to chat with her right now - she knows that too. When he goes off on his own, he wants to be on his own. The boy doesn't need somebody chatting of his ear about how rude he was the a bunch of pretentious jackasses, it felt quite good to put them in their place actually. Boy, would his mother be having an absolute cow about this if she was here to see him. He doesn't know what she'd be more upset about, the fact he went off at them or that he's now sitting along the shores of the Cut. She'd always looked down in them, always.

He pulls the device out and sees his best friend's name on the screen, rolling his eyes he presses decline. The phone keeps ringing and Theo kind of wants to throw it in the ocean, give him some real peace and quiet for once in his life. He does know though that if he does, his father is unlikely to buy him a new one just yet and he'll be left without one entirely - which would suck. Maisie should've got the hint by now, she should simply continue to hang around with those assholes and leave him alone for a few hours.

"You do know phones have an off button right?"

Theo is startled by the sudden appearance of another person, the phone slipping out of his hand and straight into the sand. He scowls lightly and picks it up, dusting off the excess sand before looking up at the intruder. He stops in his tracks when he sees the golden blonde hair, the sun shining on it and bringing a new glow that Theo just cannot explain. JJ Maybank is standing right there, looking just as beautiful as Theo remembers from the night before.

"Yeah, just not sure whether I should use it or not," Theo responds quietly, any ounce of confidence from earlier now faded in the presence of the stranger. "She'll probably send the cops after me,"

"I'm sure this is the last place they'll look. A kook down here? Almost unheard of," JJ scoffs, fixing the hat on his head with somewhat of a scowl washed over his face. "Just answer it dude, the ringing is driving me insane,"

Theo wants to bite back with something like "Then leave," but the last thing he wants to do is upset him. He sighs and clicks the accept button.

"Theo! What the hell? You can't just storm off like that, I was worried," Maisie speaks through the phone, her voice practically breathless as she splutters the words out to him. "I know they were being dicks but that whole thing isn't our business. JJ and Topper can sort it out themselves, okay? He hasn't shown his face since then anyway,"

Theo looks up at JJ again to see him still watching, eyes narrowed as the rambling continues on the other end. "Yeah, well I'm kind of looking at him,"

"What? T, why the fuck are you hanging around with JJ Maybank? You didn't even know who he was before yesterday,"

"I'm not hanging around with him, May. I'm at the beach, it's a communal space, you know I don't own it,"

The twinge of sarcasm is there, more than likely covered by the annoyance he's feeling. If there's one thing about his best friend, it's that she's never been really good at picking up on his sarcasm - most of the time he sounds completely serious.

"J-just, just be careful, okay? He has got a gun, remember?" She seems almost desperate to sneak that in.

"Yes, Maisie I'm well aware. I don't think he's going to shoot me on public property where everybody can see, are you JJ?" Theo asks the boy who shakes his head with the smallest of smiles on his face. "I'm fine, just make sure Topper doesn't try to drown you, okay?"

"T he isn't going to -"

"Bye Maisie,"

He hangs the phone up and throws it back on the sand, his gaze once again on the waves in front of him. He loves her, he really does, but at times she can get a bit much. Maisie had been a lot like him a few months back, despised Topper and Rafe and yet now she's happy to hang around them as if the sun shines out of their ass or something. He doesn't care that she has other friends, he just wishes she picked better ones. Whilst he isn't too familiar with Sarah, he knows she's definitely a better choice than her brother and boyfriend.

"Maisie Gardner? I haven't spoken to her in years, kinda forget she exists sometimes," JJ speaks thoughtfully.

"You know Maisie?" Theo asks the boy, curious. He'd seen the way she acted with John B last night when he'd simply asked her a question, sounds like she isn't a fan of JJ either. "She never mentioned that. I only ever hear about you through the stories people tell,"

"Sounds about right. I don't know why a kook like her would want to relive their pogue days,"

That's news to Theo because Maisie barely ever mentions her childhood, they'd met when they were ten and never looked back. It sort of makes sense, the others around Figure Eight wouldn't give her the time of day if they knew she was from the other side of the island. Not him though, he would never, and that's why it's a little surprising that she'd never mentioned it. Any time he'd asked, she would simply say she was from out of state.

"It's hard to imagine her without her designer handbags, I know, but it's who she used to be," JJ shrugs. "Hope that doesn't ruin your perfect image of her,"

"What are you talking about? Maisie is Maisie. It may come as a shock to you, but I don't give a fuck about where she grew up," Theo's tone is almost vicious at the end, annoyed at his assumption.

"You'd be about the only one, Kook,"

It's not a nickname he gets very often, not to his face anyway. People from the Figure Eight don't call each other that, and whilst he sees people from the Cut all the time, Theo usually doesn't get spoken too. It's odd, he doesn't particularly like it, but he isn't about to correct JJ on something that is factually true. He is a kook, just perhaps less dicky than the rest of them.

"Is there a point to this conversation? Surely you have something better to do than talk to me," Theo speaks, ruining the somewhat comfortable silence that had formed between the two of them.

"Not really. I was waiting for John B and wanted to investigate why a kook was on our side of the island. Kie is one of the only ones that'll come here without some sort of ulterior motive," JJ replies truthfully.

"Well I promise I'm not here to cause trouble. This just happens to be the furthest place from where Maisie and her new best friends are,"

"Right I-"

"JJ!"

Now that's a familiar, Kiara's voice flowing through the air as she rushes over to where they are. Her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion when she sees Theo sitting there, the boy simply raising his hand at her in greeting before turning his attention away. The blonde talks in hushed whispers to his friend, nodding away to whatever she says in response. He can't hear them properly, he's not entirely sure he wants to, but it seems pretty important.

"I'm going to leave the two of you to it," Theo finally comments, pushing up off the sand and dusting off his pants. It catches their attention. "Uh look, it's not really my business but just watch out for Topper, Kelce and Rafe. The three of them aren't too happy about what happened last night,"

"Thanks," Kiara's voice is a little kinder than he last remembers hearing it. To be fair to her, it hadn't been the best night for her then, Theo still remembers the crushed look on the girl's face as she watched Sarah Cameron's party happen without her. "It was nice to see you again, Theo. Say hi to your dad for me?"

"Of course. See you later," Theo sends them a small smile before walking off towards the last place he actually wants to be.

Theo stares at the screen in front of him the following afternoon, the page practically blank. He has since deleted his drunken rabble from last night, not needing to see that when he's trying to think. The gentle patter of rain on his window is enough to help him relax though, the harsher weather conditions are something that he finds help him focus.

"The teenager on this side of the island are incredibly pretentious, a little peculiar or perhaps the better word is ignorant. They worry more about what the 'pogues' are doing wrong rather than what they've done to cause said reaction. It's so odd, that somebody could merely turn a blind eye to the fact they'd assaulted somebody and somehow make it somebody else's fault.

Topper Thornton and Rafe Cameron are two of the most self-centered human beings I've ever come across in my sixteen years of life. The latter is somewhat of a puppet master, tugging on Topper's strings to make him act the way he feels appropriate. In another life, Topper is free from the control of his friend and finally able to think for himself - in that life maybe the two of us would be friends,"

Theo presses the enter button and bites his lip, unsure of whether to continue the way he wants to. This isn't the final draft, it can't be with the way he's constantly interchanging things and adding extra sentences as the days go by.

"I spoke with the boy they seem to detest so much, his hair glowing under the light of the sun and his eyes twinkling like stars. He seemed so full of life, the complete opposite the to run down 'pogue' they constantly speak about. We didn't exchange too much conversation, we didn't have to. I already knew this one boy, who didn't have the world handed to him on a silver platter, could amount to somebody so much more than either of them could dream of if he was just given a fair chance.

He had genuine care for his friends, a love so deep that I can only compare it to that of me and my own best friend. The type of love where you'd do anything for them, no matter the consequences. It's not something you see much of in the Figure Eight, if you don't have money, you don't matter to them.

I'd take that sincerity over money any day,"

Theo is startled by the sound of the doorbell, frowning softly as it continues to ring. The only other person who ever really comes here is Maisie and he can't remember the last time she even bothered to ring the doorbell, his dad had practically given her free access to their house when she started coming around so often.

He closes his laptop and heads downstairs, ready to throw something at the person on the other side of the front door - he got the message the first time, they don't have to keep pressing the button. Theo opens it up and is ready to have a go at whoever it is when he stops in his tracks, eyes connecting with those same beautiful ones he'd seen the day prior.

"JJ? What are you doing here?" Theo questions, eyes going over the boy's shoulder to see a van parked in front of his driveway. He can see John B, Kiara and Pope trying to act as if they aren't paying attention to the situation, but they're not very convincing. "Scratch that, how do you even know where I live?"

"John B worked here, remember?" JJ phrases it more as a question than a statement. Theo nods his head in response, now looking at JJ again. "Also, I have something to give you,"

JJ pulls something out of his pocket and holds it out, a sigh of relief falling from Theo's mouth as he sees his phone in the boy's hand. "Fuck man, I thought I'd lost that,"

Theo takes it from him, ignoring the slight skip in his heartbeat as their hands brush over one another's, and switches it on to see over a dozen missed calls from Maisie. They still hadn't spoken since yesterday, she probably thinks he's straight out ignoring her even though that's not the case.

"Thank you, I uh, I owe you one," Theo speaks.

"And how would you feel if I cashed in that favor right now?"

NOTE!

Thank you for stopping by! I'm really enjoying writing this at the moment, so I'm hoping to have some more updates out soon! Please let me know what you thought and I hope to see you next time :)

made by fireandbloods