005 !! MONEY

The chatter of the crowd feels fresh yet rather irritating to the ears of the short brunette making her way through the throng of people, her right hand firm in best friend's and the fingers of her left hand fidgeting with the strap of her halter top.

"Heard there's gonna be lots of good beer too".

She rolls her eyes at the joyous tone of Topper Thornton speaking in between Sarah's giggling rambles, her hand immediately tightening in Sarah's hold as if to convey an inaudible "don't you dare".

Sadly, where there is alcohol there is Sarah Cameron.

It's been weird, the way her literal other half has been attempting to drown herself in alcohol since the start of Summer.

She's tried to question her many times but Sarah always brushes it off acting as if Summer is the only time she gets to let loose so she's simply making the best of it.

That's not true though and Ember knows it.

"Just beer?", Sarah inquires in a disappointed tone.

Topper grins, "I'll get you whatever you want, babe".

Ember once again rolls her eyes glancing up at the Thornton boy.

"You might be into alcoholism but I sure as hell am not. Nor is Sarah. Don't encourage this".

"It's just fun, Ember".

"You and I both know—".

"Hey! Look! That stall's up! You were gonna buy me stuff from there, right?", Sarah interrupts quickly turning to her boyfriend who happily obliges and walks away with her.

Sarah's hand slips from Ember's and the brunette girl is left standing there in the middle of the rush, eyebrows knitted together and her lips pursed.

What the hell?

Something is up with Sarah. She's sure of it now.

Huffing, Ember walks to a stall closer to the one where Sarah and Topper are at and looks down finding a variety of trinkets.

Beautiful, intricately designed jewelry catches her eye and she tilts her head carefully examining it from afar.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Du Pont. This ain't real silver, ma'am. Hope your rich ass isn't put off by that".

Her gaze sharply cuts up to the blonde menace who just refuses to let her have one second of peace every time he's in close proximity to her.

She swears he's the reason for her developing migraine problem.

"That's real good marketing, Maybank. Keep it up. You're gonna make a name for yourself someday".

He clicks his tongue, leaning his forearms on the table and she is forced to notice the . . . . perfect structure of his biceps clearly visible due to the tank top he's wearing.

What must it be like to have those arms around you? That hand on your neck?

"Like what you see?".

And, that's the end of that.

She scoffs.

"Just concerned you're going to topple over the table with your weight".

He stares at her, amused.

"Wow, you're such a do-gooder".

"I am".

"Sure—".

"Ember! Hi! What can I help you with?".

Both of them startle and glance at Pope forcefully slithering into their conversation, shoving JJ away from the table as he keeps his entire attention fixed on the brunette.

"Pope", she raises her brows in greeting and he smiles a friendly smile.

"My mom made these for today. Have your pick".

She blinks reassessing the jewelry with a changed perspective.

"Mrs. Heyward made all these? They're beautiful".

"Yeah, she's got a knack for it. She sells some to a few Chapel Hill stores sometimes too".

"She's very talented".

"Thanks. You like any?".

"Uhm . . . ."

"Sure you wanna sell to the devil's spawn?", JJ whispers to Pope but his low voice can be heard even amidst the noise of the crowd.

"Shush!", Pope nudges him.

Ember glances up meeting JJ's nonchalant blue stare.

"You really gotta work on your whispering".

JJ narrows his eyes.

"What if I wanted you to hear it?".

"Then you'd know that I won't be offended. Unlike some people", she glares at him, "I take pride in who I am".

"That's because you've got a million dollar family waiting for you at home. And a fat trust fund. Talk to me when you start dealing with real life".

"JJ", Pope scowls but his friend stands unrelented.

"I said what I said".

"Real life isn't always dealing with a poor house".

He opens his mouth to respond but she immediately cuts him off.

"Pope, I'll take these bracelets. And these earrings".

"Okay", he nods, accepting the jewelry she lays in his hand and starts billing it.

She can feel JJ's eyes boring into the side of her head but she refuses to look at him or give him any other chance to try and attack her just because she was born where she was.

Who is he, trying to teach her about real life?

She knows enough about what the real world is like and enough to know that yes, her life is one of the better ones.

Financially, she has nothing to worry about which she knows is a big part of why so many people lead such struggling lives.

But that is all that is.

All she's ever known is money.

That is one thing she can always count on when it comes to her family, other than that there's nothing.

No emotional or personal bond strong enough to keep her anchored on her best days or to keep her safe on her worst ones.

Maybe JJ doesn't have that either — she's not dumb, she's heard the talk in the town she knows his father's an abusive son of a bitch — but the only thing that really distinguishes her life from the Maybank son's is money.

She isn't poor but she sure as hell isn't happy either.

And don't even start with what actually goes on behind the closed doors of the proud and respected Du Pont household.

She pays for her buy and takes the envelope containing the jewelry from Pope, half heartedly responding to his smile and turns away, shuffling over to where Sarah and Topper now stand beside the Cotton Candy stand.

She can still feel JJ's gaze on her, glaring daggers at her back willing her to chance a glance.

But Ember is nothing if not absolutely relentless.

***
it's been so so long idek if any of the og readers are here or not but i promised i'd try to get my shit together and hammer out an update for this book so here i am :,)
hope everyone's doing well and if you're into nhl then i've got an nhl fanfic series which i update regularly and will be adding onto soon!