Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Are you copying my work?" Kiara asked the blonde boy who sat behind her in Spanish class. They were only three weeks into the school year, and she and this boy had never interacted with each other before, but Kiara had had a suspicion from the start that he might have been copying off of her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied. "I'm offended you would even ask me that, really. I'm just minding my own business."

"It's okay, I'm not gonna report you or anything. But you really shouldn't do that. That's academic dishonesty. You do realize you could get suspended for that, right?"

"Suspended?" The boy repeated. "What do you mean, suspended?"

"Temporarily removed from class for a designated period of time."

"Oh, okay. I was homeschooled before coming here, so this whole thing's kinda new to me. I didn't realize it was such a big deal, copying off of someone else. I'm just kinda confused in this class is all. My knowledge of Spanish is… well, nonexistent. I know 'bon voyage' and that's it."

Kiara laughed. "That's French."

"See, that's what I mean. The one thing I know in Spanish isn't even Spanish. I just figured it would look better if I handed in this worksheet with actual work on it than just a bunch of question marks, which is honestly the most I'm capable of producing in this class."

"Well, you have plenty of time to work on it," said Kiara. "It's not due until Friday. You could probably go to the teacher's office hours, or if you want I could help you."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Sure. I just want you to understand what you're doing instead of mindlessly writing stuff down. I took Spanish in middle school, so I kinda have an understanding of it."

"That'd be great," he replied. He seemed to be genuinely appreciative, too. "How much do you want me to pay you per session?"

"Oh, I'm not asking you to pay me."

"I insist."

"I'm doing this because I want to, not because I'm looking to get paid. If anything, you could donate to a charity."

"Alright, consider it done. Oh, and I just realized I never told you my name. I'm JJ. JJ Genrette-Maybank."

"Kiara Carrera," she said, "but my friends call me Kie. Nice to meet you, JJ."

"Nice to meet you too, Kie. Can I call you Kie? I know you said that's what your friends call you, and this is literally our first ever conversation, but I'd like to be friends, if that's something you're interested in."

He's so awkward, Kiara thought. Why is it kind of adorable? "Yeah, sure. I don't mind. Anyway, when were you thinking we could meet? Maybe this afternoon?"

"I can't do this afternoon, unfortunately," said JJ. "I've got volleyball tryouts." Prior to starting at Kildare Country Day, JJ had never played volleyball before, but his new friends all played, so he almost felt like he had to make the team otherwise they wouldn't want to hang out with him anymore. JJ was new to the whole friend thing, but he was pretty sure that was how it worked.

"Oh, good luck," Kiara replied. "My best friend's brother is the team captain, I think. Rafe Cameron. He's a senior. Do you know him?"

"Yeah, I know Rafe. He's actually a good friend of mine. Well, I consider him a good friend. I'm still not sure what he thinks of me."

"That's fair. I don't know Rafe super well myself, but I've seen him a couple times, both here and at his and Sarah's place. He seems nice enough. But enough about him. He's not here. If this afternoon doesn't work for you, maybe we can aim for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow should be fine," JJ said. "Where were you thinking? Library?"

"Sounds good to me." Kiara ripped off the corner of a piece of paper from her binder, wrote something on it, then handed it to JJ. "Here's my number. If something comes up and tomorrow doesn't work for you anymore, just text me and we can work something out. Or, like, if you ever wanna text me just to text me, that'd be fine too. I'm generally pretty good about replying fast."

"Good to know," said JJ. "Just so you know exactly what you're getting into, though, I inevitably will spam you with memes. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Noted," the girl replied with a chuckle. "Thanks for the warning."

"No problem. So, I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yep. Good luck with your tryout later."

"Thanks, Kie. I'm definitely gonna need it."

---

"Dude, I'll be honest," Topper Thornton said to JJ after volleyball tryouts, "I've seen car crashes more graceful than your performance back there."

"Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad," JJ defended himself.

"No, it was horrible," Kelce, one of their other friends, agreed. "It's gonna take a miracle for you to make the team." Unlike JJ, Topper and Kelce attended KCD in middle school and played on the volleyball team all 3 years. They were shoo-ins for the high school team; JJ was convinced them trying out was just a formality.

"Maybe not a miracle," Rafe chimed in. "I could talk to the coaches, try and convince 'em to let JJ on."

"Rafe, you saw him. I don't think anything you can say would change their minds about JJ not making the team."

"You underestimate me, Kelce. Bribery goes a long way, you know."

"Wait, what?" JJ could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because I can see how badly you want to be on the team. You should be grateful, JJ. I'm doing this for you, even though it'd be a disservice to the people who can actually play. If I knew you were gonna be such a p*ssy about it, I wouldn't have said anything to you and just let you think you're actually a decent player. Jeez."

"So you were gonna go behind my back, and you think that's better? Rafe, if I make the team, I want it to be because I'm good enough."

"Well, you're not. That's just a fact."

"Be that as it may, I still think that the spot on the team should go to someone deserving of it."

Topper scoffed. "It's not a question of deserving something, JJ. That's irrelevant."

"This is what I'm saying," Rafe agreed. "People don't always get what they deserve in life. At the end of the day, the most important things are money and power. The people who have it keep it, and everyone else just stays where they are at the bottom of the food chain."

"But that's not fair."

"Gimme a break. That's exactly what I'm talking about, with what is and isn't fair. That's some Pogue ass bullsh*t right there."

"Why do you keep using that word like it's an insult? Pogue?" The term "Pogue" referred to the people who lived on the Cut, the less affluent south side of the island, while those from Figure Eight like JJ's friends were known as "Kooks." JJ didn't understand why the so-called Kooks and Pogues hated each other so much, but that was just a fact of life on Kildare.

"Because it is one," said Topper. "Pogues are lowlifes, every single one of them. Everybody knows that."

"I don't think you can just generalize about a group of people like that, Top. My stepdad's a Pogue. Well, technically. He grew up on the Cut."

"That explains a lot," said Kelce. "At least he's just your stepdad, 'cause if he was your real dad that would make you at least half Pogue. I could never be friends with a Pogue."

"He probably just married your mom for her money," Topper added. "That's all Pogues care about at the end of the day."

JJ wasn't sure how to respond to that, and in all honesty this conversation was making him a bit uncomfortable. If this was what it meant to be a Kook-- to look down upon others just because they had less than you-- then he definitely wasn't a Kook. "Uh, guys, I think I have to go," he said. "My mom's been blowing up my phone." "The truth of the matter was he hadn't received a text from his mom since that morning. He just wanted an excuse to leave. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see ya, JJ."

---

When JJ got home, the first thing he did was find his mother, Larissa Genrette-Maybank. For as long as JJ could remember, Larissa was his best friend and confidant, always there to give advice when he needed it. Right now, he really needed it. "Hey, Mom, are you busy?"

"I always have time for you," Larissa replied. "Is everything okay? How did volleyball tryouts go?"

"Not great, to be honest. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. It's my friends."

"What about them?"

"They said some things earlier that I don't exactly agree with," said JJ. "Things about Pogues, and how they're all lowlifes or whatever. That just can't be true. I mean, isn't Luke a Pogue?"

"He is from the Cut, yes," Larissa replied, "but I'm not a big fan of terms like 'Pogue' and 'Kook.' They enforce old stereotypes about the way people from the Cut and Figure Eight are supposed to be, but the thing is it's not always that black and white. I think that's what most people on Kildare fail to understand. At the end of the day, it's not where you come from or what you have that matters, it's the kind of person you choose to be. Always remember that, JJ."

"I will. I just- I don't know what to do. About my friends, I mean. The whole Pogue thing today made me uncomfortable, and I have moments like that a lot with them, but at the same time, who am I gonna hang out with if I don't hang out with them? It's not like I have people lining up to be my friend or anything. I'm not exactly what you'd call 'cool.'"

"Are you kidding? You're so cool. You're the coolest."

JJ wanted to believe her, but he just couldn't. "You're just saying that because you're my mom."

"I'd be saying it even if I wasn't your mom. You're special, JJ, I ve known it from the start. And if these boys are making you uncomfortable, then you should find some better friends. I'm sure there's at least one other person at KCD who'd want to be friends with you."

"There is, actually. I exchanged numbers with this girl in my Spanish class today. Kiara. I was planning on texting her after tryouts, but I kinda got sidetracked."

"What are you waiting for? Text her! And let me know how it goes, would you?"

"Sounds good. Thanks for listening to me, Mom."

"Of course," said Larissa. "No matter what happens with Kiara or those boys, just know that I am so incredibly proud of you for putting yourself out there. High school is hard, and I can imagine it's even harder when you're coming from being homeschooled. You're doing amazing, JJ."

"I'm glad someone thinks so. I don't even know what the hell I'm doing half the time."

Larissa just laughed at that. "Honey, nobody knows what they're doing. We just pretend like we do. But I'll let you go now. You don't want to keep Kiara waiting any longer, now do you?"

---

When she wasn't saving turtles, listening to Bob Marley, or surfing at the break with her friends, Kiara helped out at the Wreck, her family's restaurant on Figure Eight. The main people who came there were tourists on the island, but even during the off season they still had some regular customers who would come by. Kiara did what she could for the Wreck, be it busing, waiting tables, or as it was on this day, washing dishes. It wasn't the most interesting work in the world, but after a while it almost became meditative, like her body was on autopilot.

Kiara was snapped out of her trance, though, when she heard her phone buzz. Excusing herself from the kitchen under the pretense of having homework to do-- which wasn't entirely false, as she'd get around to it eventually-- Kiara checked her phone, and sure enough it was exactly what she'd hoped for.

New Message from Unknown Number
hey kiara this is jj from spanish class, u gave me this number earlier today
here's some proof that it's actually me and not some rando lol
Image

Kiara couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the image JJ attached of him holding up the piece of paper she'd written her phone number on, a goofy expression on his face. She'd thought that everyone at KCD was stuck-up, and that was mostly true, but not JJ. JJ couldn't have been further from that.

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): hahaha hi jj! how'd volleyball tryouts go?

It took a bit longer than Kiara expected for JJ to respond to this message-- maybe he was just mulling over the best way to phrase it-- so she patiently watched the three dots on her screen.

jj: uh
do u promise u wont think less of me?

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): over volleyball? yeah no i don't see how that could possibly make me think less of you 😂
u bombed didn't u

jj: yep, crashed and burned like the hindenburg
idk what i expected tbh, i was never one for sports

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): yeah me neither, unless surfing counts

jj: id say it does
u surf? that's pretty badass

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): yep, my whole life
have you ever surfed?

jj: no but id love to try it
kinda sounds like a recipe for disaster tho

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): i'm sure it wouldn't be THAT bad
you should come out to the break with me and the guys this weekend, it'd be a ton of fun and i'm sure they'd love to meet you! :)

jj: ooh sounds cool, ill have to talk to my mom cuz idk if were doing anything this wknd but im sure itll work!
wait what guys are you referring to 🤔

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): just some friends of mine, john b and pope
they're from the cut, i hope that's ok

Kiara hated that she had to phrase it like that, but unfortunately that was just a part of Kildare life. The girls she hung out with at KCD refused to have anything to do with John B and Pope because they were Pogues, and vice versa. Why couldn't everyone just get along?

jj: yeah thats fine! imma be honest i dont care about the whole kooks vs pogues thing, i think its stupid af
i give negative 2 shits about what side of the island people come from, bro at the end of the day kildare is kildare

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): UGH YES SAME
i was honestly hoping you'd say something like that, everyone else i know is way too hung up on it
like pogue this kook that, it's literally so asinine

jj: its what now?

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): nvm
so anyway i'll see you tomorrow for our tutoring session?

jj: yup :D i cant wait

Me (kiara carrera 🐢🩵): me neither!

Chapter Text

About ten minutes into Kiara's tutoring session, everything on the worksheet was starting to make a bit more sense to JJ. He was even able to do a good portion of it without assistance from Kiara, which genuinely surprised him. "Have you considered going into teaching in the future, Kie?" He asked. "Because you'd be great at it. Like, seriously."

"No, I always thought I'd do something more with environmental activism," Kiara replied. "Saving dolphins and turtles, getting plastic out of the ocean, that sort of thing. We only have one planet, y'know? I wanna do what I can for it."

"Oh," said JJ. "That's really cool, actually. I respect that a lot."

"Thanks. What about you, JJ? Have you given any thought to your future career?"

"Bro, I haven't even given any thought to what I'm doing five hours from now," JJ replied with a laugh. "I'm more of a go with the flow kinda guy."

"I respect that as well. Also, can I just say, I'm having a lot of fun right now. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, I'm probably gonna need more tutoring down the road."

"I didn't mean that, necessarily. I just meant… hanging out. Chatting. Just the two of us. Like we're doing right now. You're just… really easy to talk to, Jayj. It's refreshing."

"Jayj?" The blonde boy repeated, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"Yeah, Jayj. I was just thinking, since you call me Kie, it's only fair that I give you a nickname too. I know, it's stupid-"

"No, no, not at all. If it was stupid, I would know; I'm, like, the world's leading expert on stupid. But that's cute, actually. I like it. Jayj."

"Alright, then," said Kiara. "Jayj it is. Do you want to keep hanging out after this? Maybe we could, I dunno, walk the beach or something."

"Yeah. Yeah, I like the sound of that."

---

Over the course of that week, Kiara and JJ only grew closer. The thing JJ liked about Kiara was that she was different from his other friends; with Rafe, Topper, and Kelce, he felt like he had to act a certain way in order for them to accept him, like he had to suppress parts of himself, but Kiara didn't seem to care about how weird JJ could be sometimes. If anything, she seemed to like it.

It was for that reason that on Thursday, when the volleyball coaches sent out the roster for that year's team and JJ's name wasn't on it, he really wasn't that upset about it at all. By that point, he'd accepted that the sport wasn't a good fit for him, even if he still hadn't worked up the courage to tell his friends that they weren't either.

That brings us to Friday, in the dining hall of KCD. Despite JJ not having made the team, his friends still let him sit with them. Apparently this was a big deal and JJ should be grateful or something, but he really didn't understand why this was. If he was really their friend, then they'd want him to sit with them either way.

"I'm having some people over to my place tonight, if y'all want to swing by," said Rafe to the others. "My folks are gonna be out of town for the weekend, so you know what that means. It's about to get wild."

"Oh, I'm so there," Topper said.

"Me too," Kelce chimed in. "What about you, JJ? Just because you suck ass at volleyball doesn't mean you can't still hang with us. We cool."

"Yeah, I know. And l, uh, thanks for the invite, Rafe. I wish I could come--" no he doesn't "--but, uh, I have plans."

"Plans? Hell you mean, you have plans?"

"I mean I'm gonna be meeting up with a friend."

"A friend?" Topper was clearly skeptical. "You have friends other than us?"

"Well, friend. Singular."

"And who is this friend, exactly? Do we know him?"

For some reason, JJ didn't feel the most comfortable telling the guys about Kiara. "Oh, well, uh, about that-"

Before JJ could say anything else, Kiara walked by their table. "Hey, Jayj," she said with a wave.

"Hey, Kie!" It came out a bit louder than JJ intended, as everyone in the dining hall turned to look at him.

"Ah, that explains it," said Rafe. "You can't hang out with us because she's got you p*ssy-whipped."

"What? No, that's not what this is at all."

"Really? Because that's what it looks like. Top, Kelce, is that not what this looks like?"

"Yep."

"Sure is."

"C'mon, man. I'm so disappointed in you. Whatever happened to bros before hoes?"

"Kiara isn't a hoe," JJ defended. "She's my friend."

"Oh, then if that's the case, you wouldn't mind putting in a good word for me with her."

JJ couldn't believe what Rafe was saying. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. See, I know Kiara. She's a friend of my sister's. She's pretty hot-- like, a solid eight or nine out of ten-- but before I make any moves I want to know for sure that I have a shot with her. That's where you come in, JJ. Think of it as you being my wingman."

"Dude, she's a freshman. You're a senior. That's just foul."

"It's not as bad as you seem to think it is, JJ," said Topper. "It's just a three year age gap. My parents are three years apart. It's really no big deal."

"Yeah, but they're both over eighteen."

"JJ, I really think you're overreacting."

"No, Rafe, I think if anything, I'm the only one here who's having an appropriate reaction. Look, if you wanted to date a girl your own age, I would've gladly been your wingman or whatever, but this is where I draw the line. This is, like, some creepy sh*t. I don't do creepy sh*t. My mother raised me better than that."

"So what I'm hearing is Kiara has you p*ssy-whipped."

"Will you stop saying that? It's degrading to women. And quite frankly, there's a lot of stuff you guys say that makes me super uncomfortable. I just- I don't think we should hang out anymore. I'm really not feeling like I belong in this group."

"Alright, fine, have it your way," Rafe said. "Say hi to Kiara for me, would you?"

JJ flipped him the bird as he left. "F*ck off."

---

"So what exactly happened earlier?" Kiara asked JJ as they walked to the Wreck from school. John B and Pope were going to meet them there, and Kiara looked forward to introducing JJ to them. She'd brought him up to them a couple times before, explaining that despite his technically being a Kook, he didn't share the same holier-than-thou mentality that most people on Figure Eight had. Though they weren't entirely convinced that such a thing as a nice Kook even existed, they were still interested to see what JJ was like.

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that, Kie," JJ replied, half joking as always. "A lot of things happened earlier. What, do you want me to start at the beginning of time? I don't think this walk is long enough for that."

Kiara laughed. "I think you know what I mean, Jayj. I saw you walk out of the dining hall. What prompted that?"

"Oh, nothing too serious," said JJ. "Just the realization that my so-called friends are total jerks and not exactly the kind of people I want to associate with."

"Oh. Damn. Okay. Was there a particular incident that brought on this realization? If you wanna tell me, of course. There's no pressure."

"Well, a lot of things made me start to think this," he began. "I mainly didn't like the way they talk about Pogues like they're inferior or something. Like, my step-dad's from the Cut, and he's the closest thing I have to a father, so the minute I hear someone talking sh*t about the Cut or about Pogues it's about me, it's about my family. But then, today, Rafe…" he trailed off.

"What about him?"

JJ hesitated. A part of him didn't want Kiara to know what Rafe had said about her. What if she liked him back? The idea of Kiara with Rafe evoked the most visceral feelings of disgust in JJ, and he would never forgive himself if he enabled that to happen. "It's not that important."

"Whatever happened between you and Rafe today, it made you storm out of the dining hall like a kid having a temper tantrum, so yeah, I'd say it's important."

"Touché."

"Yeah, so are you gonna tell me what Rafe said or are you just gonna leave me here to wonder?"

JJ figured he owed Kiara the truth. "He, uh, asked me to put in a good word for him with you."

"In what way?"

"In a he-thinks-you're-hot kind of way."

This made Kiara do a double take. "And this is Rafe Cameron, Sarah's brother, the senior?"

"Yeah, that Rafe. I told him how creepy and weird I thought that was, and he insisted that that was because you had me p*ssy-whipped. His words, not mine."

"Oh my God," said Kiara. "I don't even know what to say to that. That's just disgusting. I understand why you had the reaction you did now."

"Yeah, I wasn't just gonna sit there and let some dude with unwashed hair talk like that about my best friend."

"Best friend? I'm your best friend?"

"Mhm. You're also my only friend at the moment, though, so it's kind of by default." What JJ didn't mention was that even if he had a million friends, the title of best friend would still go to Kiara.

"Still. It's an honor to be anyone's best friend, on a technicality or not. Besides, I won't be your only friend for much longer. John B and Pope are gonna love you."

"I still can't believe you have a friend named Pope," said JJ. "What, is he Catholic or something?"

"No, he's not. And don't you dare ask him that, either. He's heard every joke under the sun about his name being Pope, and if he hears one more something tells me it's not gonna be pretty."

"Don't make any jokes about Pope's name. Got it. Anything else I need to know before I meet these guys?"

"Just that you don't need to be so stressed about meeting them," Kiara said. "All you have to do is be yourself, Jayj. You're awesome."

"You sound like my mom."

"Well, she's right. You're not like other people at KCD, Jayj. Hell, you're not like anyone I've met before, ever. My life is significantly better just because I know you, and I mean that. I mean every word of it."

JJ smiled. "I could say the same of you, Kie. You're a good friend."

"Thanks. I try to be." The two didn't say anything else to each other for the rest of the walk, which was only about five minutes. They just kept walking, Kiara holding JJ's hand (so he wouldn't get lost, she told him), and occasionally one of them would glance at the other.

When they finally got to the Wreck, Kiara led JJ to a table where two boys were already sitting. One of them, a tan brunette who looked like a stereotypical surfer dude, looked out at the water eagerly, while the other, who was dark-skinned with a wiry build, did his homework. Though he didn't know who was who, JJ figured these were John B and Pope. "Hey, guys," Kiara said as she sat down with them. JJ did the same, taking the seat across from Kiara.

"Hey, Kie," the brunette said. "This must be JJ. The unicorn."

JJ gave him a confused look. "Unicorn?"

"Yeah, that's how John B and I refer to you," the other boy-- Pope-- explained. "When Kiara told us she had a new friend at the Kook Academy who was super nice and down-to-Earth, John B said something about a nice Kook being like a unicorn, and the name stuck."

"Gotcha," said JJ. "If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't really consider myself a Kook. Most of the people who self-identify as Kooks aren't exactly people I want to associate myself with."

"Yeah, that's fair," said John B. "So what do you consider yourself? Because respectfully, you don't exactly scream 'Pogue.' Especially not in that KCD uniform."

"Oh, the uniform. I hate it. Like, this is supposed to be a free country; anyone who thinks that that sort of thing is okay does not care about freedom. The first week of school I tried wearing my uniform jacket inside out like Will Smith did in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but I got in trouble for that, so what I started doing instead is drawing on my shoes. Exhibit A." With that, JJ took off one of his Converse and placed it on the table for the others to see.

While JJ and Pope leaned in to get a closer look at the shoe, Kiara cringed. "Jayj, take that off the table," she said. "I don't know where your feet have been. And besides, if my parents find out you did that, they're gonna kill you. And me, by extension, because I brought you here."

"Kie, it's fine. Nobody's gonna know. Besides, I'll wipe the table down afterwards. I promise. I just wanted you guys to see my handiwork."

"Fair enough. Is that supposed to be a chicken wearing a coconut bra and Crocs and smoking a joint?"

"Sure is. I know it's pretty random, but it was the first thing I thought of."

"No, it's cool," Kiara replied. "Very you."

"I can't comment on it being very JJ because I don't know him as well as you do, Kie, but I agree with you about it being cool," said John B.

"Better than anything I can draw," Pope added.

"Thanks, guys. I'm pretty proud of it myself. And John B, to answer your question, I don't really consider myself a Pogue or a Kook. Before starting at KCD I never really left Goat Island, and the only people I know on Kildare are my classmates and now you guys, so this whole Pogues-versus-Kooks thing is new to me. I'm just kind of… existing."

"Goat Island?" John B repeated. "Hold on, that'd make you a Genrette. As in Francis Genrette, the guy who killed Blackbeard. Are you descended from him, by any chance?"

"I sure am. How do you know all of that?"

John B shrugged. "My dad's a historian. I know these things."

"Valid." The more JJ spoke to Pope and John B, the more interesting he saw they were. John B, for example, knew how to play the bass guitar-- the first song he ever learned on the bass was the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," one of JJ's favorites-- and had a record collection that his dad had started back in the day and he continued. Meanwhile, Pope wanted to go to college one day, to study forensic pathology and become a coroner. Bit of a weird career choice, but at least he had a plan for his future, which was more than JJ could say.

The four of them yapped for hours, until finally JJ said, "I should probably get going. My mom wants me home before it gets dark. I had a lot of fun with you guys, though."

"Yeah, me too," said Pope. "You're surfing with us at the break this weekend, right?"

"Mhm. I don't know if I'll be doing much surfing, though. Most likely, I'll just watch you guys."

"Either way, we'll be happy to have you there, JJ," John B chimed in. "How would you like to be in our group chat? It is called 'P4L,' which stands for 'Pogue for Life,' and I know you said you're not really into the whole Pogue/Kook thing-"

"No, no, it's fine. I'd love to be in your group chat. Never really had anything like that before, even with my so-called friends at KCD. And about the Pogue thing, if y'all are Pogues, I'd much rather be a Pogue than a Kook."

"Great. Just give me your number and I'll add you." John B handed JJ his phone, and he did just that.

"Thanks for being so welcoming to me, you guys."

"No problem," said Pope. "Any friend of Kiara's is a friend of ours. Safe home."

"Thanks, man. Bye, guys."

"Wait, Jayj," Kiara called to the blonde boy as he started to leave. "You're not going anywhere until you wipe down this table like you promised you would, remember?"

"Right. Sorry, totally forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me, Kie."

Kiara smiled. "No problem, Jayj."