"𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴'𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙾𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝚄𝙻𝙻 𝙺𝙾𝙾𝙺" ~Tate Johnson doesn't have a group of friends. She's not a Pogue, and s...
"Hey, Theodora," a voice came from the street behind Tate. She jumped and quickly swiped the tears out her eyes, turning around with an unreadable grin.
"Don't call me that, JB." She shouldered her bag and sidled down the walkway towards the Pogues. "You know you're the only one who does."
"My dad used to," John B said with a smile. "Hey, are you okay?" His eyes flicked up to the house, and at that very moment, the living room television came smashing through the window into the yard.
Tate swore under her breath, but turned to the Pogues with a half amused smile. "'Course I am, she does this all the time." Then, addressing all four friends, "Hey guys."
They all greeted her vaguely, eyes still trained on the run-down house. Tate had grown up around the Pogues, but she'd never been a part of them. With Big John Routledge as her favorite uncle, she'd always been closest with John B, but she knew the others in various ways. Despite this, she'd never had much interest in putting herself into one of the groups on the island, whether it be Kooks, Pogues, or anyone else.
"Did she kick you out?" Kiara asked softly. Tate and Kiara weren't close, but Tate had been working at Kiara's dad's restaurant, The Wreck, since she was thirteen. She was Mike Carrera's most valued employee besides, of course, his own daughter.
"Yeah," said Tate, "so we should probably get out of here before she throws any more furniture." They started walking down the street, deeper into the bad section of town.
"Where are you gonna go?" said Pope, still looking back at the house.
Tate shrugged. "My dad's, I guess. I flip-flop all the time- when one kicks me out, I crawl back to the other."
JJ was the only one to laugh at this. Tate had known JJ since before kindergarten because they used to live next-door to one another. When Tate's parents divorced, both of them bought new houses on opposite sides of the island. Her mother had gotten a beat-up bungalow, and her dad a glorified trailer. JJ and Tate had had a silent understanding of one another's situations since before either of them could remember.
"No, no," John B said, jogging to catch up with her and turning to face her, walking backwards. "Just come and stay with me, I've got an extra room and-" Tate was already shaking her head.
"Ummm no," she said, chuckling.
"You know I don't slum it with Pogues," she laughed, nudging him with her shoulder.
"You mean Pogues don't slum it with you," JJ called from the back.
Tate helped the boys get the boat to the water's edge, but then turned and started back towards the house.
"Where are you going?" JJ called.
She turned to face them. "Told you I'd be out of here in the morning. I gotta try and figure out my whole... situation. With my mom, you know?"
JJ jumped off of the boat and jogged to catch up with her. "You should come fish with us, it'll take your mind off of things, I promise." He looked at her hopefully.
"That's not what I'm trying to do," she said with a dry smile. "I gotta figure this out first. I'll catch you guys later." She turned to walk away again, but JJ cut her off before she got to the house.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Just take the day off," he pointed inland. "You know everything's gonna be a mess over there, it'll be hard to get to your place by land anyways."
Tate crossed her arms and her mouth twitched a little. "What happened to Pogues not slumming it with me?"
JJ seemed to think for a second, and then shrugged. "We can make an exception," he said, tilting his head and giving her an irresistible grin. "Just this once, for hurricane day."
Tate hesitated for a second, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet and chewing on the inside of her cheek. Finally, she relented. "Fine, just let me get changed real quick."
"She's hangin' with us today," JJ explained, sitting down next to Tate and kicking his feet back, his shoulder grazing hers. "Honorary Pogue."
"Mmmmm," Tate said with a grudging note to her voice. "Just for the day."
"Just for the day," JJ agreed, somewhat hesitantly.
"Cool," said Pope, as they neared Kiara's dock. She was already waiting for them with a cooler in hand.
