༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒－𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 ༄

THALIA SMOKED HER joint happily to avoid thinking about what would happen when she went home. She knew she was getting kicked out, there was no way she wasn't. Thalia should've been thinking about where she would go, but she would rather smoke in peace. John B drove the Twinkie to where he was supposed to meet Sarah, turning off the engine. "All right." John B said, Thalia sitting up, preparing with the others to exit the van.

        "Hit it, boys! We're goin'. Recon mission." JJ said as Pope slid the back door open.

        John B turned in his seat. "Yo, uh... so, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself... tonight." he spoke over the rolling thunder.

        JJ scoffed. "Really?" he questioned in disbelief, sitting back down as Kie rolled her eyes.

        "What?" John B asked defensively.

        "Nothin'." JJ sat back against the seat Thalia was laying horizontally on, using his backpack as a pillow.

        "I don't want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery." John B said.

        "I just don't understand why we're involving her at all." Kie said loudly, for what felt like the thousandth time.

        Thalia rolled her eyes, taking her joint out of her mouth. "Do you ever shut your mouth?" Thalia questioned, Kie not answering.

        "Kie, we're not involving her, okay? It's... it's just, uh, like a... a business meeting... thing." John B said. Thalia handed JJ her joint, Pope laughing at something he did to it before sticking it in his mouth.

        "You said we weren't involving Thalia. You said that it was convenient for her to help us that one time, and here she is, still here. I believe your exact words were, 'she's a psycho drug addict. She's not our friend.'" Kie brought up.

        Thalia's face fell. "Wow. That's nice, guys." she said, sitting up.

        The boys all looked ashamed. Pope couldn't even meet Thalia's eyes. "It wasn't like that." JJ said quietly.

        "Kinda sounds like that's exactly what it was," Thalia said bitterly. She snatched her joint back from JJ and stepped over him. "You assholes have fun chasing pots of gold. This psycho drug addict has better things to do." Thalia walked out of the van, half-hoping JJ or Pope would follow her.

        No one made a move to go to her. That's what hurt the most. Thinking she had friends, when really, they didn't like her, and made all the efforts to make her feel unwanted. Thalia was done with the Pogues, she was done with the Kooks, and she was done with Kildare Island.

        By the time she made her way back to the Cameron estate on foot, it was nearing midnight. But Ward was waiting up for her in the kitchen. "We need to talk." Ward said, a glass of whiskey in his hand, still wearing his dress pants and buttoned shirt.

        Thalia sighed. Her joint was smoked, but she was still a little high. "I'll go pack my stuff." Thalia said quietly, swallowing thickly.

        Ward cleaned his glass and filled it with water. "I'm not kicking you out. Not this time," Ward said, and Thalia stopped in her tracks, intrigued. "But you are cut off. I'm giving you a curfew, unless you're with one of your cousins. If I find any drugs in your room, you're gone. I'm sick and tired of your shit, okay? These stunts you pull, not happening anymore. Am I clear?" Ward said darkly.

        Thalia was actually rather shocked that she wasn't getting kicked out. "Yes, sir." Thalia answered quickly, slinking into her room before he noticed that she was high. In the upstairs hallway, Rafe stepped out of his room, locking eyes with Thalia. He wanted to say something, but she just flipped him off and shut herself into her bedroom.

        Once she showered the awful day away, Thalia tucked herself into her bed, forgetting to take her meds. Part of her really hoped that Pope would show up and toss rocks at her window to talk to her. He did, but she was asleep, stoned out of her mind. Pope and JJ sulked away, hoping they didn't ruin things with the complicated redhead.

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IN THE MORNING, Thalia tossed her messy red hair into a braided ponytail, pulling a hoodie and shorts over her body. She was pissed, and eager to be anywhere but Tannyhill. Luckily, Guffy had stuff for her to do, so she went downstairs, set on ignoring everyone. Imagine Thalia's surprise when she saw a giddy Sarah showing John B the downstairs guest bedroom. "What the hell?" Thalia asked Sarah, following them into the room.

        "Oh. Hey. No one told you?" Sarah asked, turning away from John B.

        "Told me what?" Thalia said, wiping at her eyes. "What happened to you?" Thalia pointed to the cast on John B's wrist.

        John B looked down at his hand and then up at Thalia, sitting on the large bed. "Uh, Topper pushed me out of the Hawk's Nest." he explained.

        Thalia leant against the door frame. "Not surprised. You kinda hooked up with his girlfriend, but whatever. Why are you here, though?" Thalia spoke over Sarah's sigh.

        "He's been running from the DCS. Dad offered to be his guardian, so he can stay here." Sarah said with a smile, looking at an equally happy John B.

        "Lucky him." Thalia muttered.

        "I'm meeting the others later. You should come, clear the air." John B said.

        Thalia scoffed. "I like smoky air. I have to work." she said, pushing herself up, beginning to leave.

        John B frowned. "Thalia, come on. You're our friend–" the brunette boy tried, Sarah confused at the conversation.

        "Look, John B, you know what you said, so don't try to backpedal now. I don't need your friendship, and I don't really want it anymore. Forget about my cut of the fuckin' gold."  Thalia turned and left without another word, grabbing her skateboard and heading out of the house without telling any of her other family members where she was going.

        She distracted herself with work, cleaning Guffy's boats, cleaning fish. Not a word from any of the Pogues, and maybe that was a good thing. Thalia didn't need to be involved with them. But why did she miss the feeling of being friends with them? The whole morning, Thalia convinced herself she didn't need the Pogues. And then Pope and JJ showed up.

        "Hey." Pope said, making his and JJ's presence known.

        Thalia rolled her eyes, filling a bucket with water, a green crop top above her black shorts. "Wow, I'm surprised you want to be seen with a psycho drug addict." she said snarkily.

        JJ and Pope looked scared and embarrassed at the same time. "We don't think you're a psycho drug addict." JJ said, hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

        Thalia turned the hose off, taking her scrub brush and dipping into the bucket. "You guys got a funny way of showing it." she turned her back to the boys, focusing on cleaning the Kook boat.

        "We talked to Kiara. Told her to knock off being mean to you. You're one of us, Thalia. You're a Pogue, and you're our friend, and we need you." Pope said, JJ looking at him, surprised.

        Pope jerked his head towards Thalia, who had stopped cleaning the boat. JJ nodded quickly. "You're my sister, Thalia. You're a part of the group because we say you are. No one cares about what John B and Kie say, anyways." JJ said, hoping that would convince Thalia.

        She turned around. "I'll be done here in a little bit." Thalia said quietly, not used to people actually caring about her.

        "Meet us at John B's." Pope smiled, and Thalia nodded. Maybe, just maybe, Pope and JJ were being serious, and they actually wanted to be her friend. Either way, Thalia didn't trust them one bit.

        Pope and JJ went to walk away, but they were met with a woman they didn't recognize. She brushed right past them, moving towards Thalia. Pope and JJ were intrigued, so they stood and watched the scene. "Carolina?" the redheaded woman spoke, and Thalia's muscles instantly tensed up.

        She turned away from the boat she was cleaning with a sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Thalia said bitterly, barely looking the woman in the eyes.

        "I-I'm sorry. I missed you, baby." the woman said, eyes glistening with tears.

        Thalia scoffed. "Really, Mom? You're crying? That's pretty pathetic, even for you." Thalia said, putting her scrub brush down. Pope and JJ looked at each other, confused.

        Whitney Cameron frowned. "I did miss you. You know I hate to leave, Thalia." Whitney said, able to tell that her daughter was different since she last saw her.

        "And yet you find it so easy to disappear for months at a time. Except you really upped your game this time. Almost a year. It's pretty impressive how long you can go without crawling back to Ward for more money." Thalia snapped, not in the mood to deal with her junkie of a mother.

        "I didn't come back for money, Thalia. I came back to watch you play soccer. Do you have any games coming up?" Whitney spoke, completely oblivious. JJ and Pope shared a look, and then they both found Thalia's eyes.

        Thalia emptied the bucket she had been using. "Do you even listen to the voicemails I send you?" she questioned. Whitney held up a fancy new phone. "Of course. New number," Thalia muttered to herself. "I got hurt, Mom. I got hurt bad. I don't play soccer anymore."

        Whitney frowned. "I wish you would've told me that before I came all this way." she said, and JJ found himself getting angry. Pope hit the blonde in the shoulder, keeping him from moving.

        Thalia rolled her eyes. "Poor you. Go talk to Ward. Leave me alone," Thalia grabbed her sweatshirt and brushed past her mother, moving to Pope and JJ. "Ready?" she said, her eyes telling them to ask no questions.

        "Yeah." Pope said, he and JJ unaware that they were glaring at Whitney.

        "Wait. Who are your friends?" Whitney asked, eager to get back into her daughter's life.

        Thalia turned around with a sigh. "This is Pope," she gestured to him, and Pope nodded. "This is JJ, your piece of shit baby daddy's other kid." Thalia gestured to JJ, who looked down, not meeting Whitney's eyes.

        Whitney's face fell. "What?" she said loudly, instantly upset.

        "Bye, Mom." Thalia turned Pope and JJ around, and the three started walking back to John B's house. JJ and Pope decided not to question Thalia about her mother. Instead, they talked about John B moving into the Cameron house, and about the gold being hidden under the Crain House. Thalia had to urge to jump back into the treasure hunt, but she didn't voice that idea just yet.

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