༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒－𝗌𝗂𝗑 ༄

AS THE THREE walked to John B's house, Thalia successfully ingested pills that were not prescribed to her without Pope and JJ noticing. They didn't need to know how much she was struggling. It was better that way. "So, that's your mom, huh?" JJ asked suddenly, a joint between his lips.

Pope and Thalia audibly sighed at the same time. "In all her psychotic glory." Thalia tried to mask the fact that she had missed her mother terribly in the time she had been gone.

"I'm guessing her and I aren't gonna be best friends any time soon, then." JJ said, recalling Whitney's reaction to him being Luke's son.

"Yeah, probably not. Doubt she's gonna stick around for long, though." Thalia said, looking at Pope to see him already looking at her.

Pope remained silent, unsure of what he could say. Fortunately, they made it to John B's house, settling in on the porch. Kie was there, instantly upset when she saw Thalia. "Came crawling back to steal our gold?" Kie snapped. "What did you guys tell her?" Kiara asked the boys.

JJ sat down on a ratty recliner with Pope setting on the arm of the chair. Thalia leant against the porch railing beside Pope. "Will you knock it off? I never did anything to you, and it's really pathetic how you're still harping on your argument with Sarah. Take it up with her, Kiara, not me." Thalia crossed her arms, her braided ponytail falling over her shoulder.

Kie was going to speak, but Thalia flicking open her lighter distracted her, unsure of if she would just set the Chateau on fire right then and there. John B stepped into his porch a moment later. "Great, you're all here." he said, eyes lingering on Thalia for a second as she put her lighter away.

"Sarah." Thalia said when she saw the head of bright blonde hair following John B.

"What are you doing here? Aunt Whitney's at the house talking to Dad." Sarah said, confused at why her cousin wasn't with her mother.

"Yes, I know, I'm avoiding her." Thalia said, arms crossed.

Kiara's anger then bubbled over as Sarah and John B sat on the sofa. "No effing way! You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?" Kie said, pacing on the porch.

John B looked at Pope and JJ for help. "I dunno." Pope shrugged, trying to stay out of the conversation.

"Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share." JJ said. Thalia passed him a joint over Pope's head.

"You know, I don't remember taking a vote. This is our thing. A Pogue thing." Kie snapped, turning her head to Thalia.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Bitch, you're more of a Kook than I am, okay? And you're really not hurting my feelings as much as you think you are." Thalia spoke, JJ passing her back the joint. Sarah looked between JJ and Thalia, unsure of when they had gotten so close.

"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." Pope spoke up suddenly. Thalia snapped her head over to him, silently judging him for not being on Sarah's side.

"Thank you!" Kie said happily.

"When are you not uncomfortable?" John B asked, having not expected his friends to be so divided.

"I dunno. I rode on the back of JJ's bike yesterday pretty comfortably." Pope responded, Thalia looking at him, confused. He shied away from her eyes.

JJ nodded, taking the joint from Thalia's fingers. "It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him." the blonde confirmed.

John B scoffed. "That's cute, guys," he sighed and then looked at Thalia. "You're on my side, right?" he asked, thinking he had an easy number with Thalia.

Thalia grew a little nervous. "Well..." she trailed off, scratching the back of her neck.

"Really?" Sarah asked quickly. "I'm your cousin!" the blonde reminded Thalia, feeling betrayed.

"Yeah, and this is their group—don't give me that look, I will never be on your side—so I don't really get a say in this." Thalia explained, cutting herself off to respond to Kiara's smug look. Sarah looked defeated, and Thalia felt bad, but there wasn't really anything she could do.

"You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." Kie continued, piggybacking off of Thalia's statement.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Sarah snapped.

"Then leave." Kiara retorted.

Thalia breathed slowly, not in the mood for another Sarah and Kie argument. Sarah scoffed, looking at John B. "I told you." she said. Thalia took an extra long drag from the joint she and JJ were sharing.

"Told him what, exactly? That you're a liar?" Kie said.

"No, that you're a shit-talking bitch, Kiara." Sarah responded, and the girls started arguing. Beside Thalia, Pope and JJ started betting on which one would win, and Thalia stood quietly, thinking zen thoughts.

A moment later, John B had had enough. "Everybody shut up!" John B shouted in distress. "Kie, you are my best friend, right? And Sarah, you're... you're my..." John B trailed off.

Sarah smiled at him. "Say it." she prompted him.

"Please, don't say it." Thalia interrupted with an exasperated sigh.

"You're my girlfriend." John B said.

Pope bit his lip. "Ohh... that's new." he muttered, Thalia cracking a smile at him, which he didn't see.

Kiara wasn't phased. "She's your girlfriend now? What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose." Kie repeated what John B had said the night before.

Sarah turned her head to John B. "You said you were using me?" she asked, hurt.

"No." John B denied.

"Yeah, you did. You said those things." Pope spoke up.

Sarah looked at Thalia. "Did he?" she asked her cousin, who nodded regretfully.

"Look, love just walked in, okay?" John B said, Kiara muttering under her breath. "I didn't expect it. It just... it kind of happened. And I'm not gonna deny it. Right?"

"Oh! That's corny." Pope whispered, JJ pretending to vomit. Thalia wasn't amused.

Kie frowned. "Look, cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in, I'm out." the brunette girl said firmly, giving John B an ultimatum.

John B shook his head. "I'm not doing this. I can't!" he shouted.

"You are gonna decide. I'm very interested, actually. Me or her?" Kie said, hoping that John B would chose her.

"Both." John B decided, and Thalia sighed. That wouldn't end well.

"Went for the Hail Mary." JJ whispered, Thalia growing annoyed with his and Pope's commentary.

"Noooo!" Pope said quietly as Kie walked away, both he and JJ clicking their tongues.

"Can you stop?" Thalia asked them firmly, and they nodded, looking away from the awkward scene.

Kie stormed away, and it was quiet. "It'll be cool, right?" Sarah said to John B. She stood up. "I'm gonna leave." Thalia frowned at her sadness.

"Sarah, don't." John B said quietly.

"Gonna let y'all chat. Let me know." Sarah left the house, and awkwardly, Thalia followed her, muttering a goodbye to Pope and JJ.

Sarah slowed down so Thalia could catch up. "Sorry." Thalia said, unsure of what else to say regarding the situation.

The blonde shrugged. "It's okay. I'm just sick and tired of Kie," Sarah spoke, and Thalia nodded. "Tell me about you and JJ." Sarah turned to look at her cousin.

Thalia's eyes widened. "Como se huh?" the redhead questioned, shocked at what Sarah was asking.

"What's up with you and JJ? Are you guys together?" Sarah asked. The two reached her bike.

Sighing, Thalia stopped Sarah from moving, holding her by the shoulders. "No, we're not together. He's my half-brother. On Luke's side." Thalia explained, and Sarah gasped loudly.

"No!" she shouted, not believing a word that was coming out of Thalia's mouth.

"Yes. He's my brother. And I told my mom, and I'm sure she's telling Ward right now. So we should probably go to your house and run damage control." Thalia urged, patting Sarah's cheek.

Sarah nodded, and the two headed back to Figure Eight, Thalia's knee killing her. Inside, Ward and Rose were shouting, and Thalia knew the cause was her mother. "She's my daughter, Ward! Not yours! Stop trying to poison her against me!" Whitney shouted from the back patio.

Thalia and Sarah sighed, walking outside to see Whitney pacing like Thalia always did. Ward was sitting with his head in his hands, frustrated, while Rose drank wine. "Mom, no offense, but there's nothing you can say to make me think you're a decent person." Thalia said, hands clasped behind her back.

"What's going on, Dad?" Sarah asked, always interjecting herself into conversations.

Ward inhaled deeply. "Sarah, go upstairs please. Now." Ward urged, and Sarah scoffed, retreating to the second floor of the house, where Rafe and Wheezie were listening to the discussion as best as they could.

Thalia sat down beside Rose. "Why did you come back, mother?" the redhead asked, exasperated from dealing with Whitney.

"Money. She wants money." Ward said, having already told his little sister that he wouldn't be giving her anything.

"The bank of Ward has been closed for years, mom. I'm not giving you money, and I don't have any drugs, so I really don't know what else you want." Thalia said firmly, lying through her teeth. Rose was secretly proud of her step-niece for her words.

Whitney stopped pacing. "Ward told me about your accident, honey. About the drugs, and rehab, and everything. I'm sorry that happened to you." the woman said, her hair as bright red and messy as her daughter's.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it would've been nice to have a parent." she said bitterly, arms crossed, knee bouncing up and down.

Ward glanced at Rose and she nodded. "Why didn't you tell us Luke has a son? That JJ Maybank is your brother?" Ward asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Half-brother," Thalia corrected. "Probably because he means nothing to me, and I mean nothing to him. We just have Luke in common. That's it." the girl explained with a shrug.

"He has to mean something to you." Rose said, blonde hair perfectly straightened.

"He's a piece of trash, just like your father, Thalia. You need to stay away from them." Whitney snapped.

Thalia had had enough. "You don't know JJ, mom. Just like you don't know me." she stood up and walked inside, absolutely done with her mother. Thalia locked herself into her bedroom, reached into her bag of drugs that was hidden under her floorboard and pulled out some pills. She was running low. Thalia didn't mean to take them all, it just happened.

༄༄༄