( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙁𝙊𝙐𝙍. )
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THE NEXT DAY, Jaylene was laying flat on her back, a beach towel underneath her slim body and a foot placed in the water beneath her, splashing the warm liquid back and forth. The rest of her family had taken this day to go sailing on the yacht that was usually parked near that same dock she was at, allowing her to finally have some alone time since being back.

"Are you sure it's safe to be that close to water after what happened?" A voice startled her, causing her to nearly tumble into the blue water below her.

"That's quite insensitive of you to say, John with the unnecessary B in his name." Jaylene recognized the voice, looking up at the clear sky with her eyes squinted at the bright sun. Her attention turned towards John B., unable to control the laughter that escaped from her lips. "Wow. Don't you just look extremely pathetic today, sweetheart! That's a gnarly black eye. Who'd you piss off?"

"One of your kook friends named Topper." He shot her a pointed look, earning a grimace in return.

"Gross. Don't ever refer to Topper Thornton as my friend." Jaylene made a disgusted face, adjusting the red bikini top covering her cleavage so that she wouldn't accidentally flash the boy sat on the motor boat a few feet away from her.

"Isn't your boyfriend like bestfriends with him or something?"

"Ex-boyfriend." She corrected him, playing with the loops on her denim shorts as she looked towards John B., pursing her lips into a thin line. "And that doesn't exactly mean I have to like all his friends. They're all a bunch of entitled assholes."

He leaned closer to her, face centimeters away from hers which caused her to lean further away from him. "Well then you two just happen to share the same characteristics, right, sweetheart?" John B. mocked her words, turning back around to continue his journey towards the yacht that belonged to the Cameron's.

"Wait!" She called out before he could turn the engine on again to get away from her. "Mark and Florence Harrrington. Do you know them? I mean, I figured since you guys all live on the same side of the island you may've met them a few times..." She trailed off, hoping she didn't sound rude for asking.

"What's the sudden urge to learn about your family history?" He questioned out of curiosity, skeptical about Jaylene's intentions.

"What? You're allowed to spiral out of control because your dad disappeared at sea, but I'm not allowed to know what type of people my grandparents are?" Jaylene gripped the wooden dock so that she wouldn't tumble into the ocean. "God, I'm sorry, that was a really insensitive thing of me to say." She quickly apologized, mentally slapping herself for always speaking before thinking.

"They're nice people. Very friendly with anyone they encounter. And they don't deserve to get involved with any kooks, including you." John B. shrugged, watching her face falter at his brutal honesty. "Listen," He started, a sigh running last his lips. "I get that they're the only family from your moms side that live on this island, but don't drag them into this life. They're the most humble people living on the cut, don't try and change that."

"So you're basically saying that I shouldn't even bother getting to know them cause I'm a spoiled brat who gets everything handed to her and they'll hate me and blame me and my dad for what happened to my mother?" Jaylene questioned, hoping to guilt trip him to the point where he'd give in and hand her some sort of useful information.

"How the hell do you manage to twist my words that much?" He couldn't help but scoff at how manipulative she could be sometimes.

"I just don't get it. What's so wrong about me trying to bond with them? They may be a part of the working class, but that doesn't change the fact that they're my family." Jaylene longingly sighed, her pupils dilated as she shot John B. a sad look.

"Hey, is there a small chance that you have any sort of scuba gear?" He questioned, dismissing her attempt at trying to get him to feel bad for her.

"You basically just told me that I shouldn't try to get to know my grandparents and now you wanna borrow our scuba gear? You're something special, aren't you?" Jaylene rolled her eyes, annoyed that her plan had managed to backfire on her. "But to answer your question, my lovely family decided to take a detour through the North Atlantic Ocean today on our yacht. My dad keeps all the scuba equipment in there, and incase you haven't noticed, it's not exactly here." She motioned towards the spot where the power vessel was always found. "Why do you need scuba gear? I thought you were more of a surfing type of guy."

"I'm taking up a new hobby." He shrugged, his tone implying that he wasn't telling the truth.

"You're a terrible liar." She laughed, pulling herself up so that she was now looking down at him. "But just know that the Cameron family can and will singlehandedly ruin your life if you borrow their scuba gear without asking. I don't know whether you've realized it or not, but that's called theft and they won't tolerate it."

"I have no idea what you're talking." He shook his head, his eye nervously twitching.

"Don't worry, John with the unnecessary B., I'll bail you out if you get caught." Jaylene shot him a wink, crossing her arms over her chest before clearing her throat. "But I do you this solid favor and I expect one in return."

"And what favor are you exactly doing me?

"My dad is good friends with Ward Cameron. All it takes is one slip up for me to tell him that his best worker is out using his equipment without his knowledge." She chewed on her bottom lip, amused at how quickly she'd managed to turn this on him.

"You wouldn't." He didn't believe her. She had to be bluffing. Jaylene could be a bitch sometimes, but she was still a good person.

"Trust me, John B., I most definitely would." She challenged, knowing that this was an argument she was gonna win. She was certain. "And tell JJ I'm sorry about yesterday. It was shitty of me to compare him to his dad."

"How can someone possibly go from threatening to compassionate in a matter of seconds?" His eyebrows cocked upwards, annoyed, yet slightly intrigued with her sick mind games.

"I guess it's a gift." She shrugged, admiring the brown-eyed boy once more before clearing her throat. "Bye, sweetheart! Have a safe trip back home! And be careful. If you scuba dive wrong, you can easily end up dead." Jaylene mockingly waved, a satisfied smile upturned on her lips as she walked away from him, allowing him to grow even more paranoid than he'd been before.

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

WHEN JAYLENE FINALLY reached the doors leading into the Rosewood mansion, she was surprised to see Jason sitting on a stool in the kitchen, his foot anxiously tapping the tiles beneath him. She couldn't quite tell whether he was nervous or mad at something. Either way, she could already tell that their conversation wasn't gonna be pleasant.

"When'd he get here?" Jaylene asked the cleaning lady who was on her way upstairs with some cleaning supplies gripped in her arms.

"Around five minutes ago. I wasn't sure whether anyone was home, so I allowed him to wait inside. I hope it's not a bother." The woman gave Jaylene a warm smile, clearly startled by the girl. She was used to being bossed around by none other than Lorelei, but the two females were polar opposites for the most part.

Jaylene shakes her head, glancing over at her ex-boyfriend who had yet to notice her presence. "It's fine, Celia. But him and I have been broken up for six months now. You and I have got to catch up." She smiled, giving her a small wave before heading into the kitchen, clearing her throat to get Jason's attention. "What are you doing here? We broke up six months ago, Jason." She sighed, leaning her body against the marble countertop of the kitchen island placed in the middle of the spacious area.

"You're hanging with pogues now? Nice." He scoffed, quickly standing to his full height, hands balled up into fists.

"You're acting like a child." She shook her head, heading towards the stainless steel refrigerator to retrieve a bottle of water. "What are you doing here?" She asked again, clearly annoyed with him.

"They're bad news, Jay. Don't get yourself involved with them." Once again, he dismissed her question, ticking her off.

Without a second thought, Jaylene slammed her hand on the marble counter, shooting Jason a cold glare. "Do I seriously have to remind you that my mom was a pogue too?"

"Don't. Don't bring your mom into this—"

"I'm not in the mood to argue with you, Jason. I have far more important things to take care of." She sighed, running her fingers through her light brown hair. "So, I'm gonna ask one more time, alright? Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Is that such a monstrous thing to do?" Jason defensively spoke, which only caused Jaylene to grow more confused than she'd been before.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She frowned, raising an eyebrow up at him.

He shot her a worried glance, parting his lips to speak. "Because some psycho pogue fired a gun at the kegger that went down at the boneyard yesterday. He placed it directly on Topper's head with the safety off."

Jaylene's eyes widened in surprise, this being the first time hearing the news. "A gun? Oh my god." Her mouth gaped open in shock, slightly confused as to how much she'd missed after leaving the small gathering. "Your sister could barely walk on her own two feet. It's why we left early."

"Don't get yourself involved with that John B. kid. Him and his friends are a bunch of low life thugs who'll probably end up in prison once they turn 18. Why do you think none of the teenagers around here associate themselves with Kiara Carrera? She's just as bad as all of them." He warned her, eyes meeting hers with a serious look planted on his face.

"You see that door over there?" She pointed towards main entrance of the home, tilting her head to the side. "Walk your body towards it and get the hell out of my house." She flashed him a force smile, turning her body back around and in the direction of the stairs leading up to her bedroom.

authors note. John B. saying sweetheart. That's it. That's all I gotta say.

does anyone else wanna punch Jason? Cause same.