You involuntarily winced, and if she hadn’t caught you before, she had now. sarah, however, lit up with a gasp, “is it a boy thing?” Kie tilted her head to the side from where her chin rested on her knees, her eyes softened as she tried to understand. 'it’s just– something that’s been bugging me.” “guys, i’m serious, i'm fine-' kie gave you a stern look and you stopped, letting out a huff. they knew you well, and what you were was a bad liar. they were both looking at you with intensity, waiting for you to crack. “ no,” you cut sarah off quickly, shaking your head.

“is it your dad? has he been away again–” “i don’t! who said i was keeping secrets?” you were too defensive, you realised as soon as you said it. You rolled your eyes teasingly, a nervous laugh leaving your lips. “don’t change the subject,” she never was one to let something go until it was settled. Kie narrowed her eyes at you, she wasn’t letting you off that easy. “how ‘bout you guys?” you gave them a soft smile from behind the nearly-empty beer can in your hand. you couldn’t blame them, a few days ago you would’ve done the same thing. you already knew how they felt about him, especially sarah, they would immediately think the worst. You wanted to get all of this off your chest, to stop the questions running around in your mind and get some perspective but you couldn’t with either of them. so why did he help you? on multiple occasions. were you too harsh? he was trying to help- he did help you out, but this was rafe cameron. you hadn’t seen or heard from him since the incident at the club a few days ago, and all you could do was replay it in your head. you hated admitting it, even if it was only to yourself, but rafe had been stuck in the back of your mind for days. You couldn’t help feeling distracted, and you weren’t very good at hiding it clearly. “i’m good,” you reassured them both, though they didn’t look too convinced. you grabbed onto her leg and giving it a soft squeeze. You slouched forward a little, letting out a deep sigh you hadn’t realised you’d been holding in.

you both sat with legs outstretched and intertwined with each others, her foot nudged your thigh. “you’re in your head tonight,” sarah observed. your eyes were a little wide now when they moved to sarah opposite you, both girls watching you carefully. your eyes refocused to see kie sitting next to you, her knees tucked up to her chest and her hand dropping from your shoulder. Your eyebrows furrowed, your loose gaze dragging over to where you felt a hand gently shaking your shoulder.

The Next by Rafe Haze