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EIGHTEEN PUT UP OR SHUT UP
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"Did you hear?" Alisha exclaimed as she slammed into Norman's bedroom at an hour that was far too early for them both to be awake, "I heard from Lila who heard from James who heard from Topper who heard from Sarah that apparently Ward Cameron took John B to live with him since apparently he was running from DCS! Isn't that insane? Anywhere, where'd you go last night?"
The boy did his best to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up, eyeing the girl curiously as she flopped down onto his bed like she had a hundred times before. He sighed, "I didn't hear about that, no, it doesn't surprise me, though. Sarah seems to care about him a lot."
"Aren't you worried? I thought they were having a thing? I mean, wasn't that what you were crying about the other day? Why aren't you freaking out about this?" the girl scoffed, looking suspicious. Clearly, something had changed and she was starting to figure that out. "You also didn't answer my question. You were like "I'm gonna go find a bathroom" and then you dipped. Stop telling us you're going to the bathroom it has literally never worked once, we never believe you."
He shrugged, "I'm not worried. I am absolutely chilling. And I went to talk to someone, it's not that big of a deal. Just normal teenage drama. Oh, a text from Kiara. I gotta go. This was fun, though, really."
"No!" Alisha protested, something rare for the girl. He furrowed his brow in confusion, prompting her to continue with a pout, "You're not going anywhere, bitch! You have been running off at the beck and call of those Pogues for the last week and I'm sick of it! I wanna be included. You're making me get FOMO for poor people, I didn't think that was possible!"
"Okay, okay, I'll ask. Also, Kiara is literally rich, I don't know what you're talking about," he obliged with a sigh as he texted Kie back asking if Alisha could come along. Maybe it was a bad idea to let the two friend groups start to converge, but he had a feeling it was going to happen sooner or later. Besides, if it was going to be anyone, Alisha was probably going to be his best bet. "There, you can come. Happy?"
She nodded affirmatively, "Very much so, now get dressed."
As they arrived at The Wreck, Kie looked at him with a weary expression as she spoke, "Things have gone to utter shit. He's living with Sarah fucking Cameron. Why couldn't your rich parents adopt him?"
"This isn't Alabama, Kie," was the first thing he said in response, sitting down on one of the barstools as she prepared a tray of drinks, "Blood relation or not, it would be weird. Also, if they're adopting anybody? It's gonna be Alisha."
"Damn right," the dark-haired girl nodded, the two of them fist-bumping without even looking.
Just then, the bell on the door rang loud and clear through the restaurant as John B entered. He seemed to see the annoyance on Kie's expression and he looked as if he was ready to run. Looking at Norman, that instinct seemed to amplify for him. Norman broke eye contact first, taking a sip of the drink Kie had given him the moment he arrived.
