SIXTEEN MIDSUMMERS REVELATIONS

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Norman thankfully hadn't spoken to John B since the day before and he was avoiding him at all costs. He had received a text the day before from Kiara mentioning something about JJ getting arrested and asking if he could help out so of course, Norman offered up his lawyer if needed because even though he was mad at John B, he had a soft spot for Kie. Now, JJ was out on bail and Norman hoped everything was going to be okay. He had just been starting to like JJ, too. It seemed things had gotten fairly out of hand ever since he last was in contact with the group, but as long as everything worked itself out he was going to have to be fine with it. He just couldn't deal with John B right now. Not with so much of his own stuff to work out.

"Can you zip me up?" Alisha asked as she walked over to where Norman was staring out the window, a glass of water hanging precariously in his hand as his gaze remained steady on the waves. "Jesus, who do you think you are? Jay Gatsby? Gimme a hand."

"I just have a lot of shit on my mind, leave me alone," Norman sighed as he placed the glass down and helped Alisha with her dress. She looked gorgeous, as always. Not to mention she was utterly glowing at the fact that she was able to go to this party with Lila at her side. He was happy for her, he really was. It just stung to know he was alone. However, at least he still had Gemma and James.

As the girl slipped on her heels, Norman found his suit jacket that had been tossed over the back of his chair and pulled it on, looking at himself in the mirror with a satisfied sigh. Hopefully, there wasn't going to be even a trace of John B at Midsummer tonight so he could just get a break. Sometimes, he just needed to be surrounded by rich people whose only problems were that their cold coins weren't shiny enough. The superficial lifestyle was rarely a comforting one, but sometimes he needed to live in his own bubble where the world didn't exist outside of it.

"Are you okay?" Alisha asked as she walked over and placed a careful hand on Norman's shoulder in an act of comfort. Without a word, he placed his hand over hers and it said all he needed to say. The word no was clear as day in his mind, but the more important part was that he would be.

"I'm done."

"Getting ready?"

He shook his head, "I'm done with boys, romance, all that shit. There's no point to it -- we're just kids, it's not like anything we do now is going to be built to last. So, what's the point?"

Alisha sighed, "You shouldn't give up just because one thing didn't go your way, Rocky. I promise you, for every heartbreak, there will be someone new that will care about you the way you care about them."

He didn't even notice at first, but a tear had slipped down his cheek. "The problem is that I don't want someone new."

"I know, baby," she spoke gently, her voice compassionate and understanding as her eyes met his in their reflection, "I know. Come on, let's get going or else we'll be more late than fashionable. Let's just get through tonight, totally surrounded by stuck up Kooks without a care in the world. It'll be fun, I promise."

Norman laughed, finally wiping his cheeks and pulling his gaze away from his reflection. He let the girl intertwine their fingers as she pulled him downstairs where Norman's parents were also just about ready to leave.

"Uh, we're picking up Lila, Gemma, and James so I'll meet you guys there," Norman explained to his parents who nodded and bade them goodbye with a smile as he and Alisha got into his car, ready to stop by all of their friends' houses. Soon enough, the car was loaded up and they were able to head to the Cameron's for the party. Midsummers was always filled to the brim with the rich and entitled, but if they were nice enough to the waiters they could sneak some champagne so it wasn't all bad. Even though Norman thought champagne was gross, alcohol was alcohol.

They arrived just in time to see Sarah Cameron make her debut with her family. She looked absolutely gorgeous, but at the same time she looked as if her mind was somewhere else. Thankfully, John B was nowhere in sight. He noticed Kie out of the corner of his eye and sighed with relief as he mumbled something to his friends before going off to see her and Pope.

"Hey, guys!" he exclaimed and Kiara said nothing except for grabbing him in a hug right away.

"Oh my god, Rocky, it has been a crazy couple of days, you have no idea," Kie sighed, "Pope almost got arrested and then JJ did get arrested and it was just a whole mess."

Norman just nodded, "Yeah, I can imagine. I'll make sure to talk to JJ and see if he needs a lawyer for anything because I know he hates me, but still."

"He doesn't hate you," Pope interrupted with a scoff, "That's just JJ's personality towards rich people. If he actually hated you, he wouldn't talk to you at all. Where have you been, though? I mean, you were kinda in it with us for a while and then you just dipped."

The boy sighed, he expected to hear this question but he still didn't know how to answer it. Judging by the confusion in Pope's voice it was clear neither John B or Kiara had told him what had actually happened between the two boys. "Yeah, things got... complicated with John B and I. Let's just say I've made some poor decisions and I don't think he wants me... around anymore."

Kie scoffed, "That boy has like three brain cells, you're probably totally fine. Besides, we like you and John B can't beat three against one."

"Bold of you to assume JJ would vote on my sake," Norman laughed, "but I appreciate the thought."

As the conversation continued, he turned and saw something going down with Topper and Sarah. Clearly, it didn't look like the friendliest conversation. He wondered if Topper knew about John B. If Norman wanted to be the biggest asshole ever, he might be the one to let it slip. He didn't know if he had the confidence nor the malice to pull off such a thing, but he liked to think he would be able to. With a sigh, he turned back around to see Lila and Alisha coming his way.

"Hey, Lish, Lila, how're you guys doin'?" he asked as they approached him, instantly plastering a smile on his face. It wasn't as fake of a smile as he thought it would be, it made him genuinely happy to see his best friends happy.

"This party is boring as shit," Lila said with a laugh, "Hey, you're Kiara, right? Didn't you do a year at Kook Academy?"

Kiara nodded, "Unfortunately, yeah. I mean, no offense to you guys, you all seem chill. But just... yeah."

Alisha laughed as she shook her head, "No, no you're fine, I get it. The people at that school are hot garbage, but so are we so it works, you know? Mad respect for you, though."

"Yeah, sure, something like that," Kie said with a giggle, "Ugh, I can't believe we've all never like officially met before since Rocky started hanging out with us."

"Ah, so you're the ones who stole him away from us?" Lila asked with a raised eyebrow, "Interesting."

As the night and conversation went on, Norman became more and more bored with the idea of staying. Figuratively, he could just take his car and get the hell out of there. He was sure his friends would understand, but for some reason he wasn't sure he had the power to do so. Something in his mind was compelling him to stay, so he did. He noticed Sarah Cameron seemed to disappear from the party, which was interesting considering her dad owned about half the island and it was fairly important for appearance's sake that she was there. However, the more interesting thing about that was that her boyfriend Topper seemed to be just as curious as to her whereabouts.

As he looked over away from the party, he figured out where Sarah Cameron was. Much to his dismay, he also found out where John B was. Of course, he would sneak in to see her. He scoffed to himself, muttering, "Un-fucking-believable."

"What was that?" Alisha seemed to hear it, but was clueless to what Norman was seeing.

He shook his head, "Nothing, nothing. I'm gonna go find a bathroom, I'll be right back."

Something other than logic overtook his mind as he stalked off to where he had seen the boy crawling away to avoid suspicion even though it was painfully obvious. Sarah had walked back over to Topper, but Norman followed the path of John B to where he was walking away down the side of the house.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed to get the boy's attention. John B whipped around, rolling his eyes as soon as he realized who he was. "What happened to her having a boyfriend? Topper and his frosted tips weren't scary enough for you to avoid mackin' on his girlfriend? Typical, shitty behavior from a shitty Pogue."

"What is your problem, Norman?" John B exclaimed as the two boys stood together in darkness, completely away and out of earshot from the party. It was strange to be alone with him again after so much had come crashing down. "Why do you give a shit who I'm with?"

Norman was seething at this comment, "You are such a fucking idiot, John B! Why do I care? I care because before it was her, it was me."

"So, you're jealous? Seriously? I asked you if we would ever be more than friends and you turned me down," the boy scoffed, looking appalled, "I tried to tell you! How many times do I have to kiss you for you to figure out it was you that I wanted? You were too late and I got into things with Sarah, so be as jealous as you want because you missed your chance and you do not get to be angry with me over it."

"You wanted... me?"

"Yes, you fucking idiot," John B sighed, "And maybe I was dumb enough to think that you wanted me, too. Ever since that stupid party, since you came to check on me, seriously, what kind of gay shit was that? I took you along on my stupid treasure hunt just because I wanted you there, but instead of anything we just kept going back and forth playing denial games. I don't care if you're gay or not or whatever you're trying to repress, but I'm not gonna play any more games with you, Norman."

So, he had been confused for nothing is what Norman was hearing. All of this was for nothing. Maybe he should just quit now, give up on John B and move onto someone who was worth all the trouble. Even then, he couldn't let go. Not as he looked into the boy's eyes now. This was worth all the trouble, that was the problem. Maybe Norman was an idiot for thinking so, but right now, he didn't care.

Deciding to go with reckless abandon, he grabbed the collar of John B's shirt and pulled him in for a kiss, hoping for the best. Maybe it was foolish, but Norman was nothing if not a fool for this. Kissing John B with no denial, no fear, just the feeling was everything in the world right now. He didn't hesitate to kiss back, but before Norman could even revel in that fact the boy was pushing him away, pulling them apart. There was a silent moment of bated breath and the distant sounds of clinking glasses and laughter before John B's eyes met Norman's in one perilous, painstaking moment. Before Norman knew what was happening, John B pulled him back in for another breathtaking kiss. He could have sworn time stopped around them and nothing else mattered.

After a moment, it ended as the two boys pulled away from each other, both breathing heavily. No words were spoken because neither of them really knew what to say.

"I-I need to go," John B breathed out and before Norman could stop him he was gone.

For once, Norman wasn't running anymore. Either way, he still ended up alone at the end of the day.

ugh i love writing angst with these two!! sorry if the midsummer chapter seemed a little rushed, there wasn't much of anything important at the party except for the scene with john b and norman which I've been planning since before i even wrote the first chapter of this story so y'all finally got that congrats. also, i cant believe I'm already on chapter 16 and am probably about halfway done with this book considering i cant see it being longer than 30-35 chapters. whack. also, go read my JJ fic, it's called Sex With My Ex