Kiara Carrera¹

The salty air whips through your hair as the MISTY, John B's rickety boat, rocks gently on the waves. You grip the worn wooden railing; the familiar sting of the salty spray doesn't calm the butterflies fluttering in your stomach. Beside you, Kiara sits with her arms crossed and her jaw clenched. The tension between you is so thick it could be cut with a rusty butter knife.

John B, Pope, and JJ orchestrated this whole mess. Leaving you and Kiara, your former best friend turned bitter enemy, stranded in the middle of the Outer Banks sounds like a childish prank from a bad teen movie. Except this is your reality.

"So," you say, the word stuck in your throat. "This is awkward."

Kiara scoffs, her dark eyes twinkling. "You think so? Last time I saw him, we weren't exactly exchanging friendship bracelets."

Ow. Right in the chest. You shudder inside. You deserve it. "Look, I know things went south," you begin, trying to keep your voice calm. "I never meant for..."

"What? That you started pretending I didn't exist?" Kiara's voice rises, thick with pain and anger. "That you suddenly became best friends with all the Kooks and acted like you were too good for me, for us?"

Guilt weighs on you, suffocating and heavy. You swallow hard, avoiding her gaze. You can see the outline of your reflection in the ship's windows, but not Kiara's. "It wasn't like that."

"So, what was it like, Bianca? Because I'm dying to know. One day we're inseparable, and the next you're ignoring me like I'm a disease." Her voice cracks slightly, and you finally meet her eyes. They brim with a mix of anger and vulnerability, a combination that makes your heart ache.

You can't tell him. The truth is a tangle of teenage confusion and unrequited feelings you're not even sure you can express.

𓇼 She's still in love with you.