Toxic: A Rafe Cameron Story

21.

It's been almost a week since our breakfast as a group. Things have been going well so far but I try not to mention it because I don't want to jinx anything.

"What are your plans today?" I ask Rafe. He and I are sitting outside on my deck.

"Might go to Barry's." He replies.

"Why?" I ask.

Rafe shrugs his shoulders and avoids eye contact. I know exactly why he's going to Barry's and I don't like it. I understand that it's an addiction and it's hard to quit, but I don't think he's trying as hard as he can.

"You can come if you want." Rafe says.

"To Barry's?" I laugh.

"Why not? He's a cool guy." Rafe shrugs.

"Alright." I agree.

I can't say I know a lot about Barry, I've seen him around but I don't think we've ever spoke to each other, maybe a nod or smile when I pass by him but nothing more.

Kie and Sarah think I'm totally weird for this but I have always thought Barry was kind of attractive. He's not hot like Rafe but there's something about him that I kind of like, but I would never tell Rafe that.

"Let's go now then." Rafe says standing up.

I gulp down the rest of my coffee and quickly brush my teeth. I meet Rafe outside standing beside his bike. He plops his extra helmet down on my head and I do up the strap after sitting behind him. I wrap my arms around his waist and he takes off down the road.

Barry doesn't live too far from my place, it's just further in the woods a little bit. He has a nice big piece of land but it's full of junk.

Rafe turns off the bike when we get close to the trailer, causing Barry to swing open the door and stagger down the stairs.

"Country club!" Barry yells as Rafe takes off his helmet. Rafe gets off the bike and walks toward Barry. I take my helmet off and lay it on the spot in front of me.

"Who's this chick?" Barry asks.

"That's Cassie, remember?" Rafe says. He must have mentioned me before.

"Ah yes, miss country club." Barry laughs.

I furrow my eyebrows and look down at myself. Do I really look like somebody who spends their days at the country club?

"Come over here, don't be shy princess." Barry says and I give Rafe a look. Barry is sweet and all but he comes off so strong sometimes.

I slowly get off the bike and stand beside Rafe's tall body. I was expecting Rafe to be a little angry that Barry was being so forward with me but it doesn't seem like he really cares. Usually when a guy looks in my direction Rafe gets super defensive.

"Come inside, coke is inside." Barry says.

I shake my head at how crazy this situation is. They are so open and nonchalant about selling coke in the middle of town.

Rafe follows Barry inside and I stand outside awkwardly not knowing if I should go in or not. I jump back when Barry's body quickly appears in the doorway.

"Rafe what kind of girl you got here? She afraid of everything." Barry says and I roll my eyes. "Oh oh, she got an attitude like you."

"Shut up Barry. Come in Cassie." Rafe shouts. Barry chuckles and steps out of the way so I can walk inside the trashy trailer.

I look around before walking to Rafe on the couch. He pulls me down on his lap and gives me a wide smile. I don't know if I ever seen him this happy.

"You got my money bruh?" Barry asks. Rafe digs in his pocket and pulls out a small stack of money. He trades it for a little baggie with the white substance.

"You want some?" Barry asks.

"No thanks." I reply. I give Rafe a 'let's get out of here now' look but he ignores it.

"Why you so scared? Aren't you from the cut?" Barry asks.

"I'm not scared, and yes I am." I reply.

"Man country club." Barry laughs.

"I'm going to wait outside okay." I say to Rafe. I get off of Rafe's leg and walk past Barry, who's looking me up and down.

"Didn't think I was that scary." Barry laughs.

"You are." Rafe snickers.

"How isn't she afraid of you? You're the psycho." Barry says.

"Shut up Barry." Rafe says. I hear them stand up and move around the trailer.

I look around and see some guys starting to come out of their trailers, eyeing me down like a bag of coke.

"Rafe, let's go." I yell. Barry laughs after he makes the sound of a whip.

Rafe finally comes out of the trailer, followed by Barry. He stands close to me, noticing the guys sitting around their trailers, still making strong eye contact.

"Fuck off." Rafe says. "See you around Barry."

"Later country club, miss country club." Barry says, bowing to the both of us. I let a giggle escape my mouth.

"Ah there we go! Miss country club loves Barry." Barry says and Rafe shakes his head.

"Let's go Cassie." Rafe says. He plops the helmet down on my head and fixes the strap for me. I give Barry a small wave as Rafe starts to leave the property.

As we drive back to my place I think about Barry. I guess he's an alright guy, I don't really like how he sells drugs to Rafe though.

"What did you think of Barry?" Rafe asks when we get to my house.

"Barry? You brought her to Barry's?" JJ asks.

"JJ, relax." I say. "Barry was fine."

"Cassie, you shouldn't be hanging out with Barry." JJ says.

"JJ, we talked about this." I say raising an eyebrow.

He shakes his head and hops off the deck to walk to the dock.

"Barry was nice." I say.

"He's a good guy." Rafe says.

I nod in agreement.

"I made some sandwiches, Rafe, do you want one?" Kie asks coming out on the deck.

"Sure." Rafe nods and gives Kie an odd smile.

Kie and Rafe have been getting along a lot better than I thought. Looking at them together sometimes makes me wonder if they ever had a history, they know so much about each other.

Rafe walks past me and follows Kie into the house. I sigh and follow behind once JJ and Pope come as well. JJ flings his arm around my shoulder as we walk in.

Rafe and Kie are sitting at the table with a sandwich each in front of them. I sit across from Rafe and he hardly acknowledges me. He and Kie are talking about his bike.

Pope and I exchange weird looks to each other, indicating we both have no idea what's been going on between the two of them lately.

I just hope that neither of them are hiding something.