Your life had always been controlled. As an only child and a Kook with busy, distant parents, your world revolved around perfection. Straight As, no mistakes, flawless—just how they wanted. But it left you hollow.

The Kooks around you were selfish, fake, and quick to turn on each other. And the Pogues? They wouldn’t even look at you without disdain.

Everything changed the day you saw four Pogues running from Midsummer’s, laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world. They were free, alive, and more of a family than you’d ever known. As they jumped into a beat-up van, your eyes locked with one of theirs—a boy with piercing blue eyes. He winked at you before vanishing, but the moment stuck.

“Who were they?” you asked Rafe Cameron, the closest thing you had to a family friend.

He scoffed, glaring at the distance. “Fucking dirty Pogues.”

His words stuck with you, but not the way he intended. Those “dirty Pogues” were everything you wanted to be.

Later that night, against all logic, you followed them. Keeping your distance, you found them gathered around a campfire, drinking and laughing like nothing else mattered. You felt a pang of jealousy, realizing how badly you wanted what they had.

Not wanting to be caught, you wandered down the beach and sat alone in the cold sand, tracing stars into the ground. For a moment, the world was peaceful—until a voice broke through the silence.

“You lost, Kook princess?”

Your heart raced as you turned to see him—the boy with the blue eyes.