safe | outer banks

c h a p t e r / o n e

hi babies, surprise! i'm back :)

i've been learning about creative writing in school which gave me a little tiny burst of inspiration to make what you're about to read. it happened super fast but i still wanted to publish it for you guys to fill the void that sour has unfortunately left.

so, jj and brielle are back for a short little story that was SO fun to write! i know i left a message on my conversation board saying that you probably wouldn't hear from me again on this account, but i just couldn't help myself and wanted to give y'all a little something to read as well as to see how i feel about writing after taking a break from it for so long.

for this, let's pretend that everything is perfect and happy and lovely in the world of miss brielle. that's why i called this book safe - because the story of jj and brielle is safe and protected here and nothing bad has happened (and also because my other two books have titles that start with an "s" so i wanted to keep the theme going :p).

p.s. if y'all have fun with this and want me to write some more short stories like this one, totally let me know! i'd love to keep going with this book every now and then :)

ENJOY! -katie <3

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

b r i e l l e

Sitting at the kitchen island with dad as we look through old family pictures from when I was a baby, I notice him winding down for the night as he yawns continuously and his eyes barely remain open.

"Bedtime?" I ask him with a soft chuckle, and he nods immediately in agreement. Together, we pick up the photos that we spread out in front of us and put them back in the neat piles that they started in, but I save one from the piles that I particularly enjoyed from when we were searching through them all. "Mind if I keep this one?" I ask, holding up a picture of me and my mom from my first birthday party, both of us with paper party hats on and pink cake smashed all over my tiny, chubby face.

"Of course, kiddo. I've always loved that one." Dad says in a slightly sad tone as he yawns again and clicks off the TV and all but one of the kitchen lights. "I'm off to sleep."

"Okay, dad. I'm gonna take a shower then probably just read for a bit before bed, okay? I love you." I wrap dad in a tight hug as he kisses the top of my head, and we go our separate ways to our respective rooms. He doesn't bother turning his bedroom light on before getting ready for bed, and I hear him snoring softly from down the hall within minutes. 

I stick the photo of me and my mom to my bedroom wall, right next to my favorite picture of JJ and I from over the summer. I stare at them both for a minute longer, unable to fight the smile that appears on my face. 

I gather my things from my room and head to the bathroom to shower, not bothering to play any music so as not to wake dad next door. I sing softly to myself though, and continue my quiet concert as I get out of the shower and brush my teeth, careful not to raise my volume too much.

I make my way back to my bedroom shortly after and sit on my bed for a few minutes, scrolling mindlessly through my phone. Shortly after though, I force myself to stand up and as I linger in front of my closet searching for a t-shirt, wearing nothing but my favorite pink bra and my seagull pajama shorts that dad gave me for one of my birthdays, I hear a faint tapping on the window closest to my bed.

"Shit!" I whisper-shout to myself, frozen in panic after spinning around to face the window at the sound of the tapping, not bothering to realize that I'm not fully dressed yet. I squint to try to make out the source of the noise and see a hand waving frantically at me, then pointing down to the window latch. I only step closer to the window after noticing the silver rings decorating the hand that could only belong to one boy, ensuring me that whoever's at the window is not about to kill me.