one - the last day of school

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On the last day of school, Kiara asked Marina if she wanted to come surf with her the rest of the pogues. They were walking out of their geometry final, the last final of the year.

"Any big plans this summer?" Marina asked as they walked down the hall, just to make small talk.

"Not really," Kiara said, "Surf, fish, work. What about you?"

Marina shrugged, "Well, I was planning on hanging out with Ben all summer, but not anymore I guess."

Ben was Marina's ex. They dated for over two years and Marina was obsessed  with her boyfriend. Ben was her best friend. She dropped Kiara and the rest of the pogues so she could spend more time with Ben. Now that they had broken up, Marina had no idea how she would spend her summer.

"You should come surfing with us today," Kiara said.

"Seriously?"

Kiara nodded.

"And you think everyone would be chill with me coming?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't be," she said.

"As long as the everyone is okay with me being there, then yeah. Sounds like a plan."

When Marina stopped by her house to grab her board and change into a bikini, neither of her parents were home. She wasn't surprised, it was a few minutes past 4:00 and they usually weren't home until after dinner. Marina's dad was a boat mechanic and her mom owned a boutique on Figure 8. They moved to the island when Marina was in elementary school so her mom could open her boutique. Her parents really thought the boutique would become some huge business and their family would go full kook, but it never did.

When Marina got to the beach, there were already four people sitting on their surfboards in the water. The pogues. Marina stopped hanging out them with because of Ben, but she found little ways to stay in touch with everyone.

She had lots of classes with Kiara, so they would spend lunch periods and study halls working on homework.

She talked to Pope about college. Marina's older sister got a full ride to NC State, so Pope always had questions about the application and admissions process for Marina to pass onto her sister.

She didn't reach out to John B until his dad went missing. Marina came over with a plate of her mom's chocolate chip cookies, fully expecting John B to take the cookies and slam his door in her face. But when she got there, John B invited her inside. Through tears, he told stories about his dad for hours. They never talked about it again.

Marina always tried to talk to JJ, but JJ and Ben absolutely despised each other. Ben constantly complained about JJ and would come over to Marina's house with a fucked up face from some stupid fight they had gotten into. She wasn't allowed to talk to JJ, which hurt the most, because she always felt the closest to JJ. Of course she had a unique bond with everyone, but JJ was different. Half of Marina's brain was filled with memories of fishing with JJ, coming back to her house sunburnt, and crashing on her couch until her mom came home and woke them up for dinner.

It was a good day for surfing. It was a little awkward with the pogues at first, but after a few waves, things almost felt normal again. They surfed until the sun started to set and migrated to the chateau as it got dark.

The pogues were all on the patio, and Marina was about five beers in, when JJ finally brought it up.

"So," he said, "did you finally realize Ben was a piece of shit or -"

"JJ!" Pope said.

"What?" He laughed, taking a large sip of his beer, "I'm asking a question, can I not ask a question?"

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