Dreamer | Outer Banks

02 - The Outer Banks, Paradise On Earth

The Outer Banks, paradise on Earth. It's the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes. One island. This is Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks. So guess where we don't live.

And this is the south side, or the cut. Home of the working class who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of...drum roll, please...the Pogues.

That's us, Pogues, Pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest member of the food chain. Okay. So, the downside of Pogue life is we're ignored and neglected. But the upside of Pogue life? We're ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want.

Let me introduce you to the crew. There's JJ, my brother's best friend since third grade. He's about as local as they come, the latest one the long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt-lifers who made their living off the water. Like I've mentioned before, I've had feelings for JJ ever since we've met, just don't tell him I said that.

Then there's Kiara, or Kie, as we call her. When not saving turtles or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. Besides being my best friend, I'm not really sure why she hangs around us. She's a rich kid, actually, foot in both worlds.

Her family owns The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourist. When my dad went missing Kie was able to get me a job there. Plus her parents love me, but I'm not really sure how they feel about the others though, especially my brother.

And then there's Pope, the brains of the operation. Finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship, and the smartest person I know, even smarter than me. He's a little bit of a weirdo but that's what makes him Pope.

His father's this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on the island, Heyward could get it for you. Now, I'm not sure Heyward knew what to make of his oddball son, but it didn't matter. He was a Pogue, just like the rest of us.

Finally there's my twin brother. He's only five minutes older than me but still treats me as if I were a child. He's known to be very protective over me, but he's John B, he makes it his job to not let any guys in a five foot radius from me. But that's our crew.

~~~

"Morning Kenn." I rolled over on our fold out couch to see John B walking into the living room and picking up a frame from the table.

"Morning." We live in an old fish shack on the marsh. The Château, as our dad used to call it. He disappeared at sea nine months ago, looking for a shipwreck. Who disappears at sea these days? Three months after our dad went missing, he was officially presumed dead. We refused to sign the papers, until there was a body I wasn't giving up.

And then there's Mom. She split when we were three. Last I heard, she was in Colorado. Or at least that's what John B told me.

Then there's Uncle T, since dad's vanished, he's supposedly my brother and my legal guardian. At the moment, he's in Mississippi, building houses, which means it's just me and John B right now, on our own, hanging out with our friends.

~~~

John B and I sat in child protective services across from a social worker who my brother pointed out had a neck longer than a giraffes. We were called in earlier this morning for reasons I wasn't quite sure of.

"John, Kennedy, it's come to our attention that you are unemancipated minors living on your own." The social worker explained, taking her glasses off while staring us down.

"No...no." John B scoffed. God he was a terrible liar.

"I need honesty to help you. That's what we want, right?"

"Yeah...and were being honest."

The social worker took out a pen and pad of paper from her desk and looked back up at us. "Okay, then when was the last time you two spoke to your uncle?"

"Um, about thirty-four minutes ago." I lied to her, not waiting for my brother to blow our cover with his poor lying.

She wrote something down on her pad of paper and looked back up at us. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Two hours and...forty-three minutes ago?" My brother lied, which sounded more like a question in my opinion. God dammit John.

The social worker looked up from the paper and gave us a disappointed face. "John, Kennedy, we're going to come out there tomorrow to talk to your uncle. If he's not there we're going to move forward with foster care."

I sneaked a look at my brother and scoffed. Foster care my ass. "I want to assure you we're gonna find you a safe and loving home."

They actually thought we were gonna be happy to hear that. And that's where this story starts, our dad missing, our uncle MIA, and the bride of Frankenstein threatening foster care. But then we caught a break. Hurricane Agatha, coming in on the same day DCS was supposed to do our assessment.

My brother and I huddled around the TV along with a few locals on the south dock. "Hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina..."

"Holy shit-" I followed my brother out of the store as he reached for his phone in his pocket. Sirens were already blaring, signaling everyone to start heading home for shelter.

"Welcome to Child Services, how can I help you?"

"Yeah, uh...I think we're probably gonna have to reschedule." John B explained over the phone before he hung up. "Hey, Pope and I are gonna go surf the surge, want to join?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I think I'm gonna call it a day. I'll meet you at home, okay?"

"Let me at least drive you home Kenn, the storms about to hit. I don't need my little sister walking home in the middle of the hurricane." My brother argued, lightly pulling on my arm and motioning me to the van.

I huffed and pulled my arm away from him. "John I'll be fine. I'm sixteen, not six, I'm fully capable of getting home by myself."

I noticed a hint of hurt in his eyes before he sighed. "I know, you're right, but ever since dads gone missing it's been my job to keep you safe. Just promise me you'll be careful and text me when you get home, all right?"

"Careful's my middle name." I winked as I waved goodbye and began to make my way back to the Château. A few minutes into my walk I cursed as the rain started to fall from the sky and quickly turned into a torrential downpour. Just my luck.

I started to pick up the pace since I was still quite a ways away from the Château. In the distance a car could be heard driving down the street and I noticed it begin to slow down as it neared me. My heart started to race before I recognized the familiar car through the downpour of rain as the windows began to roll down.

"Hey shorty, you lost or do you always go for a walk in the middle of a hurricane?" Topper called out from his car. Topper was one of my only Kook friends and my best friend outside of the Pogues. I knew none of the Pogues, especially my brother, wouldn't approve of our friendship so we always tried to keep it on the downlow.

"I don't know Top, do you always drive around in the middle of a hurricane and stalk your friends?" I teased back, stepping closer to his car and leaning my arm on the door of his car.

"Get in the car Kenzie. Let me drive you home." Topper insisted, flashing one his iconic cocky grins. I challenged him with a grin of my own. "Who said I needed a ride?"

Lightning struck a nearby tree which caused me to jump and Topper laughed. "Unless you want to be struck with lightning I advise you hop in the car."

"Fine, since you begged." I teased, walking around to the passenger side of the car and got in after Topper opened the door for me and took off.

We sat in comfortable silence listening to the radio in the background while enjoying each other's presence. Due to our different lifestyles we weren't able to spend a lot of time together but I personally loved the little moments like this we would spend together. "So Top, what were you really doing out here?"

He sighed before turning his head in my direction before looking back to the road, "I wanted to make sure you were okay before the Hurricane hit."

"You know there is something called a cellphone, right?" It was sweet that he cared about me but I was never one to show my emotions, even to my closest friends. I was always more of a bottle it up type of girl.

Topper shook his head and laughed. "You know what I mean, the Cut isn't exactly the safest place, especially with a hurricane coming right towards us."

We pulled up in front of my house and I unbuckled my seatbelt. "Well thank you for checking up on me, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Shorty." Shorty was Topper's nickname for me, at first I hated the name but it quickly grew on me, it was something special between the two of us.

I rolled my eyes before I hopped out of the car, closed the door and sprinted into the Château. I walked straight into my room and flopped onto my bed calling it a night.