𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐀; jj maybank

i. family of five.

   "Oakley! Oakley get back here!"

The girl soars through the halls of her house, a wide grin spreads across her lips as she rushes away from her father's grasp, sliding on her shoes as she stumbles to turn a harsh corner. The house has burst into chaos ever since the girl with the million bracelets, necklaces and rings all around escaped her confinement in her room, barely managing to put on her hat before she was being chased down by her jail guard— her father.

   "Sorry, dad! I'm already late!" she chuckles as she jumps onto the staircase's railing, sliding down and simultaneously adjusting the red hat backward on her head as she gets down and jumps to her feet.

As soon as her Vans hit the ground, she takes off into a sprint, running through the kitchen and finding a head of blonde locks sitting on the island, he jerks his head around at the commotion that enters the room and smiles humorously at his sister's antics as she quickly ruffles his hair.

   "Hey Bug, hand me that lighter will ya'?" the girl slows down just a bit as she begins to back away towards the glass doors that lead to the house's rectangular dock, impatiently extending her hands out.

The young boy grabs the lighter and tosses it over to his sister, chuckling as he hears their dad rushing through the halls upstairs. Oakley's ice-colored eyes look from the staircase to her brother and she pulls her lips down at the trouble that will come as soon as she leaves the house, but instead of backing down, she just winks at her little brother and looks back at the stairs that extend upstairs.

   "Bali come on boy! Speed it up!" she calls out loudly.

Suddenly, stomping down the halls comes a giant animal by the name of Bali. His long, tall legs run down the halls and overpass the man that once was before him, making him grumble as he watches him sprint down the stairs. Arthur gives up in midst of his way down the stairs and watches with a heaving chest and a hand to his head as the Great Dane flashes for his best friend, reaching the girl as the two vandals speed for the smaller white boat on the ocean. He rubs his hairline in distress and closes his eyes, shaking his head.

   "Sorry, Daddy! I'll be back for dinner I promise!" the girl lies, smiling widely as the wind blows her brownish-gold hair behind her back, her locks stiff from the salt that remained in her head from spending the day surfing.

"You better, Oakley Moon!"

The girl laughs loudly as she turns the wheel of the boat and takes off into the green-surrounded pathways of the ocean. Bali's tongue is out as he lays in the bow of the ship, his eyes relaxed into slits as he watches the scenery before him and loosens at the low humming of the engine. The sun is just ready to set, giving the Outer Banks a beautiful pastel yellow glow and a foreign serenity, marking the clock precisely in time for a Pogue reunion out on the outskirts.

That's where the girl heads as she stands behind the boat's rudder, wind blowing on her freckled face, red already pooling on her cheekbones due to her strange skin condition and a natural golden tan coloring her skin— a tan that always paints her skin and will never leave as long as she lives in the sunny islands of North Carolina.

After a few minutes of sailing, she can see a familiar group of four losers hanging in the ongoing construction center. An old house a couple had bought back in 2018 but never finished the payments for the construction was being reconstructed and was often unattended, leaving it in the dust, and giving the Pogues a perfect hanging spot.

The grumbling of her engine catches the attention of the group, making them turn to find the grinning girl with the old-jeweled body. Cloth bracelets going up to just before her elbows, handmade anklets, bead necklaces, golden earrings, golden rings— her beloved wooden cross necklace. It all makes the girl very. . . her. And the Pogues love it. The Pogues love her— they love each other.