CRUEL SUMMER, outer banks

- prologue

The group ran into the house. The girl with short hair curly hair grabbed the blonde boy's hand. The blonde's heart flipped once they came to contact. They laughed as they ran through the house. The security guard was going to catch the blonde but he turned around fast. The darker girl split with the brunette boy to go to their van.

"Hey, stop! Get em! They're coming your way!"

"Hey! Stop! I got them!"

"Not much of a hugger!" The blonde yelled.

"They're going out front!"

"Come on, Pope!" The girl shouted.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" The blonde repeated.

The dark-skinned boy jumped over the fence and landed on his face, groaning. The girl climbed over and landed on the boy. They both groaned in pain. The blonde jumped over and helped the girl get up.

"I'm so sorry Pope." The girl says helping him up, feeling really bad.

"Get up, Pope, fasto's coming."

"Hey! Come here you little pricks!" Gary, the security guard yelled as the three were running.

"Bus is leaving!" The brunette boy yelled.

"Come on boys and girl! Whoo!" The girl yelled as the three jumped in.

They laughed as they sat down. Gary started chasing after the van full of laughing teens. The girl with lighter skin plopped on the floor and lay down.

"Check out Gary, gunnin' for a raise." The dark-skinned boy said, getting her attention so she sat up.

"Come on, Gary!" The blonde said as he poked his head out of the orange van.

"Wait. Slow down."

"Hey! You little pricks!"

"You're gonna give him a heart attack." Both girls say.

"You're so close! You can do it. There you go." The blonde boy threw the can of beer, "They don't pay you enough bro."

"Jj, stop. Stop." The girl with shorter hair says, grabbing his shoulder.

"Oh, come on. That sort of initiative is just begging to be punished."

The girl gave him a look and he gave her an apologetic look. The girl with half up and half down shut the van door. The brunette boy drove past the sign that said: Welcome to the Outerbanks, Paradise on Earth.

The Outer Banks, Paradise on earth. It's sort of the place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island.

The teens were laughing as they drove on the bridge. The lighter-skinned girl jumped into the front seat, next to her crush. They were driving through houses. Big houses. Where the rich are.

All right. This is the Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks. So, guess where we don't live.

They drove past the gold course on the Kook side. The girl leaned back into the seat. The blonde boy looked over at her and then at the brunette boy. They drove to the other side. The poorer side. But the five didn't mind it at all. They were driving past old houses they aren't done or can't be lived in.

And then, this is the south side or "the cut." Home of the working class who make a living busing table, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of... drumroll, please... the Pogues. That's us. Pogues, pogies, the throw-away 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 the fuck we want, whenever the fuck we want.