Together

42. Avoiding Opportunities

Cross my heart, hope to die
To my lover, I'd never lie
He said, "Be true", I swear, I'll try
In the end, it's him and I
He's out his head, I'm out my mind
We got that love; the crazy kind
I am his and he is mine
In the end, it's him and I
-G-Eazy, Halsey

The Outer Banks Surf Competition happens every year. It was always one of the busiest times for tourism in Kildare, hitting the hottest days of early August and attracting hundreds of people from all over the country. The swells were always good during this time of the year, which made it a perfect location for the contest.

It was open to anyone, though if you were under eighteen it required a signature from a parent or guardian. Obviously, JJ and the other Pogues didn't have money for the entrance fee, let alone a parent willing to sign them up so they never got to participate.

JJ put it off like he didn't care anyway. "Buncha Kooks on their Kook beach running a Kook contest that none of them are good enough for" he had said last year. It was true enough. The beach that held the competition was on the North side of Kildare Island. Apparently, the Cut's beach at Rixon's Cove wasn't pretty enough for the spotlight that it shed on the small Island.

"Besides, it's not like the competition would be that great," JJ would continue, trying to downplay it's appeal. Surfing is a Pogue sport and Kooks just liked to pretend they were good enough for it. There was really no real competition in the contest if half the Island couldn't even afford to compete.

Even then, JJ would watch from the beach and eye the competitors. He could admit to himself that they were not all terrible. At least the ones that came from out of state. They were still obviously kooks, but at least they seemed to handle the waves.

He would watch the swells and think about the moves he'd make. He'd imagine turning and gliding and flying through the tunnels. Feeling the spray of the ocean on his torso and the power of the wave under his board as his legs balanced him through the run. Hard to identify a feeling more exhilarating than that.

And JJ was good, great even at the sport. He spent nearly every second he could out on the waves while the weather permitted, and his friends were the same.

So, one can only imagine the shock on Shoupe's face when JJ told him no, he wouldn't be interested in competing in the contest this year. Thanks but no thanks, hard pass, and hell no.

"Are you sure, JJ?" John B asks JJ.

The Pogues were taking their runs at Rixon's when the topic of the competition came up and JJ let it slip that Shoupe asked him if he wanted to enter. They all looked at him like he was crazy for not considering it.

"Fuck yeah," he confirmed. "Why would I want to compete for a rigged game?"

"Because you're good?" Kie said with a chuckle. "And you've been bagging on it for ages, don't tell me you don't actually wanna to do it."

JJ splashed her from on top his board, ignoring the retaliation splash she threw back. He knew she was right. At one point he did want to do it. When he was ten and stupid.

Then he learned how the Kooks took everything for themselves. He already knew that a contest like that would never go in a Pogue's favor. Hell, he'd seen a guy get robbed of the number one spot a few years ago, in his opinion. All while the top spots when to Kooks.

"Kooky judges wouldn't be fair any way," he threw back. "Just be a waste of time."

"Sounds like someone's a sore loser," Pope commented.

JJ scoffed, "I'm not competing, so how'd I lose?"

"Whatever man," John B shakes his head, sounding like he's giving up trying to convince him and paddles out to take his turn at the next wave.