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PROLOGUE DRINKING TO FORGET
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Parties were just about the only thing to do in the Outer Banks. That's why when summer came, so did the onslaught of parties in the boneyard. Now, rich or not, the Kooks wanted free booze even if it meant tolerating the Pogues and other Cut residents. So, Saturday night, he and his friends were at a kegger like usual. It was almost amazing how easy it was to get drunk on the weekends as fourteen and fifteen-year-olds who had just barely gotten through their first year of high school. A handful of them were certainly going to be alcoholics one day, but no one cared about that now as they filled up their cups.
"All I'm saying is that Miss Fleish can suck a dick for failing me on the final, it brought my grade down like ten percent!" Lila Turner, best friend, and one-half of the Turner twins was ranting as the five of them sat in a circle on abandoned logs with a beach campfire in the middle of them.
"Dude, she failed you because you fucking suck at math," the other half of the Turner twins, James, retorted with a scoff. Next to him, Norman, or Rocky, as his friends called him, nudged him with a shit-eating grin as they laughed at Lila's expense.
"Don't be rude!" exclaimed Gemma, a tall blonde and the only heart of gold in the group. Gemma always covered up at the Boneyard parties, forgoing makeup and feminine clothes because with so many outsiders they never knew who they could trust. However, that didn't dull her spirit as long as her friends were around her and there was a red solo cup in her hand. "Rocky sucks at math, too, but I don't see anyone bagging on him!"
Norman laughed at this, taking a sip of his cheap beer before he spoke, "Yeah, but I accept that I suck at math, there's a difference there. Besides, I only failed because Alisha wouldn't let me cheat off of her."
"Yeah, because Fleish was on my dick staring me down the entire fucking test," Alisha groaned, "You guys know I would have pulled through if that bitch didn't have it out for me. Ugh, I'm getting a refill, does anyone want anything?"
"Don't worry, I was gonna fill up too, I'll grab it for you," Norman offered, standing up and reaching out for her cup. "Anyone else?"
Two more cups were thrust into his grip and he chuckled before taking off for the keg which at the moment was being manned by a couple of Pogues. Now, Norman really didn't mind them all that much. He acknowledged that he lived a significantly better life than them and would probably amount to more, but as to the actual people, he didn't mind them at all. Currently, the person pouring drinks was a tan boy with shaggy brown hair. Norman remembered him saying his name was John something, but he wasn't sure if that was correct.
"Hey, just a couple refills for me and my friends," he said with a smile, the boy nodded and grabbed the first cup from him. "So, this is the first refill from your group all night, you're not here with every other Kook chugging as much beer as you possibly can?"
