ATHENA PRIACTIA
Athena's Diary. Do not read.
June 8th, 2020 ☼
Okay I kinda thought that this summer
was gonna blow but I think I was dead
wrong.
Yea I miss Andrew and Kristy and Tom
and everyone else back home, but I
think I might be okay without them for a
few months...
The surf here is so good and the boys here
are so cute. I literally just got caught in a rainstorm and Grandma's not even mad at
me. I feel like it's just because she has some sympathy for me or something. I mean what kind of teenager wants to spend their summer like this? But to be honest, the anger is kinda dissipating right now.
I just made out with some random blond kid named JJ on some other random kids front porch and I kinda have a feeling that I'm gonna do it again so there's that...
Also, I mean really it's only been one day so maybe things will change, but I have a hunch that I overreacted about this whole thing in the first place :)
More updates soon!!!
xoxo,
A.P
[ JUNE 18TH, 2020 ]
↳ TEN DAYS LATER
ATHENA & THE POGUES:
SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
Ten full days since Athena met her left home. Ten full days since her mom called her from 2,819 miles away to chew her out for a few missed phone calls. Ten full days since she met the love of her life.
JJ didn't like talking about the kiss. He was in cahoots with himself for being so hasty. He hated the fact that he didn't wait to at least get to know her first. He felt like he made the worst first impression imaginable. He and Athena discussed it thoroughly, however, and they agreed to slow things down a whole lot. They were currently keeping their little talking stage a secret from the rest of the group, by Athena's suggestion (but to be blunt, JJ was thinking of asking to keep it on the DL too). The other pogues would just cause too many problems if they knew.
So for now, they were keeping things to stolen kisses and glances. Things were back to being PG, and both kids were actually enjoying it. Athena was also jumping at every single chance she got to surf. JJ followed her every time. So far though, they couldn't manage to muster up any substantial alone time since the kissing; maybe a half hour or two here and there, but never anything more than 45 minutes. JJ didn't particularly mind- most of the time- due to the inevitability of him taking things too far again. But when he was just trying to get to know the girl and everyone were crowding around her, he felt like their entire relationship was going to have to be based on their Snapchat/I-message conversations. Granted, they never left each other alone on Snapchat. They were each other's best friends in a matter of days (Athena became JJ's first, then JJ beat out Athena's best friend from California a few hours after), and they already managed to play thirteen games of game pigeon 8-ball- most of which Athena won. JJ was basically game pigeon illiterate. Needless to say, things were going pretty okay for them.
Presently, though, the two of them- along with the rest of the gang- were on John B's boat heading for the marsh. Yesterday, hurricane Agatha dragged her meaty hands through the island and wrecked everything on both Figure Eight and in the cut. Kildare County was a wreck today, southside or not. Athena felt a little more secure about her rich grandmother today than she had since she met the pogues. After the way Athena handled the last crazy storm, her grandmother put her on lockdown all day. The servants, as she called them, helped her make that possible. Pope and John B on the other hand surfed the storm. Gigantic thirty and forty-foot waves with double overhead and a crazy pull. Athena was jealous, but that goes without saying. JJ was hiding in the Routledge fishing shack, living on weed and Pepsi and blowing up Athena's phone while Kiara took shelter in her house on Figure Eight.
Today, they had picked up Athena at Kiara's house. Her place wasn't too far from Athena's grandma's so she walked over earlier that morning. Hiding the fact that her new friends were at the bottom of the social-economic food chain was one of the hardest things Athena ever had to do. But it was also one of the most important. If her grandma found out that she was slumming it with the kleptomaniacs of Kildare County, she'd wring Athena by the neck and then give her the world's most stern talking to. That was both unnecessary and unwanted. So, things stayed under wraps. As far as her grandma knew, Athena was friends with a nice group of girls with fancy parents and even fancier houses. Too bad the hardest lie to keep was the one about them all being girls.
"Hey, I bet you can't do this," JJ declared to the collective general public as he made his way to the bow of John B's boat with his bottle of beer still in hand. He was met with a ton of groaning and eye rolls. Athena laughed but was mildly unaware of what JJ was about to do. He was always doing crazy things, so she figured this was one of those things. "Let me show you a party trick."
"Terrifying," Kiara deadpanned as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Hey Pope," JJ continued, ignoring everyone's obvious discontent. "Can ya go a little faster, please?" He tore off his shirt and tossed it to Athena who folded it nicely and laid it down next to her.
"God. Here we go. I'm movin'." John B switched his hat from forward to backward and made his way to the stern of the boat. He sat down behind Pope, who, for whatever reason, was in control of the boat right now. Annoyed, John B kept complaining, "we've tried this, like, 6,000 times. It doesn't work."
"I got this," JJ assured him, locking eyes with Athena as he spoke. "It's gonna work!" He winked at Athena before tilting his head back and bringing the bottle of beer up to his lips. He held it about six inches away from his mouth and tilted it down before opening his mouth as wide as he could, trying to catch the beer.
Beer shot behind him in every direction. It hit Kiara and Pope right in the face and droplets floated over to John B, mostly landing on his feet where they rested right behind Pope, who was now using his hands as beer shields instead of using them to steer.
"Oh, God. You're getting beer in my hair." Kiara announced.
"JJ, that's enough." Pope insisted, finally bringing one hand back to the steering wheel.
"He kinda looks like Moses," John B pointed out. Kiara snorted and Pope just rolled his eyes, insisted yet again that JJ wasn't being funny and that he was done with his party trick.
"Moses can part my red sea," Athena joked. This time, Pope, John B, and Kiara all laughed. Hysterically. Athena was actually really good at this. Kiara always laughed at all of her jokes. Actually, she laughed at everything Athena said. It made her ego shoot up really fast and her confidence shoot up even faster. But even John B and Pope laughed at like 89% of the jokes Athena made. She had truly found her people. Anyway, her comment got an eyebrow dance out of JJ and a 'Woooooo' before he threw her his snapback and went back to his beer thing.
"Athena," Kiara said as she nudged the girl's arm.
Athena just laughed and put on JJ's hat. Pope shot John B a look, who, coincidentally, shot the same one back.
And then JJ's life flashed before his eyes.
The HMS Pogue hit something; all of the children assumed it was a sandbar, and the engine rattled. JJ was sent flying into the bay water, face first, somersaulting into the murk before he landed. Athena and Kiara both let out screams, but thirty seconds later, JJ's head popped back out and he let out a gasp and a groan.
"You okay, JJ?" John B asked as Kiara cursed out Pope, who, by the way, was steering with both hands when they crashed.
"I think my heels touched the back of my head..." JJ floated on his back and stared up at the sun. His hair was in his eyes now. So much for a relaxing fishing trip. His head spun as he closed his eyes. "Pope, what did you do?"
"Sandbar. The channel changed." Pope was lying on the deck like a dead fish. His head had the floor pretty hard.
"No shit," JJ ducked under the water to fix his hair. His head was absolutely pounding now. This was definitely going to hurt tomorrow morning. No doubt.
"Ugh this is probably gonna mess this whole place up," John B ran his hands through his hair as he stood up. He was referring to Agatha.
Athena signed an agreement. Last night, a huge tree had fallen and landed right in her bedroom. She had cuts on her arms and legs to prove it. JJ was so freaked out when she showed him the pictures that morning.
"Hey, I saved the beer though," JJ laughed as he swam back to the boat.
"Congrats, JJ," John B offered, dully, as he made his way over towards the side of the boat JJ was swimming up to. There was no latter to climb up on the boat, so John B had to pull the other boy back on. JJ could've done it himself if he didn't just literally learn how to fly.
Kiara and Athena's attention spans both flickered between John B and JJ. They both looked so stupid. John B grabbed both of JJ's hands and lifted him out of the water. JJ was deadweight. He didn't even try to help, he just dangled in John B's arms as he pulled. Kiara laughed, but Athena pressed her lips into a straight line and watched warily as JJ fell back into the water. He groaned and floated on his back again.
"Guys... I think there's a boat down there." Nobody really paid any attention to this. Pope shook his head and raised his voice, this time speaking with more urgency. "No... No, guys, I'm serious there's like a boat down there, for real. There's a boat!" Pope pointed as his voice cracked. All of the other teens rushed behind Pope and followed his finger with their eyes. There most certainly was a boat down there.
Athena ripped off her shirt and tossed aside JJ's hat (it was a miracle that it didn't fly away on impact), and dove in. JJ smirked as she held her breath and swam towards the wreck, kicking her little heart out. If their long-ass make-out sessions taught him anything, it was that that girl could really hold her breath. I mean, really hold her breath.
"What are you waiting for?" Kiara asked the guys as she unbuttoned her denim shorts and tore them off. "Let's go!" She threw her shorts aside and dove in after Athena. Pope and John B followed en-suite.
ATHENA & THE POGUES:
AT THE SUNSET MOTEL
So, to make a long story short, JJ informed everyone that the ship that sank was, in fact, a brand new Grady-White; a very expensive boat. John B dived all the way down into the wreck and found a shiny motel key, presumably from the owner of the ship, and presumably, the room was still rented out. And with the storm still being at the forefront of the list of priorities right now, they headed over to the motel. Which, conveniently enough from the gang, was only a boat drive away. Athena tagged along, fully clothed again and even wearing JJ's hat.
John B and JJ went up to explore the room while Pope, Kiara, and Athena stayed behind in the boat. The entire way up to the room itself, JJ harped John B about Kiara. It was obvious she'd been flirting with him a lot more than usual ever since CPS was swarming him. As soon John B got the door to the room unlocked however, he harped JJ about Athena. He informed her that Pope even said he thought something was going on between them. (This sent JJ into a downward spiral for thirty seconds.) But JJ just said that he wasn't for pogue on pogue macking. John B didn't really fall for it though. Usually, JJ liked to flirt with Kiara so much that John B thought they were secretly dating for six months last year, but that had stopped the past week or so. Kiara even noticed it. She said it was a "nice change of pace." Pope thought that was really funny.
They managed to explore the room minimally before the cops rolled up. John B was smart enough to figure out the code to the room's provided safe, which was hidden in a cabinet underneath the television. Inside was a shitload of money and a gun. There was also a map alongside a post-it note with two sets of coordinates written down. One of which, was off the continental shelf; a big swell. Whatever the person was doing, it couldn't possibly have been fishing. JJ was looking at the other set, but that was when John B opened the safe, and his ADHD-like attention span forgot to check the second set. And before they knew it, they got a signal from the girls (and Pope), that cops were on their way up.
Quickly, and resourcefully, JJ and John B climbed out the window and clung to the brick wall outside. Athena shook with fear as she watched JJ stand there. A part of her felt guilty for not even caring about the fate of John B even half as much as JJ's, but another part of her told her that nothing bad would happen to John B. Before she really had any reason to worry though, the cops were gone, and the pogues were bouncing. Just like that.
ATHENA AND THE POGUES:
BACK ON THE BOAT
"The cops took everything like a crime scene," John B was driving his own boat again, so when Pope finally spoke up, Athena wasn't nervous. "Did you guys find anything," He continued. Kiara nodded in encouragement, but she seemed slightly afraid of the actual answer.
"Did we find anything? No, I don't think so," JJ laughed and shook his head before pulling out a wad of cash and a gun. "Oh yeah, we did." He laughed even harder as John B shoved him over, willing JJ to stuff the money back into the pockets of his cargo shorts.
"What the Hell?" Pope demanded. He rose to his feet and JJ joined him. Athena and Kiara shot each other the same nervous look.
"Dude, what-" Kiara was cut off by Pope's loud rumbling.
"I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey. Sh. Sh. Sh. Sh." JJ looped his arm around Pope's neck and brought the gun to his friend's lips. "At least you have us, right?" Athena squinted at them through the UV rays, her stomach was doing backflips. Was JJ serious right now? Did he steal a gun? And now he's playing with it like a toy? No way.
Twenty minutes later, the group had come to find out that last night during the hurricane, Scooter Grubbs was out. On his, get this, brand-new Grady-White and that the entire state was now on the lookout for it. His wife tried to report him missing that very morning, but the cops told her that she needed to wait twenty-four hours before she could actually file a missing person report for an adult. So, the conclusion was drawn that they found Scooter's boat, motel room key, and then money and gun.
Pope was sweating like a whore in church.
The mutual agreement was finally reached, after four excruciating hours, that the group just needed to lie low for a little while. JJ had every intention of keeping the money. Kiara thought it was bad karma, Pope thought he'd be sent to jail if they did so, and John B said they needed to pass the money off to Scooter's wife. Athena felt as if she had no say yet, having been friends with these people only ten days, so she kept her opinions to herself. She did, however, very much voice her opinion on the kegger Kiara had suggested.
THE TEEN POPULATION OF OBX:
AT THE BONEYARD
A.K.A - THE KEGGER OF A LIFETIME
John B and JJ carried the beer down to the boneyard. Pope had cups, Kiara had the keg, and Athena carried the speaker. It was a big Bluetooth one that was sure enough to last at least most of the night. She was just grateful to have aux power. Her party playlist hadn't been used for at least a couple of months and she missed the feeling of everyone wondering who was the music god. She was excited.
Kids started arriving so fast Athena was sure she was going to get whiplash. But it was actually kind of nice; getting to meet more of JJ's friends. He kept introducing her as "his girl", but Athena was sure he meant it platonically. Kiara was off talking to some guy about turtles, John B was laughing with a bunch of girls from Florida, and Pope was with a kook, that looked too high to even realize anyone was talking to her.
"Havin' fun?" JJ asked.
Athena was having fun. This was great! Everyone seemed so happy. Even the kooks that she'd heard so much about. Everyone just seemed happy to be here and as if they were genuinely having a good time.
"Yea. You?" She asked with a smile.
JJ nodded sincerely and wrapped one of his arms around Athena's waist. She moved aside.
"What?" He asked, a smidge of embarrassment creeping onto his lips. "I thought... I thought you liked me."
"JJ," Athena laughed. It registered with her now just how shot his pupils were. She tried to remember just how many hits they took before, but the shots she did with Kiara and John B before clouded her memory. "JJ, I really like you, but what happened to laying low?"
He stumbled around as he answered her. "Fuck lying low," his speech slurred. People were watching now. But JJ circled around Athena before he put his hands back on her waist the way he did the day they met. "Kiss me." He demanded. "Now, In front of everyone."
Athena pushed him off gently. "J, you're very drunk." She took a few quick steps backward, nearly losing her footing in the sand. More heads turned toward the pair.
"Are you playing me?" He shouted. The amount of people around them seemed to be doubling every second. Luckily, Kiara and Pope were out of earshot and John B was making out with the tourist. "Are you?" He asked again, refusing to let up.
The waves crashed onto the shore loudly. People around them laughed and sang. Some of the girls who were visiting from Long Island, New York were starting to dance. Athena's stomach flipped upside down as she realized how many of those people could see JJ as he walked closer to the ocean. She felt embarrassed. Not for JJ, but for herself. She probably seemed so crazy right now.
"No, JJ. I really don't care enough to play people." She shouted back.
"Oh, so you don't care about me now?" JJ took off his hat and threw it in the sand. "That's fine!" Clearly, that was a lie. Whatever was going on, it wasn't fine, that was for sure.
"That's not- What?" Athena jogged over to JJ and grabbed his wrist. "Stop," she soothed him. "I'm not playing you," Athena took her left hand and placed it on JJ's face. His skin felt like it was on fire. His sweat clung to her palm. He was way past tipsy. "I like you a lot JJ, but you need to calm down. I think you're freaking people out."
He shook his head and apologized, reaching up his right hand to press Athena's into his cheek more. He missed her hands on his skin. He felt so stupid right now. He knew deep down that he was going to regret his little outburst in the morning, but right now, at this moment, he didn't really care. He wanted the reassurance more than anything. He couldn't shake the feeling sometimes. He seriously needed that.
But just when they thought they were in the clear-
"Yo, JJ." Another teenager, one Athena had yet to see, let alone meet, walked up to them. He wore clothes that Athena had come to know as general kook attire and already seemed to think he owned the place. "Who's this?" JJ pushed Athena behind him and buffed his chest out, subconsciously. Athena watched the scene unfold before her in terror. That fact that JJ pushed her behind him was a huge red flag. He knew she could handle herself. Additionally, she was sure he was aware of how much he drank in comparison to her. "She from the cut?" The boy asked. "Or is she a tourist? Because she's not from Figure Eight."
"She has a name, freak show." JJ snapped, giving the kid a good shove. "This is Athena."
"Oh, Athena." The boy tried to work his around JJ to actually talk to the girl, but he wouldn't let up. "Athena, you better stay away from these losers. Nothing good's gonna come out of it."
"Topper, knock it off," another teenager called from behind them; a girl. She was blonde and her arms were folded across her chest. "I mean it."
The boy in front of JJ just waved her off.
"Sarah, call off your little minion, dude." JJ pleaded, shooting his hand out in front of Athena as the other boy made another pass at her.
And then everything came crashing down.
Topper threw the contents of his red solo cup in JJ's face. JJ lunges at the boy, grabbing two big fistfuls of his shirt. John B came sprinting over and pulled JJ off. Kiara ram after Athena, who was now fuming. Sarah ram after Kiara, apologizing and freaking out. Pope came sprinting over as JJ yelled and broke free from John ab's grasp.
The sun was set now and the moon was the only light they had. Kids gathered around to watch anyway. The tide was rolling in and now all of them were about ankle-deep, yet none of them noticed. Everything smelt like weed. Nobody could think straight. All of them were nervous.
JJ reassumed his position on Topper's shirt, the two fistfuls of seersucker now back in his palms. "You stupid bitch," JJ slurred, pulling Topper dangerously close. "You shouldn't have come here-"
Topper pulled his fist back and Sarah screamed. Athena pulled her eyes away from JJ and towards Sarah. She wasn't watching as Topper sent a clean uppercut right into JJ's face. She only watched as the boy crumpled to his knees. Athena ran over, helping him up.
"Dirty pogues," Topper spat.
This essentially set John B on the warpath. Nobody fucks with him, but most importantly, nobody fucks with his crew.
John B ran at full force towards Topper. He stepped in between JJ and the kook and sidestepped Athena. John B knew JJ was fine; he'd been in worse tussles before. So, he did the only thing he could think of at the moment and gave Topper a good shove.
Topper practically growled at John B. JJ stood back up and gently pushed Athena away. They all watched as Topper took control of the fight. He sent on punch into John B's eye, one into his cheek, one into his chest, one into his temple, a kick to the groin, a shove into the ocean. The next thing he knew, Topper was standing over John B, sending punch after punch into his face and abdomen. Waves crashed over them. Topper grabbed John B by the shirt and held him up on his knees as she sent more punches into his face.
All the while, Kiara and Sarah were screaming, begging him to stop. Other kids, ones Athena had no recollection of, were chanting 'fight! fight! fight!' as if they couldn't see Topper literally drowning John B. Neither of the girls were brave enough to physically try and stop the boy. Pope was too busy trying to convince JJ not to intervene.
Topper let go of John B's shirt and he felt back into the sent. More punches were let loose on the boy. Hit after hit, he took it. His blood mixed in with the ocean water, warm and sticky sucked back out to sea. Topper's knuckles had long been split open, but he kept going.
Until JJ pulled his fucking gun.
"Yeah, you know what that is." He held the cold metal to the back of Topper's head. Instantly, Topper felt all of his adrenaline fade. He had never been more scared. His knuckles had never been in more pain. His heart had never been beating faster. He'd never been more scared. He had never been so out of breath. Or cold. Or hot. Or scared. "Your move, broski."
Kiara, Pope, Athena, and Sarah all begged JJ to stop. They told him to put the gun down. To put it away. People, other teenagers, all ran away screaming. People yelled. Nobody felt safe anymore. The genuine happiness they all felt at sunset had faded with the light. Athena shook with fear as she told JJ to calm down. Her ears rang and her heart raced.
"We're good," Topper yelled up at JJ.
"Did you say, something princess?" JJ hit Topper with the barrel of the gun. Not too hard, not even enough to leave a visible mark, but he hit him.
"Okay, everyone listen up. Get the hell off our side of the island." He fired the gun. Twice. People screamed. If Athena thought they were running before, they were gunning it now. All gas. No breaks.
"Are you crazy?"
"You idiot."
"I was saving his life," JJ insisted.
"You're so stupid, you just jeopardized everything."
John B fell to the ocean and let the waves crash around him as his world faded to black.