"Mads, pass the salt," Cole urged his little sister from across the table.
She passed it over before continuing to eat her dinner.
Mady Carter was a full kook at heart, but a rouge one at that. She was born and raised in figure eight, with her older brother Cole. Cole is nineteen, along with his friends, Rafe Cameron, Topper, and Kelce.
The four were always referred to as the "kook kings" which drove Mady crazy.
It was through her brothers friendships that Mady met Sarah Cameron. Other than Sarah, there weren't many other kook girls Mady got along with. The two drifted for a couple years, but now their friendship is stronger than ever.
Mady's dad, Jason, looked between his two children, hesitating before opening his mouth. "So," He started, swallowing the food in his mouth, "I heard from your mother." He looked at the two to gauge their reactions.
Mady rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed.
Jason cleared his throat, "She needs money," He sighed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"So?" Mady raised an eyebrow as her shoulders slump. "Who cares?"
Mady and her mother never got on well. Mady accused her several times of liking Cole better than her. She always denied it, but no one could convince Mady otherwise. Once she had an opinion, she stuck to it.
Her mother unexpectedly got pregnant about 4 years ago, but miscarried in the final months. The whole family took it really hard, especially after they had finally adjusted to the idea of a new family member.
Although, in spite of their recovery, her mother Tanya took it harder than the rest. Mady doesn't know what to call it, but it wasn't news to anyone on the island that she never recovered. She turned to drugs to ease the pain, and she was quickly hooked.
It was rare that anyone in the Outer Banks hadn't heard the story of Tanya Carter. It was the islands hot gossip for a full month.
It didn't take long for her to turn the family upside down. She would leave for days, sometimes a week at a time, and eventually wander home, stumbling and high as a kite.
Mady's father put up with it for a few months, but when their mother began getting aggressive with the whole family, particularly Mady who stood an inch shorter than her petite mother, he finally lost it.
Jason and Tanya fought for weeks until Tanya finally left for good. Now she's living with her drug addict boyfriend in crackhead wasteland, somewhere out on the cut. Mady thinks their all better for it.
"So, i'm heading to Greensboro for a couple days for work," Mady was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her father and brother continue talking around her.
"Again?" Mady asked him sighing.
"Sorry kiddo, you know how the job works. Have to make money to pay for you troublemakers somehow," He joked, taking a bite of his peas. "When are you heading to Toppers?" He asked, changing gears of the conversation topic.
Mady raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Cole. "Hour or so," He shrugged.
Toppers having a big party tonight, and in all honesty, Mady was kinda dreading it. Although, she was planning on meeting Sarah there.
"Okay. Ward's coming over for a beer but you'll probably be gone. I'm worried about him," He grunts, "He's been all over the place since Scooter died."
"Poor guy," Cole frowned before taking a sip of his water.
"Agatha's a bitch," Mady mumbled.
They finished eating before they cleaned up and parted ways. Mady went upstairs to her big bedroom and started rummaging through her clothes. She decided to have a quick shower. Mady put on a bikini under loose and ripped black jean shorts, and a cropped, low cut stripped t-shirt.
She sauntered down the stairs to meet her brother who was waiting at the front door.
When they arrived, they could hear the music booming from the driveway. Mady's fingers tingled with anticipation. It's been a while since she's partied with her friends.
"I'm staying here tonight, so you can have the car," Cole said tossing her the keys as the two walked in together.
"Well, i'm not driving if i'm wasted," She said in an obvious tone, scrunching her face up.
Cole just shrugged, "That's why i'm staying here,"
Mady huffed, letting out an annoyed breath.
I guess i'll deal with that problem when I get to it.
Mady followed Cole through the back gate and into the back yard. She looked up just in time to see Topper jumping off the roof with Sarah in his arms. She shuttered as their bodies slapped against the water in the pool. She bit her nails nervously.
"Coolest chick in the Obx!" Was all Mady could make out.
Mady groaned. "I need a drink,"
A few drinks and some laughs later, Mady spotted Rafe setting something up. She watched for a moment until he pulled some white powder out of his bag. Coke. She shook her head.
"Sup princess," He smirked walking towards her. Despite Sarah and Mady being so close, she and Rafe never got along. Their strained relationship only got worse as the years went on, and in the past couple months Rafe's been a whole different person, in the worst way possible. Mady knows the drugs are doing a number on him, similar to what they did to her mother.
Rafe got close to the girl and wrapped his hand around her wrist. "What's the look for, huh?" He asks, squeezing tightly.
"Fuck off Rafe," Mady rolled her eyes and tried to pry her hand out from his grip.
"What was that?" He asked, slowly stepping closer to her. Mady's heart rate picked up minimally as Rafe's tall stature stood above her. The top of her head only came to his shoulder.
She kept a stern face, not giving any fear away. "Let go, dumbass." She hissed, shaking her wrist.
Rafe glanced to the right, and immediately let go of her wrist. Mady looked at the source of his weariness to see her brother macking a touron girl. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Let's go do a line," Rafe said pulling the girl towards the living room.
"I'm good thanks," She yanked her wrist back and turned away.
"Your loss," Rafe scoffed at her.
She kept walking the opposite direction before turning back to Rafe as she wiped away her fake tears. "Boo-hoo," She mocked the fakest upset voice she could muster up. Rafe only scoffed and went back to the table that Topper had now wandered up to.
Mady spotted Sarah coming down the stairs looking flustered. Confused, she headed over to her.
"Hey-hey, you okay?"
Sarah wiped a stray tear and nodded. Mady raised her eyebrow, causing Sarah to slowly shake her head.
Mady knew something was wrong with her friend. "Let's get out of here," She whispered, guiding Sarah out to the car.
In all honesty, she was glad to leave. She loves her friends undoubtedly, but some people, including her brother and his friends, were not among them.
The kooks had always been her crowd, because she had never known anything else, but part of her longed for more adventure that she could never get from the kook life.
"So," Sarah started as the two shut the car doors. "Any random hookups? Fights? Drama?" She questioned.
This caused Mady to giggle. It was true that she had a little wild spark in her. Jason always said she got it from her mother.
Mady had a reputation of sneaking around and finding trouble. She was lucky to be a kook because it-as well as her fathers friendship with the deputy- bailed her out of a lot of sticky situations. Naturally, she used this perk to her advantage.
"Nah, nothing exciting," Mady shrugged. Sarah knew she and Rafe didn't get along, but Mady never told her how rough their relationship truly was. Although, it was obvious that it was getting worse as the days passed.
Mady turned the car on and backed out, waiting for Sarah to speak. When she didn't, she decided to push.
"Are you gonna tell me what happened?" She glanced over at her in the passenger seat.
Sarah sighed beside her. "I told Topper I was ready."
Mady's eyes widen as she stared at the road ahead of her. "Really? What happened?"
"Yeah. But..." She paused looking for the right words. "When it came down to it.. I don't know, I- I couldn't do it." She breathed out.
"Did he get mad? Did he stomp?" Mady questioned her, her voice laced with concern, shooting her a knowing look.
"Yeah- he's a stomper," She whispered. Both girls chuckled slightly.
"Sarah, it has to feel right," Mady attempted to help her friend, taking a more serious tone.
"I know, but it did-Shit, watch that, watch, watch, watch," Sarah pointed frantically at the garbage bins in front of them just as Mady smashed into the whole row.
"Oops," She muttered, glancing over her shoulder as the house lights flickered on.
She quickly swerved back onto the road and stepped on the gas, watching through the rear view as an old woman limped out of the house and threw up her finger.
"Jesus, Mads," Sarah sighed, trying to stifle a slight chuckle.
"It's fine, it's fine." Mady assured her, keeping an eye trained on the mirror as the woman shuffled out to pick up the bins. "Keep going."
Sarah sighed again. "It just- it did feel right," She wined. "He was so sweet the entire day."
"Why didn't you then?" Mady raised her eyebrows at her, peeking another quick glance. At this point she's not really sure where she's driving, she's just driving around so Sarah has a chance to vent.
Sarah paused for a moment, unsure what to say. "I don't know..."
"Hey," Mady smiled, taking one hand off the wheel to grab Sarah's hand. "You'll know when it's right and you'll be happy you waited," She offers. Sarah smiled and squeezed her hand back.
"I love you, but please keep both hands on the wheel," Mady broke out in a deep laugh, refitting her hand around the steering wheel.
"Let's get some food, yeah? I'm starving," Mady suggested, pulling off the road in an attempt to lighten Sarah's mood.
"Mads, this is Kie's restaurant. This is the last place I wanna go,"
"Kie's Dad's restaurant," She pointed out as her stomach growled. "It's not like she'll be in there, it's like... 11:30. PLUS, you know they have the best fries,"
Sarah finally gave in and the girls sauntered into The Wreck. They were hit with cool air as soon as they stepped in the door. The tall man behind the counter smiled at them, "Good timing ladies, were closing soon," He gestured for them to take a seat. "What do you girls want?"
They glance at eachother and Mady raised her eyebrows, "Fries please!" He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.
As Mady turned to head into the diner, she was met with a hard glare from none other than Kiara herself. Mady, Sarah and Kiara were all best friends when they were little, although Mady drifted from the two as they grew up. Eventually Sarah and Mady rekindled their relationship, but for whatever reason, Kiara didn't come back with her. Still, they were always friendly, and the two always got on well whenever they saw eachother. It only took Mady a second to realize her glare was set on Sarah, who had stopped in her tracks. 3 of Kiaras pogue friends were sat around the table with her.
"The kook princesses!" Mady rolled her eyes at the comment from JJ. She knew all the boys pretty well, through small talk at parties or running into eachother surfing. One thing was for sure, her brother hated every one of them. Especially since JJ pulled a gun on his best friend. Mady wasn't sure what to make of that situation. Topper DID try to drown John B.
Mady looked at Sarah who seemed frozen. Her stomach knotted at the awkwardness of the moment, so she did what she had to do.
"Ahhh, my favourite pogues!" She smiled, strolling up to the group. "Pope, I must say, you're looking very spiffy, and Kie, beautiful as ever," She finger gunned both of them before patting John B on the top of the head.
JJ and John B shook their heads, stifling a laugh, and Kie smiled faintly at her before correcting her gaze back to Sarah.
"Hey-uh, let's just head, i'm pretty tired anyway," Sarah nodded towards the door, letting out a painfully obvious fake yawn.
"Hot and ready ladies!" Kiara's dad announced coming out of the kitchen with two buckets of fries. Mady shot Sarah an apologetic look.
"Come- join us!" JJ said sarcastically, motioning to the chair beside him.
Kiara whirled her head around to frown at him, serving looks that could kill.
"Uh- unfortunately we have a curfew," Mady lied and she gathered her fries and prepared to leave. "But really- it's been lovely." She saluted the group as she and Sarah walked to the door. She rummaged through her back pocket to leave cash and some tip money on the counter.
"She won't be in there?" Sarah repeated Mady's previous words, as they stepped back out into the sticky and humid obx air. She let out a sigh and ran some fingers through her hair. "Yeah- uh- my bad," She chuckled nervously.
They sat in the car parking lot for a few minutes, enjoying the fries.
"That was so worth it for these babies," Sarah dramatically moaned.
"I knew it would be," Mady shrugged and Sarah shoved her shoulder, chuckling.
Mady watched the door to the restaurant swing open, and she saw a blonde boy saunter out, followed by his three friends.
"Shh- lean back," She whispered, smacking Sarah.
"Why?"
"They're gonna think we're stalking them. Just lean back,"
When Sarah's eyes land on the group they widen, and she immediately leaned her chair back.
The girls giggled at their stupidity for a few minutes until their sure the pogues have left.
"Let's head home," Mady sighed starting the car up.
"Sleepover?" Sarah wiggled her eyebrows at the brunette, causing her to break into a smile.
"You know it,"