ONE
AGATHA'S A BITCH
(episode one. pilot)
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"DANI, COME HELP ME for a second!" Topper shouts from downstairs as Dani was walking across the landing. Her brother was prepping for the storm that was about to come, taking in the precious lawn furniture that their Dad spent thousands on.
She sighed. "Okay, wait a minute." Dani replied to a message that John B had sent her a few minutes before Topper had called her. He invited her to surf the surge because it's a 'double overhead'. She rolled her eyes at the message. Did he have a death wish?
Dani rejects her friends offer with an 'are you crazy?' at the end of her text before putting her phone in her back pocket and going downstairs to help her brother.
"Took you long enough, Dad's going crazy at the thought of this chair being outside any longer," Topper commented with a roll of his eyes. "It's like his life would end if this got damaged."
"I'll sell your car if that seat gets damaged!" Their Dad crowed from the kitchen which earns a snicker from Dani. Topper doesn't seem to find that funny as he just gestures for Dani to take the other end of the chair and lift it.
The two teenagers bend down and heave the chair off the ground, stumbling as it was so heavy. "Where do you want this?" Dani questions as she strains against the weight of it.
"Garage!"
The siblings slowly but surely make their way to the garage that was located on the right-hand side of their house. It took them a while but they managed and set the chair down with each of them breathing a sigh of relief.
"Is that everything?"
"Pretty much," Topper replies, kicking at a garden table that their Dad had probably already put there before the two of them went into the garage. "Dad probably cares more about these pieces of shit than us."
Dani nods. "He'd probably risk his life for these sacred things."
"If a murderer came and gave him the choice of us or the lawn furniture, he'd pick the lawn furniture." Topper jokes which they both laugh at. Thankfully, their Dad didn't hear the joke that Topper had just made or there would have been another insult thrown at Dani's older brother.
The two walked side by side to the kitchen where their Dad was leaning against the island counter, watching the flat-screen TV that was in the top right corner of the large kitchen. He was watching the news.
"Hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina this evening." The news reporter reads out as the TV shows a picture of the hurricane covering the island entirely.
Topper lets out a whistle as he hears the scary news about the hurricane. "Damn, I wonder what's gonna happen to the island after the hurricane hits."
"We'll be fine," Their Dad reassures as he takes a sip of his coffee. "We have backup generators and a pretty damn strong house. The Cut on the other hand, not so much."
"Good thing we're not stuck there."
Dani stayed silent. Unlike her father and brother, she was worried about what was going to happen to The Cut after the storm. Would JJ be okay? She knew his house wasn't the most sturdy and knew that if there were any leaks in the house, his Dad would leave them there for so long that they'd dry themselves out.
She wanted to invite JJ over to stay with her but she just couldn't. What if her Dad walked in suddenly to see a working-class teenage boy lying in her daughter's bed. He'd go absolutely ballistic and Dani didn't want to see that.
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone again sending a quick message to her boyfriend. She just wanted to know if he was okay and if he even had service. She waited for a few seconds staring at her phone, hoping a text would pop up but there was nothing. She huffed and exited her and JJ's chat to open her and Will's chat. She texted Will and immediately there was a response. JJ should take notes.
It was late. Dani realised she should be in bed, trying to fall asleep before the wind gets so loud it keeps her up all night. She walks back upstairs and into her bedroom to change and get comfy.
★ ★ ☆ ☆
"Holy shit." Was the first thing Dani said the morning after Hurricane Agatha had hit the Outer Banks island. She was currently staring out of her bedroom window at the large tree that had once stood at the side of Will's grand house which was now on its side, the long and tangled roots gathering around Will's front door. Will is going to flip his shit.
Leaves and branches were everywhere, covering the neatly trimmed lawn and the gravel path which lead to the front door of the house.
Dani trudged towards the light switch and flipped it, curious to see if the electricity was working. The light didn't turn on. The tree beside Will's house must have hit the power line.
That goddamn tree.
"Damnit." Dani cursed, rubbing her forehead with a sigh. She took her phone from her dresser, hoping to see if any texts had come through before the power went out.
Nothing. Not even JJ had replied to her.
Dani was desperate to see him and how he was doing. He was probably staying at the Château with John B so she knew he was okay but she just wanted to talk to him. They hadn't seen each other in a few days and Dani was itching to get a hug from him.
She decided to drive to the Château and see what the two were up to. She set off outside to where her black Range Rover was situated passing Topper on the way.
"Dad is going to loose his shit." He spoke staring at the large front gates of the house where the left side of the gate had fallen off its hinges due to the strong winds the night before.
"He'll be fine," Dani unlocked her car with the keys she had just taken out of her back pocket. "At least his garden furniture is okay." Dani's eyebrows furrowed as she realised the roof of her car was covered with stray leaves and small branches before brushing them off with her arm.
Her brother shook his head before turning to face Dani who was just about to get into her car. "Where are you going? Will isn't free to hang out," He explained as Dani's heart began racing in her chest. "I just spoke to Thomas, he said the entire family needs to help him sort out the tree situation." His shoulders tense.
Thomas was Will's overly strict father who scared Dani a little. He was just a bit too much for Dani's liking.
"I'm going to the mall. Sarah invited me to a pool party in a few days and I want a new bikini." Dani lies as Topper relaxes a little after Dani's explanation.
"Oh yeah, that party." His shoulders relax before he turns his head and stares at the gate again. "Alright, Dad probably wants you home before dinner though."
"I'll be back before then!" Dani calls out as Topper walks towards the front door to go back into the house. She breathes a sigh of relief. He wasn't that suspicious.
It didn't take Dani that long to drive to John B's small house on the other side of the island. She had to swerve on the road a few times to stop from hitting small trees that had fallen or large puddles that had formed but other than that she was okay. She parked her car beside the Twinkie before walking around the back of the house to see John B standing outside with his hands on his head.
"That's not good." He mumbles to himself staring at a tree that had been upturned by the wind like the one beside Will's house. "That is not good."
"That was my favourite tree." Dani suddenly says which makes John jump slightly but he relaxes once he see's the teenage girl leaning against the side of his house.
Dani and John B were good friends. John was actually the one who had laughed at her after she had fallen over at the beach with Will a while back. She found out from a drunken JJ who had told her that they had laughed at that after they had realised who had fallen over. After that, John and Dani always had found ways to make fun of each other.
"Mine too, I had a rope swing on that tree." He says with a fake pout on his lips which earns a giggle in response from Dani. John walks towards Dani staring at the HMS Pogue which was beside Dani and covered in wet branches.
"Oh, man." He groans whilst Dani stares at him.
"Agatha did some work, huh?" A voice says from the porch as the two heads whiz towards the sound. JJ was finally up.
"Yeah, she did." John replies with an edge to his voice, obviously annoyed that his boat wasn't doing well. JJ takes a sip of a can which was in his hand whilst John B empties the boat, taking the branches out of the boat.
Typical JJ, drinking at 10 in the morning.
"Hey sunshine." JJ smiles as he looks at the smiling Dani who was looking at him. JJ burps loudly which earns a groan from Dani.
"Ew JJ." She spoke as she walks towards him. JJ holds his arms out waiting for Dani to walk into them like she usually does when they greet eachother. He always greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
And that's what he did. Whilst John B was clearing the branches from the HMS Pogue, JJ envelops his arms around Dani's small frame and gives her a short kiss on the forehead. The thunder rumbles quietly in the distance as the couple watches their friend worry about his beloved boat.
"What you thinkin'?" JJ asks his best friend, his arms still around Dani which had now made way to her waist. Dani had slithered her arms around his neck as she turns to look at John B.
"I'm thinking that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze," John spoke, staring off into the distance as he climbs over his boat. "All those drum are gonna chase the crab."
"What about the DCS?" Dani queried, her head tilting slightly as she was restricted. JJ was now resting his chin on the top of her head which now meant that Dani couldn't move.
"Yeah, what about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" JJ questioned.
"Nah, they're not getting on a ferry."
Dani shifts, uncomfortable with the fact that John kept on pushing the DCS away. "C'mon John B, they're just trying to help you." Dani couldn't understand why he wouldn't just let the DCS do their job.
"Come on, think about it," John looks at her with a troubled expression on his face as he holds a branch up in the air. He was clearly aggravated that she was on the DCS' side. "It's God telling us to fish."
The next thing Dani knew, she was sitting behind where John B was standing driving his boat as they sailed along the water, watching the people who lived on the Cut recover from Hurricane Agatha.
"Hi, Miss Amy!" John B shouts as him and JJ wave. "You guys get through it?" Dani didn't know who Miss Amy was but she waved also, trying to be polite.
"Still here." She replies.
"She totally looked at me." JJ gushed looking at Dani before she scoffed.
"I saw it." John B adds.
Dani stuck her middle finger up at her boyfriend to which he responded with pretending to catch it like she had blown a kiss to him and held it to his chest.
"Dude, look at this place."
"Agatha, what did you do?"
"She is a crazy lady."
Dani tuned out JJ and John B's babbling as she focused on the state of the surroundings she was in. Rubble and parts of wood were floating on the surface of the water as they sailed past it. That wood was definitely blown off someone's home.
She turned her head to stare at the docks.
She couldn't believe that people had to live in conditions like this whilst she could go home to a mansion and have a garden that's probably bigger than some of the houses she was looking at. People had to live in abandoned tiny houses meanwhile Topper complains that their Dad buys the wrong cream cheese that he likes to have with his morning bagel.
It was so unfair.
"Well, look who we have here." John B says with a fake accent which takes Dani out of her thoughts. She notices a bored Pope who was hosing down the deck he was standing on, clearly wanting to be anywhere else but there. JJ whoops as Pope lifts his head, noticing the three teenagers coming closer to him.
"We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory." John B told Pope as he pretends to speak into a walkie talkie mimicking a static sound after he spoke.
"I can't. My pop's got me on lockdown." Pope sighs as JJ rolls his eyes.
"Come on, man!" JJ copies John as he mimicks static, also pretending to speak into a walkie talkie. "Your Dad's a pussy, over."
Dani stifles a laugh as Heyward stalks up behind Pope. "Oh, I heard that, you little bastard." Heyward replies, angrily staring at JJ.
"We need your son!"
"Yeah, and island rules. Day after a hurricane's a free day." JJ shrugs as he looks at Heyward.
"Who the fuck said that?" Dani's eyebrows furrow as she spoke.
Heyward must have had the same opinion as Dani as he says "Who the hell made that up?"
"Pentagon, I think," JJ implies as if he was speaking the truth. "We have security clearance, I have a card — "
"Pentagon?" Dani whispers to herself in confusion.
"Pentagon?" Heyward repeats as he realises what the boys are doing. "Hold up, do y'all think I'm stupid?"
During Heyward and JJ's altercation, Pope slowly lowered the hose he was holding onto the deck making Dani and John B both smile in triumph. His Dad turns his head to his son, a shocked expression on his face as he realises what his son is doing.
Dani stood up from where she was sitting and shouts "We promise we'll bring him back in one piece!" as she walks to the middle of the boat beside JJ.
"What the hell are you doing here Miss Thornton? Your Father will go crazy if he — "Heyward starts but JJ interrupts him.
"Her Dad doesn't know she's here."
"He will if my son decides to leave his duties and go on that boat." Heyward replies. Dani's eyes widen as she glances at JJ but JJ doesn't look fazed in the slightest.
"Yeah, you go tell him then." JJ folds his arms.
"I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow." Pope pleads taking Heywards attention away from Dani and JJ.
"No, no. Hell no. You're doing it right now."
"Get in the boat." John B not-so-subtly whispers to Pope as Pope's head turns to look at his Dad and back at his friends.
"Make a run for it." JJ also whispers.
"C'mon Pope." Dani pleads, jutting out her bottom lip to pretend she was pouting.
Pope hesitates for a few seconds before dropping the hose onto the deck where he was standing and rushing towards the HMS Pogue where his friends were standing not wanting to get caught by his Father who was now making his way down the deck.
"How does that feel?" JJ spoke to his friend as he rushes towards the boat.
"Bring your ass back up here!"
Pope jumps into the middle of the boat as John B whoops loudly. Pope makes his way to the seat where Dani had made her way back to again and leans against it, speaking to his Dad.
"I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad."
Heyward continues ranting as they sail away. "You're gonna clean shrimp, you're gonna clean fish — "
"Love you, Pops." Dani exclaims interrupting him making Pope snicker.
"You'll clean your dirty-ass room!"
"We'll bring him back soon!"
"...And I don't like your friends!" Was the last thing the four teenagers heard before they sailed away from Popes Dad, laughing at what had just happened.
Pope plopped himself down beside Dani as he sighs, resting his head in his hands. "My Dad's gonna kill me."
"If your Dad tells my Dad that I'm here, he'll kill me too," Dani shrugs. "We'll get killed together."
That doesn't seem to comfort Pope as he shakes his head after Dani's statement. Dani giggles at the worrisome Pope.
Pope was an odd one but he was also the first person to accept Dani into the group of Pogues when she first joined them. Suprisingly, it took JJ to warm up to her the slowest. After the altercation with her brother and Rafe at the beach that fateful day, JJ was hesitant to speak to her because he thought she was just like her brother. Pope on the other hand was instantly interested in her and her life and Dani was thankful for that. He was the one who made her feel most comfortable.
"Live a little Pope." Dani adds before leaning back further in her seat, basking in the sun and listening to the music that was coming from the tiny radio that John B had set up in the corner of the boat.
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a/n:
first chapter, kinda nervous loool
how is it? pls leave some comments if you wanna leave constructive criticism or something
i took a while to post this chapter but here it is now and hopefully you guys enjoy it!!
thank you for reading !
word count - 3.3k