Tidal Waves

Seven

It was a few days later when Tallulah was at the local Marina, the port full of people travelling to and from their boats. It was sunny for a dull and dreary day, the wind was steady and definitely not calm as it was picking up. The water rippled excessively, those ripples becoming waves and soon white caps would be seen. She watched the waves become different each time, like a snowflake, walking down the docks for the fun of searching out what was new around the OBX.

News tended to get around fast...

The tiny ships were bobbing in the slightly clearer water below, where fish swam in fear and lurers were tossed into the deep harshly. The smell was rather dreadful as most of the fisherman were back for the afternoon, and most likely the next few days. Rotting fish littered the docks as port became fuller by the minutes.

Men walked around in rubber boots with cargo shorts and torn tee shirts, some had messy hair and were sweaty, others had no shirts and some wore plaid to accompany their attire. There weren't too many women there and if they were, they were helping to clean off their precious boats and tie them down, carrying valuables to vehicles. Kids ran around recklessly, screaming or fussing about something. Some splashed at the water with a covered foot and others poked at the flopping fish.

Sporting a pair of white shirts freshly washed the day prior by her mother, Lou sported a plain bright pink triangle bikini top, no shirt of course since it was a hot day and a pair of old sneakers. Her hair flowing behind her shoulders in beach waves, the water having dried it in a malfunction of waves and strands earlier in the day.

Walking through the marina, she squeezed by people and looked around, simply eyeing the place. A lot of the people were scurrying around to get things cleaned up for the storm that was about to hit the OBX. As she passed by a local eat in shop, tables scattered around with chairs pushed in, she noticed a bunch of people packed around a small mounted box TV. Knitting her brows together, she got a glance at the TV and barely heard the audio as she was too far away.

A siren had began to go off.

At the OBX, those sirens were constant and familiar when it came to storms. Mostly hurricanes, those caused the most damage and usually the Kooks got alive well. They always had contractors and builders to their houses the next morning, they always had backup generators for power, they were still living the life.

Seeing a weather report casted across the TV display, she realized the storm was inching closer which made her turn away. On the main docks, she walked in a hurry to get out of the port in order to get home. She'd watched as men hauled baskets of sea creatures into bins and barrels or tying ropes off to the docks from their boats.

People had began to scurry off the docks, mothers jogged with their children as the wind picked up. Her head shot side to side as she whipped around, watching the people head out. The wind had picked up within the last few minutes, slowly becoming more and more thick. Her hair fell into her face as the wooden boards below her old sneakers creaked, the water below the docks become white with waves.

"Lou!" She hearkened from behind, a low voice that became louder when they spoke her name again and again.

Whipping her head back, she ran into someone who'd seen her suddenly. She stumbled backward upon running into the teenage boy who was taller than she was. The boy with long brown hair, curled at the root and flowed to his ears, looked at her, almost as if he knew something.

"John B." She swallowed, curious to see him there at the docks. "Why aren't you cleaning up the Chateau?"

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. John B looked around the docks before smirking and placing a hand to her arm, pulling her down the docks to escape for the sandy beaches. "Storm's comin' in so I called DCS to reschedule. Why are you here, Lou?"

She'd followed him off the docks, jumping off before him and galloped for the beach, noticing the tides change. "Came to check things out."

"Same...Hey, ugh, I was thinking about what you and Kie said the other day." She grew quiet at John's words.

Tallulah was embarrassed enough as it was for practically making JJ fake date her. She felt bad for even bringing it up, but the fact that JJ reluctantly agreed was mind blowing because he was never into doing silly shit like that. Besides, they were all good friends and nothing would run their bonds, so, she figured something like that would totally off balance the entire friendship scenario if something bad happened.

"It was her idea." Lou explained, grabbing a ponytail from her wrist and tied her hair up into a messy bun since the wind was messing her beach wave vibe, earning hair in her mouth from it. "I only did it because well, summer is the time of our lives, I might as well go big."

"And use JJ to bait a Kook?" He said, sort of baffled.

She nodded. "Well, we had non verbally agreed on you since you were like the king among us-" John B's brows raised, almost impressed by what she and Kie had said behind their backs. "But I said JJ last minute."

"Why? I mean, he's awesome, I just never took you for the type to date someone like him."

"It's fake, JB." She punched his shoulder, the two heading down the beach, further away from the marina and docks. "And I picked JJ because I know the Kooks really hate him, and besides, I think it could do him well. It's JJ we're talking about, he could use some help in the dating world."

"Yeah." He chuckled.

"But don't tell him that." She turned, walking backwards. "He'd kill me and say his dating game is better than all of ours combined." She giggled, not believing a guy who went from girl to girl was better at 'dating' than herself.

She'd dated before, of course she had, but Lou never felt anything really raw for anyone. Of course she loved ever part of it, but the people she dated weren't who she was entirely looking for. She didn't know why, but it wasn't. Tallulah was not picky when it came to dating people; she's dated Kooks and Pogues. The richest of the rich, the poorest of the poor, the smartest of the smart, the dumbest of dumb, the coolest of cool, and the shadows of the shadow. She'd been on dates with a lot of people, always got made fun of from her friends, but she was wanting something real.

That real she saw in Rafe Cameron, though, he didn't feel, let alone saw her, that way.

"Safe with me, Lou."

"Thanks, JB."

"Just out of curiosity, do you like JJ?"

She twirled around, brows lifting as her lips curled. "I'd b lying if I said I didn't, to any of you...I'm not stupid either, I know you three liked Kie and I at one point."

"Haha, yeah."