Tidal Waves

Thirty-Five

"Tallulah?" 

The Kook had walked down the hallway to the other end of the house from where she'd been in the living room, enjoying her hot cup of coffee. Her husband was out doing some work, having left early in the morning, and she was enjoying the quietness by herself. Since the hurricane, it had been nothing but cleaning and rearranging everything to the way it used to be. Of course she'd had people come in to clean the yard and exterior of the house.

The boat was sitting in the water ready for a day out around the marshes and into the ocean, it was a main way of transportation, that or car. If you had a boat, any size, you were considered set for life since it helped locals get around quite quickly and make money. An island had it's perks for fishing of different animals and carried many jobs, provided lots of money though since the hurricane, many people have struggled getting back on their feet unless they were a Kook.

It was a nice summer day, not too hot in the mid morning as neighbors were out fixing gardens and lawns, or coming home from weekend grocery shopping. The sky was a clear blue filled with clouds of different shapes and sizes, even textures if one looked closed enough. A light breeze passed through and added a relaxing morning smell.

Mrs. Dawson passed by the endless wall of memorable photos and smiles as she came to her daughter's bedroom. Coffee cup in hand, she called the girl's name once more when she hadn't heard a reply back. The door was closed and the only sound escaping below the crack of the door was from the radio, which played lowly.

She waited by the door for an answer, but again, to her dismay, there was no answer. Grasping the knob and turning it, she pushed the door open and walked into the bright room, the curtains having been left wide open with the windows open, allowing the breeze in which made the room cold and she furrowed her brows, glancing to find her daughter. She'd gone to speak up about still being asleep before noticing her daughter asleep in bed, with a boy next to her.

Sleeping above the covers, Lou was on the right side of the bed closest to the wall by the windows, having an arm below her pillow as she slept on her stomach. She was in an oversized hoodie with a pair of short shorts, her hair wavy to her sides. On the right slept JJ, also above the covers wearing a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie, items he'd left behind previously on accident that Lou had happened to of found. JJ, unbeknownst to any of them, had his arm draped across Lou's lower back as he lied on his stomach, facing her.

Lou's mother had swallowed the held back lump in her throat and inhaled deeply, pursing her lip as she desperately wanted to say something, but decided against it. Mrs. Dawson knew her daughter was best friends with three boys and Kiara, she knew well her daughter wouldn't do anything she wasn't supposed to, but to come across a boy in her daughter's bed without being told, seemed to have shocked her a little bit.

Taking another breath, she slowly allowed herself to smile. Her daughter might've been asleep, but she knew well her friends made her happy. JJ was a bad influence at times, but he surely meant well and she'd always seen his good side. And so, looking away from the sleeping teenagers, she had rubbed her arm in thought before closing the bedroom door and turning back down the hall.

It was twenty minutes later when JJ had woken, opening his eyes as he remembered where he was. His arm draped over Lou's mid back, he furrowed his brows groggily before removing his arm. She hadn't moved or flinched when he'd done so and he stared at the peach colored pillow, not wanting to wake up because he felt like he could sleep for days. 

He sat up, sitting with his legs stretched as he rubbed his head. His blond mop falling over his forehead as he groggily gazed around the Kook's bedroom, seeing the clothes lying around on the floor and the windows left open, the curtains blowing in the wind. He blinked and proceeded to rub his face, groaning lowly in pain, remembering the side of his face was covered in bruises from his father.