Beyond the 'Banks

1.

The waves. The Seagulls. The warm breeze. The late nights. The ice cream melting down to the end of the cone. The beach. That's summer. That's how I've always known mine. Well, at least until this past summer.

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It seems that no matter what happens, my friends and I can never escape a situation where one, or all, of us might die. It's like with every corner we turn, the possibility of death greets us with a nice big smile. Look, I know death is inevitable and all but it seems like at the ripe age of 16 I can never go one day without thinking "this is literally going to get us killed" or "I need to find a new group of friends".

Picture this. It's late June and the Carolina sun shines mighty proud upon the Outer banks. You're bored as hell already. How do you fix boredom in the town you've lived in all your life? The town you know like the back of your hand. Use it to your advantage. Luckily for you and your friends there's a home being built across town which means for right now it's one of the best hang out spots you've got.

"You're gonna fall you know that right?" I asked my friend John B who, in John B fashion, was standing on edge of the roof with one foot off, trying to balance himself.

"That's what? A three-story fall to the deck? I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival." My other friend Pope said while holding a screwdriver gun.

"Hm should I do it?" John B asked while putting his index finger in his mouth and then putting it in the air.

"Yeah do it. I'll shoot you on the way down." Pope replied, now aiming the screwdriver gun towards John B.

That's when Kie, or Kiara, walked out of the construction home complaining about something that had to deal with the environment, "They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers."

"Of course they are. Why wouldn't they?" I asked her.

"This used to be a turtle habitat but who cares about the turtles I guess." Kie said in a sad tone.

Finally our other friend JJ chimed into the conversation, "I cant have cold towels." He said sarcastically.

"No that would just be ridiculous" I replied. He looked at me and nodded while slightly raising his beer up in agreement. "Here's to no cold hand towels"

"Here here!" I said while taking a sip of mine.

"Can you please not kill yourself?" Kie asked John B who was having the same amount of annoyance I had about him standing on the roof.

"Yes! Thank you Kie! Finally, someone else in our group who's actually concerned about the fact that John B could quite literally fall and seriously hurt himself"

"Don't spill that beer. I'm not giving you another one." JJ called out to our friend who was still trying to balance himself.

"No way beer is your biggest concern right now."  I said.

"Beer's always my biggest concern Molly. You should know that."

After JJ said that, John B lost his balance and the can dropped right out of his hand and onto the wooden deck making it spill completely.

"Smooth." Kie said sarcastically.

"Haha" I said to John B. In return he flipped me off.

"Hey uh security's here.. let's wrap it up." Pope said while looking over the railing to see a small white ADT security car.

"Boys are early today." John B said before finally getting off of the roof while JJ left his spot.

"Let's roll" Kie said.