she wasn't okay - JJ MAYBANK // Outer Banks

ONE

Lucy hopped off the boat. She never heard of 'Outer Banks', but it was the only place she needed to be right now. It was a long way from where she came from. Hadleigh, a small town in England. Lucy didn't even know if she was at the right place. All she had was an old photo of her dad with her brother on it. It was taken at the beach and all she could see were the houses in the back. Her mother never talked about her past. She'd flip shit if Lucy even mentioned wanting to learn surfing. Which was hideous. Where could Lucy even learn to surf in Hadleigh? Her mum wouldn't drive near a beach. But Lucy loved the beach. She wished she could live there. Here she was now. Surrounded by water. She took a deep breath. The air tasted of sea salt and warm sun. She could hear the ocean hitting the dock.

"Here goes nothing." Lucy whispered to herself and put her skateboard underneath her foot.

"Hey! No skating on the dock!" A lady shouted at her as Lucy took off. Lucy rolled her eyes and got off of her board. After a few steps and the woman wasn't watching anymore. Lucy got on her board again and rolled off. She didn't even know where to go. How can she find someone she only has initials of? Lucy moved around the people. Some were carrying stuff around, others just walked by. Her thoughts wandered off. Where can she start? Maybe at the town hall. Or she asks the older people. All of the sudden Lucy spun around someone.

"You know, if you wanted to dance, all you had to do is asked." Lucy found herself holding onto someone's arms. A boy. He had blonde hair, which was pulled back with a cap. His eyes were bright blue. He was wearing tank top, black short and boots.

"Sorry, didn't know you'd fully go into pirouette with me." Lucy balanced her body and let go of the boy's arms.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" The boy took a curious look at Lucy, especially her face. Without asking he put her hair back, moving her head from left to right and from right to left.

"Are you done now?" Lucy laughed and flipped her board into her hand.

"Wow, you are short." The boy said, as Lucy stood on the ground. It was true, Lucy was short. She was born too soon. She had always been the short one, but she looked old for her age. Most people thought she was 16, when she was only 14.

"I must say, you are really nice." Lucy bluffed, raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"After all that time. Finally someone noticed." The boy cried out.

"Hey JJ, found yourself a new friend after you dumped yours? Or did they dump you? Tell me again." The boy clenched his jaw and pull his right hand into a fist.

"Topper why don't you leave the Pogue side and go back to your little rich, but ugly side of the island?"

"Whatever you dirty Pogue." Everyone is really nice around here. The boy in front of Lucy loosened his tension and put his cap off and on again.

"JJ." The boy said and reached out a hand. Lucy smiled and shook his hand.

"Luce."

"What brings you to Outer Banks?"

"Who says I'm new?"

"You saying this makes it pretty clear. A Newbie Banksy. Outer Banks is too small to not know everyone." JJ pushed his hands into his pockets and leant against the boundary.

"Maybe I am from here." Lucy whispered, but JJ didn't catch it.

"Come again?"

"I've got somewhere to be. See you." Lucy said and started skating. Where to? She didn't know. Reading from the back of the photo Lucy's brother must be 16 or 17. She didn't know, when his birthday was. She didn't even know his name. All she had was JBR. What if he left the island years ago? Her mum didn't even know Lucy had the photo. Hell her mum didn't even know she wasn't in England anymore. Lucy overheard a conversion once. Her mum was talking to someone on the phone. She talked about the photo. The photo which was right now in Lucy's hands. Lucy found it underneath her mum's bed. There was nothing else. Just the photo. OBX – JBR 1st birthday – taken 2004 was written on the back. Lucy did take it every once in a while, which was nearly every day. She took a picture with her phone, but she wanted it in her hands for the trip. The trip of her life. Lucy even changed the card in her phone, so her mum couldn't call her. She still had it tho. It was in her bag. Just in case. Lucy saw a sign:

STAFF WANTED – needs to be 16 – day/night work – feel free to come in and ask

Lucy stopped. It was a restaurant. The Wreck. The girl with long dirty dark blonde hair smiled. Just what she needed. Lucy entered the restaurant and looked around. It did look old, but not ugly old. It was nice. A good place to hang around. There was a girl, with long dark curly hair. She was serving a table. An older man was standing behind the bar, filling up some drinks.

"How can I help?" Lucy was asked by the girl with a tray full of empty glasses.

"Yeah, actually. Well, I hope you can." Lucy rambled. "I saw the sign outside."

"Oh, that's great." The girl turned around. "Hey, dad. This girl asks about the sign outside." The older man smiled.

"Kiara you can take over here and I'll talk to her." Both of them swapped places. "So, what is your name?"

"Lucy."

"And Lucy, are you 16?" The man eyed her from top to bottom.

"Yeah, I am." The girl lied straight into his face. "I know, I know, I'm short." She laughed it off.

"I haven't seen you here. Are you new?"

"Kinda, I just moved here. Like today."

"I see. Well if you fill this out and let your parents sign it, I think everything will be alright."

Lucy looked down. "My parents kicked me out." She whispered. "I can't go back there. Just please, Sir. I'll do anything. I just need a little bit of money."

"Aww. Sweet girl." The man swung an arm around her shoulder. Lucy felt saved. Like immediately. "I'm Mike and that girl over there is my daughter Kiara."

"Kie." She girl behind the bar shouted.

"I'll get you something to eat and we'll sort out your working times." A strange warm feeling came up in Lucy's tummy. Never had a stranger been so nice to her. The small whispering in the back of her head telling her she lied about her age and her current situation. The blonde one ignored it. She was happy, too happy, she found a place she could work at. Mike got Lucy some French fries and a burger. It was then when she noticed she had been starving. "Go on. Eat." Lucy ate every single bit of her plate. It tasted too good. It felt like Lucy hadn't eaten in days. Well, it was her first burger and French fries in years. Her mum never let her eat stuff like that. "I assume you can work after school and at weekends?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I dropped out." That wasn't really a lie. She did drop out, but there were other reasons.

"Oh, no. You shouldn't. School is important."

"Absolutely, you are right. I finished, kinda." That was a lie. Lucy never finished school. Not even close.

"So, you want to work full-time." Lucy smiled bright and nodded. "Works for me." Mike said. He marked the contract and Lucy and he signed it. "Welcome to 'The Wreck'." Mike smiled and gave Lucy a handshake.

"Thank you." Lucy couldn't believe it. Never in her life did she had so much luck.