The Ocean Remembers | JJ Maybank

P R O L O G U E

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐈 with my mom was actually pretty comfortable, thinking of it. We had money, I had a great school, good grades, some friends and amazing waves to surf. Everything I could ask for.

So when she told me that we were leaving, I really didn't believe her at first, and then, I cried in my room for what felt like ages. But it wasn't fair, I couldn't do this to her.

She was making her best to give me a good life, even if she was fighting against our painful past and her addiction to alcohol. So if she was tearing me apart from home, it wasn't just for fun.

So I stopped moping around and tried to perceive it as a new start, a way to forget about my traumas, even though I can't complain, my life had been pretty good.

My mom and I had a pretty strange relationship to be honest. It wasn't easy dealing with an alcoholic mother, especially when I was younger. But when I became used to it, she quickly took the habit not to feel sorry for coming back home late and drunk every night.

But I didn't love my mom any less, she was everything I had . So by moving here with her, in the Outer Banks, I had hope she could find a new job as she had promised me, and grew a bigger determination to fight against her addiction.

As I read out loud the panel, my heart filled with pure happiness. I could feel it, breathe it, smell it, this summer was about to be special.

"Welcome to the Outer Banks, Paradise on Earth," I chuckled and my mom winked at me.