Pooks

Introduction

Hi, this isn't where the story begins. This is just a bit about me. But I'll warn you now, it's not all that interesting. Because my life isn't all that interesting. So the little, insignificant details I'm about to tell you about it aren't all that interesting either.
Okay here goes.

The name's Yn Cirillo and if I'm being honest there's not much else to say about that. I was born and raised in Outer Banks, CA and I love it. Obx is my home.
Okay so not to be cliche but I'm kinda a loner and my only hobby really is surfing. Insert eye roll here, I know. But honestly, that's how I prefer it. Also insert cringey quote about being alone but free. You get the idea.
Everyday is pretty much the same which sucks. I wake up 5am if there's good surf and catch as many waves as I can before school. Then I get dragged out of the water by my almost entirely absent mom and forced into a uniform I hate. At Kildare Academy girls are forced to wear skirts, which also sucks. What is this 1960?
Rafe usually takes me to school even though he doesn't go anymore but if he can't Sarah will take us. Sarah's in most of my classes. Sarah cares a lot more about school that I do. Sarah probably doesn't know that girls have to wear skirts because she'd wear one anyway.
Sarah's Kildare Academy's IT girl. Or should I say Obx's IT girl.
I'm IT girls shadow.
But it's okay, that's another thing that I wouldn't change - you'll see why.
The worst thing about being associated with Cameron's is you're ignored and neglected. The best part about being associated with Cameron's? You're ignored and neglected.
People around here see a Cameron and everything else in sight becomes irrelevant. When you're stood next to a Cameron you kinda just blur into the background, makes it easier to sneak off that way though. Do you know how many parties I've managed to sneak out of using that logic? So many.
School days are a blur, I just drift through them like I'm on a surf board with no surf. Just lying on my back, floating along, waiting for a wave to bring me to shore.
Then I get home and I'm straight back out there. Mom says surfing isn't lady like so I've never actually had my own board. I always borrow Rafes (not that he ever uses it.) Surfing isn't really a "kook thing". Add that to the list of kook expectations I don't live up to.
Then there's weekends. Best time of the week right? Wrong.
I'm either surfing which is great obviously, but when I'm not I'm usually being forced to go to some kook event in a dress I don't like for a cause I don't care about. Like raising money so the town hall can have an extension or the country club can have new golf clubs even though the old ones have only been used once and are perfectly fine. Literally any charity with any other cause could put that money to much better use. And it would be a lot of money, trust me.
Everyone at these events is dripped in Dior or covered in Chanel. They just use these events to show off their new outfits. They wouldn't know a real problem if it bent over and punched them in the face.
Let me explain. Kooks are the rich kids of obx and there's two types of kooks.
The kind that were born here, like their parents and grandparents and so on. Basically Obx's founding families. They were born with silver spoons in their- yanno and fed lobster on gold platters growing up. Old money kooks. Or Oldies as I call them.
Then there's kooks like me and mom. The kooks that hustled for their money and got lucky. The kooks that once upon a time weren't kooks. Of course no one dares to mention that part of the story around here. It doesn't matter how you got your money as long as you have it and lots of it.
But even then I don't fit into that type of kook because even though my parents hustled to get to where we are today, I don't remember any of it. I just remember a different nanny every week and the uncomfortable fancy baby grows.
I don't even fit into my kook category!
Anyways that's my life. Every day is the same. Which changes into every week. Every month. Next thing I knew I blinked and I'm 17 with no real life experiences.
I guess I should've been careful what I wished for because honestly, I'd give anything to have my boring life back.
This time last week mom got a phone call that I wasn't allowed to listen to and that's when my world basically got turned upside down and now I'm homeless.
Kidding.
Well, kinda.
If you hadn't guessed from my boring, brief, bleak life description, I grew up on the nice side of the island or as we call it Figure 8. My dad moved here with my mom before I was born for "business opportunities" where he quickly became friends with Outer Banks' IT business man, Ward Cameron. We'll come back to him.
Dad split when I was a kid, I was 8. We don't know why or where he went but I've always had a feeling mom knows more about that than she's letting on. I don't have any photos of him, mom threw them all out, so his face is kinda blurry to me now. But that's okay, I don't want to remember him anyway. And moms never really worked.
Turns out Dad left her with unimaginable debt which she only found out about a few years ago. The phone call mom got was debt management companies saying their interest was rising and we had to pay up. Mom had to sell the house. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
So I grew up on Figure 8, with the kooks, as I've mentioned. Like I said, kooks are the rich kids of Outer Banks. They wear polos, drive Malibus and they all own a gold membership to the Country Club. They're not that bad but they do have a bad reputation, plus they're nothing like me either.
But I didn't just grow up with just kooks, I grew up with the Cameron's. The kooks of all kooks.
When Dad moved here with mom they bought the house next door to Obx's very own Ward Cameron (the IT business man remember?) So I grew up with his kids; Rafe, Sarah and Wheezie.
Rafe is the oldest and my absolute best friend. We've been friends literally forever. We practically did everything together from the ages of 5-15. Then he started getting girlfriends and ditching me to play basketball. We still hang out just not as much. I know I can always count on him, he's the absolute best person I know.
Then there's Sarah, she's cool but you know how I said the kooks are nothing like me? She's a perfect example. She cares about shoes and parties more than surfing so we've never really seen eye to eye. Don't get me wrong though I love her. I guess we're like sisters, we argue like sisters but we always make up in the end too.
And then there's Wheezie. Again she's cool, not much to say about her either to be honest. She's just turned 13 so she's in that annoying phase, I kinda just keep clear of her nowadays. I've had to babysit her more times than I care to remember. I guess she's like my sister too, just in a more younger sister, annoying kinda way.
Oh and then there's Ward and his wife Rose. Rose is not Rafe's mom. Rafe hates it when people think that. But that's a story for another time. The IT family living right next door, how much kookier can I get right?
Wrong again.
Going back to my asshole dad, the crippling debt and the phone call mom got last week. The Cameron's offered to help, that type of money is nothing to them but mom couldn't accept. I know how she feels, I wouldn't be able to accept that kind of charity either. I feel guilty using Rafe's surfboard even though he never even uses it.
Mom sold the house, paid off dads debt then split too. By split I mean moved to the main land and I refused to go with her.
So I'm staying at my brothers. Rafe is furious says the cut isn't safe but like my mom, I don't accept charity no matter how much him and Sarah begged me to stay with them.
Mom didn't really put up much of a fight about me staying here. We're not that close and once the word got out about dads debt she was embarrassed to show her face around here. She moved as quickly as she could and left me. Almost entirely absent mom just graduated to entirely absent mom.

Barry Cirillo. Obx's finest drug dealer and my brother.
No I'm not kidding.
Barry (my half brother) and I used to be super close, closer than Rafe and me at one point. Barry's a pogue, pogues are the kids who live on the other side of the island, The Cut. When I was little I used to sneak out and hitchhike a ride to the cut and we'd watch movies until the sun came up. As I got older I had to start going to more and more kook events, parties and banquets, and I guess Barry had to go to more and more... drug stuff. He quickly picked up a reputation and I was forbidden to see him anymore, by my mom and Rafe. Don't get me wrong I missed hanging out with Barry at first, but he had changed. I wasn't sad when I wasn't allowed to see him because he wasn't the Barry I used to know anymore. He's still cool don't get me wrong and I know he'd never hurt me, but the stories about him are true. All of them. So I guess I miss the old Barry. Insert cringey quote about how people change.
I'm allowed to stay with him because he's over 18 and technically family. So legally moms not breaking any laws, she signed a few papers Barry did too and boom - here I am.
How is a guy like this related to me you ask? Turned out debt wasn't the only thing dad was hiding. That's why dad originally moved here. He found out Barry was here and wanted a relationship with him. His agenda quickly changed though when he got in good with the Mr Ward Cameron and started acting like Barry didn't exist. Eventually he was repulsed by Barry and wanted nothing to do with him. I know that hurt Barry but he never blamed me for it. Barry and I drifted for different reasons... right?

I think that's about it.
I'm a kook living on the cut... wish me luck.

Oh and one more thing. There's one rule on this island, a sacred rule. Cannot be broken.
Kooks vs Pogues.
So... wtf do I do now?!