Hard to Love ~ JJ Maybank

Kegger 𝟞

Warning this is chapter has SMUT!!

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"You can't understand the Outer Banks without understanding the boneyard. It's kinda like a three-layer burrito.... There's us and our friends, the working-class derelicts from the Cut. Then there are the Kooks, the rich second-homers. They're mostly from poncey-ass boarding schools, just rich trustafarian posers, our natural enemies. And then there are the Tourons. Totally clueless. Here for a week on vacation with their families." John B narrates.

I was walking down the beach talking with a Touron who's name was Jennifer. I think it was Jennifer. I said to myself. Honestly I was slightly tipsy already so I kinda zoned out when she started talking. She starts asking me about who the people are in the crowd.

"Well, let me just give you the run down of our island first," I say taking a sip of beer from my cup. "So this is The Outer Banks, Paradise on Earth. It's the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island. All right so over there is Figure Eight, that's the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks. So, guess where we don't live. And then, there's the south side or the Cut. Home of the working class who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of... drumroll, please... the Pogues. That's us. Pogues, pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest member of the food chain.... Okay. So, the downside of Pogue life is we're ignored and neglected. But the upside of Pogue life? We're ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want."

She looks at me almost too stunned to speak and then looks back at the crowd of drunk teens and points over to John B who's handing out beer from the keg and asks, "So who's that hottie over there?"

I look at her as I shake my body with disgust from hearing her say that John B was hot and I say, "Ahh, that's John Booker Routledge, or John B. He's basically my brother, he lives in an old fish shack on the marsh. The Château as we call it. His dad went missing about 9 months ago at sea he doesn't really like to talk about it much. One of the best surfers I know just don't tell him I said that."

Jennifer points over to Kie who is sitting around the fire talking about Virgos or some shit like that and asks, "What about her?"

"Oh her?" I say, "That's Kiara, or Kie, as we call her.
When not saving turtles or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. My best friend since I was 8 but I'm not really sure why she hangs out with us though. So, she's a rich kid, actually. Foot in both worlds. Her family owns The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourists." I look her up and down slightly giggling.

"What about the boy across from her?" Jennifer asks.

"Oh yeah, that's Pope! The brains of the operation... Super sweet and caring also a finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. And the smartest person I know. Little bit of a weirdo. His father's this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on the island, Heyward could get for you. Now, I'm not sure Heyward knew what to make of his oddball son, but it didn't matter. He was a Pogue, just like the rest of us.