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CHAPTER ONE: HOME
"It's come to our attention that you are unemancipated minors living on your own." the woman spoke.
Emma Lynn and John B sat across from her. Emma fidgeted with her golden sun necklace and tapped her foot out of sheer boredom. The necklace was given to her by her father a month before he disappeared. It was one item she cherished most.
This is the DCS lady. The DCS has been trying to put John B and I into foster care ever since our father was presumed dead. Sure, our mother's in Colorado and our uncle's in Mississippi, but we don't want to go into foster care. We love our house, and we love the Outer Banks. So, I'm not getting into some random family's house just because they won't allow us to live alone. Guess I owe it to dad. Thanks dad, for getting lost at sea.
"Emma Lynn?" The woman spoke up, snapping the young brunette out of her thoughts.
"Yeah? Uh..." she blinked and looked back at the woman. "No, no..." Emma chuckled nervously, glancing at John B.
"We're not living on our own, we have our uncle." she raised her shoulders, trying to act casual. John B nodded, mouthing a small yeah.
The woman glanced between the two siblings.
"I need honesty to help you both. That's what we all want, right?"
"We're being honest." John B said.
"Okay, then when is the last time you spoke to your uncle?" she asked them while writing something down.
"Uh..." the boy and his sister exchanged glances.
"Thirty... Thirty-four minutes ago." Emma Lynn said.
"When was the last time you saw him?" the woman proceeded writing, as if she was writing down their answers.
"Two hours and... fourty-three minutes ago." John B added, trying to sound convincing. This did not look good for the Routledge siblings.
The siblings gave the woman small, confident smiles. John B and Emma were trying their hardest to convince the woman.
"We're gonna come out there tomorrow to talk to your uncle. If he's not there, we're gonna move forward with foster care." she told them, staring at the duo.
"I want to assure you, we're gonna find you a safe and loving home."
Damn it.
"Hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina..." A news reporter spoke on a TV screen.
John B watched, and relief fell upon him. This was giving him and his sister an extra day, or maybe even week, depending on how strong the hurricane would be. One thing's for sure, though, DCS can't come anytime soon. Not in this weather.
The boy walked out of the sheltered area and the fresh, strong wind hit his face. He took out his phone and called Child Services.
"Yeah, uh... I think we're probably gonna have to reschedule." he said while holding the phone up to his ear.
As John B put his phone back in his pocket, Emma Lynn walked towards him with a curious look on her face.
"Who were you calling?" she asked.
"Guess what, the DCS is delaying our assessment because of the hurricane." he told her with an excited grin.
"Really?!" Emma exclaimed as relief washed over her.
He hummed in response, smiling at her.
"ThankGod! I did not want to move away so fast." she said with a small laugh of relief.
As the storm hit, John B, Emma Lynn, and Pope rushed towards the beach. The beach waves were big and strong, and that was the perfect tide for surfing, in Emma and John B's opinions; not Pope's.
On the shoreline stood a giant sign that said "BEACH CLOSED"
Emma Lynn took her board and ran into the water, not thinking twice as she rode the waves anyway.
"Those aren't surfable waves!" Pope called out to Emma Lynn, and then glanced at her brother.
John B laughed and lightly slapped Pope's arm. "Says who?!"
Not wasting a second, John B joined his sister in the beach and they both rode the waves. Emma yelled out of excitement as she successfully rode a big wave. She then looked at her brother and saw him falling into the water. The girl burst out laughing at his failure.
He then swam up in the water and stopped surfing, staring at another direction, away from his sister. Inquisitively, she looked in the same direction as him.
That's when Emma Lynn saw the silhouette of a boat in the distance, and her mouth parted in surprise.
"You see that, too, right?" John B told his sister, not taking his eyes off of the boat.
"Yeah, I sure do." she spoke quietly.
The siblings left the beach once they felt the storm getting worse. Much worse. Trees were falling, and objects were breaking. The hurricane was aggressive. Hurricane Agatha was as aggressive as a crocodile, and it didn't look like it would do little damage. That was for sure.
★★★
author's note: i think i might skip some pogue events, like instead of writing all the dialogues about them finding the grady white and everything—i want to connect emma to rafe😜 ++comments and votes are appreciated💟
