𝐈 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ; john b x oc

SCENE ONE

this love

"clear blue water, high tide came and brought you in."

Makayla Maybank

I cruise with the waves, my feet firmly on my board. The wind and my hair are best friends; the water and I are soulmates; the ground and I are enemies. The only thing keeping me from drowning in the water is this neon pink board beneath my feet that I made myself two years ago. It's fate pulling us away from each other, and it has every right to.

At some point, I decide to meet with my enemy once more and step onto the shore, walking over to Annelise, my sister, who is now accompanied by our friends and brother, JJ, JB, Kie, and Pope. JB is short for John B, which is short for... I can't even remember. I started to call him JB when he and I went from acquaintances to friends in the third grade. Him and JJ were already best friends by that time, but I never spoke to him before that moment. Backstory aside, I don't really call him John B ever. I call him that when I'm upset, but that's rare. Not to mention, I'm the only one who calls him that. I thought that more people would've come up with the nickname before me, but now it's reserved to me somehow.

"Hey, Makayla," JB says in a teasing manner, looking at my bathing suit.

It's a blue flower-patterned bikini that fits on my like a glove. It outlines every part of me and I am in love with it.

"Dude?" JJ says, "That's my sister–"

"It was a joke, sorry, sorry!"

I chuckle, "What are you guys looking at doing for the rest of the day?"

"Well, for you, maybe changing?" JJ says.

I stare at him in the most deadly way possible, then say, "Bye," and turn back to the ocean.

"Young lady, get back here!"

"I'm older than you dumbass!"

"But still!"

I groan, returning to the group, "I'm not changing."

"Yes, you are."

All I do in that moment is sprint toward the ocean, JJ running after me, shouting, "GET BACK HERE!"
Then I meet with my soulmate once more, not allowed to meet face to face, but I suppose this works. The waves splash onto my feet to remind me of the days when we used to be able to touch, but now those days are gone, and there are only reasons to forget the remnants of them.

John B Routledge

I watch Makayla glide along the water without a care in the world, admiring her sensibility of the water. Sometimes I wonder if she loves nature more than us, but then again, that might be true. When I first met her, she was best friends with a cat. I still remember when that cat died in fifth grade. She cried when she came home to the sight of it dead on the floor. It was covered in blood and seemed to be paralyzed. I wonder if she's forgotten about it, but who could ask such a thing. She was ten and was still dressing up like a princess. Even now, she acts like one. Seeing any type of creature murdered on your bedroom floor is something you can never unsee.

I blink for a moment and then open my eyes to see that Makayla has disappeared. The hell? Where'd she go? I frantically look around the water for her, but see nothing.

"JJ?" I ask.

"Yeah?" He's staring at his phone.

"Your sister disappeared..."

He jumps out of the sand and shouts, "AGAIN?"

"AGAIN?" I shout back.

"Okay, John B, listen... THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE."

"WHAT?"

"SHE CAN'T SWIM, SO SOMETIMES SHE FALLS OFF HER BOARD AND FORCES ME TO GO OUT THERE."

If she's a surfer, why can't she swim? She's obviously messing with him.

"JJ... Makayla is a surfer, she can swim."

"No! She can only swim to a certain depth!"

"Then go get her!"

He looks out to the ocean and spots her surfboard in the water, running off. That's when I hear laughing from someone starting to sit next to me. I look to see who it is and it's...

"That works every time," Makayla says.

"Meanest thing you've ever done," I laugh.

"Oh, I can definitely be meaner."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I can also see that JJ is still looking for me, which means he passed."

"Passed what?"

"The sibling loyalty test. They don't know it, but I do this every year."

"And it works?"

"Yep! I used to want to do the test with my dad, but he failed when he killed my cat," when I look at her I can't tell if she's holding in a laugh or tears.

"Do you ever do loyalty tests on the group?"

"Not really... But now that you mention it, I should start."

Oh, gosh, I've started something.

She glances over at Annelise, who is talking with a kook boy about who knows what. Sighing, she lays on her back with her eyes closed, "I don't know what it is with her and kooks but she seems to be obsessed."

"I mean kooks are more... put together than us, I guess?" I see her glaring at me. "Okay, okay, sorry–"

JJ walks onto shore, holding Makayla's surfboard and stomping over to us, "Okay, Makayla, what the–"

"Oh, you found my board!" she jumps up and grabs it from him, "Thank you!"

"I thought that you–"

"I thought I was going to have to make a new one," she laughs. I've never realized how good of an actress she is. Maybe that's why she hasn't been to jail yet.

"Hey, guys!" Annelise walks over with her new kook friend.

Makayla's eyes judge the boy as he walks over with Annelise, then she asks, "Who is that?"

"This is Preston!"

"Let me guess," JJ sighs, "kook?"

"How'd you know?" Preston laughs awkwardly.

"You all have invisible dollar bills taped onto every part of your body," Makayla says.

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?"

"No," Kie says, "it's just about right."

"Anyway! Preston said that there's a party tonight at the beach and we're all invited!"

"Yeah," Preston smiles. "But I actually have to go meet with my mom for lunch, so I'll see you guys later."

He walks off. I'm not sure if I like him or not yet.

"We're invited to a kook party," Makayla says, sighing, "that only means one thing. One of us is probably going to get laid."