P4L | Outer Banks | JJ Maybank

Midsummers

This was the girliest Cory and Kiara ever felt, and Cory loved it.

She loved her regular life, of course. But getting to dress up and feel like a normal girl for once? God, she would never get over the feeling.

Cory twirled in her dress in the courtyard, a beaming smile on her face. Kiara smiled in response.

"I'm glad one of us is enjoying this," Kie said, chuckling. Then, her eye landed on something past Cory's shoulder. She pointed, whispered "Pope" to Cory.

They snuck over together, trying to catch him off guard.

"Excuse me, sir," Kie started talking to his back with a horrible English accent. Cory giggled. "Do we have to shuck these ourselves?"

Pope rolled his eyes, turning to the girls.

"Cause it might mess up our costumes," Cory giggled.

Pope grinned, especially seeing Cory.

"We wouldn't want that, now would we?" He attempted the accent, moving to Cory. He pulled her into a gentle, yet aggressive hug. "That accent was bad," he mumbled.

"It was," Kie confirmed. "I was gonna let it go."

Pope turned back to Cory. "You alright?" He asked in a more serious tone.

She nodded lightly. "Yeah, you could say so."

Pope checked over her body. "You look fine. JJ texted me something about your dad?"

Cory shrugged. "He did what he always does." Pope grimaced. "No big deal. Makeup does the trick." She managed to pull a smile back onto her face.

The three of them stood still for a moment, turning to look back at the party.

"You ever see this many Kook's in one place?" Kie asked.

"Yeah," Pope confirmed. "Last year."

"We're in the lions den," Kie continued.

"Exactly," Pope said.

Cory's eyes zeroed in on Topper and Kelce. Paris was nearby, but Cory couldn't see her yet. She just had to hope that she wouldn't attempt to talk to her.

A moment later, her vision was pulled from them as people began to clap. Out from the building before them came Ward and Rose, followed by their children.

"Here come Lord Capital and the Exploiters," Kie commented.

Rafe's eyes found Cory, his face forming a psychotic smirk. Instead of averting her eyes, she glared straight at him, smirking back. He raised an eyebrow, moving his gaze away first. Cory smiled in victory.

"She's definitely gonna poke somebody's eye out with that," Pope commented about Rose's headpiece.

"Damn right," Cory said, grabbing a drink that was walking past her on a servers tray. She took a long gulp. It was going to be a long night.

Cory just wanted to stay by Pope's little food station the whole night. Kiara, however, insisted that they have a little girl time and dance together.

The sun had already set as Kie pulled Cory out onto the dancefloor.

"Kie–" Cory groaned.

"Shush shush shush," Kie said, beginning to sway to the music, her hands on Cory's waist. "Just have fun!"

Cory rolled her eyes but allowed her body to comply. She swayed back and forth, allowing herself to be just a girl for one night. Not a treasure hunter, not a punching bag, not a love interest. Just a teenage girl.