'come back, it wasn't you, baby, it was me
maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems
maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano
all i know is i love you too much to walk away though'
-
Juliette Maybank and Rafe Cameron despise...
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C H A P T E R O N E hurricane agatha
The outer banks. Pogues versus kooks mix. That's just the way it is. No blending of worlds, no peaceful encounters - only tension, fights and pure hatred.
Pogues. From the Cut. They're the hard living, working class folks working multiple jobs just to put food on the table. Always finding themselves in trouble, often clashing with the police, because really, they've got nothing to lose.
Kooks. From Figure Eight. The wealthy elite, never needing to worry because their money can bail them out of anything. Their main thrill? Taunting and picking fights with the 'dirty pogues' as the upper class would say.
Outer banks. The place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes. Parted down the middle with no hope of crossing over. One island.
Juliette Maybank was as Pogue as they come. She grew up with a deadbeat father and an absent mother. He was a man consumed by alcohol, drugs and crime. He was often in and out of jail, sometimes twice a month, and bought nothing but physical and emotional abuse into her and her twin brother JJ's lives. From a young age, Juliette and JJ had to steal money and food just to survive, scraping by as kids and carrying that struggle into their teenage years.
Their closest friends — John B Routledge, Kiara Carrera and Pope Heyward — were also living the Pogue life. John B and Pope were born pogues, but Kiara came from a family that had worked their way up to Figure Eight. Despite her family's wealth, Kiara chose to live as a Pogue, becoming one with the group and finding her best friends in them.
Their friends knew all about the Maybank household — its toxicity and constant danger. Pope's family, who ran Heywards seafood, often let the twins work around the shop, packing and delivering orders in exchange for food and letting them keep any tips given to the two. And Big John Routledge, John B's father, was always there for Juliette and JJ, giving them a safe place to eat and sleep whenever they needed it.
That's why, nine months ago, when Big John disappeared at sea, it struck Juliette and JJ like losing a member of their own family. While everyone else had come to terms with his likely permanent absence, John B refused to believe it, clinging to the hope his father might return. If he wasn't shown a dead body, there's still possibility he's alive.
Now, John B lives alone in the Chateau — though JJ and Juliette are there most of the time. But with his legal guardian gone, he's been fighting off the DCS for weeks to keep his freedom.
It was morning in the Outer Banks, The day after Hurricane Agatha had blown through. The Chateau had somehow weathered the storm with only minor damage, but outside, it was a different story. Branches lay scattered across the yard, evidence of Agatha's fierce winds. No power, no service, no nothing working in the Cut.
