Taste ≫ outer banks

04

"millie!" hazel called out for the girl as she practically tore her room apart. she heard her bedroom door open and she quickly spun around, thinking it was millie. "have you seen my wallet?" she froze, noticing the boy standing in her doorway. "oh, hi. sorry, i thought you were millie." she ran her fingers through her hair and the curly haired boy smirked.

"yeah, i noticed." he licked his lips, holding up the girl's wallet. "it was in my boat. it must've fallen out of your bag throughout the night."

she let out a sigh of relief and approached john b. "thank you so much. i don't know what i'd do if i actually lost my wallet." she looked around her messy room and started to blush from embarrassment. "sorry for the mess. as you can tell, i was looking for this." she held up her wallet and john b smiled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"it's no problem." he said. "how are you feeling?" he asked and the girl placed her hand to her forehead.

"i don't think i have a fever anymore. i don't know what came over me earlier." she shrugged her shoulders.

"as long as you feel better." he smiled, looking around her messy room. "do you want help cleaning up?"

"oh, no. you don't have to do that." she waved him off, but he was already picking up a hoodie from the floor.

"i don't mind."

"alright," she mumbled. "all that laundry is dirty. you can just throw it in the basket over there." she pointed to the basket and he nodded, grabbing handfuls of it and placed it in the basket while she started to make her bed.

they ended up having the room cleaned in no time and the girl turned to thank john b, but millie had entered the room and was practically clinging to him.

"john b!" she smiled wide. "when did you get here?"

"a little while ago." the boy smiled down at the girl, brushing her hair away from her eyes. "how are you, mill?"

"great now." she smiled wider, if that was even possible. "you should stay for dinner. we're eating soon."

"oh, i don't know." john b glanced over at hazel.

"yeah, why not? my mom always makes extra." the blonde girl smiled and john b returned it, nodding his head.

"alright, then it's settled. i'm staying for dinner."

"yay!" millie cheered, clapping her hands together. she grabbed john b's hand and practically dragged the boy out of hazel's bedroom. "let me show you my room!"

john b looked at hazel with wide eyes before following millie down the hall to her room, causing hazel to laugh. she unplugged her phone from where it was charging and made her way into the kitchen to greet her mother. "hi, mom. john b's gonna stay for dinner."

"i figured." she nodded, "that's fine with me. i'm sure your dad would love to finally meet the boy millie obsesses over."

"how do you think he'll feel about him being a pogue?" hazel asked in all honesty.

"i was once a pogue, hazel. remember that." her mom gave her a look. "your father would never judge anyone by where they're from."

"right." she nodded, "sometimes i forget."

"mhm." her mom hummer before returning to the stove.

a few minutes later millie and john b came into the kitchen, millie's hand still in john b's. "mill," hazel sighed. "give the boy some breathing room."

millie rolled her eyes and let go of john b's hand causing the older girl to smile at him as he let out a barely audible sigh of relief. john b helped hazel set the table while millie sat on a barstool and watched the boy with her hands on her chin and elbows on the counter.

"i can't believe how obsessed my sister is with you." hazel whispered as she placed napkins down on the table and he walked behind her, placing the silverware on the napkins.

"it's fine." he shrugged his shoulders. "i kind of like having someone obsessed with me." he smiled. "at least someone is, right?"

"yeah," she chuckled. "i guess so."

they sat down to eat and hazel's dad entered the room, greeting john b. the two had a quick conversation about where he was from and hazel could tell john b was surprised when her dad smiled and said "that's cool" when john b had said he was from the cut.

the group sat down at the table and started putting food on their plates. "this looks amazing, mrs. wikander."

"thank you, john." hazel's mom smiled. "millie, it's your turn to say grace."

millie nodded and everyone held hands. of course, millie has forced john b to sit next to her, so hazel was across from the boy. they both reached across the table to grab hands and waited for the little girl to pray. "father god," she began and everyone listened quietly. "thank you for this food we're about to receive. thank you for your love and total healing. in jesus name, amen."

hazel looked across the table at john b with a smile as they both said "amen" at the same time before digging into their food. they all had a nice dinner, talking about random things including john b's home life and about how school was ending soon. there was only about a month left and then it was summer vacation.

when dinner was over john b offered to help hazel with the dishes which the girl was thankful for. she rinsed them off before handing them to the boy to put in the dishwasher. millie had (thankfully) gone to her room to get ready for bed considering she still went to sleep at a reasonable time because she was eight years old.

"i like your family." john b commented, placing a plate in the dishwasher. "they're cool and i like that your dad didn't care i was a pogue. normally, kooks give weird looks and don't want to even talk about our lives because theirs are "so much better"." he used air quotes and it made the girl laugh.

"my mom used to be a pogue." she explained. "my dad isn't one to judge." she quoted what her mom had said.

"oh," john b looked into the direction of the living room where hazel's parents were. "i had no idea."

"no one really knows." hazel shrugged her shoulders. "i even forget sometimes."

"wow." he said. "that's amazing."

"yeah, i guess." the girl nodded, watching as the boy put the last dish in the dishwasher before he closed it. "thank you for staying for dinner." she leaned against the sink. "i had a good time."

"me too." he smiled at her and their eyes locked. he leaned in a little and the blonde's breath hitched in her throat, not knowing what was happening, but the moment was ruined when millie came bouncing in the room to say goodnight. "goodnight, millie." john b smiled, hugging the girl. millie hugged hazel before heading back to her room. "i should get going. i haven't done any homework from this weekend yet." he chuckled.

"slacker." the girl laughed, smacking his bicep. "i'll wall you out." she walked him out to his car and smiled at the boy as he spun around to say goodbye.

"thanks for having me." he said, leaning in to press a kiss to the girl's cheek.

she felt her cheeks get hot and she looked down at the ground. "bye, john b."

"bye, hazel." he smiled, climbing in his van. she waved as he drove away and made her way back inside with a blush on her cheeks.

"did he seriously just kiss your cheek and are you blushing?" her dad smirked and hazel's eyes widened, realizing her parents had been watching through the window.

"shut up!" she groaned, running to her room. she slammed the door and jumped on her bed with a wide smile on her face. "holy shit."