WASTE - OUTER BANKS

seven - god telling us to fish

When Marina woke up, her parents were already in her room, trying to assess the damage in the light. It didn't look good. 

First, there was the obvious problem of the tree being in her room. It fell straight down through the roof and was resting on her dresser. It crushed the photo frames filled with pictures of her and Ben, all the glass shattered and spread onto the floor. Then there was the water puddled on her floor, as well as the sand and leaves that had been pulled onto the land by the storm and dumped into her room through the new hole in the roof. Her mom placed a comforting arm around her shoulder as her dad left the room to make a call.

"I'll wash your comforter," her mom said, "and I'll buy you some new pillows, then we can make the couch a little more like a bed, just for now, until we can get this all fixed."

Marina nodded and smiled at her mom, holding back tears. She didn't want her parents to know how upset she really was about her room. It would just make everyone feel worse. Her parents were trying their hardest, and she didn't want to risk making them feel like their best still wasn't good enough.

She went outside to get some air and calm herself down. She pulled out her phone to call JJ and tell him what happened, but she didn't have any service.

Mari told her parents she was leaving and headed to the chateau. When she got there, JJ and John B were in the yard, clearing sticks out of the HMS Pogue.

"Hey Mari!" JJ said, seemingly caught off guard.

"Did you guys get through the storm?" She asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, the house is fine, but the yard is kind of fucked," John B said as he emptied an armful of sticks and branches out of the boat.

"Power's out," JJ added, "and so is the cell service."

"Yeah, I figured because I tried to call you a little while ago, but it didn't go through," Marina said.

"You called me?" JJ asked.

Mari nodded slowly.

"Why?"

"A tree fell through the roof of my room," she said quickly. The boys stopped their work and faced her, staring with their mouths agape. Mari continued, "and I wanted to tell someone...I don't know why I called you. I guess I thought talking to you would just help me calm down...it sounds stupid, I know."

"Are you okay?" JJ asked gently, his face softening.

Marina shrugged, "I guess. I mean my room has a hole in it now - "

"But are you okay?" He asked again.

Marina didn't know what do say, so she just nodded. JJ and John B both stared at her, looking concerned but not saying anything more on the subject.

"We were gonna go fishing," John B said, "if you want to join."

"He claims God himself has like called down upon him and told him to go fish right now," JJ added.

"Dude," John B said, "that is not what I was saying -"

"I'll go with you guys," Mari said, interrupting, "sounds like a distraction I could use right now."

Together, the three of them finished cleaning out the HMS Pogue and got it into the water.

They picked up Pope first, but it was more like kidnapping. Kiara was next, hopping onto the boat with a cooler in hand.

It was a normal day on the HMS. All of their conversations were typical - Mari told Kie and Pope about the tree in her room. Kie even offered up her spare bedroom to Mari. But all day, JJ was uncharacteristically distant. Marina didn't understand what had changed. He had been so sweet when she talked about the tree falling in her room earlier. The way his facial expressions shifted, the soft and sweet way he talked to her. Damn. Marina wanted to be looked at like that all the time. The whole cat and mouse game between her and JJ was getting boring. It was fun at first, the two of them always getting close to crossing the line before pushing it back another hundred yards. But what would she even say? Marina had the feeling they were both delaying the inevitable. They both knew something was going to happen between them, but Marina knew they were both too scared to face it. Cat and mouse was easier. There was no commitment and nothing was out of their control. But Marina was starting to question if easier really just meant unhappier.