INDIANA II JJ Maybank (Outerbanks)

chapter one

"That's what, a three-story fall to the deck? I give you about a one in three chance of survival" my best friend Pope shouted at my twin brother from below.

I looked up from the beer I was holding in my hand, to the top of the roof where my brother was standing.

John B hummed bringing out his finger to feel in which direction the wind was blowing. "Should I do it?" He asked looking down at us.

"I dare you to jump, but if you die I get your room" I told him before taking another sip from my beer. 

"Yeah jump" Pope continued "I'll shoot you on the way down " he said, aiming the drill he was holding up at John B.

"You will shoot me?" John B asked, trying to play like he was offended.

"They are going to have Japanese toilets with towel warmers" Kie said walking out on the deck we were all at. We were all at this house that was under construction and she had taken a look at it for the past minutes. 

"Of course. Why wouldn't they?" JJ spoke for the first time. He was sitting next to me. We were hanging from the scaffolding, our legs dangling off. His chin was resting on one of the bars in front of us.

"This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles I guess?" Kie scoffed and looked up at my brother, shielding her eyes from the bright sun.

"Not the rich, that's for sure" I muttered under my breath.

"Can you please not kill yourself" Kie said to my brother concerned that he was going to fall off.

"Don't spill that beer, I'm not giving you another one" JJ said to my brother. But in that moment, the wind changed, causing John B to drop the beer and it fell down and shattered on the floor.

"Of course you drop it, right when JJ told you not to" I looked back up again at the idiot that I'm related to.

"Hey um, security is here" Pope said. I turned around and saw the car pulling up to the construction house. 

JJ got off the scaffolding and helped me down by the waist before grabbing my hand. 

"Gary is that you! I didn't even recognize you" JJ said laughing. "Gary, I missed you, how is the wife and kids" I continued, before we ran down the stairs after our friends. 

We laughed as we were running away from the two guards. We quickly turned the other way as Gary stood before us, but it caused me to run into the arms of the other security guard.

"Hey, don't hug her" JJ said to the security guard before dragging me out of his arms and we ran to the fence.

I fastened my pace, before jumping over the fence and landing perfectly on my feet. Not like Pope that was still laying on the floor. I helped him up and together we jumped into the van my brother and Kie were already in. JJ soon followed us into the van and my brother started to drive.

"Check out Gary, gunning for a raise." Pope said looking out the window. I slide the door open a bit and laughed at Gary trying to catch up to us. 

JJ joined next to me and teased Gary with holding a beer out to him. "You're so close you can do it!" he said.

"There you go" I said, taking the can of beer out of JJ's hands and throwing it at Gary, who fell because I had thrown the can at his head and he lost his balance. 

JJ and I laughed, before Kie pulled us back into the van by the back of our shirts and closed the door. 

I joined my brother in the front of the van and sat down on the passenger seat. Just in time to see the sign of Outer Banks. Paradise on Earth. It's the sort of place, where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island.

We drove by Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. So guess where I don't live. It's the home of the Kooks, that's what we call the rich.

We entered the south side of the island or as you can also call it, the cut. It's the home of the working class and the natural habitat of the Pogues. Home sweet home. 

The Pogues, that's us. We're the throw away fish, the lowest member of the food chain. We may be ignored and neglected, but the good part of it is, that we're ignored and neglected. Which means we can do what we want, when we want. 

And then there is my friend group. First of we have John B. John B is my older twin brother by 5 minutes. It may be just 5 minutes, but that doesn't stop him by treating me as a baby and being very overprotective. We live in a old fish shack on the marsh, that we call the Chateau. We live there alone. Our father disappeared at sea nine months ago and there has been no sign of him since then. I'm not sure if he is still alive, but John B tries to convince me all the time that he is still out there. As to our mother, I don't know much about her. My parents split when we were three and last we heard, she was in Colorado. Our uncle T is supposed to be our legal guardian, but he hasn't been here to check up on us in months. He's in Mississippi building houses or something like that, I don't really care, me and John B are doing just fine without him. 

Then we have JJ. He is the perfect definition of a Pogue. John B introduced me to him back in third grade and we have all been inseparable since then. He's as local as they come. Latest in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt-lifers who made their living off the water. Best surfer I know. Mild Kleptomaniac and a future tax cheat. He's also very good-looking and hooks up with a lot of girls. It actually makes me jealous some times, but that's something he will never find out, because he would never let it go.

Then we have Kiara, or as we all call her Kie. She is the only friend that I have that is a girl. I'm thankful for that, because I don't think I could handle all the boys without her. I'm not really sure tho, why she hangs with us, because she is actually a rich kid, but has a foot in both worlds. Her family owns The Wreck in Outer Banks. It's a big hit for the tourists. I'm not sure how her parents feel about me and the boys, but hey at least Kie convinced her parents to give me a job at The Wreck, so all good. 

And then there's Pope. He is the brains of all operations and finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. He is the smartest person I know, but not gonna lie, a little bit of a weirdo. His father Heyward is a legend, anything you needed on the island, he could get for you. Since the disappearance of my father, Heyward has tried his best to be there for me and John B. 

Then the best for last, there's me. Indiana Routledge. There's really not much about me, when I'm not getting into trouble with my friends I'm working to keep food on the table. Sometimes I can have quite a mouth, which has gotten me in a lot of trouble in the past. Especially with Kooks, but lucky for me, my brother and JJ taught me how to fight when we were younger. 

So that is our group. And our mission this summer is to have a good time all the time.