🌊Pick A Side || Outer Banks🌊

📃Going Home📃

The teens got off the boat at John B's dock. They grabbed the bag that John B had found and took it up onto the dock. They huddled around it. "What do you guys think it is?" Kie asked.

"Gotta be money or something, right?" John B asked.

"That or a couple of keys with street value to the low to mid mils!" JJ said.

"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope asked, angrily.

"Wow, Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion!" John B states.

"Okay, you guys are literally killing me with anticipation!" Pope told them. Prissy just waited anxiously. "We almost died over this!" Pope added. John B opened the bag and pulled out a canister.

When he opened the canister he tipped the contents into his hand. It was a compass. "Oh wow. Yup. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass!" Pope said, sarcastically.

"Dude, what? It's not worth anything." JJ said. John B was looking strange, maybe nervous.
"This was my father's!" John B said, sounding in shock or something. It was getting dark and the teens began to leave.

"I've got to go face Topper!" Prissy told them as they left John B's.

"Do you want me to come with you?" JJ asked, sounding actually serious.

"Yeah JJ, come see my brother who you pulled a gun on! Great idea!" Prissy said, laughing.

"You're right, be careful though!" JJ said, before turning down a street to go to his house. Prissy walked quickly back to figure 8. When she arrived home, she was reminded of the damage caused by the hurricane.

The tree by her bedroom window had fallen over, luckily missing the house. She walked up to the front door. She hesitated before knocking.

She heard quick footsteps inside the house and the door unlocking. He brother opened the door and looked at her. She got nervous, wondering what would happen next. Suddenly, he reached forward and pulled her into a hug.

At first she was shocked, but she hugged back. "I thought you were dead!" Topper told her. Eventually he released her from the hug, put his arm around her and brought her inside. He took her into the lounge and sat on the couch next to her. "So where did you go?" He asked.

"I went back to John B's house." She responded. Topper looked a bit disappointed, but he wasn't shocked.

"I thought you'd gone to JJ's, so that's kind of better. What did you do?" He asked.

"I slept over and then we went out onto the marsh!" Prissy told him, she wasn't lying. She was just missing out crucial details.

"I got really worried when you left that letter in the mailbox!" Topper said.
"What letter? I didn't leave a letter!" Prissy said. Topper handed her a letter. "I didn't write this!" She told him.

"Then who did?" Topper asked. She read through it. She couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't recognise the handwriting, but there was only one other person who knew this stuff. "JJ!" She muttered.

"JJ? Really?" The kid who tried to shoot me?" Topper asked. She shrugged. "How can you not know?" He asked.

"He's the only person I'd told about this stuff, it had to be him!" She said.

"Ok, at least he's looking out for you. I'm sorry you felt so much pressure and I'm sorry that I've been adding to that!" Topper said.

"It's fine. It's dad's fault, not yours. You won't tell him about any of this, will you?" Prissy asked.

"No, as long as you don't tell him about the fight or the gun!" He said.

"Deal!" She said, hugging her brother again. He might have been a self entitled douchebag, but he was also her brother and she loved him more than anything else.

"I'm not gonna let dad hurt you anymore!" Topper said, still hugging her.

"Does that mean I can't hang out with my friends anymore?" Prissy asked.

"He's gonna be back tomorrow, so I doubt you'll see them for a few days." Topper told her. She was sad, but also happy that she had her old brother back. "I love you munchkin!" He said.

"I love you too stinker!" She replied. Prissy had earned that nickname because she was short, Topper earned his nickname because he liked to let it rip in the car.

Prissy went up to her room after that. She wanted to sleep, but also felt that it wouldn't really be possible. She had lots to think about. She went and sat at her desk. Prissy pulled out her song book.

She often wrote songs to play on her guitar. Most of the time they were poems which she turned into songs. She opened it to the first page.

She'd written a song about surfing, the feeling of the waves crashing into you and the feeling when you catch a wave. The next few pages were her favourites, she'd written songs about each of her friends.

First was Kiara, she wrote about how much Kie cared for the environment, how she was protective of her friends, how she was so pretty and how she was so talented.

Then she'd written about John B, how he was protective like a brother, how he was kind, how he was fun to be around, how he was independent and how he was a daredevil.

Then she'd written about Pope. She wrote that he was the smartest person she knew, that he wasn't afraid to tell you the truth even when you didn't really want to hear it, that he kept them all out of trouble on many occasions and that he was resourceful.

Finally there was JJ, she'd written about his messy blonde locks, his shiny eyes, his charming personality, his utter stupidity, his sense of humour, his protectiveness over his friends, his kindness and his pride. She'd decided against writing that he slept with a new girl at least once a week.

The page after that was her least favourite. She'd written about her emotions after her dad had hit her. She'd written that she often felt like she was drowning, literally and figuratively. Yes she almost drowned on many occasions, but she almost always felt like she was drowning anyway. Her thoughts always overwhelmed her, she couldn't escape them.

She needed saving from her own mind, but that was impossible. She got up from her desk, changed into an oversized t shirt and running shorts, turned off her bedroom light and went to sleep.