The Outer Banks

Top and Hammock

After the whole John B compass thing went down at the marina we all went home. The boys to the cut, Kiara and I to figure eight and into our prospective homes.John B dropped us off close at The Wreck and Kie and I began walking back alone but as soon as it was just us two there was silence.

"I can't believe you remembered the documentary today." I said trying to break the silence we had watched it together back in middle school before her dad let her work over at The Wreck and when I had just moved to figure eight.

"Yeah,you reminded me actually.That was really smart of you.You can really be smart sometimes." Kie says with a wandering tone like she was insinuating something.

"Only sometimes?" I ask confused at what she means.

"Lia,come on.How are you and Pope in the same classes but can't figure out that John B likes you." She says practically yelling the last part to me.

"Alright here we go again with this.Kie for the last time John B does not like me,we're friends just like how you guys are friends." I say to her.

"When your parents are on the mainland where do you end up?" She asks me.

"He's alone out there,Kie.We are nothing but friends." I tell her. Something about never wanting to be alone again like how I was when Topper stopped talking to me the summer before freshman year made me never want to cross that line.

"Have you tried opening that door?" She asks and that reminds me of the comment JJ said to John B.

"Have you?" I asked partly wanting to know and also hoping she'd say no.

"Absolutely not."She said with a disgusted face and I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding in and we get closer and closer to her house. "Want to have a sleepover?Like before?" She asks.

"No, I can't.I slept over John B's last night and my parents are both home so I gotta sleep there.Tomorrow?" I ask her as she stays on her lawn and I keep walking down two more houses.

"Yeah,I'll get crab legs for dinner." She says as she begins walking up her lawn and I walk closer to my house.

I begin to walk into my house. I notice how dark it is,I turn the lights on and only a few turn on because a generator can only do so much but something is better than nothing.I see nothing has been touched like my parents never came home.My plate was still on the kitchen island so I take it over to the sink and begin washing and I look out the window above the sink and look straight into the neighbors window and see a pair of eyes belonging to Topper Thornton.I start scrubbing the plate faster to avoid anymore staring and when I'm done I dye the dish and put it in cabinet it belongs to.I take one look again to fill some sort of satisfaction of looking at Topper in the eyes after two years of avoiding him and he's still staring but then tilts his head to the backyard and mouths "meet me" and I shook my head no but he was already walking out to the back yard.We had no fencing our houses so I could see Topper walking to his backyard and I began walking to and yanked the door open.

"I said no." I told him to stay on my side of the property line.

"You shook your head no actually." Topper said crossing his arms on his chest and I tilted my head to the side and shrugged my shoulder.

"The difference is?" I asked him rhetorically, both of us staying on our sides of the lawn.This was the first time he's spoken to me in years and I don't know how to react or feel.

"You didn't speak,you nodded.The pogues are rotting your brain already." He says with a smirk and I roll my eyes and begin to walk away but he steps over our invisible line to grab my forearm.