The Pogue Handbook 🔅JJ Maybank🔅 (Coming Soon)

Prologue

Prologue

"Gone are the days of childhood crushes,

making way for the more glorious teenage romance."©

Throwing more clothes haphazardously into a moving box, Lyla's head bobbed to the music playing through her headphones. It was the last day of packing and she was surprisingly calm, most likely trying to hold off the freakout until they were closer to her favorite place on earth: Outer Banks. Until then, she would pretend like everything was normal and soak up the last of Florida before hopefully never returning.

Almost everything was already packed as the family of four had been progressively throwing things together for the past week. All that was left of Lyla's things were her clothes and special knickknacks, most of which would be thrown in a suitcase. The rest was simply bulky furniture that needed to be loaded into the moving van.

Glancing around the room that had been hers for the last three years, she felt a bit wistful. It had always been her dream to go back home and she'd never particularly liked Florida, but it had been her home for almost as long as she could remember. Maybe, if the Outer Banks wasn't where her heart resided, she would have learned to love it.

Letting out a light sigh, she quickly closed the overstuffed box, taping it shut and labeling it accordingly. As she walked around the bed, her headphone wire got caught on the frame, causing her to adjust the right side before it got pulled out. As the song changed to one of her favorite Unlike Pluto songs, her hands raised, swaying along to the beat as she spun around her mattress with a tiny, pleased smile. She didn't even notice someone else enter the room.

"Ly."

The nickname went completely overlooked as she flitted over to her bedside table, grabbing up a few little figurines and a single picture frame. The boy standing behind her rolled his eyes before walking through the doorframe, coming up right behind her to pull out an earbud.

Screeching, Lyla whirled around with wide eyes, staring at her barely younger brother. Her heart stuttered in her chest, raising a hand to try and steady it. She really should've been more used to that at this point, someone probably had to do it at least once a day.

"Jesus, T, you scared the crap out of me."

"I don't see anything."

Narrowing her eyes, Lyla flicked him for the smart-ass comment before turning back around to collect her things. She did the same with anything left in/on her other nightstand, adding it to the pile next to her suitcase.

"I'm done packing and I'm bored." Tristan drawled, running a hand over his buzz-cut head before flopping back on her bed in the tiny space next to the box and behind her bag.

"So, go do something."

"Yes, because there's so much to do."

Turning away from her work, Lyla placed a hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow at the boy. "There are literally dozens of things to do in this city and you know it."

"Okay..." The boy started, rolling over so his head was placed in his hand to stare at her lazily. "Things I want to do. Things that don't involve crowds of people trying to talk to me and get into my business."

Lyla tilted her head slightly in assent, knowing people in Florida weren't exactly their favorite. While the girl was much more social than her brother, the last thing she would deal with was snobby, drama-crazed Floridian young adults. She would certainly never subject her baby brother to that fate alone.