02. Chapter 1

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Outer Banks. Paradise on Earth, or whatever they say. Sure it could be nice at times, but to Parklynn, it was nothing other than stressful. It was always a turf war between the "Pogues" and the "Kooks". The girl never really understood it, other than the fact that she was a Kook and the Pogues didn't like her or her friends. Especially the Camerons. Ironic isn't it? Considering the Camerons were Parklynn's best friends.

Parklynn dozed off in her thoughts as she watched her two best friends fight about who should drive their boat. They quite literally fought over the stupidest of things, but it was more than entertaining for her.

"Rafe, I don't care, I'm driving," Sarah determined.

"No. You're. Not." Rafe said spacing his words for effect.

Parklynn spoke up, "I have a proposition, how about I drive?"

"No!" The siblings said in sinc.

Parklynn made a face as she put her hands up in defense, "Just trying to help," she says.

"Rafe dad said I could!" Sarah barks.

Rage grunts, "I said no Sarah."

Sarah gives up and sits down next to her best friend in a huff. She shrugs angrily as the pair watch Rafe prepare to take off.

Despite the arguing, this was Parklynn's favorite part of the day. It was about 6pm, and the sun was just setting. There was a slight breeze as the clouds began to shade out the sun, producing all kinds of purples and pinks. With the blue sky behind it, Outer Banks sunsets were truly to die for. And there was nothing better than to spend it cruising through the waves of OBX with her two best friends.

As Rafe began pulling away from the docks, he looked down at the girls. By the girls, I mean Parklynn. You could say he had a bit of a thing for her. But how could he not? She was kind to everyone she met, maybe a little bit too kind in his eyes. And yeah, she was into some pretty weird shit, but he absolutely adored it. The way she tucked her golden hair behind her ears when she laughed, the singular dimple she gets on her right cheek when she smiles, the 3 beauty marks by her eye that somehow make a triangle, he loved all of it. And over the years he slowly started to fall for her more and more.

He smiled down at her, not expecting her to look up at him. The two made eye contact and Rafe found his stomach in knots. Despite the butterflies fluttering from his throat to his stomach, he put a hand up and waved her over to the wheel. He watched as she walked closer and closer towards him. He quickly wiped his hands off on his shirt, getting rid of the mountain of sweat that had just built up in the last ten seconds.

"Hey, you good?" Parklynn says.

"Oh yeah I'm all good P," Rafe manages to get out.

Parklynn's heart warms at the nickname, "Well then what's up?"

"Well the other day you said you wanted to try and drive the boat, so I figured I would let you try, with close supervision of course."

She glances at him and back at the steering wheel before letting out an excited, "Sure!"

Rafe watches her take her spot in front of the wheel and take over. It wasn't a very hard concept, and he knew Park would be fine, truth be told, he just wanted to be near her.

He woke up from his mini daydream when Parklynn asked him, "don't you think Sarah would be pissed if she found out you let me drive and not her?" She smiled at him.

Jeez that smile, he thinks to himself. He was stuck just staring at her for a moment. Hoping she didn't notice him admiring her, he answered with a grin, "To be honest, I don't really care."

Park playfully scoffed at him and went back to focusing on the boat. Rafe continued to admire her. The way her well manicured hands gripped the steering wheel, or the way her eyes flickered all around the sea. He knew he was some years older than her, and he know the possibility of them being together was slim, but he still held out hope that someday, maybe someday he would admit his feelings and she would feel the same way.

And with a simple "Earth to Rafe," he's once again ripped from his thoughts. This man really has to stop spacing out!

"Yeah?" He answers with a laugh.

"I think I wanna learn to surf."

"Park, that's a Pouge thing."

To be honest, Parkylnn hated when he did this. She never understood why the island had to be so separated. She was 100% sure most of the Pogues were nice and fun people to hang out with. Sure some of them maybe not, but some of the Kooks were truly crazy too. They both had their faults and she never understood why everyone couldn't have just been friends, or at least nice to each other.

"So?" She says.

"You're crazy Parklynn."

"Sorry I don't want to sit at a boring club all day and hit golf balls." She looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Hey! Don't shade the club, that's my home right there."

She laughed at him. That laugh once again made Rafe smile even wider. Everyone on the island thought Rafe was such a big bad tough guy, but when it came to this girl, he was a big bad softie.

"Sorry sorry, how about I'll go golfing with you if you come surfing with me?" She proposes. "I don't care if it's a Pouge thing."

"Alright, alright fine, now give me the wheel back."

Parklynn lets out a small laugh and gets out of the way so that Rafe could steer. She looks up at him before heading back to her seat with Sarah, only to find a look of anger in his bluish eyes.

She followed his gaze to find a small boat riding up to them. She thought nothing of it until she saw someone jump off and land directly in front of their boat's path. Parklynn's eyes widened as Rafe quickly steers out of the way.

"Hey Princesses, whatcha up to?" The Blonde boy now in the water asks.

Rafe was furious already, "Hey dumbass, how about you look where you're jumping next time?"

"Sorry, did I startle you?" JJ responds.

"JJ cut it out and get back on the boat," A curly haired girl known as Kiara tells him. The two other boys on the boat agree with her.

"Yeah yeah yeah," He says.

"How about you stay on your own side of the island huh Pogue?" Rafe questions, even though it sounded like more of a demand.

"Rafe!" Parklynn exclaims, "Just let it go."

And with that, the interaction between the four Pogues and the three Kooks was over as they both treaded their separate ways. Parklynn goes back to her original seat with Sarah, who's been surprising quite this whole time.

"Stupid Pogues huh," Rafe says.

Parklynn lets out a laugh, a fake one, but a laugh. She looks back at the Pogues riding away, realizing that the blonde is looking right back at her. She puts on a slight smile as he does the same. They hold eye contact for what seems like hours before he tears away from her gaze to laugh at something one of the other boys said. She watches them erupt with laughter and speed away. Sarah catches her in a deep stare at the small shady boat.

"Parklynn Ann what are you smiling at?" She says with a grin.

"What? Nothing. That was just a weird situation."

Sarah smiles at her and hums in response. But Park can't deny it, Pogue life looks like a fun life.

That night when Parklynn gets home and tucks herself into bed, the image of JJ flashes through her mind. And the feeling she felt when the two caught each others eye floods back to her. She felt her heart skip a beat with the amount of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

And that same night as both JJ and Rafe fall asleep, they experience the same feeling thinking about the girl from earlier that day.

Heyy first chapter! Hope you guys liked it. Stick around cause it's gonna get gooood.
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