The Ocean Remembers | JJ Maybank

C H A P T E R 4

COMMUNITY MEETING

𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐍'𝐓 been a second I was home when my mom ran towards me and looked carefully at every single inch of my body, making sure I wasn't hurt. "Where the hell were you? are you okay?" she asked.

"Mom, I'm good, I promise," I laughed a little.

I told her what had happened quite briefly and she seemed relieved to know I had been safe during the storm. She hugged me tight against her, making me feel safe, and I wasn't ashamed to admit I wanted to be in her arms forever.

"We're having a community meeting tonight, I count on you to look good and act polite," she voiced, walking to the stairs.

"Wh-what? what time? how am I supposed to dress up?" I asked, panicked.

"There's a dress on your bed, put it on and be quick, it's at 7," she explained and I checked the time, which panicked me even more, since I realised I didn't even have half an hour to fully get ready.

I hurried upstairs, grabbed my phone and quickly texted Kie, asking her if she was going too, since she belonged to this Community as well. She immediately replied she would be there, which reassured me a lot.

When I got out of the shower and saw the dress and the little vest pairing with it on my bed, I honestly would've preferred wearing JJ's stinky sweatshirt. The outfit my mom had cautiously picked was, to my opinion, not appropriated for a Community meeting.

The dress was too short and revealing, but I usually spent days only wearing a swimsuit so I had no right to complain about that. I quickly put it on, adjusting it and enhancing the quality of the outfit with a small necklace.

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Everyone looked so perfect, with their, I assume, too expensive clothes. My mom fixed my hair, tucking it behind my ear, and she stared at me with a big smile drawn over her lips. I was very anxious, as I was waiting for Kiara, biting my nails. I saw many faces I had never seen before, but not the one that I was expecting.

"Are the Cameron's coming?" I asked my mother and she smiled at me, nodding.

"Of course, it's their house here," she confirmed me and my eyes went wide at her words.

My eyes laid on the immense mansion and I discerned every single detail out of it, the ornaments, the white balconies, the statues, the bushes perfectly kept clean. "Really? fuck that's so huge!" I voiced, surprised.

"Sam! Language please," she told me, and I put my hands on my mouth.

"Sorry, I- yeah sorry," I apologised.

My mother grabbed a drink of wine and drank half of it very fast. I took the glass off her hand and put it back on the counter. "Please mom not tonight. You promised you'd stay sober"

"Oh yeah, sorry," she apologised remembering her words and focused back on the topic of our conversation.

"Are you excited to see the Camerons? I remember you had a great relationsh-"

"Sam!" a voice cut my mom off and I turned around to see who it was.

Kiara smiled at me and I joined her, avoiding the conversation I was having with my mom because it had taken a turn I didn't like. I looked cautiously at my friend, smiling. She was wearing a beautiful pink dress, her hair down, a pearl necklace replacing her usual seashells one.

"God I'm so glad you came, I couldn't even imagine being here alone," Kie stated, pulling me in a warm hug. "Events like this are the worst"

"Well, now you'll have me," I pulled away and looked all around.

It was all happening in the Cameron's garden, people were laughing, drinking and talking all around us, dressed up like they were about to meet Queen Elizabeth II.

"Oh wait, come here, the Camerons are arriving," Kie grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a kind of alley, where everyone was now gathering.

"What's so special about it?" I inquired.

"I don't know, they usually do this, at every single event, they always have like a special arrival," she mocked.

I rolled my eyes and my heart started to pound faster in my chest. I just hoped they wouldn't spot me in the crowd, because I didn't want to have a small talk with them, pretending nothing had happened, a year before.

They walked out of their house and my eyes first laid on Sarah and Rose. They were still very pretty, Sarah was smiling, looking at the guests. "Bitch," Kiara muttered and I laughed.

"You'll have to tell me the whole story," I whispered so no one heard me besides her.

The others came out of the house and my eyes laid on the little girl first. Wheezie didn't change at all, she had stayed just the same, cute girl, smiling in every circumstances, and I liked that about her. But what I liked the most had to be how she didn't let anyone walk all over her, not even her older siblings.

Then, my eyes laid on him. His dumb smirk, his hair, his eyes, he looked just the same. I hated to admit it, it was driving me insane, but with his grey suit, he was really handsome.

And what I hated the most, was that at the second he appeared, 99% of me was scared, wanted to disappear, but that 1% didn't feel this way. A tiny part of me felt what I once felt for him, and it was even scarier.

"Sam!" a voice took me out of my thoughts and I looked behind me. "Come here! I'll introduce you to my parents," Kie said enthusiastically.

I walked to her and smiled, as if nothing was wrong. I walked along with her for a few seconds until she stopped walking when we reached a couple, a glass of wine in their hands.

"Mom, dad, she's Sam, the girl I told you about," she quietly voiced.

They both smiled at me and I shyly smiled back, not knowing how to act. "Hey, nice to meet you," I managed to say.

"Yeah, same, it's so nice seeing new faces here. I bet Kiara is very happy to have a new friend," her father spoke and I looked at Kiara who winked at me.

"Well, I'm very happy to have your daughter as my friend too," I added.

"We truly hope having a girl by her side will calm her down," her mother said.

I discerned it was a taboo topic since Kiara left out a sigh and both of her parents shared a gaze full of reproaches. I felt a tiny bit awkward as I witnessed to this scene, and looked at my feet. "Mom," Kie rolled eyes annoyed.

"What? your mother's true, and you know it. These boys have a very bad influence on you. Especially the blonde one, JJ, he's dirty," her father snapped.

"Oh, I don't like JJ very much either," I added and her parents approved with small head movements.

"You just don't know him. He's very nice, and caring I promise," Kiara defended her friend but I doubted it was true. I was even sure it was not.

I kept talking with her parents for a few minutes until I started looking for my mom.
I walked all around and finally spotted her, talking with a few people. I just stayed behind her the whole time and that's when it happened.

He saw me, and I saw him. He winked at me and I pretended I didn't see so I looked away and grabbed my mom's arm.

"Can we go home please? I don't feel good," I almost begged and after a sigh she accepted.