✮ W I L D C H I L D ✮ JJ M A Y B A N K ✮

✮ four

Lana stood in her bedroom, trying on a few different outfits. Sarah had text her the dress code, and it was just casual dress. She could do that. Her wardrobe consisted of mostly more in your face outfits but she was sure she could muster up some form of casual. She tossed a few unsuccessful outfits onto her bed, and continued rummaging through what she had brought with her. Unbeknownst to her, her grandmother approached her doorway. With a small clear of her throat, Lana's attention was dragged in that direction.

'You look like you've got somewhere to be,' she said with a small chuckle, entering the room and taking a seat on the end of the bed. Lana turned back around, continuing her search.

'Some girl from the group invited me to a party at the beach tonight.' She was a girl of few words right now, her attention being elsewhere. 

'A party, huh? Sounds like the etiquette classes aren't too bad after all.' 

Alana let out a small amused laugh. 'I wouldn't go that far,' she retorted. 'These classes are still torture and I don't know how I'm going to handle an entire summer of them.'

She grabbed yet another outfit and held it to her torso, checking it out in the mirror. It was a simple summer dress, one that had belonged to her mother. She kept it tucked away deep in the back of her closet, along with a few other things of hers. She hadn't worn any of her mothers clothing since she passed away, worrying that if she did, they would get ruined or lose her smell. She kept this sentimental side to herself, preferring to not have the sympathetic stares and empathetic apologise. 

'Well, one class seems to have done you some good, so I'm looking forward to the person you'll be at the end of it.' Alana didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. 

She was finally set on cute summer dress she had bought a few summers ago, it somehow still fitting her like a glove. When she had decided, she turned to her grandmother and gave her a silent plea to leave the room so she could get changed. She wanted a little privacy in this house. Her grandmother held up her hands in surrender and swiftly exited the room, closing the door and leaving Alana alone once again. 

Alana let out a small breath of relief when she was alone. Her father never loitered, so living with people who were everywhere she turned, it was suffocating. She stripped off the clothes she had been wearing and slipped on the dress. She took a look at her appearance in the mirror, satisfaction gracing her. She gave a small nod, texting Sarah that she was ready and heading downstairs. 

✮

'Okay, so there are two sides of town. There's Figure 8, which consists of the wealthier families. Those who can afford a nice mansion. That's where we live, and those who live there are labelled 'The Kooks'. Then there's the Cut, where the houses are cheaper, but more worn down and beaten up. They're labelled as The Pogues,' Sarah explained, rambling on. She was doing her best to fill Alana in on the ins and outs of living in the Outer Banks before they got to the party. They chose to walk as it gave them more time to talk, and they were meeting Sarah's boyfriend there. 

'The Kooks and the Pogues? Who decided on those names?' Lana laughed to herself, glancing at Sarah. She was happy she had made a friend, even if she wouldn't ever admit it to anyone other than herself. 

'I don't really know, it's kind of always just been that,' she laughed with the girl. It had felt as if the two had always known each other. 

Up ahead, as they gradually got closer, the music from the party slowly begun to increase in volume, and the silhouettes of people were becoming clearer. Stood looking out to their end of the beach stood a boy who's face lit up when he landed his gaze on Sarah. The boyfriend, Lana assumed.