Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Affinity McCormick lives for the summer. The beach, the boat rides, the parties, the endless days and nights, and everything in between, but this summer was different, and it certainly wasn't starting the way she had planned. If anything, it was probably one of the worst days of her life.
It was the day her parents finalized their divorce.
And this divorce couldn't have gone worse in her opinion. It was the nastiest, most selfish process she had ever seen. It was all about 'Well if you keep that, then I get this'. It was hideous. End result: her dad got to keep her if her mom got all their money. That's right, her mother traded her off for money just like that. She didn't even try to go to court and fight for guardianship. Nope, it was a done deal as long as everything was hers.
Affinity and her father lost everything that day. Their home, their boat, and all their money other than her father's one savings account that only he could access. Everything...just gone. So what did this mean for Affinity? It means that she goes from living her secure life in 'Figure 8' to living in 'The Cut'. How life worked in the Outer Banks is that you were either a kook or a pogue. Affinity used to be what is stereotyped as a kook, someone who lives in a very wealthy family in Figure 8. They were too caught up in their pampered life, saying in their bubble, untouched by any inconveniences. Then there are the pogues, the class that works their lives away and lives in The Cut.
Affinity was never proud of being a kook, she never felt like she fit in anyway and couldn't care less that everything her family owns is expensive. She hates the constant war between kooks and pogues but that's how its been for years and there is no changing it. She's never had a problem with pogues, but that doesn't mean they will be waiting with open arms when they hear a kook is moving onto their side of the island.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it. Today was moving day but there really wasn't much to move, considering her mom is keeping everything inside their house. All that they could keep was whatever was specifically her's or her father's. After a long day of packing, Affinity finally zipped up her last suitcase and started down the stairs to her father's car. Her dad had just finished loading his stuff in and watched his daughter walk down the stairs. He forced a smile, trying his best to keep Affinity's spirits up. She tried to smile back but she physically couldn't, all she wanted was to get out of here and never see her mom again.
"That's all," Affinity sighed as she tossed her bag into the back seat. "Let's just get the hell out of here."
Her dad pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the forehead. "Let me go get the keys."
Affinity opened the car door and plopped herself down onto the passenger's seat. She heard a tap on the window, but she knew who it was and the last thing she wanted to do was look at them. The tapping continued but she didn't budge. They tried to speak but their words were muffled by the closed window. Affinity couldn't handle it anymore and slowly rolled down her window.
"What?" she asked shortly, her voice stiff with rage.
"Finny, sweetheart, you're taking this the wrong way and I promise you this is not what it seems like." Her mother reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "I will always love you."
"Bull. Shit." Affinity could feel the rims of her eyes burn with tears. "You choose what you really loved. You wanted money more than you wanted your own daughter."
"Af-."
"Just stop! You can't talk your way out of this one. You are manipulative, selfish, and completely oblivious to anything that doesn't affect you and your money. Why are you even talking to me now? I'm not a kook anymore so why would you give a shit about me?"
Affinity's mother was shocked, completely taken back by her daughter's words. "I am still your mother, Affinity."
"No, not anymore. You signed the papers, so even legally I'm not your daughter anymore. I never want to see you again."
Affinity punched the button to roll her window up and just on cue, her dad appeared with the keys, not even acknowledging the woman who was now a stranger to him. He got in the car, slammed the door, and started the engine.
"You ready?" He sighed.
She was able to give him a genuine smile this time. "I can't believe I'm saying this but... off to The Cut we go."
Her father smiled and put the car in gear. They zipped by the massive houses that were really just a waste of space, past the golf courses infested with hollow people, over the land bridge that connected the two worlds, and into The Cut. Affinity had only been to The Cut a few times, but it never really changed each time she returned. All of the houses where only one story and most looked like they were falling apart at the seams with the wood rotting away into the ground. The Cut was different, that's for sure, but it did have what Figure 8 didn't.
Freedom.
Affinity had no idea what the summer had in store for her but she knew she would force herself to make the best of it no matter what. As said before, summer is everything to her. She isn't going to let mother dearest ruin that for her.
After about 2 minutes of driving through The Cut, her dad clicked on his turn signal and turned into a gravel driveway next to a boarding dock full of boats. Her dad parked the car in front of a small ranch house with pale blue siding and a hammock on the front porch.
"You always said you wanted to live by the water," her father grinned.
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, feeling a tear stream down her cheek. "Thank you so much."
"Now cmon, I've been waiting to see inside this piece of beautiful crap ever since I impulsively bought it this morning!"
The two raced out of the car like a pair of children. Her father scrambled for the keys, fumbling them in hands.
"Would you hurry up! You're killing me!"
He finally shoved the key in the lock and twisted the door knob to open the door, revealing a quaint living room and kitchen with two small bedrooms and a bathroom.
