𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒; JJ Maybank

one

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After spending around eleven hours in an airplane and still having to go through a three hour drive, because the island is so small that the only airport they have is restricted to private planes, I was feeling exhausted. I didn't want to show my mom that I wasn't thrilled with the move because I knew she was going through a lot, but it wasn't easy to hide the fact that this whole thing was making me anxious, and not in a good way.

As soon as we arrived at the house that belonged to my aunt Anna, who I had only seen during FaceTime calls with my mom, I looked around and saw that it was a nice, big house. I was getting scared that we were moving into a cabin or something since the few "houses" that we passed on our way here were literal sheds.

"Hey sweetie! It's so nice to finally meet you in person." I could only give her a smile and a nod, my mind was still going a thousand per minute. My father had only been convicted a week ago and we're already in a different continent. "You must be tired, c'mon let me show you to your room."

She helped me with some of my suitcases and led me through the hallways. The house was pretty nice, I'm not gonna lie, but it wasn't home.

"You're going to be sharing the room with my daughter. I think I've shown you pictures of her during some of our calls.." she said while opening the door to a big bedroom with two single beds.

"Is she ok with that?" Those were the first words I said since I got off the plane. My voice was a little low and shyness was definitely visible.

"Of course! Kiara is a nice girl, she's not home at the moment but you'll meet her later." I smiled, she was nice. " You should sleep, your bed is the one with blue sheets."

I thanked her and she closed the door giving me some privacy. I put my suitcases against the wall and laid on my bed trying to fall asleep and not think about how fucked up my life has become.

When I finally woke up I noticed a girl laying on the bed next to me. I figured that it was Kiara, my cousin.

"Hi, I'm Marina" I said when she looked at me due to the sound I made when I stood up.

"I know, I'm Kiara" She said giving me a small forced smile. She was probably not happy with me taking space from her room. "So.. what do you think about Outer Banks so far?"

" Well I haven't seen a lot yet, just the sidewalks on the drive here but it's... different I guess" I said while playing with my fingers.

"I'll give you a tour after dinner. I'm gonna warn you that there's not much to see, it's a small island." She said dropping her phone and finally facing me with what I assumed was a true smile.

" That would be nice. Thanks! I'm sorry for basically invading your room." I smiled shyly. I'm a very timid person when it comes to meeting new people but once I start building trust, I never shut up.

"What? It's fine really, don't worry about it!"

After dinner, Kiara and I went upstairs to change into something warmer because the weather was a bit cold and then she grabbed her keys and drove us around the island.

"I think it's so cool that you can drive at 16 here! In Portugal I can only take my driving license at 18." I said while she drove us along the coast.

"What?! I can't imagine having to wait until 18 to get my driver's license." She said laughing. "I'm going to introduce you to my best friends, we are all going into senior year together" Kie, as she told me to call her, informed me.

As I said, meeting new people makes me nervous so I started fidgeting with my fingers, a habit I've had ever since I was little.
Kie parked her car in the parking lot near the beach and I got out following her.

"Look, they might be a little cold and closed off but don't take it personally.. a lot of shit went down this summer and we're all still trying to adjust, ok?" She said right before we reached two boys that were sitting in silence just looking into the ocean. I'm not going to lie, that made me very curious but I knew that it wasn't my place to ask so I just pushed it into the back of my head."Hey! This is my cousin Marina, you know.. the one who moved in with me." Kie introduced me and I just smiled at them.

"Hi, I'm Pope. Welcome to Outer Banks." He said giving me a small smile. The other guy just looked me up and down and then focused his attention in the ocean again without saying a word.

"And the rude one is JJ, don't mind him" Kie said taking a seat next to them in the sand.

I followed her actions, sat next to her and started thinking... this is going to be a long year.