Impact Zone (JJ Outerbanks)

3. 180 Spin

I woke up early from a restless night of sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about Luke and what he said. I figured he'd leave at some point but I didn't think it would be soon. I decided to get my mind off of things by going for a morning run along the shore and boardwalk. Along the way, I saw Pope helping his dad gather groceries to deliver. Heyward, Pope's dad, was there the day I met Kiara's dad to officially get the job and he was pretty nice to me and my dad. Pope saw me running by and waved, Heyward did the same when he saw Pope looking at me. 

"Hey! What are you guys up to?" I slowed down my run to talk with them. 

"I about to take these groceries over to figure 8 wanna come with?" Pope asked. 

"Uh yeah sure!" I started picking up some of the groceries and begin walking alongside him with the bags. Waving a small goodbye to Heyward. 

"How was the boneyard experience for you?" He asked. 

" It was ok. I met a lot of tourists and a few uh.... cooks? kooks. Topper, Rafe, and Sarah. You know em?" 

"Yeah I know em, sorry you had to meet them too. They aren't the nicest." We both laughed and agreed. 

"So why did you move here?" Ahh, the million-dollar question. 

"Well, my mom left us when I was 12. Why? I don't know. And it was my mom and her family who were helping us afford the house we were living in. So when my dad lost his job and his wife we needed to move. So here we are to the present." I chuckled at my lack of storytelling skills. Pope was clearly very intrigued. 

"I'm sorry to hear about your mom." 

"It's all good. I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be on my feet again. I love surfing and would love to go pro someday so I guess I should start that back up sooner or later. And having a job at the wreck will help me meet a lot of new people." 

"You like surfing? Me and my friends go all the time! We were actually gonna meet up to surf later on today if you wanna join." 

"That actually sounds pretty fun. I'd love to see how the waves are here versus Australia." The rest of the walk was nice. He told me about his friends: Kiara, who was very into the environment, JJ, who's a classic hardworking local who lost his mom, and John B, who's the leader of the pogues really, who's dad went missing and mom left when he was young. He told me about his plans for the future and what he wants to study and I did the same in a way. The way he talks about Kiara is so cute, I can totally see him having a crush of some sort on her. 

After we finished the grocery trip, Pope and I said our goodbyes as we split up. I continued my run and when I got back I was immediately ready to surf. Luke still hadn't woken up yet and I wanted to take him with me. It's been so long since we've surfed together. 

After a few hours, Luke had finally woken up and we started walking over to the beach. Once we got in the water I saw the 4 mates a ways out in the water. I waved and told Luke I was gonna say hi. 

"Hey! I knew you couldn't pass up surfing," Pope says smiling, Kiara seemed happier to see me than usual. 

"I'm always up for a quick surf. " I smiled back. 

"This is JJ and John B who I was talking about earlier," the two boys quickly stopped talking to each other and moved their attention over to me. 

"Hey! Nice to meet you again, Kodi," John B waves. JJ just sends a quick smile and tries to keep the conversation going with John B. He wasn't very friendly. 

"Kodi! There's some good waves on the horizon! My bathers are already dryin' up!" Luke yells from afar. I just chuckle and start to make my way over.