❝ And I snuck through the garden
gate every night that summer just to
seal my fate. ❞

— CRUEL SUMMER, TAYLOR SWIFT

     NOVA VAN KIRK was a ghost.

Well, it wasn't always that way. There was a time when the blonde haired beauty had everything. She was once a girl with hope that glimmered in the darkest of times, stars and constellations twinkling in her ocean blue eyes, spreading magic and stardust wherever she seemed to go, and sparking joy in the coldest of hearts. She was the light in the darkness, a beacon of hope in the midst of all the chaos. People often described the Van Kirk girl to be as radiant as the sun that hung over their heads.

     Then came the day when her life took a devastating turn. There was no denying her older brother, Riley Van Kirk, had spiralled down a dark path filled with pill popping and partying like most rich Kooks in the Outer Banks. A terrible habit Nova knew about, but never acted on it, or even reached out to her brother to try and help him. She knew drugs were never his thing. She thought it was just something he would outgrow, which unfortunately resulted in a heartbreaking outcome for the Van Kirk family.

     Nova would never forget the day she came home after spending some time with her friends at the beach, only to find Riley unresponsive on the bathroom floor. Nova did everything she could to save her brother. She followed the 9-1-1 operator's instructions very clear whilst she waited for the ambulance, and even then, it wasn't enough to undo the horror that had occurred on that dark and gloomy day.

     Riley Van Kirk lost his battle with addiction that day.

The loss of her brother and best friend left a dark void where her heart should've been, a gaping hole in Nova's chest that never seem to really heal. Even in the months following her brother's death, Nova couldn't seem to move on, all her guilt and grief eating her alive, wishing she had done something about her brother's addiction, maybe told someone before it was too late. Instead, she sat back and hoped he would get better on his own, and she hated herself for being so. . . so. . . naive.

And soon, Riley's problems became her own. Nova found a release from all her pain, finding all her solutions in pills and chemicals in crystallised bottles, even though that led to Nova making a few mistakes from time to time, including that one party at John B Routledge's chateau where she met that cute blond. But that was whole other story saved for later. Anyways. . . whether it was drinking liquor with her friends, or popping pills and snorting powder up her nose with her on and off again boyfriend, Rafe Cameron, it was just enough to make her forget.

     It didn't take long for Nova's friends to notice either. They all saw the way her smile faded, and the way the joy in her heart turned to sadness. All the magic and stardust that once burned so brightly in her opal eyes being stolen from the girl the second her brother's heart stopped beating. They all wanted to help her. Even Riley's friends, the Pogues, did their best to show Nova she still had a life worth living, that her life still had value and shouldn't be wasted on the toxins running in her bloodstream.

     Nova was sick and tired of all the constant lectures and wished they would just let her go. However, they never did, especially JJ Maybank, who believed there was something about the girl worth saving. No matter how hard she tried to push him away, JJ always came back. Maybe it was because of their history, or maybe it was because she was his best friend's sister and he felt like it was his duty to save her since he couldn't save Riley. Nova didn't really care. She just wanted to be left alone.

But after JJ saves Nova from getting hit by an incoming vehicle one hot summer night, shocking and unfortunate circumstances forcing the pair to cross paths again, he convinces her to join him and his friends on their treasure hunt to search for a famous shipwreck known as the Royal Merchant and the gold that went down with it. Nova knew Riley was once invested in the mystery, and so she decides to finish what her brother started and tags along with the Pogues.

This is just the start of the dark and destructive path Nova finds herself stumbling down. When she learns there's more to Riley's death than meets the eye, and that his demise was somehow connected to the Royal Merchant, the girl ends up spiralling down a rabbit hole of secrets that she was determined to uncover, leading the girl into a world of crime and danger whilst she navigated her way through life and the romance that came with it.

It may fuck her over in the end, but Nova craved some excitement this summer. And a Goonies-like treasure hunt, coming face to face with an old flame, and the brewing war between Pogues and Kooks hitting its brink was definitely an adventure like no other.

SYDNEY SWEENEY / . . . NOVA VAN
KIRK

𖤓

KOOK PRINCESS. BASKET CASE.
A POGUE IN THE MAKING.

⋆☀︎｡

▃▃▃▃▃▃ IT'S HARD TO BE
AT A PARTY WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE
AN OPEN WOUND ▃▃▃▃▃▃

&

rudy pankow / JJ MAYBANK
alisha boe / JUNO O'CONNELL
emilia clarke / ALLISON VAN KIRK
jr bourne / ETHAN VAN KIRK
owen patrick joyner / RILEY VAN KIRK
madelyn cline / SARAH CAMERON
drew starkey / RAFE CAMERON
chase stokes / JOHN B ROUTLEDGE
madison bailey / KIARA CARRERA
johnathan daviss / POPE HEYWARD
austin north / TOPPER THORNTON
the rest of the obx cast / THEIR RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS

authors note.
So I quickly lost inspiration for another outer banks plot, but it was just because the old plot i had was kinda overused and i just wanted to do something a little different. So I took some old stuff from the old plot and added some new stuff to spice it up a little, changed the faceclaim and I'm honestly so excited to write this again. I promise this is the last ever change I'm doing to this story!!

layout inspired by warrensdrums <3
cover by aastratta <3

warning.
this story will contain drug and alcohol use, strong language, mentions of abuse, strong violence and other triggering topics throughout the story.

dedications.
dedicated to rositagriimes , plutoniums , temptingholland , IovefooIs , plutonruins , mazernrs , daenevys , fIeurr , kepners , xsparrows , valkyraes , joekeerious , astroIogcy , familiarities , -CLEOPATRAS , -MissSwan , obrienscottage , murphscare , wildstarkey , wildior , -celestialhearts , sweetvinyls , holygublers , bIoodbags , vintagegrace , emotve , deiteas , wickedwomvn , starlightremus ryrythewritingguy & anyone else who loves outer banks and/or supports me <3