HOPELESSLY DEVOTED

an outer banks story

by -spacecadet

CHAPTER TEN: KINDRED SPIRITS

JJ remembered every detail from the day he met Campbell Sheridan.

He remembered the ugly shirt their teacher, Mrs. Gonzalez, was wearing while she scribbled division problems on the whiteboard, in green marker. JJ hated the green marker, because it was the color Mrs. Gonzalez used for math, and he hated math.

Campbell came in during the math lesson, and JJ was grateful for the distraction, because it cost the class at least fifteen minutes of otherwise boring division instruction.

Campbell was wearing an orange Clemson University t-shirt, and her brown hair, which still had its youthful curl at that time, bounced lightly on her shoulders. Her hands were shaking when Mrs. Gonzalez sat her next to JJ, though she faced him with a bright smile and immediate eye contact, like she was happy to meet him.

All Mrs. Gonzalez had told the class was that Campbell was new, and she was from Tennessee. He didn't know why she was there, or who her parents were, or where she lived, or if she was a pogue or a kook, though he suspected a pogue, since she was at the public elementary school and not the private kook school.

Campbell smelled like cinnamon rolls, which she would later tell him was because her grandmother had baked them for breakfast. She then told him that she'd bring him one the next morning, which she did.

Their seats next to each other in that fourth grade classroom lasted approximately two weeks, before Mrs. Gonzalez grew tired of their constant talking and moved them to opposite sides of the classroom. This did little to help, with John B equidistant between them, as they just passed notes back and forth, jotting down any thought that crossed either of their minds. Campbell got her very first detention because of a note from JJ, and she cried the whole walk home from school, him consoling her the whole time.

JJ had known John B for much longer, but his friendship with Campbell was different. They understood each other in ways others never could, in ways they couldn't explain with words. He knew they were an odd pair, and people never seemed to understand why Campbell, a girl from a "good family," would hang around with JJ Maybank. One of the things he liked most about Campbell was that she never seemed to care what people thought, about her or him.

His friendship with Campbell was the reason he was in a jewelry store, one of the ones frequented by tourists, waiting in line to drop fifty hard-earned bucks on a necklace he wasn't even sure she would like.

He saw it in the window, when he was painting the outside of the shop building -- one of the many odd jobs he completed with his father, for cash under the table -- and it had reminded him of Campbell instantly. Her birthday was in a few short days, and he hadn't gotten her a present yet. Not that he'd forgotten -- she was just hard to shop for, and JJ wasn't much of a shopper to begin with.

It was a small golden seashell, on a matching gold chain. She lived and breathed the ocean as much as he did, and it was one of the many reasons they got along so well.

JJ stood out in the shop, dressed in his work clothes and covered in sweat and spiderwebs and paint, amongst tourists in brightly-patterned shorts and newly-purchased Outer Banks t-shirts. A little girl wandered up to him, a sticky piece of striped hard candy clutched in her hand.

"Is that for your girlfriend?" She teased, pointing the disgusting piece of candy at the box in his hands.

JJ scoffed and shook his head, his cheeks reddening. "No," he said, shaking his head quickly. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to be so defensive towards a six-year-old, but there he was. "She's my friend."

"Girl friend?" The girl repeated, spacing the words out.

"Yes," he replied. "Girl, space, friend."

"I have a girlfriend," the girl replied. "No space."

JJ chuckled. "Oh, you do?"

The girl nodded. "Her name is Annie. We played at the park together."

"Well," JJ laughed. "Best wishes to the two of you then."

She nodded and pointed the candy at the box again. "Maybe your girl friend will become your girlfriend when you give her that."

"It's not like that," he said, laughing again. "I promise."

"Why not?" The girl asked, tilting her head up at him. "Did she not ask you to play at the park with her?"

JJ knew it was pointless to keep arguing with a six-year-old, so he simply nodded. "No, she didn't."

The girl grimaced, shaking her head. "Bummer for you, then."

"Genevieve! Leave that poor boy alone!"

Before JJ could respond, she took off, ducking behind a counter, hiding from the man that was calling her name.

It was his turn at the register anyways, so he stepped up to the counter, handing over the necklace box and digging out his wallet.

"This is very pretty," the girl at the register said, fixing him with a smile. "For someone special?"

He shrugged. "Kinda." Campbell was special to him, but not in the way the cashier -- or the little girl -- was insinuating.

"Well, she's lucky," the girl continued as she rang him up, putting the necklace box in a flashy purple bag. JJ's cheeks burned at the thought of having to carry the thing back to the Cut on his bike.

"I don't need a bag," he said, reaching for the box and his receipt. "Y'know, ecofriendliness and all." He could hear Kiara praising him for his Earth friendly choice in the back of his mind.

He headed back outside, hopping on his bike, and tucking the small box securely in his pocket. He tore off towards the Cut, eager to get out of the rich side of the island. He was supposed to meet Kie at the Wreck, so they could finish planning Campbell's surprise birthday party. He was supposed to eat at the Sheridans' for dinner, and he still needed to get cleaned up beforehand, as per Marie's rules.

Kiara was behind the counter when he arrived, and she wrinkled her nose at his disheveled appearance. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Buying a birthday present," he replied, digging the box out of his pocket.

Kiara's mouth fell open, and she gaped at the box before it was even open. "Jewelry? You got Campbell jewelry, JJ?"

He nodded and flipped the box open. "Yeah. Do you think she'll like it?"

Kiara took the box, inspecting the necklace. "Oh, she'll love it, JJ. I'm just ... wow. I certainly did not expect that from you."

JJ didn't see what the big deal about buying Campbell a necklace was, and he said as much as he shoved the box back into his pocket. "It's just a necklace."

Kiara's face told him she did not agree as much, but she didn't push further on the topic. "Well, okay then..." She reached into her apron, pulling out a small notebook. "I think we've invited everyone she'd want there, so the guest list is done."

"Did you invite Wyatt Turner?"

Kiara's face scrunched again and she glared at JJ. "You can't be serious."

"What?" JJ put his hands up innocently. "She might want him there!"

"And she might want you dead," Kiara shot back. "JJ, she does not like that boy, and it's not fair to either of them that you keep trying to push her towards him."

"Well, I don't know why she won't even give him a chance, when he's so clearly into her," he said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, Campbell hasn't even dated anyone! I don't think she's even had her first kiss yet."

Kiara cleared her throat awkwardly, and she was suddenly unable to meet JJ's eyes. "I don't think we should invite Wyatt," she said in a strained voice.

"Kie," he paused, watching her curiously. "What was that look?"

"What look?" Kiara asked, burying herself in the notebook.

"You very much had a look on your face when I said the thing about Campbell and her first kiss. Has ... has she kissed someone? Do you know something I don't?"

Campbell and JJ shared everything with each other, so JJ found it very unlikely that the girl would have kissed someone and not told him.

"JJ, why would you think Campbell hasn't kissed anyone?" Kiara asked slowly.

JJ shrugged. "I mean, she would have told me."

Kiara rolled her eyes. "Do you tell Campbell about every single one of your hookups?"

"No," JJ stammered. "But she doesn't want to hear about that kind of stuff."

"Exactly. But I bet John B knows all about them."

"Well, yeah...."

"Because that's boy stuff. And this is girl stuff. So that's why I know, and you don't."

"Well, what the hell?" JJ exclaimed, slamming his hand on the counter. "Who was it?"

Kiara laughed loudly. "I am not telling you that."

"Kie."

"JJ, we have a party to plan, and I'm not telling you anything. So shut up, and help me figure out how we're going to get a keg to the Chateau."

An hour later, the party details were set, though JJ's mind was still fixed on the fact that Campbell hadn't told him about her first kiss. He'd had his own at fourteen, with a girl on the school bus. He'd bragged about it later that day at recess to the pogues, feeling pretty high and mighty about it.

How long ago had it happened, and who the hell was it?

He headed back to his house, tucking Campbell's present safely under the floorboards, in the secret hiding spot he'd hid stuff from his father for ages. He showered and dug out one of his nicer t-shirts, one that still had sleeves, and headed back out on his bike, following the familiar route to Campbell's house.

Ruth's rental Porsche was still in the driveway, and he wondered just how long exactly she would be staying. Campbell had made it seem like she never stayed for longer than a weekend, but she'd been there at least four days now. He wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of sharing another dinner with the three Sheridan women, but Ruth had seemed more chill the other day at the Wreck, after she and Campbell had gone surfing.

He knocked on the door, realizing he'd been so wrapped up in the kiss saga that he'd forgotten to tell Campbell when he was heading over. The door swung open, revealing Clyde, who looked none too happy to have been disturbed from his chair and his TV.

The older man grunted and nodded a greeting before leaving JJ in the doorway, making his way back to the living room.

"Who was that, Clyde?" Ruth's loud voice carried in from the kitchen.

"JJ!" Clyde yelled back to his wife.

"Oh, Jesus, you didn't just leave him in the door, did you? That's not how we treat guests in this house!"

He heard Clyde grunt again, this time with a laugh. "He's hardly a guest anymore, Marie!"

Marie's footsteps were fast on the hardwood as she padded over to the front door, a flour-stained apron covering her clothes. JJ hoped that meant she was making biscuits.

"JJ, dearie, let me apologize on behalf of my ox of a husband," Marie said, ushering him inside, two glasses of lemonade awaiting him in her hands. "Campbell's in her room, why don't you bring these up with you?"

Before he could even respond, the glasses were in his hands and Marie was racing back towards the kitchen.

He kicked off his shoes and carefully made his way up the stairs, trying not to spill from either glass. He knocked on Campbell's door with his elbow.

"Come on in, Ruth," she called back, and he chuckled to himself.

"Not exactly Ruth," he replied, ducking his head in the door.

Campbell was sitting on the edge of her bed, a bottle of nail polish in one hand, her foot in the other. Her cheeks flushed as she realized it was JJ, and she quickly screwed the cap of the polish back on.

"Campbell Sheridan, you mean to tell me your toenails aren't naturally yellow?" he teased, setting the lemonade glasses down on her desk. "Sorry, I realize I forgot to tell you I was on my way over."

"That's alright," she said, bringing her attention back to her toes. "Want me to do yours next?"

JJ snorted. "Yes, because John B would let me live that down."

"Wouldn't it be fun to match though?" Campbell teased.

He settled down beside her, taking a sip of the lemonade. He had a feeling the question he was about to ask would make Campbell very, very angry, but he knew he had to ask it anyways, or it would be heavy on his mind for days.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and can you promise not to get mad about it?"

Campbell froze, the nail polish brush hanging idle above her toes. "That depends. How mad do you think it's going to make me?"

"Oh, at least a six."

She frowned. "Okay. No promises, but go on."

He grimaced and ran a hand through his blond hair, still damp from the shower. "There's no easy way to ask this, really, but, uhhh, have you ... have you had your first kiss yet?"

Campbell's face turned redder than a tourist at the Boneyard in August, and her brows furrowed together in a look that was clearly trying to kill him. "What?"

"I'm just curious."

"Why the sudden curiosity in my love life? First Wyatt, now this? JJ, what the hell?"

JJ stammered for an answer, only to realize he didn't have one, other than the fact that he suddenly did not think it was such a great idea for Campbell to date Wyatt, and whoever the person was that had kissed her, he suddenly wanted to punch in the face. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

i wrote this chapter a long time ago, and it was so so so much fun to write. i hope you had as much fun reading it as i did writing it! 

thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

xx,

madi