CHAPTER ONE
"you're pope, right?"

EVELYN HAS NEVER been the biggest fan of storms, whether it be a few small claps of thunder or full blown hurricanes. When she was a little girl, she used to sneak into her parent's room and hide out with them until it passed. The safety of the people she loved was enough to help her ride it out, her mother telling her silly little children's tales to pass the time. These days she has nobody to cling to, no way to drown out the harsh winds that batter against her home or the constant splatters of rain against her pristinely washed windows.

No, instead she forces herself into her abnormally large walk in wardrobe and huddles up in the corner with her hands over her ears and eyes scrunched shut. Her father had told her that as she grew up, her phobia would fade and yet somehow its only increased tenfold. Being in an empty house, one so big, on her lonesome is enough to amplify any fear that she has.

Evelyn isn't sure how long has passed when she finally sees some sunlight creep underneath the closet door. Pulling her hands from her ears, the girl scrambles towards the door and throws it open, a sigh of relief leaving her lips. The window is still decorated with stray raindrops, the condensation built up on the glass, but she can just see outside. The damage is widespread, she can see a few fallen trees and the water by the dock is still rather uncontrolled.

There's an incessant buzzing noise coming from her beside table, her phone close to vibrating off the edge but she manages to intercept it seconds before. There's numerous names across the screen; a few from her step-dad, multiple from Jeremy and several from Sarah. Only one of them actually lives in the Outer Banks area and experienced the same thing as her, the only difference is Sarah had her family with her when the thing struck.

It's her step-father whom she answers first, clicking on the messages and smiling lightly at them.

'Heard about the hurricane. You ok?'

It's a short message, a simple one but the fact he actually cares is enough to warm her heart a little bit. She doesn't see much of Alex these days, he's always so busy working on his new movies that he can't be home with her. She appreciates his work ethic, the way he is so dedicated to the craft he loves, but she misses him quite often. It's perhaps a little silly but he's the last tie she has to her mother — the man who still wears his wedding ring on his finger to this day.

'I'm okay. Just a bit of a fright! :)'

She presses send and quickly replies to her two friends who express similar worries for her. Jeremy, who lives back in New York, knows all about her fear of storms. She'd spent a few nights sleeping over his house in her early teens when a storm hit, she'd let him hug her tightly whilst his parents made hot chocolate and tried their hardest to distract her from what was happening outside. Fuck she misses them too.

Locking her phone, she throws it down on her bed as she moves to get ready. Chucking on a pair of shorts and a loosely fitted shirt, the girl then shoves the phone into her pocket and heads downstairs. Locking the door behind her, the brunette walks down the road like she does almost everyday, stopping at the Cameron household where her friend lives.

Knocking on the door, she waits for a few moments before it's opened up for her. Sarah's dad, Ward, stands there with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Evelyn. You here to see Sarah?" Ward questions though he already knows the answer, moving out of the way so the teenager can get in.

"Hi and yeah I am. One of her messages about wanting me to come over for something," Evelyn explains, walking into the familiar home and immediately searching for her friend.

"I think she's gone up to her room, if not, check outside. It's where she was before," Ward comments.

"Thank you!"

The girl climbs up the stairs, smiling when she sees Sarah sitting on her bed texting away. Evelyn can only assume it's her boyfriend Topper, whom the girl isn't exactly the closest with. She won't say that she dislikes him but well, they will never be the best of friends. Evelyn tolerates him for Sarah, she tolerates most of Sarah's kook friends for her. It's one of the things that comes with being best friends with the 'kook princess'. Evelyn has learned to smile in their presence, no matter how unnatural it feels.

"Evie!" Sarah exclaims when she sees her, pushing herself upward and wrapping her arms around the shorter girl. Evelyn returns the gesture, smiling softly when she pulls away. "I'm so glad you're here. We have something to do tonight,"

"Huh? Sarah, I thought you wanted to watch movies all night or something," Evelyn responds, eyebrows raised in a way that shows her confusion.

"No quite. Top just let me know there's a kegger going on,"

Her mood dims a little at that. The last time they went to one of those, Evelyn ended up drinking more than her body could handle and spent her evening hugging an equally intoxicated JJ Maybank as if they were best friends. It's the first and last time she had that much to drink, she also hasn't seen the shaggy blonde since — she's sure that'll be a great interaction. Hopefully he has as much trouble remembering it as she does, Sarah had to fill her in on the whole night because there was so many blank moments in her mind.

"Sarah, really? I thought Clueless had our names written all over it tonight," Evelyn pouts playfully. "Paul Rudd, Sarah, Paul Rudd,"

"Paul Rudd is great but he's also old enough to be your dad. I think we should finally get you a guy your own age," Sarah speaks with a smile, grabbing her friend's hands and pulling her over to her closet.

"And maybe we could do that another night. How about we ditch the kegger and I'll buy you ice-cream?"

"Nice try. Let's get ready,"

————

Evelyn stares out the car window, head leaning against the glass as Topper and Sarah chat in the front of the car. She knew from the start it's a fight she'd never win, she never does. So she's decided that she'll simply suck it up and try to enjoy her evening, hopefully she remembers to stay far away from the drinks tonight.

The car comes to a stop, the couple in the front getting out and leaving Evelyn to trail behind. Sarah had picked out a white summer dress for her to wear, one that she hadn't worn in quite some time, and curled her brunette hair. In some sort of compromise, Sarah had switched Clueless on whilst they got ready, rolling her eyes when Evelyn complained when it was turned off before it finished.

"I'll leave you two to it," Evelyn mumbles, squeezing Sarah's hand as she walks by. The blonde calls back an 'okay!' before continuing on her way.

She can see the drinks being passed around and watches them before deciding that one won't hurt, right? Evelyn smiles at people as they greet her, raising a hand to wave as the darkened area hides the redness on her cheeks. She doesn't know half these people by name and yet they seem to know her's, a fact that she still struggles to come to terms with.

The ocean looks beautiful under the light of the moon, something that she's photographed a hundred times — she kind of wishes she'd brought her camera with her tonight. She didn't exactly have time to go home and grab it before she was being dragged out here by Sarah.

Shaking her head lightly, the girl heads over to the keg which is currently being operated by who she thinks is John B. It's hard to tell in the rather dim lighting but as she gets closer it's easier to see and she knows it's him. For some reason, she feels somewhat nervous approaching him — she doesn't really have time to be in the end because he looks up and their eyes meet.

Evelyn knows all about the kooks vs Pogues mentality on this island. The brunette wants to say she doesn't get it but she does, why would people want to be bossed around by a bunch of rich assholes with more money than sense?

Evelyn can safely say she's never gone out of her way to make any of their lives a misery, there's never a need to do something like that, but she's still a kook. Many of the Pogues aren't exactly her biggest fan regardless of what she has and hasn't done.

So, the girl puts on her kindest smile as she walks towards him. His smile in response isn't as bright but it's not exactly hate filled either so she'll take that as a win.

"Hey John B," Evelyn greets him, an awkward wave of her hand which seems to crack the small bit of tension there had been.

"Evelyn. You want a drink?" He asks, holding out one of the cup he's just filled.

"Yes please," the girl breathes, grabbing hold of it rather eagerly. "Thank you,"

He watches with raised eyebrows as she downs the drink almost instantly, not stopping until it's all gone. She smiles at him sheepishly when she brings the cup down, her cheeks flushing a pale pink.

"Uh okay. Did you want another one?" He questions, the cup back in his hands within seconds and then full moments after. "You might want to slow down after what happened last time. JJ thinks you're like best friends now,"

A small laugh leaves her lips. "Better him than some of the others here, I guess. Where is he anyway? It's weird that I haven't seen, or heard him, yet,"

John B nods over to his best friend who is chatting up some girl. A small 'oh' leaves Evelyn's lips at that, she should've expected it really.

"I'll uh leave you to it," Evelyn states, now looking at John B again.

Leaving him to continue handing out drinks, the girl walks off to try and find somewhere that she can sit down until Sarah is ready to go. She allows her feet to travel across the uneven terrain, the lightweight in her not exactly handling the drinks to the greatest effect at the moment. Evelyn also continues to sip at the drink she'd gotten from John B which also isn't helping — it's getting to her head already.

Nonetheless, she manages to move through the crowds of people and her eyes find an empty log for her to sit on. A smile pulls at her lips and she moves, apparently too focused on the task at hand because she crashes straight into another person.

Their drink spills down the front of her but their hands move just in time to catch her before she tumbles to the ground. A small giggle leaves her lips and she will blame the alcohol for it otherwise she'll be embarrassed.

"I-I'm so sorry!" The person somewhat exclaims, mortified by what has happened.

"It's okay," She shrugs off, eyes glinting with a joy that she is going to once again attribute to the alcohol in her system.

The brunette finally looks up at whoever had caught her, lips lifting into a grin as she recognises him. "You're Pope, right? Heyward's son!"

"Yeah I am," he responds somewhat awkwardly.

"You know, last time I was at one of these things, I hugged your friend JJ. Do you want a hug too?"

The words spill out before she even has a chance to stop him. She's staring up at him, his arms still around her to stop her from slipping to the ground, and Pope has no idea what to say to her. Evelyn then decides to make the decision for him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Woah," Pope speaks, clearly taken aback by the gesture.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

Evelyn pulls away from the boy and grins, pushing Pope's arms off her so that she can stumble towards JJ. The boy laughs as she practically throws herself at him, leaving Pope to watch the exchange with a bemused expression.

"Come on, Pope. Drunk Evelyn is like, my best friend," JJ says, arm wrapped around the shorter brunette's shoulder. "I literally don't think I ever see her any other time,"

"Right," Pope replies.

"I told her to slow down," An amused John B interjects as he walks over.

"Yeah because that worked so well last time. Plus it pisses Topper off so it's more fun," JJ says, nodding over towards the kook who is watching the exchange, Sarah on his arm talking about something he doesn't seem interested in.

"Ew Topper," Evelyn mumbles. "I don't know what Sarah sees in him,"

"Me either, Sunshine. Want to tell me why he's so pissed then?"

"Because I'm hanging out with you guys. He doesn't like you very much. In fact, he explicitly mentioned you by name,"

The last part is directed at JJ who rolls his eyes. Evelyn watches as Topper and Sarah move closer to them, the latter seemingly oblivious to where they're going. JJ lets go of her and Evelyn does the same to him.

"Sarah! Can I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ asks Sarah, holding the cup out towards the blonde who finally seems to realise they've made their way over there.

"No, thanks," Sarah responds politely.

"Is it not fancy enough for you?"

"We were just leaving,"

Evelyn watches as Topper moves forward, a fake smile on his face. "You know what, I'll take it,"

"If you said pretty please maybe, but you didn't," JJ responds.

"I mean, I'll take it," Evelyn says, holding her hand up and looking at the blonde. He doesn't even have a chance to respond because Topper hits the drink and knocks it out of JJ's hand, part of it splashing onto an unexpected Evelyn. "What the fuck?" She whines.

At least when Pope didn't it, he wasn't being a dick.

"You know this is Sarah's right? She's going to be pissed," Evelyn giggles, running her hands down the front of her dress.

"Dirty Pogues!" Topper exclaims before he and John B start trading blows.

Evelyn stumbles back out of the way, eyes wide as the two of them fight. They moving closer to the water with every punch and the drunken buzz starts to fade off slightly.

"Hey John B, don't make me drown you like your old man!" Topper exclaims.

"Topper!" Evelyn yells, pushing away from Sarah who reaches out to grab her.

John B manages to get a few more punches in but Topper ultimately gets the upper hand and begins to hold the other boy's head underwater. Evelyn allows the seawater to seep into her shoes as she rushes over, grabbing the blonde's arm to get him away.

"You're going to kill him, stop!" Evelyn exclaims, astounded by the lack of help she's receiving from those around her. "Topper, enough!"

Just before she is about to call for more help, JJ walks up behind Topper and holds something to his head. Evelyn's eyes widen, letting go of Topper and practically falling back to Sarah, gaze never leaving the gun that the blonde boy is holding in his hands.

"Your move, broski," JJ hisses.

Topper lets go of John B almost instantly, holding his hands up. "We're good, we're good,"

"Kie, can you check your psycho friend, please?" Sarah says behind her and Evelyn hadn't even noticed Kiara make an appearance.

"Ok, listen up!" JJ exclaims. He fires two shots in the air, making Evelyn jump back. "Get the hell of our side of the island!"

Evelyn, who is admittedly fearful, still doesn't move. Her eyes instead stray to John B who is still hardly moving. She goes to move but is grabbed by Topper who begins to direct her away.

"What about John B?" She says over the noise.

"Who gives a shit? They're fucking crazy!" Topper yells, pulling the two girls with him and leaving disaster in their wake.

NOTE

so this isn't edited, so pls ignore any errors. I actually hate writing first chapters so much so I'm sorry if this isn't great. thank you for dropping by anyway, I hope you stick around!

made by fireandbloods