chapter eight
fucking assholes

There were times in Outer Banks where the whole island agreed on something. It only happened a few times a year, usually during summer but it was a day where every single person on the island, no matter kook or pogue, would drop everything and head towards the beach. People who grew up on the island would recognise it straight away, no matter where you were, you could just hear it and whatever plans they had that day, they didn't anymore.

Athena knew it was a swell day when JJ practically skipped into their bedroom to wake her up. She was already awake, having heard him cheering with John B downstairs and was now sat up, leaning against the headboard.

"Get up, Attie!" JJ cheered, pulling the duvet off of her. "Swell day! We're going to the beach."

Athena laughed softly. "Who knew a storm hundreds of miles away could make so many people happy."

"Get up!" JJ reiterated, the smile still wide on his face.

The blonde rolled her eyes, climbing out of bed and putting on a pair of jeans shorts and white crop top, her green bikini underneath. Athena grabbed JJ's hat, placing it on her head and heading down to join the others. Kie and John B were waxing their boards, Sarah sat in the egg chair while JJ read something on his phone and Sage was leant against the fence watching them all.

"Yeah, baby, now that's a perfect swell. It's probably the best of the year." JJ cheered, looking at his phone.

"Come on. Are you guys seriously surfing today?" Pope questioned, joining them with his backpack in hand.

"Oh, don't. Don't." John B sighed.

"As opposed to what?" Kie wondered.

"Well, I don't wanna sell the million dollars I have in my hand for 50k, so I'm gonna look into this." Pope explained, waving the amulet in his hand.

"Wait, Pope, you just heard me, right? I said it's a perfect swell day." JJ told the boy.

"Yeah, and there'll be other swell days." Pope shrugged.

"Oh. Wow." Kie commented in shock.

"That's like saying there's other pizza to eat, all right?" JJ scoffed. "Like, come on. Are you serious?"

"Wow. Listen to your Earth Mother, Pope. She's like, begging you to surf." Kie stated, geaturing to the water.

"I think my Earth Mother is telling me to maximise our intel." Pope corrected.

"Mum friend." Athena coughed.

"Mine's telling me to maximise the swell." Kie retorted.

"You wanna maximise beach day?" John B asked Sarah.

"I'm gonna maximise this tan." Sarah nodded.

"Okay, everyone have fun maximising." Pope smiled at them sarcastically.

"Wait, wait. Hold on." John B looked around in confusion. "Wait, where... where's Cleo?"

"Oh yeah, she just texted me." Pope revealed. "She said that she was on Pogue patrol, and she's looking for bait in The Cut."

"Lame. Tell her we're closed." Kie stated.

"She's maximising in her own way." Sage teased.

Pope shot the girl a look. "I'll text her right now."

"Pope, hey, hey, rule number one, Pope, is no working on a swell day." JJ tried to get through to the boy, showing him the rule on his phone as John B wrapped an arm around him. "That's rule number one."

"Okay. Hey, somebody's gotta do this." Pope shrugged, looking between them all. "You guys have fun. Catch a nasty one for me."

"Miss you already." Sarah called after him.

"Bye Popealicious, love you!" Athena shouted.

"Are you gonna meet us there?" JJ wondered, although they all knew he wouldn't.

The group waved goodbye to Pope before finishing getting ready and heading towards the beach. John B and Sarah sat in the front of the Twinkie while JJ, Athena, Kie and Sage sat in the back. JJ spent most of the drive, leaning in between the two front seats to instruct John B on where to go, much to the amusement of the girls.

They finally pulled onto the sand, JJ opening the door to place his fingers through the sand as they continued to move. Athena laughed, sitting next to Kie as they stared at the open water.

"This is a good day." Athena stated.

"This is a good day." Kie repeated with a nod.

"Hell yeah, this is a good day!" JJ cheered. "Nothing can ruin a swell day!"

John B stopped the truck, the group all jumping out in joy, looking at the ocean and the waves that were coming in. The two boys began to unlock the Twinkie with the help of Sage while Sarah, Kie and Athena stood around.

"Don't you just immediately feel like life is better at the beach?" Kie wondered.

Sarah and Athena agreed with her until they were called to help set up their little part of the beach. Athena placed a beach chair down, opening the umbrella so it covered it.

"Oh no."

"What?"

The group turned to see what John B was staring at, only to be met with the sight of three trucks, ones they recognised as Kook trucks. They all help their breath as the watched the trucks drive past, hoping they went further away.

However, their joy was short lived when the trucks pulled up just down the beach from them. Athena let out a sigh as she watched the group all clamber out of the trucks, moving to help JJ get the boards off of the Twinkie.

"Great, our brother's here." Sarah commented making Athena look over.

"He won't come near ya." JJ reassured his girlfriend, noticing her sudden tenseness.

"It's a good day." Athena muttered to herself. "Nothing is gonna ruin my good day."

"Hey, John B." JJ caught the boy's attention. "Sunshine's coming. What do you think he wants?"

"What does he ever want?" Kie rolled her eyes,, the group looking as Topper approached them.

"Please don't let him antagonise you." Sarah begged.

"I got him." John B gave a reassuring smile before moving to go talk to Topper. "It's gonna be cool. I got it."

"Okay, okay!" Sarah held her hands up.

Athena watched the two boys with narrowed eyes, wanting to make sure Topper wasn't gonna start anything with John B, especially near the water. It wasn't long before John B made his way back over to them, sending her a smile to reassure her it all went okay.

Athena nodded, moving to grab her board, ridding herself off her clothes and heading out into the ocean with the Pogues. She laughed as she watched the others have the time of their lives, even cheering for Sarah as she stood up on the board for the first time.

She caught her first wave, hearing the others cheer for her as she did before she fell off her board at the end of it. The blonde broke the water, smiling widely at what she just did.

"Hell yeah!"

"Swell day!"

"That's my girl!"

"Go Attie!"

Athena laughed at the support, moving towards the shore, dragging her board along with her. JJ joined her, wrapping his free arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her head.

"That's my expert teaching that it." JJ spoke smugly making Athena laugh.

"I'll give you that J, sure." Athena responded, joining Sarah, who was tanning on the beach. The twins watched as the others continued to surf, each letting out a sigh when JJ stole a wave from Topper. "So much for keeping the peace."

"JJ never liked peace." Sarah sighed with a shrug.

"True." Athena laughed. "Remember when we used to hang out like this all the time."

"Yeah, the beach was our best friend." Sarah nodded, joining Athena in the reminiscing. "But that was before..."

"All the craziness." Athena finished. "We should come to the beach more."

"I agree." Sarah smiled. "And hang out more, just us."

"I agree." Athena responded, a smile on her face.

The twins then fell into silence, watching their friends enjoy themselves before they decided it was time to go. Athena put her shorts back on, leaving just her bikini top on before she helped the others pack all their stuff back up onto the Twinkie. The blonde moved to take one of the boards of Kie, helping JJ lift it up to the roof of the van and strap it in.

"You got the other bungee cable?" John B wondered.

"Thought that was you." JJ answered.

"Guys, there's a turtle hatch." Kie suddenly announced, making the others glance to her before looking to where she was pointing. "There's a turtle hatch!"

"Oh my god." Sarah exclaimed excitedly.

"Turtles!" Athena shrieked, rushing towards them alongside Kie.

"Oh my god!"

"Whoa. Holy shit."

The others joined the two, fawning over them.

"They're so little."

"Look at these little nuggets!"

"Wait, back up. Give them some space. You can't touch them." Kie instructed quickly, all of them listening without hesitation.

"We gotta make a path, right?" John B asked.

"Clear the way." Kie nodded.

"You heard the boss." Sage smiled, moving to help JJ and John B clear a path for the turtles.

"Get these footprints out."

"Sarah, Thena, keep the gulls off." Kie told the twins.

"I don't see any." Sarah looked around, stumbling slightly. Athena giggled, holding her arms up and waving around any seagulls that could come near them, a sudden wave of nostalgia settling over her.

"We should make it like a highway!" John B shouted.

"A turtle highway." JJ corrected.

"A turtle highway." Sarah agreed, hurrying the turtles along. "Come on, kids!"

"Follow your human daddy straight to the ocean-ocean." John B told them.

Athena watched them in awe, she loved turtles so much. She used to save the turtles with Kie very day during their kook year and went through a phase where she had turtle themed everything. Sage continued to help the boys clear the highway – while she didn't love turtles as much as Kie or Athena, she still cared for them, and above that cared for Kie.

"Hey!" Kie suddenly shouted, standing up and waving her arms around. Athena's eyebrows furrowed in confusion until she turned around to see Topper's truck heading straight towards them, or more importantly the turtles. "Hey, stop! There's a hatch!"

"Yo."

"Hey! Hey. There's a hatch!"

The whole group began to scream at the truck, begging for them to go around the hatch in order to not kill any of the baby turtles heading towards the ocean. However, the truck didn't seem to care as it refused to slow down or go around them, heading right towards Kie.

"Kie!" Athena called, grabbing her arm right at the last minute and pulling her out of the way, the two tumbling onto the ground.

"What the hell was that?" John B scoffed.

"Are you okay?" Sage rushed towards Kie.

"Fucking assholes." Kie exclaimed in anger.

"Are you okay?" John B wondered.

"I'm fine." Kie told them, standing up from the sand.

"Attie, you alright?" JJ asked, suddenly appearing next to her.

"I'm good." Athena nodded, glaring at the truck had stopped a few metres away from them.

"What are they doing?"

"Oh hell no!" Kie shook her head, waving her arms again. "There's a hatch."

"Hey! Stop!" Sage shouted alongside her as the truck began moving towards them once more. The group shouted at them to stop but once again, Ruthie wasn't listening to them, speeding towards them without a care in the world, all of them jumping out of the way.

"Suck it, Pogues!" Ruthie shouted out the window, throwing her drink over Kie, who was stood the closest to her as they drove passed.

"Oh my god."

Sage hurried towards Kie, her hands frantic as she tried to help Kie somehow. "Are you okay?"

"Kie, are you okay?" Sarah wondered.

Athena glared at the kooks who were now all shouting towards them, her anger slowly reaching a level it had never hit before as she stood by Kie. The two girls walked back towards the turtles, the others following them before the gasped, crouching down in the sand to see a dead baby turtles.

"No, no, no, no." Kie sighed, picking it up in her hands gently, her eyes watering slightly.

Athena looked towards the other turtles that were making their way to the ocean before looking over at the celebrating pogues. Her jaw clenched, the bubbling anger reaching a point she almost feared... almost.

"Stay here." Kie stood up, sharing a look with Athena before the two made their across the beach.

"Kie, Kie, Attie, listen, I know I'm the last person to say something like this, but we need to be smart about this." JJ ran after them.

"I don't care." Kie shook her head.

"No. All right." JJ sighed.

"Look, if JJ is saying something maybe we should listen." Sage added, having also ran after them. "We're just outnumbered in this situation."

"I don't care!" Athena snapped, letting Kie walk slightly in front of her.

"Here she comes, guys. On a warpath. Get ready." Topper announced as they approached the kooks.

Kie marched up to Ruthie, holding out the dead turtle. "Look what you did. Is this okay? No, look at it! There was a turtle hatch, you idiots! You drive right over it!"

"I understand you're upset, Kiara." Topper stated, his tone condescending.

"I'm more than upset, Topper." Kie seethed.

"All right, but it was only one." Ruthie shrugged, tilting her head to the side. "I mean, look, there's so many more of them. A hatch is, what, like 100 turtles?"

"I guess." Topper nodded.

"Most of 'em don't make it anyway." Ruthie crossed her arms, a smug look on her face.

"It's one in a thousand." Topper added.

"So?" Kie asked.

"Do you guys have to be such dicks?" Athena scoffed. "Seriously?"

"Go throw that to the seagulls." Ruthie finished with a sarcastic smile. "Cycle of life, right?"

Kie charged forward, shoving Ruthie back. "Cycle of life? Getting flattened by a truck is not the cycle of life!"

Topper placed a hand on Kie, Sage rushing forward pushing to boy away. Ruthie moved to shove Kie back but Athena was quicker, shoving Ruthie and moving Kie to behind her and JJ.

"Your move, Kie." Ruthie raised her eyebrows at the girl. "What you gonna do?"

"I would just walk away. Okay? We're not doing this." Topper moved away from Sage.

"There's something seriously wrong with you people!" Kie shouted.

"Let's go, Kie. Come on." Sage sighed. "There's just a bunch of small dicked, over compensating assholes."

"Yeah, that's right. Get back to your side, Kie!" Ruthie called after them, Kie pushing over one of their speakers. "And you Athena, crazy pogue bitch!"

Athena paused, a small laugh leaving her lips as she felt her anger very quickly bubble over. She looked towards JJ, who shrugged before shrugged. "Fuck this."

The blonde turned around easily, taking two steps and shoving Ruthie before swinging her fist into the Kook's face. Topper grabbed her to push her away but the girl was too quick, elbowing him in the stomach before shoving him away and directly into JJ's hold.

Athena grabbed Ruthie's tee, pulling her towards her and repeating the girl's own words. "Your move, Ruthie."

"I'll press charges." Ruthie seethed.

"Go ahead." Athena shrugged, letting go off her top and allowing her to fall onto the sand. Ruthie scrambled to stand up, trying to get the upper hand once again. "Press charges, see how much I care. But you hurt my friends again, you won't live to tell the tale, you think I'm crazy now, just wait and see."

"Try me bitch." Ruthie snarled.

"Scary." Athena commented sarcastically before turning to Topper with a scoff. "And you, you're just a pushover dickhead, and to think we were friends."

"Times change." Topper retorted.

"Yeah, I get a real family and you get..." Athena grimaced as she looked towards Ruthie. "That. How fun... for you. She must be really good in bed... we all know you aren't."

"You little—" Topper went to move forward but JJ grabbed him once again.

"Don't even dare." JJ threatened.

Athena sent him a smile before rolling her eyes at the whole group, beginning to walk away when Rafe and his girlfriend caught her eye. "Sofia, right?"

"Yeah." Sofia nodded, a small smile making its way onto her face.

"Call me if you ever wanna get away from these lot." Athena glanced towards Rafe. "God knows you need better than him."

And with that the girl walked away and towards Kie but not before throwing her middle finger up at the kooks over her head.

"You come near her, or any of us ever again, and I'll come back and kill every single one of you." JJ told the group, his words loud enough to reach Athena as she continued her walk to Kie.

JJ rushed back towards the others, wrapping an arm around Athena, who also had her arm linked with Kie. "I have seriously never hated them more."

"I know."

Athena leant her head against Kie's shoulder. "It'll be okay."

The group of four made their way back over to John B and Sarah, the others getting in the car when Athena noticed Sarah staring off into the distance. She glanced over her shoulder, making eye contact with Rafe, a sigh leaving her lips.

"You okay?" Athena asked Sarah.

"Yeah." Sarah nodded. "You."

"I hate all of them." Athena responded.

"Looked like a hell of a punch from over here though." Sarah commented with a shrug.

"Therapeutic that's for sure." Athena shrugged. "Let's get of here."

"I'm right there with ya."

( 💌 ) isobels notes
merry late christmas to those who
celebrate it !!! tell me what y'all got !!
queen athena always throwing hands
and her being my cutie patootie
i love her
sage and kie 🤭🫶🏻 i love them