"Dude, get up," hissed John B, poking at JJ's shoulder. Blinking JJ yawned, "Bro, no need to poke," he mumbled, swatting at John B's hand. "There is when you're in bed with my sister," the brown haired boy replied as he continued poking. Feeling Coralina curled up against his back JJ looked up at his best friend, "What time is it?" he asked, as he slowly slid out of bed, grabbing his t-shirt from the floor.
Glancing at his phone John B told him it was 9:30a.m. Nodding JJ shoved John B from the room, "I don't need to wake her up for another half hour so let's not do this in here," JJ said before quietly shutting the door.
Once the two boys had retreated to the living room John B glared at JJ, "So why were you in bed with Coral?" he questioned. Rolling his eyes JJ threw himself into the recliner, "She told me about your dad, and we fell asleep. Not a big deal, man," JJ told him. Pursing his lips John B studied his best friend, "Alright but like you know the rule. No Pogue on Pogue macking so don't get any ideas," John B warned.
Scoffing JJ rolled his eyes, "Dude you and Kie came up with that shit rule and now she's not even around to follow it," JJ reminded him. "She's around," John B defended their friend. Snorting JJ shook his head, "Barely," he muttered. Kiara Carrera, or Kie, as she was nicknamed by her friends, had according to JJ gone to the dark side.
Kildaire county located in the Outerbanks of North Carolina had a very clear divide between its inhabitants. On the North side of the island known as Figure Eight you had the Kooks. There were the insanely rich who had too much money for their own good.
On the South side of the island also known as The Cut you had the Pogues. These were the working class who mostly bussed tables, ran charters, and made their living off the sea.
Kiara's family owned a restaurant named The Wreck, a total cash cow with the tourists who came to the Outerbanks. Freshman year Kiara had been sent to attend Kildaire Prep with the North side kids essentially leaving her Pogue friends at Kildaire High. She was still around on occasion, but most times she would blow the boys and Coralina off to hang out with her new North side bestie, Sarah Cameron, whom Coralina had dubbed Queen Kook.
The group barely saw her over the summer and the last time JJ even remembered seeing her was at the end of summer kegger two months ago. The same kegger that he and Coralina had first hooked up at. Coralina didn't speak about her often, but he knew Coral well enough to know it bothered her that Kiara wasn't around.
"Regardless, don't do anything I'm gonna need to kick your ass for," John B warned. Furrowing his brow JJ sighed, "Dude, your sister's hot. Eventually you're gonna have to loosen the reins on her. Wouldn't it be better if it was someone you know and trust?" he responded with a slight chuckle, hoping to give off the air of indifference.
Narrowing his eyes John B pointed his finger at JJ, "I may trust you with my life, but I certainly don't trust you with my sister. She's not some notch on your bedpost, JJ," he stated.
Clenching his fist JJ took a deep breath before standing, "I'm fully aware of that JB. You seem to forget she's one of my best friends and I would never disrespect her like that," he told the boy angrily, "I'm going out for a smoke; you need to wake her up," he said, before storming out of the house, to the back porch.
"Coral bug, wake up," John B called, shaking her shoulder. Moaning Coralina pulled the covers over her head, "Go away," she muttered. Hearing her brother laugh she blinked at the harsh light when he pulled the covers off her head, "Come on, Bug, JJ said you wanted to be up by 10," he reminded her.
Remembering all she had to do to prepare for their dinner Coralina rolled out of bed, "Oh yeah, I have a tight schedule to follow." Grabbing a hair clip off her dresser she quickly twisted her light brown hair up and secured it in place. Heading for the door she stopped at the look on her brother's face, "What?" she questioned.
Poking his head into the hallway John B closed her door, "Is there something going on with JJ?" he questioned. Studying her brother Coralina noticed the ridged set of his jaw, "Why?" she asked cautiously. "Well for starters I found him in here sleeping and he just got angry when I reminded him not to try and add you to his body count," John B told her.
Rolling her eyes Coralina shook her head, "John B did you just equate your best friend to a whore? Rude much. And seriously if one of my best friends falls asleep with me because I'm upset, it's our business so lay off," Coralina warned, before shoving her brother to the side and opening her door.
"I'm just looking out for you," John B told her, following her down the hall. Sighing Coralina turned around to look at her brother, "I'm a big girl, John B, I can look out for myself. JJ's the last person you have to worry about hurting my feelings," she assured him, before turning and heading into the kitchen to start her meal prep.
Coralina had music playing as she danced around the kitchen pulling out cookies from the oven. "You need help, Babygirl?" JJ questioned, watching her from the doorway. Sliding another tray of cookie dough into the oven, she straightened up to look at him, "Exactly how high are you right now?" she inquired, raising her eyebrows at him.
Smiling JJ scrunched up his face as he held his thumb and pointer finger close together, "Just this much," he told her, giggling. Shaking her head she motioned him over to the small kitchen table, "Can you handle moving these from the cooling rack to the tupperware container while I finish mixing the cookie dough?" she asked. Taking a seat at the table JJ looked as though he was concentrating hard as he moved cookies to the container, "What kind are these?" he questioned, holding one up to inspect it.
"Those are the pumpkin chocolate chip," she told him, "The ones here are regular chocolate chip," she said, pointing to the bowl she was currently mixing. Nodding JJ smiled before shoving the entire cookie into his mouth. "Really?" she deadpanned. "Thres arg sssooooooo gooooddddd," JJ mumbled out, around the cookie in his mouth. "Gross, swallow before you speak," she laughed. Scoffing JJ swallowed, "That's what he said," he laughed, winking at her.
"I'm not even responding to that," she replied, sitting at the table next to him, "Sorry about my brother," she apologized, quietly. "He's just trying to look out for you. I get that," he replied. Taking his hand under the table she smiled, "And I told him it's not his job to look out for me," she told him.
"Oh, and who's job is it then?" he asked. Biting her lip Coralina shrugged, "Well I was hoping maybe you'd like the job," she answered, quietly. Squeezing her hand, JJ smiled, "I might be interested," he told her playfully. Glancing towards the door she leaned over pressing a kiss to his lips, "Our secret," she whispered, before standing and pulling the cookie sheet from the oven.
Sliding the turkey into the oven Coralina yawned, "Okay, I've got about a three an a half hour window," she informed JJ as she set the oven timer, "I'm gonna shower awhile." Humming JJ winked at her, "You need any help?"
Laughing Coralina looked into the living room, seeing her brother occupied by the television, she sat in his lap, kissing him till they were both breathless, "Maybe next time, Pretty Boy," she told him, pecking him once more before heading out of the kitchen. Smiling when she heard him groan, "Jesus, Coral, way to keep a guy hanging."
After her shower, Coralina curled up on the couch on her phone while the boys played the XBox. Hearing her message notification Coralina opened the text from Kie:
Kieš¢: Hey, Coral please don't hate me. I might not be able to make dinner, but I'm gonna try to make dessert.
Taking a deep breath Coralina closed her eyes to keep the tears away before responding.
Coralš: That's okay! Have a great day.
Kieš¢: Thanks babe! U too
"Kie's not coming," she stated, before standing and walking into the kitchen to check the turkey. Closing the oven door she started pulling out the things she'd need to make mashed potatoes when she heard one of the boys walk into the kitchen.
"Coral Bug," John B started before she interrupted him, "I don't want to talk about it. I need to go to the bathroom before I start the potatoes," she said, shoving her way out of the kitchen.
Keeping her head down, so the boys wouldn't see her tears, Coralina escaped to the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet lid Coral scrolled through Instagram, clenching her jaw upon seeing Kie with Sarah at some huge Thanksgiving meal that the Cameron's seemed to be hosting. Shaking her head she washed her face, before reapplying her makeup, and opened the bathroom door with a smile on her face.
Coralina kept busy in the kitchen, mashing potatoes, mixing a salad, making a green bean casserole, popping biscuits into the oven, and heating a can of corn that she didn't give herself a chance to think about Kie. At some point the final member of their group, Pope Heyward, had shown up and was playing John B on the XBox while JJ rolled another blunt. He intended on sharing this one with Coralina after dessert.
"Guys, dinner is done," she called, bracing herself when she could hear them stampeding towards the kitchen. As they tumbled into the kitchen she smiled at them, "John B, I thought you could carve the turkey since Dad isn't here," she told him, handing him the carving knife.
Looking at the knife; he looked at her confused, "I don't know how to carve a turkey." "Well I didn't know how to do most of this," she replied, with her hands on her hips, "So google it like I did," she suggested.
Once the turkey was carved and the four were sitting around the table with their plates piled high Coralina smiled, "Thank you guys for being here," she told them as John B reached over and squeezed her hand. "Nowhere I'd rather be, Babygirl," JJ told her, winking. "Everything looks awesome," Pope complimented.
They were just about finished with dinner when there was a rap on the front door. "Who's that?" Coral asked, confused. "Well we kind of sent out a Pogue invite to help eat up all this awesome food you made," John B told her as Pope ran to let some of their fellow Pogues in. "John B we're not ready for a party. We don't even have alcohol," Coralina responded.
"The invite was BYOB. We're just providing the food and music," JJ told her as he pulled down the stack of paper plates and plopped them down next to the food, "You have plastic utensils?" he asked.
"In the cabinet above the fridge," she told him. Opening the carton he dumped them next to the plates before turning to her with a smile, "There our part's done. Let's go greet our guests," he told her, pulling her up and out into the living room.
