Chapter 1
Christina POV
I sat in the passenger seat of my aunts car watching out the window as we drove over a bridge. I didn't want to move here but it was either with her or in the system. My parents had died about a month ago. She nor I was happy about having to move me away from Tennessee. My aunt was my mom's sister. She was a rich bitch that never had kids and never wanted them.
"We'll be living on the Figure 8, rich side of the island. Bunch of kids your age will be around the area." She told me.
"No thanks. You can send me back to Tennessee. I'll live with Hardy and we'll work together." I told her.
"I tried to get you on your own so you could stay in town. Trust me, I don't want you here as much as you do. But the courts said I had too." She scoffed.
"Don't worry, I will stay out of your way as much as possible." I said rolling my eyes.
"Fine with me." She said.
"So where do the low life kids hang out at?" I asked her.
"The cut. You can stay there as much as you want just don't bring them around my house." She said pulling into the driveway. Her house was huge. She had no husband and no kids but got a huge house.
"If you want to find friends of the low life level, go to the wreck or the docks at the marina. You'll find someone to hang with." She said getting out. I got out and grabbed my bag. We went inside.
"Look, I'm your guardian, but I don't care what you do, just show up once in a while just so I know you're alive, okay?" She said crossing her arms.
"Perfect. Going from parents that cared to someone who doesn't. I like it. Which room do you want me to throw my stuff in?" I said.
"You can have the guest house. I have friends come over all the time and I need the room." She said pointing to the back yard.
"Great." I said walking to the door. I walked out back and into the guest house. It was dusty but nothing a good cleaning would do. Thankfully my stuff would be delivered soon, and I'd have my bedding and everything. I went back to the house with my bag.
"So, how is it?" She asked.
"Fine. I'm gonna search around the island for a job. That cool with you?" I said crossing my arms. She looked over at me then sighed.
"No. I don't want everyone knowing we're related so I'll give you a credit card and you can use it for food and whatever. There's a limit." She said holding it out. I nodded and took it.
"I'm going to go search the island." I said.
"Okay." She said looking at her phone. I put my bag over my shoulder and went to walking. I found about an hour later what she called the wreck. I walked inside and saw people sitting around. I walked in and sat at the counter.
"Hey. Welcome to the Wreck, sweetheart. How are we doing today?" An older man asked.
"Tired. What's good here?" I said smiling.
"Anything and everything. You're new here I can tell. Anything you want, on the house." He said laughing.
"Well thank you." I said nodding. He nodded. I ordered a burger and fries. I looked around and noticed a worker talking to four other guys.
"That's my daughter, Kiara. She hangs out with the wrong people." Mike said handing me my drink.
"As long as she's happy with who she's friends with, should make you happy, right?" I said sipping my drink.
"They're Pogues. Bad kids that get into a lot of trouble. She's to good for them." He said shaking his head.
"So, your happiness is more important than hers? Yeah she might be a great kid but if she's suffering with the people she's suppose to hang with then she'll rebel even more. Take it from me. My parents were the same until they realized how unhappy it made me." I told him.
"So, are you a Kook or a Pogue?" He asked.
"A what?" I asked.
"Kook, rich folks side of the island, Pogue, live on the cut works two or more jobs." He explained to me.
"I live on the rich side but I was told I would be better off on the cut. Which I'm fine with." I said shrugging.
"Who told you that?" He asked.
"The lady I'm living with. She don't like me, I don't like her. But she's got to take care of me." I said. He shook his head and walked off. I got my food and paid. I finished it and got up. As soon as I turned around, I ran into someone.
"Jeez." I said sighing. I saw a really tan guy with curly blonde hair.
"Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." He said chuckling.
"No, you're good. It was both sided." I said grabbing my bag.
"John B. These are my friends, JJ and Pope. Kie is here too, but she's working." He said looking around. I nodded.
"Nice to meet y'all. I'm Christina." I told them.
"Y'all? I like it. Very southern." JJ said grinning. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Subtle, JJ." Pope said nodding. I laughed and nodded.
"Well, it was nice meeting y'all but I'm gonna head out." I said walking away. I walked out and went down the ramp. I heard feet run up behind me.
"Hey! Uhh there's a party down at the boneyard tonight. You should come." John B told me.
"Boneyard? What is that? A junkyard?" I asked him. He laughed and shook his head.
"No, it's the beach on the cut, lots of broken trees. If you want, you can ride over with us." He offered.
"You just met me and you want me to ride in your car with you? What if I'm a murderer?" I asked smirking.
"I'm willing to take that chance." He said grinning. I laughed and nodded.
"Sure, I'll ride." I said nodding. He nodded and ran to tell his friends. I sent a message to my aunt even though she didn't care. He came back with the others and Kiara.
"Hey." She said nodding to me.
"Hey." I said nodding back. We got in an old Volkswagen and headed to another store. John B and Kiara walked inside.
"So where are you from?" Pope asked me.
"Tennessee. Closer to Nashville area." I told him.
"Ever meet Dolly Parton?" JJ asked.
"No but I heard she's a distant cousin." I said smirking. He scoffed at me. I laughed.
"JJ has met his match in the sarcasm department. Finally!" He said happily. I laughed again. I looked out the window and saw John B and Kiara arguing about something. I bit my lip and looked down.
"I take it, Kiara doesn't like new people hanging around you guys?" I asked JJ and Pope.
"Not really. It's mostly just been us this entire time and bringing someone new into the group is a lot." JJ said nodding.
"I get it." I said nodding. John B and Kiara put a Keg and a bundle of red solo cups in the back. She got in the back and crossed her arms.
"Everybody ready?" John B asked getting in.
"Yeah." We all said. He drove to a beach. We unloaded the keg and headed down the beach. They tapped it and poured the first drink. After a few minutes, a lot of people started showing up. I walked around for a while.
"Christina." I heard. I looked behind me and saw John B. He walked up and handed me a beer.
"Thanks." I said sipping it. He nodded.
"So, who's all here?" I asked him. He stood beside me and sighed.
"Well, first off, it's like a 3-layer burrito. First you have us the Pogue's, the working-class derelicts, Kooks' rich second-homers, then the Tourons, people here on vacation with their parents." He explained to me.
"They sound like losers." I said laughing.
"Which group?" He asked.
"Tourons and the Kooks." I said.
"They are. Stay away from them." He said laughing.
"All three or just the loser groups?" I asked looking over at him as I drunk my beer. He looked at his beer then squinted in the sun.
"Loser groups. Pogue's are the better group." He said. I nodded and looked around.
"Do you surf?" He asked.
"Does wake boarding behind a four-wheeler count?" I asked him. He shook his head at me.
"No. It doesn't. So, I'm going to teach you how to surf one day this week. Okay?" He said sipping his beer.
"Who said I wanted to learn to surf?" I asked him.
"Well, if you're going to be hanging with us, you're going to have to learn to surf. No exceptions." He told me.
"Oh, really?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"Most definitely." He said. I hummed and nodded.
"We'll see about that, John B. We will see." I told him. I patted his chest as I walked past him. A few people stopped me and talked to me. Making friends was easy. I walked over to where John B was leaned against a tree.
"Hey." He said to me.
"Hey." I said.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Kiara asked. I looked back at her and saw her staring off. I looked over and saw a pretty blonde girl standing on a red dingy and a blonde boy trying to get her down.
"That's Sarah Cameron, Kook princess and her boyfriend Topper." John B told me.
"Gross." I said shrugging. He chuckled. It soon got dark. I was talking with Pope about their school and registering when a fight broke out. It was John B and that Topper guy. Topper was trying to drown him.
"Don't make me drown you, like your old man!" Topper told John B. No one was doing anything about it. I ran up to them and shoved the guy off.
"Enough you idiot!" I snapped at him. I jumped when someone shot.
"Topper! Let's go!" Sarah screamed.
"Stay off our side of the island!" JJ screamed. I got John B up with the help of Pope. We got to, what they call the Twinkie, and headed off.
"Thanks." John B coughed. I nodded and he groaned as he laid back. We came up to a house on the edge.
"This is John B's place. We normally stay here." JJ told me. I nodded and we got out. We helped John B inside and onto a couch.
"I got to get back before they come looking. I'll see you later." Kiara said walking out. Pope followed her out and JJ crashed on the porch.
"You can uhh. Stay if you want. Sleep on the couch here." John B said standing up.
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yeah. Night." He said walking off. I sat down on the couch and sighed. I put my phone beside me as I laid down. I fell asleep instantly. The next morning, I was woken up by the sun light. I got up and walked outside to the yard. It felt different here than in the figure 8. I looked around as I sat on the ground. A cop car pulled up. I knew it wasn't for me because I was sure my aunt had done forgotten me by now. I gave it a few minutes before I headed back.
"Clean up." The lady said. She stopped in the doorway when she saw me.
"Officer Peterkin. And you are?" She said.
"Christina." I said.
"You a new friend of John B's?" She asked.
"Why you asking?" I asked her.
"Making sure you know who you're hanging out with. Making the right decisions." She said nodding. I shrugged and crossed my arms. She stepped out onto the porch.
"My decisions are that. Mine, no one else's. They don't like it they can get over it." I told her.
"What's your last name, sweetheart?" She asked.
"Why? So, you can do a background check on me? See all my information?" I asked her.
"Smart girl. Smart mouth." She said nodding. Then she walked on off the porch. I looked at John B who was sitting on the couch.
"Hey." I said stepping in. He sighed and looked up.
"Hey." He said. I nodded and grabbed my bag.
"Thanks for letting me crash here last night. And the party. That was really fun too." I told him. He stood up in a hurry.
"Yeah. Yeah, no problem. Umm do you want a ride back to wherever you're staying or?" He said nervously.
"No. Umm I think I can find it. I just got to find the wreck again and head the other direction." I said chuckling. He laughed.
"Let me drive you, okay?" He offered. I bit my lip and nodded. He changed and we got in the Twinkie.
"So, where do you live?" He asked as he pulled away.
"Sadly, the Figure 8." I told him. He looked over at me.
"You're one of them? One of them, really?" He scoffed.
"No, I'm just crashing there. My aunt is the Koon or whatever it is you called them!" I scoffed.
"Kook." He corrected.
"Whatever." I said rolling my eyes.
"Where at on the 8, so I can take you?" He asked.
"She doesn't want Pogue's around her place. So, you can just drop me off up the road and I'll walk the rest of the way." I told him. I gave him the directions and he stopped a few houses down.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"For what?" I asked sighing.
"Dragging you into my mess." He said.
"How did you? You got into a fight with a guy, your friend pulled a gun, a cop came and talked to you. Your mess is just toys in a toddler room." I said getting out. I grabbed my bag and walked down the road. I groaned when I saw the moving truck already here. I ran to guest house and opened the doors. They dropped everything inside and left. I changed and got to unpacking and cleaning the whole day.