Chapter 4
Christina's POV
I made it to the guest house and jumped in the shower. My aunt had bought me a summer dress with some heeled strappy shoes. I pulled my hair up and did my makeup lightly. I walked up to the house and went to find my aunt.
"Does this suit you?" I asked when I walked into the living room. She looked up and smiled.
"It does! Oh this is going to be perfect! I knew taking you in would do wonders for me!" She squealed.
"Yeah because your sister nor her husbands death was traumatic to you." I scoffed. She rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. We went to the car and drove over to a larger house. We got out and walked up to the door. She knocked and a blonde woman answered.
"Marissa! Welcome! Come on in!" She squealed.
"Thank you Rose! Rose this is my niece, Christina. Christina this is Rose Cameron." My aunt said as we walked in.
"Hi." I said looking around.
"Hello. You're so lucky to have such a wonderful aunt to take you in at this terrible time." Rose said. I looked at my aunt and she shot me a look.
"Yeah. She's a life saver." I mumbled. She nodded. We went to the living room and saw her husband and three kids.
"This is my husband Ward, our kids, Sarah, Rafe, and Wheezie. Everyone this is Christina, Marissa's niece." She said introducing us. I saw Rafe look me over.
"It's wonderful to meet you, Christina. Welcome to the Outer Banks." Ward said smiling at me.
"Thank you." I said nodding. We walked into the dining room awhile later.
"Christin, Sarah, is about your age. Will you be attending her school in the fall?" Ward as as we sat down for lunch. I sat beside Rafe and Wheezie.
"Of course, she is! My sister, God rest her soul, always wanted the best for her daughter but Christina took after her father and his rebelliousness. That's why I took her in. So, she can get a great education and away from her troubled friends." Marissa answered. I cleared my throat and downed the water I had.
"All lies, huh?" Rafe whispered to me.
"We'd be struck by lightning if it were storming." I commented. He laughed and we started eating. I gave most of mine to Rafe since it was disgusting.
"Have you found your dress for Midsummers yet?" Sarah asked me.
"She has! It's this gorgeous blue gown with flower detail all over it. And her head dress! Oh it's perfect!" Marissa squealed.
"Nice voice. Didn't know you could make it echo like that." Wheezie said to me. I laughed.
"This is all about her. Not about me. If it doesn't make her look good, then she doesn't care." I whispered to her.
"Sounds like her." She commented. I looked at the glass that got slid to me. Rafe nodded as I picked it up. I smelt it. Whiskey. I downed it quickly and sighed.
"Thank you." I said sighing again. He nodded. Marissa and I left about an hour later.
"Be home Friday by 3. No Pogues." She said when we pulled up to her house. I rolled my eyes and got out of the car.
"Real cute of you to use your sisters death to get publicity for yourself. That's the real traumatic thing here." I said walking to the guest house. I walked in and the first thing I saw was the dress she was talking about. I groaned. I grabbed my bag. I stuffed some clothes and a few bathing suits into it then left as quickly as possible. I went to Heyward's first.
"Hi, Mr. Heyward. Have you seen John B, Pope or JJ?" I asked him.
"No. I haven't. When you see my son tell him to bring me my damn boat back." He told me. I nodded and walked away.
"Hey Clarence!" I heard behind me. I stopped and turned around. It was Rafe and that Topper guy in a Jeep.
"It's Christina Hayden. Not Clarence." I told him.
"Where you off too looking so gorgeous?" Rafe asked.
"Seriously? I just came from lunch with you and your family." I scoffed.
"Need a ride?" Topper asked.
"No thanks." I said shaking my head.
"There's a bunch of weirdos out here. Wouldn't want them to snatch you up." Rafe said.
"And I'm looking at two right now. See ya." I said walking off. I walked along the docks looking for John B or the others but I couldn't find them. I headed for the cut. I got to John B's house and he wasn't there either. I sighed and dropped my bag on the couch. I heard a boat pull up. I looked out at the docks and saw John B and them. I walked down and waved.
"Woah. I think I scored me a Kook guys." John B teased.
"Hahah. Pope, your dad said and I quote, to bring his damn boat back." I said crossing my arms. He groaned and nodded.
"Thanks guys. We'll talk later." John B said getting off. JJ got off too. He got on a motorbike as we headed to the house and left.
"You been here long?" John B asked me.
"Just got here before y'all pulled up." I said shaking my head.
"How was lunch with the Kooks?" He asked.
"I mostly talked with Wheezie and Rafe. My aunt did the rest of the talking for me. The food is disgusting, I don't see how they eat it." I said shaking my head.
"What? They didn't serve fattening foods? No burgers or fries?" He gasped dramatically.
"No pizza, cheese sticks." I said shaking my head.
"They starved you." He said shaking his head too.
"That they did. They did have these weird short tasty things, they had orange circles in them too." I said giggling.
"No! Not vegetables!" He said.
"Is that what they're called? It was my first time eating those!" I said gasping happily. He laughed as we walked up the porch. He stopped us in the doorway. I looked up at him as he pulled me close.
"I need to tell you something." He said.
"Okay." I said. He leaned down and kissed me softly.
"You look really good in your Kook outfit." He said pulling away. I laughed and looked down at the dress.
"It's uncomfortable. The last time I wore a dress. I." I said trailing off.
"You what?" He asked. I bit my lip and I looked up at him. I had to tell him one way or another.
"I got the scar on my hip." I told him.
"How?" He asked. I went inside and sat on the couch. He sat beside me.
"I guess you could call him my ex, Cody. He was Stevens best friend before Hardy. We met at a party and it was just suppose to be a hook up, one time thing. But every time we were around each other he'd have his arms around me. No guy was suppose to look at me. If they did, you got a beating. He pulled a knife on a guy that bumped into me one night and I tried to stop him when I shouldn't. That's when I ended things with him." I said looking at my hands.
"Where is he now?" He asked.
"Jail. He was 17 when I met him then when he turned 18 he went to lock up. A guy whistled at me when Hardy and I was at Tony's Burger house before homecoming, Cody just happened to be there, and he nearly killed him. The guy was the Senator's son. He got life." I said.
"Jesus." He said sighing.
"And that's how I got my scar. Last time I ever wore a dress until now." I said. I took off my heels and tucked my feet under me. He placed his arm around me and kissed my head.
"That won't happen with me. Now if they say something wrong, I'll deal with it then but not with something crazy like that." He said. I looked up at him. He was serious. I leaned up and kissed him. He kissed me back. I pulled away and touched his cheek.
"Thank you." I said softly. He nodded.
"How long do I have you till?" He asked.
"Friday. I have to be back at satans lair to get all dolled up for a few hours of nasty food and boring talk by 3." I said sighing.
"Can't wait to see you in it." He said looking at me.
"As much as I'd love to see you in a suit, I'm not putting you through that torture." I said standing up. I took my hair down and ran my fingers through it.
"Thank you for not putting me through that." He said.
"You're welcome." I said nodding.
"Will you have a date?" He asked.
"God no. Why would I? If my. If uh. If you can't come with me, why would I want to take someone else?" I said opening my bag.
"If your what?" He asked.
"If you." I said biting my lip.
"Oh. If I, your boyfriend, can't go with you?" He asked. I looked at him and he was smirking.
"So we labeled ourselves? Boyfriend and girlfriend? That's what we're doing now?" I asked.
"Yes. I thought that's what we did when we first kissed." He said. I leaned over and kissed him lightly.
"Boyfriend." I said against his lips.
"Mhmm, me. Girlfriend, that's you." He said nodding. I laughed.
"Well I would hope so." I said. He kissed me. I sighed and kissed him back. He brought me into his lap as the kiss deepened. I took off his hat and tossed it to the side. We pulled back panting.
"We should slow down." He said. I nodded and got up. He stood up to and placed his hands on his hips. I don't know why but the action was hot. I sighed and went to my bag again.
"I need to borrow some clothes." I said huffing.
"Clothes?" He asked.
"To sleep in. I forgot to pack pajamas." I said crossing my arms.
"So you're spending the night?" He asked. I looked at him and saw he had crossed his arms. I shrugged and looked around.
"If my boyfriend wants me too. If not, then I can go back to my boring guest house and lie there until Friday full of boredom." I said walking into the kitchen.
"Full of boredom huh?" He asked.
"Mhm." I said opening the fridge. I grabbed two beers and opened them. I leaned against the counter and looked at him.
"Yup. There on Kook Island isn't any fun. Here? Loads." I said sipping my beer. He hummed and grabbed the beer I offered.
"I guess my girlfriend can stay here until she gets tired of me." He said smirking.
"And steal as many shirts as she wants?" I asked.
"As many as she wants." He said nodding.
"Hoodies? Jackets? Sweatshirts?" I asked biting my lip. He put his beer down and placed his hands on either side of me.
"She can have whatever clothes she wants." He said leaning in. He took my beer and sat it down before kissing me. I kissed him back. He pulled me closer as the kiss deepens.
"Are you staying?" He asked pulling back.
"Do you want me too?" I asked panting. He kissed me as his answer. I pulled back and looked up at him. His curly hair was falling in his eyes. I pushed the curls away and touched his cheek.
"Then I will see what I can steal." I said giggling. I kissed him quickly before ducking under his arm. I went to his room. I looked around and bit my lip.
"John B!" I called out. He came in and leaned against the doorway.
"What?" He asked.
"Where do you keep your shirts? I'm not rifling through your things." I said crossing my arms. He walked in and opened the closet door. He motioned for me to look through it. I walked over and slid my hand across the clothes.
"You know for someone who hates being in a dress, sure is taking her time picking out something to wear to bed." He said from behind me. I turned to him.
"Maybe I'm waiting for you to offer your shirt." I said smirking. He grabbed it and looked down.
''This one? The one that I'm wearing right now?" He asked.
"You're right. It probably smells gross anyways." I said turning back to the closet.
"Oh, you and your insults. What am I going to do with you?" He said putting his arms around me. I shrugged and laughed.
"Get use to it." I said looking up at him. He kissed me lightly then kissed my forehead.
"Take whatever." He told me. Then he was walking away. He had on no shirt as I watched him. I looked at the bed and saw the shirt. I smiled and grabbed it. I slid it on and slid off the dress. I had shorts under the dress thankfully. I walked out and saw him leaned against the counter.
"I could get use to this." I said biting my lip.
"Use to what?" He asked.
"Staying here. Not having to deal with Satan." I said walking over to him. I grabbed my beer and hopped up on the counter.
"I'm glad you're here." He said. I chuckled and looked down at my feet.
"Hey. You told me the other day that your dad was missing at sea because of a treasure hunt. How're you doing with that?" I asked him.
"I'm hanging on." He said nodding.
"You can talk about it with me, you know?" I told him.
"I know. I will when I'm ready. I promise." He said. I nodded and drank my beer. The next few days passed too quickly. Wednesday morning John B's social worker took him away. I headed back to Satans. I couldn't sleep either. I had gotten use to sleeping beside John B. Friday afternoon I was getting ready for Midsummers when my phone rung.
"Hey shithead. Y'all okay?" I said when I answered it.
"Yeah. We're back. It was quick and easy. Listen. That boy of yours. Curly haired freak? You with him?" Hardy asked me.
"Yeah. Why?" I asked.
"I'm sending you something. He better be lucky." He said. I looked at my phone as a message came through. I opened it and saw John B kissing Sarah. I sat down on my bed and sighed.
"When was that?" I asked clearing my throat.
"Last night. He didn't see us but we saw him." He said. I nodded and sniffled.
"Don't do anything. I'll handle it. Thanks for telling me." I said looking down.
"We're on our way back. Need us to do anything?" He said.
"No. I'm good. I got to go to this stupid Midsummers thing for Satan and I'll handle it tomorrow." I said nodding.
"Okay. I love you." He said.
"I love you too. Bye." I said hanging up. I shook my head and stood up. I fixed my makeup and my hair. I couldn't believe it. We got to the country club and walked around. I saw Sarah there. I wanted to punch her but that wouldn't be nice for Marissa. I was standing at a pillar when a drink was held in front of me. I looked up and saw Rafe.
"Your resting bitch face is out." He said smirking. I laughed and took the drink.
"It's permanent, Cameron." I said downing the drink.
"Why the look?" He asked.
"Drama. Which I don't wish to discuss." I said sighing. He nodded. Topper walked up to us.
"Hey, man. Christina." He said.
"You good? Ready to get shitfaced?" Rafe asked him.
"Yeah. Let's do it. Christina, care to join us?" Topper asked. I looked at him then over at Sarah.
"Yeah, let's do it." I said nodding. Rafe placed his arm around my shoulders and guided me to the bar. Topper asked me to dance awhile later.
"Psst. Christina." I heard. I turned around and saw JJ. He held up a note for me.
"From lover boy." He said laughing. I nodded and ripped it up.
"Tell lover boy, we're done. I'll bring his clothes by later." I told him.
"Wait, what?" He asked shocked.
"You heard me. He and I, done." I said crossing my arms. He went to say something but Rafe and his other friends walked up.
"We'd like to order some Maui Maui my friend." Rafe told him.
"Rafe, don't." I said.
"We're just talking sweetheart." He told me. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. JJ took off running inside.
"You and John B, huh?" Topper asked.
"Not anymore." I said turning to him.
"What did he do?" He asked.
"Your girlfriend should tell you." I said walking to the bar. I grabbed me a drink and downed it. I felt around for my phone then realized Rafe had it. I saw him with a drink in his hand when I went looking for him.
"Hey. Can I have my phone?" I asked him. He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to me. I nodded and looked up as JJ was being escorted out.
"It's okay everybody! Do not panic! Leave it to the men and women in uniform huh! Let's hear it for them! Rose! Good seeing you! Looking like Lady Liberty!" JJ called out. I rolled my eyes and started dialing Hardy's number.
"Christina! Kie! Pogue meeting! Happening now! Let's go!" He yelled out. I saw John B looking at me. He motioned for me to come on. I walked off in the other direction.
"Hey sweetheart." Hardy said answering.
"Hey. The country club here in Outer Banks. Come pick me up?" I said sighing. Someone tapped my arm and I turned around. I looked up at Rafe.
"Hey. You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm just tired, heels are killing my feet, and I want out of this dress. So, I'm calling in a ride if they're available." I said sighing.
"We'll give you a ride." He said nodding.
"Sounds like someone else has their eyes set on you." Hardy said laughing.
"It's the dress." I said laughing. Rafe nodded and smirked.
"Most definitely the dress. Might be the girl in it." He said winking at me. I scoffed and shook my head.
"You trust the guy?" Hardy asked.
"I'm not sure. He's one of those Kooks I was warned about." I said smirking at Rafe. He scoffed and shook his head.
"We're the good guys. It's those Pogues you got to worry about. Come on. We'll drop you off at home and you can tell whoever that is that you're safe." Rafe said nodding to my phone.
"They don't trust easily." I said.
"I'm liking him more than the other. Go. We'll meet you at the house." Hardy said.
"Look at you trusting Richie rich." I scoffed. He grunted and we said our goodbyes. Rafe walked me to Toppers Jeep and we got in. I messaged my aunt and let her know who I was with. Kelce, one of their friends handed me a beer.
"Alright. I know one of you three guys has an undershirt on that I can have. Fork it over so I can get out of this contraption called a dress." I told him.
"Jeez you're demanding." Rafe said.
"You get use to it." I said smirking. Topper handed me the button up he had one. I handed Kelce the beer, slid on the shirt and took off the dress. I always had shorts on under my dresses.
"Jeez. How do girls breathe in those things?" I asked sighing.
"Not a fan of dresses?" Rafe asked.
"I wouldn't be complaining about it if I liked it, now would I?" I asked taking the beer back.
"You got a smart mouth you know that?" He said looking back at me.
"So I've been told." I said smiling. He rolled his eyes. They started talking about Sarah and Toppers relationship. My phone rung.
"Yo." I said laughing.
"You in the jeep in front of us?" Hardy asked. I looked back and saw a Camaro behind us.
"Danny? Again? I thought you said to meet at the house!" I said huffing.
"I did but there's a race and we're headed in the other direction. Wanna go?" He said.
"Duh. Let's do this old school." I said laughing. I hung up and grabbed my dress.
"What's going on?" Topper asked.
"I'm hitching a ride with the people behind us. No need to pull off." I said downing the beer.
"How're you getting out then?" Rafe asked.
"The window. Thanks for a ride, guys." I said smiling. The Camaro pulled up beside us.
"Uh. No. This is insane! No. Stay your ass in the truck!" Topper told me. I laughed and rolled down the window.
"It's cool, Top. I use to do this all the time back home. Just keep the truck steady." I said smirking. Hardy was hanging out the window. I tossed my things to him.
"Christina! Get back in the truck!" Rafe snapped at me. I slid out the window and jumped over to the Camaro. I waved at them in the Jeep and we took off in other direction.