Once a Pogue × JJ MAYBANK

2. Hurricane Catriona more like...

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Chapter Two
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"That's what it is to care for a person," Toby said. There was not even a hint of mocking in his voice. "If you're not afraid, you're not doing it right."

-Jonathan Auxier

The cherry kissed skies and ember-lit clouds painted the world in shades of old film with grain that stained the picture of whirling blue breeze but allowed the world to express its youth. The tide was still in its venture to other lands, exposing the underbelly of the oceanic floor beds covered in marine life. There were crabs of gold and white, and jelly fish that were too occupied with the spiralling mountains of wet sand to think twice about letting out its glorified sting. The breeze was gentle and warm and carried sounds of seagulls and early risers in its wake. Cordelia had decided to take a quick morning walk before she had to inevitably face the reality of the day ahead. A walk that soon turned sour as not only did she find the beauties of the sea unearthed, but also bared witness to the havoc that storm Agatha had reeked.

Upon noticing the damage it had caused, the blonde let out a long exhale as she realised just how much extra work she would have to do that day. Boats were sunk, docks destroyed, and rubbish of all kinds was scattered along the beach and further into gardens and roads. Her own back garden had taken quite a lot of damage as the fences had fallen down, trees were uprooted and the vegetable patch she had been working on for months was destroyed; a fact she'd rather not face that early in the morning.

Whilst she was grateful to have a roof over her head and food on the table, being the one to pay for that roof and said food was a different story. In order to be able to provide for herself and her family, the young girl had taken up many jobs in order to achieve a steady income to pay for essentials. Her main job was to clean houses for those who lived on Figure Eight, the kooks. She had a weekly schedule of around fives houses that she would thoroughly clean along with some added gardening work. This job had come about quite easily as not many Kooks would bother themselves with 'poor people jobs', and so hired anyone they could to avoid doing so. She was paid well enough within these jobs to help aid her family but not enough to pay for her mother's hospital fees along with her old yellow Volkswagen Beetle, which she used to bring herself and her sister to school and to essential health appointments.

Other jobs she had consisted of taking extra shifts in The Wreck which was a restaurant owned by Kiara's parents where she would do waitressing or late-night cleaning, a job she cared dearly for. However, whilst she did have a shift later that day, Cordelia ran her hands over her face and dragged herself away from the sandy debris and returned home. With a reluctant sigh, the girl entered her house, although it resembled more of a shack, and made her way into the back room where her mother lay sleeping on the far left-hand side of the peach plastered room. Her mother, Blanche, was a beautiful woman with golden-grey hair that matched her daughters in every way. With waves unlike the one's Cordelia surfed; the pair looked almost identical despite the age gap.

Many comments were made about the pair's likeness, a fact in which both flattered and saddened the girl. Knowing she was like her mother planted an ill-seed of fear within Cordelia as not only did they look alike, but the girl also feared she may carry the same gene that caused her mother's mind to deteriorate. This was a fear the blonde preferred not to think about, and so instead she decided to make her way to the kitchen and prepare some breakfast for Kailani waking up. She had heard her sister shuffling about her room most of the night plucking away at a ukulele or attempting to at least; a ukulele that Cordelia had gifted her from a rather young age.

Twenty minutes had passed when Cordelia finally laid the table, setting out a place for her sister and mother. The table was adorned with eggs, bacon and some home-made hashbrowns that Cordelia had learnt to make when she was very little. Before she could call her sister to join her, a muffled cry echoed through the house. A sound that caused the girl's heart to shred. Immediately she found herself running towards her mother's room where she found her mother wailing and scratching at the blanket that had bunched up around her shoulders. Placing her hands on her mother's shoulders, Cordelia quickly untangled the blanket from her quaking body and sat her mother upright.