𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙. 𝟷 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛-

"I've sat too long in my silence / have grown too old in my pain / to shed this skin, be born again / it all starts with an ending"

~

Tate was no stranger to the boneyard, the local party scene of the Outer Banks. She went to just about every party on the island, whether she was invited or crashing, and was sort of known for doing whatever she could to spice up the action. She'd lost her virginity to a Touron whose name she no longer remembered in the nearby grove of trees when she was fifteen, and afterward turned the kegger into a mass skinny-dipping party. Over the years she'd started drinking competitions, races to see how far each person could swim out to sea (she and John B were always the strongest competition), gotten people together and broken them up... just generally doing whatever she could to raise hell around the island.

"Alright guys," Pope briefed everybody as Kiara and John B set up the keg. "We're laying low tonight. Don't let anything crazy happen. Please." He didn't take his very pointed gaze off of Tate and JJ. In all of Tate's crazy party schemes over the years, JJ was always right there to join her or back her up if she needed it. He was just like her in the sense that he thrived off of humor and way too much energy to get by.

"Ahhh, come on man," said JJ, putting an arm around Pope's shoulders. "When have we ever let anything crazy happen, hm?"

"Yeah, we're kind of professionals at laying low," Tate added, helping Kiara screw the tap into the keg. Pope looked even more anxious than before.

The party started just like every party in the boneyard. The working class kids showed up first after word of the party spread from the Pogues. These were the kids Tate and the Pogues liked to hang around. Tate spotted a guy named Malek whose dad used to work with her mom and broke away from the Pogues to talk to him.

"Hey, man, what's up?" She handed him a red solo cup of beer.

"Thanks," he said, taking the cup and looking out over the slowly crowding beach. "Heard your mom split for the main land."

Tate shrugged and sipped her drink. "She did, yeah. Always said she was going to."

"Damn. My dad said he liked her. Hard worker or something like that. Wanna go over there?" He pointed to a circle of people clustered around JJ, who was gesturing about wildly, making the crowd of people laugh at whatever story he was telling. Tate watched him chuckle at one of his own jokes and run his fingers through his hair. She smiled to herself unwittingly and followed Malek over to join the others.

When JJ spotted Tate standing between Malek and Kiara, he grinned and beckoned her over. "Tate, Tate, you'll remember this," he said breathlessly. "When me, you, and John B snuck onto the Donnelly's private beach to go surfing-?"

"Oh- at, like, one in the morning," she laughed, immediately catching on. "And Mr. Donnelly came out with a shotgun just as we were about to leave-"