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Amara King wasn't always a kook. Only three years ago she had moved from The Cut to The Figure Eight, but everyone liked to forget that part. Especially her mother.

Kathryn King had always dreamed of a lavish life where she wasn't scrounging through her pockets just for their next meal. She would do anything for her daughter, but that didn't make her a good mother. She left Zion Miller in the dust ten years ago just so she could show him she didn't need him, even though her six year old daughter needed her father. She never had Amara's best interest in mind, though she liked to think she did.

Now, Kathryn King had married Paul Vasquez, the richest man in the Outer Banks. It was already looked down upon, even for adults, for a Pogue to be marrying a Kook, but the woman had somehow weaseled her way into the social hierarchy, and his heart. She believed that now, they needed to be perfect more than ever. She pounded rule after rule on her daughter only to make herself and the family look good. At 13 years old, her life became a pageant show. Smile and wave, blow kisses, don't get your hands dirty. The whole kook life was very new and overwhelming to Amara, and she hated it.

But Sarah Cameron made it somewhat bearable. When she met the girl at the academy, they instantly clicked. They were so alike, and complemented each other at that. They were inseparable, and Kathryn and Paul couldn't be happier when she became friends with the Cameron's. The Figure Eight was very socially oriented, the more connections you had the more successful you were. Everyone loved the Cameron's. And then, Everyone loved the Vasquez's.

Just like the adults of the Figure Eight, the kids social ladder had been quickly established , wether they liked it or not. Of course, it was based off their last name. Vasquez's, Cameron's, Thornton's, all very well known families in the community, of course they would be top of the pyramid. Anyone else was obviously below them.

Truth be told, Amara desperately missed The Cut. There, she had the freedom to live. Meanwhile in Kooklandia, everything had to be prim and proper or it would upset the balance of everything holy within the Figure Eight. Though Mara liked the feeling of rebelling. It gave her a sense of independence, and making her own choices, which she rarely ever got to do.

She missed her friends on The Cut. Kiara
and JJ had completely cut off all contact with her, and it hurt. She'd considered Kiara her closest friend at some point, and as hypocritical as it was, as soon as she'd moved to the other side, Kiara blocked Mara out of her life. But nothing had hurt more than JJ. She and JJ had a unique relationship no one could quite explain, but they got each other in a way no one else could. But he had a strong vendetta against all types of Kook's, and she was convinced his opinions would never change. Until they did.

She was glad Pope and John B were being somewhat civil towards her. When they were on their own, they were able to converse with her without throwing up everywhere, while when the gang was together they wouldn't dare spare a glance towards her. She was convinced Kiara had spat some snake shit, because there was no way in hell they would be ghosting her like this when she truly did nothing wrong. Then again, it was three years, she didn't know anything about them anymore.