Wendy's eyes gently opened sensitive to the fresh morning light that hit her face. She knew that even if she did roll onto the other side of the bed, she would not have fallen back to sleep anyways. Today was her second official day in the Outer Banks and she planned to spend the day with her best friend, Sarah.

Last night

Wendy surveyed her dark. She was dead asleep when a sound woke her up. She was not sure what that sound was, but more importantly, who was responsible for the sound. She wanted to grab the closest thing that she could use as a weapon when her eyes landed on her balcony. Outside was Sarah Cameron gently knocking on the sliding door.

The confused sixteen-year-old opened and groggily asked, "Sarah, what are you doing here?"

"We're going out remember."

Wendy suddenly remembered about the party Sarah convinced her to go to.

"I'm sorry I totally forgot."

"Yeah, I figured," Sarah smirked at her matching duck pajama shorts and top. "It's okay. My boyfriend's parked outside your gate. I can wait for you to change then we can sneak out. Henrick won't even have any idea."

Wendy panicked. She had never snuck out before. Sarah did convince her to go to the party and have some fun. But what would letting loose get her? She was not a spontaneous person. What did spontaneity grant her anyways? She tried it today and talked with a handsome stranger instead of going home where she was expected to be. She ended up late to dinner and had her wallet stolen. However, she dared not tell her father. She knew if she did, he would just ask over and over again, 'how did you lose your wallet?' and not 'how did he steal your wallet?"

There is a difference between these two sentences. He would not explicitly blame her, but he would. And she did too.

Wendy Li was always relaxed, obeyed the rules, and was always five steps ahead. Her mundane but safe choices granted her a comfortable life with many achievements and trophies. Studious valedictorian. Debate club president. Champion polo player. Gifted pianist. And soon it would be top businesswoman. She was responsible enough to know what might ruin her perfect record.

An illegal teenage party filled with alcohol would be perfect.

She felt a pang of guilt looking at her best friend, "I-i'm sorry Sarah. I just can't it's too risky for me. If my dad found out, I'll be-"

"-It's okay. I kind of knew you wouldn't go."

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you tomorrow okay? Let's spend the day shopping, eating, and whatever you do here."

Sarah nodded pasting half a smile on her face before leaving.

Wendy sighed getting back in bed. Sometimes, she wished she could be free of all these expectations of perfection. She envied Sarah who seemed to thrive off of living life to the absolute fullest. Then again, she did not have Henrick as a father.

The view in the backyard, beyond the lush green grass and the shimmering pool, was of the ocean. Wendy swore she could even taste the salt in the air as the wind blew. It made her snuggle into her knitted cardigan even more. Still, in her duck pajamas and slippers, the teen decided to have breakfast on the backyard porch before starting her activity-filled day with Sarah. She sat in silence peacefully eating her red velvet-flavored cereal while looking at the view in front of her. Sure, she did miss seeing buildings as her breakfast view, however, she was not complaining one bit about the soft tranquility the Outer Banks offers.

Then, a sheet of paper was placed in front of her beside her food. She turned to her left to see her dad smiling excitingly.

"Good morning honey. Do you like my gift?" Henrick kissed her head and stood in front of his daughter blocking the oceanside view. He was already dressed in his usual attire of a business suit.

"Wendy's summer itinerary?" She read aloud.

"Well now that you're settled in, it's time to get you back on track with your usual schedule. I know that some things would be different since you're not anymore in Hong Kong, so I'm trying to adjust the schedule to what's available here."

Wendy was indeed familiar with an itinerary like this as she had the exact same one in Hong Kong. There were always two kinds: one when she was in school and another for summer breaks. They were always filled up to the brim.

It read:

"Are you okay? You look a bit lost there." Henrick mentioned.

Wendy debated whether to speak, "It's nothing dad. I just thought that this summer would be different."

"Different?" Henrick repeated before sitting down. The mood turns serious. "Wendy, what do I always say?"

"Winners do not rest."

"Again"

"Winners do not rest," Wendy said louder.

"Indeed, winners do not rest. You, my daughter, are a champion and have been one ever since you earned your first award which I keep on display along with all your other achievements."

Wendy did not need to look back into the house to see the three cabinets proudly displaying all her certificates, trophies, and medals near the main door. A boast to all the visitors who visited the Briar house and a reminder to Wendy of the potential she can not waste by being lazy.

"I did not grow up with a silver spoon like you. I was aggressive in school and work. I got into the best college and networked with the people that matter. I built my own company from the ground up and turned it into one of the most successful real estate businesses the world has seen. Everything and I mean everything-" he whirled his hands referring to the house they were eating in "-was made possible by my hard work. I never rested because" He dragged on waiting for Wendy to finish.

"Winners don't rest." She muttered.

Henrick grabbed her hands, "You are still my greatest accomplishment. Don't parents want only the best for their kids?"

"Yes dad but I feel-"

"-Don't they?" Henrick cut her off by asking a follow-up to his question. He raised his eyebrow expecting an answer, the right answer.

"Yes, dad. You only want the best for me. I'll follow the summer itinerary to make you proud."

"You don't do it for me, Wendy. You do it for yourself. For your successful future which I will guarantee." He patted her hands before letting them go and rose from his chair. "Anyways, I personally coordinated with your teachers and coaches. You're starting school in a few months but it would be beneficial for you and your academic career to already meet your teachers. Well, the ones with subjects that mattered anyway. You will be tutored by the very best for all your advanced classes. You're also now a member of the debate team in school. They have an online summer workshop that you will be joining. Their president just graduated so I expect you to nominate yourself and win. A leadership role would look great on your college resumé. Then for sports, you have your usual polo lessons and also tennis. I know that you're not a big fan of tennis but it is good for networking nowadays. And I believe you can condition yourself to like it. You will be interning for me of course and oh! On Saturdays, you'll be joining me, Ward, and Rafe for weekly golf before interning for the Camerons. It will look better if you don't just put 'interned for your own family's company' on your college CV, won't it? The whole Saturday was Rafe's idea. " Henrick kept going on.

Wendy stared blankly at her father. She was nodding her head yet his words were muffled by the buzzing in her head. Her attention was piqued again when he announced something that worried her.

"Besides, you do not want to end up like your friend Sarah. I do love that girl like she was a daughter but she definitely would not survive this household with her reckless tendencies. Rafe is the more responsible one out of the two. I approve him for you."

"What happened to Sarah dad? Is she okay?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? Rafe caught her and a bunch of her friends at a party full of alcohol and other illegal substances that I'm not sure to pronounce the names of. Thankfully, he did because moments after that, the police came and arrested every kid on site."

That was Wendy's confirmation of why she was better off with her mundane sheltered lifestyle.

݁˖ 𓇼 ｡𓆝 ⋆｡˚𓇼𓆉 ｡˚ 𓆡⊹ ࣪ ˖

Wendy followed her schedule just as her dad wanted. It was a Thursday which meant that she spent almost four hours in The Island Club doing sports. Half of the time there she did enjoy herself after learning that her favorite horse Blaise was shipped to the island and was waiting for her at the stables. Whereas, half of her time there she hated running after a green ball which she had a difficult time hitting in the right direction and not in the face of her new coach. After that, she spent the next two hours studying mathematics and science. She was tired after that. She envisioned herself lying down on the sofa on her balcony, reading a book, and watching the sun disappear into the ocean before she turned her back and rode her bike. Wendy could not be late on her first day interning for her father.

But first, she needed something to cheer her up and keep going. Red velvet cupcakes!

She could see the light pink sign of Marta's Bakes now. Wendy paddled faster. She only had thirty minutes of freedom. To enjoy and indulge before settling back into her new grey routine. She could not waste it. Until the cute surfer boy she met yesterday unknowingly stepped in front of the bike.

She slammed her foot on the brakes not wanting to hit him. She succeeded, however, the price came with an ungraceful fall.

JJ, who ignored the street sign and crossed the street had not noticed the girl on the bike until he heard a loud thump on the pavement.

"Woah there. Are you okay?" He approached her, however, he took a step back when their eyes met.

"YOU! You wallet thief!" She screamed.

"Pshh me? I don't know what you're talking about. You're just being a prejudiced little kook." JJ tried laughing it off.

Little??

"I know it was you! You're literally holding my wallet, idiot!"

JJ looked down and wanted to give himself a good old slap on the head. He could give it back but it was now empty after paying for weed for him and John B to smoke in the chateau. He did consider running away, but he would have felt more of an ass to leave an injured girl behind especially since he was the one responsible for this accident.

"Let me help you."

"No stay back. I'm fine." She tried getting up but fell back down in pain. There was blood coming from her ankle.

"Nope. I'm helping you, princess." JJ proceeded to lift Wendy bridal style despite loud her protests.

He carried her out of the street and to the nearest bench where he gently sat her down. She winced when he accidentally grazed her injury.

"First, you stole my wallet. Now, you can't even cross the street Top-"

"-hold on to that thought princess." JJ held up his finger before disappearing.

Wendy, now stuck on the public bench due to her injury, kept yelling at the stranger to come back. Thankfully, he did five minutes later with a small red box. A first aid kit.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Exactly what you think I'm going to do." He held up the first aid kit and knelt next to her.

"How can I even trust you to know what you're doing? How can I even trust you at all."

"I know you can't trust me but you'll have to princess. And take this as an apology for your wallet. It was nothing personal." He reached into his back pocket and gave it to her.

Wendy opened it to see all her money missing. "Everything's gone, idiot."

"Like I said, It's nothing, personal princess. And I'm not an idiot."

"Yes you ar-AH TOPPER." Wendy yelped when he began tending to her wound. It did not look pretty.

JJ looked at her confused as to why she had called him that when he remembered that was the name he used yesterday. "I'm sorry. I knew it was going to hurt but I had to keep you distracted to notice it."

"Oh trust me, I still felt it. You still owe me money by the way."

"I'll do my best to remember to repay you, princess." JJ winked bandaging her ankle.

"Don't call me that."

"Call you what princess?"

Wendy groaned. Could this day get any worse?

The next few minutes were filled with silence and occasional wincing as JJ was finishing up. Wendy was no nurse but she remembered being lectured on how to properly bandage an injured ankle in class.

"Are you a Red Cross volunteer or something, surfer thief?"

JJ laughed at his new nickname before shaking his head. "I'm just a person who has experienced a lot of injuries. Being a daredevil, running from the police, surfing during a storm, fighting, you name it princess."

"You should add egocentric to the list as well. Who surfs in the middle of the storm anyway? You're full of fabricated stories, Topper."

"A storm brings out the best waves."

"Two words: bullshit"

"The princess cusses? Oh no, Your Majesty. You don't wanna lose your poise. Looks like you're coming with me the next time there's a storm to prove to you that surfing is the best with those waves."

Wendy looked at the flirtatious JJ who was flashing her a grin. That same grin made her swoon and be distracted enough to notice her wallet being stolen yesterday.

"Wendy? Is that you?" A voice yelled in the distance.

The quarreling teens looked across the street to see Sarah coming towards the. The person next to her was her boyfriend, the real Topper Thorton. That was JJ's cue to leave.

"Mrs. Kook. Mr. Kook-I mean dick face." He saluted to the two.

"What happened to you?" Sarah asked her friend while Topper walked faster with a matching threat directed to JJ leaving his lips.

JJ grinned having successfully pissed off the kook douchebag named Topper Thorton. He looked back at the confused Wendy and kissed her hand. "It was lovely to see you again princess but I better get going. No need to thank me for my hard work though." He winked before disappearing.

"Wendy? Oh my gosh! What happened?" Wendy had no time to react to JJ's farewell because a freaked-out Sarah was inspecting her now bandaged ankle.

"I just fell off my bike. It's okay though, Topper helped though he's kind of annoying." Wendy smiled sheepishly whereas the two looked more confused.

"Did you just say Topper?" Sarah's companion spoke up.

"Yeah, his name is Topper Thorton. Looks like you guys seem close." Wendy noted the hardened expression on this man's face. "My name is Wendy by the way, what's yours?

"I'm the real Topper Thorton."

The smile was wiped off Wendy's face.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah," Sarah confirmed. "Topper's my boyfriend. The one I was telling you about. Why were you hanging out with JJ Maybank?"

"That dude is nothing but bad news. He's practically king of the pogues." Her boyfriend added.

Wendy could feel her eye twitch.

"Hey Sarah?"

"Yes Wendy?"

"I'm going to kill this JJ Maybank."