chapter one / place your bets

      Ilyshah Tūrei sat at a booth in The Wreck with her cousin Lani, swirling her paper straw in a glass of aranciata pellegrino as ice clinked against the edges and condensation fogged at the sugared rim cool to the touch. Upon lifting her gaze, she found JJ Maybank's eyes already on hers a few booths over, catching a smirk in the groove of the straw as her cheeks went florid and her stare faltered away under his. As people weaved in and out of the bustling establishment, Kelce slinked through and took a seat beside Lani, snaking his arm around her shoulder and placing an audible kiss on her cheek that Ilyshah curled her lip at.

"So, why the hell are we here?" Kelce raised his arms. "We could be at The Island Club."

Ilyshah parted her lips from the straw. "If I have to third wheel it's only fair I get to choose where hell is, and this place has good kaimoana."

"Good what?"

"—Seafood," Lani interjected, then lifted an eyebrow at her. "Lysh just likes to speak te reo to confuse you."

    Kiara Carrera circled around their booth for a second time at the behest of her dad shouting from the front counter, a spiral notepad in her grasp and a resting bitch face planted on specially for the busy tourist season, or maybe just for Lani Tūrei.

"You guys ready to order any food?" asked Kiara in a monotone, bored voice.

"Sup Kie," Kelce put on a smug grin as Lani shifted in her seat. "How you been? Y'know, with your Pogues and all?" he asked cockily, earning an obnoxious giggle from Lani.

Ilyshah interrupted softly by clearing her throat. "Um, could I have your devilled crab with a side of hush puppies, please?" dragging her finger down the menu as Kie directed away her glare, jotting down her order. "And a peach iced tea, thanks."

"Sure, no problem," Kiara replied distractedly, turning back to Lani. "And let me guess, you'll have an acai bowl? Counting your calories for summer and everything?"

"Since it's the only thing not fried in this place, yeah," Lani retorted, resting her chin in her clasped fingers.

Kiara smirked. "Well, sorry to say we're sold out of them. Maybe you could try some originality for a change."

"Maybe you could try not being a bitch for once, Kie. I mean, is this any way to speak to your patrons?" Lani snidely stung back, and Ilyshah could sink into the earth to avoid the bitchfest. "We'll have a bowl of fries extra salt, and a top up of my guava juice."

   "Coming right up," Kiara rolled her eyes as she collected the menu, insults laced under her breath when walking off, hips swaying in her the light wash jeans.

Kelce let out a breathy laugh. "I'll be surprised if she doesn't spit in our food, Lans."

"Please, she wouldn't dare."

 
    "Undool will clip you across the ear when he finds out, you know her olds are friends with yours," Ilyshah slumped back into her seat, bumping her knee up and down.

Lani shrugged, unbothered by the prospect of punishment. "I'll just say she started it. It's not like they won't believe it."

Now, one thing to know about Lani Tūrei, she gave bitch it's very own name. It was a given for Kook girls, but she found a particular pride in it. She drove that white Mercedes convertible around her Figure Eight bubble with her pussy posse all dressed in denim over bright neon bikinis, nails freshly did and dior lip gloss brushed over. Man candy, check. Prada sunnies, check. Bratty attitude, check. She lived fast and loved fast. Kelce being the eighth love in a string of heartbreaks, because they could never live up to her standards.

At first Ilyshah could admire it, found it endearing. She even tried to fit in at one point when she first arrived—like shoving a square into a triangular void. Flaunting money had been a foreign concept, produced in her humble hearth where it truly took a village to raise a child. Still, she found those credit card swipes thrilling. Who wouldn't? She went against her parents wishes, and somehow dumping her with her rich aunt and uncle counted as punishment to them. Lani had been overjoyed to have Ilyshah by her side, like her very own pet project almost.

Surprising of all, she was once best friends with Kiara Carrera. Just like their moms Claire and Anna. The three, including Sarah Cameron were practically inseparable, joined at the hip with glittered superglue and cuffed with friendship bracelets. They were the type of friends where you questioned if they were actually just friends or lovers. Then, the superglue disintegrated, the cuffs were unshackled with Kie leaving Kook academy. At least, that's all Ilyshah knew from what Lani told her—she wasn't entirely convinced that was the full story.

Kiara plopped down beside Pope with a huff. "Can you believe her? I should spit in her food."

"Ooft, spicy there Kie," JJ teased, tapping his fingers away at the table.

John B quirked up the corners of his lips. "Just don't spit in JJ's girlfriends meal alright—"

"For the sixth time dude, I'm not macking on her," He responded hotly, slapping his hands down in frustration. "She made that very clear when she ghosted me in the dms."

Pope winced. "That's cold."

"Yeah well, you probably scared her off when you crashed in her bed that one time without even talking to her," John B revealed.

  "What?!" Kie and Pope dropped their jaws.

JJ nodded at him, flicking a french fry his way. "Thanks man, we agreed that was a secret."

"There's no secrets among Pogues you know that JJ," Kiara abrasively replied. "So — what, you slept with her?"

"He wishes."

"I'm so confused right now," Pope added.

"Like you could do any better bro," JJ argued. "She'd probably ghost you too if you messaged her no doubt."

"We can bet on it. Throw a kegger, see if she comes and whoever bags a date gets twenty bucks to spoil her with, yeah?"

"This is totally not misogynistic at all," Kiara commented in a deadpan voice. "How do you even know she bats for your team?"

    JJ and John B's screwed up their faces, both repeatedly responding with, "come on," five times before Kiara scowled bitterly and jumped up from the booth as her father dinged the bell and called her name.

"So, bets on JJ?" John B asked.

"C'mon bro, you know I never back down on a bet. And hey, at least I can get wasted if she rejects me."

"I'm still lost as to how you ended up in her bed," Pope posed as a question.

John B turned to JJ with a grin. "Should I tell?"

Ilyshah couldn't possibly refuse an indirect invitation to a party at the boneyard that night. There she was, right in the thick of it with the bonfire light radiating off her body, holding everyone's gaze with each move she made. It all naturally came to her, the star quality—it's what made her burn bright back home being raised as a performer in a family of creatives.

Sometimes she did like the attention, more so she loved the way it made her feel. Powerful and embodied as life force seeped out the seams.

She was also elusive as hell, anytime a guy came near her with the intention to dance, she would slip through their fingers like the sandy shore they all stood on. Her own fingers trailed up her midsection as sweat beads formed across her golden skin, contrasting the white skirt gathered at her hip with a slit, a matching top tied around her upper half, her midriff exposed. Looking nothing short of a goddess—like Athena in the flesh, or Aphrodite. Taking front seat at the altar of worship, JJ Maybank and John B Routledge.

   "Odds of her pushing us away?" John B asked, staring in awe.

"I'd say 1 in 4."

   "Optimistic," Pope added smartly.

   "Would you two pick up your jaws and quit staring?" Kiara clicked her fingers in their face. "It's embarrassing."

JJ lightly slapped John B's chest with the back of his hand as he ignored Kie. "Ladies first."

   "You may live to regret that one," John B cocked an eyebrow, standing up from the log and making his way to her.

Lips wet from the sickly sweet punch lingering on her tongue. By now, the vodka had reached to her ribs, sinking deep into every crevice and loosening her swaying hips. The perfect time, in fact, for John B to brush against her, murmuring a meek, "hi there," in her ear. The brazilian bum bum cream she always lathered on daily, paired with the tropically spiked liquor created an air of pure allure and it was enough to have John B in the same state of mind as JJ.

   Her entire face lit up, almost spilling the contents of her cup. "Fah, John B! How's my patient doing?!" pointing at his calf.

"Never better!" He shouted over the music with a toothy grin. "Wanna dance?"

JJ sneered into the rim of his red cup. "That son of a bitch," a green tinge of jealousy clouding the myriad of thoughts as he watched Ilyshah dance with her back pressed flush against the front of John B who winked back at the group.

  "I told you, this was a bad idea," Kiara stressed.

JJ wasn't the only one upset by the scene Ilyshah had created amongst the crowd of people by crossing the lines between Kook and Pogue. By the opposite side of the bonfire, Lani shot her a deathly glare from where she was sat on Kelce's lap as she sipped on a beer, the liquor on her lips tasting sweet as the poison of her thoughts.

"The hell is she doing?" Lani spat, directing the groups focus from their bubbled conversations onto Ilyshah.

"She's your cousin babe," Kelce off-handedly commented. "Want me to go get her off the dirty pogue?"

"No," Lani replied calmly. "I want you to keep your hands clean. She'll learn soon enough."

    All danced out, Ilyshah retreated to the outskirts of the boneyard with John B, grounding herself earthbound under the pale moonlight with a light breeze blowing the wisps of her hair as the sand pillowed under her bare feet. As reality set in, so too did her inhibitions—if Sarah Cameron were here in the first place, she would have been dancing with her the whole night and not falling into Pogue hands.

   "So tell me, how does the Outerbanks measure up to New Zealand?"

     Ilyshah hummed in thought, her rose tinged lips curving into a smile. "I think I'd need the full experience before I can comment."

     "The full experience?"

   "You know, like... riding on dolphins into the sunset after I rob a bank kind of full experience," said Ilyshah pensively, "but my uncle barely lets me leave Figure Eight alone, only to surf."

     "Doesn't seem like a bad part of the island to be stuck on to me."

    She shrugged with her nose scrunched up. "It has its perks, it's flash and all but sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on something over here."

"I could give you the full experience," He leaned against a palm, folding his arms across his chest. "Firstly by taking you out."

   She narrowed her eyes. "Like take me out..."

   "On a date, or whatever you want really—"

"—I can't," She blurted out, then closed her eyes. "Sorry, it's not you. I just — I made a rule to myself — not to date anyone here."

"Oh," His mouth went agape. "That's uh, no that's cool — I get that."

   A voice in the distance approaching alerted the two, and Ilyshah squinted to make out who it was, thanking the universe it was Lani to save her the awkwardness of eluding yet another feeble attempt into her heart.

"Shit, Lans what happened?" Ilyshah asked as she ran over, holding her hair back as she emptied out her guts at the root of a tree, tears and snot spilling out of her.

Lani wiped her face, breaking out into a sob. "Kelce was checking out a girl while I went to go get a drink. He's such a fucking loser."

Ilyshah sent a sympathetic look to John B as he tried to help keep Lani steady, but she violently pushed him away. "Don't touch me."

   "Lans," She gently grabbed ahold of her as John B backed up, holding his arms up in surrender. "Lans, it's all good. We'll go home, okay?"

    "How?" Lani sniffled, "he's the one who drove us here."

   "We'll figure it out, let's just go," She reassured, turning to John B as she rubbed her back. "Sorry, I'll catch up with you later."

        "Cya," John B waved as the two Tūrei girls disappeared back into the night then whispered to himself. "JJ, you're so screwed."

  One minute Lani Tūrei had been reduced to tears, snot and literal vomit, the next she was back all over Kelce in an attempt to get a ride back home after all her friends had ditched. Ilyshah let out a sigh as she propped herself against a tree trunk while Lani mooched it up and fished out an emergency joint from the glitter organza bag packed in her woven tote, seeing as the night called for it. One flick of the lighter, two flicks, three. . .

      "You're kidding," she muttered under her breath, growing more frustrated with every click of the lighter clearly scarce of fluid. Then, she flinched at the flick of another lighter from beside her and turned to who it belonged to with a glare.

JJ came into view, a smirk etched across his face. "A girl in need?"

    "My hero," she relaxed her face and cooed, then leaned towards the flame, inhaling the embers that wrapped her throat in a burning sensation.

   Lulling her head back on the tree trunk as the substance entered her lungs, she exhaled the remains for the heavens to claim as her head floated heavily on her shoulders.

    "Definitely a girl in need," she murmured before focusing back on JJ with the joint held up to his face, "want some?"

"Figured you'd never ask," JJ jumped up to stand beside her, electricity pulsing through his fingers as they met hers for the spliff handover, "had a good time?"

    "It was okay," she airily commented, turning on her side with her head rested against the tree trunk, "could've been better though."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

    She shrugged. "Aliens beaming me up into space," huffs breaking out into a low honeyed giggle at his bewildered reaction that sounded like the chorus of angels to his ears.

"Lysh," Lani bursted their bubble of shared laughter with an axe from behind, "we're all going now."

   "I'll be there in a minute cousin I'm just finishing this off."

Lani persisted. "Kelce is leaving now, you'll be stranded otherwise."

     Ilyshah retained her composure despite the nuisance, plastering on a lazy smile upon turning around. "Okay, let's go then," taking her last drag before passing it to JJ. "Here, someone should be able to enjoy it."

   Lani snorted as they linked arms. "You never share your weed."

    "He does deserve it after my lighter went flat," she mumbled between them as they walked off.

JJ huffed in amusement at their conversation that died out the further they got, staring down at the joint nestled between his thumb and index finger, knowing it could be the closest he was getting to her lips maybe ever.

   Unlocking the latch on the fridge at THE CHATEAU and pulling out an untouched beer bottle on its lonesome, JJ after cracking it open swigged the foamy contents and gave a pronounced burp as he slumped onto the pull out sofa beside Kie while she tuned her ukulele. John B reclined back on the lumpy fold out armchair, massaging between his eyebrows to come down from his own drunken state and Pope, unsurprisingly was already passed out on the porch.

    "Yo, Lani is such a biatch you guys," JJ pegged the bottle cap at the nearby trash can, missing by an inch.

   Kiara sang from beside him as she strummed her ukulele. "I told you so."

    "So, what happened John B?" JJ slapped down his arm. "Did you ask her out?"

     "Yeah, man and she shot me down. Hard."

JJ pulled his bottom lip between his teeth to suppress a smile and put down his beer. "Alright, well—sorry for you and all but—"

     "—there's something else you need to know though."

"Oh boy," Kiara clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "I was right, wasn't I? She doesn't swing your way."

     "Yo, shut up Kie," JJ snapped in desperation. "Let the man finish, I need to know."

     She scowled. "You're being so weird, y'all shouldn't be betting over a Kook anyway it's not exactly taking one for the team."

"She's not really a Kook, is she? She's like... an exchange student, yeah see guys I found a loophole."

    "Hey! Just listen — she told me — she made a pact with herself not to date anyone on the island."

   JJ fell backwards onto the sofa with a groan, palms covering his face in defeat as he whined. "Why?"

     "It's okay buddy," John B and Kie took turns patting his chest in a taunting comfort.

"It's fine, look I'm fine," JJ shrugged, playing with the velcro on his cap. "Just gonna have to change her mind about it, that's all."

     John B leaned back into his armchair half in shock and disappointment. "Oh my god."

              "What?!"

    "JJ, you're gonna get yourself hurt," Kiara bluntly stated.

    "You haven't even heard my plan!"

      "Okay, what's your plan JJ?" John B rested his cheek on his palm with an intense gaze.

"I'm still figuring it out."

Whale Rider ━━ JJ Maybank
Chapter One, Place Your Bets
Outerbanks Pre Season One CONT.